356 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



May 4, 1912. 



SOME EFFECTS OF LAST 



YEAR'S SUNSHINE. 



Now tliat we have had time to forget all 

 the drawbacks and inconveniences that we 



suflEered , sr . - i.- 



of 1911, we have the happy recollection ot 

 having enjoyed what we had so long wished 

 for, i.e., a real summei". We have no idea 

 what 1912 may have in store for us, but, 

 as usual, the prophets are at work: one 

 says that we are going to have a second 

 dry season, another foretells a wet one, 

 but w.e must wait and see, and in the mean- 

 time the memory of last year has by no 

 means passed away. 



Most gardeners last season grew wear>' 

 of the slush, slush of the watering-can and 

 the hose-pipe, and more weary still were 

 those who saw their crops languish in front 

 of them in want of the water that they 

 could not give, but amidst it all there was 

 the hope that the drying and the warming 

 of the earth, the like of which few of us 

 had ever seen before, would have its bene- 

 ficial efiEects. Though the growing season 

 of 1912 is aa yet not very far advanced, we 

 can already see what we take to be evidence 

 of this, and there are features on every 

 side that point to the effects of last year's 

 sunshine. 



Take the grass, for instance. It does 

 not seem long since those broiling days of 

 last August when lawns were burnt up as 

 brown as a brick, and in the fields there 

 was not a blade of green grass for the cattle 

 to eat. Indeed, as some gardeners viewed 

 their parched up grass plots, they had 

 fears that the latter would never be green 

 again, so lifel^s did they look, and every- 

 l>ody sympathised with the farmers who had 

 to cut their all too small stacks of new 

 hay to provide a bite for the cattle which 

 the latter could not get in the pastures. 



But what a contrast to last summer- 

 time does this spring present! Never did 

 anyone see the grass so green and plentif ul 

 in March as it was this year, and, while 

 this has proved a godsend to the farmers 

 who had little enough left in the way of 

 roots and fodder, it necessitated lawn 

 mowers being set to work weeks before this 

 is necessary in the ordinary way. At the 

 middle of April there was more grass in the 

 meadows than we have seen many a time 

 at the end of May, and there are prospects 

 of farmers obtaining good hay crops to 

 fill up the empty stack yards. The con- 

 dition of lawns is just the same, all the 

 traces of last year s drought are gone, the 

 brown patches are brightly green again, 

 and there is a look about the herbage that 

 is suggestive of vigour and vitality. There 

 has been nothing about the condition of the 

 winter to account for all this, no more 

 manure than usual has been applied, and 

 we may therefore conclude, without much 

 fear of question that the burning and roast- 

 ing last season was also a ripening process, 

 a storing up, as it were, of force and 

 vigour, and all that was required was the 

 power of moisture to liberate the vitality, 

 and set it moving. During the past winter 

 we had the moisture, but without last year's 

 sunshine there would never have been the 

 abundance of grass that is a subject for 

 general comment this spring, and people 

 who thought their lawns would never be 

 green again are now secretly pleased that 

 they were so brown and burnt up last 

 vear. 



At the end of March there began a feast 

 of daffodils, the like of which, perhaps, 

 we have never enjoyed before. These have 

 been marked by two predominating fea- 

 tures. First, like the grass, they were early ; 

 in fact, too early for some of the bulb shows, 

 and, secondly, they were remarkably fine. 

 Never, I think, have I seen such magnifi- 

 cent specimens of the trumpet daffodils as 



were in full bloom about Easter, and all 

 sections were noted for their stout stems, 

 leathery foliage, and fine flowers. In Easter 

 week I passed through a district on the 

 borders of Gloucester and Worcester where 

 the wild single daffodil grows in such pro- 

 fusion that it is a veritable weed. The pas- 

 tures on every side were fields of gold, bemg 

 yellowed over with the nodding flowers, 

 which people came to see and pick from 

 localities round about. I had a talk with 

 a few of the native folk who have seen the 

 natural daffodil show every spring for many 

 years back, but the general expression ot 

 opinion was that there had never been so 

 many daffodils, never had they grown with 

 such long stalks, and never had the mdi- 

 vidual flowers been so fine. I could be- 

 lieve this, for I picked a bunch of the 

 wildings, and a number of the flowers were 

 as large as some of the garden varieties. 

 And how do we account for daffodils in 

 field and garden being so fine this spring ? 

 Can it be anything else than the influence 

 of last year's sunshine, which ripened and 

 matured the bulbs in a way that is anything 

 but usual in this country, and this spring 

 we have enjoyed the result of Nature's pro- 

 cess. All the spring bulbs have been 

 equally satisfactory, hyacinths, tulips, and 

 daffodils, in pots, in beds, in borders, m 

 grass, in pleasure gardens, and, lastly, m 

 the fields and woodlands, everywhere and 

 under all conditions have they given evi- 

 dence of the way the bulbs were ripened up 



last season. 



