January 6, 1863. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



and the hand used to put the soil close to this part previously to 

 eartbing-up. 



I also use very rotten dung, for I believe rank manure is very 

 unfit for growing Celery. 



I prefer any of the R"ed sorts to any of the White. The latter 

 are oftener hollow and strinav. — JAMBS Held. 



METEOBOLOGJCAL NOTES, 1S62. 



UNTO" PABK, EEXT. 



The following table represents in the two first columns the 

 highest and lowest range of the thermometer each month ; the 

 highest and lowest range of barometer ; the number of days 

 in which the wind was in each of the eight principal directions 

 indicated, taken at noon each day ; the rainfall each month, 

 with the number of days on which it fell ; also the number of 

 frosty days ; and compared with the summary of these is the 

 record of past years, as under : — 



hi 



am 

 5> S; ~ — 





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2 S S-Sc 

 £-=3 3 " 

 I 3. ° : 2 i 



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c: cr n ^j coco - 



Highest 





Lo"we?t. 



OMMM UH 



- 





H 



5; 



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o 



o 



3 P* 

 o 



13 



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o 



5 



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3 



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CD 



M O H O) 6» CO O 



a 



^UC3SC*O^AAA; 



S."W. 



u»aw — m a 

 c; o-j *. — w .— 



00. 



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3 



co to x 5= s 3 — 



5 



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N.W. 





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*N 



c«c*-:36:*-: cioctob 



N.E. 





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Change- 

 able. 



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J 3 r* ?■ p* s 3 p° *■ 



Co -i i; co b> c: o 



1 



CO 



1.75 

 1.05 

 3.00 

 1.80 

 2.28 

 2.29 

 1.72 

 2.50 

 1.03 

 4.80 

 1.80 

 2.11 



In ina. 

 and 



parts. 



5' 



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;■.- — ..; — _____...-__ 



No. of 

 davs. 



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9 



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3 



The year that is past has been more remarkable for the mild- 

 ness of the winter than for the heat of the summer. The 

 number of days' frost is much below the average, while the 

 rainy days recorded are much above it, the rainfall being above 

 the average; the greatest fall on any one day was October 

 ISth, .91 inch, while on the two following days 1.01 inch fell, 

 making nearly 2 inches of rain in three consecutive days. The 

 barometer has varied less than on most years j 30.28, on the Sth 

 of February, is the highest range I have, and 28.82, on the 

 2Sth of the same month, is the lowest. The variation of the 

 thermometer is also, perhaps, less than that of most years ; 

 and it is somewhat remarkable that the hottest day by 7° was 

 May 6th, thermometer S6°. The coldest night, that preceding the 

 Sth of February, was 16°. With regard to the prevailing winds, 

 the above table shows a falling-off in those from the N.E., while 

 those from the S., and also N., show an increase. The prevail- 

 ing winds of the year were S.TT., W., and N., counting 245 

 days ; leaving only 120 for the other directions. 



The principal features of the year maybe siunmed-up monthly 

 somewhat thus — viz., 



January. — Frost in the middle of the month, otherwise mild, 

 with scarcely any snow ; but the hazy rain kept the ground wet 

 and dirty. 



February. — Mild, no heavy rain, and less wind than usual. 



March. — A wet month, with less wind and fro9t than usual. 



April. — First week wet, afterwards fine and favourable ; last 

 week very warm. Cuckoo heard on 21st. 



May. — First week very warm, the 6th extremely hot ; the 

 latter part of the month more dull, and less warm ; neverthe- 

 less, at the end of May everything seemed forward, and pro- 

 mising an early season. 



June. — Dull, cold, wet, and unfavourable, retarding vegetation, 

 while the rain injured the hay crop. 



July. — Not remarkable. The latter end of the month finer 

 than the beginning. 



August. — Some useful rains about the middle, afterwards fine 

 and seasonable. 



September. — The beginning and end of the month wet ; the 

 middle fine; in other respects not remarkable. 



October. — First week fine, afterwards wet, with some high 

 winds ; very little frost. 



November. — Not remarkable any way. 



December. — Unusually mild, and the wind so high and dry on 

 the 21st as to cause the dust to fly — an unusual thing on the 

 shortest day. Very little frost for December. 



On the character of the season in regard to the agricultural 

 crops, it is not my purpose here to enter, further than that the 

 harvest was later than usual, especially in late places. The wet 

 weather setting in about the time the corn was ready to cut, and 

 continuing throughout October, retarded that operation much. 

 The harvest, however, in more favoured places was tolerably well 

 got through. Of fruits and other produce I purpose saying 

 something hereafter J. Rossoy. 



CLEANING A GEEENHOUSE ELITE. 



I All afraid my greenhouse flue is becoming stopped-up with 

 soot, as it does not draw so well as it did formerly, nor does it 

 give out so much heat. It has not been cleaned out since this 

 time last year. As it would be very inconvenient, if not im- 

 possible (on account of the plants in the greenhouse) to have 

 the flue opened and cleaned, I shall be glad if you would inform, 

 me whether I should be in danger of injuring my plants if I were 

 to set fire to the soot in the flue, which I have no doubt I could 

 do by putting some dry straw in the fire-hole. The flue is of 

 brick, 9 inches by 4f, and the length from the fireplace to the 

 chimney about 20 feet. I feel pretty confident that setting 

 fire to the flue would so far clear it that it would work until the 

 spring, if you think I may do so without danger of injuring the 

 plants ; I mean by the excessive heat likely to be generated by 

 the firing of the soot in the flue. — CcmNTEY Cubate. 



[In such a short flue we should think you could clean it in a 

 quiet mild day, and with only one opening, sending most of the 

 soot to the chimney bottom, and to the furnace. It is great 

 waste and dangerous to use a dirty flue. If done carefully the 

 flue might be swept without dusting the plants in the least. 

 If you were obliged to take any soot out in the house, the 

 hole could be covered with a bag, which would prevent any 

 scattering. Your flue beiDg 41 inches thick, would stand being 

 set fire to better than a thinner flue ; but we would not at all 

 advise you to do so — not because, as you imagine, you would 

 have too much heat from the burning soot, but because there 

 would be such a likelihood of explosions that your flue would 

 never be sound afterwards.] 



DESTROYING CEICKETS. 



A cobeeseo>"de:nt lately inquired how to destroy them, and 

 I recommended thin slices of bread and butter with arsenic 

 placed on them, and then the buttered arsenic-sides placed 

 together. I knew that once my friend Mr. Fraser, of Luton 

 Hoo, was much troubled with "them, and the plan he adopted 

 was, he thinks, more successful. Arsenic was mixed in little 

 balls of fat, made like good-sized pills, and these were dropped 

 into the dry warm places where crickets were known to frequent 

 most before starting on their depredations. At night, when the 

 light of a candle was as quietly and noiselessly as possible thrown 

 upon the spot, the crickets would be seen not only devouring 

 the pills, but also, in cannibal fashion, devouring those that were 

 already sick and dying, and thus obtaining a double portion of 

 the poison. If once they get a-head they will destroy almost 

 everything tender. — R. F. 



