222 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ April 1, 1868. 



Pampas Grass (Gynerium argenteum), of a darker green, rather 

 iroader and not quite so erect, from 2 to 4 feet in length. 

 1 enclose a blade for you to teat its strength. — Henbt Cortis, 

 Devon Eosery, Torquay. 



[The specimen sent measured nearly 3 feet in length, and 

 one of its fibres, which are easily separated, required a powerful 

 force to break it. The plant is now usually called Calamagrostis 

 oonspicna. — Eds. 1 



THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S 

 EXHIBITION AT JLINCHESTER. 



We are rejoiced by seeing that our " Manchester — to the 

 front " has prevailed. The Committee of Promotion consists 

 of the Mayor of Manchester, Sir James Watts, Eev. Canon 

 Gibson, Messrs. D. Keynolds Davies, Sam Mendel, T. Ash- 

 ton, Edward Nathan, Edward Brooke, Thomas Agnew, jun., 

 ■Charles Durham, H. K. Balstone, W. C. Bird, Horatio Micholls, 

 W. C. Jones, J. Sichel, John Bylands, John Shaw, Matthew 

 3rown, Bruce Findlay ; and Mr. Henry Whitworth, 96, King 

 "Street, Manchester, is the Hon. Secretary. Such a Com- 

 mittee is a guarantee that the arrangements will be good. 



The subscriptions are now as follow, yet much mere ought 

 to be done. Why do not Liverpool, Preston, Warrington, and 

 other Lancashire towns offer special prizes as the towns in 

 Suffolk did ? 



£ 8 



Royal Horticultural Society.. 25 

 The Council of the Manch'es- 

 ter Botanical and Horticul- 

 tural Society 25 



Proprietors of the Gardfners' 



Chronicle 21 



Proprietors of the Journal 0/ 



Horticulture 21 



Sir James Watts, Knt 10 10 



Lady Watts 10 10 



Mrs. Mendel 10 10 



Thos.Ashton 10 10 



Edward Nathan 10 10 



Proprietors of the Manchester 



Guardian 10 10 



Horatio Micholls 10 10 



'The Mayor of Manchester (a 

 silver cup) 10 10 



Edward Brooke (a silver cup) 10 10 



J. Sichel .,10 



W. C. Jones 5 5 



John Rylands & Son 5 5 



Joseph Broome 5 5 



Proprietors of the Manchester 



Courier 5 5 



Proprietors of the Manchester 



Examiner 5 



John Shaw 5 



C. H. Dickson 5 



W. Bftines 5 



G. & W. Yates 5 



Dicksons & Brown 5 



Thomas Agnew & Sons 5 



Charles Durham 5 



H. K. Balstone 5 



COATING SEEDS WITH RED LEAD. 



As the possibility of some of your readers being slowly poi- 

 ■30nedis a matter of some consequence, I must ask leave to 

 make a few remarks on your comment on my last communi- 

 cation. You say that red lead is " totally insoluble in water, 

 or even in acids." This is only partially true, as red lead is 

 decomposed by dilute nitric acid, forming insoluble binoxide 

 and soluble nitrate of lead (Fowne's '■ Manual of Chemistry," 

 page 336). Now, according to Dr. Medlock (Muspratt's " Dic- 

 tionary of Chemistry," vol. ii., page 491), the injurious action 

 of rain water upon lead cisterns, itc, is caused by the oxidation 

 of the ammonia present in such water into nitric acid ; and if 

 this is the case, it is evident that the action of rain on the red 

 lead in the soil would be to slowly decompose and partially 

 dissolve it. It is also a question whether it would not be par- 

 ■ lially and gradually converted by the action of the carbonic 

 acid of the atmosphere into carbonate of lead, which is slightly 

 soluble in rain water. 



An instance of the power of vegetables to absorb lead from 

 the soil once came under my own observation. A quantity of 

 waste barks from white-lead stacks was burnt, and a piece of 

 ground in which Potatoes were grown manured with the ashes, 

 containing about 10 per cent, of lead. The Potatoes were 

 analysed by an experienced analytical chemist, and were found 

 to contain very marked traces of lead. The lead in this case 

 ■was probably not in a more soluble form than red lead. 



In conclusion, I do not affirm positively that plants grown 

 from seed covered with red lead will contain lead ; I only say 

 it is dangerous, and sincerely hope your valued contributor 

 " E. F." will not eat his own vegetables till he find a more 

 harmless way of protecting the seeds. — A. 0. W. 



[Excuse us for saying that your deductions are all erroneous. 

