October 6, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



259 









WEEKLY 



CALENDAR. 















Day 



of 



Month 



Day 



of 



Week. 



OCTOBEE 6—12, 1870. 



Average Tempera- 

 ture near London. 



Rain in 



last 

 43 years. 



Sun 

 Rises. 



Sun 



Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 

 after 

 Sun. 



Day 



of 



Year. 



6 



7 



8 



9 



10 



11 



12 



Th 



F 



S 



Stjn 



M 



To 



W 



17 Sunday afteb Teinity. 



Day. 

 61.8 

 63.7 

 61.7 

 60.7 

 61.6 

 61.7 

 59.2 



Night. 

 43.2 

 43.4 

 42.0 

 42.4 

 43.S 

 42.4 

 41.4 



Mean. 

 52.5 

 53.6 

 51.8 

 51.5 

 52.4 

 52.1 

 60.3 



Days. 

 22 

 21 

 22 

 24 

 24 

 22 

 23 



m. h. 

 10af6 

 12 6 

 14 6 



16 6 



17 6 



19 6 



20 6 



m. h. 

 27 af 5 

 25 5 

 22 5 

 20 5 

 18 5 

 15 5 

 13 5 



m. h. 

 57 af 4 

 16 5 

 34 5 

 51 5 

 9 6 

 29 6 

 50 6 



m. h. 

 13 af 2 

 24 3 

 38 4 

 40 5 

 47 6 

 52 7 

 58 8 



Davs. 

 11 

 12 

 13 

 O 

 15 

 16 

 17 



m, 9. 



11 50 



12 8 

 12 25 

 12 41 



12 57 



13 13 

 13 28 



279 

 280 

 281 

 282 

 283 

 284 

 285 



From observations taken near London daring the last forty-three years, the average day temperature ol the week is 61. 5^, and its night 

 temperature 42.6°. The greatest heat was 77°, on the 9th, 1861 j and the lowest cold 25°,'on the 11th, 1860. The greatest fall of rain was 

 1.00 inch. 



COPINGS FOR WALLS. 



%. % W ^-^- wa Us al *e to a garden copings are to 

 \UmaMlk Yvalls — namely, protection. The one is of 

 little use without the other. I do not think a 

 garden is of much use without a substantial 

 wall, or its near relation a good, thick, well- 

 kept hedge — it matters but little which, so 

 far as protection or shelter goes ; but a 

 wall can be used for growing fruits, some 

 of which cannot without such aids be pro- 

 duced in perfection in our climate, whilst 

 a hedge can be used for no such purpose, takes up as 

 much space as the wall, and requires as much support 

 from the soil as do the trees that are grown against the 

 wall : hence there is more to be said in favour of a wall 

 than a hedge. But some contend that walls do not break 

 the force of the wind so well as a hedge. There is a 

 difference in circumstances. A walled space enclosed on 

 every side must at all times have a sheltered part, for 

 when the wind is blowing from, say, the west, the east 

 side of the wall, as well as the ground, will be shielded 

 from the wind's violence for a considerable distance. " But 

 the wind is only diverted, the current is made to whirl 

 past the obstacles (the walls) to its straight course, and 

 the garden is in no respect better, if so good, as a space 

 unenclosed, or one enclosed by hedges." That the currents 

 of air are made to take a different course by walls to what 

 they would were there no obstacles to the wind's direct 

 course no one can doubt ; but that does not mean that the 

 subjects within the enclosure are exposed to an increased 

 violence of wind, for the wind being diverted from its 

 course, it follows that its force is either broken, directed 

 upwards, or turned backwards from the obstacle against 

 which it strikes. If the wind be driven upwards by a wall 

 we know that the space for a considerable distance on 

 the other side will derive considerable benefit, or be 

 protected from its violence ; for it is an error to suppose 

 the wind runs up one side of a wall and down the other. 

 If, on the other hand, the wind is thrown back, the force 

 is broken, and the subjects on that side must feel its 

 effects in being driven from the object against which the 

 wind strikes. 



