320 
THE GARDENERS CHRONICLE. 
[May 18, 
the specimens of this species having been killed by the severe 
winter of 1837—8. The plant in question was not exposed till the 
June succeeding that period.—G. Plumbly, May 9. 
Mebiews. 
Beitriige zur Anatomie der Cacteen.VonM. J. Schleiden. 
(Contributions to the Anatomy of Cactacez, by Dr. 
Schleiden.) 
Tus is a paper which appeared in the Transactions of the 
Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburgh. In 
the commencement, the Author remarks that both in 
Zoology and Botany nature displays more of the secret of 
her operations in single abnormal forms than in the 
great mass of common phenomena. In this paper he un- 
dertakes the examination of the structure of the stem of 
Cactacete, as an example of singular organisation in the 
vegetable kingdom. The greater proportion of the obsery- 
ations were made on the Opuntia monacantha, although 
many other species were occasionally examined. 
The paper is divided into three parts: the first treats 
of the structure of the parenchyma, or cellular tissue of the 
pith and bark ; the second, of the external cortical layers, 
the epidermis, and bark (borke); the third, of the woody 
vascular tissues. 
The cellular tissue of Cactacee has generally a loose 
character, so that, in most cases, it retains its globular 
form. In the external layers of the bark it is sometimes 
elliptical or cylindrical. It is only in the medullary rays, 
and near the bundles of vessels, that it assumes the form 
of polyedral cells. nn account of the looseness of the 
tissue the intercellular passages are large, and the cells 
are easily torn asunder. At the points of contact of the 
cells are observed round dots, which Meyen called great 
pores, but which the author considers only'thickened por- 
tions of the cell. On these spots may be seen small pores, 
which may be made more evident by boiling the tissue in 
caustic alkali, adding to ita mineral acid and then iodine; 
the spots will be coloured blue by the iodine, and the 
pores will be clean. In many of the cells, cytoblasts are 
seen adhering to their sides. The contents of the cells 
consist of mucus, starch, and chlorophyll; the little 
globules of these subst: may be frequently found ad- 
hering to the large spots in the cells above mentioned. 
The starch granules are very large in Cereus tetragonus. 
Besides the ordinary sized cells, larger ones are seen which 
are filled with vegetable jelly, which is arranged in forked 
lines, giving them a very beautiful appearance. They are 
best seen in Cereus Curtisii and Opuntia imbricata. 
Crystals of oxalate of lime (raphides) are very common 
in the cellular tissue. In a dried specimen ‘of Cereus 
senilis, they formed as much as 85 per cent. of the bulk 
of the plant. The crystals assume a variety of forms, and 
either exist as single crystals or in bundles, or form glands 
rise), Oxalic acid is frequently found free in these 
plants, and seen to act upon them injuriously, and hence 
[dasa | the necessity for the existence of carbonate of 
ime in the soil in which they grow. Crystals of car- 
bonate of lime exist also in the tissue of Cereus triangularis. 
The cells are formed from cytoblasts. In some of them 
a remarkable dissepiment exists, dividing the cell into 
two parts. 
In the bark, the cells under the epidermis are thicker 
than ordinary. They seem at first filled with jelly, and 
at last become very hard. This tissue Schleiden proposes 
to call collenchyma. It exists before the ordinary layers, 
of the bark (borke) is more highly developed in Cactaceze 
than any other plants, and consists of one or more layers 
in different plants. In old age it becomes continuous 
with the parenchyma, and in some species presents pores. 
Crystals are very frequent in this layer of tissue. 
The cells of the epidermis present mostly a waved cha- 
racter, but in most instances are smooth. The stomates 
consist of two cells, placed opposite each other, and the 
order may be known by its imperfectly developed stomates. 
They are seen on the imperfectly developed leaves of 
Opuntia. 
The parts of the Cactacez have a remarkable tendency 
to a spiral development, and not only are the sete, spines, 
and hairs, developed spirally, but even the cells of the seta 
of Cereus flagellaris have this character. 
