no 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[April 24. 
somewhat clearer days, and nights a little colder, yet seldom 
below 30°, and only once as low as 22°, which was the lowest 
we have had during the winter; besides, there had been 
much less rain than in the average of seasons. We now 
come to March, which is always an important month, and, 
here I may mention, that up to the first of March, vegetation 
was in a forward condition, so much so that great fears were 
entertained of the after bad weather checking it, or rather 
injuring the fruit blossom; for it has been checked, and 
I do not remember ever witnessing so little progress in 
March as there has been this season, and yet no severe 
weather. The thermometer only once as low as 24°; but 
the almost total absence of sunshine, and some cold chilly 
winds in the beginning of the month, with heavy perishing 
rains from the middle to the end of it, landed us at the first 
of April with vegetation only a very little in advance of what 
i it was at the end of February. I certainly never remember 
, so little sunshine in March; and its loss must have told fear¬ 
fully where forcing is concerned. The evils of sharp frosty 
nights are in some measure compensated by the bright gleams 
| of sunshine we have in the day-time, but this season we have 
not had either, and, consequently, the tardy progress; be- 
I sides which, many things require the useful influences of 
bright sunshine; strawberries , peaches, cherries, and other 
fruits in forcing, do not set well unless assisted by that all 
important agent, whose indolence this season must certainly 
be deplored. Another thing, the wall fruits do not set well 
without more or less of the assistance of the monarch of the 
day, and haring now' been so long in an expanded state, I 
think it may fairly be inferred that the generative powers must 
become debilitated by delay, so that when the assistance does 
come they have so long waited for, they may be beyond its 
powers. Thus taking all things into consideration, I have very 
little hopes of a prolific season for fruit, as, independent of the 
reasons above given, I think the blossom looks weaker and 
smaller than usual. This remark, also, holds good with goose¬ 
berries ; so that, in more plain terms, I fear the crops of peaches, 
apricots, and gooseberries, will be deficient. Plums may be 
better, and I think pears have a chance to be good; apples, 
probably, may be an average crop. In giving these opinions, 
I beg to say, I am guided solely by the appearance the bloom 
presents ; and, although favourable or adverse weather must 
have a considerable share in augmenting or diminishing a 
crop, yet I am far from attributing success or failure entirely 
to these causes alone. A well developed bloom bud, endued 
with all the energies necessary to produce a healthy fruit, 
will generally, with the assistance of a vigorous tree, pro¬ 
duce one almost in spite of the weather; but to obtain such 
a bud, we must go back to the past year. However, that 
subject has been so ably handled by Mr. Errington, that I 
need say no more here than that I fully coincide with what 
he has advanced on that very important matter in fruit 
growing. Still, I am sorry to say, that I do not like the 
appearance of any of the trees I have seen this season; one 
| evil of which is, that the crop of last year was, perhaps, in 
, many cases allowed to be too heavy, and a consequent half- 
’ barrenness I fear will follow. Perhaps I may be wrong; I 
only pen these observations in order that others, in other 
localities, may judge for themselves, -whether a mild winter, 
or even a mild spring, will always command a fruit crop. 
| As a proof of a contrary effect being sometimes produced, 
I I may mention that all the early blossoming fruits were in 
abundance here last year, while we had the thermometer as 
low as 17° and 18° on the 20th and 28th of March, lower by 
4° or 5° than we have ever had it all this winter. Certainly, 
a dry atmosphere tended materially to counteract its effects, 
I but I attribute more to tire vigorous state of the bloom; the 
crop of the preceding year for small fruit being next to a 
total failure. This year I fear the case will be reversed. 
| While speaking of the probability of partial failures in the 
fruit crops, let me add that of another article of, perhaps, 
more national importance, though out of place here, but 
haring once passed the rubicon, and ventured on the 
hazardous speculation of prophecying evil, I can only add 
another item to my offences by putting down the hay crop 
of 1851, as also under an average. In this case, I admit, 
the weather that is to come will have more effect on that 
than on the fruit crop. Yet taking the chapter of chances 
for what may be their average worth, I yet think that grass 
which has been growing uninterruptedly for the last thirteen 
months, is not in so likely a condition to continue so, as 
when it has had a period of rest; certainly favourable 
weather and other circumstances may overcome that sup¬ 
posed inability, at all events ; I shall be most happy if I am 
wrong in all my forebodings. L. M. N. 
