PHENOLOGY AS AN AID TO HOETICULTURE. 



67 



the plants under his charge are subjected, but if he will only tabulate the 

 phenological observations he has previously made in his notebook, he 

 will be better able to realise what they really mean to him. To take the 

 sowing of seeds, as one instance among many, how often are we tempted 

 by a few bright summer-like days in early spring to begin seed-sowing, 

 with the result that when the young plants come up they are either cut 

 down by frost or make such tardy growth as to be at the mercy of any 

 injurious insects which may appear among them when a return to warmer 

 conditions again takes place. What meteorological and also phenological 

 observations, and more particularly the latter, teach us, is the true character 

 of our local climate and its numerous vagaries, without which knowledge 

 we often only learn the same lessons after many bitter experiences. 



Now for a few hints as to the best method to adopt in taking these 

 phenological and other observations. All that is needed is that the 

 observations should be made on one uniform plan, for which purpose 

 the same fruit or other trees or shrubs of mature growth should be chosen 

 for observation, and the dates when they are first in flower noted year 

 after year. In the case of herbaceous or other plants, they need not be 

 precisely the same specimens each year but should be growing in the 

 same spot in the garden. A tree or plant is to be considered in flower 

 when the stamens of the first blossoms on it are visible. In addition, 

 entries should be made in the observer's notebook of the effect of any ex- 

 ceptional weather on the vegetables, fruit trees, &c., in the kitchen garden 

 as well as on the shrubs, flowers, &c., in the other parts of the garden. 



The following are the principal results of the phenological and other 

 allied observations made in my own garden at Berkhamsted during the 

 last twenty years, and may serve as a guide to intending observers. 

 Judging from my own experience and from what I have gathered from 

 other members of the Phenological Staff of the Royal Meteorological 

 Society, they cannot fail to derive much pleasure and instruction from 

 taking regularly the necessary observations, and as years go on will find 

 it an increasingly fascinating pursuit. 



Dates of Flowering &c. of certain Plants at Rosebank, Berkhamsted, 

 during the years 1885-1906. 



Table F. 



Mean date 



Earliest date 



Latest date 



Range 



Winter Aconite 

 Double Snowdrop . 

 Yellow Crocus 

 Chionodoxa Lueiliae 

 Early Rivers Peach 

 Wild Cherry 

 Blenheim Orange AppL 

 Lilac 



Eosa alpina . 

 Wild Dog-rose 

 Dahlias killed 

 Last Rose bloom . 



20 

 20 

 20 

 20 

 21 

 21 

 20 

 20 

 20 

 20 

 21 

 21 



June 2 

 June 5 

 Nov. 5 

 Dec. 12 



Jan. 19 

 Feb. 8 

 Feb. 23 

 March 7 

 March 23 

 April 19 

 May 6 

 May 11 



October 4 

 Nov. 3 



April 12 

 April 20 

 May 5 

 May 10 



Jan. 5 

 Jan. 21 

 Feb. 3 

 Feb. 14 



March 4 



March 30 



Feb. 22 

 Feb. 26 

 March 17 

 March 29 

 April 20 

 May 7 

 May 20 

 May 27 

 June 16 

 June 17 

 Dec. 1 

 Jan. 17 



Days 

 48 

 36 

 42 

 43 

 47 

 38 

 38 

 37 

 42 

 38 

 58 

 75 



