49—1846.] 
THE GARDENERS' 
CHRONICLE. 807 
his skill in producing excellent Black Hamburgh 
Grapes without fire-heat, again exhibited specimens 
produced without any artificial assistance, except that 
occasionally a fire was lighted merely to dry up damp 
and keep out frost. They were good bunches, with 
large well-swelled berries, but badly coloured. The 
"Vines were stated to have borne a good crop, te which 
plenty of air has been freely admitted. Along with 
them was a basket of excellent Beurré Diel Pears ; 
and the same variety, together with excellent speci- 
mens of Marie Louise, was contributed by Mr. Tucker, 
gr. to J. Moorman, Esq., of Clapham-road, who annually 
shows;Pears in excellent preservation, long after the 
sorts have disappeared in the markets. In the present 
instance the varieties were nothing inferior to the exhi- 
bitions of former years. A certificate was awarded to 
the Marie Louise.—Good bunches of black Hamburgh 
Grapes, fror a south wall, were produced by Mr. 
Epps, of Maidstone.—From the Garden of the Society, 
were Mr. Fortune’s Jasminum nudiflorum, two Cor- 
reeas, the neat little Chusan Daisy, Muraltia Heisteria, 
two Cape Heaths, a richly coloured variety of Lycaste 
Skinneri, and Cypripediums insigne and venustum. 
The fruit consisted of Glout Morceau, Beurré Diel and 
Vicar of Winkfield Pears—the latter a rather uncertain 
variety as regards quality. 
BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 
Nov. 30.—Tenth anniversary meeting, the Pre- 
SIDENT in the chair. The secretary read the annual 
Report of the Council, from which it appears that 27 
new members have been elected since the last auniver- 
sary, and that the Society now consisted of 201 mem- 
bers. Many thousands of specimens of British and 
foreign plants had been received, and greater exertions 
than ever had been used by the Herbarium Committee 
to obtain the rarer British plants, which had been at- 
tended with the greatest success, most valuable and in- 
teresting specimens (including many duplicates) having 
been received, and which would shortly be distributed 
to the members. The Report was unanimously adopted. 
A ballot then took place for the Council for the ensuing 
year, when the President was re-elected, and he nomi- 
nated John Miers, Esq., F.R.S., and E. Doubleday, 
Esq. F.L.S., Vice-Presidents; Mr. J. Reynolds and 
Mr. G. E. Dennes, F.L.S., were re-elected Treasurer 
and Secretary. Portraits of the President and Hewett 
Watson, Esq., F.L.3. (painted by Mrs. Carpenter) sub- 
seribed for by the members, were presented. The 
meeting was very fully attended. 
Iebiehs, 
The Potato Plant, its Uses and Properties; together 
with the Cause of the Present Malady; the Exten- 
sion of that Disease to other Plants, the Question of 
Famine arising therefrom, and the best Means of 
averting that Calamity. By A. Smeg, F.R.S. 8vo. 
Longmans. Pp. 174. 
Ir fine paper, good type, and lithographie plates, with 
all the f lities of bered paragraphs, an 
vantage of a dedication to Prince Albert, could settle 
the question of the Potato disease, Mr. Smee's book 
would be lusive. But we apprehend that in addition 
to such auxiliaries, an extensive knowledge of faets, cor- 
rect judgment, an acquaintance with the nature of all 
the subjects treated of, and, moreover, the power of 
drawing just lusi fro tained premises, 
are also indispensable requisites, which we do not find 
in the work before us. e say so with much regret ; 
but the subject is one of such moment that we are 
bound to express our opinion without reserve when a 
work of pretension, written by a Fellow of the Royal 
Society, enlists itself on the side of the most manifest 
error, 
The opinion of the author is that a kind of Aphis, 
which had been previously called Rape, but which he 
new names vastator, has done all the mischief; and 
thus he joins that small knot of writers among whom 
itis enough to say that no man of science has before 
been rash enough to rank himself ; writers who are all 
equally clear as to the Potato disease being caused b 
insects, though they cannot agree whether those 
“ insects” are mites, worms ! or grubs, flies, perfect or 
imperfect, Thrips or Eupteryx or Aphis. 
