72 
THK FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ May, 
was a large collection of varieties of Fritillaria 
MelecKjrii; the other, a large collection of 
varieties of this splendid Iris. They are grown 
in pure sand, which is from time to time 
heavily manured, and their roots in summer 
reach the water. Now, there is never any 
need to lower the level of the land and bring 
in water to supersede hedgerows, in order to 
grow such plants as fritillarias or irises, or even 
hyacinths and tulips. A sandy loam will 
answer the purpose. A gravelly sand will 
answer the pui'pose. A peaty sort of Bagshot 
soil, with a sparkling preponderancy of siliceous 
grit in it, will answer the purpose. Let this be 
well dug and heavily manured once in five 
3 'ears. When the plants are in full growth, 
give them abundance of water. And thus you 
may, without doubt, grow to perfection Iris 
Is-ceiimferi^ and with it a host of good things 
that do but poorly under the prevailing system 
of the English garden. As to the hardiness of 
this Iris, who can doubt it, when it is seen to 
be a native of the country where is born and 
bred the dreadful East Wind. The secret of 
the success of many things grown in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Haarlem is that the soil is sand 
containing a certain amount of humus, and the 
water is at such a depth that the roots do not 
touch it until they want it—that is, when 
they are in full growth, and then they can 
drink their fill, and by the aid of plenty form 
the embryo flowers for the next year. As re¬ 
gards the season of planting, imported roots 
may be planted now (April), as well as at any 
time.—S. H.—(Abridged from the Gardener's 
Magazine.') 
EFFECTS OF THE WINTER. 
At Stddley. 
winter may have been said to have 
commenced here on November 11th, 
when we had a deep snow, and though 
it did not remain long on the ground, it kept 
snowing at intervals till the end of the follow¬ 
ing Mai’ch. The lowest frost occurred here on 
the morning of December 25th, when we 
registered twenty-seven degrees; on the 2Gth 
we had a deep fall of snow, and on the 
27th the thaw set in, and the snow 
went rapidly, leaving such things as Cab¬ 
bage, Spinach, and even Broccoli looking re¬ 
markably well. The beginning of the year, 
however, set in with dry, frosty winds, which 
soon withered up the then fresh-looking winter 
crops. On January 12th we had another deep 
snow, and a rapid thaw afterwards, succeeded 
by frost on the 14th. We had a deep snow 
again on the 18th, with frost day and night, 
which continued with more or less intensity till 
February Gth, when a thaw set in,and continued 
till about the 12th. Then frost with snow re¬ 
turned again on the 15th, and continued more or 
less to the close of the month, the thermo¬ 
meter standing near the freezing-point da}'’ and 
night. March came in with mild, open wea¬ 
ther, which continued till the 12th, and then 
we had a continuance of frost and snow, with 
cold north-east winds to the end of the month. 
It is to this frequent freezing and thawing 
that I attribute the heavy loss we have sustained 
among the Vegetables. We had Broccolis of 
all the leading sorts, in large c[uantities, on 
various aspects, not one of which is left. Fine 
young Cocoa-Nut Cabbages, from which we 
had been cutting till the end of the year, weio 
all killed, and most of the Savoy stumps, and 
even the Brussels Sprouts, were greatly injured. 
The young Cabbage-plants, being mostly covered 
with snow, escaped with little injury, and are 
now (April !)th) beginning to grow pretty freely. 
I may mention, however, that at Sawley Hall, 
which lies somewhat higher than Studley, and 
in which the gardens are more sheltered, the frost 
was not quite so severe (twenty-five degrees on 
December 25th), and there Sutton’s Late Queen 
Broccoli is all sound and good, while with me 
the same sort was all killed. I also noticed 
a large conical-shaped, blue-looking Cabbage, 
which the late Mr. Faviel brought from Copen¬ 
hagen some years ago, on which a leaf was not 
singed, and which is now hearting-in and 
ready to cut—a useful variety in such a season 
as this, when our ordinary vegetables have 
suffered so severely. 
Trees and shrubs do not seem to have 
suffered so much, but with the terrible lesson 
of 1861, when many shrubs and all the tender 
conifers were killed, we have since planted 
nothing but hardy things. Some Eucalypti on 
a wall have, however, been killed, and the cold 
winds of the end of March have made sad 
work with the Pampas Grass, the points of 
Laurel shoots, &c. ; but these will, I think, 
recover. 
Upon the whole, I think our prospects for a 
hardy fruit-crop this year ai'e very good. Apri¬ 
cots are now coming into full bloom, and look 
strong and good, and there seems to be abund- 
