August 9, 1888. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
121 
doing a large quantity of woolly aphis on some of the plants. This 
I carefully removed, and washed the roots where virulent, but I am 
less distrustful of it than I u^ed to be. I do not think plants ought to 
have it, but I think unless it attacks the collar of the plant it does not 
do a great deal of harm. I have noticed that several old plants have 
gone off in a species of black rot, the cause of which I am unable to 
discover. May it be that the Primulas are not very long lived ? and that 
as we find with many of tthe species it is best to keep them up by 
occasional sowings, so it may be that these old plants are only follow¬ 
ing the ordinary course of nature and dying of old age ; if so, not only 
the advantage but the necessity of rearing a good progeny of offsets is 
evident. 
Carnations and Picotees. —The season has had a wonderful 
effect on these plants. This was fully evidenced by the Show held at 
the Drill Hall on July 24th, when so very few flowers were staged, and 
some large exhibitors were utterly unable to put in an appearance. 
The long cold and wet time in the latter part of June and the first three 
weeks of July (indeed, not much better since') so retarded the bloom. 
It always used to be thought that the 20th July was about the right 
time, and in some seasons it was quite late enough, but I had neither in 
the borders or in pots a single flower open at that time ; but the same 
weather which militated against the bloom was favourable to the growth 
of the plants, and in most cases luxuriant, but perhaps a little too 
sappy, foliage is the result. My small collection is now under glass, 
not in a house, but simply a glass roof, open at all sides. Here I hope 
that the “grass” will ripen somewhat before layering begins, otherwise 
there is a likelihood of the layers damping. Some of the foliage looks 
what John Ball calls “ gouty,” but it is generally very fine. The 
material for layering should now be ready ; it ought to be light with a 
good admixture of sand or grit, so that the young roots may easily 
push out their roots. The best pegs are those made of bracken. Few 
care to layer the plants while they are in bloom, but no time should be 
lost after that, as they will be late this year, and it will be well to 
get everything ready for the, work. Those who grow in pots have a 
great advantage, as the operation can be performed under cover, and 
the plants brought up to a comfortable height. It is backbreaking 
work to layer them on a bed, although many are obliged to do so. 
Chrysanthemums. —The wet time has been favourable to these, and 
they have grown luxuriantly, so much so that it will be necessary to be 
very careful about staking them, as they stand a good chance of being 
snapped off. So many directions were given last week in the Journal that 
I need not dwell on this flower. 1 have found earwigs a great nuisance, 
and I am afraid many of the shoots are seriously injured by their 
depredations. They seem to be uncommonly abundant this season, but 
as yet, strange to say, they have not troubled my Carnations and 
Picotees much. 
Gladiolus.— Very very backward is what we must say about these. 
On the 26th July I have always been able to cut a spike of Shakespeare ; 
if I cut one three weeks hence it is as much as I shall do. My plants 
look uncommonly strong, although the foliage is somewhat yellow, but 
this I attribute to the great quantity of rain ; it is not the yellow which 
denotes disease, for I believe this still to be the cause of our losses. 
There are some who still write and talk about degeneration, but this is 
all moonshine. I met an American grower lately, when I had a long 
talk about our favourite flower ; I asked him, Did he lose any ? “ Oh, 
yes, of course I do,” was his reply, “ but perhaps not so many as you do 
in England, as our autumns are more favourable.” But still they have the 
disease. When good folk shut their eyes and ears and ignore the plain 
statements of scientific observers, what can we say ? I very much fear 
that the flowers will be latq for the exhibition at the Crystal Palace, 
and that the northern exhibitors will be handicapped. As soon as the 
spikes begin to show themselves staking should be proceeded with if it 
is desired to keep them in good condition. I had thought of mulching 
my beds with cocoa-nut fibre refuse, but this wet time effectually 
prevents all necessity for that. 
Pansies. —The cool and wet weather has just suited these. My 
small collection is grown in pots, and last year when I took them out 
of their pots and planted them out they suffered terribly from mildew. 
This year it has not appeared, and the plants look most vigorous and 
healthy, and keep blooming away very well. I am thus hopeful that 
they will now get through the season (summer one can hardly call it) 
without many losses, it being more like what they are accustomed to in 
Scotland, where they flourish so well. Of course, I mean fancies, for I 
confine myself almost entirely to these ; they are so much more vigorous 
than the show sorts, and there is so much more beauty in them. 
Ranunculus. —It has been a somewhat difficult matter to get these 
up in proper condition, and yet one dare not leave them in the ground 
after they are fit for taking up, for if once they begin to shoot out 
afresh the growth is utterly useless. And at the same time it does not do 
to take them up too soon, as then they shrivel up and lose vigour, so 
that in a wet season such as we are passing through they require to be 
very carefully watched. I have never been able to dry mine as the 
Dutch growers dry theirs ; they come over in such plump condition, 
whereas mine have been more or less shrivelled. When they are 
thoroughly dried they should be put away in some cool and airy place, 
but free from frost. 
