October 3, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



261 









WEEKLY 



CAL 



ENDAR. 















1 Day 1 Day 





Average Tempera- 



Rain in 



Sun 



Sun 









Clock 



Day 



Month Week. 



OCTOBER 3—9, 1872. 



ture near London. 



43 years. 



Rises 



Sets. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Age. 



Sun. 



Year. 









Day. 



Night. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



Days, 



m. 8. 





8 



Th 





63.7 



41.5 



52.6 



16 



6af6 



31 af5 



43 6 



8af 6 



1 



11 7 



277 



4 



P 





63.7 



42.4 



53.1 



21 



8 6 



29 5 



59 7 



24 6 



2 



11 25 



278 



5 



S 





60.5 



40.3 



50.4 



21 



10 6 



26 5 



17 9 



43 6 



3 



11 43 



279 



6 



Son 



19 Sunday after Trinity. 



61.8 



43.2 



52.5 



22 



12 6 



24 5 



87 10 



7 7 



4 



12 



280 



7 



M 



Twilight ends, 7.18 P.M. 



63.7 



43.4 



53.6 



21 



13 6 



22 5 



59 11 



41 7 



5 



12 17 



281 



8 



To 





61.7 



42.0 



51.8 



22 



15 6 



19 5 



after. 



28 8 



6 



12 34 



282 



9 



W 





60.7 



42.4 



51.5 



24 



17 6 



17 5 



18 2 



28 9 



5 



12 50 



283 



From observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the -week is 62.2°; anc 



its night temperature 



42.2°. The greatest heat was 80 ', on the 5th, 1834 ; and the lowest cold 25°, on the oth, 1SG5. The greatest fall of rain was 1.06 inch. 





PEACHES FOR A COOL CLIMATE. 



i T lias fallen to niy lot to live among the hills 

 of West Yorkshire, where the climate is, to 

 say the least, a fortnight behind that of 

 York. I consider the spring to be favourable 

 if new Potatoes and a dish of Carter's First 

 Crop Pea can be placed on the table by the 

 24th of June. The rainfall is about 36 inches, 

 and this indicates no inconsiderable amount 

 of wet days and cloudy weather : and yet, not- 

 withstanding these disadvantages, Peaches 

 can be successfully cultivated, and well ripened too, in the 

 open air without the aid of glass or any artificial heat. 



The last twelve months, however, have not been favour- 

 able for the cultivation of this fruit. The autumn of 1871 

 was wet, which retarded the ripening process. The broom 

 had to be used repeatedly to remove some of the abun- 

 dant foliage in order to let the air and sun harden the 

 wood. Then February last was unusually warm, and 

 the heat of the first week in March forwarded the opening 

 of the blossom. On the 4th the first flowers expanded ; 

 the trees flowered abundantly, and showed no disposition 

 to cast off their flowers, which unripe wood almost in- 

 variably does. Then winter in right earnest came down 

 upon us ; on the 19th a snowstorm, driven with the force 

 of a westerly gale, cleared away all protecting materials, 

 and beating against the trees covered the young fruit 

 with snow, which froze there. This storm put an end to 

 my Peach crop. Some late blooms escaped the general 

 destruction, and have produced a few fine fruit .on each 

 of the older trees. 



I have been much interested in reading, in the " Florist 

 and Pomologist" for 1872, the result of the election of 

 fruits. The sis Peaches elected for amateurs and larger 

 gardens are Bellegarde, Royal George, Barrington, Grosse 

 Mignonne, Noblesse, Walburton Admirable. All these are 

 either mid-season or late varieties ; not one early Peach 

 is mentioned. This will never do for those who live in 

 cool chmates. This is the 25th of September. My Eoyal 

 George trees have borne a crop of fifty fruit, of which 

 thirty-six are on the trees at this moment, and are not 

 yet ripe. These will ripen by degrees if the sun will 

 shine, but this luminary was lost in clouds on Sunday 

 and has not been seen since ; the consequence is the 



last, 



thermometer indicates at two o'clock a temperature of 

 only 46°. The fourteen fruit of this sort which we have 

 eaten were fine, juicy, melting, and very good ; and they 

 usually continue to be good to the end of the first week 

 in October, which is as late as Peaches in ordinary sea- 

 sons can be obtained fit for the dessert in the open air in 

 this climate, so a later Peach than Eoyal George is not 

 required. My Peach season would be short indeed if this 

 were my earliest variety. 



