150 
THE GARDENERS’ 
CHRONIC 
to this time, the ra happen to be quite clear in every 
respect. This matter T shall continue to closely watch, 
and take an opportunity of forwarding the particulars. 
The whole of the stalks and leaves are scorched up ani 
gone from the first or carly crops, and tne young tubers 
fected, and the old Potatoes for present use 
'fast with the pest, although they 
red, — James Barnes, Bicton Gar- 
—To-day T examined a three-light 
anted in October, 1845, with Chap- 
grown and saved by myself from 
ng the same year. Sounder seeds 
ll appearance, when planted. The 
uched by frost. A month ago it 
of disease, and continued ; when, on 
, to my great disappointment, I 
Ibs. of tubers the size of a pigeon’s egg, 
the three-light. The stalk, 3 or 4 ins. 
x, of a rusty colour, dry and brittle ; 
which were produced grew above the 
m the joint of the stem after it was 
that the produce must be a second 
not been earthed would prove a 
My next succession, a four-light pit, 
ets saved same time as the other, 
more luxuriant than at present ; and 
r I shall report to you. Perhaps 
ting and desirable, as I am ad- 
ı the south of Lreland.—D. R., Port- 
on-suir, Feb 28. 
law, near Ca 
Potatoes in Ireland.—1_ was led, by some remarks 
on the failure of the Potatoin your Paper received yes- 
terday, to look at my Ash-leaved Kidneys, planted in a 
frame late in last year. They have hitherto shown 
every symptom of robust health, luxuriant foliage, 12 
and 18 inche: igh or so, and on some of them fine 
young Potato I found that the disease had at- 
tacked some of them, beginning at the root and pro- 
i I this morning renewed examination, 
26 state of the plant depended on the 
on of the seed tuber. Those which are 
lisease I found to have their seed tubers 
Those which are still untouched I 
the tuber not completely rotten, and that 
completely rotten. 
found to ! 
part to wl 
> still healthy plant. I of course threw 
d plants. From consideration of this, 
1elusion, that the Potato this season 
it to produce a fine, strong, healthy 
the plant will retain its luxuriance and 
as the seed tuber to which its stalk is 
vigour so lon 
attached reinai 
communicates the rot to the stalk, (and every appear- 
ance of the discase follows. The seed Potato for this 
year has not, I think, the faculty of keeping sound in 
the ground after it has produced its plant, as in ordi- 
nary seasons (judging, of course, from my Ash-leaved 
Kidneys.) I, therefore, am now removing Potatoes of 
different kinds to a floor in a store, and have them laid 
singly on it, and a little mould sprinkled over. As soon 
as the shoots are strong enough and rooted, I intend to 
separate them from the Potato and plant them out; 
these will then be free from the contagion of decay of 
the seed tuber. This plan is, I think, worth trial, as I 
think it is the premature decay of the seed tuber which 
communicates the disorder to the’ part of the stalk to 
1 
| 
good for common purposes; or pipe-clay, or potters’ 
clay mixed with a fourth of coke-dust, will stand high 
heats, and will not be likely to crack.— Lusor. 
Peas.—I have practised the following mode of pro- 
ducing early Peas for these eight or nine years with 
good success :—Cut turves two or three inchés in 
breadth and 18 ins. in length, turn them upside down, 
make a small mark lengthways in the turf sufficient to 
hold oue row of Peas. Place them on a hotbed, or in 
a pit with a little heat, then sow your Peas. Tw 
ordinary lights wil! hold about 50 yards. I sow about 
the Ist of February, and plant out in the first favour- 
able opportunity in March.—J. M., Sussex. 
[ 
WzrxLY Prices or Porators per ton, in Covent 
Garden Market, in 1845, and 1846. 
1845. 1846. 
EOD. eis 1| 50s. to 805.| Jan. 31] 70s. to 1405. 
8|50, 80 |Feb. 7 70 . 160 
15, 50 80 160 
50 80 | 160 
March ...... 1j 50 80 | 160 
50 — 90 |March.....7| 70 170 
Also at the waterside, Southwark. 
