772 
THE GARDENERS’ 
CHRONICLE. 
[Nov. 21, 
operation does not obtain a complete success. The 
fruit trees raised in this manner are in general the 
Litchi (Dimocarpus litchi), the delicious fruit of China ; 
the Carambol, with octagonal fruit ; the Lon-gan, a kind 
of Plum; the Orange, the Apple, Pear, Ficus indica, 
and a tree sacred in the pagodas, of which the fruit, a 
kind of Citron (Citrus medica, var.?), is called by the 
Chinese Hand of Foo, because it has the form of han 
that the bonzes give to this god. The dwarfed trees 
are destined in general to ornament the pagodas, and 
the shops of the merchants on holidays. The cultivation 
of the forest trees, dwarfed, demands more care. It is 
not only in this case to get ready a branch, but it is a 
struggle they undertake with Nature, which consists in 
making hideous that which Nature has created beautiful, 
to lame and deform that which she has made straight 
and well looking, to render mean and unhealthy that 
which she has produced vigorousand robust. The trees 
submitted to this system of stunting are generally the 
Bamboo, the Cypress, and the Elm ; the same as with 
the fruit trees, they choose a little branch as knotty 
and twisted as they possibly can find; they raise a ring 
of bark, and surround it with vegetable mould ; at the 
same time they prune the tree of its handsomest 
branches, only preserving those which are zigzag ; they 
then cauterise the wounds with hot iron. This first 
operation términated, the gardener devotes all his care 
to his work, up to the day that he is satisfied of the 
presence of some roots. This success obtained, his 
kindness is changed to cruelty ; from this day he re- 
fuses water to his charge, and it is only when he sees 
it nearly perishing, when its leaves fade, and turn 
yellow, that he consenís to moisten a little the earth 
whieh keeps it alive ; he euts off the leaves, and only 
allows a few at the extremity ef the branch to remain. 
The tree thus treated, rests between life and death ; 
it shrivels and bows its head, until the return of the 
sap; at this moment its state appears likely to be 
ameliorated ; it is watered each day, its health is about 
ofrubbish. Leaves when suffered to lie, injure the 
Grass, and generate damp and Moss on the gravel. 
Then, the act of sweeping is beneficial, and can scarcely 
be performed too often at this season, for it removes 
worm-casts and destroys the incipient Mosses which 
will otherwise soon turn the yellow gravel into a smooth 
‘sheet of green. If this clearing process is continued 
until “ the forests are chilly and bare,” the garden will 
preserve throughout a healthy appearance, and confer 
pleasure upon its possessor. The turf should receive a 
final mowing in Ni and be frequently rolled 
when the weather permits. Its edges should be neatly 
clipped, and everything done that can give the idea of 
cleanliness and symmetry. 
he stems of shrubs and flowers should be cut down 
as soon as decayed, and the beds be raked over once a 
week, Rose trees may now be pruned, and everything 
in short be put into the position it is to occupy until the 
spring. If you have marked the habitats of bulbs, &c., 
the borders may be dug with advantage, taking care 
te incorporate with the soil some leaf-mould, or very 
rotten dung from an old pit or frame. But this must 
be deferred till spring if you do not know the positions 
of underground roots, for it is vexatious in the extreme 
to bring up with the spade the mutilated remains of 
Tiger Lilies and Crown Imperials. A strong stake, 
projeeting about three inches from the surface should 
always be inserted to mark the spots which the spade 
must not touch. Some gardeners use short iron rods, 
the effect of which is more certain. 
As a stimulus to exertion in this clearing operation, 
the amateur should remember the great value of the 
heap to which he conveys the leaves and other reliquize 
of his garden. For recruiting flower-beds, this refuse 
vegetable matter, where th ghly rotted, is invaluable. 
The heap should be turned about Christmas time, and 
then allowed to remain as it is until next autumn, when 
it will be converted into leaf-mould ; or it may be more 
quickly made available by saturating the heap with 
h à 
to return ; but, alas! for the tree, these attenti 
are but preliminary to further cruelties. The sap 
flows in abundance, and then the Chinaman makes at 
various distances transverse incisions, some almost 
circular. These cuttings continued, stop the ascent of 
the sap, which coagulating upon the wounds, causes 
swellings of bark frightful to behold ; but which re- 
joices the eye of the Chinaman. When the time of the 
sap is passed, they put the shrub in régime. They then 
make new notches upon it, but perpendicular this time. 
They raise with a knife the bark near these notches, 
and introduce in the one honey, in the other sugar, in 
some colours, and even acid. Attracted by the smell, 
thousands of ants and flies come and gnaw, and prick 
the bark of the tree, while on the other side the acid 
burns and destroys wherever it touches. At length, 
after this treatment, when the branch has become a 
veritable monstrosity, covered with lichens, lumps, and 
deformiti it i gnised as capable of support- 
ing its pitiful existence, they detach it from the tree; 
ey shake away the earth that surrounds it, to place ina 
vase having the form oft a large square jam-pot ; the 
earth is then replaced by little gravel stones, that are 
just in number sufficient to maintain the tree straight 
in its pot. All the care necessary for the future is to 
moisten lightly the stones, when the plant appears to 
suffer. 
