47—1846.] 
THE GARDENERS' 
CHRONICLE. 
LO 
deners in the garden, where-lectures are given by 
several Professors of the Lyceum. The tree which is 
most planted, and said to bear the drought the best, is 
the Robinia Pseud-Acacia, next to that the Ash, the 
Sycamore, and Maple. The spring vegetation in this 
black steppe soil is most vigorous ; but all is now sadly 
burnt up, and the generality of gardens are only fresh- 
looking by comparison with the dusty town. Some, 
however, are really good, and the garden of Mr. Yeames, 
our Consul-general here, retains even now a good deal 
of verdure, and shows what might be done with good 
gardening. 
I close this now (Oct. 12) on the point of starting for 
Constantinopl The h here are delighted 
with what they call the “good news” from France and 
England (the prospect of scarcity !) which makes corn 
rise here, and gives an extraordinarylactivity to the port, 
Reviews, 
An Easy Introduction to Chemistry. By George 
Sparkes. 12mo. Whittaker. Second Edition. 
Wn like this little book. It seems better suited to 
teach young people chemistry than most of those before 
the publie; or rather it is better suited to enable 
them to teach themselves ; for it appears 27s, will buy 
all the articles required for purposes of experiment. 
We like, too, the arrangement of the matter, which is 
that of the old chemists, who took common things for 
the first ination, and. p ded by degrees to 
more complicated bodies till they reached the more re- 
condite elements. here is no intellect which will not 
seize the nature and properties of ponderable bodies 
more easily than that of the imponderables. Metals 
are more easily examined and understood in the be- 
ginning than gases, which long remain an impenetrable 
mystery to the mind of the young. 
Acting on this principle, Mr. Sparkes takes metals 
for the first examination, metallic oxides next, and so 
on, till at last he touches on vegetable substances, 
animal chemistry, and vital functions. The highest 
praise which is applicable to elementary books is 
that they are perspicuous and logically arranged. This 
praise is eminently due to Mr. Sparkes, and we heartily 
recommend his little work to our young readers. His 
style is clear and unaffected, as will be evident from a 
couple of short extracts. 
He thus defends the alchemists, whom it has been the 
fashion of the ignorant to decry. 
* In whatever manner we pursue our inquiries into 
the nature and composition of various bodies, we finally 
arrive at certain substances wbich resist all attempts at 
decomposition, and are, therefore, regarded as elemen- 
tary. Those, indeed, which were anciently so consi- 
dered, viz., fire, air, earth, and water, have successively 
been removed from their proud position, but their places 
have been amply supplied by others ; and modern re- 
Search seems always tending still further to increase the 
list. Ridge after ridge has been sealed, but the peaks 
which bound the horizon appear only the loftier and 
re numerous. Nor have we any security that the 
substances now considered as simple, may not some da: 
be decomposed : and this leads me to remark, that the 
ridicule which is heaped upon the alchemists is quite 
inconsistent with sound philosophy. By alchemists I 
o not mean those jugglers who, under pretence of 
transmuting the baser metals into gold, imposed upon 
the credulity of the middle ages ; but students of che- 
mistry, who believed in the possibility of such transmu- 
tation, and endeavoured to effect it. This belief 
was founded on the supposition that some of the 
metals might not be simple substances ; and surel 
We are making our own ignorance the test of truth, 
when we deny the possibility of such transmutation ; 
or in other words, deny that the metals are 
Compound bodies, merely because we are unable to de- 
Compose them. Thus much, however, let us say for 
these fathers of our science, that in labour they were 
indefatigable ; that their discoveries were invaluable ; 
and that the apparatus which they invented a:d be- 
queaihed to us is almost perfect. So peace be to their 
ashes, and honour to their memories.” 
The account of the metallie oxides is commenced in 
the following clear and concise manner. 