Feb... .. 3| 55s. to 80s.||Feb.......... 2| 50s. to 120s 
10| 55 80 | 9| 50 120 
17 | 55 80 | 16| 50 120 
24|.55 80 23, 50 120 
Mareh ...... 3| 85 80 ||Mareh .. ... 2| 60 140 
Sootíttieg. 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
March 3.—R. W. BancHARD, Esq., in the chair. 
J. J. Buanpy, Esq., of High Grove, Reading, was elected 
a Fellow. Of plants some capital specimens were pro- 
duced, foremost among which may be mentioned a 
magnificent Erica aristata major, measuring about 2 ft. 
in diameter, and the same in height, covered with 
blossoms, from Mr. Green, gr. to Sir E. Antrobus, Bart., 
from whose garden also came a handsome Phaius 
grandifolius, and an enormous mass of the useful winter 
flowering Centradenia rosea. A Banksian Medal was 
awarded for the Cape Heath. Mr. Robertson, gr. to 
Mrs. Lawrenée, sent Schomburgkia violacea, a beautiful 
South American species; a new Odontoglossum, with 
spotted white flowers ; and the rare Phalenopsis 
amabilis, or white Butterfly-plant; a Knightian medal 
was awarded.—From Messrs. Veitch and Son, of 
Exeter, was a new yellow-flowered Tropseolum, which 
had been sent from Peru by Mr. Lobb, for which a 
certificate was awarded.— Finally of new things, Messrs. 
Loddiges, of Hackney, sent a new drooping-flowered 
plant, not before known in Europe, from Tropical 
Africa, for which a Knightian medal was awarded. It 
was named Ansellia Africana, in honour of Mr, Ansell, 
who when he was ‘out with the Niger expedition found 
it growing’ on the trunk of the Oil Palm, in the island 
of Fernando Po. It proves to bea very handsome 
thing,and will bean isitionto theOrchid ouse, 
—Mr. Ball, nurseryman, Taunton, exhibited a pretty 
seedling Epacris; and a new Pelargonium named Bella, 
hibiting a great imp , a8 regards quality, 
on the kinds usually employed for forcing, was 
sent by Mr. Beck, of Isleworth, from whom also a 
which it is attached, One of your corresp men- 
tions that some of his Kidney Potatoes are still-safe ; if 
I were in his place I would carefully raise every one, 
and take off the seed-tuber. I have no doubt that he 
will find the d tubers of those still'safe to be not 
quite rotten yet, and in those which are diseased he will 
find them in a total state of rottenness,—A. Thompson, 
Killylomain, Portadown, Ireland, 
N 
l 
e 
ground until wanted. The last autumn, cases occurred 
of portions of plots being taken up by my allotment 
tenants at different times, all of whieh when dug up 
appeared sound, and were fit for use ; but when the 
last were moved, a great portion of those which had 
been taken up the soonest and pitted, had become quite 
decayed. The ground occupied by Potatoes last year is 
now being dug and forked for other crops, and, as usual, 
many Potatoes are found which escaped notice ; but of 
these I have not, upon inquiry, heard that a single 
tuber, even of the kinds which had suffered the most, is 
unfit for use. They appear in a tuch sounder state 
than they were when dug up before the winter. If, 
then, the malady should prevail another year, would it 
not be prudent to make the experiment with a part of 
the Potato erops, of taking up alternate rows for use, 
and earthing up the remainder sufficiently high to pro- 
tect them from the effects of frost? A plan similar to 
this is often adopted by the epicure. The whole crop 
is left and eovered with straw, long stable dung, &e., 
by which precaution fresh dug Potatoes may be had 
the whole wiüter, and are considered much more palat- 
able than thóre taken up at the usual time.—Rev. Dr, 
Stephenson, Souldern Rectory, Oxon: 
Fire-Moriar—tI fear the loam and lime recom- 
mended at p. 118, by * Alpha,” will not stand in a high 
eat. As furnaces should be constructed with fire- 
bricks, I think the “putty? may be had of the sellers 
