230 
THE GARDENERS 
CHRONICLE. 
[APRIL 8, 
acids ‘and chlorine check ‘or stop it altogether. 
Vitriol, if judiciously used—taking care to avoid a large 
excess, is an excellent fixer; and has this great advan- 
tage over almost every other—that it fixes uncombined 
or caustic ammonia, and the other volatile salts referred 
to in my former letter ; viz., the Hydrosulphate and Hy- 
drocyanate of ammonia, decomposing both and forming 
Sulphate of ammonia. Wherever Sulphate of iron is 
used, the compost should be long exposed to the air and 
frequently turned before itis laid on the land. The price 
of e Vitriol is against its use, even if it could be 
proved that the copper-salts formed are not injurious to 
vegetation. It acts in the same way as Sulphate of iron, 
but, unlike it, it forms very readily a soluble compound 
with ammonia, possessing highly poisonous properties— 
at least to the human frame, and probably also to plants. 
[Experiments, now going on in the garden of the Horti- 
cultural Society, distinctly show that blue vitriol is not 
poisonous to plants, unless in excessive quantity.] Iron, 
it is well known, is almost always present in the 
ashes of plants; from whence it may be inferred that it 
acts in some way or other beneficially upon them, but 
the presence of copper has not been satisfactorily demon- 
strated. I could wish you had left!out Salt and Lime 
from your list of fixers; for if there is one thing more 
than another likely to give ammonia notice to quit, it is 
this. It is true, that you caution the farmer not to 
use them separately, but I never yet saw a mixture of 
Salt and Lime so perfectly decomposed, even after months 
had elapsed, that it might be safely added to an ammo- 
niacal compost. These two substances act very imper- 
fectly on each other, and it is only under certain conditions, 
difficult to be realised in practice, that they act at all. 
The only chance in favour of this compound is that by 
long, very long, exposure, the free Lime may be com- 
pletely converted into carbonate of Lime (chalk). It is 
quite certain that, however perfectly the Salt and the 
Lime, under the favourable circumstances referred to, 
may have mutually acted the one on the other, the mo- 
ment sufficient water (and that not a large quantity either 
is added, the two new compounds revert to their original 
state—excepting only that the Lime is now combined 
with carbonic acid, taken from the atmosphere. It is 
not necessary that I should say a word upon the Gypsum, 
it having lately occupied so much of the attention of both 
farmers and chemists; nor upon the Salt, as that is 
already adverted to in my last letter on that subject. In 
conclusion, I would propose that Muriate of Lime (chlo- 
ride of calcium), which can be bought at about 3/. per 
ton, be substituted for Salt and Lime as a fixer.__W. H. 
Potter, Chemical Works, Upper Fore-street. [When we 
mentioned Salt and Lime, we intended that coarse Muriate 
of Lime, which is now prepared by farmers by saturating 
chalk with brine. Muriate of lime, in its manufactured 
state, is an excellent fixer, as we know from direct 
experiment. ] 
Vine-borders.—I notice that, atp. 211, Mr. Errington 
has made some allusion to my method of forming and 
heating Vine-borders, as detailed in my Treatise on the 
Vine. He there states—‘‘ The soil recommended by Mr. 
Roberts is composed of $ loam: this, in my opinion, is 
excellent advice. Loams, however, in point of mechanical 
texture and tenacity, have so extensive a range, that some- 
thing more explicit is necessary, especially with the young 
amateur ; and it is to be lamented that, in the present 
imperfect state of Horticultural knowledge, we have not a 
more definite mode of conveying our ideas on that head. 
