May 4. 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



315 







WEEKLY 



CALENDAR. 















Day 

 of 



Month 



"o7 



Week. 



MAY 4—10, 1871. 



Average Tempera- 

 ture near London. 



Rain in 

 43 years^ 



Sun 



Rises. 



Sun 

 Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Bio on 

 bets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 

 after 

 Sun. 



Day 



of 



Year. 



t 

 6 

 7 

 8 

 9 

 10 



Th 



F 



S 



Sun 



M 



Tn 



W 



Meeting of Eoyal and Linnean Societies. 



4 Sunday afteb Easter. 

 Meeting of Royal Geographical Society, 

 [ 8.30 P.M. 

 Meeting of Society of Arts, 8 p.m, 



Day. 

 62.4 

 62.9 

 62.3 

 60.3 

 62.6 

 62.6 

 62.4 



Night. 

 38.5 

 39.0 



39.4 

 39.6 

 39.9 



40.1 



Mean. 

 60.5 

 60.9 

 60.4 

 49.8 

 61.1 

 61.2 

 61.3 



Days. 

 16 

 22 

 16 

 18 

 18 

 19 

 21 



m. h. 

 29af4 

 28 4 

 26 4 

 24 4 

 22 4 

 21 4 

 19 4 



m. h. 



26 at 7 



27 7 

 29 7 

 80 7 

 83 7 

 33 7 

 85 7 



m, h. 

 54af0 

 23 8 

 49 9 



noon. 

 16 



8 1 

 47 1 



m. h. 



36af4 



2 6 



32 5 



10 6 

 67 6 

 69 7 



11 9 



Days. 

 O 

 15 

 16 

 17 

 18 

 19 

 20 



m. 8. 

 8 22 

 8 27 

 3 S3 

 S 37 

 8 42 

 3 45 

 3 43 



124 

 125 

 126 

 127 

 128 

 129 

 130 



From observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the weelc is 62.2°, and its night tem- 

 perature 3s.3"=. The greatest heat was 84=, on the 6th, 186i ; and the lowest cold 20", on the 6th, 1865. The greatest fall of rain was 

 1.26 inch. 



FORM AND COLOUR.— No. 1. 



' ORM, its effect upon our minds, our lives, our 

 very actions — do we, orbave we fully realised 

 it in its full force and power ? Who lias not 

 felt its subtle influence or yielded to its allure- 

 ments ? All bow to its sway, and follow its 

 leading in one way or another, for it presents 

 itself to us in such an endless variety that it 

 is not at all difficult to understand why its 

 power must be universal. To some it best 

 displays itself in the grandeur of mountain 

 scenery, where huge rocks rear high their massive crests, 

 towering into the clouds, which at times rival them in the 

 grandeur of their aspect, and certainly excel them in the 

 varied beauty of their changing colours — or in the spreading 

 landscape gently undulating, intersected by watercourses, 

 and dotted with snug homesteads ; the teeming fields or 

 crowded stackyards proclaiming the fertility of the soil, 

 and the industry of those who tend it ; the entire scene 

 breathing of peace, contentment, and prosperity. To others 

 it displays itself in the huge proportions of colossal timber 

 trees, or in the elegant symmetry of plants of more lowly 

 growth. The lovers of birds, of insects, or of any of the 

 wonders of creation are all sensible' of its beauty and power 

 in a greater or less degree. Its influence knows no bounds, 

 for it attracts us by its wonderful development in everything 

 in nature, and leads our minds upwards to contemplate 

 things infinite. But it also has a more numerous following 

 in those who admire works of aft the result of mechanical 

 skill, or whatever is just in proportion or possesses the 

 requisite fitness for its purpose. The higher the finish of 

 such work, the nearer the approach to perfection, the greater 

 the appreciation of those whose minds are sufiiciently 

 cultivated to appreciate its beauty. It must be owned that 

 beauty does not invariabl3' imply fitness. A thing may be 

 very suitable for its purpose, and yet be destitute of beauty, 

 but I know no reason why the two may not always be 

 combined. Beauty has been defined as the moment of 

 transition, as if the form were just ready to flow into other 

 forms, and he who can best combine eflaciency and finish, 

 so as to produce beauty in his work, is likely to succeed 

 best in what he does. 



