164 



JOUKNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March S, 1870. 



strike id it ! I wish Mr. Peach could try the plan on a small 

 scale, as I am sure he would be satisfied with it, and might 

 be the mean3 of recommending it to many, who would pay that 

 attention to his experienced advice which I fear they would 

 not be inclined to give to the suggestions of an amateur. I may 

 also say that it is very useful for sprouting seeds that would 

 require seating in tepid water, as it enables one to have the 

 pleasure which is so much appreciated by children — thatof digg- 

 ing up the Eeeds to see how they go on — only with this dif- 

 ference, that the young radicle is not injured, and when the 

 growth is sufficiently advanced the whole can be transferred 

 into suitable soil, hnd almost with a certainty of Buccess. 



I hope before long to try a tank on a very large scale to heat 

 a Cucumber frame, and will not fail to let you know the result. 

 — CM. Major, Cromwell Souse, Croydon. 



THOMSON'S STYPTIC. 



Extensively as this antidote is used, and highly as it is 

 eBteemed by those who have tested its qualities as a preventive 

 of bleediDg in Vines, I am not sure that its sufficiency as a 

 •cure where obstinate cases of copious bleeding exist iB so well 

 understood. 



The extraordinary amount of pressure accompanying the flow 

 of sap in the Vine, and the unhappy consequences occurring 

 from that sap getting egress, require no comment. The cases 

 are too common, and make it all the more acceptable to know 

 of a perfect remedy. This has induced me to offer a few re- 

 marks descriptive of my non-success, in the first instance, to 

 suppress bleeding while adhering to or following the directions 

 on the label on the bottle containing the siyptic, and the success 

 that attended the application in a different form. The experi- 

 ments are as follow : — 



Amongst a small assortment of Vines in pots, now in the 

 forciDg house here, a few bled severely from spur wounds, 

 which were cut close to the main stems. These cuts, from 

 some oversight, were not sealed with the styptic along with the 

 others after being pruned, and as the Vines were by no means 

 so well ripened as one could desire, the natural consequence 

 was bleeding with the first flow of the sap. To arrest this, the 

 styptic was lesorted to ; and after drying the wounds properly, 

 laying on a coating as expertly as possible, I found the task 

 hopeless. No amount of rubbing and daubing the styptic into 

 the pores served to stifle the wound. A few moments and the 

 sap accumukted beneath the covering, forming a bead-like 

 body, which burst again and again. I endeavoured by fresh 

 applications of the remedy to attain my object, but as often 

 was defeated. While musing on my lack of success the 

 thought arose, What influence will fire have if applied V At 

 once I had recourse to the flame of a candle, first playing it 

 on the wound until the part when touched was so hot as almost 

 to burn the hand. This had the effect of drying the wound 

 perfectly, and forciDg the sap back from the point acted upon. 

 A pointed stick was next dipped into the bottle, and withdrawn 

 loaded with the styptic, which was set fire to and applied to 

 the wound while blazing, hissing, and boiling. The applica- 

 tion of this fiery liquor was repeated over the part a few times 

 until a body was formed over the wound, at which moment my 

 wet thumb was pressed hard upon it, and held there until, 

 when the heat was much diminished, it was withdrawn. 



The result of the experiment was perfectly satisfactory. 

 The styptic had in the course of a few moments acquired a 

 consistency equal to sealing-wax, with an adhesion that re- 

 sisted the egress of the sap effectually, and now those wounds, 

 so detrimental to the growth of the wood, leaves, and fruit, are 

 effectually cured. 



It may, perhaps, be of interest to some to know that the 

 styptic, applied in the usual manner as a preventive of bleed- 

 ing, acts beneficially in arresting damping-eff at the points, 

 and " black rot " on the branches of Pelargoniums of all sec- 

 tions—a matter of no small consideration, especially when the 

 latter unsightly malady manifests itself on the main stem of 

 some dainty Tricolor. Many of this class of plants are very sub- 

 ject to this disease, more especially when they have had strong 

 feeding in the previous summer — a condition which makes it 

 more difficult to cure them, and the only effective method of 

 treatment that I am conversant with is, on the earliest indica- 

 tion of spot on the stems — dull blotches or rottenness — to cut 

 off the shoot or branch at the second joint below the affected 

 part with a thin, sharp knife, dry the wound with a piece of 

 cotton, and at once seal it up with the styptic. This com- 



pleted, turn out the ball, and should any unhealthy roots be 

 nmong6t the others, cut them clem back to their source, les- 

 sening the ball a third, and repotting in a smaller-sized pot in 

 a poor, light mixture. Give no water though the leaves flag, 

 and merely preserve the stems from shrinking from the lack 

 of moisture at the root. 



