January  5,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
1 
BARR’S  SEED  GUIDE  FOR  1899 
IS  N'O'W  REAOY, 
And  will  he  Forwarded  Free  on  Application. 
BARR’S  SEED  GUIDE  contains  a  Select  List  of  the 
best  Vefietable  Seeds  and  most  beautiful  Flower  Seeds.  It 
iS/  full  of  Practical  Hints,  and  will  be  found  invaluable 
to  Gardeners,  Amateurs,  and  Exhibitors.  Sent  free  on 
.''PPLICATION. 
BARR'S  21  -  COLLECTION  OF  VEGETABLE 
SEEDS  coni/ains  a  liberal  assortment  of  the  following- 
useful  vegetables  ;  Beans  (Broad  and  French  Beans),  Beet, 
Borecole,  Broccoli,  Brussels  Sprouts,  Cabbage,  Capsicum, 
Carrot,  Cauliflower,  Celery,  Colewort,  Corn  Salad, 
Cucumber,  Cress,  Endive,  Herbs,  Leek,  Lettuce,  Melon, 
Mustard,  Onions,  Parsley,  Parsnips,  Peas,  Radish,  Salsify. 
Savoy  Cabbage,  Scorzonera,  Spinach,  Tomato,  Turnip,  and 
Vegetable  Marrow. 
Other  Collections  of  Barr's  Vegetable  Seeds,  5,6,  7'6, 
12  6,  42/-,  63;-  and  105/-.  Thete  Collections  sent  carriage  paid 
on  receipt  of  remittance.  Full  particulars  on  application. 
BARR’S  CHOICE  FLOWER  SEEDS.— Our  Catalogue 
contains  a  Select  List  of  all  the  most  beautiful  Annuals  and 
Perennials.  Special  Collections  for  ail  purposes,  and  many 
Sterling  Novelties. 
.411  Seeds  sent  Carriage  Paid  on  receipt  of  remittance. 
BARR  SONS, 
12  &  13  King  Street,  CoYcnt  Garden,  London 
Nurseries  ;  LONG  DITTON,  SURREY 
(Surbiton  Station,  S.W.  Railway). 
ESTABZ.ZSH&1>  2832. 
No  conmction  with  any  other  firm  of  a  similar  name. 
&  Son  s 
SPRING 
CATALOGUE 
For  1800, 
OF 
Vegetable  &  Flower  Seeds 
AND 
BULBS  &  PLANTS 
IS  NOW  READY. 
Will  be  sent  Post  Free  on  application  to  their  Offices  at 
OVERVEEN,  near  HAARLEM,  HOLL.AND,  or  to  their 
General  Agents— 
Messrs.  MERTENS  &  CO., 
3,  CROSS  LANE,  LONDON,  E.C. 
No.  967.— VoL.  XXXVIII.,  Third  Series. 
THE  CHAMPION 
NEW  TOMATO 
Amongst  the  many  Tomatoes  already  in  com¬ 
merce,  this  variety  will  be  a  decided  acquisition. 
The  fruit  is  of  fine  shape,  large,  smooth,  and 
bright  red  in  colour,  the  flesh  being  thick  and  of 
agreeable  flavour.  It  sets  its  fruit  freely,  and  is 
a  heavy  cropper. 
1/6  &.  2  6  per  Packet,  Post  Free. 
For  full  particulars  of  Novelties  and  Specialities 
see  Webbs’  Spring  Catalogue,  beautifully- 
illustrated  and  enlarged  to  136  pages,  post 
free  1/-,  Gratis  to  Customers. 
WEBB  Si.  SONS, 
Wordsley,  Stourbridge. 
The  31st  Edition  is  Now  Ready. 
200  Pages.  150  Illustrations. 
PRICE  SIXPENCE,  POST  FREE. 
(By  Parcel  Post-it  is  so  large). 
EYEHY  AMATEUR  SHOULD  POSSESS  A  COPY. 
CONTENTS  — Best  Seeds  and  Potatoes  for 
It.  ■  I  Garden  and  Farm  ;  also  Descriptive 
Lists  of  Carnations,  Chrysanthemums,  Dahlias, 
Fuchsias,  Gladioli.  Herbaceous  Plants,  Pansies, 
Pelargoniums,  Phloxes,  Pinks,  Pyrethrums,  Roses, 
and  Violas,  loilh  full  Cultural  Directions  for  each. 
