April 12, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICDLTURE AND COTTAGE QABDENER. 



275 



The Violet and Primrose are looked upon as essentially 

 March flowers, although they, particularly the former, often 

 appear in February and remain until 



" The flowery Blay, who from her green lap throws 

 The yellow Cowslip and the pale Primrose." 



Lesser lights of the floral world of wildlings there aro in 

 abundance. The Blind Nettles, both purple and white, are 

 covering every untrodden waste, but small and inconspicuous 

 in bloom they are overlooked, while the brilliant flowers of the 

 Coltsfoot in dry sterile spots and the etarlike blossoms of the 

 Lesser Celandine on most banks attract attention. 



The Periwinkle now begins to show its deep blue flowers 

 along its trailing branch of bright glossy leaves. It grows in 

 almost every cottage garden, but the very finest blossoms may 

 be seen beneath the now-sprouting Hawthorn hedge, carpeting 

 the earth with rich green and throwing up dozens of azure 

 flowers. Even Chaucer sang the old old song of Violet and 

 Periwinkle in spring, for, describing his parterre, he says — 



We may imagine the county of Warwick to have been fertile 

 in the production of Violets, for Shakespeare alludes to them 

 frequently, and compares a strain of sweet music to the de- 

 licious Bcent of this flower — 



" oh I it came o'er my ear like the sweet south 

 That lueathes upon a bank of Violets, 

 Stealing and giving' odour.*' 



With the coming of the March Violet, both blue and white, 

 we have also the advent of the I'affodil, 



" Which comes before the swallow dareg,'and tatcs 

 The winds of March with beauty." 

 The wild Daffodil, like the elegant pendulous Fritillaria of the 

 meadows, appears to be capricious in its choice of a habitat — 

 unseen, undisooverable often for miles of rural lanes and fields, 

 it suddenly crops up in some particularly favoured spot, and 

 year after year makes the place unique in beauty. Such is the 

 case with a stretch of land at one side of Hazeley Heath in 

 Hampshire, where the Daffodils flourish to such an extent 

 that the village girls and boys resort to the neighbourhood and 

 gather immense bunches of these flowers during the season of 

 Easter. In like manner the Fritillaria affects certain meadows 

 by the side of the Kennet and Avon Canal, not far from Bead- 

 ing, growing in such profusion as to truly enamel the grass 

 with its graceful bella of chequered, or pale greenish white 

 flowers. 



But it is not alone the lowly blossoms of wayside copse and 

 field that greet us in March, but on the breezy common and 

 exposed heath the golden Goree opens its honey-laden flowers, 

 inviting the visits of the bees on every sunny day. The deli- 

 cate sense of green which now pervades both tree and bush is 

 beautifully described by Bishop Mant — 



" Currant and prickly Gooseberry, 

 Alnns the Hawthorn's level line, 

 On baph of fragrant Eglantine, 

 On Bramble, and pithy Llder pale, 

 On Larch and Woodbine's twittted trail. 

 And "Willow lithe, there's flush of greeu; 

 The forward Sycamore display 

 Their foliage, and the shining spray 

 Of Chestnut to the sun protrude 

 His lengthened and expanding bud. 

 Which once unwrapped, in vain would Art 

 Fold it asew." 



The spring-like beauty of the groves and meadows and the 

 varied cbarma of Nature are at this time greatly enhanced by 

 the melodies of the wild songsters, which, perched on tree or 

 shrub, trill forth their contentment at the return of the genial 

 season. The skylark mounts high into the air with his 

 cheeriest and blithest carol ; the thrush and blackbird warble 

 their sweetest notes to cheer their feathered choice ; and the 

 robin, which has kept his cheerfulness through all the dis- 

 heartening surroundings of a wet dreary winter, now breathes 

 forth in the full melody of his summer Bong. — T. S. J. 



BULLFINCHES, SQUIRRELS, AND HEDGEHOGS. 



" Wii.TsiiiEE liECTOR" writes like many others, that he can- 

 not say anything in favour of the bullfinch, nor, I am sorry to 

 say, can I. Hereabouts this year thty have been very plentiful, 

 and some of the Gooseberry orchards are entirely denuded of 

 fruit buds, the bushes being quite bare ; so likewise are many 

 of my own, until in self-defence 1 have been obliged to order 

 the bullfinches to be destroyed as much as possible, for I can- 

 not find that they do any good. 



