400 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUHE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ lUy 29. 1866. 



perimf nts on this Bnbjiift . Respecting' tlio action of plants on the sor- 

 tvnndiuK air, and the inrinciico of a ci-rtain compoBition of thu atmo- 

 Bphere npon vofjetfttioii, thirt' wonld be by these muanR a lar^e field 

 open for oxptTimeniB. Ni>tiiing would be easier than to create in the 

 experimental hotbonfie uu ntmogphere cbar;:;od witli noxious pas, and 

 to asei'rtain the exact dufO'et- of its action by day and by niyUt. An , 

 almoKplioro of carbonic acid gas mi<4ht also be created, snch as ih snp- I 

 loosed to bavo existed in tbe coal jicriod. Then it might be seen to ; 

 what extent our present vegetation would taUe an excess of carbon 

 from the air, and if its general existence wore inconvenienced by it. i 

 Thou might be ascertained what tribes of plants could bear this con- i 

 dition. and what other families could not have exist<!d, supposing the ! 

 air had formerly had a very large proportion of carbonic actd gas. j 



Until liorticolturo can supply physiology with such convenient ) 

 means of experiment, it. in the meantime, advances descriptive botany 

 by the valuable publications it issues. The greater part of the old 

 works with plates, such as '• Hortns Kystettensis." " Hortus Elthara- 

 eusis," Ac; also thope of Ventenat, Celw, Kedoutt'-, itc. ; the " Salic - 

 turn" and " Pinetum " of the Duke of Bedford; and more recently 

 the " Rhododendrons of the Himalaya," by Dr. Hooker ; the works 

 of Bateman, Pescatore. Keiehenbacli, on <.)rchids ; and many others 

 I could name, would never have been published, had there not been 

 rich amateurs either to edit or to buy them. 



It is horticulture that has given ns the longest series of illustrated 

 journals that have cw.v been published ; and here I must do justice 

 especially to the English horticulturists. No doubt the science of our 

 time requires a larger uniount of analj-tical details than is contained 

 in the plates of the "Botanical Magazine," "Botanical Register," 

 "Andrews' RepositoiT. ' " Loddiges' Botanical Cabinet," '* Sweet's 

 British Flower Garden," " Paxton's Magazine and Flower Garden," 

 and other Englisli journals ; but what a number of fonus are thus 

 fixed by the engravings in these books, and what a fund of valuable 

 documents for cousnltation they afford ! One cannot fail to admire the 

 " Botanical Magazine." commenced in 1793, continued from month to 

 month with an exemplary regularity, and which is now at its 5.580th 

 plate. Not only has it always represented rare and new species, but 

 it has ever been conducted on a simple and uniform plan, which renders 

 it convenient to consult. 



The series of plates is unique from the very beginning. Each x>late 

 has its number, and each article of letter-press refers only to one 

 plate, by which means the quotations from the work ai*e rendei-ed brief 

 and clear. Many editors have not understood the advantage of this 

 simple arrangement. Tbey have varied their titles, their series, their 

 pagings ; tiiey have atBxed to their plates numbers, then letters, then 

 nothing at all ; the end of which is (and this ought to sene as a warn- 

 ing for the future), that the more they have altered and complicated 

 the form of their jounmls, the shorter time have they lasted. 



How is it that the^e ]iurely bibliogi-apbical details cause in us such 

 sad recollections ? Of the men just mentioned, who have rendered 

 Bueh eminent sen'ice to botany and horticulture, England has lost 

 three during the year 1865 — Sir Joseph Paxton, Dr. Lindiey, and Sir 

 William Jackson Hooker.* I should certainly fail in what is expected 

 of me if 1 did not express, in the name of the foreigners attending 

 this meeting, our deep regret at such serious losses. Wc know them 

 all by their writings, and many amongst us have known personally the 

 distinguished men I huvo mentioned. Their names follow us at each 

 stop in this the scene of their labours. If we admii-e the boldness of 

 construction of the iron domes that characterise modem buildings, wc 

 think of the Crystal Palace, of Chatsworth. and of the humble gar- 

 dener who became a great architect. If we visit the beautiful establish- 

 ment at Kew, we see everyivhere around ns proofs of the indefatigable 

 activity of Sir William Hooker. Lastly, if wc ask the origin of the 

 garden of the Royal Hoilicultural Society at Kensington, we are told 

 it is only a development of that at Chiswick, where Liudley stood pre- 

 eminent by his knowledge and liis energy ; and of that Society where 

 botanists of my age found in their youth such valuable encouragement 

 in their studies. 



The names of Sir William Hooker and of Dr. Lindl^y. thanks to 

 their special works, ^vill ever remain distinguished in scien* '■. These 

 two botanists have, mor(.'over, been directors of horticultural journals, 

 and of great hortienltural establishments, and since their influence 

 has been so fully uikuowledged by practical men, I shall have little 

 trouble in showing that science is as useful to horticulturists, as horti- 

 coltnre is to botanists — and this will form the second pai-t of my dis- 

 course. 



SECONDLY. — TTTE ADVANTAGE OF BOTANY TO HOnTICULTVRE. 



