4e 



JOURXAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE G.ASDEKER. 



Jtdjr I^, 1865. 



and tJien .not in so good condition as the fonner was on the 

 lat. Dickson's was also a fortnight earlier in coming into 

 bloom, and did not grow so high as SaugsterVby a foot. . 



I consider Dickson's First and Best Pea an excellent early 

 variety, being a good cropper, bearing good- sized, well-tilled 

 pods, and one from which several gatherings can be made. 



I am not iu a position to speak of its qualities iis an early 

 Pea, as compared with some of the other early kinds, snch as 

 Carter's First Crop, DiUistone's Eai'ly Prolific, &c., not having 

 grown those varieties. Prgbably some of them are as early, 

 or perhaps earlier, and another season I may test them. 



Dickson's First and Best is decidedly the, best early Pea I 

 have yet gi-own, and I consider S,auggter|s , a good variety to 

 succeed it when sown at the same tinieir^rJi,H. MiSOK,.St<m»to>i 

 Castie Gardens, S la ft'ordshire.' ■....:, .a •'!/ ..^jr-iln'J .. .; >" 



THE POTATO SCAB— YOUXG- TOTATl lES 



r 



-ik-.l-jll.:') !■ 



SPROUTING. 



I SHALL feel glad if you can give me any information respect- 

 ing Potatoes being scabby. I have, growingin a garden, Rivers's 

 Eoyal Ashleaf liidney, which are splendid croppers, and now 

 quite ripe, also Dnintree's Seedling, which are the size of a 

 Walnut, but so scabby that a few that I took up for trial had 

 to be peeled. White Kemps are similar. The Kidneys are 

 not so much scabbed ; but I am afraid the scab coming on the 

 Daintree's and Kemp's whilst they.flJey.sc^.Jiqningi^YffiiPip'^^t 

 their attaining their full gi'owth. •,,,,• ,,iv>-. .if'i '< ■ - ■ 



I have also some Lapstone Kidneys which are now in flower. 

 I found, when looking at them to-day, that the yoimg tubers 

 are glowing, one I found with a sprout above an inch long, 

 and roots starting from the base of it. Can you give any reason 

 for their doing so ? Perhaps it is a peculiarity of the Lapstone, 

 as I have found none of the others doing so. — J. W. 



[The origin of the scab in the Potato is imdetermined. It 

 is merely an eruption, confined almost entirely to the skin of 

 the tubers, and. probably, is occasioned by hme. or some other 

 ingredient in the soil which causes decomposition in the tissue 

 of the Potato's skin. Hcils manured with coal aslies have 

 been obsen-ed particularly hable to cause tlie scab iu the tubers. 

 We shall be obliged by any of our readers sending us the results 

 of their experience relative to this disease. 



The cau,se of the yoimg tubers sprouting is more easily 

 accounted for. When checked in growth and prematiu-ely 

 rijjened by long-continued di-ought, when rain occurs they 

 vegetate instead of increasing in size. They usually emit fresh 

 nmners, and produce on them fresh tuber';, which has been 

 called sitper-tviberatiqti.'— Ens.] 



EOYAL HOETICULTUEAL SOCIETT. 



JCLY 11. 



SciEXTiric MEExrNo.— W. 'Wilson SamiJeis. Esq.. in tlie chair. 

 The Eev. Josbna Dix. after reading tlje listof the awards of the Floral 

 Committee, and briofiy commenting on r.omo of the oljjects for which 

 they were given, called attention to the Pelargoniums and other bed- 

 ding plants at Chiswiek, and particnlarly tbose of Mr. Bull : and the 

 collection of Larkspui-s and Poppies, he said, would aho well repay a 

 visit. Mr. G. F. Wilson, F.R.S., 8t:ited that uo oeititicates had been 

 awarded by the Fruit Committee ; but mentioned the fruit of Dion 

 edule from Mr. Taylor, gardener to J. Yates, Esq., of Highgnte, 

 Messrs. Catbush's liaspbeny, and a new Pea from Mr. Graham of 

 Crauford. 



The Eev. Ml. Berkeley said, that before remoi'ldng on the objects 

 before the Meeting he wished to draw attention to a pamphlet by 

 M. Boucbet, of MontpeUier, giving an aceoaut of the results of experi- 

 ments in crossing Vines, and the substance of which had ap]ieared in 

 the •* Comptes Rendns " of tin; Academy of Sciences. With one 

 Vine in particnliLr, Le Teinturier, which was used for colounng wine, 

 some di&culty had been esperieuced in crossing, on account of its 

 flowering eight or ten days earhertban the kinds which were employed 

 as the female parents ; but this dilhcuhy having been overcome, 

 several varieties had been the result, some of which bad coloiu'less, 

 others coloured juice like the male parent ; and some were so early 

 that it would be possible to have the vintage in the South of France 

 in August. It bad been doubted whether cross-breethng affected the 

 character of the fruit or seed of a plant the same year : bnt Mr. 

 Standish, who had made numerous curious experiments in cross- 

 breeding Viaes and other plants, bad iufoiTiied him I Mr. Berkeley"), 

 that be b.id noticed a change of foim in Grapes which had l>eeu 

 crossed in the first year ; and Mr. .Standish laid promised to give the 

 Society some observations on this poiut. Mr. Berkeley then read a 



letter from Mr. F. P. Moore, enclosing two leaves of Vines which had 

 been raised from the seeds of Malaga raisins purchased seven or eight 

 yeai"s ago for making wine. The raisins bad been boiled, the juice 

 pi-eased out, and the residue thrown on the garden, and iu a short 

 time hundreds of young Vines bad come up, some of which were now 

 4 feet high. In reference to this, Mr. Berkeley remarked that the 

 same thing had happened to himself, with this tUfference — that the 

 maj-c Inid not been boded for some hours, but treated with boiling 

 water, and from the refuse thousands of plants had come up. Mr. 