Mr. R. recommends strong loam: by this, I presume, 
_he means loam in which the clayey principle predomi- 
nates. I much doubt the propriety of using adhesive 
loam at the depth recommended, viz., 30 inches.’’ I give 
r. E. credit for his remarks, but at the same time I 
think hecannot have read my Treatise. I will try to 
make myself better understood: My Vine-border, as 
stated in the Work, is composed of two parts—strong 
loam, the parings of old pasture land, i.e., the turf 
with an inch of soil, or as thin as a man with a proper 
paring-spade could prepare it ; one part turf, with 4 inches 
of the soil, of a looser texture; therefore the soils in 
preparation for the above could not reasonably be called 
a strong loam in which clay predominated. have so 
far expressed myself as to the soils used, and have vet to 
learn that a strong loam is that in which clay is most 
predominant. Had I been asked to name a soil where 
clay did predominate, I should have called it a strong 
clayey loam ; or had I been asked what constituted a very 
strong loam, I should have reported a loam approaching 
to clay. ut by an impartial perusal of my Treatise, it 
will be there seen, that with what Mr. E. calls loam, in 
which clay predominates, I used one-fourth loam of a 
loose texture. Therefore, when the two distinct loams 
became blended together in the border, with a portion of 
the scrapings of roads, Iam at,a loss to know how clay 
could predominate. Before I leave this part of the sub- 
ject, I may state, from the successful practice which I 
have had in the culture of the Vine, that to grow Grapes 
well (i. e., well-swelled fruit) the greater part of the bor- 
ders should be composed of strong loam. I now beg to 
refer Mr. E. to the conclusion of my hints for the form- 
ation of borders, at p. 12; I have there distinctly stated 
as an improvement in my future practice, that I would 
not allow the borders to be deeper, when filled and settled, 
than from 15 to 18 inches, still bearing in mind that the 
Majority of my materials is composed of strong loam. 
r. E. cannot reconcile himself to the quantity of fer- 
menting material laid on the border for the benefit of the 
Yoots; but I would remind him that it is not a mass of 
cold dung, but a regular congenial heat so applied, which 
I find of the greatest benefit. I always leave my borders 
exposed, or nearly so, from the beginning of July to the 
Green 
period of commencing forcing ; which practice, by the 
heated material being laid on the roots during the time 
the Vines are inaction, has a strong tendency to encou- 
rage the roots to the surface of the borders; so that from 
solar and atmospheric influence during the two warmest 
months in the year, viz., July and August, they become as 
perfectly matured as the branches, and are able to bear any 
ordinary fluctuations of the weather until the time I 
begin to force. I wish, before I conclude, to — in- 
form Mr. E. that the Vines at this place, only planted 
in 1839, are now carrying their fourth crop of fruit—not 
light, but heavy crops. Ina second house were counted 
the other day upon six Vines, trained with single rods on 
my system of spurring, 422 perfect bunches; some of 
the Vines producing from one eye six perfect bunches.— 
James Roberts, Eshton Hall, Skipton. 
Grafting the Vine-—The methods of grafting the Vine 
described at p. 208 are, no doubt, efficient ; there is, how- 
ever, another good mode of doing it, which is performed in 
the following manner :—A graft of last year’s wood is 
spliced by the middle, with or without a tongue, after the 
manner of inarching, to similar wood of nearly the same 
size, upon a healthy plant, and is afterwards bound up and 
clayed over. One bud is left above the clay, beneath 
which the lower part of the graft hangs at full length, so 
that the end may be plunged into a bottle of water, in 
which roots will be thrown 
out. The stock should be in 
leaf, with shoots six or eight 
inches long, and the graft 
must have been carefully kept, 
soas to have good swelling 
buds at that time. The growth 
of the grafted portion of the 
stock should be encouraged 
until the graft seems to have 
taken, when the latter must 
be favoured. The whole tree 
_ may fruit as usual, but it 
x should be pruned to the graft 
in the autumn ; the next year it will make bearing-wood 
of great length. I prefer the green wood for grafting, pro- 
vided the desired sorts have not to be brought from any 
great distance, and practised with the bottle, &c. in the 
same way as the last. This succeeds best about June, 
when the young shoots will cut firm. In this case several 
buds and leaves should be left above the clay. I have 
many in bearing on both methods in a cool Vinery; but 
I have not tried either mode out-of-doors.— Rhombus. 
Grapes.—A friend of mine had a fine crop of Grapes 
last year; and an old gardener, who fancied that there was 
too much heat, advised him as they were colouring, to 
“give air’? e accordingly opened the front lights, and 
more than half of his crop shrivelled. The soil is light 
sandy loam, and very well drained. Jemsheed. 
Fig-trees in Vineries».—Having occasionally observed 
in the Chronicle queries as to the practicability of growing 
Figs on the back wall of a Vinery, I may mention that a 
day or two ago I counted nearly thirty dozen of fine well- 
sized Figs on one plant, on the back wall of one of my 
houses. I do not expect them all to come to maturity, 
but I have some reason to hope that a great many will, 
for last year I gathered at least twenty dozen fine Figs 
from the same plant. My Vines did not suffer from this 
in the smallest degree ; as a proof of which, my Gar- 
dener gained the first prizes for Grapes at our Horticul- 
tural meetings, and one bunch of Black Hamburghs which 
I weighed myself was upwards of 24lbs. The promise of 
this year is even greater than that of last. I may add 
that a bag of Guano has been standing in the Vinery for 
above a month in a barrel which has no lid. A flower-pot 
with some Guano in it, was accidentally left on the top of 
the bag, and the whole was covered with some matting. 