The subject is a wide and tempting one, and withal so 

 important that I hesitate to try to grapple with it, and yet 

 it is this very feeling which urges one on, giving one some 

 slight idea of the great importance of a correct knowledge 

 of a power so mighty, and which, when rightly understood 

 and applied, must tend materially to contribute to one's 

 success in ornamental gardening. 



Passing along a magnificent avenue of noble old Fir 

 trees lately, I was much impressed by the entire fitness 

 and propriety of every feature of it — the dense mass of 

 sombre foliage was borne high overhead, and the ample 

 width of the grand drive passing along between the lines 

 of these fine trees imparted an air of espansiveness, keep- 

 ing the front ranks ot trees on either side so far apart as 

 to display their huge forms to the best advantage. I have 

 been up the Long Walk at Windsor, and through the 



No. 627.— Vol. XX., New Seeies. 



splendid avenue of Horse Chestnuts in Bushy Park, and 

 in many other avenues of fine trees, but in none of them 

 was I so much impressed with the power of form as in this 

 avenue of Scotch Firs. It was, doubtless, a fine sight 

 when the trees were young and feathered with branches to 

 the ground, but now incomparably finer — the immense boles 

 like the rows of stately pillars in some old cathedral, so 

 massive and yet so symmetrical, that I could not but think 

 the planter must have foreseen the effect, and been able 

 fully to realise the power and beauty of form when thus 

 developed. 



In planting groups and belts of shrubs, the future and 

 more permanent effect to be produced should be well con- 

 sidered. Shrubs planted in borders on each side of paths 

 of gravel or turf are almost certain to produce a pleasing 

 effect for a few years if they are healthy and tolerably well 

 arranged ; but if such shrubbery borders are to increase in 

 beauty with the advance of time, as they ought to do, very 

 much care and thought must be exercised first of all in the 

 selection of the plants, and' in planting them so far apart 

 that they may have ample space to grow naturally, or to 

 be rendered, by means of skilful pruning and training, fine 

 symmetrical specimens, which shall, when tbey approach 

 maturity and their growth attains its full development, 

 stand so well back from the sides of the path that each 

 form may have its due effect, and its beauty be fully ap- 

 preciated. The importance of this must be insisted upon ; 

 shrubs planted thickly in the first instance look very well 

 for a time, but if they are not constantly thinned_ with 

 great care they soon become so crowded that all individu- 

 ality is lost, the growth of each plant becomes merged in 

 that of its neighbours, and a confused thicket is the result, 

 not altogether devoid of beauty, it may be, because some 

 of the charms of form are still present in the foliage and 

 young growth. 



There is a power of much importance in the foim of 

 foliage. I was much impressed at Battersea Park with 

 the strong appreciation of this so evident in the selection 

 of the shrubs clothing the shelterip.g slopes of the sub- 

 tropical garden, none of them having very large foliage : 

 hence the eifect of the huge leaves of the tropical plants is 

 much enhanced, appearing by such cleverly-managed con- 

 trast to be even larger and more stately than they other- 

 wise would do. It is this keen appreciation of the power 

 of one form on that of another, either in the contrast or 

 harmony of the foliage or growth, or, as is more commonly 

 the case, in the combined effect of the two, which enables 

 the landscape gardener to produce combinations of elegant 

 forms so skilfully arranged and so well placed that the 

 sight of them produces an agreeable effect from whatever 

 point they are viewed. 



Important as is the work of selecting and arranging 

 shrubs in groups and along borders, it becomes even more 

 so when they are required for planting on a lawn as single 

 specimens. Unless there is a special object in view, such 

 as "plan ting- out" offices or concealing any objectionable 

 feature, all shrubs should be kept well away from the 

 house, and the lawn should have a clear unbroken expsnfe 

 in proportion to the size of the building it is near ; then its 



No. 1179.— Vol. XLV., Old Sekies. 