“If a bright surface of lead be exposed to the air, it 
soon becomes dull, and is at last covered with an earthy 
If melted over an ordinary fire, this effect is 
i diately ; and by inuing to remove 
the crust as it arises, the whole of the metal may be 
converted into the same substance. By exposing it to 
a further heat, it gradually turns yellow and then red : 
in short, it is converted into red-lead. To obtain it as 
brilliant as we meet with it in commerce, it is necessary 
to operate on large quantities, and with proper precau- 
tions; but if you simply heat a globule of lead for a 
short time, just beyond the outer flame produced by the 
blow-pipe, and allow it to cool, you will generally ob- 
serve it surrounded by a yellow or a reddish powder. 
“One would naturally suppose that the metal had, 
by this process, been burnt, and in part destroyed ; but 
upon weighing the product, it is always found that the 
crust, or calx, is considerably heavier than the original 
metal. ow mere ashes could weigh more than the 
substance from which they were obtained was for ages 
a problem, the solution of which forms a new era in 
chemistry. 
“An account of the following very interesting experi- 
ing the aperture, and the whole apparatus accurately 
weighed. Upon heating it, a small quantity of crust 
was formed, but no inerease of heat produced any fur- 
ther change. It was then left to cool, again weighed, 
and found neither to have gained nor lost weight. Upon 
breaking it, a rush of air was heard, and the retort 
and its contents were found to have become heavier. 
* From this it was evident that the lead,when melted, 
had absorbed. air, and that its increase of weight was 
owing to this cause.” 
A UsEFUL little account of the manner of growing 
Cucumbers for Covent-garden Market is circulated gra- 
tuitously by Mr. Cuthill, to his customers for Cucumber 
se 
ed. 
We have also to announce the second volume of V ege- 
table Substances used as Food for Man. It has been 
previously noticed, and loses nothing of its value as it 
proceeds. As we have before observed, this edition is 
a very great imp upon its pred 
New Garden Plants. 
54. Vanpa Batemannt. Crimson.and Yellow Vanda. 
Stove Epiphyte. (Orchids. *) Moluccas. 
The honour of discovering this splendid thing is due 
to M. Gaudichaud, who met with it in the Moluccas ; 
of introducing it to this country, to Mr. Cuming, who 
sent it from the Philippines; of first flowering it to 
Mr. Bateman, with whom it produced its magnificent 
sceptre in the stove at Biddulph Grange, in June and 
July last, It is a very large erect plant, with remark- 
ably thick aerial roots, produced after the custom of its 
kindred, sword-shaped curved two ranked hard leaves 
averaging 2 feet in length, and a still longer spike of 
some score of flowers, each full 2% inches across, flat, 
leathery, and long enduring. But it is not alone for 
their size that these flowers are so especially worthy of 
notice. Their colour is indeseribably beautiful. Ifyou 
look at them in face, they are the richest golden yellow 
spotted all over with crimson ; but when seen from 
behind, they are wholly a vivid purple, fading away at 
s speciosissi S 
ing it. The latter erection is about 11 feet in 
height, 28 feet in length, and 15 feet in width, with a 
table in the middle, covered with seedling Pelargoniums, 
which, although standing thickly together, were strong 
and healthy, with leaves broad and green, without spot 
or blemish. This house was chiefly filled wiih seedlings 
which have been shown at the late metropolitan exhibi- 
tions, and whose merits are again to be proved in the 
forthcoming season. e next entered a span-roofed 
Rose-house, 114 feet in height, 12 feet wide, and 24 feet 
in length. It had a passage down the middle, on each 
side of which the Roses were arranged on movable 
shelves above a wooden tank, which was covered in 
with slate, with a bed on the top, filled with sawdust, in 
which the pots might be plunged when necessary. | 
p'ants were all in 11-ineh pots ; they consisted of some 
of the best Teas, Bourbons, Chinas, and Noisettes, and 
being unpruned, many of them were putting forth 
vagrant blossoms, not unaeceptable at this season. 
