304 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 20, I87U. 



What the Doucin and French Paradise stocks are is a myth 

 to us. That the Doucin and the French Paradise are distinct 

 stocks is all we can gather, but the species of each stock and in 

 ■what they differ are still to be described to us. Even Mr. Scott 

 characterises these stocks as a " melange of sundries " — not a 

 very complimentary reflection upon our neighbours over the 

 Channel, but perhaps not inappropriate to the deserts of the 

 subject before us, and, like too many alien subjeots, inaptly 

 adopted for fashion or gain only. Will Mr. Scott, Mr. Rivers, 

 or M. Du Breuil, tell us something about these Doucin and 

 French Paradise stocks? 



With Mr. Scott's aid we come to the Pommier de Paradis, a 

 stock in itself, with the merit, at all events, of a candid cha- 

 racter, and no duplicity about its identity. Its other merits as 

 a stock are best left to Mr. Scott's own advocacy and experience, 

 able, ample, and reliable alike. The name alone appears to con- 

 found the Pommier de Paradis with its ally, or enemy — which, 

 I know not — French Paradise, and would be better changed 

 for its own credit and reputation. In short, call things by 

 their proper names, and let us know what we are doing in our 

 dealings. Honestly and openly say the Burr Knot stock ; the 

 Nonesuch stock ; the Dutch Coulin stock ; the Crab (and not 

 Applt), or the English Crab stock ; the Caucasian Crab stock, 

 in lieu of Pommier de Paradis ; the cider pomace Apple stock ; 

 the Doucin stock ; the French Paradise stock. Thus we shall 

 have our choice, and the best stocks in time will find their way 

 to the fiont. As we stand, we are provoked by a maze of 

 fantastical stocks, deceptive to every lover of genuine British 

 pomological produce. — Beadeb. 



of rain on wet days was greatest in the second quarter. The 

 author summarises these facts as follows : — 1, The least average 

 rainfall was in the quarter immediately preceding the new moon, 

 instead of, as Sir J. Herschel supposes, about the fdll moon. 

 2, The maximum number of wet days was in the third quarter, 

 and the minimum in the first — thus differing from the results 

 stated by M. Arago to have been obtained in Germany and 

 Paris on the one hand, and the south of France on the other. — 

 (English Mechanic.) 



INFLUENCE OF THE MOON ON RAINFALL. 



It is a matter of almost universal belief in the bocolic mind 

 that the moon exercises a very great influence on changes in 

 the weather, and if a particular lunar phase occurs on the 

 Saturday before the harvest, it is accepted as prognosticating a 

 wet season. Men are found saying they have verified the 

 phenomenon for fifty years, and even intelligent farmers accept 

 it as a fundamental fact of meteorology. From an article by 

 Mr. Pengelly, in the Quarterly Journal of Science, we extract 

 the following remarks bearing on the subject: — 



That the moon is very influential in, or at least closely con- 

 nected with, all changes of the weather, is a belief at once 

 widely spread and deeply rooted. Our satellite can neither be 

 full, nor new, nor "fill her horns," without, as is popularly 

 believed, causing or indicating some alteration in the state of 

 the weather. If she is caught "lying on her back," or, in 

 other words, if, when she is less than a semicircle, her cusps 

 are pointed upwards so that the straight line joining them is 

 more or less approximately parallel to the horizontal plane, the 

 fact is supposed to be an indication if not the cause of rain. 

 If she submits to be " towed by one star and chased by another," 

 — that is, if she is between and near two conspicuous stars, so 

 that the three bodies are at least nearly in a straight line, the 

 fishermen expect a storm. 



Though meteorologists show no favour to these and many 

 similar beliefs, some of them admit that it is neither unphilo- 

 sopbical nor contrary to faot to regard the moon as a meteoro- 

 logical agent. Thus, Sir John Herschel, from his own observa- 

 tions, regards it as a meteorological fact that the clouds have a 

 tendency to disappear under the full moon, and adds that a 

 slight preponderance in respect of quantity of rain near the new 

 moon over that which falls near the full, would be a natural and 

 necessary consequence of a preponderance of a cloudless sky 

 about the full. M. Arago, who concurs in this opinion, states 

 that the expression " the moon eats the clouds," is common 

 in France among country people, and especially among sailors. 

 The latter philosopher adds that the results obtained from 

 meteorological observations in Germany and in Paris, were that 

 the maximum number of rainy days occurred between the first 

 quarter and fall moon, and the minimum between the last 

 quarter and new moon; the ratios being 100: 121 4 in Germany, 

 and 100 : 126 in Paris ; but that in the south of France the 

 minimum number of rainy days occurred between the full moon 

 and the last quarter. He concludes with the remark that "the 

 question requires to be examined afresh." 



