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JOXmNAIi OF HORTICULTDKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Deoomber 31, 1874. 



in sunshine. Years ago we used to tend it carefully as a 

 greenhouse plant, and it is still useful for that purpose for 

 late autumn and winter decoration. It is easily increased by 

 offshoots and division in spring. Whether Antmone vitifolia 

 ia a variety of the above I am unable to say, but it is a very 

 deairable plant, and should not be overlooked by the collector 

 of herbaceous plants. 



Anemone rivularis is worthy of more extensive cultivation 

 than it is receiving; its beautifully-coloured fiuivcio ought to 

 secure it a place in all collections. A. sylvestris is a very 

 choice species, being a late-spring and early-summer bloomer. 

 A. palmata is one of the finest of the race, of good habit, 

 dark green leaves, and beautiful yellow flowers ; being a spring 

 bloomer it is very desirable. 



A. alpina, another early spring-blooming variety, does well 

 on rockwork. It should have thorough drainage. When well 

 established no plant can be more beautiful. 



A. sulphurea is very seldom met with ; it is not a very at- 

 tractive plant on account of the paleness of its flowers, yet it 

 is a desirable addition to a collection. 



A. japonica alba should be in all collections ; Honerine Jobert, 

 the gem of all the train, indoors, or out in the border, or in 

 the bed. For autumn decoration no plant can be more beau- 

 tiful ; it Will well repay any amount of labour bestowed upon it. 



I am inclined to think we have some confusion here about 

 the name. Is not Anemone japonica alba and A. vitifolia con- 

 founded with Honerine Jobert ? I ask information on this 

 point. 



There are many others that are worthy of the cultivator's 

 notice ; many useful for beds in the early spring, summer, 

 and autumn, and for exhibition as herbaceous plants. And 

 here I would remark that, in my opinion, all herbaceous plants 

 for exhibition should be grown and exhibited in pots to show 

 their habits ; nothing in my eyes looks so distressing in an 

 exhibition as a few bundles of half-withered flowers that are 

 often to be seen placed on exhibition tables. — Veritas. 



THE TEAB AND ITS LESSONS. 



Vert interesting indeed was Mr. Luckhurst's agreeable re- 

 view. It is always interesting in the great horticultural fra- 

 ternity to see how one's brethren fare. Many a lesson which 

 the year has left behind must in the nature of things remain 

 hidden ; many important facts and observations must have 

 been born only to be buried as it were, lost in the lapse of 

 time, vanished from trusted yet treacherous memories. Mr. 

 Lnckiiurst's narrative, apart from its inherent value, teaches 

 another lesson — one to be especially commended to the rising 

 generation of gardeners — viz., the point, force, and value of 

 systematic notation. Sailing without chart or compass never 

 made iia admiral yet, and never will. The rocks must be 

 noted, the hidden dangers largely marked, as well as the har- 

 bours of refuge have prominent entry. These logs carefully 

 treated will be a mine of wealth to those fortunate enough to 

 possess them. If a man of Mr. Luckhurst's evident skill and 

 acoomphbhments feels their value, and everyone may be cer- 

 tain that he does, what further can be required as to their 

 extreme importance ? 



Besults of practice can never be so well recorded as at the 

 moment of observation. Thoughts will occur just onee in a 

 lifetime; note them, or they are for ever lost. In all log- 

 books, besides space for routine entries, there should be a wide 

 margin for results, another still wider for thoughts and ob- 

 servations. This should be regarded as a bank of knowledge 

 to be drawn from and added to in the progress of life. Be- 

 sides the mere contents of such a register, the habit of enter- 

 ing is in itself no unimportant educator. It will train the 

 mind to quick and correct judgment — to form its estimates as 

 if by intuition ; invest it with clearer, stronger, and more 

 determinate powers of comparison ; and wUl lead impercep- 

 tibly, yet not less certainly, to a free, easy, natural, yet correct 

 form of expression. There is nothing here but which is of 

 importance to the gardener of the future ; and if a man lacks 

 these qualities, and lacks also ambition to attain them, he 

 may more profitably seek another calling. Depend upon it 

 that is good advice. For the best interest of the whole craft — 

 its real welfare as a profession, as well as for individual suc- 

 cess, and, t'tiis emphatically for the benefit of those it is in- 

 tended to benefit — the characters and attainments of its repre- 

 sentatives must be run in a more highly-finished mould in 

 the future than has sufficed for the past. 



