August It, 1SC6. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



121 



VARIATIONS OF TEMPERATURE IN NEW 

 YORK. 



So far tin's has been a season of more than usually remark- 

 able variation* in temperature, the thermometer on the 8th of 

 January in New York, ami its vicinity, marking as low as 20° 

 below zero. 



As far as can bo ascertained, in the absenoo of any official 

 record, this is the lowest temperature thai has occurred for 

 fifty years. As experience has proved that the Pouch buds can 

 only Btand 10' below zero, all anticipations (.fa heavy crop this 

 season are at an end. Many cases of individual Buffering 

 occurred, amongst others one poor woman was frozen to death 

 in bod. 



This extremely low temperature was a severe test of the dif- 

 ferent systems of heating for greenhouses, &C, and many a 

 gardener had a rough time of it, attending to his fires; for 

 British readers must remember that gardeners here cannot ob- 

 tain the efficient stall of assistants that they can at home, but 

 in a case of emergency must put the shoulder to the wheel 

 themselves, and not merely be contented with seeing that the 

 thermometers in the early forcing-houses or plant-stoves are at 

 the regulation figure. 



After a rather late spring, summer set in in earnest, and for 

 the first three weeks in July the thermometer stood above 9Q° 

 every day, rising on the 17th and ISth to 104° in the shade, 

 this being the highest figure ever recorded as occurring brio. 

 Workmen left their daily toil, business men forsook their daily 

 avocations, hundreds were struck down by the sun, and many 

 were prostrated who were not in the sun at all. Vegetation 

 did not suffer much, except grass lawns, and a mark has been 

 left on them that will not be erased this season. — David 

 Foulis, New York. 



HORTICULTURE ON THE CONTINENT. 



Ose of our greatest critics, Bayle, was accustomed to declare 

 that the art of successful abridgement was very difficult of 

 attainment. In the face, however, of this formidable axiom, I 

 shall endeavour, in the interest of horticultural progress, and 

 for the sake of such readers as may not habitually read con- 

 tinental reviews, to give a resume of horticultural news accord- 

 ing to their latest stage of development abroad. For obvious 

 reasons these notices will not extend beyond certain branches 

 of the subject, but in these there exists an abundance of 

 material. 



Very naturally, up to this period, the International Horti- 

 cultural Exhibition has chiefly occupied the attention of foreign 

 critics and correspondents, who, while they have rendered fair 

 justice to the brilliant success of the show, take the liberty of 

 criticising some of the arrangements. As one of these criti- 

 cisms which I recently perused evidently contains the ideas 

 of a practical man, and is written in a kindly spirit, it is 

 valuable. After admiring the great tent our critic finds him- 

 self bewildered at the first aspect of the whole scene. A pro- 

 fusion of brilliant colours, hardly less showy foliage, culti- 

 vation in perfection throughout, and this in the ease of plants 

 only known to Parisians in solitary specimens ! — But soon a 

 sensation of uniformity in the arrangement is felt. Each 

 object, studiously placed so as to secure its own immediate 

 effect, is not so grouped and massed as to form an artistical 

 whole ; no ensemble, no effective stand-points, no striking per- 

 spectives — everything sacrificed to detail, and decentralised 

 thereby. Small plants are brought near the line of vision of 

 the spectator. Those which are seen to best advantage from 

 below are elevated on coarse unadorned benches. "On the 

 line " are those objects which best endure scrutiny. All this 

 is a mere elementary trace, and resembles a nurseryman's 

 display rather than that of a great exhibition which is to be 

 a model for country shows. Such a plan may be eminently 

 favourable for the individual specimen, but it has no artistical 

 feature, nor beautiful grouping of masses. These, as was said 

 previously, are the remarks of a very intelligent correspon- 

 dent, and should be received as improving and by no means 

 unfriendly criticism. 



From general remarks our foreign observer passes to detail, 

 in which he is too prolific for me to follow him in a mere sum- 

 mary like this. He begins with the Rose. The Rose is a tra- 

 ditional French glory. Nearly every variety in cultivation is 

 of French origin ; fortunately we have, says he, this consola- 

 tion, for our neighbours have indeed given us a lesson. Ima- 



gine huge pyramids, literal constellations of enormous and 

 splendid blooms ! Though grown under glass, they are far 

 different from the discoloured specimens we often see in 1 

 lie distinguishes the names of Mr. C. Turner and Mr. W. Paul 

 as the best growers. In Pelargonium ,hi a; , we envy not our 

 neighbours' success ; many charming and popular novelties 

 adorn our houses; it is the perfect culture shown by Mr. Turner 

 which leaves nothing to be desired. This is described at 

 length as a model for French amateurs. " What lull we 

 say of the marvellous Azaleas and plants of unheated houses? 