The trees stunted in this manner are very much 
prized by the mandarins, and are sold at a high price ; 
but what is surprising is the extreme longevity they 
acquire. It is not rare that they attain 100 and 200 
years. They are often transmitted by inheritance. 
On some dwarfed trees that were sent to Her Majesty 
from China, in addition to the inflictions described in 
the account, were found numerous ligatures of wire, and 
the branches twisted and bent by the agency of the 
same material.— W. I., Windsor, Oct. 26th. 
THE AMATEUR GARDENER. 
CLEARING UP ror Winter.—In the excellent direc- 
tions to gardeners, furnished by the weekly calendar of 
the Chronicle, allusion is often made to the necessity 
of neatness, especially at this season of the year, when 
the best gardens are deprived of so many of their 
attractions. There may be abundance of evergreens 
and winter flowers, and yet the garden may present a 
very repulsive appearance. Grass-plots literally rough 
with worm-casts ; dead leaves crowding into ever 
corner, as if for the purpose of keeping themselves 
warm ; what were once flowers, dangling from the 
stakes which supported them like criminals in chains ; 
and numerous dry stems, rattling with a very ominous 
sound in every wind ;—such are the fights and sounds 
too often seen and heard in really good gardens in the 
winter months, to the scandal of good taste, and the 
disgrace of the owners. This is especially the case 
where a gardener is not kept constantly, but one is 
employed a day or two in the week. Other matters 
must be attended to, and the clearing up is neglected 
until Nature calls too loudly to be longer neglected, and 
the appearance of Snowdrops and Crocuses infuse new 
energies into the before torpid proprietor. 
ow the fact is, this clearing up is the work of every 
day, and cannot be neglected even for a day with 
impunity. As advancing autumn strews the lawn and 
the gravel walks with leaves, let them be removed at 
least three times a week. It is commonly said * Oh it 
is of no use sweeping away leaves, for they will fall 
again, and our labour will be thrown away!” No 
this is an exclamation of ignorance, for neatness is not 
the only object contemplated by the frequent removal 
| 
á 
the ] liquor from g; ks, by which decom- 
position will be hastened. The shrubby stems of Holly- 
hocks, &c., will all add to this heap, and by its assist- 
ance the amateur will be able to secure a more efficient 
growth, both in pots and in beds. I may as well men- 
tion here, that a heap of the rotten dung from an ex- 
hausted Cucumber-bed, should be put aside in some 
retired spot, as, for floricultural purposes, it will be 
better for remaining another year before it is used. 
eference was made above to those who do not keep 
a gardener constantly. Now, one of the luxuries of 
gardening is the exercise it furnishes to its devoted ser4 
vants, the glow of health and the buoyancy of spirits it 
produces. If you have a group of children under your 
control, shivering at an east wind, and blowing their 
hands to make them warm, try the effect of leaf-gather- 
ing, and other similar operations at this season of the 
ear ; by working among them yourself, you will insure 
their discharging their duties with life, and they will all 
confess that the cold they dreaded was only a phantom 
of the imagination.—H. B. 
THE RED DOYENNÉ PEAR. 
Synonymes.—Doyenné Gris, Doyenné Roux, St. Michel Doré, 
Beurré Rouge (of some), Rothe Herbstbutterbirne, Rothe De- 
chantsbirne, Gray Doyenné, Gray Dean's, Red Beurré (of some), 
‘<= 
Smooth. A 
Russet. 
Of the above names, the Red Doyenné is proposed as 
the most appropriate, Although Duhamel designated 
it the Doyenné Gris, yet experience has proved that 
such name is not the most distinctive for the type of 
this Pear ; the White Doyenné, or old White Beurré, 
may be as aptly so called when it assumes a somewhat 
russeted appearance, grown as a standard. In fact, it 
has been obtained in various instances with this name. 
But however much these two Doyenné Pears may re- 
semble each other when on the trees, a decided differ- 
ence ensues. The White becomes paler and paler as it 
approaches the period of being fit for use ; the other, 
on the contrary, acquires a brighter red. The author 
of the “Jardin Fruitier,” remarks that the epithet of 
red is more proper than gray for the Pear in question, 
because at the period of maturity it is in reality red. 
The accompanying outline is that of a fruit from a 
standard. The flesh is white, melting, buttery, and sugary, 
with a rich cinnamon flavour. In perfection in Octo- 
ber and November, succeeding the White Doyenné. 