We have read Mr. Smee’s book with care; we have 
endeavoured to make out his argument, and to do jus- 
tice to his evidence, and we can only express our 
wonder that he should not have pereeived how incon- 
sistent even with his own knowledge of facts is this insect 
theory. For what are the grounds on which he has 
founded his opinion ? Firstly, that the aphis is found 
on the Potato plant ; 2dly, that it multiplies very fast ; 
3dly, that it punctures the leaves ; 4thly, that it fills the 
air with its myriads, and is found even in the streets of 
London ; 5thly, that where the insect has damaged the 
leaf of a plant, it (the leaf) is much influenced by wet 
weather ; 6thly, that“ the first appearance of the disease 
in a healthy and previously undamaged plant is always 
subsequent to the visit of the destroyer; and the amount 
of disease, ceteris paribus, is directly proportionate to the 
rn of insects whieh take away the vital fluid of the 
plant." 
We may very well concede the three first proposi- 
tions; they are well known to be true. The fourth is 
a mere local fact ; for we cannot suppose Mr. Smee to 
assert that myriads of aphides are found over every 
Potato field; if it were so, we and others must 
lave been very unfortunate not to perceive them. 
The fifth is a strong assertion, in support of which 
we eannot discover a trace of evidence ; and it might 
be disposed of by a counter assertion, that * when the 
leaf of a plant is injured by aphides the leaf is less 
influenced than before by wet weather.” We do not, 
however, deny that the punctures of aphides may be in 
some degree affected by wet weather ; but how ?—bya 
general destruction of vitality ?—by broad blotches on 
the foliage ài—by inducing moist gangrene in the whole 
system !—who ever heard of such a thing! Aphides 
cause swellings and a thickening of tissue, as may b: 
seen in the Potato as well as other plants ; and when they 
do exist in the myriads which are talked of, trees will 
sometimes cast their leaves, because the stem which 
bears them is exhausted by the aphides of the organiz- 
able matter which feeds the leaves ; but such cases have 
no concern with the Potato “ disease.” The sixth pro- 
position is certainly not admissible ; it is directly in the 
teeth of faets which we are all familiar with. Our own 
Potatoes were as much diseased as any crops near Lon- 
don ; yet we saw no aphides prior to the appearance of 
the injury, except a straggler here and there, such as 
could have been found any year within our recollection. 
Does this aphis notion explain how Potatoes, sprouted 
in sand, in 1845;and which never got above ground, be- 
eame diseased ? How Potato-fields screened by trees or 
strips of other crops, were saved as far as the influence 
of the screen extended, while all around them perished ? 
How all the Isle of Calf Potatoes escaped in 1845, ex- 
cept the patehes belonging to the lighthouse keepers ? 
and finally, how in certain countries the disease was un- 
known except in localities planted with foreign Potatoes ? 
What could have kept these winged creatures from 
flying to the neighbouring fields and biting them ? 
We must not, however, part with this book wirhout 
an example or two of the author's mode of reason- 
iug. He says— 
“ When the insect has damaged the leaf of the plant, 
it is much influenced by wet weather: a shower of rain 
will fill the stems with water ; and in consequence of 
the solid portion having been taken away by the insect, 
the moisture cannot cause the ‘rapid growth of the 
plant which should take place under such cireum- 
stances”? 
We were not previously aware that aphides fed on 
solid matter ; we had always understood that their food 
was the fluid matter of plants. Again— 
** This vastator does not commit the same amount of 
mischief upon every kind of Potato. Tt dislikes those 
leaves where moisture is to be found on the under sur- 
face in the morning ; and thus, according to the state 
of the plant, it passes over with greater or less rapidity.” 
Here is certainly a very remarkable discovery. It 
appears that there are some kinds of Potatoes which 
deposit water on the under side of their leaves during 
the night, and other kinds that have no such power ! 