Early Peaches are of especial value in cool climates, 

 for they ripen before the heat of the summer begins to 

 decrease, and therefore their flavour and sweetness are 

 fully developed. The first fruit of Early Victoria in 1869 

 and 1870 dropped from the tree ripe on the 18th of 



No. 601.— Vol. XXIIL, New Series. 



August. This year it came off into my hand on the 23rd. 

 This variety was raised by Mr. Rivers from Early York, 

 and it is ten days earlier than its parent, and grows a 

 larger fruit, which is always remarkably sweet, juicy, and 

 excellent. It is very hardy, and is, in my opinion, the 

 best early Peach for open walls. Usually about ten days 

 after this Early York is fit for use. It is so well known 

 that no description of it by me is needed. It succeeds 

 well here, and is a hardy useful kind. It is, however, to 

 a great extent superseded by Eivers's Early York. This 

 fine Peach was ripe here this year on the 3rd of Sep- 

 tember. It comes into use just at the very time it is 

 most needed, and it fills up the interval between Early 

 Victoria and Eoyal George. The fruit is sweet, espe- 

 cially melting, and very good indeed ; it ripens here 

 without difficulty. Some of the fruit possesses a slight 

 flavour of the Nectarine. The tree is hardy, healthy, 

 and a free bearer. I am able to write with some confi- 

 dence respecting these valuable Peaches, as they have 

 been grown here from the time they were first sent out 

 from the Sawbridgeworth Nurseries. Dr. Hogg is ready 

 about the same time as Eivers's Early York, and though 

 it has ripened well this unfavourable season, the flesh is 

 neither so melting, nor so juicy, and not so highly flavoured 

 as those I have previously mentioned, and though a good 

 bearer, it is not quite so hardy as the other varieties. 

 Early Eivers, Early Leopold, and Early Grosse Mignonne 

 do not seem to aclmire this climate, since they put forth 

 this spring a larger number of bloated deformed leaves 

 than I care to see ; while Eoyal George and those of the 

 Early York strain had for the first time this year a leaf 

 here and there deformed, but not to such an extent as to 

 disfigure the general appearance of the foliage. Gos- 

 hawk, said to be the best of Mr. Eivers's last batch of 

 seedlings, is likely to be a good bearer, as the wood is 

 ripening well, and the fruit-buds are well developed. 



As far, then, as my experience goes, and it extends 

 over a period of twenty years, the best three hardy 

 Peaches for open walls in a cool climate are Early 

 Victoria, Eivers's Early York, and Royal George. — 

 CM., near Leeds. 



THE ORCHARD HOUSE IN 1872. 



I have been accustomed at the end of each season to 

 make a few remarks, general and particular, on the 

 culture of fruit trees in pots. Having done so for several 

 years, it is a matter of some difficulty to say anything 

 new on the subject, especially when you see no reason 

 to change your method of culture. In a properly-con- 

 structed and efficiently-heated orchard house you can, 

 if you do not cram it full of bedding and other miscel- 

 laneous collections of plants, bid defiance to the weather, 

 and be the spring frosts late or early, be the summer 

 genial or uncongenial, one can invariably obtain a crop 

 of good fruit. 



Whatever I may write about the advantages of this 

 method of culture under certain circumstances, I do not 

 wish the readers of this paper to assume that pot-culture 

 is invariably the best. One advantage, and that not a 



No. 1253.— Vol. XLVIIL, Old °2eies 



