38G 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



[ June 6, 1367. 



Chemical research can go no further, for it cannot unveil 

 Nature at her work, and reveal how she manages that cells in 

 juxtapoaition shall some produce secretions that whiten, others 

 that redden, and a third set that render the chlorophyll yellow. 

 The chemist's progress is similarly harred in the animal crea- 

 tion, for he cannot explain the somewhat similar phenomena 

 of tiie varied colours in piebald horses, hnndlod cows, and 

 tortoiscshell eats. 



Tet we can conceive something of the agency employed. A 

 V617 slight alteration in the chemical composition of a vege- 

 table secretion totally changes its qualities. Tannic acid differs 

 only from maUc and tartaric acids in having a little less oxygen. 

 Yet tannic acid with the iron in sap strikes a black colour, which 

 the other two acids do not. This may be the source of the 

 horseshoe in Pelargonium leaves. Then, again, ammonia, 

 present in all cultivated plants and soils, changes, says Liebig, 

 into splendid blue or red colouring matters when it comes in 

 c»ntaot with some bitter principles, or even tasteless matter, as 

 that of Roccella tinctoria. 



iTr If a departure from usual colour is a symptom of disease, 

 then variegation is such a symptom ; but if disease is properly 

 defined as a condition where one or more functions of the plant 

 are altogether impeded, then it is open to doubt whether varie- 

 gation satisfies the definition. We know that variegated plants 

 are for the most part as hardy and as prolific as those with 

 leaves of the normal colour. 



It has been said that we shall never have a blue Pelargonium, 

 but we do not include this in our list of impossibilities. There 

 is no evidence to show tliat Pelargoniums are excluded from 

 ■what has been called the cj-anic series of colours. The blotch 

 of some varieties tends towards a purple tint, and if a Pelargo- 

 nium could be fertilised by the pollen of some one of its blue- 

 flowered lelatives, the Geraniums, we think the colour desired 

 would be obtained.] 



ROSES ON MANETTI STOCKS. 

 It was with much surprise that I saw in a monthly contem- 

 porary an assertion that " Pvoses on the much-vauuted Mauetti 

 have not escaped [the effects of the severe weather] notwith- 

 standing that they presant no difficulty in the way of giving 

 protection." It is certain that they present no more difficulty 

 in this respect than those on their own roots, and not so much 

 as those in the form of standards, which when grown in con- 

 siderable numbers, and on account of thoir form, must almost 

 of necessity be left unprotected ; hence they have been kiUed 

 by thousands. Kot so with Mauetti Eosos, except where, as 

 Mr. KadclySe says, people have not taken the pains to keep 

 them out of mischief ; but here, as with him, the case is 

 totally different. Out of oOO plants on the Manetti stock, I 

 have lost but three, and these were small weak plants that 

 probably would have died under any circumstances. They 

 were propagated by artificial heat under glass, planted out last 

 summer, but made no growth. Their names were Xavier 

 Olibo, Madame William Paul, and Souvenir de Bernardin de 

 St. Pierre. 



All the beds of iluuetti Roses, with a trifimg exception, were 

 covered last September with loose stable litter about 3 or 4 

 inches thick. This, with 12 inches of snow, was the protection 

 afforded, but it was very eflootual. Scarcely any portions of the 

 plants below the suow-liue were killed, nor were the exposed 

 shoots above it injured generally. The latest growth and the 

 ends of the shoots suffered. Owing to peculiarity of situation, 

 the frost in Junuiuy was less seveie here than in many places. 



The cold of January being followed by mild and even warm 

 weather in February, not only P.oses, but every kind of plant 

 began to break into foliage with the rajiidity that always suc- 

 ceeds severe temperature. The thermometer frequently stood 

 ut 50°, and the night temperature was comparatively high. 

 Then 'succeeded the check in March, which apparently told 

 more than the previous ordeal in .January ; for many plants, 

 especially standard Roses, which seemed to be alive and push- 

 ing, were thrown back by the abrupt change of weather. In 

 the' first week in May the thermometer sometimes indicated 

 fj-om 85° to 90° in the sun ; from the 21st to the 2dth there 

 •was Irost every night; on the 22nd the ground was white 

 with snow foi some minutes about 12. BO in tlie middle of the 

 day, and again iu the afternoon. These violent and sudden 

 chuiiges hu've already marked the present year as an excep- 

 tional one, ibut will long be remembered. 



