FOREIGN NOTICES. 



565 



qnotations from the experiments of Hales which 

 are familiar to every student of ve^eiahic physio- 

 logy, toiiether with some observations of his own 

 on the motion of fluids in living bodies, the connec- 

 tion between which and the potato disease we fail 

 to discover. 



Wt; wonder that Professor Liebig should not 

 have perceived that the seasons of 1845, 6, and 7, 

 in all which the disease was prevalent, were very 

 dissimilar ; we wonder still more that he should not 

 have weighed the mass of valuable evidence thai 

 has been collected on the subject in every country 

 in northern Europe, before he jumped to his pre- 

 sent conclusion. It is still more extraordinary that 

 he should not have asked himself why impeded 

 perspiration, influenza, cold, or whatever else he 

 terms the disease, should not have attacked the 

 potato crop before the year 1845, and should have 

 continued to do so every year since through sea- 

 sons essentially (lilferent from each other. 



It would seem, however, that men cannot rea- 

 son calmly upon this subject. To our great sur- 

 prise we lind Dr. Gregoky, the translator of Pro- 

 fessor Liedig's work, appending to it Doctor 

 KlotzscH'S proposition as confirming his author's 

 speculation. What Dr. Ki.otzsch's proposition is, 

 our readers have learned from Sir Robert Schom- 

 burgk's translation of it in our last number. He 

 thinks that by strengthening the potato plant it 

 will be better able to resist the disease, an opinion 

 that we have expressed a hundred times. He be- 

 lieves that this strengthening may be effected by 

 repeatedly slopping the growth ol the branches by 

 pinching ofl" their shoots, so as to strengthen the 

 tubers and prevent those ciianges which result in 

 the production of flowers and fruit, or, as he terms 

 it, " to restrict the metamorphosis of the leaves." 

 What that has to do with impeded perspiration we 

 are unable to perceive. His object is to give the 

 jilant more vigor, by diverting into a smaller num- 

 ber of leaves the food obtained by the roots and 

 sent upwards into the stem, which food, under or- 

 dinary circumstances, is dispersed through a large 

 number of leaves. In prineijile this method is like 

 our English plan of destroying the flowers, and 

 whicli has not been attended with success ; for al- 

 though in the experiments in the Garden of the 

 Horticultural Society, in 1S47, topped or stopped 

 potatoes were less diseased than others untopped, 

 yet disease existed in both eases, and the diflerence 

 was only as 9.56 to 13 jier cent. There are, 

 however, some peculiarities in the plan of Dr. 

 Klotzscii which make it desirable to try it this 

 year exactly in the manner which he indicates. 

 So far, however, from pretending that the disease 

 is impeded perspiration, he expressly declares him- 

 self " unable to explain the nature of the dis- 

 ease." 



For ourselves, we regard it with as much uncer- 

 tainty as ever ; of this, however, we are persuaded, 

 that be it what it may, it is not explained by our 



own original hypothesis, now produced as a novelty 

 by Professor Liebig. (Lindley.) 



Ox THE Choice of Fi.owebs. — We will sup- 

 pose the possessor of a garden is desirous of making 

 it as interesting and gay as possible during the 

 coming season, and is asking our advice in the 

 matier. The reply must be regulated by various 

 circumstances which modify the arrangements ne- 

 cessary for this end, such as the present state of 

 the garden, whether stocked with trees and shrubs 

 or not, whether largo or small, and whether much 

 of it is laid down in grass. Many things are es- 

 sential to the beauty of a garden bes des good flow- 

 ers. In autumn and winter the general laying out 

 should be attendid to, and if alterations of taste 

 are demanded in the arrangement of the grounds, 

 they must be deferred for the present. Our ad- 

 vice will relate to the general question, and point 

 out what productions will make a garden of ordi- 

 nary size more beautiful and attractive. 



The old custom is to sow seeds of annuals in 

 every vacant spot, and let them take their chance 

 for the summer. Now annuals are very well la 

 certain connections, but their general growth is in- 

 dicative of bad taste, for they are mostly of strag- 

 gling habit, and soon lose their beauty. I would 

 have very few annuals in small gardens, and tl'.ey 

 should be of the dwarf kinds, such as Ciintoiiia 

 pulchella, tiie Mesembryantliemums, Nemophila, 

 &c., which may be selected from a seieatific cata- 

 loijue, like that published by Mr. James Carter, 

 of Holborn. This catalogue I have found of the 

 greatest utility, as it describes the colour, size, 

 time of flowering, and general habits of all plants 

 raised from seeds. As to Smillowers and Holly- 

 hocks, and all such giants, they are inadmissible in 

 small gardens. The Hollyhock is a great favorite 

 of mine, but it must have room, and be seen from 

 a distance. Nothing can be more inimical to the 

 good adjustment and tasteful aj)pearance of a gar- 

 den than a crowded state of veiretation, shading 

 the beds. No plant will come to perfection in such 

 circumstances, and before autumn there will he a 

 mass of entanglement, defying all efforts to ar- 

 range it, and demanding rooting up as the only 

 remedy. 



The Rose naturally is first in the list of plants 

 which every garden may properly cultivate. It 

 will submit to narrow limits, and may be had in 

 pots for turning out, so that an amateur may have 

 a choice collection of Roses at once. Beds of these 

 are recommended, as ^-ell as isolated specimens. 

 The China, Bourbon, and Hybrid Perpetual varie- 

 ties may now bo procured cheap enough, and if 

 planted now, every advantage will be secured. 

 Let the purchaser be well convinced of ihc honesty 

 of the parties from whom his stcck is procured. 

 The writer once ordered a small collection of Hy- 

 brid Perpetuals in April, and received, instead of 

 strong plants, little things which had been struck 



