Decembet 17, 1874. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



535 



^ 



THE YEAR AND ITS LESSONS. 



P S tlie la.st month of the year opens upon us 

 the tendency of one's mind is naturally 

 retrospective ; and as each month passes in 

 review, many matters recur to memory which 

 one would like to have told long ago to the 

 readers of the Journal, but could not for 

 lack of time, for the whole year has been a 

 busy one ; and I have no doubt that if some 

 of the pages of iny horticultural diary were 

 transcribed literally into the Journal many 

 youthful aspirants would be much surprised to find how 

 numerous and varied are the matters apart from actual 

 gardening with which one has to deal in the management 

 of a new place. On the first page of that diary I read, 

 " The new year opens cheerfully with a warm bright 

 day;" and this hopeful and promising aspect which 

 Nature wore when the year was young was prophetic of 

 the prosperity which has crowned its span of time. Some 

 hopes remain unrealised, and some expectations unful- 

 filled ; the sunshine has not been unchequered by clouds, 

 but there has been no settled gloom ; brightness has pre- 

 dominated, so that on the whole the year has been a 

 prosperous and in some respects a remarkable one. 



A winter of extraordinary mildness was followed by 

 some severe late frosts which were fatal to fruit prospects 

 in many districts. A drought early and long continued, 

 an autumn of genial showers, and weather so mUd that 

 beds of Calceolarias, and even Heliotropes, were perfectly 

 full of fine fresh blo6Som in the last week of October, and 

 another winter of mild open weather, comprise the chief 

 weather-characteristics. The mild winter caused many 

 hardy plants to become so tender that the cold spring 

 proved fatal to them, teaching us to be on our guard, and 

 ready with such means of protection as can be had so as 

 to counteract the baneful effects of such unseasonable wea- 

 ther as much as possible. Some spring-flowering plants, 

 notably Nemophila, are extremely liable to suffer from 

 6Uch weather, especially when planted on a flat surface. 

 High-raised beds with a steeply-sloping surface, soil of a 

 dry, gritty, open textm-e, and thin planting is the best 

 remedy. Spring-flowering plants, especially annuals, 

 should never be crowded together in winter ; each plant 

 should stand tolerably clear from its neighbour, so as to 

 be folly exposed to the play of light and air ; then in 

 apring the sturdy plants, growing freely, quickly blend 

 into a perfect mass without a scar or blemish. 



Among vegetables. Peas are more generally regarded 

 than any other as the prime esculent of summer. The 

 first sowings were made on February 3rd of Dillistone's 

 Early and Laxton's Alpha, from which the first gather- 

 ings were made on the 30th of May, the first-named kind 

 affording double the quantity of plump pods that day to 

 what could be found upon Alpha. A fortnightly sowing 

 .followed the first one until the middle of June, when 

 the regular cropping ceased. An abundant and constant 

 supply of nice young Peas was forthcoming from the first 

 gathering until the early part of October, or nearly five 



No. 116.— Vol. XXVII., New Sbbtbs. 



months. A speculative sowing on July 1st of Laxton's 

 Omega, 'William the First, and Carter's G. P. Wilson 

 proved most interesting and useful. William the First 

 may be an excellent early variety, but it is comparatively 

 useless so late in the season. The seed vegetated with 

 surprising rapidity ; the haulm was decaying and the 

 crop ful'y matured long before that of the other two kinds 

 was fit for table. Omega is a good kind, yielding a fair 

 crop of large pods well filled with very green Peas, but, in 

 my opinion, it was much inferior to G. F. Wilson ; this is 

 worthy of note, because especial merit is claimed for 

 Omega as a late Pea. Growing side by side with it, and 

 under precisely the same conditions, G. F. Wilson was 

 more robust, much less affected with mildew — of which, 

 in fact, it had very little — and yielding a crop which was 

 greatly superior both in size and quantity. The great 

 value of such late-sown Peas is seen by a reference to the 

 kitchen book, which shows that good dishes of Peas were 

 sent to table on October the 11th, 15th, 19th, and 22nd. 

 Depend upon it, good late Peas are quite as valuable as 

 early ones. Reverting to the general Pea crop, it should 

 be stated that the June sowings were all of Veitch's Per- 

 fection, which if sown in the second or third week of 

 that month come into use in August, and continue good 

 throughout September. Knowing this, one takes especial 

 care to make these sowings quite three times as extensive 

 as the ordinary ones. For example, if two rows were 

 requu-ed in May, six would be the correct proportion for 

 June. 



Turnuag now to Kidney Beans, sowing a row or two 

 thickly and transplanting was adopted throughout the 

 season ; it is an excellent plan, by which a supply of 

 plants can always easily be had to follow or put between 

 the rows of any other crop. For forcing, and for early 

 or late crops, a new kind called Osborn's New Early 

 Forcing proves a real acquisition. The growth is remark- 

 ably dwarf and compact, the crop is abundant and fit for 

 use much sooner than other kinds. It is quite the best 

 for pot culture, the compact dwarf growth requiring no 

 supports, and occupying very little space. Among climb- 

 ing Beans special attention should be directed to Carter's 

 Mont d'Or Butter Bean, a delicious vegetable, greatly 

 superior in quahty to all other climbing Beans. The old 

 Scarlet Runner is sometimes disliked, and there are 

 estabhshments where Dwarf Kidney Beans only are culti- 

 vated for the dining-room. While strongly recommend- 

 ing this new introduction to all, I would specially beg 

 those having charge of gardens where this feeling prevails 

 to grow some of this flue new Bean, as it must become a 

 general favourite. 



Of Onions we have a new NeapoHtan white-skinned 

 variety called Queen, which proves most valuable for 

 early spring or autumn sowing. It is of remarkably 

 quick growth, being fit for use much earlier than any 

 other kind that has been grown with it. Sowings of it 

 made in July and August form a capital succession to the 

 summer Onions. 



Much attention has been given to salading of all kinds, 

 particularly in providing a winter supply, but the un- 



Mo. 1363.— Toi. LII., Old Scsus. 