It is not surprisii'g that i;o,ie3 have suffered much, hut the 



losses would undoubtedly have been less if they had been 

 grown in a form in which they could be more or less pro- 

 tected ; and that protection afforded them, they may be pre- 

 served through the severest winter if a little care be bestowed 

 upon them. I have not many Tea Roses, but I have not lost 

 one. Noisettes trained against the house and too large to be 

 covered have suffered most. Solfaterre and Ophirie have lost 

 three-fourths of their wood. Isabella Gray and Marechal Niel 

 (smaller plants) have not had any of their shoots lulled, but 

 they are breaking languidly, and indicate an impatience of the 

 many checks they have received. Cloth of Gold I have cut 

 down to the ground ; though not killed, the wood was unsound. 

 Celine Forestier and Gloire de Dijon (twenty plants each) are 

 uninjured, and are now showing bloom-buds. Triomphe de 

 Rennes, ten plants slightly injured, one killed. 



Rose amateurs must follow Mr. Eadclyffe's advice if they 

 wish to have good Roses ; they must not be afraid to use tha 

 pruniug-knife freely. All imperfect wood should be out away. 

 No good ever results from leaving half-dead wood and unsound 

 shoots : hopes founded upon such are false hopes. 



Munetti Roses, as above stated, are safe. I have never 

 allowed them to become large plants. Close pruningis best on 

 light soils. They make shoots from 4 to C feet long in a season ; 

 but I rarely leave them higher than 3 feet. The latest-formed 

 foliage has slightly suffered from the frosts of May 21 and suc- 

 ceedmg days, being a little blistered, but not destroyed. I 

 have seen some, where the frost was more severe, shrivelled 

 and black like tinder : the first blooms are therefore lost. 

 Mine have escaped. I enclose specimens of leaves fully de- 

 veloped prior to the late frosts taken from Manetti plants 

 exposed to all the vicissitudes of the weather. 



Of briar Roses I have little to say, regarding them as 

 things of the past where Rosea can be better grown on their 

 own roots or on the Mauetti ; and here, where they should be 

 discarded, I retain them only till such time as I van supply 

 their places with others in either of these forms. The mor- 

 tality has been considerable — about sixty dead or rendered use- 

 less out of five hundred. Marechal YaiUant, Gloire de Dijon, 

 Celine Forestier, Charles Lawson, and Coupe d'H£b& do well as 

 standards. 



I wish to correct a misstatement in my report on Messrs. 

 Ivery's Nursery, at p. 341. ForCedrus Libani to bedescribedas 

 nearly every plant killed or so severely injured as to be worthless, 

 is not quite true ; many are greatly injured and some are quite 

 killed, but there are some uninjured. OtCupressussempervirens, 

 no plants have escaped above the snow-hne. The large specimens 

 of Pmus excelsa that I thought were dead, are not so ; they are 

 very severely injured. Arbutus photiuifolia, Milleii, magnifica, 

 and others are all killed above the snovf-lme, and much 

 injured below it. — Adoli-hus H. Kunt. 



THE FROSTS OF JANUARY, AND THE 

 FROSTS OF MAY. 



The damage done by the frosts last week, particularly on 

 Friday night, or Saturday morning, (May 24th-25th) when the 

 temperature fell 10° below freezing, makes me look back upon 

 the winter's frost as a trifling affair of the past. The young wood 

 of the Abies, Piceas, Hollies, Laurels, Azaleas, Rhododendrons, 

 Ash, Beech, Oak, Chestnut, &c., is nearly all killed. Potatoes 

 and Dwarf Kidney Beans are killed to the ground. All the kinds 

 of Brassica I am saving for seed (excepting my Eclipse Broccoli, 

 which is now in fine head), are at present in bloom, and I think 

 are very much injured. The Strawberry bloom is nearly all de- 

 stroyed. Gooseberries and Currants are fast falling off; the 

 Cherries are frozen through, and all other fruit severely injured. 

 I never saw such destruction by frost before. — John Catiell, 

 Nursirij, }i'e>:terham. 



The foUswmg is a list of some of the consequences of last 

 January's frosts at Mr. Cattell's nursery : — 



Abios Donglnsii, only the foliage shglitly iujured. 



Abies Mormda, vei-y much injured, portions of the wood killed bock. 



Aruucaria imbrioata, being ou elevated ground, only shghtly in- 

 j ured. 



Cedrus deodara, in one portion of the grounds, very much injured, 

 some plants being nearly killed, iu other parts more elevated not 

 injured at all. 



Cuijressus raacrocarpa, nearly all killed donn to the snow line. 



Puuis iuai^nin, all liirge plants quite kdled. 



PoJocuipus andiua, very much injured. 



Taxodiuiu sempen':rL-ns, the growth of last year mostly destroyed. 



Irish Yew, foha^e of many much injured. 



