OCTOBER 10.] 
similarity of tlio two estimates as really surprising ancl highly 
satisfactory. It may be proper to remark, that we have been 
sensible of no deficiency of food ; my habits are sedentary and 
studious, but my appetite is always good, to which the sea air, 
probably, gives additional force. The safe is not locked from 
the servant, and the children eat whenever they are hungry; 
in short, there has been no particular attempt at saving, 
beyond that of having no company, committing no waste, 
and purchasing food of the plainest but best quality.’ ” 
One proof is worth a thousand assertions. The Isle of 
! Wight was never considered a cheap residence, and twenty- 
| six years ago, when the new edition of “ Domestic Economy ” 
was published, every thing was far dearer than it is now. I 
sincerely hope that many who are striving to bring up a 
family beneath the pressure of honest poverty, trill take 
courage from the experience of a gentleman. To an officer, 
whose life has been spent among convivial and perpetual 
society, the absence of “ company ” must have been great 
self-denial; but the enjoyment of a happy home, with the 
best earthly companions—his wife and children—without 
debt, and, therefore, without distress, are sweeter and purer 
pleasures than any other that this deceitful world can afford. 
ON THE SPRING OF 1850, 
AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE FRUIT CROP IN THE COUNTY 
OF KENT. 
As the very able writer of your fruit-garden department 
frequently allude3 to the disparity between the climate of 
the nortli^rn and southern counties, in reference to the 
difficulties gardeners have to encounter in securing crops of 
the more tender as well as the more hardy fruits, I beg to 
lay before you a few remarks, showing that severe weather 
is not altogether confined to the counties north of the 
Trent, and as the place I now write from is in the centre of 
a neighbourhood long noted for its hardy fruits, being, in 
fact, near the middle of the county of Kent, where the 
extensive orchards of apple, cherry, plum, filberts, and the 
smaller fruits, form a very considerable portion of the parish 
maps—where, it may be fairly presumed, that the culture of 
these fruits, having been carried on for several generations, 
may have arrived to as great a state of perfection as in most 
other neighbourhoods—and as a favourable or adverse spring 
is acknowledged by all to have a wonderful influence on the 
crop, a few notes, which I made with care at the time, will 
tend to prove that wc are not altogether exempt from the 
frosts and cold winds so hurtful to fruit-trees. 
It may be necessary to mention, that the place I write from is 
somewhat elevated, being midway up a ridge of hill facing the 
south-west; below us is the extensive plain called the Weald 
of Kent, while behind us the ground rises some little dis¬ 
tance, the summit not very many years ago being unenclosed 
waste. I believe, it is often thought a situation so placed, 
enjoys more benefits than one on an extremely low or high 
one; perhaps it may be so. Well, haring explained that, I 
may add, that being furnished with a good registering ther¬ 
mometer, I have for some time noted down the variations of 
temperature, wind, and state of the weather, all of which 
things bear an important part in the fruit production way. 
So beginning with the winter, it is fair to observe that the 
autumn was mild and fine; until the 21st of December, when 
we had a little snow followed by frost, which on the night 
preceding the 23th of that month, caused the thermometer to 
fall to 16 degrees, whilst succeeding showers of snow, accom¬ 
panied by frosts (not severe), kept the ground covered up to 
the 26th January, when a thaw and milder weather followed, 
which ended that month without being any way remarkable. 
February came in with severe gales of wind, mostly from 
the south-west and west; in fact, I have 21 days noted down 
in which the winds blew from these quarters; about the 
middle of the month a good deal of rain fell, yet not more, 
or, perhaps, not so much, as usually falls in February; the 
last few days of the month were diy, and the air cold, wind 
north and east—so ended February, being likewise not re- 
remarkable for anything particular, 21 degrees and 56 degrees 
being the minimum and maximum of the thermometer. 