The bark (or borke) or cork-layer of these plants is a 
late development, and appears at different points between 
t lenchyma and p h f the liber. ». The cells 
are developed from without, inwards, and are truly an endo- 
genous growth. It often bursts through the layers above, 
and is thrown off in scales. ‘The process of its formation 
is very like that which takes place in the cicatrization of 
the wounds of plants, and may be compared to the callous 
formations on the soles of the feet of some animals. 
The stems of Cactacezw present great variety in the ar- 
rangement and course of the woody bundles, which include 
what is sometimes more especially called the vascular 
tissue. This variety is seen in passing from the stems of 
Pereskia with internodes, through the species of Cereus 
and Opuntia, to the hemispherical forms of M illaria 
and Melocactus. As the Cactacez grow all the year round, 
there are no regular circles of concentric growth, although 
Some causes seem to act upon them that determine occa- 
sionally a suspension‘of growth. Thus, in a stem, 30 years 
old, eight circles could be counted. 
Che woody bundles (Holz-Koerper) present great 
variety also in their internal form, from the simple elon- 
gated cell to the development in the interior of elon- 
gated tubes of complicated spiral fibres. The spiral 
vessels always contain air, and in no case has the author 
been able to detect within them fluid. He considers it 
highly usphilosophjecal to conclude, because in one or two 
instances fluid has been found in these vessels, that conse- 
quently these vessels universally are destined to convey 
fluid. Even in Hoya carnosa, a plant which contains 
much fluid, the author could detect in its spiral vessels 
nothing but air. 
The spiral tissue presents many forms. In Pereskia 
and Opuntia the cells have developed in them double spiral 
bands. Sometimes these bands are in the form of rings, 
and when the ring is broken, the double character of the 
band may be perceived. These bands are sometimes so 
broad as to leave only a small space in the cavity of the 
cell, so that they appear like disks with a little hole in their 
centre. The development of the spiral tissue is the same 
as that observed by the author in plants in general, and 
made known in his celet d paper on Phytogenesis. Th 
cells that become spiral cease to grow with the rest, their 
contents arrange themselves in a spiral manner, and they 
elongate. The surrounding cellular tissue is thus often de- 
stroyed and absorbed, so that the spiral fibres lie alone in 
the intercellular passages. 
This paper is accompanied by ten beautifully litho- 
graphed illustrations, and quite sustains the high character 
which the author has obtained by his former contributions 
to our knowledge ‘of the structure and functions of the 
vegetable kingdom.—Z. L. 
CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS for the ensuing week. 
the average of seasons we seldom experience late frosts 
after the middle of this month ; and having had so little spring 
frost and so much sunny weather, we may safely begin planting 
out half-hardy plants in the flower-garden. Beginning with the 
oldest and hardiest sorts, if these plants have been properly 
managed in hardening them off—and we have seldom had a better 
season for this work—they ought now to bein good condition for 
turning out, unless perhaps in low, damp, or late situations. 
Make active preparations, therefore, to commence the wor 
the first wet or cloudy d 
worst precepts of the old school, even with pot-plantsin winter— 
and how much more so if you apply the principle to out-of-door 
crops in summer. In ni it of ten sli tering 
at this season does actual mischief, and plants are safer if left to 
take their chance than when submitted to such bad gardening. 
fter you have watered a bed or border thoroughly, see that the 
surface is well stirred up with a hoe as soon as it gets dry, and 
your watering will have twice the effect. the kitchen- 
garden endeavour to mulch as much of the crops as possible in 
rows, this being much better than watering. You will observe 
how well the Strawberry-beds look that are mulched with short 
grass ; old tan, rotten dung, or half-spent linings from the hot- 
beds, or indeed any sort of litter, will do for this purpose. Nobody 
thinks of leaving a newly transplanted favourite tree unmulched 
the first season, and crops of Peas, Beans, &c. are just as much 
benefited by it as newly-pli n the American ground 
most of the plants are from naturally shaded places, and they will 
luxuriate in the hottest seasons if the beds are thickly covered 
with grass, fern, moss, or any other sort of mulching: but I think 
I have said enough to draw the attention of the young amateur 
to the subject. 