For simple cases, such as rot being communicated to a shoot 

 by a decayed leaf, and which cannot be considered to arise from 

 disease, the affected portion of the shoot ought to be very care- 

 fully scooped out without allowing the least vestige of dis- 

 coloured tissue to remain, at the same time tying a thin 

 splinter of wood behind the wound for support, and sealing 

 the cut with a copious layer of the styptic after drying it 

 properly. 



Before proving the virtues of the styptic, or, indeed, knowing 

 of its existence, I have often tried the effects of quicklime 

 to remedy the same distemper, aud sometimes with success. 

 The mode of proceeding is nearly the same as that last 

 described, with this addition, that after the diseased part is 

 removed, and the stem secured to the wood, a wrapping of 

 cotton rag is wound loosely round, and first tied at the bottom, 

 after which a quantity of lime 13 filled in by the opening at 

 top, and when the operator is satisfied that there is a sufficient 

 coating of lime, the upper opening is tied also. The healing 

 effect of quicklime may be attributed to the lime absorbing 

 the moisture thrown off by the wound, and ultimately form- 

 ing an incrustation, thereby, to a great extent, excluding the 

 external air and damp, as well as accelerating the healing of 

 the wound. — A. Kerr. 



ABOUT POTATOES. 



I received the following from Mr. Henry Taylor, of Fencote, 

 Yorkshire : — " Last year I grafted twenty-four Potatoes, making 

 twelve sets. From these I have some seed crossed to a cer- 

 tainty, but I cannot tell much about them until they are grown 

 again. I shall see in the autumn whether there is anything 

 good or not. Mr. Fenn is greatly interested in Potato-grafting, 

 and will ultimately convince people at Kensington that the 

 grafting system is right. The Pebble White is the best of the 

 sorts you sent me ; I like it, and Napoleon, and Early Uprights. 

 The Dunbar Regent, round white, is very fine; it is a good and 

 heavy cropper, and the finest and most useful round Potato 

 out. I planted ten tubers of Webb's Imperial, and only took 

 up two tubers. It was annihilated by disease. Milky White 

 is a shy cropper, and subject to disease. These would suit 

 you : — Dunbar Regent : The Lawyer, raised by grafting around 

 red and a Lapstone ; it is a handsome red or pink kidney, fine 

 for exhibition in the red kidney class : and Fencote Exhibition 

 Kidney, obtained by grafting, is a long smooth kidney, and ripens 

 with Mona's Pride." 



Such is Mr. Taylor's account. What will Mr. Dean say ? 

 If it be true that a Lapstone grafted with a red round has pro- 

 duced a red kidney, there must surely be some influence of 

 the red Potato on the kidney, and rice versa. 



I commenced Potato-planting January 24th. As a severe 

 frost set in I covered the Potatoes with straw. Some for experi- 

 ence I left uncovered. I examined them on February 21st, and 

 found them perfectly unharmed. I hear Potatoes in store 

 have been much frosted about here. People must keep the air 

 from them. 



I sent M. H. Vilmorin on request Hero, Gryffe Castle, and 

 Taylor's Hybrid, with seven other sorts. He wrote, " Hero is 

 the finest thing of the sort I have ever seen. They (the whole) 

 are fine indeed. I will test them with our best French varie- 

 ties and report." I sent Mr. Turner Hero ; he wrote, " It is a 

 splendid sample." 



Mr. Rivers says in the Journal of February 17th that I sent 

 him Hero and Pebble White. This is a mistake. I sent him 

 six tubers of theBryanstone Kidney. It is a fine sort raised at 

 Lord Portman's, and never sent out. The sample — a large 

 hamperful — was the best sample of kidney Potatoes I ever 

 saw. Finally, I took to Mr. Sturt's, who was entertaining a 

 number of lords and ladies, the Cobbler's Lapstone. Their 

 admiration of it was unbounded. These Potatoes were at my 

 request served up in their jackets. I also took Pebble White 

 and Hero, which also brought the curtain down with applause. 

 I quite concur in Mr. Rivers's remarks. 



Finally, these Potatoes are on trial : — The Union and Tran- 

 sell's, both white rounds, sent by Mr. Turner ; Bryanstone 

 Kidney ; one tuber of a sort not named coming from Mr. 

 Hooper, of Covent Garden, who wishes me to test it; and I 