If I mistake not, there are readers ot 



the Gardeners' Magazine who have made 

 records this season in respect of the date 

 on w^hich they cut their first dishes of as- 

 paragus, for in more places than one cut- 

 ting began in March, which is unusually 

 early for this vegetable to come in without 

 forcing. In that big asparagus-growing 

 country in and about the Evesham Vale 

 it is customary to bank up the beds in 

 the autumn and cover the crowns with 



In the 



the soil from the alleys between, 

 spring this soil is loosened and draw 

 to the allevs between the beds, before 



back 



crop last season they were good^ well- 

 ripened, and full of latent force. Perfect 

 rows of early peas and broad beans point 

 to this, and I see no misses or failures in 

 beds of onions, carrots, and parsnips. 



In fact, look where you will, you see 

 evidence of that dry but glorious summer 

 of 1911 in the blossom on the fruit trees 

 (surely pears were never more thickly 

 covered with bloom)^ the bursting buds on 

 the forest trees, the verdure of the hedge- 

 rows, the abundance of flowers in season, 

 and the promise of those that are yet to 

 come. Indeed, everytliing in Nature seems 

 to be endowed with an unusual amount of 

 strength J vigour, and freshness, and plant 

 life seemed impatient for the winter to pass, 

 so ready was it to burst into growth. H. 



alleys 



growth, but in a number ot cases tftis worK 

 has had to be omitted because the early 

 growth pushed its way through the covering, 

 days before it was expected. All this means 

 that the harvest of the asparagus beds has 

 begun much earlier than it usually does, 

 and the heads are very fine and strong. 

 How is it accounted for? Surely, it must 

 be another case of last year's sunshine 

 ripening up the crowns and filling ^them 

 with the vitality that is now responding to 

 the moisture and the genial temperature 

 which prevail. 



There are some market gardeners who do 

 very well out of forced mint in the early 

 spring but in many cases this year there 

 has not been much sale for it, though there 

 is no evidence that less mint than usual 

 has been consumed. The explanation is 

 rather than the herb in beds outdoors was 

 more forward in growth than usual, and 

 there was consequently a shorter and 

 smaller demand for the forced article. I 

 have never seen rhubarb and seakale push 

 up their growths so early, nor yet so vigor- 

 ously as they have done this spring, and 

 for this one can only give credit to the way 

 the crowns were ripened 



^ ^ _ d to be said about 



the seeds. Many of the vegetables last year 

 were a poor seed crop, and the price lists 

 in catalogues gave evidence of this, parti- 

 cularly in cases of beans, peas, onions, and 

 carrots. With most people, perhaps, dear 

 seeds means economy in the use of them, 

 and through sheer force of circumstances 

 the principles of thin sowing have been 

 adopted in more than one garden this 

 spring. Is there any need to regret it? 

 Not a bit of it, for if seeds were a short 



CYCLAMENS. 



Among our winter-flowering greenhouse 

 plants there are not many more useful than 

 cyclamens, for not only are their floweife 

 attractive, but the foliage on well-grown 

 plants is also most beautiful, as the mark- 

 ings are very striking. The present is a 

 very important period of growth, for much 

 depends on the next few wrecks whether 

 the plants assume the dimensions one de- 

 sires. The most promising plants should 

 be transferred to 48's pots. The compost 

 should be of a light, rich, sandy nature, 

 and the pots clean and w^ell drained. When 

 potted, place in a pit near the glass; 

 whether a small or large quantity are 

 grown it is always preferable to keep cycla- 

 mens by themselves in order that all may 

 receive similar treatment. They should al- 

 ways be shaded from the bright &mi, but the 

 atmosphere should be such as to cause a 

 gradual, steady growth, not dry and harsh, 

 otherwise red spider and other pests will 

 soou make their appearance. If the p t 

 faces the east, the plants should be watered 

 as soon as the £un has passed from the a 

 at the same time giving the foliage a slight 

 damping over with thp syringe to keep 

 down insects . Ventilate early in the morn- 

 ing, and shade before the sun has too much 

 power. 



If the cyclamens receive due attention in 

 the way of watering, shading, and ventila- 

 tion they will have mad© sufficient pro- 

 gress to necessitate their being transferred 

 into their flowering pots about the middle 

 of June. This time 32's or 24's may be 

 employed, but unless extra large plants are 

 desired the former size will be found quite 

 large enough, and the most useful, as they 

 will carry plants from fifteen to eighteen 

 inches in diameter. Care must be taken 

 when giving the final shift to avoid injur- 

 ing the foliage; pot fairly firm, keeping 

 the corms level with the soil. , . c i 

 When the plants have received their imai 

 potting, they should be stood a sutbcieni 

 distance from each other to allow of a .ree 

 circulation of air among the foliage, so 

 to keep the same as sturdy as possible. 



In all probability a few flowers will com- 

 mence to show themselves about ^^^S^ ' 

 but these should be removed as they ap- 

 pear, otherwise the plants will not nia^^ 

 that progress one likes to see. ^, ^ „j 

 look-out must be kept for insect pests, an 

 at the first signs of these do not fa" 

 fumigate, for if they once get the upp 

 hand, the foliage never presents the sai 

 healthy appearance afterwards. t 

 There are some delightful sl^ades oi 

 salmon, salmon-pink, and crimson, ^ 



are most attractive among cyclamens, 

 giant white forms, too are most ^ 

 either as pot plants or tor cuttmg. ^ J 

 form neat specimens for indoor <i^^^7^ 

 but they must not long be subjected to x 

 dry atmosphere of a room, or the loi b 



will turn yellow and fall. 



H. C. Pmnskp 



