Febraary 10, 187G. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



117 



with pleasant words that we should test their qualities — such 

 Nonpareils and Calville Blanche Apples which only high 

 orchard-house culture could produce. 



The orchard house is a span-roofed structure CO feet in 

 length by 20 feet in width. It contains a principal central 

 border, also sido borders. The principal border is occupied 

 by standard Peach and Nectarine trees planted out ; and 

 arranged beneath them are dwarfer trees in pots. The side 

 borders are occupied by trees in pots of Plums, Cherries, 

 Apples, etc. The principal Peach trees are large-sized, sym- 

 metrical trees, each producing five to eight dozen of fruit. 

 They have been skilfully managed, and litprally bristle to 

 their centres with fruit-bearing spurs. The sorts are tlrosse 

 Mignonne, Royal George, Noblesse, and Bellegarde Peaches, 

 and Pitmaston Orange and Lord Napier Nectarines— an admi- 

 rable selection, and probably not to be equalled by any other 

 half-a-dozen sorts. The fruit from these trees is of the highest 

 excellence. Black Hamburgh and Royal Jlascadine Grapes 

 are grown in this house, and Mr. Bass considers that they are 

 quite as good or better in flavour than those grown with more 

 pretence and expense. 



The Apples in pots comprise Margil, Calville Blanche, Cox's 

 Orange Pippin, Ribston Pippin, and Nonpareil. Respecting 

 the fruit from these trees it is not too much to say that those 

 who have not tasted it, or other fruit similarly grown, have 

 yet to learn the full value of these sterling sorts. Both in 

 appearance and flavour Apples from well-grown orchard house 

 trees far surpass the best specimens under even favourable 

 garden culture. All the trees in this house are in the first 

 condition of health and fruitfulness, and they are in the sole 

 charge of Mr. and Mre. Bass, who train, prune, pinch, and 

 water them. The orchard house is their recreation ground — 

 their " hobby ; " their pleasure is to grow and give — a delight- 

 ful, wholesome, healthy life. Mrs. Bass is a pomologist who 

 can hold refreshing converse on the subject which she prac- 

 tises so successfully. The modes of pruning and pinching of 

 the fruit of English and continental growers are familiar to 

 her " as a tale of love." Her work is indeed a work of love — 

 love guided by skill and crowned with success. It is refresh- 

 ing to notice how much pleasure a garden can give and what 

 benefits it can confer ; and especially is it pleasant to feel that 

 these pleasures and benefits are at the call of all who own a 

 garden, however small it may be, if they only put " their 

 heart in the work " of tending it. 



My visit to Moat Bank was on one of the coldest of days of 

 my garden "exploring" experience, but I was rewarded with 

 the " discovery" of one of the warmest welcomes I ever met, 

 and a garden which by the soundness of its management is 

 worthy of a warm tribute of recognition. — J. W, 



THE FLOWERING OF SPRING PLANTS.- 

 The observations which have been made by Mr. McNab on 

 the flowering of spring plants in the open air in the Edinburgh 

 Royal Botanic Garden during the past twenty-six years, have 

 been published in the Transactions of the Botanical Society of 

 Edinburgh. These observations have been made by the same 

 observer on the same plants growing iu the same situations 

 during the whole of the twenty-six years. 



The average day of flowering of thirty-two spring flowers 

 has been determined, of which the following are examples : — 

 Galanthns nivahs, Jan. 2j ; Eranthis hyemalis, Jan. .SO ; 

 Hepatica triloba, Jan. 31 ; Corylus Avellana, Feb. 2 ; Rhodo- 

 dendron atrovirens, Feb. 3; Crocus susianus, Feb. 4; Leucojum 

 vernnm, Feb. 10; Daphne Mezereum, Feb. 22; Narcissus 

 pumilus, March 10 ; Orobns vernus, March 11 ; Muscari 

 botryoides, March 18; Ribes sanguineum, March 22; Nar- 

 cissus pseudo-Narcissus, March 31 ; and Fritillaria imperialis, 

 AprU 1. 



The lateness or earliness of the difl'erent springs, as deter- 

 mined from the times of flowering of the thirty-two plants in 

 each year, ia considerable. The latest spring was 1855, which 

 was thirty days later than the average, and the earliest 1871, 

 which was twenty-three days earlier, thus giving a difierence 

 of fifty-three days between the latest and earliest springs 

 during the past twenty-six years. As regards particular flowers 

 the deviations are much greater; the largest deviations from 

 the average ditea of flowering occur before the time of the 



* Abstract of a paper read before the Etlinbargb Botanical Society en the 

 ISthult. Tbe paper itself is in type for the .T'Omal of the Scottish Meteoro- 

 logical Society. 



equinox, when deviations of from five to seven weeks either 

 way are of repeated occurrence ; but after the equinox the 

 deviations are markedly les?, seldom reaching three weeks. 