Mr. Pengelly then gives his own carefully made series of rain- 

 fall observation", extending over a period of six years, or rather 

 seventy-four complete lunations. From these we find that the 

 greatest amount of rainfall occurred in the second quarter; the 

 greatest number of wet days in the third ; while the mean rate 



COMPARATIVE TRLYL OF PEAS. 



With the assistance of a friend, who lived some distance off, 

 to join in the trial, I have grown sixteen varieties. Although 

 in every ease but one my crop was larger than his, the relative 

 proportions were remaikably equal. We found, out of the 

 sixteen sorts tested, the Hundredfold stood first without a 

 doubt, and the Imperial Wonder second best ; Waterloo Mar- 

 rows were third in productiveness. 



It is but just to add that the general crop of wrinkled Peas 

 suffered very much from blight, which made Fairbeard'3 

 Champion of England and Veitch's Perfection show as tenth 

 and fourteenth on our list — much lower than would otherwise 

 have been the cafe. I have enclosed a list. The first two 

 columns show the number of peas and pods, and the third 

 column the average produce of one plant. The other columns 

 tell the numbtr of days from the date of sowing to the date of 

 first showing above ground, number to the date of ten flowers, 

 and to the date of ten pods of peas fit to gather. Of course 

 there was some irregularity in the time of coming up on ac- 

 count of the peas being sown in different depths of soil. I 

 have arranged them in their order of earliness, and lettered 

 them A to Q for productiveness. 



3 O 





No. of 



No. of 



9 - 2 



Kum 



ber of days 



2" 





Pods. 



Peas. 





after sowing. 



ft<3 









<"%. 

















up. 



in fir. 



bea^g 



I 



Carter's First Crop. . . . 



8.6 



43.0 



50 



16 



57 



75 



D 





95 



49 7 



5.25 



18 



61 



80 



M 





9.25 

 6.9 



37.7 

 37.1 



4.0 

 6.5 



17 



17 



61 

 62 



81 



N 



Maclean's Advancer .. 



82 



P 





50 

 8.75 



30.2 

 53.7 



6.05 

 6.25 



18 

 19 



65 



f6 



90 



A 





90 



K 



Champion of England 



9.7 



39.6 



4.25 



18 



67 



91 



L 



Woodford Marrow .... 



83 



387 



4.7 



19 



70 



91 



H 





7 45 



41.3 



6.0 



17 



63 



92 



Q 





6 45 



287 



4.5 



17 



66 



92 



a 



■ Waterloo Marrow 



14.45 



507 



3.5 



18 



70 



92 



E 



Ne Plus Ultra 



9.2 



46.3 



5.0 



18 



71 



92 







Veitch's Perfection. . . . 



78 



34.3 



4.55 



18 



66 



94 



F 





9.6 



45.8 



4.75 



18 



69 



96 



B 





9.5 



50 7 



5.25 



21 



69 



96 



G 





9.65 



45.0 



4.7 



22 



73 



99 



I should be glad if others in different parts of the country 

 would j jia me in a similar experiment next year. 



I also wish to ask advice as to dressing Apple trees affected 

 with American blight. This spring all my trees were detached 

 from the walls and thoroughly anointed with a solution of 

 Gishurst compound, and the walls carefully washed with a 

 mixture prepared according to your directions, but in spite of 

 all this, I never saw any trees so entirely covered as mine were 

 this autumn. — E. G., Leighton Buzzard. 



FLOWER-BED ARRANGEMENTS. 



We are so pleased with your reply to our letter in the Journal 

 of September 8th, and the friendly criticisms of Mr. Peach in 

 that of the 22nd of the same month, that we trouble you again. 

 We must thank you and Mr. Peach, through the medium of 

 "our Journal," for your criticism; and with the suggestions 

 you each offer, and the re-arrangement we had made on our 

 coloured plan, we hope next year to have the tout ensemble 

 perfect. We omitted to say in our last that beds 8, 9, 10, and 

 11 (see page 186), have a plant of Humea elegans in the centre, 

 and 8 and 9 are carpeted with Viola cornuta, though the Gera- 

 niums have grown so vigorously that only a few flowers of 

 the Viola are seen peeping above the white foliage. The al- 

 terations you suggest relative to clump3 6 and 7 we think 

 would be an improvement, and father says when the summer 

 bedding plants are taken off, before we plant our spring flowers 

 and bulbs, the beds shall be formed according to the suggestions 

 of the Editors. 



The design respecting which we now seek your advice, and of 