Perhaps Mr. Smee can find some kinds of men who 
perspire by their skin, and others who do not. Until 
that is shown we must be permitted to adhere to the 
vulgar opinion that the vital actions of all kinds of Po- 
tatoes are essentially the same. 
But we would rather not go on. Let us rather ad- 
vise all who are ambitious of figuring in the Potato dis- 
cussion to qualify themselves, in the first instance, by an 
attentive study of the writings of such men as Decaisne, 
Harting, and Payen, in addition to the well-ascertained 
facts that may be gathered from the published docu. 
ments of this country. 
New Garden Plants. 
56. JASMINUM NUDIPLORUM. Naked-flowered Jasmine. 
Holf-hardy Shrub. (Jasminworts.*) Shanghae. 
From Mr. Fortune. “It is a shrub with angular deep- 
green trailing branches, which have little disposition to 
branch in the first year of their growth. The leaves 
are shining, deep green, and each consists of three 
sessile leaflets of an ovate form. They fall off early in 
he autumn, soon after which they are succeeded by 
large yellow scentless flowers, which grow singly from 
the buds formed in the axils of the leaves that have 
previously dropped. The limb of their corolla is about 
an inch in diameter, and divided into six broad, oblong, 
blunt, flat segments. The species seems likely to prove 
hardy ; it grows freely in almost any sort of soil, espe- 
cially rough sandy peat, During summer an ample 
supply of water should be given to its roots, and it must 
be syringed over head once or twice a day. In conse- 
quence of its slender habit it is necessary either to 
train it on a trellis or to induce it to form an upright 
stem three or four feet high, so that the young twigs 
may hang down as the may be naturaly inclined. 
* It is easily multiplied by euttings or layers, as it has 
a tendeney to throw out roots at the joints on the stem. 
The Chinese often graft it on the more common kinds, 
about a foot from the ground, which improves its ap- 
pearance, It will answer well for a rockwork, or 
small garden where neat flowering shrubs are desir- 
able."— Botanical Register. 
Garden Memoranda. 
Worsley Hall, the seat of the Earl of Ellesmere, 
late Lord Francis Egerton.—This magnificent country 
residence lies about eight miles west of Manchester. 
The mansion is beautifully situated on a rising knoll, 
the gentle acclivity of which in the approach imparts to 
ita great degree of dignity. In the east may be seen 
the wild and lofty blue hills of Derbyshire, whilst the 
fertile county of Cheshire lies within view on the*south, 
* See Lindley's “ Vegetable Kingdom ” for an explanation of 
these terms, 
- 
The celebrated Chat Moss lies in this directiou, for“ 
merly covered with impenetrable swamps, but now 
bearing the impress of civilization. Skirting a declivity 
of the park may be seen the famous Bridgewater 
Canal winding along the vale, which is beautifully 
skirted by rich meadows and woods, the whole forming 
a piéture full of interest. The present approach to 
the mansion is about to be altered in some degree ; 
it has assuredly some strikmg faults, according to 
certain acknowledged principles in landscape gar- 
dening. Too many of the beauties before alluded 
to are seen at once from this approach, which, 
as a whole, would perhaps be more appropriately pre- 
sented from the windows of the drawing room. On the 
terrace lies a very chaste and unique parterre. The beds 
individually, and as a whole, are in the most perfect 
unison with the mansion; they are on gravel, sur- 
rounded by Grass margins ; and the excellent propor- 
tion existing between Grass, gravel, and beds, and be- 
tween the whole and the mansion, isseenatonce. The 
design for this parterre was, I understand, by Nesfield. 
