Angnst G, 187S. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



Ill 



Bale, orosaiug from Italy into Switzerland by the St. Gothard 

 Paae, and I thought it might interest some of your readers if I 

 sent yon a few remarks on the different changes of vegetation, 

 and also on some of the pubUo gardens and other things which 

 I saw. 



The season seems to have been nearly as backward in 

 France as with ns. I do not think I ever remember a spring 

 when the hedges were so late in vegetating as they were this 

 year. There was hardly a vestige of green to be seen till the 

 second week in April ; "but jast as they were late in starting, 

 so they made most rapid strides when once the spring set in. 

 And in travelhng throngh England I noticed there was com- 

 paratively very little difference between the north of Yorkshire 

 and the south, as in the third week in April I went from York- 

 shire into Dorsetshire, and in the middle of May through from 

 Yorkshire into Kent, and in both cases I do not think there 

 was more than a week or ten days' difference in the forward- 

 ness of the vegetation between the north and the south. 

 This, perhaps, was more especially remarkable in May, as be- 

 tween the 5th and the IGth of May we had some very forcing 

 weather, which brought all vegetation on together. I remem- 

 ber amongst other things watching the development of the 

 flowers of a large Horse Chestnut tree. On Saturday, May 

 9th, there was not a single flower fully expanded, and on 

 Friday, May 14th, there was not a single flower which was not 

 fully open, even on the north side of the tree in the shade ; 

 but then our temperature had reached from 78° to 80° in the 

 ehade three days running, and one day it had been up to 70"' 

 at nine in the morning, and remained so till after eight o'clock 

 at night. The change which took place in the hedges was 

 much the same ; so that, though they were so backward in 

 April, our May blossom was out by the 1.5th of May, which is 

 forward for tliis part of Yorkshire. 



Why I make these remarks is, that on crosBing into the 

 Continent I found they were not much forwarder in France, 

 till we arrived near to Paris, than in England, and certainly 

 in the warmer parts of Kent the vegetation was quite as for- 

 ward as in the first part of France we passed through. From 

 inquiries, too, which I made from persons who had wintered 

 at Mentone, Nice, Rome, Florence, Naples, and other places 

 there seemed to be the same general complaint that the winter 

 had been unusually severe and the spring very backward 

 nearly all over the Continent. We only stayed two nights in 

 Paris, and found gardeners just beginning to put out the half- 

 hardy plants in the gardens there ; in fact, as I had begun to 

 bed-out my own garden in Yorkshire, and had just put out the 

 greatest number of my Geraniums by the 2'2nd of May, I did 

 not find them much forwarder at Paris than with us. On the 

 22nd we left Paris for Aix-les-Bains, where we remained over 

 the Sunday, and it was interesting to watch the gradual change 

 in the forwardness of the foliage and in the character of the 

 vegetation. Taking, for instance, the Acacia as a test, which 

 ie much grown along the sides of the railways in France, it 

 was only showing bud near Boulogne, and we saw none in 

 bloom till we reached Paris, and before we arrived at Aix, or 

 rather soon after passing Dijon, the flowers were all over. It 

 was curious, however, on the Monday, when going through 

 the Mont Cenis Pass, to watch the flowers gradually reappear 

 as we went higher up the valleys, till at last, as we arrived 

 nearer to Modane, the foliage was hardly developed. 



The climate of Aix is very warm ; it is protected from the 

 west by a high range of hiUs, the Dent du Chat, and on the 

 east and north by the range of Alps ; in fact, after crossing 

 the Valley of the Rhftne, the Vines in the different valleys 

 were much forwarder than about Dijon and Ma(;on, and the 

 Burgundy country. Here, too, for the first time we saw Indian 

 Corn as one of the crops. And here I may remark, that 

 wherever we went the Vines this year were looking remarkably 

 well, and the paysans were already congratulating themselves 

 on the great promise of an abundant vintage. This was the 

 same both in France and Italy ; in fact, in Italy the value of 

 the exchange of English gold into Italian paper money began 

 to be materially influenced by the prospect of an abundant 

 vintage, the exchange falling in about six weeks from 28 liras 

 to 26.50_per English sovereign. At Aix we first saw the Pau- 

 lownia imperiaUs and Bignonias growing luxuriantly. The 

 foliage of trees and shrubs was very luxuriant, the shrubs 

 making a marked feature in the public gardens. Here, too, 

 there were more flowers grown in the gardens than in most 

 places that we visited ; in short, as a general rule, I may 

 remark here the extreme paucity of flowers in any of the 

 public gardens in Italy. Nor do you see flowers in cottage 



gardens or even in gentlemen's grounds in the same way we 

 do in England ; such a thing, too, as a well-kept lawn or grass 

 plot is rarely to be seen. The excuse is generally made that 

 in warm chmates the grass grows too fast and requires too 

 constant care, and that if dry weather comes on it burns- 

 np ; but the fact is that the grass is left to grow for so long 

 that it becomes brown and bare at the roots, and then when it 

 is cut it cannot stand the sun. . 