The springs of 1855, 1850, 1857, 18C5, and 1870 were late 

 throughout ; and on the other hand, the springs of 1851, 1802, 

 18G3, 1888, 1809, 1872, and 1871 were early throughout. Great 

 variations have occurred in other springs, such as 18G4, which, 

 being preceded by a very mild December, many spring plants 

 came into flower in the end of 1803. But In January the 

 temperature was 2^0 under the average, and in Febraary 5 .2, 

 and vegetation was consequently arrested. March was also 

 under the average, and the weather did not improve till 

 April 3, the mean temperature of this month being 1'.7 above 

 the average. The disturbing influence of this abnormal weather 

 on the dates of flowering was in some cases very great. Thus, 

 Sisyrinchium grandiflornm flowers on the average eleven days 

 earlier than Daphne Mezereum, but in 1804 Daphne Mezereum 

 did not come into flower till eighty-six days after Sisyrinchium 

 grandiflornm had flowered. It is the occurrence of these dis- 

 turbances which render a long series of years necessary in 

 order to arrive at a sufliciently close approximation to the true 

 mean dates of flowering. 



As regards Edinburgh, January 11 may be considered as the 

 turning point in the winter temperature, since previous to this 

 date the temperature is, on the whole, falling, and after this 

 date it continues steadily to rise. Further, after this date the 

 rainfall becomes less, clear weather is of more frequent oc- 

 currence, and the increase in the temperature is very largely 

 due to an increase of sunshine. The extremely slow rate at 

 which, up to the end of Febraary, the mean temperature rises, 

 and the small differences among the temperatures up to this 

 date, and the large number of plants — fourteen in all out of 

 thirty-two — which come successively into flower during the 

 interval, suggests that it is not so much absolute temperature 

 that calls for consideration as the accumulated amounts of the 

 preceding daily temperatures, in the extent to which these rise 

 above freezing. The accumulated temperatures, thus calcu- 

 lated, are — for Galanthus nivalis, 72'. 7, andG. plicatus, 140°.4 ; 

 for Crocus susianus, 125°.2, and C. vernus, 170°.l ; for Rhodo- 

 dendron atrovirens, 120°. 3, and R. Nobleauum, 249'.3 ; and for 

 Narcissus pumilus, 347'.0, and N. pseudo-Narcissus, 540M. 

 Similar data prepared for other places, in this and other 

 countries, would be very instructive in showing how far the 

 order of dates of flowering in Edinburgh is observed in other 

 places, and what is the relation of the dates of flowering at 

 each place to the accumulated temperatures at that place, and 

 what modifications are brought about by purely climatic dif- 

 ferences, particularly as these occasion different results as 

 respects the heating and actinic rays of the sun. 



The thirty-two plants, whose dates of flowering have been 

 determined, include three varieties of one species — viz., the 

 blue, white, and red varieties of Scilla bifolia. Of these three 

 varieties the blue flowers first — viz , on March 7 ; next comes 

 the white variety, on March 17 ; and lastly, the red variety, 

 on March 21 ; the red being thus a fortnight later than the 

 blue variety. 



An interesting question may in this connection be raised 

 with reference to the relation which the colours of flowers 

 have to the dates of flowering. With this view, our British wild 

 plants have been grouped according to the difl'erent colours of 

 their flowers and the months in which the flowers usually first 

 expand, the data being taken from Dr. Hooker's " Students' 

 Flora of the British Islands." In classifying the plants, red 

 includes pink, crimson and scarlet ; and gieen, all greenish- 

 white, yellowish-green, and greenish-purple flowers. Grasses, 

 Carices, and other groups, characterised by inconspicuous floral 

 envelopes, are excluded. The list eximined includes 901) 

 species, of which there are 257 with white flowers, 238 with 

 yellow flowers, these two being nearly a halt of the whole 

 number; then follow red, 144; purple, 94; blue, 87; green, 

 51 ; and miscellaneous, 38. Taking each colour by itself, and 

 calculating the per-centages of that colour which has come into 

 flower by each month from April to July, we obtain the follow- 

 icg results for the first five classes : — 



April. May. June. Jaly. 

 ;i .. 24 .. 61 .. 98 

 9 .. 25 .. G2 .. 9i 



Thus of these colours, the blues are, on the average, con- 

 siderably the earliest in flowering ; then follow in order the 

 whites and the purples, and lastly, the yellows and reds. It 

 follows that the plants included in the British flora clearly 



