THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 18. 
storms, of sucli a character as to block up roads, and 
to call endless shovels and brooms into request. If 
we have had anything worth calling summer, it was 
from about the middle of May to the middle of June; 
during which time we experienced severe droughts; 
but even this, although prejudicial to many crops, was 
cheerfully endured as a thing in the main desirable, 
especially after the autumn and winter rains. 
In order to show the bearing of the whole summer on 
fruits and vegetables, I must take the liberty of directing 
attention to the late extraordinary six weeks, or more, 
through which we have lately passed—such a period as 
I have never experienced since the memorable 181(3. 
I, for one, well remember the character of that sad 
summer: for I was engaged in the seed business in the 
neighbourhood of the metropolis. My father, under 
whom I then served, in conjunction with the nursery 
business, grew seeds of various kinds extensively, to | 
supply the trade, as well as for retail; and, at that 
period, I remember great breadths of Lettuces, Onions, 
and other such things, being, day after day, thrown 
prostrate, until nearly all destroyed. Such was the 
devastation amongst our tender vegetables, that Bath 
Cos Lettuce seed was sold for five guineas the pound, 
trade price; and if my memory serves me correctly, 
Windsor , or the Broad Bean , at eight guineas the bushel. 
Our Brown Cos Lettuce seed was made up in dainty little 
half-crown packets, each of which might yield two or 
three score good seeds. So much for a comparison of 
seasons, with their effects; and the chief difference, as j 
far as I remember, between that summer and the 
present is, that 1816 was not quite so wet, but by far 
colder and more windy. People, that summer, were ; 
constantly seen at haymaking and harvest work with j 
great coats on, and that fact was matter of daily j 
comment. 
I will now state the character and condition of fruit 
and vegetable crops as they are and have been with us, I 
in order to show the influence of weather on the pro- | 
ducts of the garden. 
Inwall fruits, Peaches and Nectarines, here (Cheshire) 
are far beyond an average crop; strange to say, in spite 
of the absence of sunshine for many weeks they were 
never more healthy or more abundant; but it is many 
years since we missed a crop of these things out-doors. 
Apricots are scarcely half a crop; the wondrously low 
temperature of the last week in March, before quoted, 
was their bane, no doubt; or else they bloomed, or rather 
would have bloomed, in excellent style, but that frost 
destroyed them in a hall-developed state. Pears, on 
■walls, trellisses, &c., are, on the whole, a capital crop. 
We have them in all forms, and I am not aware that any 
particular mode of training bears the hell. Marie 
Louise , so much complained of by Mr. Rivers and our 
metropolitan friends in general, has set abundantly both 
on walls and on my table trellisses. Winter Neilis , too, 
on walls, every tree is uniformly covered; this is an 
invaluable Pear. Apples are the heaviest crop I ever 
knew, whether referring to dessert or to table kinds. It 
is unpleasant to contemplate the mischief this will ! 
cause next season, in all probability, by exhausting the ■ 
trees. Plums are a partial crop, especially the Green- j 
gage; but those of the Magnum lonum class are an 
unusually large crop; Damsons , perhaps a little below 
the average. As to Raspberries, I have not seen any¬ 
thing equal to them but once in my life; and that was j 
more than thirty years ago. We have been gathering , 
daily, for the most ordinary uses, fruit of the Folstaff 
kind, any one gathering of which would bo considered a 
picked sample for any exhibition table in the kingdom ; 
and I have a row treated on a peculiar plan, which will 
continue bearing for a month yet, or more. This plan 
I consider so useful, that I must inform our readers of 
it in due time. Gooseberries, and Red and White 
Currants , are as heavy a crop as the Raspberries ; and 
as for Blade Currants, they are splendid. Cherries are 
an inferior crop; they did not set well, and have been 
sadly plagued by the fly. Strawberries bloomed and set 
as well as I ever knew them, but at least three fourths 
have been lost. It was impossible to gather them so as 
to be usable, and they became a prey to wireworms, 
slugs, &c., and rotted away piecemeal. 
As to vegetables, Peas have run much to haulm, hut 
the crop, nevertheless, has been far above an average, 
hitherto; but I do not, by any means, admire the crops 
of British Queens, which we always sow in April and 
May, for late autumn use. They are all cankered in the 
stems, or are what our old gardeners used to term 
“ shanked.” These are a precarious crop on our sandy 
and hard-worn soils in general, but I verily had thought, 
that by making trenches, ns for Celery, and using much 
charred weeds, and rubbish, in the compost, I should 
have had success; but 1 fear them much, and have been 
sowing several rows of the Prince Albert, and Prussian, 
as a speculation. The Thurston's Reliance is a very 
useful Pea, and with us this summer has been about 
seven feet in height. It has a tendency to branch like 
the Knight's Marrow section. The Imperial is one of 
the most useful still, especially for those who are scant 
of labour and sticks; and the Woodford Marrow, of 
similar habit, for those who are very particular as to 
colour. They are much liked for bottling. The Broad: 
Bean class are very fine this year, but they have been 
visited here with the fungus which has been much 
complained of, and which invests the whole plant, 
speedily, with a chocolate tint, especially the under side 
of the leaf. As soon as this prevails, there is an end to 
both “setting” and “swelling” in the pods. Those 
who are learned *in cryptogamous matters, would do 
well to pay extra attention to this, which threatens, 
some time, to rival the potato disease. 
Ccndijlomers have been unusually fine. Some years have 
passed since I saw such large, white, and close heads. 
The Asiatic variety, which should be a. week or two later, 
if true, has, for three years, proved neither more nor less 
than the old Cauliflower. So much for our modern 
seedsmen, who write, “superb,” “choice,” “extra,” &c., 
on their packets, but to which, in many cases, might be 
superadded, “Fudge.” 
Spring Broccolis were line, too, but very late; and the 
latest whites run fairly up to the Cauliflower season, as 
they should do. The loss by severe weather, in Broccolis, 
I consider about twenty per cent. 
Asparagus has been abundant, but scarcely so large 
as in some years, owing, doubtless, to the drought which 
occurred during the whole period in which it should he 
in its prime. It was, however, first-rate in quality, as 
it always is here. We do not grow what is called 
drumstick Asparagus. 
Kidney Beans, raised in heat, hardened off, and trans¬ 
planted, only came to hand about the 20th of July, and 
Tomatoes, which were in blossom when turned out of 
pots, in the middle of June, do not appear to be one 
week advanced since that period. This will serve to 
show our friends of the south what sort of a climate we 
have in the north. Scarlet Runners, sown in the last 
week of April, have been in blossom for three weeks, at 
least, but not a pod is to be seen yet, and it is now the 
1st of August. 
The early crops of Potatoes , out-doors, chiefly the 
Ash leaved Kidney, have been very fine, and free from 
disease until about the 12th of July, when it gave un¬ 
mistakable signs of its approach. 1 took up a lot 
(under ripe, of course) before the least taint could be 
discovered in the foliage, hut I regret to report, that 
nearly one-third are since decayed, although they are 
placed singly on a dry, boarded-floor. At this period 
(August 1st) the complaints from the farmers are con- 
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