44 



JOUENAIi OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Jannary 21, 1869. 



in this neighbourhood (WoodBtocIs) ; and Mr. James Mon-is, of 

 this town, grows it remarkably fine under glass without arti- 

 ficial heat, and if he go on at the rate he has done of late, he 

 will turn his entire garden into an orchard house ! To be sure 

 he is a glazier. He says, that " in Oxford, after purchasers 

 have once tasted the Espiran, they prefer it to the Black Ham- 

 burgh," and that is why I could not send " Aiichamiiaud " some 

 of Mr. Morris's specimens. Had " Ap-chambadd " written a 

 week earlier, I would have converted him to a certainty. 



As a red-wine Grape, grown against open walls in old Eng- 

 land, we have no sort to compare with the Espiran, and that 

 is how I have chiefly recommended it to be grown; neverthe- 

 less. I gained first-class certificates at the Royal Horticultural 

 Society's shows at South Kensington in the autumn of 18(36 

 for the Espiran, both as an out-door Grape and as ripened 

 under glass without artificial heat, and I can appeal to many 

 gentlemen who tasted it at the Horticultural Club dinner on 

 the 20th of last October, to speak of its quality as a Grape 

 ripened against open walls. 



1 think the combat is sufficiently advanced for " One Fond 

 OF Vine Cultdre " {I'iiU page 405), to allow further grace to his 

 Espiran, and not to uproot it yet. Without considering it any 

 " condescension," I intend again to give the system I adopt in 

 pruning out-door Vines, though I certainly shall not aspire to 

 become " a second Iloare " whilst doing so, nor can I lay claim, 

 like H. S. Watson (page 460), to " tive-and-twenty years' stand- 

 ing," but it is longer than I think it wisdom for me to refer 

 back to since I also was complimented by you for out-of-door 

 Grapes, as well as the juice from them. 



Let me add my hope to that of the Editors — that Mr. Watson 

 will re-write his successful mode of culture, and let it appear 

 in these pages side by side with mine, for I have not one par- 

 ticle of interest or prejudice, my only desire being that a right 

 conclusion may be arrived at. 



Then from Mr. McKelvie (page 407), a fund of farther advice 

 will I hope be yet forthcoming ; but let me beg of him to strike 

 the Ciotat or Parsley-leaved Vine from his catalogue. It is 

 an inferior Muscadine, a good bearer I grant, and its leaves 

 are curious. The Royal Muscadine is also a great bearer, sets 

 its berries well, and they have a far superior flavour to the 

 former. I consider the latter to be the very best hardy out-of- 

 door white Grape that we grow. 



Mr. McKelvie says truly, " there must be much confusion 

 still existing about the Espiran Grape." At page 501, No. 247, 

 I defended the Espiran from the attack of " A Surueon." I 

 there described how it was by the merest chance I became 

 possessed of the Grape. I was just about to ask your per- 

 mission for a reprint of the circumstances, when the postman 

 arrived with " our Journal " for the week, and in it another 

 capital paper from " AncnAMrAiTD," which altered my mind, 

 and caused me to furnish you with something new. — Upwaeds 

 AND Onwards. 



(To be continued.] 



RESULT OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCDETY'S EX.VMINATION OF GARDENERS. 



December 8th, 1868. 



21. Barnes (Chiswick Student) 



J. McArdle, ditto 



Joseph Mersum, ditto 



W. D. Dickson, Royal Gardens, Kow 



Bobert luglis, ditto 



JR. J. Lynch, ditto 



James McGrepor, ditto 



Hobert Mearns, ditto 



Eobert Wright, ditto 



Samuel Futrell, Royal Horticul- 

 tural Society, Chiswick 



J, French, Royal Botanic Society, 

 Regent's Park 



"Walter Johnstone. Eridge Castle 

 Gardens, Tunbridge Wells 



George PajTie, Fairlawn, Acton 

 Green 



Floriculture. 



Certificates. 

 2nd class 

 2nd class 



Srd class 

 2nd class 

 Ist class 

 3rd class 

 Srd class 

 2nd class 



530 



580 



Srd class 

 Srd class 

 2nd class | 860 

 2nd class 690 



No. of 

 Marks 

 630 

 870 

 240 

 480 

 610 

 1040 

 520 

 460 

 780 



METEOROLOGICAL NOTES AT LINTON PARK, 

 KENT, 1S08. 

