47—1846.] 
THE GARDENERS' 
CHRONI 
CLE, 713 
this purpose as likely to be effectual, and capable of 
being easily engrafted on Mr. M.'s or any other stove. 
It is merely that a thin iron flue should be carried from 
the stove along the cold-air drain, and then returning 
ack in the same channel, be let into the chimney in 
the back wall of the house. The heated gases issuing 
from the stove would thus have to pass along a con- 
siderable extent of thin flue, of good conducting mate- 
rial, the external surface of which is traversed by the 
current of cold air ; and the greatest portion of their 
heat must necessarily be abst d and appropriated 
by the air before they could reach the chimney.— 
SANT. Be 
k, Nov. 14. 
In a late number a plan for planting 
Hautbois by mixing a regular proportion of male with 
female plants, is mentioned. If I am not mistaken, 
was the first to call attention to the fact that it was 
necessary to plant in the above manner ; at any rate I 
never read any account of it till I published my method 
of practice in one of the early 1 f the “Gard 
Magazine.” So certain was I of the necessity of such a 
method of planting, that I always kept a bed of each on 
purpose to plant from, and also to supply my friends, 
who were glad to accept plants of the two sexes, seeing 
that mine succeeded so well. I have continued to keep 
them separate till the present time ; but what has 
happened with them this year should teach us a lesson 
not to be too confident in what we believe to be correct. 
I had two beds planted out last spring, one from each 
of the old male and female beds, The situation they 
occupy, receives very little sunshine at any time, in 
consequence of high trees; but the ground being 
trenched and in good condition, they have grown very 
fast, and at this moment they have a full erop of fruit 
on them. Ibelieve there is not one plant in both the 
beds that is not well furnished with fruit like those 
Flag - pedes 
= 
forth 8 
was affected, notwithstanding that other or indig: 
plants remained free from disease. Although convinced 
that a disease like this is not and cannot be propagated 
from root to root, it may happen nevertheless that the 
produce of diseased Potatoes will be more liable to be- 
come affected by various external causes than plants 
raised from sound roots. It is true that healthy plants 
have been produced from diseased tubers, It would, 
however, be contrary to all reason and analogy to sup- 
pose that the portion from which the stem grew was 
unsound when the germ first received its vitality. When 
Potatoes have been left in the ground because they were 
diseased, or if they have been planted in that state, 
and have afterwards produced healthy plants, we may 
presume that the decay either goes on until the root is 
entirely destroyed, or else that the process of decompo- 
sition is arrested by Nature’s own efforts before the 
whole substance of the root has become diseased. If, 
therefore, but a single eye be left, and that portion of 
the root from which the young shoot grows be perfectly 
sound, there is no reason why it should not produce a 
vigorous plant and healthy offsets. This result is more 
likely to be obtained with roots left in the ground 
during the winter, not only because there would be 
more time for this remedial process to be perfected, but 
also beeause the exclusion of the external air is known 
to be one of the best means for arresting the progress 
of the disease. But with Potatoes left out of the ground 
some months before they are planted, not only is this 
remedial change less likely to be accomplished, in those 
actually diseased, but gangrene or decay is more certain 
to attack those roots which are apparently sound when 
dug up, by bringing them in contact with the oxygen of 
the atmosphere, the presence of which, as is familiar to 
all, favours decomposition in plants and animals. Hence 
the loss among store Potatoes, although they manifested 
decay when first taken up. As, also, 
enclosed, which I have just gathered 
from each bed. Can you account for this after the 
treatment they have received with regard t i 
no 
the symptoms of disease do not always manifest them- 
selves i diately, and, ionally, not until months 
Pp 
for about 20 years 1— B. [We presume there has been 
some mistake in planting.] 
Cottage Gardens.—1 have to express my thanks for 
your advice offered to cottage gardeners last summer, 
that they should fill up the vacancies in their borders 
caused by the drought, by a late sowing of Mangold 
Wurzel. I tried the experiment, and though planted 
late, I am now housing an excellent crop of that root. 
I am desirous of knowing if I may pack them in a heap 
ina eattle.shed exposed to the south, or if they ought to 
be covered with litter or buried in clamps. The former 
plan is the most desirable as least laborious.— Durus 
Arator. [Pack it in long heaps and cover it well 
with straw. All that is necessary is to keep away frost ; 
that is indispensable, and is the only cireumstance to 
attend to.] 
Portugal Cabbage.—® O. P. Q. R.” thanks Mr. D., of 
Fulham, for his Braganza Cabbage. It is themost delicate 
of its kind ; the outside leaves are as good as the heart. 
'* O. P. Q. R.” recommends Braganza Cabbage as an 
autumn crop from the middle of August to November. 
—[This is nothing but the Couve Tronchuda, or Por- 
tugal Cabbage, called by the French Chou à grosses 
côtes blond. Ít deserves all that is said of it. 