I think there is more laid to the charge of the squirrels than 

 they deserve. With regard to their eating-out the Fir-tree 

 tops, many of the tops are blown off by high winds and also 

 broken off by birds perching on them ; still squirrels do eat 

 fruit. Two came to my Strawberry beds and carried off some 

 fruit, but a few white feathers on a string scared them away, 

 and I still had the pleasure of watching them at play in the 

 Oak trees. 



As regards the hedgehog, I have had many opportunities of 

 observing him. Many and many an evening have I seen one, 

 sometimes two, about the hedgerows busily at work with their 

 noses poking about for worms, grubs, Ac'., and one peculiar 

 fact is they know no fear. You cannot frighten them by 

 noises or by your presence ; it is only by touching them you 

 can cause them to curl up. They seem to have no idea of 

 running, and rely for defence on their prickly skins. One of 

 the correspondents to the .Journal mentions that they climb; 

 this I have never known them to do, but as regards eggs on 

 the ground they are sad fellows. Only last year I had a hen 

 sitting near a wood, when I found the eggs began disappearing. 

 On examination of part of a shell left I distinctly saw the 

 marks of teeth that would be like those made by a hedgehog ; 

 a trap was set and a very large hedgehog wa^ caught. He 

 was taken some distance and turned loose in the wood, and no 

 more eggs were lost. For a walled-in garden I think this 

 animal is most useful. I have often kept them so and found 

 them become quite tame, coming regularly to the back door to 

 be fed. They are also useful when wild, as I before stated, as 

 they destroy a vast quantity of noxious insects, worms, grubs, 

 &e., and my belief is that they do much more good than harm ; 

 therefore I think they ought to be spared as much as possible 

 excepting in the poultry yard.— Harbison Weib, IVcirkigh, 

 Brenchlcy, Kent. 



CHANGING SEED. 



MiBAPFREHENSioN exists Upon the subject of changing seed, 

 with a view to increasing the yield, and preventing degenera- 

 tion from successive plantings or sowings on the same land. 



It has come to be generally recognised that certain varieties 

 of grain and root crops, especially Potatoes, will do better in 

 one Boil, situation, or condition than another ; some varieties 

 will grow on wetter, or poorer, or colder, lighter or heavier 

 land than will other varieties of the same cereal or tuber. For 

 instance, the Peaohblow Potato requires more uniform condi- 

 tions of coolness and moisture than many other varieties. 

 This rule will apply measurably to all other crops. Hence, 

 from the failure to study the characteristics and peculiar re- 

 quirements of cultivated plants, the idea has become almost 

 universally prevalent that periodical and frequent changes of 

 seed is absolutely necessary ; and that the change should be 

 made from a soil, situation, and climate essentially different 

 from that upon which the crop is intended to be grown. The 

 real fact is, however, that in a change of seed more attention 

 should be paid to procuring varieties adapted to the soil and 

 climate where the variety is to be cultivated, than anything 

 else. Hence, if any given product is found under good culti- 

 vation constantly to deteriorate in a locality, it should be dis- 

 carded, and those varieties selected that are found to do well 

 upon a similar soil and situation. 



The Early Rose Potato is another noteworthy example of a 

 variety that does well on a great range of soils, yet will be good, 

 indifferent, or bad in yield or quality according to the soil upon 

 which they are grown and the conditions under which they are 

 cultivated. Some plants will not grow at all except in par- 

 ticular soils and aspects. Hence in changing seed the grow^r 

 has not only to study the conditions necessary to the growth 

 of a given variety, but also their adaptation to his own soil. 

 In the selection of seeds, varieties adapted to a soil and climate 

 must be used, and the seed chould have been grown on a soil 

 calculated to produce the variety in its best state. When va- 

 rieties are obtained that under good cultivation hold their high 

 characters even measurably, retain them until by careful ex- 

 perimentation or certain information another is found which 

 will bo better. 



Last season Potatoes, as a rule, were a failure. It will bo 

 well to procure new seed from those sources where the crop has 

 been raised in an entirely healthy state; thus again getting a 

 start with perfectly Bound .seed, containing all the elements of 

 nutrition for the future plant in the highest degree. The same 

 rule will apply to any other seed it may be necessary to buy. 

 The extra charge, if any, that this will entail, will be money 