London,  S.E. — “Please  accept  my  best  thanks  for  your 
Catalogue.  It  is  a  most  useful  and  beautiful  work,  giving 
more  information  suitable  to  amateurs  than  many  more 
expensive  works.”— G.  B. 
Norwich. — “Your  Catalogue  is  the  best  I  have  ever 
•seen.  It  has  been  an  invaluable  guide  and  help  to 
me.”— H.  H. 
Wollaston. — “I  received  your  Catalogue,  for  which 
please  accepi:  my  best  thanks.  It  is  a  splendid  book,  and 
contains  cultural  directions  which  are  a  great  help  to 
amateurs.” — J.  B. 
Apply  Early,  and  please  mention  this  paper. 
An  Abridged  Edition  of  our  Catalogue  can  be  had 
Lree  on  Application. 
BOBBIE  So  CO., 
SEED  GROWERS  AND  FLORISTS  TO  THE  QUEEN, 
Joiu[iuil  flf  ^ortti|uItui|e. 
rilURSDAY,  JANUARY  5,  18C9. 
THE  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  can  be  obtained 
from  the  Office,  12,  Mitre  Court  Chambers,  Fleet  St., 
fjondon,  post  free  for  a  Quarter,  3/9.  Editorial 
communications  must  be  addressed  to  8,  Rose 
Hill  Rd.,  Wandsworth,  S.W. 
NEW  YEAR’S  ADDRESS. 
“■TTTHAT,  at  it  again?”  I  hear  some  cynical- 
YY  friend  calling  out;  “I  really  think  it  is 
time  that  that  old  fellow  left  off  and  made  room- 
for  others  to  take  his  place;  his  pen  m'jst  be 
pretty  well  worn  down  to  a  slump,  and  his  ink 
thick  and  muddy — thoroughly  emblematic  of  his 
ideas.”  Well,  so  I  thought  ;  but  the  Editor  does 
not  share  my  views,  and  using  some  flattering 
words,  asked  me  once  more  to  send  a  message  to 
the  ever  increasing  number  of  the  readers  of  the 
Journal.  So  I  have  acceded  to  the  request,  the 
more  readily  as  it  has  now  well  advanced  upon  the 
fiftieth  year  of  its  existence,  during  nearly  forty 
of  which  I  have  been  a  regular  contributor. 
When  I  was  meditating  on  this  I  saw  some  very 
cheering  observations  made  in  the  pages  of  a 
contemporary,  in  which  we  were  told  that  tho 
number  of  successful  contributors  to  gardening 
papers  might  be  counted  on  the  fingers  of  one 
hand  !  I  could  not  even  claim,  then,  to  he  a  little 
finger,  and  must  be  content  with  whatever  measure 
of  praise  or  blame  a  considerate  clientele  may 
give  me. 
There  is  one  difficulty  in  writing  on  the  horti¬ 
culture  of  the  past  year — that  we  have  no  startling, 
events  to  record;  nothing,  for  instance,  like  the 
Jubilee  of  her  Majesty  and  the  consequent  installa¬ 
tion  of  the  Victoria  medal  for  horticulture ;  and  as 
it  would  be  difficult  to  say  anything  of  a  country 
which  has  no  annals,  so  equally  difficult  is  it  to 
record  the  doings  of  a  science  in  which  all  seems 
to  go  on  in  a  smooth  regular  course.  There  is,, 
however,  one  subject  which  closely  affects  us  all, 
and  especially  gardeners,  and  that  subject  is  tho 
weather. 
Do  you  ever  shake  hands  with  a  friend  in  the 
streets  without  his  immediately  saying  to  you, 
“  A  fine  day,”  or  “  Very  cold,”  or  “  ^  cry  damp,’  or 
something  relating  to  the  state  of  the  atmosphere  .' 
— a  sure  indication,  as  someone  has  said,  of  the 
uncertainty  of  our  climate ;  and  I  think  wo  may 
safely  say  that  (in  some  parts  of  the  country  at 
any  rate)  gardeners  have  had  a  fearful  time  of  it. 
We  have  experienced  another  year  of  drought,  and 
No.  2623.— VoL.  C.,  Old  Sehie.s. 