But can such men work ? Work ! with lines leading to 



success drawn straight before him, what equal stimulant can 

 behave? Work! it will be work direct to its purpose — not 

 brain and muscle wasted, not a dead loss of vital force, but a 

 real profitable application of energy correctly applied and at 

 a right time to effect a given purpose. That is the only right 

 way for work to be prosperous, and is what is more and more 

 demanded and expected every day. That is the standard to be 

 aimed at and attained, and if it is deemed too high by some 

 they will be in the wrong place in continuing a gardening 

 career. It is one of the greatest mistakes of the day to en- 

 courage a youth to blunder on in a garden who has no ambi- 

 tion to excel, no special aptitude to adorn and add honour to 

 an old and honourable craft. Let us seek to improve its status 

 by every possible means to the common advantage of all. A 

 word to the wise is enough. 



The correct and careful tabulation of work, thought, obser- 

 vation, and kindred circumstance suggested by Mr. Luckhurst's 

 paper is one great means to recommend, one of the greatest 

 self-aids that can be mentioned to all anticipating a successful 

 career. By lack of this many valuable hints and sterling 

 points of practice slip into the dark past and are dead — lost 

 for ever, instead of being stored as landmarks of usefulness, 

 valuable to the gardening wayfarer and an honour to the man 

 recording them. The public record of points of usefulness 

 always reflect credit on those who advance them ; they are 

 evidence of a generous mind, a will to serre and benefit the 

 generation. Churlishness in gardening is happily dying out. 

 The days of secrets belong to a past age, and any instance 

 now-a-days of a man fearing to record practice lest another 

 should be as wise as he, is every year becoming more closely 

 interpreted as " I am poor myself, my man, and have nothing 

 to spare." But an immense mass of useful hints are with- 

 held from the world by a deterring notion that they are too 

 plain and commonplace to merit notice. That is a great 

 delusion. As a rule, plain successes in common things is the 

 most really useful of all information. If a grower can relate 

 a mode whereby he has doubled his crop of Potatoes, the 

 narration redounds more to his honour and is of infinitely 

 greater service than in dabbling in gases and playing at science. 

 All honour to the man who has courage to relate his common 

 practice of common things. To refrain from stating a fact 

 because it is not " great " is an error of judgment, and withal 

 a too common one. Let it not be supposed that a slight esti- 

 mate is formed of scientific research. No, no. That is a 

 matter pregnant with advantages inestimable, and there are 

 men to evolve philosophical facts who merit a country's grati- 

 tude ; but practice, simple practice, is an everyday's work and 

 an everyday's want. Mr. Luckhurst has set a worthy ex- 

 ample. It is not given to all to treat as he has treated, but 

 all can emulate and hold a share in the mine of knowledge, 

 and share in the coble work of public instruction. The use- 

 ful lessons dated fifty miles south of London are hereby sup- 

 plemented by notes from a locality 130 miles north of the 

 metropolis. The first words of the diary are singularly like 

 Mr. Luckhurst's — viz., " Glorious new year's morning, mild and 

 bright." The month closed as it opened, with rooks building 

 and Snowdrops sparkling on the grass. It was remarkably 

 salubrious throughout, the average minimum night tempera- 

 ture being 33°. A dry month. February was much the same 

 at its opening and close, but with sharp frosts in the middle 

 injuring the heads of Snow's Broccoli, but not harming the 

 fruit buds, as they were not forward. " Not forward," with 

 the mildest winter ever known, the mean temperature of 

 December preceding being 41°, seems strange, but the reason 

 is plain. Sap will not move under heat unaccompanied by 

 moisture. It was dry ; the buds were late in spite of the 

 mild temperature, and saved. The average mean temperature 

 of the three months — December, January, February, was 39°. 

 but then the average rainfall in the same time was only 102, 

 hence vegetation slept. Under showers at the end of Febru- 

 ary it awoke rapidly, and on March 11th and 12th 15' of frost 

 were registered. Plum and Pear blossom was showing, but 

 escaped injury. AprU extremely mild, and towards the end 

 hot, on the 25th 82° being registered in the shade 4 feet from 

 the ground. May was not so warm as April by a daily average 

 of 1°. On the 18th of May was a disastrous frost, leaving 

 orchards a blank. Plums and Pears being better set — more 

 forward — than Apples, had a sprinkling of fruit left, but the 

 latter fruit, except in high and dry situations, was almost ab- 

 solutely killed. Thousands of tons of Apples were prevented 

 by that one night's frost. June a hot and most trying month. 

 From May 23rd to June 22nd only 00 of rain fell. Forest 