 The past year has been, in many respects, remarkable ; an 

 tmuaually early spring, followed by a very dry summer, with 



some exceedingly hot weather in July and the first week of 

 September, favoured the ripening rather than the growth of 

 the various products of the earth. The extremes of the past 

 year, however, have had their parallels. June loth, 1857, was 

 as hot as any day in 1868 ; and 1858 was a much drier .year, 

 the rainfall being nearly ',» inches less than in 1868, while the 

 coldest day in the past twelvemonth did not approach those 

 which occurred in some former years by about a dozen degrees. 

 At the same time it must be borne in mind that the heat of 

 the past year was more prolonged than usual, and that most 

 of the rain fell in the autumn and winter months, while in 

 1858 these months were the driest, the rainfall of the summer 

 of that year far exceeding that of the past twelvemonth. But 

 very little more than an inch of rain fell during the two hot 

 months of June and July last ; this, and the nearly equally dry 

 period before and after these months, rendered the summer of 

 1868 a remarkable one. 



The accompanying table represents the rainfall in inches and 

 hundredth parts of an inch for each month, as well as the 

 number of days on which it fell, and the number of frosty days, 

 the latter being much below the average. 



Rain in No. No. 



inches. Rainy days. Frosty days. 



January S.65 21 18 



February 1.35 .... 12 .... 8 



March 1.29 .... 12 .... 12 



April 1.21 .... 11 .... 4 



May 1.92 .... 6 



June 0.51 8 



July 0.63 .... 5 



August 2 30 12 



September 2.70 10 



October 2.07 11 6 



November 1.78 12 10 



December 5.78 22 4 



Total 25.19 137 62 



The amount of rain for the year is about the average, but it 

 fell on fewer days than usual, and the number of frosty days is 

 much below the average. The highest reading of the barometer 

 was February 8th and November 13th, 30.27 ; and the lowest, 

 December 24th, 28.34. The winds, as ascertained at noon 

 each day, were E. 7 days; S.E. 10; S. 73; S.W. 88; W. 46; 

 N.W. 27 ; N. 53 ; N.E. 54 ; and two not accounted for, as being 

 so changeable. These figures represent a less number of days 

 when the wind was from the E. and S.E. than any I have on 

 record. N.W. is also below the average. The rainfall was 

 below that of 1856, 18511, 18G0, 1862, 1865, 1866, and 1867, and 

 higher than in the intermediate years from 1855. The year 

 may, therefore, be regarded as an average one in this respect, 

 but, as will be seen by the table, more than one-third of the 

 whole rainfall was in January and December. — J. Robson. 



NOTES FROM SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 



By the last mail I received my usual supply (August month), 

 of your Journal, which after an absence from the old country 

 of sixteen years is a most welcome visitor, and I may say a 

 necessary one, as the various phases of colonial life during that 

 term absolutely demand, when one has at last settled down to 

 home and business, that his rusty experiences should not only 

 be brightened up, but that he should be posted up in the 

 present, I may say marvellous, advancement that has been 

 made in gardening. With this view your Journal is my con- 

 stant visitor ; and I look with no greater pleasure at this dis- 

 tance upon any news received than its monthly contents, con- 

 necting me, as it were, with so many names of persons with 

 whom I was familiar during my earlier years in the London 

 nurseries and suburbs. 



I noticed in your number of August 13th, that you have an 

 extract from the Builder in reference to some large Eucalypti 

 here, and request information on the subject ; and as during 

 March and April, 1864, I travelled through the greater part of 

 the Gipps Land country, then " rushed " as a gold field for 

 quartz, and passing the spots there referred to, I have made 

 some extracts from my journal kept during the tour, which may 

 satisfy you upon the point. I may say that the journey was 

 made in company with Mr. Philip Benison, some twenty years 

 ago gardener to Messrs. Angerstein, of Blackbeath, and who is 

 now gardener to a wealthy gentleman in this district. Owing 

 to the nature of the country we were about to traverse, we were 

 compelled to convey upon our backs (termed here swags), our 

 tent, axe, provisions, and clothing for a two-hundred-mile 

 journey through country in which there is not a road, and by 