Now, if walls are no protection, if they do not afford 

 shelter to the space they enclose, how is it that the subjects 

 on them are so much earlier and less damaged than those 

 growing in open spaces '? How does it happen that in 

 unenclosed gardens the fruit is driven from the trees if 

 strong gales occur when it is fit, or nearly so, for gathering ? 

 If walls are the cause of so much mischief by creating 

 currents, how is it that the fruit on the trees grown against 

 them are seldom, if ever, injured by winds '? They receive 

 its force, and sustain no damage from its violence. I can- 

 not understand the ideas some have of walls, but I do know 

 that unless walls are covered with trees — i. e., foliage, the 

 winds glide from them in a way not beneficial to the plants 

 in the ground adjoining. The wind increases in force as 

 it runs along the wall, and it tears up whatever is in the 

 ground near ; but cover the wall with trees in leaf, or when 



No. 497.— Vol.. XIX, New Seetes. 



leaves are not there, with innumerable small branches or 

 obstacles to the wind's running along, and its force is 

 broken by the surface with which it comes in contact. A 

 bare smooth surface such as a wall is of very little use in 

 breaking the force of wind, but anything covered with 

 foliage, whether it be a hedge or fence, is good, for the 

 innumerable obstacles to the free passage of the wind 

 diminish its force and reduce to a minimum the injury 

 it does. And so it is with walls — covered with foliage 

 they are unequalled for protection, but when bare their 

 utility is questionable ; indeed, they are then no better than 

 a hedge, for though the hedge allows the air to pass 

 through, the wind's force is broken, and what is lost in 

 the space required for the roots of the hedge-plants is not 

 more than that wasted by the exercise of the wind's force 

 against the wall. But what has that to do with copings ? 

 Simply this, that if there is no need for walls, there is 

 less for copings. 



Walls should always be coped, otherwise the wet enters 

 the upper part by the joints of the masonry, destroys the 

 mortar, or whatever is used to bind the materials together, 

 and this gone the wall soon crumbles and falls. If a wall 

 be worth building it is worth coping, and in such a manner 

 that the rain falling on it will run off clear of the wall, for 

 when the coping is no wider than the wall, the latter is 

 very little better than a wall uncoped. The rain or wet 

 runs down one or both sides of the wall, and from the wet 

 the mortar soon perishes and falls off, the material of which 

 the wall is constructed being often seriously damaged. 



The coping should be wide enough to cover the wall, 

 and project somewhat on both sides. There is some 

 difference of opinion as to how much projection the coping 

 ought to have. Some advise a considerable projection, and 

 others but little. From the experience of both wide and 

 narrow projecting copings I am persuaded that the latter 

 are preferable. Two inches' projection, I am convinced, is 

 sufficient, for a considerably wider coping than that de- 

 prives the trees of the rains and dew so refreshing to their 

 foliage, and I am of opinion that one good natural wetting 

 is worth half a dozen artificial ones. A wide coping not 

 only keeps the rains and dew from the trees to a consider- 

 able extent, but the water from the coping is made to drip 

 clear of the trees, forming all along the wall quite a 

 channel, throwing the soil upon the lower branches, and 

 spoiling the fruit, besides making the ground at the foot 

 of the wall wholly unsuitable for the growth of Lettuces, 

 &c. I am aware that some advocate a wide coping, on 

 the ground that it checks the passing upwards of the heat. 

 This is, no doubt, a consideration, and into it I shall enter 

 hereafter ; but a permanent coping with 2 inches' projection 

 is all that I have found necessary for the wall — and for the 

 trees, too, except at certain seasons. 



The best coping of all is stone. It need not be more 

 than 3 inches thick, and it ought not to be fiat, but being 

 three-quarters of an inch less in thickness on one side than 

 the other, the water will run to that side, and the under- 

 side of that having a small throat or groove about half an 

 inch from the edge, it will keep the water from running 

 down the wall. The coping should have cemented joints. 



No, 11-19.— Vol. XLIV., Old Sekies. 



