Angnst 29, 18C5. ] 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



1C3 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



'„7 



Month 



Week. 



Tc 



W 



Tn 



F 



S 



Sun 



M 



AUG. 29— SEPT. 4, 1866. 



Red Bryony bemOR ripe. 

 Moiulow Saffrcin flowers. 

 Kleriimpaue flowers. 

 Piirti'iilt,'!' nhootiliK boRins. 

 Autumn Geuliau flowers. 



12 SUNHAV AFTEK TuimXY. 



Bcrben'ies ripo. 



AveriiKD Tompcratnro 

 ueur Loudon. 



Kain in 



laRt 

 88 yeai'fl. 



Bay. 

 71.(i 

 72.0 

 71.1 

 70.5 

 7U.« 

 70.S 

 70.4 



NiKht. 

 48.U 

 4S.li 

 47.2 

 47.6 

 47.6 

 47.6 

 46.2 



Mean. 

 59.8 

 60.1 

 69.1 

 59.0 

 69.1 

 68.9 

 68.3 



Days. 

 14 

 9 

 16 

 19 

 16 

 16 

 16 



Snn 

 Riues. 



m. h. 

 9af 6 

 11 6 



Snn 



m. h. 

 62af 6 



60 

 48 

 44 

 4U 6 

 41 6 

 89 6 



Moon 

 niueB. 



Moon 

 SotH. 



m. b. 

 29aflO 



16 11 

 mom. 

 1.S 



17 1 

 28 ft 

 46 8 



Moon'B 

 Aue. 



Days. 

 }) 

 9 

 1(1 

 11 

 12 

 18 

 14 



Clock Day 

 before of 

 Sun. Year. 



44 



20 



7 

 after 



SO 



60 



1 9 



241 

 242 

 243 

 244 



■Mr> 



246 

 247 



From observations taken near London durinR tlio last thirty-eight years, the averoge day temporatnre of the week is 70.9°, and its night 

 temperature 47.5'. The greatest heat was 85', on the let, 1843; and the lowest cold, 82', on .the 29th, 1860. The greatest laU ol 

 rain was 1.50 inch. ^^^ 



THE SEASON AND ITS RESULTS. 



Y many it is remarked, that 

 if tlicy had been acquainted 

 ■vvitli the character of the 

 coming season, they would 

 liave acted differently ; as, 

 fen- instance, if they had 

 been certain of a hot period, 

 many tender plants would have been trusted init of doors, 

 or if the contrary, more liardy ones would have been 

 brought into use.' Unfortunately, or rather, perhaps, for- 

 tunately for us. om- insight into futurity in this direction is 

 very limited, notwitlistaniUng that weather-prophets arc 

 numerous enougli, and eacli prognosticating sometliing dif- 

 ferent, one amongst them has a chance to be riglit, and is 

 by no means slow in taldng credit for it ; but I am not 

 awai'e of ajiy one telling us iu the early part of the season 

 that we were to have such an exceedingly dry period in 

 June, and that tlie latter part of July and early part of 

 August would prove so wet. However, so it has happened : 

 therefore, let us see how the season has affected the various 

 products of the earth, more especially those we are most 

 interested in. At the same time let us call to mind what 

 were our expectations at its commencement, how far these 

 expectations have been fultiUed, and what more we might 

 have done had we Imo^vn how it would turn out. Before 

 we condemn oui'selves, let us recall the disappointments of 

 former years, and though we may regret not having risked 

 more plants out of doors tliis year, the sad realities of 1H(J0 

 are still fresh iu oiu- memory. The three hot summers 

 preceding tluit year favoiu-cd the idea tliat om- climate was 

 approacliing somewhat nearer that of the tropics : but the 

 cold, wet, dull year wliich followed more I'esembled a pro- 

 longed autumn tlian a summer, and our fanners, whose 

 gi-ass and hay crops had threatened to fail, had recom-se to 

 a substitute, semi-tropical iu its habitats, which had done 

 good service in the few places in \\hich it was tried in 

 1858 and 1S.5'.», and was, consequently, rather extensively 

 planted in IRfiO ; but the Asiatic summer had a poor re- 

 presentative here, and the plant lias been heard of very 

 little since, otherwise I have no doubt that it would liave 

 done good service in other years. I fear it has been pre- 

 maturely condemned from its failiu'e at a time when success 

 was impossible. 



