47—1846. | 
THE GARDENERS’ CHRONICLE. 
771 
BECKS SEEDLING PELARGONIUMS, 1845.— 
The following varieties can be had, good plants in 4-inch 
pots, delivered free in London for pre-payment only, by Post- 
office orders on Brentford :— 
£2 
Aurora. 2 0 | Resplendent ... HL aL gO 
Competitor 111 6] Gigantic m 0019.46 
Hebe's Lip 
Five good plants of Bacchus at ll, 11s, 6d.,'and a few of Sirius 
at the same price, but smaller. 
VARIETIES OF 1844. 
Arabella 15s.0d. | Rosy Circle ... 2. 15s, 0d. 
Desdemona, 15 ; 5 0 
Isabella 76 
jon Ur MED YO ia "m 
Usual Allowance to the Trado, 
E. Becr’s Descriptive Catalogue of Seedling Pelargoniums, 
‘with directions for their cultivation, blooming, &c. E. B. finds 
he has about 40 copies of the above undisposed of, which may 
be had in exchange for four postage stamps. 
first is that the Vines had not more than a six weeks 
or two months’ rest, between the first and second 
forcing. It is clear, however, that the Vine could 
not have been much exhausted by its winter growth, 
for on the Ist of May the sap was in motion and 
followed every wound. The natural season for the 
growth of the Vine had in fact returned ; the 
stimulus of long days and bright light, and a warmer 
soil, produced its customary effects, which the Vine 
obeyed notwithstanding the shortness of its pre- 
vious slumbers. It may, therefore, seem that this 
plant does not demand so long a period of rest as is 
supposed; that its vitality is such as to render it 
indifferent to exertion ; and that the “ accumulated 
ORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.— 
Notice, is hereby given, that the EXHIBITION OF 
FLOWERS AND FRUIT, in the Society’s Garden, in the 
ensuing season, will take place on the following Saturdays, 
wiz., May 8; June 19 ; and July 17 ; and that Tuesday, April 20, 
is the last day on which the usual privileged Tickets are issued 
to Fellows of the Society. 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1846. 
MEETINGS FOR THE TWO FOLLOWING WEEKS. 
.4 
Barunpay, Nov. 28—Royal Botanic ^. . . . pants 
owpax,  — 30—Botanical (Anniversary) `. pe 
Tounspay, Deo. 1—4 Pinnean er E 22an 
Wapsauspay, —  8—Bociety of Arts . A: ve, ue ABLE 
Ir is doubted by some Pine-growers whether the 
Mevpon Pines, to which we have lately directed 
attention, can be of the weight, and size, and beauty 
that has been stated. Peat, sand, and water, are 
thought to be incapable of producing such results. 
One learned correspondent, of whom we had hoped 
better things, doubts indeed everything; he doubts 
whether Mirabile dictu is a Pine grower at all; 
whether he knows anything about Pine-growing ; 
whether he knows a “ Queen” when he sees one ; 
whether he has not been dreaming all this while, 
fancying Cayennes to be Queens! and so on. 
Reasonable men should be ashamed of such cavil- 
ling. However, for the satisfaction of our friends, 
we have procured one of these Pines from Meudon ; 
the best that remained when our order reached 
Paris (the finest had been cut), and we shall leave 
it for a day or two in the office of this Paper for the 
inspection of the curious, It is a nice little Queen, 
which weighed about 8lbs. avoirdupois when first 
cut ; and now that it has lost some of its weight, is 
far heavier than the finest Queen ever grown in this 
country. 
Ara Meeting of the HORTICULTURAL Society 
on Tuesday, November the 3d, Mr. Mrrcnxrr, of 
Brighton, produced some Brack HAMBURGH GRAPES, 
for which a Silver Banksian Medal was awarded. 
They were not Grapes of wonderful size, either in 
the berry or the bunch; the latter, indeed, was 
small, as all bunches should be which are grown 
for market ; but the berries were handsome, black, 
perfectly ripe, and excellent. Why, then, do we 
mention them thus? seeing that as fine Black Ham- 
urgh Grapes have this autumn been common as 
Blackberries. We mention them because of their 
history, which involves some curious as well as 
highly important facts. 
Mr. Mrrcuext’s Grapes were a part of a very 
heavy second crop, succeeding a fair crop which had 
ripened in the spring. It appears that he had in- 
tended to destroy a house of Vines, which were 
scrambling, out of condition, and more inclined to 
run to wood than to fruit; that for this purpose he 
began to force in the autumn of 1845, and managed 
to secure a ripe crop by the middle of February. By 
that time we may suppose that the Vines were sink- 
ing to rest. By the middle of March the crop was 
all gathered; theVines were then allowed to remain 
undisturbed for six weeks, when, instead of throw- 
ing them away, Mr. M. determined, like a wise 
man, to endeavour first to get another crop out 
of his houses. He therefore on the Ist of May 
pruned them hard ; the sap was rising, and the Vines 
bled excessively, so that the floor of the house was 
deluged. Notwithstanding this, however, the buds 
broke well; a fineshow of fruit appeared, the crop 
was left, and finally ripened off in perfection in Oc- 
tober, the Grapes above alluded to having formed 
part of the produce. What is more, the wood for 
next year is so hard, well ripened, and furnished 
with plump buds, that Mr. Mrrourzr has changed 
his mind about destroying the Vines, and intends to 
force them again next year, but not early, nor more 
than once. The fact is, he has tamed their over- 
luxuriance, and the reason for their removal is with- 
rawn. 
