Jnly 5, 1877. ) 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day I Day 



ol ' of 



Month Week. 



JULY 5—11, 1877. 



5 

 6 

 7 

 8 

 9 

 10 

 11 



Th 

 F 



S 



Sots 



M 



Tn 



W 



Chelmsford Show. 



Tnnbridge Wells and Hereford (Roses) Shows. 

 Brockham (Roses), and Sonthgate Shows. 

 6 Sunday after Teisity. 



Enfield, Maldon, and Ealing Shows. 



Average 



Temperature near 



London. 



Day. 



71.1 



71.1 



76.0 



78.7 



740 



74.1 



74.7 



Nir't 

 60. 2 

 50.2 

 50.8 

 50.8 

 60.0 

 49.4 

 50.3 



Mean, 

 63 7 

 63.7 

 63 4 

 62.2 

 62.0 

 618 

 62.5 



Sun 

 Rises. 



Sun 

 Sets. 



h. m. 



3 52 



3 53 



8 64 



3 55 



8 66 



S 57 



3 58 



h. m. 



8 16 



8 16 



8 15 



8 15 



8 14 



8 13 



8 12 



Moon 

 Rises. 



a. m. 

 11 4* 

 morn. 

 6 



89 



1 28 



2 87 

 4 4 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Days. 

 24 

 25 

 26 

 27 

 28 

 O 

 1 



Clock 

 before 

 Sun. 



Day 



of 



Year. 



186 

 187 

 188 

 189 

 190 

 191 

 192 



LIBRARY 



NEW YORK. 

 BOTANICAL 



GARDEN. 



E0.1 



From observations taken near London during forty-threo years, the average day temperature of the week is 73.6-, and its night temperature 



SPECIAL SHOWS. 



XJST as well-managed local horticultural so- 

 cieties stimulate and encourage cultivators 

 in the districts of such shows, so ia like 

 manner do special shows promote the more 

 extended and perfect cultivation of that 

 which they were intended to assist. A na- 

 tional horticultural society, however strong 

 it may be, will never of itself be able to 

 satisfy the wants of the scattered thousands 

 who are identified with horticultural pur- 

 suits ; but a strong central society, with many branches 

 in alliance, is capable of affording valuable aid on various 

 subjects connected with horticulture. A central society 

 may do much good without the aid of district branches, 

 and local societies may also exert a beneficial influence 

 without being in connection with a central head ; but 

 both may do more by alhance— the "national" gaining 

 strength by the ramification of its branches, the "locals " 

 gainiug influence from their association with the central 

 head. 



We should like to regard horticulture as an invading 

 army already established in our land, and seeking to con- 

 ciliate and render loyal every portion of the community. 

 To that end there must not only be an authoritative central 

 body, but many outlying battalions, each of them strong 

 enough to act alone, yet having a consciousness of greater 

 strength by the support which is in reserve in the other 

 branches of the confederacy. To render the work effective 

 there must necessarily be special efforts made for a special 

 purpose, each important and an integral part of a general 

 design. The more perfect are the several parts and the 

 working of them the more perfect must be the aggregate. 

 It is only by giving special attention to details that a 

 great object can be successfully carried out, whether that 

 object be one of war or peace. The object of the present 

 invasiou is emphatically an object of peace. It is the 

 extension of an important industry, the good influences 

 of which are far-reaching. It is the dissemination of that 

 which conveys healthy enjoyment, wholesome gratifica- 

 tion, domestic comfort and benefit not only into every 

 city, town, and village, but almost into every home. It 

 is to perfect the fruits of the earth, to bring forth the 

 beauties of Nature in all their fulness, and enable them 

 to be enjoyed by the greatest number. That is the object 

 of the campaign — an object both great and good, so great 

 as to demand all the efforts both of a general and a de- 

 tailed nature which can be utilised on its behalf — so good 

 that the pursuit is worthy of the countenance of the most 

 enlightened and refined. 



The various special societies (with special shows result- 

 ing) which are' now established are from their prominent 

 position proper objects for criticism, and it is not to be 

 expected that all who are interested in floriculture will 

 place the same estimate on their merits. It is not pos- 

 sible that this can be so, for nearly all of them can be 

 viewed from two distinct standpoints. These special 

 societies can be regarded as " splits " from, and antago- 



No. 849-Vol. XXXIII , New Sebies 



nistic to, a general central national society ; indeed they 

 have been so described in a manner that caused some- 

 surprise, and the more so when their tendency was stated 

 " to degrade horticulture." To that conclusion we cer- 

 tainly cannot give our assent. We do not regard special 

 societies as splits from, but units in the great system of 

 horticulture. By perfecting the Beveral details of a work 

 the whole is being done, and done in a manner that could 

 not be effected so well by any other means. If the. 

 members of any of the special societies now established — 

 the Rose, Pelargonium, Carnation and Picotee, Auricula 

 and Polyanthus, Tulip, even the Potato societies — con- 

 centrate their efforts on the perfecting of that with which 

 they are identified are they engaged in an ignoblecause ? 

 and yet they must be if the tendency of such societies is 

 to degrade horticulture. It is easy to find fault— easy to 

 say that the Rose needs not a society to support it, as it 

 is strong enough and popular enough without special aid; 

 and equally easy to say that the Auricula is not of suffi- 

 cient importance to have special patronage bestowed on 

 it because so few are identified with its culture. It is 

 easy to criticise, too, for the purpose of filling-up space, 

 which is, perhaps, generally the object when fault is 

 found and errors are not defined, But such criticism 

 carries no weight and goes for nothing with those who 

 understand it and the feelings by which it is prompted. 



But the Rose, notwithstanding its great popularity, has 

 during recent years proved itself to be amenable to so 

 great improvement that it not only merits but demands 

 special attention in order that it may unfold new and- 

 greater beauty than before, and find still more numerous 

 patrons. So with the Pelargonium : also equally if nob 

 more so with the Carnation and Picotee, and the Auricula 

 and Polyanthus. Than these flowers none are more beau- 

 tiful, none better deserve encouragement, and none will 

 give greater reward for any special efforts which may be 

 made in their behalf— efforts which are specially needed. 

 All who are engaged in improving and extending the 

 culture of those and other florists' flowers are engaged 

 worthily, for they are prosecuting in detail important 

 branches of floriculture which must improve the aggregate 

 of horticultural work. 



Yet while granting the usefulness and importance of 

 special societies as the working units inseparable from a* 

 great system, the object of which is higher culture and 

 a widening of public interest in floricultural pursuits, the 

 medal has an obverse, and this we shall not shrink from 

 examining. In societies having a defined object — the 

 cultivating and perfecting of a particular flower— special 

 rules become necessary for judging that flower. A 

 standard is determined on— a charmed circle drawn, the 

 flower is adjudicated on in obedience to that rule, and 

 it must not by any erratic freak trespass beyond the 

 circle— its little world which its friends have created for 

 it. We find no fault with that arrangement. It is right 

 in itself. A standard must be fixed, and it must be a 

 high one. But we will ask this question, What of the 

 flowers beyond— just outside the circle, just below the 

 florist's standard ? Take the Rose, for instance, which 

 No. 1501.— Vol. LVIII., Old Sebeb 