On looking at the flower-pot yesterday, I was surprised 
to find it covered within and without with a beautiful 
incrustation like frost on a pane of glass. I send you a 
specimen of this curious production.— Query— Is the 
exhalation from the Guano, which is thus evidently strong, 
beneficial to the Vines? That it is not hurtful is proved 
by the remarkably healthy appearance of the Vines at this 
moment, They have never looked better—J. N.V. [We 
think it probable that jt is not an exhalation so much as 
an absorption and efflorescence which has been observed. 
Upon submitting it to Mr. E. Solly, he ascertained it to 
be principally phosphate of ammonia.] 
Carnations.—I have neither time nor inclination to 
enter into a discussion as to whether the Carnation should 
be as double as the Dahlia, or otherwise, knowing, that so 
long as florists’ flowers are cultivated, there will always 
be ‘* tot homines tot sententiz.’’ I should, however, feel 
obliged by Mr. Orson’s explaining (through the medium 
of your pages) the following portion of his paper on the 
properties of the Carnation, read at a late meeting of the 
Floricultural Society. “ One of the flowers most in note was 
Brook’s Flora’s Garland, possessing fulness of size, pecu- 
liarity of colour, and pureness of white, but having one 
imperfection, which, from its fulness, has been overlooked, 
viz, irregularity of marking, the colours in many petals 
not running through from the edge to the centre of the 
flower, but appearing in stripes and spots, and terminating 
abruptly midway in the petal. Upon this account, extreme 
fulness in a Carnation is objectignable.” Does Mr. Orson 
mean to lay down as a general principle, that because @ 
Carnation is very double, as a natural consequence, it 
must be imperfectly marked? From reading the article 
alluded to (p. 191), myself and several friends are unable 
to draw any other inference or come to any other conclu- 
sion than the foregoing. I would also ask Mr. Orson 
whether, supposing a flower is regularly marked, with good 
form and petal, and in other respects desirable, its being 
extremely full would be objectionable? From Mr. Orson’s 
statement, it appears his only objection to a very double 
Carnation is, that Flora’s Garland and some others come 
confused and imperfectly marked; but surely this is no 
really substantial or valid argument against very full 
flowers, provided they are as well formed and striped as 
semi-double ones; and there is no reason why seedlings 
may not be raised with good centres quite as full, nay, 
even fuller than Garland, coupled with regular, bold, and 
clear striping, equal in the latter respect to the best vari- 
eties at present in cultivation.—C. K. 
Sowing Seeds.—The reason why seeds sown in wet 
weather do not succeed so well as when sown in dr 
weather, (quickly followed by rain) is, that in the former 
instance there is not a due adherence of the soil to every 
portion of the surface of the seed. The inconvenience 
and waste experienced in sowing seeds in wet weather 
would be obviated by placing both above and below them 
a layer of finely-pulverised dry soil. Thus would the 
advantages of both desiderata be combined.—C. [We 
agree to the plan, but we doubt the reasoning. 
Bees.—I do not know whether your correspondents who 
treat on the subject of Bees are aware that the cultivation 
of the Dablia is incompatible with the success of the Bee- 
keeper. For many years I was very successful with my 
Bees, having upwards of twenty hives yearly, and, of 
course, abundance of honey; but from the time that I 
commenced growing Dablias, the Bees declined, and I had, 
at last, to give up those useful insects altogether. They 
became intoxicated by feeding on that flower; many of 
them I found dead in the blossoms, or lying on the ground 
underneath, and those which got home formed little or no 
honey. J have heard the same remark made by many 
persons to whom I have mentioned it both in England 
and Ireland ; and certainly, in this part of the latter coun- 
try, honey has become a scarce article, which is here attri- 
buted to the above-mentioned cause.— W. 
Eggs.—Some little while since, a correspondent re- 
marked, that the eggs of some hens, which had probably 
eaten of something containing lime from gas-works, tasted 
strongly of sulphuretted hydrogen. This is not more 
strange than that hens, which by chance have eaten 
onions, or the tops of them, should lay eggs which taste 
strongly of onions, as I have frequently remarked ; and 
this occurred, indeed, only a few days since, when the 
growing tops of onions were thrown into the stable-yard, 
to which my fowls have access.—Devoniensis. 