There are two circumstances in this experiment 
which more especially deserve consideration. The 
? of which physiologists speak as so in- 
dispensable to all plants,and for which they regard 
winter as the natural provision, is a thing of imagi- 
nation, not of reality. Such is not our opinion. It 
is to be remembered that these Vines were over- 
luxuriant, and demanded a check ; it does not quite 
follow, because Mr. Mrrcmrrr's rampant Vines 
could be thus “run out” with impunity, that every- | gislilk 
body’s can be treated in the same way. Vines in 
their ordinary state might not bear it. We are, 
however, by no means sure that any very strong 
healthy Vines might not be forced to the same 
extent; a continuance of such treatment would kill 
a plant; but an occasional effort may be borne. A 
strong man will bear the loss of rest for a night 
without inconvenience; but keep him awake for 
several successive nights, and his nature will sink 
prostrate under the effort. So with the Vine. Mr. 
Mircuett, it will be observed, has no intention of 
renewing the experiment immediately : he will now 
give his Vines a long winter's rest; but itis worth 
inquiry whether heaithy Vines cannot be forced 
to bear three crops in two years as a matter of 
course. Those who have the means would do well 
to make the attempt and report the result, 
The second point is the little injury sustained in 
this experiment from excessive bleeding. The 
pruning was necessarily performed when the sap 
was flowing freely ; it was May-day ; all the agencies 
that excite vegetable life were in full activity. The 
loss of sap was enormous; yet an ample and excel- 
lent crop was obtained. Are we to ascribe this 
result'to the over-luxuriance of the Vines already 
alluded to ? or is the bleeding of the Vine, in truth, 
an event of so little importance? For ourselves, 
we believe that both propositions may be assented 
to, with a limitation. Had the Vines been less lux- 
uriant and scrambling, the bleeding to such an ex- 
tent would have been dangerous ; yet the bleeding 
of the Vine in spring is not so serious an event as 
is generally believed. The latter is well known to 
be the opinion of practical men, and they are cer- 
tainly right ; for the rising sap of the Vine consists 
mainly of water, carbonic acid and ammonia, all de- 
rived from the soil, and therefore from a source of 
inexhaustible supply. If no other matters were pre- 
sent the Vine would be of the nature of a slender 
water-pipe, through which this fluid passes in its 
way to the leaves; but it is not so. On the con- 
trary, the rising sap also dissolves in its passage 
all soluble matters with which it is brought into 
contact, among which are, especially sugar and gum, 
the organisable matters out of which the future 
leaves and fruit must be prepared. Now, a plant 
cannot obtain these substances from the soil ; they 
lie in its own tissues and there only, and it is 
obvious that if they are all washed out by the 
passage of an enormous quantity of watery matter 
through the plant, most of which is wasted, there can 
be no formation of leaves, flowers, and fruit. Theo- 
retically, therefore, bleeding is a dangerous circum- 
stance, and may be fatal. 
But in truth Nature is so prodigal of all means 
or materials required for the security of life that 
exhaustion is by no means easy. Infinitely more 
of everything is provided than is really required, 
on purpose to compensate for accidents. A tree 
is loaded with countless flowers; a hundredth part 
of them, when changed to fruit, is more than the 
plant can bear ; they, therefore, drop off by thou- 
sands and strew the ground to the alarm of the in- 
experienced gardener, who is afterwards surprised 
at the appearance of an abundant crop. Strike a 
Fir tree inthe spring, and forthwith the air is filled 
with myriads of millions of pollen grains, provided 
for the fertilisation of a few dozen Fir cones ; some 
hundreds of seeds receive the influence, the rest of 
the pollen grains fly to waste. A calculation 
proving this is to be found in the “ Botanical 
Register,” where the editorshows that 27,000,000,000 
pollen grains were provided on one plant of Glycine 
sinensis, in order to ensure the fertilisation of 
4,050,000 seeds, or about 7000 pollen grains to each 
seed.* And so it is with everything. The starch, 
“* The number of punches was about 9000, and of flowers 
675,000. Each flower consisting of five petals, the number of 
those parts was 3,375,000. Each flower contained 10 stamens, 
gum, or sugar lodged in a plant is no exception. 
Some of those substances must be present: but 
they are provided in such prodigal abundance in 
the teeming bosom of Nature that common accidents 
can hardly exhaust them. 
