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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICnLTURAL SOCIETY. 



daffodils came before the swallow dares with a vengeance, N. Pseudonar- 

 cissus appearing on February 24. Palm " was out the first week in 

 Lent instead of the last, cherries were in bloom before the end of March, 

 and apples halfway through April. The birds and butterflies were 

 equally precocious: I heard the cuckoo on April 19, and saw a house- 

 martin on the 20th, and an orange-tip butterfly on the 21st. But this 

 is not so remarkable as the early ripening of the later fruits : plums 

 were a full fortnight before their usual time, and apples and pears, that 

 are usually gathered in October, were dead ripe by the third week of 

 September, in spite of the extreme cold and sunlessness of August and 

 September. The trees and hedges, too, have assumed their autumn 

 tints quite a month before the usual time. A very noteworthy 

 feature of the flowering period of the trees and shrubs was the abun- 

 dance and size of the blooms, and, spring frosts being practically absent, 

 the fruit crop was, on the whole, good. Strawberries and currants 

 seemed to feel the effects of last year's drought most; there was an 

 enormous crop of gooseberries and pears ; apples were a good crop 

 except where they were very heavily laden last year. Cherries 

 promised splendidly, but the spring drought was too much for some 

 varieties. The first crop of roses was early and good, the later 

 blossoms have suffered from the wet. I gathered the last rose of 1911 

 on February 9 of this year, and the first of 1912 on April 24 off the 

 same bush, an old pink monthly rose. Sweet peas have been unsatis- 

 factory on the whole. The severe frost in February, followed by five 

 weeks' rain, was too much for many of those sown outside in September 

 1911. The survivors grew well and were in blossom by May 23, but 

 were crippled by greenfly in June, as were those sown in spring. A 

 close, thundery type of weather, such as prevailed from May till August, 

 seems to affect them adversely. In other years I have noticed them 

 get disease and go off rapidly during a spell of similar weather. The 

 same conditions also seem to favour tlie multiplication of plant lice 

 and the spread of mildew and other fungus diseases. 



Perennials have done splendidly this year, evidently using the 

 stored-up energy of 1911. They were absurdly early; I gathered 

 phloxes and outdoor chrysanthemums, which usually do not open till 

 the end of July and August, in June. Annuals have not been such a 

 success; with the exception of asters, tlie later kinds suffered severely 

 from the cold and wet of the latter part of the summer. Early 

 vegetables, including early potatos, did remarkably well; late potatos 

 are practically a failure, the wet week, August 20-26, caused the disease 

 to spread very rapidly, so that in some cases not a single good tuber 

 is to be found. Turnips, parsnips, carrots, and beet are all good crops, 

 but there is a good deal of diseased celery about. 



I have already remarked upon the unusual earhness of everything 

 in spite of the cold and sunless weather this year. Another unexpected 

 feature this season is the lovely colouring of the apples, which must be 

 the aftermath of last year's sunshine, as it is certainly not due to 

 cloudless skies this year. Fruit, too, has more flavour than might be 