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES, 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
April 4.—Dr. Henderson in the chair, The Rev. G, C, Bethune 
and G. F. Girdwood, Esq., were elected Fellows. A communica- 
tion from Capt. Dwyer, Commandant of the Island of Ascension, 
ad, containing an account of the success or failure of 
various kinds of European vegetables, seeds of which had been 
transmitted to the island. From this it appears that the island 
is subjected to what are there called ‘*blackwinds,” which prove 
destructive to Haricots, several kinds of Lettuces, and all the 
taller sorts of Peas ; of the latter, two dwarf kinds, viz., Poisnain 
de Hollande, and Nain vert petit, stood the climate well, with the 
Versailles, Sugar, and Alphange Cos Lettuce, Batavian Endive, 
Portuguese Cabbage, and Vegetable Marrow. Amongst annual 
flowering plants, it is remarkable that those which succeed best 
are such as have beenintroduced from the N.W. parts of America 
or from other comparatively cool climates, comprising Nemé- 
phila insignis and atomaria, Lupinus Hartwégii, polyphyllus, and 
if6li i i and Campanula Lérei, A 
Paper, accompanied by a model, was also read from Mr. T. 
Torbron, of Knightsbridge, relative to a new method of arranging 
@ sashes in forcing and other houses, so that when air is given 
the light may not be intercepted by one sash overlaying the other. 
To effect this, it is proposed (allowing the roof to be 15 feet wide) 
that the two lower sashes should each be 6 feet long, and the 
upper sash 3 feet; and that the rafters should be continued for a 
short space at the same angle over the back-wall of the house ; 
in givin ir, the lowermost sash will slide downwards, the 
middle one will either remain stationary or move up or down as 
may be required, and the upper one will, by means of a pulley 
attached to the back wall, be drawn upwards along the project- 
ing rafters—or, by having the sash secured at the back by hinges, 
it may be raised vertically by iron rods to any desired height. 
From Mr. Goode, gr. to Mrs. Lawrence, a collection of 
plants, containing an exceedingly beautiful specimen of Erica 
transparens ; i i ring two dense ra- 
cemes of gorgeous yellow and orange flowers; Jasminum 
ligustrifélium, trained to flat trellis, and covered with sweet- 
scented white star-lke blossoms; Aischynanthus maculatus, 
i n bush, studded with clusters of ver- 
of the lovely and fragrant 
CYtisus filipes, Caméllia élegans, and Epacris pungens: a 
i ‘or the Dendrobium, Erica, and 
4ischynanthus. Sir E. Antrobus, Bart., ex- 
hibited Erica aristata, potted upon the ‘ one-shift system,” form- 
ing one mass of bloom, and being, in fact, a perfect model of 
cultivation ; with E, Willmoreana and Linnzoides, and a hand- 
Some specimen of a variety of Tropz’olum tricolor, with smaller 
and longer flowers, having more orange about them than those 
of the old varieiy: a Knightian medal was awarded for the latter 
and Erica aristata, From Mr. W. Lee, of Bradmore, Hammer- 
smith, several forced Pelargoniums. Mrs. Wray, of Cheltenham, 
sent a magnificent cluster of the beautiful, large, white, funnel- 
which three years ago was only a few inches high, but which 
on being put into a box, and placed at the back of a cool stove, 
spurs and upon the young 
runners: a Banksian medal awarded. From Mr. Paxton, gr. to 
his Grace the Duke of Devonshire, a species of Cymbfdium, from 
the East Indies, probably new, and called Devonianum ; although 
not possessed of much brilliancy, it differs in colour, as well as 
in foliage, from other cultivated species: a certificate awarded. 
- Beck, of Isleworth, exhibited a pretty half-shrubby seedling: 
Calceolaria, called Premier, of good form and colour. Mr. Jack- 
double white; C. ochroleuca, white, with a tinge of yellow ; 
C. speciosa, and several pretty Ericas: a certificate awarded for 
C. Allnuttii, From the Very Rey. Dr. Garnier, Dean of Win- 
chester, fine cut flowers of Magnolia conspicua, purpurea, graci- 
lis, and Soulangeana, several hybrid varieties of Rhododendron, 
. campanulatum, from plants in the open air: a certificate 
ant 
awarded for the Rhododendrons. From Mr, Clarke, gr. to We 
