October 31, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



339 







WEEKLY 



CALENDAR. 















Day 



Day 





Average Tempera- 



Rain in 



Sun 



Sun 







Moon's 



Clock Day 



Month 



Week. 



OCT. 31— NOV. 6, 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. s. 





31 



Th 





54.0 



38.0 



46.0 



22 



55af6 33ftf4 



40 5 



30 4 



29 



16 18 



305 



1 



F 



All Saints. 



54.3 



37.9 



46.1 



25 



56 6 



31 4 



58 6 



47 4 



O 



16 19 



306 



2 



S 



Michaelmas Law Term begins. 



51.4 



37.3 



45.8 



19 



58 6 



29 4 



22 8 



10 5 



1 



16 19 



307 



3 



Sen 



23 Sunday after Trinity. 



53.5 



85.9 



44.7 



19 



7 



27 4 



44 9 



41 5 



2 



16 19 



808 



4 



M 





52.1 



36.6 



44.3 



22 



2 7 



26 4 



4 11 



22 6 



3 



16 18 



809 



5 



Tu 



Meeting of Entomological Society, 7 p.m. 



52.9 



37.2 



45.0 



20 



3 7 



24 4 



after. 



19 7 



4 



16 16 



310 



6 



W 



Royal Horticultural Society, Fruit Show, Fruit, 

 [Floral, and General Meeting. 



52.4 



36.9 



44.7 



19 



5 7 



22 4 



9 1 



S3 8 



5 



16 13 



311 



From observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 52.9°; and its night temperature 



37.1°. The greatest heat was 67°, on the 31st, 1854 ; and the lowest cold 20°, on the 5th and 6th, 1868. The greatest fall of rain was 0.88inch. 



PEACHES FOE EARLY FORCING. 



w )'W W E llave lloai ' ( l t,le experience of some of 

 our best fruit-growers as to which are the 

 best Peaches for general cultivation, what 

 we want to hear now is which are the 

 best varieties for early forcing to be 

 ripe in April and May. What about Mr. 

 Rivers's early varieties of 1868 — viz., 

 Early Beatrice, Early Louise, and Early 

 Rivers ? What is the earliest date at 

 which these have ripened ? If anyone 

 has tested then- qualities in that respect, perhaps he would 

 kindly state his experience about them, or any other new 

 variety. We see so many of our new fruits now-a-days 

 puffed-up for a year or two and then suddenly fall to the 

 ground, and be trampled on, that one is afraid to plant 

 a new variety to any considerable extent until he has 

 proved it himself to, be what it is represented to be. 

 Madresfield Court Grape, for instance : what are we to 

 think of that now such men as Mr. Thomson, of Druxu- 

 lanrig, have utterly discarded it to make room for better ? 

 But to return to my subject. The best early Peach of 

 late years has been, undoubtedly, Early York ; if this is 

 to be beaten by these new varieties (which remains to 

 be seen), we shall indeed have a good Peach for early 

 forcing. I hope to fully prove them next spring ; I did 

 so partially last spring. I received a two-year-old plant 

 of each of the first-named three new varieties in the 

 spring of 1871 ; they were placed in large pots, and grown 

 in a cool house until July, and were then set out of doors 

 at the base of a south wall to ripen their wood. They 

 were planted in the early Peach house in September, 

 alongside of Early York, Noblesse, Royal George, and 

 Red Magdalene, which had been regularly forced from 

 December 1st, and were again started on that day. 

 Result : the old trees began to bloom on January 1st, 

 were in full bloom on the 12th, all set on the 20th. The 

 three new varieties began to bloom January 25th, were 

 in full bloom on the 30th, all set on February 10th. 

 Now for a race. The first to ripen was Early York, 

 April 28th; next came Early Beatrice, May 3rd; Early 

 Louise, May 4th; Royal George, May 6th ; Red Magda- 

 lene, May 12th ; Early Rivers and Noblesse, May 13th. 

