THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, Sei>tembek 15, 1857. 871 
WEEKLY CALEMDAR. 
D 
M 
D 
W 
SEPTEMBER 15—21, 1857. 
Weather m 
Barometer. 
ear Lon 
Thermo. 
DON IN 
Wind. 
1856. 
Rain in 
Inches. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R. & S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
at. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
15 
To 
Hypericum barbatum. 
30.186—30.126 
69—44 
S.W. 
— 
37 a. 5 
14 a. 6 
1 51 
27 
4 
55 
258 
16 
W 
Ember Week. 
30.130—30.092 
68—41 
W. 
— 
38 
12 
3 14 
28 
5 
16 
259 
17 
Th 
Soapwort (Saponaria). 
29.952—2^.798 
67-48 
S.W. 
10 
40 
9 
4 32 
29 
5 
37 
260 
18 
F 
Silene maritima. 
29.860—29.836 
64-37 
N.W. 
01 
41 
7 
sets. 
© 
5 
58 
261 
, 19 
S 
Arenaria ciliata. 
29.965—29.851 
60—36 
N.W. 
— 
43 
5 
6 a 17 
1 
6 
19 
262 
20 
Son 
15 Sunday after Trinity. 
30.043—29.997 
58—29 
N. 
— 
44 
2 
6 27 
2 
6 
40 
263 
21 
M 
St. Matthew. 
30.042-29.6l6 
66—41 
W. 
12 
46 
0 
6 40 
3 
7 
1 
264 
Meteorology of the Week, —AtChiswick, from observations during the last twenty-eight years, the average highest and lowest 
temperatures of these days are 67 . 1 °, and 46.2°, respectively. The greatest heat, 84°, occurred on the l/th, in 1843 ; and the lowest cold, 29% 
on the 17 th, in 1840. During the period 101 days were fine, and on 95 rain fell. 
The Meeting of the British Pomological Society, 
appointed for awarding the prizes for the best seedling 
Grapes and Grapes of new introduction, was held at 
the rooms, St. Martin’s Hall, on Saturday last, Mr. 
Hogg, Y.P., in the chair. The prizes offered by the 
Society were—Class A, Two Guineas for the best 
seedling Grape having a Muscat flavour; Class B, 
Two Guineas for the best seedling Grape of any other 
description not having a Muscat flavour; Class C, 
Two Guineas for the best Grape, not a seedling, raised 
in this country, and not in general commerce. The 
Meeting was very numerously attended, and the pro¬ 
ceedings excited a considerable degree of interest. 
In Class A the only entry was a black seedling 
brought by Mr. Snow, gardener to Earl de Grey, Wrest 
Park, Bedfordshire, and called Muscat Hamburgh. Four 
bunches of this variety were produced; one weighing 
5^-lbs. was ripened in an ordinary vinery with only a 
little heat on cold nights at the time of setting, and 
another smaller bunch from the same Vine cut to test 
its merits. The berry is of good size, and oval shape, 
skin black, thin, and separating freely from the flesh, 
which is tender, and very juicy, with a rich, sugary 
juice, and a high Muscat perfume. A bunch from 
a Vine grown in a pot in the same house as the pre- 
ceeding was even more rich in flavour, and more highly 
perfumed ; and another bunch grown in a Peach house, 
and which had been ripe since June, was shrivelled, 
and even more sugary than the others. The members 
present having partaken of some of all the bunches, it 
was decided unanimously that Mr. Snow be awarded 
the premium offered, and that the Muscat Hamburgh 
is a Grape of first-rate excellence, and possesses features 
which are not found in any other variety in cultivation. 