Snowdrops.—“ D. S." begs to inform the ** Amateur 
Gardener? that in an obseure corner of the rectory 
garden at Spetisbury, near Blandford, Dorset, the 
Snowdrops, both single and double, propagated them- 
selves most profusely, The soil was a cold clay upon 
chalk. The spot shady and undisturbed. It is very 
probable the present ineumbent with his grand gardener 
may have eradicated them altogether. An instance of 
bulbs flourishing for ages under Grass may be found at 
Gatton-park, where, in the time of the writer’s grand- 
father, to whom it belonged, the double White Narcissus 
was growing in large patches in a sort of lawn near the 
house, which has probably once been a flower- garden. 
They were still there not many years ago when the 
writer visited the place. 
Potato Disease.—In the candid and impartial notice 
of my work in a former Number (Oct, 17, p. 691), it 
was stated that the theory proposed by me did not ex- 
plain the fact that at Oporto, Graham’s Town, and in 
Bermuda, the disease appeared exclusively among im- 
ported Potatoes, I did not reply to this query at the 
moment ; in the first place, because I waited to see if 
other objections were made to this theory ; and in the 
next because I was anxious to ascertain if more precise 
information could be obtained on this particular point. 
lthough neither of these expectations have been 
realised, Iam induced in consequence of your having 
again referred to the subject in a late Number (p. 739), 
to trespass on your indulgence, while I attempt to ex- 
plain ihe cause of this apparent anomaly. As you 
rightly observe, it may be “that the disease, in the 
cases alluded to, is not the same as has attacked the 
great mass of the erops of Europe and North America." 
This, possibly, is the fact; but I am not anxious to 
take refuge under this supposition, for the contrary may 
be the case. We will, therefore, look at the question 
simply as it stands, and presume that the disease is 
identical, and that it has not extended to other or in- 
digenous roots. am ignorant of the locality whence 
these Potatoes were imported, as well as of the im- 
portant circumstance whether any other portion of the 
crop from which they were taken was attacked with the 
prevailing epidemic. Knowing, however, the general 
prevalence of the disease both in America and in Eng- 
land during the last two years, we may presume that 
such must have been the case. If so, we ought not to 
be surprised that the produce of these imported roots 
, 
after, we must infer that the roots not only imbibe the 
seeds of the disease before they are dug up, but that 
they also retain them for long periods after, If so, it 
would seem impossible to say positively that Potatoes 
imported from a country where the epidemie had pre- 
viously prevailed were in a sound state at the time they 
were planted. As, also, such roots would necessarily 
be planted in the spring, there might not be sufficient 
time to arrest the progress of the disease before the 
young shoots sprung up, particularly in warm latitudes. 
Although this state might not be such as to produce 
actual disorganisation, and I have inferred that the 
disease cannot be propagated from root to root, still if 
there were only a partial change or alteration in the 
texture or juices of the old Potatoes, it might render 
the plants produced from them weaker and more sus- 
ceptible of any morbid impression to which it may be 
subsequently exposed—a result constantly witnessed in 
the offspring of animals whose parents are diseased or 
sickly. Now, without waiting to inquire whether the 
same cause as that productive of the disease in other 
parts of the world has been in operation in the above- 
mentioned places or not (for this can only be ascer- 
tained hereafter), I have merely to add that there is 
no situation, not even the coral formation of Bermuda, 
where deleterious agents are not given out from the 
soil. If, therefore, the Potatoesimported from England 
and America into the above island and other places 
contained within them the seeds of disease, although 
not actually developed at the time they were 
planted, we can understand why the plants pro- 
duced from them might be influenced by causes 
which had no effect on plants derived from other seed— 
no matter what that cause was, whether the agent pro- 
duetive of disease in other parts of the world, that 
universal but invisible poison termed malaria, or some 
other local and deleterious substance. That such, or 
even slighter circumstances than these, would be suffi- 
cient to account for the effects under consideration, we 
may learn from what is sometimes observed in the 
human species, for in consequence of certain peculiari- 
ties or idiosynerasies as they are termed, we find 
particular epidemics attacking particular individuals, 
and sometimes even whole nations, to the exclusion of 
all others. Thus the Sudor Anglicus, or sweating 
sickness which appeared in 1483, and continued to 
prevail from time to time, until 1551, was confined 
almost exclusively to the English, leaving foreigners 
resident in England exempt from the disease ; and 
what is more singular, attacking Englishmen in coun- 
tries and at a time when the natives were unaffected. 
That the immediate cause of the attack was external 
and not internal, we may conclude from the fact that 
this disease was unknown before this period, and could 
not, therefore, have been latent in the constitution of 
the persons thus attacked ; while also it appears that 
in subsequent visitations, the natives of other countries 
in Europe were attacked the same as the English. 
Not only, therefore, would I infer that vegetables, like 
animals, may acquire certain peculiarities or suscepti- 
bilities which render them more obnoxious to the 
operation of certain deleterious agents than before ; but 
I would also infer that the blight and decay which 
has been previously confined to the produce of 
imported Potatoes, will hereafter extend to other and 
indigenous roots. Such at least are the conclusions at 
which I should myself arrive ; whether they are con- 
sidered satisfactory by others yet remains to be seen. 