TREES SUITABLE FOR PARK SCENERY. 
( Continued from page 41.) 
The Group, or Clump.— Although some writers make a | 
wide distinction between these two objects, yet they would 
be puzzled to define their difference at planting time; the 
case is, that a group is only a more poetic name for a greater 
or less number of trees congregated together than the 
formal name “ clump." To carry the illustration further, 
we may say tliatthe usual way of planting a patch of ground 
with trees, and surrounding them with a fence, more or less 
irregular in outline, is certainly correctly named a clump, 
and until that fence be removed, and judicious thinning, Ac., 
applied to the trees so enclosed, they can have little claim 
to the more classic title, “ group;” so we may take it for 
granted that the one merges into the other as age advances; | 
and will, therefore, proceed at once to the planting. 
In this feature of park scenery, a much greater variety of 
trees may be introduced than for single trees; many of the | 
less robust kinds might here find a little shelter by the side of i 
(not under) their more free-growing brethren ; and such as i 
the tulip-tree, acacia, the copper beech, and others, that sel¬ 
dom make much show alone, would form excellent adjuncts ! 
to a clump. The wild cherry, too, is by no means a despica¬ 
ble tree, and when in flower contrasts beautifully with other : 
things around it; for instance, the copper beech. In the 
group, the great feature is to make the whole appear har¬ 
moniously to the eye; to effect which some insist on only , 
one kind of tree being used; but that is carrying the matter 
to the opposite extreme ; certainly an incongruous mixture is ! 
bad, and for that reason we exclude most of evergreens from 
the clump. An evergreen oak might be admitted, if one was 
wanted; but avoid the upright-growing firs, and we might 
also add the Lombardy poplar, and similar things. 
The Screen or Belt.— Although these objects have a 
widely different signification, yet, as the trees applicable to 
both are alike, we here class them together, the latter being 
merely an elongation of the former. In this feature of the 
landscape recourse must be had to trees most likely to thrive 
best in the places allotted them ; and, for the screen (which 
is a small plantation made to hide some offending object), 
a considerable mixture of evergreens may be used—we mean 
fir trees—and there would be no great harm if the whole 
were of that kind; but in the continuous belt, deciduous 
trees of many different kinds may, also, be used, but we 
certainly object to an indiscriminate mixture of them with 
spruce and Scotch firs, and the like. When firs are used 
let them be mostly alone, hiding or sheltering any particular 
object that may require their darkening shade. An occa- | 
sional silver or spruce fir towering above amass of deciduous j 
underwood, is certainly in good keeping ; and, likewise, tall 
Lombardy and other poplars are useful in breaking that j 
monstrous outline which belts so often presentwhen viewed in ' 
connection with the horizon; but they must not be regularly j 
dotted over, or the evil is equally bad. For belts which axe 
neither more nor less than plantations on a small scale, we 1 
shall not presume to recommend any particular kind of trees; 
those which in the locality thrive best, and afford the greatest 
return as profitable planting, are the most suitable for 
planting in this department; and the description of trees | 
which in one place realize the greatest amount of profit, I 
may be wholly unsaleable in another, therefore, no rule can 
be laid down applicable to all cases. 
In drawing our remarks to a close, we again impress on 
any of our readers who may be about planting an avenue, 
to consider well what we have urged in regard to the width I 
such a thing ought to be; in fact, it was the many errors we 
have seen in that way that led us to commence the present 
paper, and we have every reason to believe that all who have 
had experience in the evils of avenues planted of medium 
width, will bear us out in what we have said against such 
planting, and now that avenues are rising again into import¬ 
ance, we trust that in raising our warning voice against a 
certain kind, we shall not be writing in vain. S. N. Y. 
