May 15, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
385 
made as fresh and neat as possible. This part of the Gardens is indeed 
thoroughly appreciated by the visitors, and is very creditable to Mr. Barron, 
who has superintended the various improvements effected. 
Near the entrance Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Reading, have a prominent 
position for their large and handsome stand of seeds, grasses, and models of 
vegetables. The arrangement does not appear to differ in any essential 
particulars from previous exhibits, but in extent and diversity admirably 
represent the resources of the firm, whose products have long since obtained a 
world-wide fame. A short distance from this Messrs. J. Carter & Co., High 
Holborn, also have a stand which may be termed quite a museum of seeds, 
fruits, and vegetable products. Much care has been exercised in the pre¬ 
paration and arrangement of these exhibits, which are very interesting. The 
seeds are placed in small globular glasses, and arranged in groups according 
to the particular uses of the plants they represent. For instance, there are 
6™ U P S devoted to bee-feeders, textile plants, roots, tubers, &c., Clovers 
and forage, Grasses, pulse, cereals, oil-yielders, and green vegetables, and 
besides there is a series of Nuts and berries, and one of prepared products, 
such as meals of various kinds. Samples of Australian Hops and ensilage, 
together with specimens of tropical produce, still further increase the interest 
of these exhibits. Messrs. Webb & Sons of Stourbridge also contribute an 
excellent standofvegetableand grass seeds, with models and other appropriate 
objects, Mr. Wheeler having a stand of a similar nature. A series of accurate 
models of Indian fruits, lent by the Duchess and Prince of Mantua and Mont- 
ferrat, forms an interesting exhibit, and includes specimens of the Warty 
Citron, the Shaddock, Custard Apple, Plantain, Bread Fruit, Mango, Guava, 
the Cashew Nut, and many others. 
The exhibits of preserved fruits and jam constitute another feature of 
interest, especially as in some cases the mode of preparation is shown. 
Numerous cases are devoted to representing the chief food products obtained 
from the vegetable kingdom, showing the parts of the plants employed and 
the various stages of preparation. 
Outside thebuildingare someextensive groups of Rhododendrons, which in 
many cases are showing abundance of strong buds and giving promise of a 
handsome display in a few weeks. Messrs. Lane of Berkhampstead con¬ 
tribute very largely, their Rhododendrons being particularly fine, the banks 
in front of the central annexe and along the east avenue being especially 
^T 5 VOrt ^‘ W a * :erer > Knap Hill, has some tastefully arranged banks 
of Rhododendrons in the central avenue, also some small Conifers and 
Hollies. On the east side Messrs. G. Paul & Son, Cheshunt, have a series of 
pretty beds of Pansies and hardy Azaleas, with a central plant of Rhodo¬ 
dendron in each, and two very handsome specimens of Araucaria inbricata. 
A corner bed. of Roses, dwarfs and standards, is extremely pleasing, some 
plants of White Baroness being particularly well flowered; and the miniature 
rockery, which is well furnished with select alpine plants, is an important 
portion of Mr. Paul’s exhibit. Messrs. Lee & Son, Hammersmith, con¬ 
tribute some small Conifers. Mr. Maurice Young of Milford has a fine bank 
of Rhododendrons on the west side of the garden, the plants being exceed¬ 
ingly vigorous and well furnished with buds ; and Mr. Noble of Bagshot has 
arranged an extensive and fine representative collection of Conifers and 
evergreens. 
IS OUR CLIMATE DETERIORATING ? 
A pamphlet on the above important subject, prepared by Mr. William 
Thomson, the Tweed Vineyards, Galashiels, and published by Messrs. 
Blackwood & Sons, is worthy of perusal by gardeners and cultivators 
generally, also by meteorologists, as will be apparent by the following 
copious extracts :— 
It would be presumption on my part to give either a negative or affirma¬ 
tive reply to the inquiry, Is our climate deteriorating? What I consider 
as within the sphere of my ability, and for which my special calling may to 
some extent qualify me, is to gather up as many facts bearing on the subject 
as I conveniently can, and let those who may peruse the record of them 
draw their own conclusions. 