March came in under veiy favourable circumstances; the 
dry weather of the last few days of February continuing with 
very little variation to the end of March; in fact, the un¬ 
25 
i usual small quantity of rain that fell was remarked at other 
; places as well as hero, and doubtless to that cause we may 
j ascribe the wonderful escape the fruit-trees had from the 
severe frosts at the end of the month. I call it wonderful, 
because I have on other occasions seen gooseberries and 
currants suffer very severely when the thermometer has 
sunk some three or four degrees below the freezing point. 
May I then ask Mr. Errington, if he still thinks we arc 
exempted from severe weather, when on the morning of the 
26th March, the thermometer fell to 17 degrees, and on the 
28th it was 18 degrees ? I guess he will think there must have 
been a mistake in the instruments, or that all unprotected 
fruit must have perished. I beg to assure him that neither 
the one nor the other was the case; the extraordinary dry¬ 
ness of the atmosphere at the time in a great measure 
neutralising the effects of the extreme cold, so that notwith¬ 
standing our peaches, nectarines, and apricots on the walls, 
protected only by single netting, received but very little if 
any harm, although they were on west, north, and east 
aspect; and the gooseberry and currants, which are certainly 
as tender as any of our fruits, escaped also, except in some 
very exposed places, I heard of a partial failure. One of 
the causes I attribute to their receiving no harm, is the 
rigorous state the trees were in, the crop of 1849 being all 
but a total failure in these parts ; the trees, doubtless, were 
enabled to lay in a store of food capable of assisting them to 
overcome the blighting influence of unusual cold; that, 
together with the dry ground and atmosphere, certainly 
saved them from destruction at a very critical time ; in fact, 
so exceedingly dry was the ground, that except in places 
where it had been recently turned up or otherwise made 
damp, the frost seemed to have taken little hold of it, the 
dusty portion not being any way stiffened, and the atmosphere 
being also less humid than at most other times, contributed 
its share in preserving to us quite an average crop of fruit 
from the remarkable cold, which the end of March taught 
us was unable to destroy. The wind during the month 
being from the north-east 10 days, north 6 days, and north¬ 
west 4 days, and the other directions the remainder; the days 
though very dry were not remarkably sunny, so that the 
thermometer the latter half of the month was never above 
51 degrees, except the last day when it was 57 degrees, while 
in the early part of the month it was 59 and 00 degrees, and 
the long continued drought as visible on the grass field as 
the hot weather of July usually is. 
With April we had more genial weather; occasional showers 
set things going in the ground, which was far from cold, but 
the absence of sunshine retarded the progress of vegetation in 
like ratio, and some slight frosts at the end of the month told 
us that winter had not yet left us. It may be worth recording 
as a matter interesting to naturalists, that the nightingale 
was heai'd on the 10th, and the cuckoo on the 16th, and the 
first head of asparagus I observed above ground was on the 
12th ; this latter test of an early or late season I have 
observed for many years, and, strange to say, the difference 
has been very trifling; the spring of 1847 was the latest. I 
said the deficiency of sunshine retarded vegetation, so that 
the 1st of May was ushered in with a great accumulation of 
its predecessor’s work to do, or, in other words, the season 
up to that time was a very backward one, although the ther¬ 
mometer had never been below 31 degrees, and only twice 
32 degrees, the highest being 63 degrees. 
May.—This month—an important one to the farmer and 
gardener—was as usual chequered by the usual variety of 
changes common at this time. We have said the early 
blooming fruits escaping in a great measure the severity of 
March, advanced slowly through April; other later blooming 
fruits, as the apple and cherry, now are blooming, especially 
the latter; yet mark the contrast—a frost of three degrees, 
was quite sufficient to destroy the crop of cherries which 15 
degrees has been unable to do to that of plums and goose¬ 
berries ; but in this case the neutralizing powers were wanting; 
the ground certainly was not very wet, yet the atmosphere 
was loaded with moisture, and so extremely delicate is the 
cherry, that many trees had their young leaves and shoots 
completely destroyed by the frost, as well as the bloom, so 
as to look some weeks after as if the whole had been 
scorched with fire. The destruction of the early cherries was 
universal in this neighbourhood, a few of the later ones, as 
the Bigarreaus, had better luck, yet very few cherries were 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