of the bricks ; but if there be any difficulty in procuring 
it, and the work to be done be in a coal district, very 
was read regarding Mr, Simmons’s hy- 
grometer. It was mentioned that Mr. B. had had one 
in use for several weeks, during which time dull weather 
generally prevailed ; but that in the three hot days 
we have lately had he had learned from this instrument 
that his arrangements for heating his Orchidaceous 
house were very defective, inasmuch as the power of 
creating moisture in the shape of vapour depended upon 
the temperature of the heating apparatus, which is a 
tank, on whose surface are water-tight compartments 
fitted with a plug. The heated water in the tank heats 
the water in these compartments, and vapour is given 
off, which if not required the plug is taken up, and, the 
water sinking into the tank, the evaporation ceases. On 
the 2d inst., the morning being very hot, the fire was 
raked out, and as the water cooled so was the arrange- 
ment ab tioned made inoperative, and in a short 
time the hygrometer, from indicating 75°, or a consider- 
able degree of moisture, went to the dry point, or 100°, 
On this being perceived, such resources as were at 
command were at once put in operation, which brought 
the instrument back to 70°, From the above Mr. 
Beck inferred that if he wished to keep his plants 
during the summer in the satisfactory state in which 
they were now mentioned to be, a power of throwing 
vapour into the house, quite independent of the boiler. 
that heats it, would be required ; in fact, that moisture 
must be obtained without heat. Mr. B.'s arrangements 
being very similar to those for heating stoves, &c., in 
eneral, these remarks were made in order to set 
others to think in the right direction .—Of Miscel- 
laneous matters of importance, it may be mentioned that 
Potatoes (both from frames and from the open ground) 
of the present year’s growth, exhibiting the disease of 
last year in all its previous forms, again came from 
Lady Rolle’s gardens at Bicton, and from the garden 
of Ò. F. Meyrick, Esq., of Bodorgan Hall, in North 
Wales. Carrots were also shown, exhibiting the same 
calamity as that which had attacked the Potatoes ; and 
Dutch Hyacinths, and various other things, were like- 
wise mentioned to be suffering from the same disease.— 
From the Garden of the Society were Lycaste longipes, 
many coal veins have fire-clay under them’ sufficiently | a woolly variety, with green flowers, which’ are more 
LE. [Mar. 7, 
curious than beautiful ; a noble Dendrobium nobile, in 
one bloom ; a variety of Zygopétalum crinitum ; Spi- 
ranthes orchioides ; two Begonias ; Centradenia rosea, 
covered with little pink star-like flowers ; the useful 
stove shrub Inga pulcherrima, with gaudy tassels of 
long scarlet stamens; Trymali doratissi a sweet 
scented hardy greenhouse shrub ; and Correea Goodei. 
—Seeds received from Mr, Fortune of the Shanghai Oil- 
plant, or Brassica sinensis, a sort of Rape, said to be 
hardy and well adapted for field culture, were dis- 
tributed to such Fellows as wished to receive them 3 as 
were also cuttings of the following Pears, viz. Comte 
de Lamy, a good bearer as a standard, ripening 
middle-sized, roundish fruit, remarkably sugary and 
rich in October ; Glout Morceau de Cambron, a variety 
little known, perfectly distinct from the Glout Mor- 
ceau, and more resembling the Napoleon in its form 
and juicy flesh, which is, however, of finer consistency 
than that of the last-named variety—it ripens in No- 
vember; the Flemish Beauty, an excellent standard 
Pear, which ripens in September and October, and 
which should be gathered before it parts readily from 
the tree ; and Thompson's, a middlé-sized, exceedingly 
rich, and melting variety, which ripens in November, 
and succeeds well as a standard. 
BOTANICAL SOCIERY OF EDINBURGH. 