Shoots vigorous, bright chesnut, with a sprinkling of 
small pale-brown spots. Leaves middle-sized, oval, 
slightly serrated; petioles slender. Flowers small, 
opening rather early ; petals oval, inclining to obovate ; 
stamens shorter than the styles. 
The tree is a good bearer ; and the fruit generally 
acquires a richer flavour than that of the White 
oyenné; but like it is best from a standard —R. T. 
Home Correspondence. 
Coping for Walls.—I have found, by experience, that 
the top of walls should be finished in the same way as 
the ridge at the top of a house. If tiles are used in- 
stead of slates, this plan will be found more convenient 
for a ladder, as a thin slate is more likely to be broken 
than a thick tile. With respect to projecting copings, 
I beg to refer your readers to Clement Hoare’s book 
on “ Vines on Open Walls,” 2d edition, pp. 75, 76, 77. 
But I will briefly mention. He states that if a wall 
be not 4 feet high, and if it face the south, the coping 
ought not to project at all, but if 4 feet high, then the 
coping may project 4 inches, and 1 inch additional for 
every foot in height. But he recommends “ moveable 
wooden copings,” and gives directions as to the time of 
using them for Vines.—C. A. A. Lloyd, Whittington, 
Oswestry. 
Polmaise Heating.—Mr. Meek's able exposition of 
the laws of heating as they bear on the Polmaise sys- 
tem, and the simple and effective manner in which he 
applies them, will I hope do much to extend the adop- 
tion of this method of heating. There is one point, 
however, and it is a practical one of much importance, 
in which I think Mr. M. mistaken : this is the supposed 
small loss of heat by the flue or chimney. In former 
communications I expressed the opinion that there isa 
yery considerable loss of heat by the flue or chimney 
in the Polmaise method, as well as stated at some length 
the grounds on which this opinion rests, and I recom- 
mended the adoption of certain arrangements for re- 
covering and appropriating the heat so wasted. Mr. 
M. in the Chronicle of the 31st ult. says, in reference 
to an observation made by the Dean of Manchester, 
that his chimney is cold. I do not know by what ex- 
periments he has arrived at this conclusion : but if it is 
intended to be inferred from it that no unappropriated 
heat passes into the chimney from the stove, I would 
beg him to consider the physical incompatibility of such 
an inference with the structure and conditions of his 
stove as he has given them to your readers. If I 
rightly understand the construction of Mr. M.’s hot 
chamber and stove, it consists of a small (sunk) pro- 
jection behind the back wall of the hothouse, within 
which wall the chimney is built. The stove occupies 
the whole area of the chamber except a small. space of 
2 or 3 inches all round ; I shall, perhaps, be not much 
out therefore in supposing that a horizontal line drawn 
from the nearest edge of the top plate of the stove to 
the interior of the chimney will not exceed 12 inches. 
Mr. M. will allow that the temperature of the gases 
inside the four walls of his stove must at least be as 
great as that of the plate which they contribute to heat, 
and by which the current of air is heated in its turn ; 
how then can these gases, having so high a temperature 
within the stove, be expected to have lost any consider- 
able portion of their heat on entering the chimney, 
not more than a foot distant from it, unless by 
being absorbed in the materials of the chimney, and 
so lost or wasted? No doubt, by careful and judicious 
e ion may be so regulated that 
there shall be a minimum escape of heated gases into 
the chimney. But what is this minimum? If combus- 
tion is to be maintained at all, a certain portion of air 
must be admitted to the stove, and a correspondin 
volume (greater, indeed, on aecount of their dilatation 
by heat)of mixed gases, resulting from combustion, 
consisting of 79 parts of nitrogen and 21 of carbonic 
acid, for every 100 parts of atmospheric air admitted, 
must be permitted to escape into the chimney, which 
they will enter (in Mr. M.’s plan) at a temperature 
little short of what they had in the stove. In ordinary 
practice, however, it is not to be expected that this 
nicety of regulation will be habitually observed by gar- 
deners and their assistants. More air than is necessary 
will often be admitted, and a brisker fire and more rapid 
draft will be produced ; consequently, a more abundant 
flow of heated gases and smoke into the chimney, whieh 
is equally so much heat lost, whether we regard it as 
absorbed by the materials of the chimney, or dispersed 
in the atmosphere. The general correctness of the 
view I have taken of the great loss of heat sustained in 
this way is confirmed by the fact mentioned by Mr. 
Hazard in a late Chronicle, that having the flue of a 
stove carried through an adjoining room, he found that 
its temperature was raised 12 degrees higher than that 
of the room in which the stove itself was placed. 
should not, however, have thought of occupying your 
space with these observations, if it were not with the 
view of rendering them subservient to a practical pur- 
pose. Being convinced, whatever be the form or kind 
of stove employed in the Polmaise method, that a great 
deal of heat passes unused beyond the limits of the hot- 
chamber, I regard the appropriation and utilising of 
this heat as a matter of importance in the economy of 
the system ; and I offer the following arrangement for 