These plants are intended to be exhibited in May, and 
in order to have them finely in bloom by that time, it 
is contemplated to stimulate them a little by fire heat 
in spring, our variable seasons being hardly to be de- 
pended on to accomplish that object without artificial 
assistance, The top of the house is glazed ; but the 
under portion is fitted up with sliding shutters 3 feet 
high, whieh are removed altogether in summer, and 
their place supplied with eanvas which serves as a shel- 
ter against gusty winds, and at the same time admits a 
sufficiency of air. The hardier sorts in pots, such as 
Mosses, Perpetuals, Hybrid Chinas, &c., are kept 
through the winter in the open ground, in trenches 18 
inches wide, whose sides are lined with slate slabs and 
filled with sawdust sufficiently deep to cover the pots 
nearly 2 inches. The latter stand on two bricks placed 
in the trenches, so that a vacancy is formed below the 
pots, and thus perfect drainage is not only ensured, but 
noinducement is offered for the roots to pass beyond 
the pot—a point of considerable importance; and 
it wil also be perceived, that although worms 
puo get out, they cannot enter the pots. Besides 
tl " : 
the edges into the violet of Cereus : 
that, regard them which way you will, there is nothing 
but the gayest and richest colours to be seen. What 
could possibly have led M. Gaudichaud to compare this 
Epiphyte with the terrestrial Lissochilus we are unable 
- already d, there is a range, 
150 feet in length, leaning to a south wall; one-third 
fof this range is heated with Stephenson's iron tanks, 
one-third with wooden tanks, and the remaiuder 
with slate tanks. The latter compartment is used for 
bs : 
to imagine, for there is only the slend 
between the two. His name is, however, on record, 
and the strict rules of botanical nomenclature seem to 
forbid its change. But, as has often been observed, 
Summum jus summa injuria ; and it is so manifestly 
absurd to retain for a plant a name that has originated 
in some misconception, that we venture, for once, to 
disregard rules for the sake of common sense. In 
doing so, we cannot but associate’ with this noble plant 
a gentleman whose knowledge of the order, and whose 
skill in the cultivation of it, have gained him a death- 
less name.— Botanical Register. 
55. TORENIA CONCOLOR. Spotless Violet Torenia. Warm 
Greenhouse Trailer. (Figworts.*) China. 
This plant is probably regarded in herbaria as T. asia- 
tica, but living specimens forbid its union with that 
species. Its leaves are roundish ovate, or even cor- 
date, and by no means ovate-lanceolate ; their serra- 
tures are much smaller, The flowers have no side 
spots; and the tooth of the larger filaments is far 
shorter, and more blunt. 'T. concolor was sent to the 
Horticultural Society by Mr. Fortune, from whom we 
have the following memorandum :—* This plant was 
found growing in marshy ground, on the mountain of 
Hong-kong, nearly 2000 feet above the level of the sea, 
and reached the garden of the Horticultural Society in 
July, 1844. In China, it flowers in the autumn. After 
the flowering season is past, the dry weather sets in, 
and the stems and leaves shrivel up, and remain in this 
state during the winter months, when the temperature 
is sometimes down very near the freezing point. 
During the hot and damp summer months, it grows 
again with great vigour, and forms its flowers in great 
profusion, In this country it should be treated asa 
half stove plant, and grown in a moist atmosphere 
during the summer. As it is a trailing plant, it re- 
quires a trellis. After the flowering season is past, it 
may then be kept rather cool and dry during the winter 
months. It grows readily in any free soil, and is easily 
multiplied by cuttings." — Botanical Register. 
mete i eben 
Garden Memoranda. 
Mr. E. Beck’s, Worton Cottage, Isleworth.— Growers 
| of Pelargoniums and Roses would do well to visit this 
| place for the purpose of observing the winter treatment 
| of these beautiful tribes ; for never have we seen plants 
| in better cond tion, A lean-to house, 26 feet long, 11 
feet wide, aud 104 feet in height, was filled with speci- 
| mens intended for exhibition next May. Among other 
varieties were Aurora, Hebe’s Lip, Rosy Circle, Ara- 
bella, Mustee, Isabella, Desdemona, Resplendent, &c., 
| all seedlings of 1844-5. Some idea may be formed o 
| the health of the plants when we mention that not à 
| single spot or decayed leaf was observable among them; 
lee the contrary, the foliage was of the deepest green, 
and to the touch as stiff as that of a Holly bush: The 
plants were in 11-inch pots, placed thinly on the stage 
so as to allow light and air to play freely amongst them. 
