November 22, 1SG4. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



405 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 

 of 



M'nth 



Day 



of 



Week. 



NOVEMEER 22— 2S, 1864. 



Average Temperature 

 near London. 



Rain in 



last 

 37 years. 



Sun 

 Hises. 



Sun 

 Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 



alter 

 Son. 



Day of 

 Tear. 









Day. 



Night. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 





m. s, 





22 



Tv 



Titmice draw near houses. 



48.8 



34.1 



414 



20 



33 af 7 



Oaf 4 



5 



57 



23 



13 34 



327 



23 



W 



Grey Wagtail arrives. 



47.0 



34.0 



40 5 



15 



34 7 



59 3. 



8 1 



17 1 



24 



13 17 



328 



24 



Th 



Sweet-scented Coltsfoot flowers. 



47.1 



32.1 



39.6 



11 



36 7 



58 3 



12 2 



39 1 



25 



13 



329 



25 



F 



Larch leafless. 



45.9 



33.4 



39.6 



19 



3S 7 



57 3 



17 3 



2 2 



26 



12 41 



330 



2G 



S 



Oak leafless. 



47.0 



33.0 



40.0 



19 



39 7 



56 3 



22 4 



29 2 



57 



12 22 



331 



27 



Son 



Advent Sunday. 



46.8 



34.3 



40.5 



17 



41 7 



55 3 



28 5 59 2 



2S 



12 2 



332 



28 



M 



Elm leafless. 



48.0 



35.3 



41.7 



IS 



12 7 



55 3 



35 6 ' 37 3 



29 



11 41 



333 



From observations taken near London during the last thirtv-seven years, the average day temperature of the week is 47.2° 



, and its 



night 



temperature 



33.7°. The greatest heat was 60° 



on the 2Sth, 1S2S ; and the lowest cold, 9=, oa the 23rd, 185S. The greatest fall of ra 



n was 



1.21 inch. 













AUCUBA JAPONICA VAEIEGATA BEARING 

 BEEEIES. 



O one who had the plea- 

 sure of seeingthe plant 

 will have forgotten the 

 interesting and hand- 

 some specimen of Au- 

 cuba japonica vera, co- 

 vered with its brilliant 

 scarlet berries, which 

 was exhibited by Mr. 

 Standish, of Ascot, at 

 the first spring meet- 

 ing held at South Ken- 

 sington on the 9th of 

 March last. 

 Few plants, if any, ever received such unanimous and 

 well-merited approbation. It has been _ the only new 

 plant of the year which has been signalised by having 

 the Society's Silver Flora Medal awarded to it. For 

 this addition to our ornamental shrubs we have to thank 

 Mr. Fortune, who introduced it into this country with 

 many other very valuable Japanese plants. 



At the time when this fruit-bearing Aucuba, it being 

 a female plant, was introduced, the stamen-bearing or 

 male plant was brought with it, by the fertilising powers 

 of which we were promised in due time to be able to 

 make the well-known Aucuba japonica variegata, which 

 is a female, a fruit or berry-bearing plant. The promise 

 then made has been fully realised ; and a fine plant of 

 our old friend Aucuba japonica variegata, 8 or 10 feet in 

 circumference, can now be seen in Mr. Standish's nursery 

 at Ascot, well covered with berries, which, though at pre- 

 sent green, are fast showing symptoms of the approach- 

 ing change to bright scarlet. The plant which is now 

 producing its berries, was temporarily planted in one of 

 the Yine-houses for the purpose of being experimented 

 upon. It is truly most interesting and gratifying to all 

 true lovers of horticulture to see the perfect success at- 

 tending the fertilisation of this plant. 



The time is not far distant when the male or pollen- 

 bearing plant of this shrub will be attainable by all ; but 

 at present few only possess it, the value being so great 

 and the stock very limited. In the meantime we may 

 anticipate the privilege of seeing these shrubs, which 

 grow so luxuriantly in every situation in this country, 

 and which are so ornamental by their variegated foliage, 

 covered at Christmas (a rival with our truly-loved English 

 Holly) with brilliant scarlet berries. - 



There are many other varieties of the Aucuba, not yet 

 sufficiently abundant to be known, but very beautiful 

 and varied both in foliage and in the berry. Mr. Stan- 

 dish has a plant now ripening its berries, which appear 

 to be of a bright yellow colour. There is very little 

 doubt but that next year many varieties of Aucuba will 

 be exhibited. Several of the leading nurserymen have 

 been making collections ; and when these new kinds are 

 acclimatised, and within the reach of the public as respects 

 No. i9i _ Vol , ra> New Sebtes. 



their price, a very great addition will be made to the 

 hardy evergreens now used for winter-garden decoration, 

 in this country. — X. 



HAEDY FEENS: 



HOW I COLLECTED AND CULTIVATED THEM.— No. 4. 



One great point in a tour is the sort of talk you meet 

 with during its course. On the coach or in the steamer 

 you are thrown into much nearer relationship with your 

 fellow passengers than on the less sociable railway. Un- 

 happy they who wrap themselves up in their dignity and 

 chew the cud of their own thoughts, instead of enjoying 

 a healthy interchange with the minds of others ! 



My black tourist's bag with its conspicuously visible 

 trowel was a useful help to me in the matter. It proved 

 a sufficient introduction to foreigners, and to those plea- 

 sant English people who travel with the happy wish of 

 being pleased with God's glorious creation, whether in 

 the human or natural world. Many a treasure has found 

 its way to my bag from a fellow traveller's wallet, un- 

 locked by the sight of the magic trowel. Many a talk 

 has it given me of the vast forests of America, many a 

 comparison of their vegetation with our own. 



Shall I be pardoned if I say that of all foreigners I 

 prefer Americans to travel with ? Their keenness and 

 comprehensiveness of sight is extraordinary. While 

 another would but take in the general outline of a view, 

 an American has perceived and jotted down tidily in his 

 memory every important feature, each tiny peculiarity. 

 I once spoke to one of the scarcity of Ferns about Loch 

 Lomond. "Yes, madam," he replied ; " but I gathered 

 thirty different wild flowers there in half an hour." 



Americans talk to you at once, and talk in a totally 

 different manner from English people. They seem to be ' 

 burdened with no lurking fear of there being danger in 

 making a pleasant acquaintance — they do not appear to 

 wish to know even your name. Smith is to them equi- 

 valent to Brown, if only Smith will exchange his ideas 

 in return for the unreserved pouring-out of the treasures 

 of their own well-stored minds. I have never known 

 an English gentleman do this. He is always perfectly 

 polite ; but why should he trouble himself about a 

 stranger he will never see again — a nobody? He has 

 plenty to think about, probably others have the same. 



But to return to my trowel, to which amongst other 

 things I owe two beautiful clumps of Septentrionale. 



In the course of our wanderings, after " doing " the 

 Caledonian Canal, and searching in vain for Hymeno- 

 phyllum unilaterale at the Falls of Foyers, and making 

 many a pretty addition to Cystopteris from the Muir of 

 Ord, we arrived at Dunkeld, that loveliest of all lovely 

 halting-places, where hill and valley, rock and river, 

 contend with each other in sweetest rivalry as to which 

 shall lend the greatest charm to the scenes around. 

 About two miles from Dunkeld is the Stenton Eock, and 

 growing there side by side may be found Asplenium sep- 

 tentrionale, A. germanicum, and A. trichomanes. 



Trowel in hand, I marched off to hunt. " Where 

 No. 843— Vol. XXXII., Old Series. 



