1877. J 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



217 



Well, we say that no one has denied it. There 

 is little doubt, but the Phylloxera first appeared 

 in the vicinity of Bordeaux, and was introduced 

 hy American Vines. We do not know who made 

 the statement that American Vines are " Phyl- 

 loxera-proof," but suppose the idea originated 

 with a class of writers who imagined that because 

 American Vines were recommended -for stocks, 

 therefore, they were Phylloxera-proof. No Amer- 

 ican grape is free from the attack of Phylloxera 

 — they abound in any kind when they can get 

 the chance. The writer of this assisted Prof. 

 Planchon in digging up Clinton Vines which 

 were covered with the insect, and the fact is duly 

 recorded in Prof. Planchon's Report to the 

 French Government; but Prof. P. discovered that 

 some American grapes liad a sort of contempt 

 for the Phylloxera. While some — and nil Euro- 

 pean grapes — had their fibres injured by the in- 

 sect, they gave up at once, Jis if asking, what's 

 the use of resistance? But the Concord, Clinton, 

 Norton's Virginia, and one or two others, set to 

 work and made more young roots at once, beat- 

 ing the Phylloxera by sheer perseverance, and 

 not by any immunity from attack. We have 

 stated this before in the Gardeneys Monthly, but 

 it will do no harm to repeat it again. 



Paraffin Oil. — Les Mondes informs us that 

 M. Jordery renders paraffin oil as thick as honey, 

 by means of a vegetable powder (Saponaria), and 

 thus prevents the liability of its causing fire, 

 without, in any way, interfering with its proper- 

 ties, as it can be rendered fluid by the addition 

 of a few drops of strong acetic acid. This is good 

 news for people Avho employ it inter alia, for 

 keeping frost out of small greenhouses. 



Exposure of Sekds to Cold. — At a recent 

 meeting of the Linnaian Society, a memento of 

 the Polaris Expedition was exhibited by Mr. R. I. 

 Lynch. This consisted of a pot of growing 

 wheat, which had been sown and raised from the 

 grain left in Polaris Bay, 81° 38^ N., by the Amer- 

 ican Expedition. Capt. (Sir G.) Nares, in a letter 

 to Dr. Hooker, states that the grain had been 

 exposed to the Winter's frost, 1872-6 ; but, not- 

 withstanding the intense cold it had been sub- 

 jected to, the above sample, grown at Kew, gave 

 sixty-four per cent, as capable of germination. 

 A grain of maize among the wheat, which also 

 sprouted, possessed even greater interest, being 

 a truly tropical plant. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Freezing of the Sap in* Plants. — W. C. saya : 

 — " I send you enclosed an extract from one of 

 our papers, and should be glad if you can tell us 

 in the Gardener's Monthly how this can be. How 

 can sap come up lo the leaves when the sap in 

 the roots and in the stems is frozen solid ? It 

 seems so impossible that only for the names and 

 circumstances in the extract being given, I 

 should have thought it a waste of time to trouble 

 you:" — "At a recent meeting of the Elmira 

 Farmer's Club, at the close of the discussion, Mr. 

 Compton exhibited a pear twig with luxuri- 

 antly developed leaves, produced by a singular 

 process. Early last February a letter from I. P. 

 Schenck, of Ohio, was i-ead to the Club narrating 

 an experiment made by one of his neighbors, 

 who introduced a branch of climbing rose into 

 his conservatory, while the root, upon which it 

 depended for support, was frozen up in the 

 ground without. Under the genial influence of 

 the heated air within, the branch put forth blos- 

 soms in mid-winter. Acting upon this hint, 

 Mr. Compton, last February, brought the limb 

 of an adjacent pear tree through a convenient 

 aperture into his conservatory — hence the fully 

 developed foliage. It would seem from his suc- 

 cess, and that reported by Mr. Schenck, that 

 abundant bloom may be had in the dark days of 

 Winter without the trouble of nursing plants in 

 pots, for in the case of roses, at least, it would be 

 necessary only to pass the vine into the living 

 room of an ordinary dwelling kept at a temper- 

 ature always above freezing." 



[Our correspondent can scarcely be a close 

 reader of our magazine, or he would know by 

 this time that the sap does not freeze in plants in 

 the Winter time. The absurdity is rather in 

 supposing that it can and does freeze, and yet 

 the structure retain life. As for the fact that 

 leaves, flowers and fruit can come from plants 

 wlien the I'oots and stems ai'e constantly sub- 

 jected to frost and a very low temperature, it is 

 well-known to every practical gardener who haa 

 had a wide range of experience. Tiie writer of 

 this referred to it, and explained it many yeara 

 ago at the annual meeting of the Illinois Horti- 

 cultural Society at Ottawa, 111., as Mr. P. Barry will 

 remember, jxs he took part in the discussion on 

 the same subject. — Ed. G. M.] 