 Berkeley then proceeded to reriew the jdauts, &c., exhibited. A 

 double variety of Geranium sylvaticum was said to be an ornamental 

 plant for .shrubberies; and General Grant Pelargonium, from Mr. 

 Ueid of Sydenham, to be a cross betweeu a zouate raiiety and some 

 Cape species, and therefore never likely to be n;seful for bedding. 

 Ebzabeth Vigneron Rose, from Mr. W. Paul, was described as a most 

 exquisite variety, and even finer than its parent Louise Pevi'omiy. Of 

 Podophyllum Emodi an arcoimt would be given by.Mr. Short, who 

 had sae'ceeded in making the plant produce fruit. Tbei-e was also a 

 species, the M:iy -•Vpple, P.pcltiitum, cultivated in America,wbcre it was 

 known as the \Vild Lemon en account of the fruit being acid. The 

 leaves were said to be poisonous, but the plant possessed valuable 

 medicinal propeiiies, the rhizome being much u.sed in America in the 

 shape of a powder for fevei-s and affections of the hver. In reference 

 to the Castle Kennedy Fi^' he had omitted to remaik at a former 

 meeting that he believed that a gi-cat many valuable fniits that were 

 probably unknown in this couuti-y might be found in old gardens in 

 Scotland ; for in former days the intercourse between Scotland and 

 France and Fhiuders, was closer than between these countries and 

 En.gland. In confirmation of this, Mr. Berkeley observed that when 

 at the Marquis of Huntley's in Aberdeenshu-e, be had noticed magni- 

 I ficeut Gean Cbeny trees scattered over the country, aud which 

 i had probably been imported fi'om France, as tbey were certainly not 

 indigenous. 'They attained the size of Oaks, and bad a very pictoreaqne 

 api>earance. A huge Puff Ball which bad been exliibited at one of the 

 shows tt'as stated to be Lycoperdon bovista. and, remarked Mr. Berkeley, 

 though almost every one seemed prejudiced agiunst Fungi, some of 

 them bad curious properties. This one for instance was excelleut for 

 taking bees, had powertul aua-stbeiic properties, aud when young the 

 iiesb looked bio bread, and was most excellent when properly dressed, 

 being more tender than any sweetbread. In It.aly, where it grows abun- 

 dantly, it was kept in a cellar and a sUce cut off' when wanted, but here 

 it soon changed colour, and when it had an unpleasant smell i£ became 

 uutit for human food. 



Mr. Short, having been called upon to give an account of bis mode 

 of cultivating Podophyllum Emodi, said that it was by no means a new 

 I plant, but he believed that bo now exhibited it for the first time in 

 1 fi-uit. He had turned his attention to its cultivation for the last ten 

 years, and no plant that he knew was so impatient of removal aud 

 disturbance as it ; if only a small piece were separated, the plant 

 would be three or fom- years before it anived at the same stage agaui. 

 The tlower to a casual obsen'er appeared like that of the Black 

 HeUcbore. but was more lil;e that of one of the Npnpbacese ; the 

 plant, however, belonged to an order of its onu — Podopbyllacea;. It 

 did not remain in tiower more thaji two days, and if the flower were 

 not unpregnated within the first few houi-s idl chance of fruit was 

 hopeless. Having removed some scedlinss he foimd tliat some of 

 them had oulv two tbre:ld-like roots 2 or 3 yards long. The 

 plant was difficult to propagate— the best way to grow it was to let it 

 alone. He thought that the froit would be either intensely acid or 

 intensely bitter. " The Ilev. Mr. Berkeley having tasted the fi-uit 

 declai-cd it to be not at all acid, but insipid, aud not particularly 

 nice. • 



Mr. Wilson Saunders begged to direct attention to what gome of Ms 

 friends called ugly-looking plants. They were the next relatives to 

 Figs, and were called Dorstenias iifter Dorsten, aud through them the 

 fructification of a Fig could lie better explained than by the Fig itself. 

 Eveiy one know what is commonly termed the Fig, but that was not 

 really the fruit, but merely a hollow fleshy receptacle beoj-ing the true 

 fruit' on its inner surface in the shape of numerous small seeds. 

 Taking one of the Dorstenias it would be found to possess a square 

 flat receptacle set with mrmerons insignific;int green flowers, each of 

 which became a fruit. Now a Fig was nothing more than this roUed 

 into a bag or turned outside iu, with an aperture at top through 

 which the air passes, aud causes the poUen to fall ou the stigma. The 

 Dorstenias b.-id been long in the country, but had not received the 

 attention which they deseived. The foi-ms which the receptacle 

 assnmed in some of the species were vciy curious, as would be per- 

 ceived by the examples which be had brought. One species was said 

 to possess veiy acthe properties as an antidote to the poison of snakes, 

 bnt the princijde, whatever it was, ceased to be active in tbe dried state 

 of tbe plant. Passing from the Dorstenias. Mr. Saunders differed 

 from Mr. Berkeley as to crosses of the Cape Geraniums being too 

 tender to be used for bedding. Some of the Cape species there were 

 that would only do iu a greenhouse, but there were others, pai-ticularly 

 the hard-wooded kinds, that in hot seasons like the present might be 

 expected to stand out of doors when the temperature was not under 

 4U.° Mr. Saunders then adverted to tbe important influence of 

 fnonnd temperatnre on the giowth cf plants taken in conjimction with 

 the heat of the atmosphere, the latter being too frequently considered 

 without anv reference to the former. A Brassavola sent home by the 