Feb. 12—Dr. Barrour in the chair: Mrs. J. Stewart, 
of Nateby Hall, was elected a life member. A collec- 
tion of plants from Chippawa and various parts of 
Canada, presented from Dr. Philip W. Maclagan ; and 
specimens of some of the rarer alpine plants of Scotland, 
presented by Dr. Balfour, were announced. The fol- 
lowing communications were read :—1, On the Potato 
Disease, by Mr. Jonn Goopsir, Mr: G. stated that 
there could be no doubt as to its general resemblance 
to an epidemic, and alluded to the striking resemblance 
between the rise and progress of epidemics, and the ap- 
pearance, non-appearance, and increase of fungi. 
Coupling this analogy with the opinion that eertain epi- 
demics owe their existence to the growth of fungi or 
analogous beings in the animals afflicted, Mr. G. con- 
ceived that we are bound, in our attempts to explain 
the nature of the disease, not to overlook the fungi 
which exist in the diseased tubers. He was inclined to 
believe in the organic nature of the brown matter, and 
founded his belief ehiefly on its peeuliar form, and on its 
position in the cells. This view of the disease did not 
afford an indication of eure or prevention. It holds out, 
however, a hope that the murrain may not recur.—Dr. 
Grivitie saw nothing improbable in the’ Potato mur- 
rain being analogous to epidemic diseasés in animals. 
The real cause, as in all epidemics, is involved in great 
mystery. Possibly a union of conditions may have 
taken place, fi bl 1 t of the fungus 
which appears to be invariably present. He thought it 
not improbable that certain conditions—oné or more of 
them being of a meteorological charact: have 
combined in the course of the past season to promote 
the growth of the Potato fungus. The question has been 
asked, How do the spores of the fungus obtain access 
to the vegetable tissue? Perhaps they, as well as the 
spores of other of the minute fungi, may at all times 
inhabit the tissue of those species of plants to which they 
are respectively peculiar, without, under ordinary cir- 
cumstances, deranging the vegetable functions, in the 
same manner as minute parasites infest different parts 
of the animal structure. In addition to this, there 
must be in plants, as well as in animals, a predisposition 
to receive the disease ; for even epidemics make a selee- 
tion of their victims. The fungus did not attack all 
plants of the Potato indiscriminately ; some varieties 
throughout the infected districts having, comparatively 
speaking, escaped, a most valuable fact for the consi- 
deration of the practical agriculturist.—Mr. W. Crum 
stated that the colouring matter in diseased Potatoes 
contained nitrogen. He believed it was a fungus.— 
Dr. G. Witson was of opinion that the vegetable phy- 
siologist was not entitled to refer to the fungus as the 
cause of fermentation, or to speak of it as more than an 
accompaniment.—Dr. MAcrAGAN had no doubt that the 
fungusin the diseased Potato had originated in the leaves, 
and been propagated down along the stem to the tubers. 
He thought, however, that the question as to the nature 
of the Potato disease was mot settled by proving the 
presence of a fungus in the altered portions, It was 
still a disputable point, whether the fungus was antece- 
dent to, or consequent upon, the morbid state of the 
tubers.—Mr. Mitnu had been devoting attention to the 
meteorological branch of the inquiry, and thought that 
he had made a discovery which would explain the ap- 
pearance of the disease in some places and not in others. 
He then described some peculiarities of the weather in 
England and Scotland during the summer and autumn 
of last year, as shown by meteorological returns which 
he had obtained from a number of places, both in those 
districts where the diseased prevailed, and in those from 
which it had been absent. He mentioned that the 
maximum summer-heat had occurred in England and 
southern parts of Scotland in June, whereas in the 
northern parts of Scotland, where the Potato disease 
had not appeared, the maximum heat had occurred in 
August as usual. He alluded also to repeated and 
sudden thermometie changes which had occurred in the 
south of England.—Mr. BRAND and Mr. Ginbwoop re- 
marked, that Potatoes in the early part of the season 
were not affected, and that where the stems and leaves 
had been cut away early, the disease had ‘not appeared 
in the tubers left in ground. These favts seem to indi- 
cate some atmospheric influences which had come into 