As already remarked, we must plod on in uncertainty as 

 to the probable character of the seasons, and expect to 

 meet 'witli varied successes and reverses ; but as the present 

 one is not witliout interest, let us investigate in what way 

 it has been favom-able to the various crops wliich we wish 

 to prosper. 



In the first place, the past winter was shorter than usual ; 

 for, instead of dragging i.m through the month of Ajiril with 

 frosts more or less severe, M"e scarcely ever had the ther- 

 No. 231.— Vol. IX., New Sebies, 



mometer down to the freezing-point in the whole month, 

 while, strange to say, it was thn;e times at that point in 

 May. The spring, therefore, might bo regarded as a 

 favourable, and certainly an early one ; May bcuig on the 

 whole a growing month for most vegetation, excepting 

 grass, wliich, as a liay crop, was lighter than for many 

 years. The blossoming of fruit trees was, on the whole, 

 favoured -with lino weather, yet all did not aUko benefit by 

 it. Apples, though not deficient in bloom, are not by any 

 means a generally good crop ; but I'cars and Pliuns are, in 

 most cases, abundant. One gi-owcr only half a mile from 

 where I write, calculates his crop of Phuns at 15rif) bushels, 

 although the proportion gi-owm by lum of that fruit is com- 

 paratively small. Cherries have also been plentiful. The 

 greatest 'falling off among small fmits was noticeable in 

 the case of Black Currants and Strawberries ; the latter 

 being soon over in consequence of the hot dry weather we 

 had at the time of ripening, but the early fruit was not 

 amiss, and the crop was a fair average. The forcing weather 

 hunied thera on so fast that they might be said to have 

 ripened before swelling. 



Of the plants most generally cultivated in the garden, 

 there are some whose origin most likely has been in a cool, 

 or, perhaps, moist climate or situation, and these plants 

 cannot withstand the parching heat of such a period as we 

 had m June, consecpiently their progi-ess is slow, or, per- 

 haps, retrogi-ade, and I am not certain but that the Straw- 

 berry requu-es a muc'li cooler situation than those m which 

 we are often obliged to plant it. Certainly it grows in the 

 far north as wcU as near Loudon. Celeiy, too, grows 

 better when the long dewy nights of autumn set in. Such 

 plants, it is scarcely necessary to remark, made little pro- 

 gress in Jmie, except whore moisture was supplied by arti- 

 ficial means. On the other hand, by far the gi-eater pro- 

 portion of vegetables make most gi-owth in warm weather, 

 more especially those imported from warmer coimtries than 

 our own. liitiney Beans will ilomish in the hottest and 

 driest season, and the same may be said of Cucumbers, 

 Onions, Shallots, some sweet Herbs, &c., and for which om- 

 hottest summers are never too wann. The crops, I believe, 

 have this season been generally good, especially Onions. 

 Lettuces have also been quite as good as usual, and Peas 

 certakdy better. On the other hand, I'otatoes, wliich in 

 June promised to be small, took a second gi-owth in July, 

 and in the early part of August exliibited unmistakcable 

 signs of disease in its worst form, and wiiich tlu-eatens to 

 be as bad as in any season we have yet had. The Brassica 

 tribe has been about as usual. On the whole, in the out- 

 door department of the Idtchen garden, the summer of 

 180.5 m,ay be pronounced favourable. Enemies to the well- 

 doing of different Idnds of produce, however, have not been 

 wanting, and foremost amongst those now annoying us are 

 earwigs, which prey on wall fniit to a most destructive 

 extent, and red spider has also been abundant enougli, 

 both under glass and elsewhere, but wasps liitherto liavo 

 not made then- appearance in anything approacliing tlie 

 numbers that were expected in the early part of the season. 

 The other plagues of the garden may be regarded us exist- 

 ing to about the average extent. 



No. 8S3.— Vol. XXXIV., Old JtSRlES. 