Before entering on the present inquiry it may be well to remark, that if 
we find reason to conclude that a change of climate is going on, there are 
ample precedents for such change. Fossil flora and fauna give proof of this, 
and geologists tell us that we have in Britain had a glacial, interglacial, and 
postglacial climate. These periods saw great changes of climate, and what 
has been may be again, like causes operating. 
From a mass of correspondence I have from gardeners and others who 
are close observers of the weather and its effects on vegetation, I begin with 
extracts from letters from Mr. Turnbull, who has been gardener at Bothwell 
Oastle, near Glasgow, since 1828. Mr. Turnbull is well known as a very 
shrewd observant man, and he has kept notes of the weather for more than 
fifty years. I was under his tuition from 1832 till 1837. During these five 
years he never failed to have fine crops of Peaches, Nectarines, and Apricots 
on the open walls. Fie had also great crops of Green Gage Plums and splendid 
Ribston Pippin Apples that kept till April of a golden colour and quite firm. 
It will be observed that the la9t fine crop of Peaches he had was in 1870, and 
the Apricot trees have been twice destroyed by the weather. At the same 
time Mr. Turnbull does not believe that the weather is deteriorating per¬ 
manently. He expects that the seasons will yet become as genial as they 
used to be. 
He writes : “ I am afraid you will find the deterioration of our climate 
rather a ticklish subject, for we have had a very variable climate for a 
hundred years. 1782 was a very severe winter. The winters of 1813 and 
1814 were also very severe. 1836, you will remember, was a very late harvest 
—much corn in Lanarkshire and elsewhere was covered by a foot of snow 
before it was cut, and some never cut at all. 1838 was Murphy’s season, and 
with us the temperature fell to 3£° below zero. 1839 was a very late spring 
—we had a fall of snow on the 14th of May, and a severe frost on the 15th, 
which destroyed all our fruit. On the 24th December, 1860, the temperature 
fell to 11° below zero, and killed all our Laurels and many other shrubs. In 
1881 we had the thermometer six times below zero. The wood of our Peach 
trees not being well ripened, that and the following year nearly killed the 
whole of them. We had good crops of Peaches in 1870. The young trees I 
planted after the others were killed are looking well; and if the seasons 
take a favourable turn they may be good again, and so may agricultural 
crops.” 
This evidence, given by Mr. Turnbull, seems to prove that for some time 
back there has been a swing of the pendulum in the direction of less genial 
weather; and it is from this cause more than any other that agriculture is 
suffering at this time. Let us hope that the swing in an opposite direction 
may soon commence. 
Mr. Kinghorn of Sheen Nursery, Richmond, in reply to my inquiry, 
writes : “ With regard to our climate—when I came to Orleans House, 
Twickenham, in 1837, and for ten years afterwards, I never covered the fruit 
trees on the walls when in bloom, and always had good crops ; but after that 
date I was obliged to take to covering them. Till 1847 we invariably had 
good crops of Figs both on wall trees and standards, the latter bearing 
abundantly. Vines also bore well on the walls, and ripened their fruit 
nicely. In 1847 the mildew attacked them (brought about by cold and 
damp), and they were no longer worth the attention they required. I have 
observed that for the last twenty-five or thirty years Peach, Nectarine, and 
Apricot trees do not make the growths they used to do, neither in stem nor 
branches. Certainly we have had more severe winters since I came to 
England than they could have had before for many years, judging from the 
large Evergreen Oaks, Arbutus, Laurels, and Cedars that have been killed, 
as well as great old Banksian Roses and Myrtles—the latter, to my know¬ 
ledge, 23 feet high, with great thick stems—none of which seem likely to be 
replaced, unless we have a change of climate for the better, of which at 
present there seems little prospect.” 
Mr. Thom, who has been for many years gardener at Newton Don, near 
Kelso, Roxburghshire, states that no kinds of fruits are to be compared with 
what we grew forty years ago, and he attributes the change to the want of 
sun in summer and the severe winters. 