We would not, however, advise gardeners with 
weak Vines to disregard their bleeding ; an ailing 
old man will perish from what a stout boy would 
laugh at. 
CHINESE METHOD OF DWARFING TREES. 
On the termination of the late Chinese war, our 
neighbours, the French, who shared in the interest so 
generally excited by the event, sent a mission to China, 
to form, if possible, a treaty of commerce with the 
Celestial Government. Confident hopes were enter- 
tained of the success of this mission ; the finest silks 
and choicest wines formed part of the cargo of serious 
argument provided by these delegates of commerce. I 
believe Messieurs les Chinois were inacessable to the 
above mentioned reasonings. La mode Parisienne only 
excited their merriment, and the wine their unequivocal 
islike. However, it is not my present purpose 
speculate on the commercial possibilities of this mission. 
In a short history of the voyage, by one of the party, I 
have found an amusing account of the method pursued 
in dwarfing trees, which perhaps may be more inter- 
esting to horticultural readers. 
Immediately preceding the details of the dwarfing 
system, is an account of a féte day in Canton ; that part 
which introduces and suggests the history of the dwarf 
trees, may, perhaps, without impropriety, be added 
re 
ere. 
The attachés of the mission were very :much 
astonished one morning to find the appearance of the 
two principal streets of Canton completely changed. 
Before each house was set a kind of stand or altar, of 
considerable size; upon the different steps of these 
stands were placed figures in porcelain and cardboard ; 
by the side of these they remarked vases planted with 
fruit trees, scarcely a foot in height, the branches of 
which, twisted and distorted, bent under the weight of 
their fruit, which was of their natural size. 
The figures of cardboard and porcelain, the most ec- 
centric the brain of a Chinaman could invent, were in 
continual movement. Here a Mandarin, of the first 
class, rolled his haggard eyes, and gesticulated his arms, 
there a soldier sabred nothing right and left, further on 
a Chinese lady raised tenderly her languishing eyes, and 
fanned a_large-headed man, who each moment hung 
out an immense tongue. ‘Time after time the fantastic 
images stopped as if fatigued with their exercise, but 
then the proprietors of the stands gave them some 
strokes with a whip, and i diately the p i 
recommenced with renewed activity. There was 
enough in this to astonish the curious spirit of the 
French travellers. What caused these images to mareh 
to the tune of the whip? And these little trees, so 
ptible in app the height of a foot !— 
carrying, each Orange-tree, 20 enormous Oranges ? 
And éach Apple-tree, 20 or 30 large Apples? For the 
images the explanation was not difficult to find. The 
Chinese had introduced into the interior of them one or 
two mice, which, on being stirred, struck some wires, 
nt i d thus the m 
pressly jointed to produce this effect. 
slept, a cut of the whip aroused and affrighted them, 
and so redoubled the vivacity of the gestures of the 
images. As for the dwarf trees, there was in that a 
mystery of horticulture, or rather sylviculture, to 
divine. M. Renard had noticed, on visiting the apart- 
ments of the Mandarins, similar little trees of the 
height of some few inches, pitiful to look at, unhealthy, 
distorted, and covered with excoriations without num- 
ber, and a thing which astonished him,—the litile 
foliage which ornamented the extremity of the branches, 
belonged to kinds that ordinarily attain an enormous 
size, such as the Elm, the Bamboo, and the Cypress. 
M. R. arrived at the following solution of these eecen- 
iricities:— That for the Chinese nothing is beautiful 
but that whieh is hideous ; that a stunted shrub with- 
out leaves is a wonder that is worth all the forests in 
the universe; and so the principal occupation of the 
Chinese nurserymen is to combat Nature in everything 
that is beautiful and rich. 
The cultivation of the dwarf trees is divided into two 
arts—that of the fruit and forest trees. That of the 
fruit trees rests upon a process already partly known 
in Europe ; but of which the application is different. 
At the moment when a tree is in flower, the Chinese 
cultivator chooses a branch. It is well understood that 
he selects that which presents the most fantastic forms ; 
he makes two circular notches, in a manner to raise 
a ring of bark of the length of about an inch; 
upon the part uncovered he applies fresh earth, 
that is held to it by means of a piece of cloth; 
each day he moistens the earth ; soon the bark at the 
incision throws out roots, the branch becomes a tree, its 
fruit swells and ripens. Then the gardener euts the 
branch at the end of the packet of earth, and plants it 
ina pot to send to the market. It is rare that this 
2 
or the whole mass of flowers 6,750,000. Each ovary contained 
about seven ovules, so that preparation was made for the pro- 
duction of 4,050,000 seeds, for the purpose of fertilising which the 
anthers, if perfect, would have contained about 27,000,000,000 
pollen grains. Had all the petals been placed end to end 
they would have extended to the distance of more than £34 
miles.—Botanical Register, 1840, misc. p. 42. 
