303 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 14, 1860. 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY’S FLORAL 
COMMITTEE.— 9th August. 
A First-class Certificate was awarded to Messrs. Ycitch and 
Son, Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, for Oleichenia pubescens, a new 
stove Fern. 
To Mr. Smith, Nurseryman, Ilornsey Road, London, for a 
new variegated Geranium, called Argus, one of the best scarlet 
flowers in this class. 
To Mr. Turner, of Slough, for Flise, a fine, rose-edged Picotee. 
To Mr. Bragg, of Slough, for Shalcespere Carnation, in the 
style of General Ilaveloclc. 
To Mr. Smith, Ilornsey Road, for Nemesis, a deep scarlet- 
edged Picotee. 
Certificates of Commendation were awarded to Mr. Noble, 
nurseryman, Bagshot, for Spircea Nobleana, a seedling from 
S. Douglasii, with closer flower-spikes of the same colour. 
To Mr. Ingram, of the Royal Gardens, Frogmore, for Lonicera 
hgbrida, a seedling from L. Japonica, with a profusion of 
fragrant white flowers. 
Commendations were given to Mr. Turner, of Slough, for 
Favourite, a heavy, purple-edged Picotce. 
To Mr. Bragg, of Slough, for a collection of yellow Picotees, 
after the style of the Fmpress of India. 
To Mr. Keynes, of Salisbury, for Countess of Derby, a fancy, 
deep-mottled Picotee. 
To Mr. Smith, of Ilornsey Road, for Purple Perfection Picotee. 
To Mr. Bragg, of Slough, for Garibaldi, a yellow-ground 
Picotee, heavily marked with dull red. 
In a collection of Carnations from Mr. Keynes, the three 
following would be commended if they were shown according to 
the rules of the Floral Committee:— Peter Young, Poor Sam, 
and Conqueror. 
“ CAN A ROSE BE ALTERED BY ITS STOCK?’’ 
A teiexd of mine called my attention last summer to a Rose 
he had budded on the old China Monthly Rose. The bud had 
been taken from Safrano ; and the result was, a cluster of flowers 
with exactly the colour and nearly the character of the old 
China. In other respects there was no mistake as to the origin 
of the bud.—K. 
THE SEASON, AND ITS EFFECTS ON 
VEGETATION. 
Your intelligent correspondent, “The Doctor’s Boy,” at 
page 261 asks for information about the weather and its effects 
on garden crops—a question which I hope will elicit several 
answers from different parts of the country. I herewith give him 
and the readers of The Cottage Gardener a description of 
what it has been at this place (Linton), which is about the 
centre of the county of Kent. 
Commencing with the present year, I may say the winter 
months of January, February, and March presented nothing very 
remarkable except the general prevalence of high winds, and 
alternating changes from rain to frost, snow, and fair weather— 
in fact, it was to these sudden and continuous changes that the 
destructive character of the winter is to be ascribed, the frost at 
no time being very severe. April was dull and wet; and on the 
24th of that month we had a heavy fall of snow, followed by rain 
on the following day, which will long be remembered as the most 
stormy and wet days known at this season. More mild weather 
closed the month. 
May came in with high winds, dry and cold, followed by rain 
on 8th, which also fell more or less on every day up to 19th, 
after which we had a week of fine, sunny, warm weather—the 
finest, in fact, we have had the whole season; so that by the 
26th, when cold rains set in again, vegetation was about as for¬ 
ward as usual at that period. But the latter end of the month 
being dull, cold, and wet, everything was checked, and a sudden 
stop put to the growth of all but the most robust vegetation. 
June has been the most remarkable month I have on record, 
rain falling almost every day, and with scarce a gleam of sunshine. 
The ground got saturated with moisture, from which there was 
no evaporating medium to relieve it, the days being almost as 
sunless as those of November usually are. The result was, that 
many tender things in the garden way perished with the wet and 
oold. Others remained stationary; and what growth did take 
place was of that tardy description from which no good result 
could be expected : the rainfall of the month being 5 P 09 inches, 
or nearly as much as that of the same months for the four pre¬ 
ceding years ; while the average maximum temperature was 16° 
below that of 1858, and 91° below that of 1859. This extra¬ 
ordinary state of things was, of course, incompatible with the 
well-being of bedding plants, or, in fact, any description of plant 
whatever, except those of the hardiest description. 
