152 



THE CANADIAN H0RTICCLTURI8T. 



northern orcliids, was once fonnd in 

 several parts of this country, but it now 

 lingers only near Settle in Yorkshire, 

 and on a single estate in Purham, 

 where it is carefully preserved by the 

 owner as if it were pheasants or fallow- 

 deer. The same thing is true of many 

 other British plants. The seakale came 

 originally from the coast of Devonshire 

 and was naturalized in English gardens 

 abo\;t a century and a half ago. Never- 

 theless it is found growing wild on the 

 beach on the south side of Anticosti ; 

 so also is the weed called lamb's-quarter, 

 and a variety of wild pea. Wild 

 goosebei-ries (red) of as good quality as 

 those fonnd in our gardens, rather small, 

 resembling Houghton's American seed- 

 ling, are found in large patches growing 

 on the shingle but inside the bank 

 above the reach of ordinary spring 

 tides. Possibly if some of the plants 

 co\ild be brought here it might be 

 found capable of resisting the attacks 

 of mildew. I will try to get a speci- 

 men next summer. My son-in-law, 

 Mr. E. Pope, is still in charge of the 

 S. W. Point Lighthouse. Have you 

 any varieties mildew-proof I 



Sarawak. 

 Ecl£e water Farm, Sarawak, 

 21st April, 1884. 



RECENT FROSTS IN EASTERN 

 ONTARIO. 



The 25th and 26th May, and previ- 

 ous days wei'e unusually close and warm 

 for the season, stimulating vegetation 

 to a remarkable degree ; the leaves on 

 the forest trees were fast expanding, 

 and the young growth as usual at sucli 

 sea.sons was very tender. On the after- 

 noon of Tuesday, the 27th, the wind 

 veered round gradually towards the 

 north, and the thermometer took a 

 marked dip. The sky during the night 

 was clear, and on Wednesday morning 

 it was noticed vegetation was looking 



quite sickly. The frost of the previous 

 night was veiy light, the glass only 

 sinking to 32°, the morning was cloudy, 

 and it was hoped the cold snap would 

 pass off without any serious conse- 

 quences, but the wind blew a partial 

 gale all day ; and its blighting effects 

 were becoming evident, the Mercury 

 indicating 40° to 42°. Clearing weather 

 towards the night of Wednesday caused 

 increasing cold, and on Thursday morn- 

 ing the glass had settled down to 28°, 

 this was the lowest temperature reached ; 

 there was a light frost again in some 

 localities on Thursday night, but the 

 ice formed was of the thinnest. 



The warm weather in the eai'ly part 

 of May had encouraged planters to put 

 in their crops, consequently beans, po- 

 tatoes and corn were well through the 

 ground, tomato plants had been very 

 generally set out, grape vines had in 

 many instances, especially the Cham- 

 pion, grown nine inches, and were show- 

 ing the flower buds on the new shoots. 

 All the annuals above mentioned were 

 cut to the ground, a few beans and to- 

 matoeshei-e and there vvei-e left standing, 

 but the majority were destroyed. The 

 grape vine shoots were not all killed ; 

 frequently of two which had sprung 

 from neighboring eyes, one was taken 

 and the other left, in very few vineyards 

 were all destroyed, though one case is 

 reported. The damage to vines will 

 ])robably in exposed situations reduce 

 the crop about Ottawa from one half to 

 two thirds, though some will not suffer 

 so much, while others will come off 

 worse. I do not notice that any one 

 variety has escaped better than another, 

 but those which had grown the longest 

 shoots are probably the most injured. 

 Taking a drive into the country on Sa- 

 tin-day, the 31st, it was found many of 

 the forest trees had suffered ; the black 

 ash leaves were quite destroyed ; the 

 butternuts were badly fx'ozen, and as 

 these were in bloom it is feared the nut 