 The marvels of Amsterdam and Brussels pale before them. 

 This is one of the classical powers of English gardening. We 

 cannot hope to rival them. Our culture! is inferior to theirs, 

 so that even plants bought in England degenerate with us." 

 This he ascribes as due in part to the qualities of the water 

 and the soil. Ce loam bienfai mt is the secret. Then follows 

 a list of choice plants, and the names of many of our leading 

 nurserymen are given. Mr. Baines's Alocasia mctallica is es- 

 pecially noted ; also the Palms of Madame Legrelle d'Hanis, of 

 Antwerp, Messrs. Lee's magnificent Cibotium princeps and 

 superb Alocasias, and Messrs. Veitch's Anthuriums are re- 

 marked as the ne plus ultra of splendid culture. They are 

 minutely described, and strongly recommended. Caladiums 

 shown by Messrs. Henderson, Veitch, Wattenhach, and Bleu 

 are highly praised. The last is a distinguished French ama- 

 teur, our critic says. Few Palms, the best shown by the Duke 

 of Northumberland. I must, however, leave these sections 

 to glance at a very popular one just now, and which our friend 

 rather depreciates, the newest variegated and bronze golden 

 bedding Pelargoniums. " It is a mania just now," he says, 

 " amateurs fight for novelties." Pretty, no doubt, but rather 

 " exaggerated," and a " little frivolous." " Except Mistriss 

 Pollock, Sophia Cusak, and Lucy Grieve, the rest are not worth 

 much. The fashion will pass — as it came." This, however, 

 hardly corresponds with the opinions of other foreign nursery- 

 men who were seen making similar wild guesses at the some- 

 what outre names they saw, and well they might. As a rule, 

 Frenchmen take too little pains as to English nomenclature, 

 and the Exhibition favourites will, no doubt, appear in strange 

 guise on the continent. This is hardly fair to the grower, but 

 unavoidable at present. 



Tropical fruit trees are described — the palm for flavour 

 being awarded to the Mangosteen ; then the evergreen shrubs 

 — so beautiful, shown by Messrs. Veitch, Standish, and Jack- 

 man. Then Mr. Salter's magnificent Funkias, Arabis, &c, 

 are described, the contents of the Orchid tent minutely gone 

 into, and the names of successful English and Belgian com- 

 petitors given ; among the former Messrs. Veitch and Bull, and 

 among the latter Messrs. Verschaffelt and Linden are conspi- 

 cuous. Ample justice is done to this important part of the 

 subject, and the number and beauty of the novelties which were 

 exhibited are considered to form the most striking part of the 

 whole show, in the eyes of foreigners at least. This is what we 

 like to know. 



Our friend admires Messrs. Ivery's Ferns, and especially Mr. 

 Turner's Tulips. In England, yellow is not a proscribed 

 colour. Then, Mr. Henderson's plants and his able disposition 

 of them are praised, afterwards Mr. Standish's Rhododendrons, 

 Mr. Noble's plants, Mr. Brand's enormous Eucharis grandi- 

 flora, Messrs. Carter's New Striped Japanese Maize, so su- 

 perior, it is added, to that grown in France ; Amaranthus 

 hybridus, shown by Mr. Knight, of Pontchartraiu, near Paris ; 

 Mr. Turner's splendid lot of Lilium auratum ; Mr. A r eitch's 

 wonderful Maranta tubispatha ; M. Pfersdorff's Cacti ; Mr. 

 Foljambe's Alternanthera ; Col. Miles's Adiantum ; and Messrs. 

 Backhouse's Ferns, of irreproachable culture, are noted. It 

 would be tedious to say more than this. 



After this we come to the sections of fruit, &c. " Here," 



says our critic, " we are surprised not to meet the master of 



orchard-house cultivation, Mr. Rivers ; we have thus lost 



some superb productions;" but this could hardly be, as 



orchard-house trees in pots (unless forced) were then far from 



looking at their best. England, long so superior in forced fruits 



has now, it is said, rivals such as Gontier and Lambertye, 



who will make her look to her laurels. The forced fruits are 



considered superb, but less in number than was to be expected. 



Messrs. Lane's Vines in pots are much praised, as also Mr. 



Turner's specimens of Peaches, Figs, &c. " Not a Chasselas 



de Fontainbleau !" says our friend, in wonder. Then, how- 



| ever, comes the rather surprising assertion, " Our superiority 



I in the training and pruning of trees is known and appreciated 



1 in England. The names of Messrs. Jamin &Durand, of Bourg- 