 Thus the new varieties, although recently planted and 

 not forced before, had beaten some of the old ones, and 

 nearly overtaken Early York. If either of the new kinds 

 is to supplant this old favourite it is, in my opinion, Early 

 Louise, which carried thirteen fruits of the finest colour 

 and quality, and measuring nearly 9 inches in circum- 

 ference. Early Rivers bore seven fruits of good size, and 

 very delicately tinted with red on a creamy-white ground, 

 very handsome, but slightly split, so that the stone was 

 exposed. I have heard it is subject to this. Early Bea- 

 trice was the smallest tree, and only bore two fruits, 

 which were very small, and of poor quality. I hope that 

 is not its real character, otherwise it will not be worth 

 much. The trees are now of good size, full of well- 

 ripened shoots, and covered with double and triple buds ; 



No. 605— Vol XXIIL, New Series. 



they will be forced from December 1st, so that if all go 

 well they will, I expect, leave the old trees a long way 

 in the rear. 



In the election of Peaches I see Early Beatrice is named 

 by one, among the best six varieties ; Early Rivers by 

 two, and Early Louise by one, in the best nine, which 

 shows that they are good in some places. I hope we 

 shall hear more about them, and thus prove that they 

 are worthy of the characters given to them four years 

 ago, or the contrary. — H. Harris, Nasebij Woolleys. 



NOTES ON GERANIUMS AND ROSES. 



Foremost amongst Geraniums I must place Vesuvius, 

 both for bedding purposes and for pot culture, as I find 

 it the freest bloomer, the most brilliant and dazzling 

 colour, and the plant of a good habit of growth. William 

 Underwood and Jean Sisley also do well with me. _ Morn- 

 ing Star is a decided improvement on Stella, having the 

 same habit of growth as the latter, but the flowers are of 

 a more intense scarlet, and it is a better trusser. Mon- 

 sieur Comner is very effective either for bedding or pots, 

 being an immense trusser, and of a peculiar shade of 

 colour. For a dark variety Waltham Seedling will not 

 easily be beaten. Amongst the older varieties Trentham,. 

 Christine, Indian Yellow, Orange Nosegay, and Tom 

 Thumb must find a place in every collection. For vases 

 I would select Donald Beaton, Lord Derby, Kentish Fire, 

 Commander-in-Chief, Acme, Marie Van Houtte, The Hon. 

 Gathorne Hardy, and Lizzie. 



Amongst the double varieties I find two of the oldest 

 sorts the best — viz., Gloire de Nancy and Madame 

 Lemoine. 



With me the present year has been the best one for 

 Roses of any that I remember, although a very severe 

 frost in May somewhat checked them, and in some in- 

 stances cut off the first blooms. If I were to select forty- 

 eight Roses out of my collection my choice would be as 

 follows : — Charles Lefebvre, Maurice Bernard™, La 

 France, Olivier Delhomme, Professor Koch, Alfred Co- 

 lomb, Marie Baumann, Baroness Rothschild, Francois 

 Louvat, Xavier Olibo, Fisher Holmes, Gloire de Ducher, 

 Edward Morren, Duke of Wellington, Marie Rady, Jules 

 Margottin, Lord Clyde, Duchesse d'Aoste, Marguerite de 

 St. Amand, Antoine Ducher, Leopold Hausburg, Vicom- 

 tesse de Vesins, Prince Humbert, Monsieur Woolfield, 

 Pierre Notting, Madame Creyton, Felix Genero, Emilie 

 Hausburg, Leopold L, Aurore du Guide, William Griffiths, 

 Marquise de Castellane, Exposition de Brie, Caroline de 

 Sansal, Madame Victor Verdier, Francois Fontaine, Gene- 

 ral Jacqueminot, Senateur Vaisse, Mdlle. Gabrielle de 

 Peyronny, Comtesse de Chabrillant, Monsieur Boncenne, 

 Souvenir de Malmaison, Charles Lawson, John Hopper, 

 Madame Alfred de Rougemont, Boule de Niege, Reine 

 Blanche, and Paul Ricaut. 



One of your correspondents speaks of La France not 

 being a good autumn Rose. With me it has been a most 

 perpetual bloomer from the time it first came out until 

 last week, when a severe frost put an end to it for the 



No. 1257,-Voi. XLVIII., Old Series. 



