706 Summary View of the Progress of Gardening, 



same locality, as appears from the fact, that a full crop in the 

 case of many varieties could be instanced as having been borne 

 on the latter, whilst scarcely a single blossom was left on the 

 dwarfs, the varieties in both cases being identical. The temper- 

 ature of May was nearly 4° below the average ; that of June 1 *5° 

 and of July nearly 2*5°. In the last two months, vegetation, 

 however, progressed very favourably ; but, owing to the lateness 

 of the spring, many kinds of fruit were, at midsummer, far short 

 of that increase, with regard to size, which they usually acquire 

 by that period. In consequence of this, not only the maturation, 

 but also much of the growth of the fruit was affected in a period 

 when the days had become greatly decreased in length, and 

 were, moreover, very frequently sunless and wet. The effects 

 resulting from these conditions on the flavour need not be ad- 

 verted to. Grapes on walls were probably never observed to 

 be generally so imperfect as in this autumn ; chiefly owing to the 

 late period of their setting, for up to the end of October there 

 has been no frost to injure them." 



Flowers. — The summer, on the whole, has been as unfavour- 

 able to herbaceous flowers as to fruits, because, though the 

 former have grown with great luxuriance, they have in few cases 

 flowered freely. Pelargoniums, and other green-house plants, 

 which have been turned out into the borders, have, in many 

 cases, not flowered at all ; and various creepers and trailers, 

 that used to cover the surface of their beds with one continuous 

 sheet of blossoms, have produced little more than rampant 

 shoots, or an exuberance of foliage, difficult to keep within 

 bounds. This has been the case with the verbenas, and various 

 of the Mexican and Californian annuals. The dahlia, however, 

 is an exception, as that has not only flowered abundantly, but 

 its season has been prolonged to the middle of November, the 

 period at which we now write. The chrysanthemum, a taste 

 for which we are happy to see beginning to revive, is now 

 flowering magnificently in situations where it is trained against 

 a wall, but in the open border it is superabundant in foliage, and 

 it is doubtful whether the season will admit of the expansion of 

 the flower-buds. The different varieties of the China rose 

 have also bloomed later and finer this season than we remember 

 to have seen them ; though this last circumstance probably 

 arises from the greatly increased number of new varieties that 

 have lately been originated, or introduced from France. 



Culinary Vegetables and Agricultural Crops have in general 

 grown with great luxuriance, and Covent Garden was, perhaps, 

 never better supplied with the cabbage tribe, and with turnips 

 and other roots. Field crops of the turnip kind and mangold 

 wurzel are every where excellent. A specimen of mangold 

 wurzel, produced at the West Cumberland Agricultural Cattle 