The house was heated by hot-water flowing in 4-inch 
iron pipes from one of Burbidge ard ealy's 
ment will furnish the best explanation. A quantity of) boilers, which also heats a span-roofed house adjoin- 
lead was place in a glass vessel, called a retort, which 
was then hermetically sealed ; that is, closed by melt- 
* See Lindley’s “Vegetable Kingdom” for an explanation of 
j these terms, 
propagating se in summer, and for preserviug stock 
in winter; it was filled with seedling Pelargoniums of 
the present year, together with the few remaining 
plants not sent out of the sorts advertised for sale. A 
stage of five shelves in the next compartment was filled 
with specimen Pelargoni in most admirable condi- 
tion, both as regards health and cleanliness ; the latter 
a point of no little importance at all times, but more 
especially at this season. We now come to the last 
division, or that heated by Stephenson’s iron tanks; 
this was filled with Orchids, and other stove plants, 
Three slate shelves are fitted up over the tanks, each 
15 inches wide, and rendered capable of holding 
water by means of slate margins, an inch in depth, 
screwed down on cement. Besides their durability, 
these shelves have a very clean and neat appear 
ance. The greater portion of the plants were iu 
slate pots painted green; but in contrast with the 
beautiful shades of foliage we cannot help think- 
ing the natural colour of the slate would be pre- 
ferable to the green painting which they exhibit. Some 
of the plants were also in ornamental green slate 
baskets similar to those figured at p. 35. The house, 
as all Orchid houses should be, is in two divisions, as 
has already been mentioned (see p. 820, 1843) ; the 
warmer end is furnished with a thermometer, and two 
of Simmon's hygrometers, both of which work together 
almost to a nicety ; thus means are provided not only 
of ascertaining the amount of heat, but also of moisture, 
the latter a point the value of which is now universally 
appreciated. The temperature now and during winter 
is kept aboutfrom 60? to 75?, and the moisture from 
25° to 50° of Simmon's hygrometer, the cooler division 
being about 5? lower, with moisture in proportion. 
Standing at right angles to this range is another house 
40 feet long, filled with seedling Pelargoniums, and in 
addition to this there is a long range of cold frames for 
sheltering Roses and bedding-out stock in winter. The 
bottoms of these frames are slate, on which the plants 
stand, affording perfect drainage, and preserving the 
wood-work of the frames from decay. All the houses were 
well ventilated, and provided with large slate tanks for 
collecting rain water from the roofs. In justice to Mr. 
Dobson, Mr. Beck’s gardener, we are bound to mention 
that besides the luxuriant vegetation everywhere ob- 
servable, everything looked clean and neat ; arrange- 
ment and economy being conspicuous in every depart- 
ment ; the latter are all-important with the amateur. 
Miscellaneous. 
Walcheren Broccoli, or Cauliflower.—A few genuine 
seeds of this most valuable production was presented by 
Mr. Legge, gardener, Bishopsthorpe, by whom the 
variety was first produced. The heads are large, firm, 
white, like a very fine Cauliflower, which in fact it 
closely resembles in appearance, except that the leaves 
are not so plain as those of the Cauliflower. Tue dif- 
ference in constitution must, however, be very consider- 
able, for it not only stands the winter cold, but likewise 
the summer drought much better than Cauliflowers do ; 
scarcely a head of the latter could be obtained in the 
dry hot summer of 1841, and at the same time a quar- 
ter of Walcheren Broccoli formed beautiful heads of uni- 
The following are notes respecting it 
form closeness. 