In Class B there were three entries: a white seedling 
raised by Mr. Busby, gardener to S. Crawley, Esq., of 
Stockwood Park, near Luton, Bedfordshire, and called 
Golden Hamburgh ; a white variety raised by Mr. I very, 
nurseryman, Dorking, and called Iverys Buckland Sweet¬ 
water; and a black variety brought by Alexander Scrut- 
ton, Esq., St. Anne’s Hill, Wandsworth. Mr. Busby’s 
produces a bunch as large as, and shouldered like, the 
Black Hamburgh; the berries are large and roundish 
oval; yellow, and, when fully ripe, with somewhat of a 
golden or pale amber tinge ; the skin is remarkably thin, 
and separates freely from the flesh, which is very tender, 
melting and juicy, sugary and vinous, leaving on the 
palate a full and luscious flavour. There was also a 
small bunch which had been cut ever since June and 
hung up in a fruit room, and the berries on this were of 
a pale amber colour, quite shrivelled, and ate like a 
sweatmeat. Mr. I very’s seedling approaches more the 
Sweetwater race, but produces a large bunch, well 
shouldered, with large round berries; but the specimen 
exhibited was not considered sufficiently ripe. It was 
grown in an ordinary greenhouse with other plants, and 
had no fire heat, and Mr. Ivery was requested to produce 
it at a subsequent Meeting. The seedling brought by 
Mr. Scrutton was a very long, loose bunch, with medium¬ 
sized black berries; the bunch has much of the shape 
and size of Black Prince, but is quite distinct from that 
variety, and was ripened out of doors against a wall with 
a glass frame placed in front of it. The berries were of 
good flavour, and it was considered by the Meeting that, 
if this variety were subjected to a little heat, it might then 
exhibit properties which it does not now possess. All 
three having been carefully examined, it was resolved 
unanimously that the premium be awarded to Mr. Busby, 
and that the Golden Hamburgh is thefiuest of all white 
Grapes, the Muscats only excepted. 
In Class C Mr. Fleming, gardener to His Grace the 
Duke of Sutherland at Trentham, sent a variety called 
Trentham Black , but he did not know whether it was a 
seedling, or one which had been imported from the Con¬ 
tinent. The bunch is large and shouldered; the berries 
of medium size, oval. Skin black, thin, and separating 
freely from the flesh, which, is very tender, juicy, and 
remarkably rich and sugary. Mr. Tillery, gardener to 
His Grace the Duke of Portland at Welbeck, sent a very 
large bunch of a grizzly-coloured Grape received from 
France. The berries were medium-sized and of good 
flavour, but did not exhibit anything remarkable in 
quality. On being put to the vote, it was decided unani¬ 
mously that the premium be awarded to Mr. Fleming 
for the Grape called Trentham Black, which was highly 
recommended as of first-rate excellence. Mr. Fleming 
also sent a plant growing in a pot, showing how well 
it is adapted for that mode of culture. 
There were several other varieties of Grapes; one 
called White Bomain, from Mr. Fleming, which had 
been introduced from France by Mr. Puvers. It is a 
short, thick-set bunch, with medium-sized, roundish 
berries, of a yellowish white colour. The skin is so 
translucent that the seeds may be seen distinctly 
through. The flesh is firm, and adheres to the skin, 
but is sweet and highly flavoured. The wood of the 
vine is remarkably short-jointed and will possess great 
advantages for pot culture. Mr. Tillery, of Welbeck, 
sent specimens of Black Tripoli, beautifully coloured, 
jet black, and excellent in flavour; and also a bunch of 
Ghasselas Musquee, which showed no appearance of the 
fruit cracking, and which Mr. Tillery attributed to the 
fact that it had been grown on a well-drained, shallow 
border, and kept dry when colouring. By this method 
he says the berries never crack. Mr. Cox, of Kempsey 
House, near Worcester, sent two bunches of Grapes, 
which he says are known in his neighbourhood as 
Black Alicant and Black Morocco; but they were not 
recognised as being either of those varieties as known 
to the members present. The bunch is eight inches 
long and five wide, very little if at all shouldered. 
The berries are very large, over one inch and a quarter 
in length, and one inch in diameter, skin black when 
No. CCCCLXVm. Vol. XVIII. 
