ApiU 28, ie«8. ] 



JOUBNAL Of HOUTIOULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



3ia 



pnroly phyKiological experiments requires an innate love of the 

 necessary research, unwearied labour in the pursuit, uninterrupted 

 leisure, and a rare combination of tact and tuleut ; patient of failure, 

 yet coufideut of ultimate success ; at onco free from prejudice, and 

 iirdout iu the pursuit of the especial object of research. It must bo a 

 labour of love or it will lead to nothing. The Society trusts that 

 the establishment of this Committee may inspire some of its members 

 with the requisite zeal ; hut it must at once bo clearly understood that 

 it wouUl bo impossible for it as a preliminary step to organise a statY 

 purely for such a purpose. It would be almost hopeless at the present 

 moment to find a person competent for the leader of such a stall', even 

 at a large salary ; several assistants woidd bo requisite, perfect 

 instruments and a chemical laboratory, while the person who might he 

 f^eat in one direction would bo almost useless in another. tSuch 

 investigations must to a great extent be carried out in the first instance 

 at least, by private individuals, but the Society would not he backward 

 iu giving pecuuiaiT assistance whero there was a reasonable prospect 

 of important results. Minor experiments would indeed immediately 

 come within the scope of the Society, as the reciprocal intlucuce of 

 stock and graft, the modifications produced by dill'ercnt .stocks, 

 varieties in the mode of culture, the iuiiuence of different kinds of 

 manure, and indeed a hostof other matters meteorological, physiological, 

 and practical, which may tend to the promotion of scientilie horticulture. 

 '* There is also another direction iu which the Committee might be 

 extremely useful, and which would at once be acceptable to all our 

 members, and to all lovers of horticulture. It is frequently a com- 

 plaint that plants in collections are so badly named, and that the 

 correct appreciation of what may be called their botanical attributes, 

 in contradistinction to those which are simply tioricultural, is at 

 present so very imperfect. This arises in great measure from the 

 want of useful manuals, from which the necessary information can be 

 obtained. "When the number of plants under cultivation was com- 

 paratively small, the ' Hortus Keweiisis ' was available for the more 

 scientitic gardeners, but though there are some iiraiseuorthy ex- 

 ceptions, such as Loudon's, the cultivator is for the most part com- 

 pelled to pore over mere catalogues, which can give him only an 

 empirical knowledge, while as frequently he will fall into error. It is 

 believed that the pinblication of a series of mauuals, judiciously 

 selected, would be highly calculated to promote a general love of 

 scientific botany where there is at present mere fioricnltural knowledge, 

 and the more so as the desii'e of mere display seems on the wane, 

 while an appreciation of elegance of form and foliage, and delicacy and 

 variety of structure is daily increasmg. Each volume might bo 

 complete in itself, while if the plan were well carried out a series of 

 publications would be produced, highly honourable to the Society and 

 of great impoi-tance to horticulture. The suggestion I would observe 

 originated with a member of our Committee, who has tlie power and the 

 will at onco to aid in the realisation of such a scheme, and when I 

 mention Dr. Hooker as its originator, it will assuredly be evident how 

 materially it might be promoted by the staff at the Herbarium and 

 the superintendents of the different departments iu the gardens at Kew. 

 Suppose, for instance, we were to undertake a volume on Conifers, for 

 which Gordon's manual is now quite insuilicient, another on Herba- 

 ceous plants more usually cultivated, another on rock and Alpine 

 plants, or to descend to especial genera, one illustrating Dendrobium, 

 Epideudrum, and Oucidium. What a boon would such volumes bo to 

 our members. The scheme, moreover, with the aid which has been 

 promised might be carried out at a comparatively small expense, and 

 with a degree of speed and correctness which would be quite out of the 

 power of any individual. 



*' The Committee will of coui'se be prepared to receive suggestions as 

 to any other plans or modes of action which may be thought advisable, 

 but it is absolutely necessary that such suggestions should he submitted 

 in writing, that the teims may be distinctly understood. Their 

 ultimate adoption will of course rest with the Council." 