I will, therefore, only add that although it is not 
necessary for the establishment of this theory, any more 
than that of others, to explain allthe anomalies that may 
p confirm rather than 
destroy the rule—still, I think it right to offer an expla- 
nation of those phenomena that seem to admit of a 
reasonable and proper elucidation. I trust that the 
present will be regarded in that light by you and your 
numerous readers.—J. Parkin, London, Nov. 16. 
Bees.—In Notices to Correspondents, p. 760, « W”? 
says, “the pure comb in both glasses and under hives, 
will be of much use when the bees begin to work afresh 
in them next season.” Now I do not question the use 
of the comb to the bees, but I do the advantage of 
letting it remain to the bee keeper. I think the conse- 
quence will be, that where the glasses ought to be fit to 
be taken next year filled with honey, many of the cells 
instead of containing honey will be filled with young 
brood, whereas if the comb be eut out, so that the bees 
have to make it entirely afresh, such will not be the 
case. Atleast such has been my experience, and also 
the experience of a much older bee keeper than myself. 
It matters not how pure the comb; it is, I have found, 
best cut out.—A Bee keeper, Ipswich. 
Pine-apples (see p. 756).—Of peat and silver sand 
for Pines I have no experience; but with respect to a 
mixture of leaf-mould and sand, I am perfectly con- 
vinced of its superiority over every other material. 
Until last August I grew the Pines as others did, in the 
best loam ; but at the above date I had a pit which is 
formed over a hot water tank, cleaned out and filled up 
with leaf-mould and sand to the depth of about 20 
inches. The plants were turned out of the pots, and 
have done well; their growth and general appearance 
far surpassing anything I had ever seen before.— 
Morris Todd, Gardener to Sir Edmund Filmer, East 
Sutton, Nov. 18. 
Jerusalem Artichoke a substitute for the Potato.—XY 
am surprised at Mr. Forsyth speaking of the Jerusalem 
Artichoke produeing about 15 tons of the root per acre, 
but which I believe it may do, and a very good nutri- 
tious root I believe it to be; but when he speaks of 69 
tons per acre of good fodder, and compares it with 
Swede Turnips, as being three times the weight of a 
good crop of them, he may be correct again so far; but 
what cattle will he expect to eats them, or fatten on 
them after the root is fully ripened? He must know 
there is then no nourishment in those stalks ; in fact he 
can have but one crop, and therefore he ought not to 
mislead your readers by calculating on bringing both 
crops to perfection. —James Wellman, Reading, Nov.16. 
[Our own crop has this year produced 673 bushels, or 
14 tons 8 ewt. an acre ; but much of it was overhung 
by trees; the part that was fully exposed yielded 
nearly 20 tons per acre. Of tops, when withered, we 
found, only 14 tons ; and if such a weight as Mr. For- 
syth ‘mentions is to be obtained, it must, we presume, 
be quite green; in which case it will consist of two- 
thirds water, or it must be cut once, in July or August, 
in addition to the final cutting. The tops should cer- 
tainly be finally eut while green and before drying up ; 
if that is done, they may be 35 nutritious as hay or 
Lucerne ; but we find no good analysis of them in that 
state.] 
Fly Water—Some time since a correspondent, 
(Emily) enquired after a method of destroying house 
flies. Although it is not likely she will be troubled with 
them much more this season, she will on the return 
of the flies next summer, find the following effectual, 
and, besides, unattended with the risk of poison, to which 
the fly waters in general use are liable. Make a strong 
decoction of quassia chips, and add as much sugar as 
will overpower the extreme bitterness of the decoction, 
and form a thin syrup ; this exposed in broad, shallow 
vessels, will soon be found filled with dead flies,—indeed, 
I found them this autumn, literally ‘heaps upon 
heaps."— Lusor. 
g 
What will become of them ! 
that when so many improvements in heating are con- 
stantly being made, that no provision should be effected 
to afford an increase of light to plants under a course 
of excitement by heat. By some it may seem some- 
what anomalous to attempt to supply the deficiency of 
natural by artificial light; and they may despair of 
success in the attempt ; but reasoning from analogy, we 
are bound to conclude that artificial light might be used 
with equal propriety and chance of success as artificial 
heat. The indispensability of the latter is never ques- 
tioned ; but of its twin sister, “oh no, we never men- 
tion her.” Every gardener knows that heat and light 
in all horticultural operations should act in unison with 
each other. The day may come, how soon we cannot 
calculate, when the gardener’s operations will be con- 
ducted (that is as far as the imitation of a natural cli- 
mate by artificial means consists) not only by a thermo- 
meter and hygrometer, but the trio will be made up by 
an instrument for indicating the intensity of light. For 
years the only instrument of a scientific character which 
the gardener had was the thermometer. Time rolled 
on, and as science became wedded to his art, the want 
of a vapour measure was felt, and straightway he orna- 
ments his forcing-house with an hygrometer. The con- 
nection of heat and vapour in his operations is now 
dwelt on, and their combined action is found to require 
regulation so as to produce beneficial results. The im- 
portance of light no gardener will question ; but as to 
