January 23, 1874. 1 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



77 



KhodoiJemlron I ever saw in this kingdom. I live in a re- 

 mote region of the nortli of Ireland. — John E. Boyd, Bally- 

 macool, Co. Donegal. 



GEOS GUILLAUME A KEEPING GRAPE. 

 Mt vinery is very small, and I have few kinds of Grapes, 

 and am, therefore, not qualified to speak from extensive ex- 

 perience of the keeping qualities of various kinds. Neverthe- 

 less, I cannot withhold my testimony to the superiority of 

 Gros Guillaume (Black Barbarossa), amongst all that have 

 oome under my notice. I have just tasted a cluster cut in the 

 beginning of October attached to a small piece of the wood 

 and huug-up in a dry garret, hut without the advantage of 

 being in a bottle, and find the flavour most excellent. The 

 berries are a little shrunk, but not much, and the abundance 

 of saccharine juice has made them very like fine raisins, but 

 with a peculiar high aroma. I hope this Grape, which was 

 for a long time under a cloud, will now be better understood 

 and appreciated. In my opinion it should not be sent to the 

 table early, but either kept on the Vine, or, if cut, allowed to 

 hang in a dry room for some time till the flavour is fully 

 developed. I must confess, however, that with me this Grape 

 is not very prolific. — John Febme. 



NOTES ON THE SEASON AND ITS EFFECTS. 



Mild as the autumn has been, and for so long a period 

 too, it is many years since the common Primrose was in so 

 backward a state as it is now, and the same remark applies to 

 the Laurustinus ; both in 1871 and 1872 this shrub was in 

 full bloom early in December, the fully-expanded flowers being 

 an such numbers as to give the whole plant a white appear- 

 ance. Our sharpest frost for the year was on December 29th, 

 but it speedily gave way to milder weather, and at the time I 

 write (.January 13th) there have been no signs of winter yet ; 

 etill there is very little advance in the buds of deciduous trees, 

 only such plants as Clematises and Honeysuckles that bud 

 early having made any progress, and it is well they are so 

 backward ; but, as we expect a prolonged period of mild 

 weather to hasten on such things, I am a little puzzled that 

 Itoses have not commenced growing. Winter-blooming plants, 

 as Hellebore, the Snowdrop, Laurustinus, Garrya elliptica, and 

 Primroses, are later rather than earlier. Few of the single 

 white Primroses are yet in fuU bloom, though they are often 

 so early in November. The same may be said of the wild 

 Primroses, and Snowdrops are no further advanced than when 

 they were covered for some weeks with snow. It would almost 

 appear as if Nature were keeping everything back this season, 

 the better to escape the rigour of a late winter. 



In the case of the Laurustinus I cannot but connect its 

 lateness with the season that is past, and in so doing I will 

 glance at the meteorology of last year. The winter, on the 

 whole, was mild, and the spring, up to the end of April, gave 

 promise of being early ; but May was a dull cold month, and 

 the same may be said of June up to the last week, which was 

 fine. June was also wet, and the two previous months having 

 been dry, the rain that fell then assisted all the coarser kinds 

 of vegetation, and grass and hay were abundant, as well as 

 many kinds of vegetables, but summer could not fairly be said 

 to have set-in till the middle of July. After that there was 

 but little fault to be found with the season, as August was a 

 fine month, and all the rain that fell in September and October 

 was needed. November and December were very mild, the 

 latter month also so dry that no measurable quantity of rain 

 fell the first fourteen days, and the roads were dusty. Now, in 

 the case of a shrub like the Laurustinus, the growth of which 

 takes place early in the season, I imagine that the cold weather 

 we experienced in May and June tells at the present time in 

 their backward condition as to blooming, and possibly the 

 same may be the case with the Primrose and other plants. 

 Their growth being protracted, it is probable that their resting 

 period must be so too, hence the lateness of their blooming. 

 I hardly know on what other principle to account for their 

 backward state. 



Assuming the cause assigned to be correct, I have no reason 

 to doubt but that a good bloom will be in time produced ; 

 most plants look well, and, being late, are not likely to be in- 

 jured by the inclement weather. Still I am not sure that a 

 mild winter is to be desired, excepting on some accounts, for 

 the ground rarely works well afterwards, and a late spring 

 often follows. 



Although the season has been mild and the autumn dry, 

 there have been drier years — viz., in 1855, 1858, 181)2, 18C3, 

 and 1870 ; and even as regards frost, I find the minimum 

 thermometer fell lower last year than it ever did in 18G3 or 

 1872. There were several summers in which hotter days 

 occurred. The sharp frosts in spring did much harm to the 

 fruit crop, and a bad planting-out time to the flower garden ; 

 but the prolonged summer made amends for the latter, and if 

 fruit was less plentiful than could bo wished, in most cases it 

 was good, and Apples certainly keep well. Complaints have 

 been made of Pears not doing so, but there have been seasons 

 when they have been worse. The great drawback seems to be 

 the bad condition of the Potatoes. On the other hand, all the 

 Cabbage and Broccoli tribe seem to have benefited by the 

 mild autumn, and for them a gradual approach to winter 

 would be better than a sudden one, as they are very succulent 

 and tender. 



Subjoined is the rainfall of the past year compared with 

 previous ones, also the number of rainy and frosty days. 



Months of 1873. 



January 



February 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August 



September 



October 



November 



December 



Total 



„ 1872 



„ 1871 



„ 1870 



Average of preceding fifteen years . 

 — J. EoBSON, Linton Park. 



Total 

 Balnfall. 



2.69 

 2.24 

 l.BB 

 0.81 

 0,97 

 S.70 

 1.60 

 2.13 

 2.69 

 3.31 

 1.7.'! 

 0.46 



23.99 

 39.10 

 25.12 

 21.63 



20.54 



No. of 

 Bainy 

 Days. 



21 

 18 

 15 

 15 

 12 

 13 



9 

 15 

 14 

 18 

 17 



7 



169 

 215 

 167 

 152 



163 



No. of 

 Frosty 

 Days, 



11 



9 



4 



9 



4 



10 



73 

 52 



92 



81 



'GREEN'S PATENT GUINEA LAWN-MOWER. 



We are informed that it is composed of the smallest num- 

 ber of parts of any other lawn-mower. The framework is cast 



all in one piece, and therefore is not liable to be twisted or by 

 any means to get out of order. The cutters are fitted in the 

 cylinder without wedging or wireing, and yet they are so 

 firmly fixed that they cannot be shaken or in any way become 

 loose. The fixings or caps of the cy Under are fitted together 

 by two bolts and two screws only, and the cylinder itself 

 can be adjusted or removed by the most inexperienced person 

 in two or three minutes. The motive power is given by the 

 travelling wheels, into which a pinion fixed on the end of 

 the cylinder-shaft is geared, giving revolving motion to the 

 cutters. It will cut either short, long, wet, or dry grass, 

 bents, &c. The grass-box is fixed behind the cutters, so that 

 the machine will cut grass close up to trees, seats, walls, and 

 underneath shrubs without the box having to be removed. It 

 is eminently adapted for banks, slopes, flats, &c. The handle 