Roses. —There is a very strong growth in Roses, and those who wish 
to encourage them to make fresh wood will not hesitate to apply liquid 
manure, and the heavy rains we are now experiencing will speedily 
wash it down to the roots. All dead flowers should be carefully taken 
away, as they spoil the appearance of the beds. The dark red Roses 
rejoice in the cool weather, and open freely, but many of the. light- 
coloured varieties are just simply a ball of soddened leaves. It is very 
difficult, too, to keep the beds free from weeds ; hoeing is of no use, 
and it is only by hand-weeding that they can be kept clean. When the 
plants have sent up long shoots, say 6 or G feet, it is better to stake 
them, as they are very brittle, and a high wind is apt to snap them 
across. Now is the time for budding, and a good time it must be ; 
carefully, when you have the opportunity, select the buds from a blooming 
shoot. 
Tulips - The bulbs of these are very strong, and there is nothing to 
say about them except that they should be stored away in a dry place 
either in boxes or bags.—D., Veal. 
THE WEATHER. 
In connection with the extraordinary weather experienced during 
the last few weeks, the following meteorological particulars supplied by 
Mr. Simmons, the aeronaut, will no doubt be of general interest: — 
“In the balloon ‘Rockwood’ on Wednesday evening, August 1st, my 
experience was not in all respects a desirable one. I left the Anglo- 
Danish Exhibition at 6.15 p.M. ; at 6.20 I was between one thick cloud 
stratum at an altitude of 6000 feet, and another at an altitude of about 
10,000 feet. I had some suspicion that there was a current from the 
west. I looked in a direction which I conjectured to be east, and from 
that quarter came swooping on a great mountain of purple fire. The 
rumbling I could scarcely distinguish from the buzz of London, and I 
felt assured that as long as the sound was so faint there was a great dis¬ 
tance between me and the storm ; but at seven o’clock it was nearer to 
me. I tried then to get on a lateral level with it, but to this end I must 
have parted with my precious store of ballast, and, finding the thunder¬ 
storm keeping up a stern chase, I peered below the cloud stratum to see 
if I had a chance to descend. I found myself in rather too close 
proximity to a town or village. I have no idea what place it was, but 
I was bound to escape it by soaring again, and when I did so I esti¬ 
mated that the thunderstorm was about sixty miles behind me (to the 
N.E.). Then at 7.15 I had another suspicion that I was being borne 
upon a western current, for I could hear no sound but that like the 
surf upon a shore, and I again came down. When I did so I was con¬ 
vinced that the sound of the water must have been a mill race or a weir. 
I landed safely at Guildford, and the storm by which I had been so 
hotly pursued did not burst upon the earth until I was on my way back 
to London. 
In Paris the weather is described as dull, with intermittent gleams 
of sunshine, and so far there has only been one shower to-day a 
phenomenon for which the inhabitants of this gay metropolis are de¬ 
voutly thankful. Deplorable accounts, however, continue to-come in of 
the devastation caused to the crops throughout the provinces. M. Risler, 
the President of the Agricultural Society of France, than whom no 
better authority could be found, frankly describes the situation as bad. 
To begin with, the hay is completely spoiled. Before this deluge com¬ 
menced there had been a slight drought, but now it is impossible to dry 
the grass that has been cut. The cattle are feeding on it as it lies, and 
soon the supply will be exhausted. Ere long the peasants will be com¬ 
pelled to kill their animals, and meat will be at a discount. As for the 
corn, it cannot ripen, and the bakers will be obliged, to buy home pro¬ 
duce at a very high rate and to raise the price of their loaves. I armers, 
in their turn will be confronted with the competition of the Russian 
aud Hungarian cereals. The rains have proved beneficial to the Beet¬ 
root crop, the prospects of which would be excellent but for the un¬ 
timely appearance of the little insect which preys upon it. Potatoes, 
on the other hand, are simply rotting in the ground. As regards the- 
Grapes, M. Risler is of opinion that the vintage will be of inferior 
quality this year. He says that as matters at present stand French 
agriculture hp.s already sustained a dead loss of half a milliard of francs, 
but that if the bad weather lasts for another month the crisis will 
attain dimensions which he cannot contemplate with calmness. Such a 
catastrophe would mean “ short commons ” and hardships for many.. 
In fact, the outlook is as unpromising as it well can be. 
Recent Rainfalls.— According to Bull's Weekly Messenger the 
amount of rain reported by the Meteorological Office on Thursday, August 
2nd, was 1'26 inch measured at Brixton, while at Greenwich the amount 
was 1-29 inch. The average total fall for August is 2-26 inches, so that 
in the one day the amount measured was considerably more than one- 
half the average fall for the whole month. This is the fourth time since 
June 26th that upwards of an inch of rain has fallen in less than twenty- 
four hours in London and its vicinity. In July the total fall of rain at 
Greenwich was 7'09 inches, which is rather more than three times the 
ordinary average, and is 1'20 inch in excess of the largest previous fall 
on record in July ; and since 1813 there have been but four previous 
years with a fall for the month in excess of 5 inches. In June and July 
the total fall of rain at Greenwich was 10-45 inches. There is no in¬ 
stance since 1813 of a larger rainfall for these two months than 
8-49 inches, which was measured in 1880, and there are only thirteen 
years in all with the rainfall for June and July in excess of 6 inches. 
In all but four instances out of the thirteen these excessive rams were 
followed by a wet August, so that the outlook is not very encouraging. 
From June 26th to August 1st—a period of thirty-seven days—the fall 
of rain at Greenwich was 10-60 inches, whereas the ordinary total for 
the whole twelve months is less than 25 inches, and last year was less 
than 20 inches. 