It was arranged that the meetings of the Committee will be 

 held on the same days as the two other Committees meet, at 

 half-past cue o'clock. As this will necessitate greater punctu- 

 ality on the part of the Fruit and Floral Committees, they will 

 in future commence their work at eleven o'clock precisely, 

 before which exhibitors should secure that their subjects are 

 forward iu time. It was also decided that the chemists should 

 form a sub-committee, of which Ur. Warren De la Hue is to be 

 Chairman, and Dr. Voelcker Secretary. 



From the spirited conversation which pervaded the meeting, 

 and the manifest interest which every member present appeared 

 to take in the proceedings and iu its future success, there can 

 be no doubt that the step which has been taken by the Council 

 in instituting the Committee has been a proper one ; and com- 

 posed as it is of men of the highest eminence iu the depart- 

 ments of science to which they belong, there can be but one 

 opinion — that if good is to result to horticulture by such an 

 association, we have here the right material for securing it. 



STAND.\RD ROSES ON LIGHT SOIL. 

 In each of the last three autumns I have planted about a 

 dozen standard Roses, but none of them will thrive, and each 



spring two or three of them die. This spring three, planted 

 priisr to last autumn, which looked well, and began to break 

 nicely and come into leal, have within the last week or ten days 

 begun to wither, and look as if they would follow the example 

 of those which have gone before them. Several cuttings, also, 

 which looked well all through the winter, are now dying off. 

 The soil is Ught and sandy over a gravelly subsoil, which I 

 have enriched with stable manure. All the trees and cuttings 

 were mulched with long litter during the winter. — W. M. 



[Except in strong, unctuous, clay lands, I am an enemy to 

 standard Roses, save of Tea-scented Noisettes and summer 

 Roses, which di» well on Briars in any land, however light, if 

 properly attended to. 



The fault, however, is not always in the Briar or the Rose 

 on it. The fact is, amateurs as yet know httle about Hose- 

 growing, or they have no time or inclination to grow Roses 

 properly. I imagine " W. M.'s " Roses are simply frosted in 

 their foliage, and that the withering of the leaves proceeds 

 from that cause only. The cuttings that looked well all winter 

 and are now dying off have probably made no root at all. If 

 they have made roots and are not dead they will soon recover. 

 I advise " W. M." to buy Roses on the Manetti stock and on 

 their own roots. His ground is better suited to them. If 

 purchased on the Manetti stock and properly planted, they 

 will soon strike in such ground on their own roots. — Vf. F. 

 Radclyffe.] 



INDLVN MODE OF LAYERING. 



The following are representations of the mode of separating 

 a bearing branch of a fruit tree as practised in Bengal by the 

 native gardeners, also in China. 



The branch thus separated is planted in its proper place, 

 and bears its fruit the same year, just as if it had remained' 

 upon the parent tree. 



Fig. 1. 



In ;;<;. 1 a is an enlarged drawing of part of the branch ; b is 

 an earthen pot to hold water, which in the dry season of the 

 year is daily supplied. There is a small hole in the bottom of 

 the pot, in which a piece of string or straw is put, so as to 

 conduct the water by drops to c. c Is a ball of clay put round 

 the branch at the place above that at which the branch is to 

 be cut off. Round the clay is wrapped a piece of coarse sacking 

 or sail cloth, which absorbs the water as it drops from the 

 pot h, and keeps the clay continually moist. At rf, just below 

 the ball of clay, the bark of tho branch to be separated is cat 

 off and peeled down to the woody substance only as much as 

 half round the branch, and about an inch in breadth. After a 

 month or six weeks small fibres of roots will begin to appear 

 through the clay (e,Jig. 2), when tho circle of bark must be 



ISflZ^ !k-*«V 



completed by cutting round the branch, and forming a com- 

 plete ring, /, free from any bark. The fibres of the roots will 