The kitchen garden lies about three quarters of a mile 
from the mansion, and the descent to it is through a 
dense plantation, destitute of undergrowth, Certain 
knolls of ground intervene hetween this and the man- 
sion, which furnish an excellent opportunity that has 
not been lost, of planting, for the double purpose of 
partly concealing the kitchen garden and its approach, 
and of adding a sort of foreground to the mansion, 
at present rather destitute of detached masses. e- 
scending to the kitchen garden, we pass through the 
naked plantation before alluded to, and here is mani- 
fest the want of timely pruning. "This omission must 
have oceurred some 20 or 30 years ago, and is now 
ineurable, except by throwing the whole into irregular 
masses, and introducing undergrowths of Holly, Thorns, 
Broom, Gorse, Rhododendrons, &e. This plantavion 
affords an excellent shelter, from the north and east, 
to the kitchen garden. 
The kitchen gardens were commenced in 1840 (I 
believe) ; the walls all completed aud the trees planted 
in 1842. The borders for the fruit trees are deep ; some, 
perhaps, three or four feet, Mr. Mitchell being an ad- 
vocate for such borders, provided the roots are lifted 
annually, and brought to the surface, a practice almost 
peculiar to Mr. M., I conceive. ‘The trees are 
thriving admirably ; the Peaches are particularly fine, 
both in fruit and wood, and are vnder a high course 
of management. I may here be permitted to observe, 
that I eannot conceive what can be the use of the 
lower stratum of soilif the roots, by continual lifting, 
are prevented from all contact with it. The walls 
are all heated by fiues, which make, I believe, four 
revolutions between the bottom of the wall and the top. 
These heated walls, although very expensive, are a 
most valuable adjunct in ripening the wood and ward- 
ing off the rigours of a frosty night in March and 
April; which are very common in our northern coun- 
ties. Walls of this kind would, undoubtedly, admit of 
borders somewhat deeper than ordinary ones ; and one 
fact I was struck with, the finest and earliest of the fruit 
was at the lower part of the wall, thus evincing the 
partiality of the Peach to plenty of warmth. The slips 
of the kitehen garden are bounded by massive iron 
railing on a stone base, and altogether, things are 
finished in a style worthy of a monareh. The gardens 
are teeming with substantial crops, and Mr. M. has 
adopted a plan whieh I tried last year, of cutting down 
his diseased Potatoes and then soiling them over deeply, 
to be taken up as wanted; any mode which will pre- 
vent fermentation will excel one in which it is per- 
mitted. 
The Pine, Melon,and Cucumber pits, of whicha plan ap- 
pearedatp.180,1814,are very compactand useful; instead 
of using so much brick-work above ground, Mr. M. makes 
use of it below, especially in the case of his Pineries, 
This arises in the main, from au attempt to produce a 
rotatory motion in the atmosphere—a most desirable 
point. Whatever opinions may be held on this head, 
certain it is that the Pines are extraordinary, and were 
I to enter into a description of the size and character 
of both plant and fruit, no one could believe me. Tuey 
are cultivated entirely on the Hamiltonian sys- 
tem, and the addition of the rotatory motion would 
appear to be a point slightly in the advance; or 
at least an acquisition, Mr. Mitchell is very adverse to 
the admission of cold air to his Pines ; he has therefore 
made deep excavations at the end of his Pine pits, and 
thus enters them by means of flights of steps. The 
Vineries are in good order; tlie rafters all well furnished. 
The rotatory motion is established here also. 
Much of the park scenery, in front of the mansion, 
lies in an unimproved state, and broken up in conse- 
quence of the recent alterations. This part possesses 
great capabilities; and I am here tempted to offer an 
opinion as to what would be an improvement worthy 
of this superior mansion. It possesses at present one 
terrace; I would have two, or even three, in order to 
reconcile the levels; they might each be successively 
somewhat plainer in character as they receded from 
the mansion, and one of them might contain an Ame- 
rican garden, forming a foreground to’ the landscape. 
—R. E., August 20. 
Miscellaneous. 
The Linnean Gold Medal.—To the President and 
Council of the Linnean Society, London, there is left, 
under the will of the late Mr. Edward Rudge, of Abbe; 
Manor-house, Evesham, Worcester, a magistrate an 
Tae me 