French and Italian gardeners think that once a month is 

 quite often enough to cut a lawn, and in some places, as at 

 Bellagio, in front of the H6tel Grande Bretagne, a grand new 

 garden is laid-out with beds edged with terra cotta tiles and a 

 fountain, while the grass plots are nothing but weeds, as 

 Plantains and Sow Thistles, Shepherd's Purse, et id genm 

 omne, allowed to grow at their own will. The effect in this 

 particular case I allude to was most ridiculous, especially 

 when the flower beds were filled with half-hardy annuals, 

 which in the beginning of June required a strong magnifying 

 glass to see ; but there, too, the shrubs were the redeeming 

 feature. However, I am digressing, but I remarked at Aix 

 that there were more flowers and better shrubs than at most 

 places, but lamentably injured by want of sufficient care and 

 attention to the surroundings. The truth is, in these favour- 

 able climates gardeners seem to trust to Nature. 



It was very pleasant, however, to meet with some old friends 

 in the shape of Roses in the gardens of the inns, and there 

 were very good specimens of our old favourites (lunural Jac- 

 queminot, Gloire de Dijon, Souvenir de la Malmaison, and 

 others in the garden of the Hotel de I'Europe, where we 

 stayed over the Sunday. I can strongly recommend any 

 persons who wish to see the scenery on the Mont Cenis route 

 to advantage to make Aix-les-Bains a resting place instead of 

 going straight through from Paris to Turin, which is a long 

 and fatiguing journey, and if one leaves Paris in the morning 

 to go straight through to Turin the tunnel and the scenery 

 about Mont Cenis is passed at night. There are few prettier 

 places than Aix and the district including the little Lac de 

 Bourget with its very clear and translucent waters. 



I will pause here and continue my remarks about Italy, &o., 

 in another number. — C. P. P. 



CARNATIONS AND PICOTEES AT SOUTH 

 KENSINGTON.— July 21st. 



But first let me say a word about the place itself. It really 

 seemed as if some magician's wand had been waved over it and 

 transformed it all. For some years one has never gone up to 

 South Kensington without having to ask the question " What's 

 up now ?" and was sure to hear that something was going wrong. 

 I know very little of the rights and wrongs, and should feel 

 myself utterly disqualified from giving an opinion ; but there 

 was the fact, discouragement was ever the tone, and those who 

 loved horticulture sighed to think what grand opportunities 

 were being wasted. Well, Wednesday certainly brought no 

 climatic influences to cheer one's spirits. A cruel and incessant 

 downpour would under ordinary circumstances have thrown a 

 damper on everything ; but one saw or heard nothing of the 

 kind. A general hopefulness pervaded the countenances of all 

 whom one met. Men of all grades in horticulture— nurserymen, 

 amateurs, gardeners — all spoke hopefully ; and when Mr. Bos- 

 cawen, as a member of the Council, asked the exhibitors to allow 

 the exhibits to remain for another day, the cheerful acquiescence 

 with which the proposal was met augured the best things for 

 the Society, and it clearly showed that it will not be the fault 

 of the horticalturista if the Society does not emerge from the 

 clouds which have enveloped it. It was like passing away out 

 of the mists and fogs of some dark valley to the bracing air of 

 the mountain tops. 



An I now as to the Carnations and Picotees. It was a good 

 sight for the eyes of an old florist to see even the few stands that 

 were exhibited, and to note that there were three new exhibitors 

 amongst amateurs— J. F. Burnaby-Atkins, Esq., Mr. Douglas, 

 and myself; for although I have grown them for these thirty 

 years and more on and off, I never exhibited a stand before. 

 The prizes awarded by the Boyal Horticultural Society have 

 already been commented upon, let me now speak of those offered 

 by the Metropolitan Floral Society ; Mr. Burnaby-Atkins not 

 competing for these, as he was not a member. There were but 

 three exhibitors in Picotees and two in Carnations, Mr. Douglas 

 taking first, as he is always sure to do in anything he goes in for, 

 and on this his first appearance taking all the four first prizes. 

 His Picotees were Ethel, rose edge; Admiration, heavy-edged 

 purple ; Mary, purple ; Miss Small, red edge ; Picco, purple 

 edge ; Princess of Wales, heavy-edged purple ; Miss Williams ; 

 Mr. May, purple ; Mrs. Hornby, light red edge ; Miss Turner, 

 red edge ; Mrs. Allcroft, rose edge ; and Juliana, red edge. Mr. 