 It is true that red oxide of lead is slowly, very slowly, decom- 

 posed by dilute nitric acid, but the acid must not be very diluted, 

 and never could be formed in the soil of sufficient strength 

 to dissolve the red lead. It is quite certain that the carbonic 

 acid of the atmosphere will not convert the red oxide into a 

 carbonate, and months elapse before even water highly charged 



with carbonic acid has any snch effect. The burnt bark yon 

 mention probably contained lead in the state of a carbonate, 

 and that being soluble in water might be absorbed by the roots 

 of the Potatoes, but the red lead applied to seeds remains on 

 their skins, and the roots soon are away from it. 



We are quite sure that neither " E. F." nor any of our 

 readers will hesitate about eating vegetables raised from seed 

 coated with red lead, and we are confirmed in that opinion by 

 the following letter just received : — "I was not a little surprised 

 to read ' A. 0. W.'s ' warning against coating seeds with red 

 lead, as I have practised the same for some years with success 

 against the heavy depredations of small birds. I have not 

 experienced any evil effects from the use of it. I find that if 

 the birds do pull up a few of the seedlings and find the seed 

 not palatable they soon desist, and where I had formerly a 

 scanty seed bed, now I have my full per-centage. I also simi- 

 larly coat Broad Beans and Peas to prevent the attacks of mice, 

 and find equally good results. I have opened some seeds to-day, 

 and examined them, and cannot discern the slightest trace of 

 colouring nor the taste of lead about them. Therefore your 

 answer, I should say, is a very wise one, and one that will allay 

 many doubts on the subject. I shall take a very marked notice 

 of seeds sown with and without the application. — C. C."] 



COBHAM HALL, KENT. 



THE SEAT OF THE EARL OF DARNLEY. 



It is unfortunate that some of the most remarkable mansions 

 of our nobility are in positions which we at the present day 

 regard as ill-chosen and bad, yet we ought not to pass too 

 hasty a condemnation on these ancient dwellings, for there is 

 no doubt that the builders had their reasons for so placing 

 them. Shelter, contiguity to water, or seclusion and security 

 at a time when lawless deeds were but too common, led many 

 to prefer a low situation to an elevated one. These consider- 

 ations, no doubt, justified the selection of sites we often regret, 

 and some allowance must also be made for the prevailing 

 ideas of the times. No doubt a future generation will find as just 

 cause to condemn much that we now do, for nothing is more 

 changeable and capricious than public taste, and in nothing 

 has it differed more than in the building of a mansion, villa, or 

 cottage. Cobham Hall is one of the best examples of the style 

 of architecture prevailing at the close of the sixteenth century, 

 being, perhaps, as good a specimen of a Tudor house as can 

 be met with. The situation is low, the ground rising gently 

 from it on all sides except the north-east. The structure is of 

 red brick, presenting a frontage to the south little short of 

 300 feet long. This length of frontage necessarily involves a 

 large extent of court within the body of the building, for the 

 west end is of considerable width, one ot the courts opening- 

 out in this direction. The carriage entrance is at the north 

 side, which, however, presents less of architectural interest 

 than the other sides, and on one of the door heads I observed 

 the date, 1585, carved in the quaint figuring of that period. 

 The most remarkable features in the building are the four 

 octagon towers which flank the corners of the main body of 

 the mansion ; these towers, rising a proportionate height above 

 the other buildings, which I may remark are not lofty, are 

 each surmounted by a cupola, and give an imposing aspect to 

 the whole. The offices are attached to the east and north-east 

 of the house, and though many of them harmonise well with 

 the main body of the mansion, some portions do not, being 

 apparently from eighty to one hundred years old, and erected 

 at a time when the art of building had much declined ; never- 

 theless, as a whole, Cobham Hall in its architectural features is 

 of considerable interest. 



Immediately adjoining the offices, on the eastern side of the 

 mansion, is that portion of the forcing department ot the gar- 

 den which contains the Pine pits. Strawberry houses. Melon 

 and Cucumber houses, and other ranges of structures which 

 form necessary appendages to a large establishment, and their 

 position near the stables, where hot dung is obtained, as well as 

 the firing that may be wanted, is certainly well chosen. The 

 kitchen garden, which is surrounded by good walls, adjoins this 

 forcing ground on the east side, consists of about three acres, 

 and appears to be nearly square. The soil is an excellent one 

 for vegetables and small fruits. Some useful slips bound the 

 garden on the east and south sides, and a snug compartment 

 about 150 feet square, to the south-west of the garden, con- 

 tains the gardener's cottage and two good vineries, and the 

 remainder is laid out in a series of flower beds of a simple but 