July came in with greater promise, the first fortnight being 
dry with some sunshine. But St. Switliin shed his ominous tears 
upon us; and from the 16tli to the end of the month has been a 
continued series of heavy showers of a thundery character, accom¬ 
panied by the same dull weather as before; cold nights suc¬ 
ceeding wet days, more favouring the growth of weeds and grass 
than anything else; so that on the 1st August we are in a worse 
plight as regards the advancement of cropB and the general 
character of things than I ever remember to have been in at the 
same time. So dull and cold has it been that the Gooseberries 
are not yet ripe, and in the fields largo breadths of hay are still 
out. But it will, perhaps, be better to speak of the results on 
some of the more important garden crops individually. I here¬ 
with append a few notes on each. 
Hardy Fruits. — Apples. —The crop in most cases plentiful 
enough, but the trees unhealthy and the fruit small. Some of 
the late kinds are thin, but as a rule there was plenty of fruit set. 
Pears. —Where the birds did not injure them there will be a 
fair average crop; but many standard trees were almost ruined 
by these depredators. The fruit, however, is like the Apples, 
small and unkindly. 
Plums. —Variable, and certainly not so plentiful as last year, 
excepting on some favoured places. 
Cherries. —The quantity has far exceeded the quality here. 
In fact, Cherries have been poor and indifferent. 
Gooseberries. —Generally abundant, but smaller than usual, 
and the red ones colour and ripen badly. 
Black Currants. —Good crop and excellent fruit, better than 
usual on most grounds. 
Red Currants. —Full average crop and fair quality. 
Raspberries. —Crop good, but fruit without flavour—a mere 
puffball of watery juice. 
Straivberries. —The late ones have been very indifferent. The 
more eariy kinds were tolerably good, though, like the Raspberry, 
there was no flavour. 
Vegetables. — The Potato _I fear we shall hear sad com¬ 
plaints of this useful root. On dry grounds the crop was pro¬ 
mising ; but on colder soils it never appeared strong, and recently 
has been attacked with disease, apparently as badly as in the worst 
years. The quality of the Potatoes is also bad, and the earliest 
are yet far from ripe in a general way, so that taking up will not 
save them. 
Peas. —These have in general been double the usual height 
they are in other seasons ; but where stakes have been afforded 
them, they have cropped well, and Peas have been the most 
plentiful of our garden crops. 
Beans. —Like Peas, these have run up much higher than here¬ 
tofore ; but they are not so well loaded as in some other years; 
neither are the pods so well filled. Nevertheless, the Bean crop 
must not be regarded as a failure. 
Scarlet Runners. —For a long time weak, they have only just 
begun to grow with anything like vigour. Their success or failure, 
however, will depend on the weather that is to come. 
Dwarf Kidney Beans. — Sickly, full of gaps, and bad in a 
general way. 
Onions. —Late, and on stiff soils will hardly ripen; otherwise 
there are plenty of them, and they are not deficient in size. 
Carrots. —Crop irregular, but not worse than in some former 
seasons. The slug was very destructive to the young plant. 
Cabbages and Cauliflowers .—Where the ground was favour¬ 
able these were forthcoming, but they have not been universally 
plentiful. A sort of disease attacked the Cauliflower, and Cabbage 
plants were much hurt by the winter. 
Amongst other miscellaneous crops, those requiring a greater 
amount of sunshine than we have had this season have suffered 
accordingly. Cucumbers and Vegetable Marrow have done 
nothing out of doors ; and Shallots and many other things have 
only made tardy growth, while there has been much difficulty 
to preserve seed-beds from the attacks of insects, or from perish¬ 
ing with cold. On the other hand, Lettuce and summer Turnips 
have been good, and Celery will be more forward than usual. 
We now come to The Flower Garden, which, alas! shows 