The principles of vegetable physiology are what horticulturists and 

 agriculturists usually study in books on botany. They do not always 

 find direct answers to theii* questions ; but they can draw from them 

 certain rules, certain ways of experimentalising and reasoning, which 

 saves them from falling into many errors. Should some ridiculous 

 idea be promulgated by some ignoi-amus or charlatan, it is by an app eal 

 to the general rules of physiology that a practical man may at once 

 reject them, or at least, hold them in distrust. On the contrai-y, in- 



. • Since these lines were in the printer's hand British science has sus- 

 tained a severe lost in the death of the truly amiable and learned Pro- 

 fessor W. Harvey, of Dublin, so well known by liis works on Aigte, and on 

 Ihe Botany of South Africa. I cannot refrain from expressing our sense 

 of this great bereavement* 



novations, if in hormoDV with tho geneiml principloa of the scionoQ* 

 may bu, and I will even say, ought to be reaoily accepted. 



l^o not let us put too much faith in the lucky results of experimcnta 

 mode absolutely by chuuce. It is with some of thuso experiments an 

 with dreams and preseutimentji~if they come true onco in a thoneuid 

 times they are talked about, otherwise they are paased over and for* 

 gotten. Besided, it must be »aid, men nearly always are guided, bgr 

 theories ; but the theories of thu ignorant are often absurd and witboat 

 foundation, whilst those of educated men urc bused on probabilitiM 

 or on an aceumolation of fact*"* 



Conjointly with phj-siology, botanical geography shows the durtti- 

 butiim of plants all over the globe, their stmggle with the element!. 

 their migrations, and already raises a portion of tbe veil which coverfi 

 the obscurity of their origin. All this ought to offer a real interest to 

 horticulturists. We are beginning to have the power of expressing in 

 figures the effect of each climate upon vegetation ; consequeutlr. the 

 possibility of a given species enduring the mean or extreme clunstal 

 conditions of that country to which it is desired to introduce it. 

 Already wc can show, in the clearest manner, the analogy between 

 the vegetation and climate of certain repxms widely separated the one 

 from the other, and point out in which cases new attempts at cnlti* 

 vation should be tried or where they slionld be dLscouraged. A cele* 

 brated geologist was able to say beforehand. There is gold in such a 

 part of New Holland ; and gold was fomid there. We can also say. 

 the Olive tree and the Cork Oak will succeed in Australia ; the eafitem 

 and temperate region of the United Stites is favourable to the growth 

 of Chinese plants, more particularly to that of tea ; and we can assert 

 that that part of America included between San Francisco and the 

 Oregon territory will, one day. supply wiues as varied and as excellent 

 as those European ones produced between Portugal and the Rhine. 



It is a singular fact that the two principal beverages of the civilised 

 world, wine and tea, which produce similar stimulating effects, but 

 which to a certain extent are the substitutes one for the other in 

 different countries, present atso in the mode of cultivating them the 

 most marked resemblances and differences. The \ ::ie and the Tea- 

 plant succeed best on stony, barren hill sides, of which they sometimes 

 increase the value a hundredfold. According to tho exposure, the 

 soil, tho cultivation and manner of preparing the produce, wine and 

 tea are obtained of unquestionable excellence ; whilst tho neighbonr- 

 ing crops, but a short distance off, may be more or less ordinary in 

 quality. The two shrubs require a temperate climate, but the Vijuj 

 needs heat and no rain during summer, whilst the Tea-plant requiroB 

 rain and but little summer heat ; the result of which is. that these 

 two species are almost geographically incompatible. Vine-growing 

 countries ^vill never produce tea, and rice versa. 



But, you will say. these examples belong rather to agricnlturo, and 

 concern' neither botany nor gardens. 1 maintain tbe contrary. It is 

 science, in the present day. vrhich points out what plants to cultivate, 

 and into what countries to introduce them. Horticulture makes the 

 trial with infinite pains. If successful, tho young plants are submitted 

 to the less careful treatment of agriculture. Before tlio happy intro- 

 duction of Cinchonas into British and Dutch India could be effected, 

 botanists were required to collect, distinguish, and carefully describe 

 the various species of American Cinchonas ; horticulturists were then 

 called on to make cuttings, gather the seeds, raiso the young plants, 

 transport and establish them in another part of the world ; and so 

 at last they were passed over to the care of the agriculturist. The 

 CoSee plant did not spread gi-adually from Arabia to India, from 

 India to Java; nor was it the American colonists who brought it from 

 its original country to iheirJazendtLH or haciendas. Tho shmb was 

 first described by botanists, and was afterwards introduced by the 

 Dutch into a garden at Batavia ; from thence it was taken to the 

 Botanical Garden at Amsterdam, from whence a specimen was sent to 

 the king of France in 1714. De Clieu. a naval officer, transplanted 

 it from the garden at Paris to the French colonies in America. A 

 multitude of such instances might be named. In tho present day 

 science has progressed, practical men avail themselves of it govem- 

 meuts and nations have abandoned those mistaken ideas in accordance 

 with which it was supposed that a cultivation advantageous to one 

 country was injurious to others. Hence we may hope to see. before 

 long, useful species planted in all regions where they can thrive, to 

 the great advantage of mankind in general. 



One of the most evident effects of science has been to create in the 

 horticultural public a taste for varied and rare forms. Formerly in 

 gardens there were only to be found certain kind.* of plants which 

 dated back to the time of the Crusades, or even of the Poraims. The 

 discovery of the New World did not produce a change in jiroportion to 

 its importance; perhaps because horticulturists did not travel enough, 

 or acquaint them-^'lves with those conntries whose species were most 

 suitable for cultivation in Europe. Botanists, fortnuatelv. were more 

 ambitious. Their collectors were numerous and dikring. They enriched 

 their herbaria with an infinitude of now forms, and puldished works 

 upon exotic plants, such as those of Hemimdez, Kumphins, Sloane, 

 &c. The immense variety in tho forms of plants was thenceforth re- 

 cognised, and in point of taste the elegant simplicity of the primitiTe 

 tlowers was able U\ vie with tho gaudiness of the double ones. Then 

 ceased the reign of Tulips and Pseouit-* in flower-gardens. Curiosity. 

 that great incentive to all science, having penetrated horticulture, the 

 change in ganlens became rapid. lust^^ad of a few hundred species 

 such as were cultivated at the commencement of the last century, there 