Mr. Brown, gardener at Abercairnie, near Crieff, writes: “Referring to 
your inquiries about the weather, and the influence of climatic change on 
our fruits, looking back for thirty-five years, it is a fact to my mind that, 
though we have improved much in indoor culture of fruit, we have fallen 
back in outdoor. I have been a visitor to the Carse of Gowrie for the last 
forty years, and the Apples, as seen there now, are not worth using, as 
compared with what they were in my young days. Here, at Abercairnie, 
I am gradually, even on the south walls, doing away with all the fine Pears, 
and putting on the common hardy sorts. Ribston Apples, such as I knew 
in my youth, are not now to be had. I attribute this chiefly to climatic 
change, and partly want of attention to outdoor fruit. 
Mr. Lindsay of the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens, writes :— “ During 
my connection with the garden, some twenty-five years, the plants 
on the walls, with few exceptions, are the same, and I should say most 
of them were planted by Mr. William M’Nab. The following are a few 
which have disappeared from the walls, even during my recollection—viz., 
Paulownia imperialis, Bignonia radicans, Acacia dealbata, Eucalyptus, and 
Escallonias. In other parts of the garden—Arbutus, all old plants ; Quercus 
suber ; Alaternus, many varieties ; Phyllyrea, also many varieties ; Robinia 
serrulata, &c., &c. Some of these are being replaced with young plants ; but 
it is disheartening to find them making such slow progress. A few plants still 
survive that are considered tender, and that have been unprotected for fifty 
years, such as the Tea Plant, Chamferops humilis, various New Zealand 
Veronicas and shrubs, which only proves that they are hardier than was 
generally supposed.” 
All who read Mr. Lindsay’s letter will, I think, admit that it is a very 
interesting one ; and at least it goes far to show that the swing of the 
pendulum of the weather is in the direction of deterioration in the current 
century. 
Mr. Webster of Gordon Castle is “ inclined to fancy our springs are 
colder and more uncertain and precarious, our autumns more frequently wet, 
and summer heat shorter than in bygone years.” 
Mr. Barron, Superintendent of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Gardens 
at Chiswick, writes : “I do not think that our climate has deteriorated. 
I may not be observant enough, ’tis true, and am aware there have been a 
number of cold sunless seasons lately. 1883 was an exception in this 
quarter, being one of the mildest, the month of July excepted. The present 
autumn has been one of the clearest and mildest ever experienced.” 
In a second letter Mr. Barron writes : “ I quite agree with you that we 
have been passing through a period remarkably unfavourable for fruit 
cultivation. This I attribute partly to cold wet weather in May, and to cold 
wet autumns, which has prevented the proper maturation of the wood.” 
Mr. Barron, however, thinks this unfavourable weather is only temporary. 
Mr. Rust, gardener, Eridge Castle, Tunbridge, is disposed to think the 
springs more backward and ungenial than they used to be. Many others 
express similar opinions, and not one of the many gave it as his opinion that 
seasons for years back have been as suitable for vegetation as they were at 
one time. 
The evidence of Mr. Pettigrew of Cardiff Castle, on growing Vines in the 
open air, is also adduced, and Mr. Pettigrew concludes : “ The seasons must 
alter considerably, or the Vineyard experiment at Castle Coch will turn out 
a complete failure.” 
From the gardener at Torloisk, in the Island of Mull, I have the follow¬ 
ing replies to my inquiries : “ The Hydrangeas still grow out of doors here 
during summer and winter, but do not flower well. The wood is never 
properly ripened in autumn, and the damp and frost together cut them 
down.” 
In my knowledge of these plants, more than fifty years ago, they were 
great bushes, covered every summer with fine masses of bloom. With 
regard to Plums and Pears, he replies : “ There are no Magnum Bonum 
Plums nor Jargonelle Pears here now ; and I am certain they would not 
ripen. Even Apples do little or no good here, except on walls.” 
I have given a fair sample of this class of evidence, and will now make 
some extracts from a scientific writer in a Swedish journal, headed : “ Why 
is the Climate of Europe Growing Colder? ” He replies : “ Because that for 
some years the floating ice has extended a great way towards the south— 
thus between Greenland and the Arctic Sea colossal masses of ice have 
accumulated on European coasts. Navigators now frequently find ice in 
latitudes where it never before was found in summer months ; and the cold 
reigning upon the Scandinavian peninsula last summer was the result of 
the immense masses of ice floating in the region where the Gulf stream bends 