I,—KITCHEN-GARDEN AND ORCHARD, 
m-door Department. 
Pinery.—As the fruiting-plants should have but just water 
enough to keep them alive after the fruit is fully swelled, their 
suckers often suffer at this season for want of nourishment. As 
soon, therefore, as each fruit is cut, encourage the suckers by 
cutting away the old bottom leaves on the stools and by a good 
i Shade, water, and syringe the other plants as before. 
Vivyery.—The principal work here is now of a more routine 
kind:—thin the bunches of Grapes, keep the growing shoots 
regularly tied up, give air early in the morning, and reduce it 
early in the afternoon after a good syringing, if the fruit has not 
changed colour; an he houses are now getting clear of pot 
plants, keep all the paths, sills, walls, &c,, in a clean tidy state. 
KACHES AND CoERRIES.—A dry atmosphere and afree current 
of air, with the fruit exposed as much as possible to the light, is 
all you can do now, if the trees are free from insects—which 
should never cost much trouble in these houses if well looked 
after in time, 
Fies.—Assoon as the principal part of the first cropis gathered, 
increase the watering at the roots, to encourage the second crop ; 
and probably some of the young shoots will have to be thinned 
or cut back. Fig-trees should be kept thin of wood in all situa- 
tions, on account of their large foliage. 
CucumBERs AND MEw 
from the beginning. 
bed before they are stopped, and, as a rough rule, two out o! 
every three of the side shoots may be rubbed off with the finger 
as soon as you can see m, and the rest stopped above the first 
joint, as you stop the laterals on a Vine shoot, till a crop of fruit 
isset onthem, The nearer the fruit sets to the main branches 
the better; and always let a joint or two grow beyond the fruit 
to carry up thesap. The plan is very near that of growing Grapes 
on the single-rod system. 
‘Apstcums, ToMAToES, and all half-hardy plants for the 
kitchen-garden, may now be planted out in early and favourable 
situations ; but in cold exposed places a week or ten days hence 
will suit them better, 
Out-door Department. 
Every showery day should now be made the best of in the 
kitchen-garden, to plant out young crops, to thin and prick out 
others, and to look diligently after slugs and snails. Every moth 
and butterfly should be as carefully destroyed as wasps. 
ROCCOLI, CAULIFLOWER, and other plants of the Cabbage- 
tribe from the early seed-beds, may now be planted for autumn use. 
Succxzsston Crops, in all their stages, will now show, if your 
sowings have been judiciously timed. Endeavour to mark out 
any probable defects, and, if practicable, lose no time in recti- 
fying them. 
Porators.—The early ones will now be forward enough to 
have the soil well stirred between them, like all other crops in 
rows. 
PEAS AND Buans.—After you have pinched out the tops of 
the first crops of these, give them a good watering; and if done 
with any sort of liquid manure all the better, but do not yet use 
hard spring water, if you can help it. 
OxcHarp.—All the trees on the walls will now require close 
attention. I think the system of nailing as many of the strong 
young shoots of Pear-trees as you can get in between the main 
branches a good one; and if you do not choose to leave them to 
bear you may begin to reduce them after the end of July. Peach- 
trees, like Melon-plants, are very apt to get into confusion about 
this time, unless they are carefully thinned. r 
days wall-trees seldom had much attention paid them till all 
their breast-wood was nearly full-grown. 1 were then 
regularly pruned, and you could see where the pruner left off at 
night as plain as where the mowers left cutting a piece of 
Clover. But now-a-days, a man in looking over his trees only 
cuts out a few here and there at a time, and in this way he 
soon gets oyer a good deal of walling, and by the time he is all 
round, some of his trees will want looking over again, Recol- 
lect as to the killing of the caterpillars, 
II.—FLOWER-GARDEN AND SHRUBBERY. 
In-door Depurtment. 
Sroves.—Those who grow Orchidacez from the highlands of 
exico, and other elevated regions, on the cool system, haye 
their plants now in that forward state when they may be safely 
taken toa hotter place—say to a temperature of 80° or 90° through 
the day, and 70° at night, or rather in the morning. Almost all 
stove-plants grow too freely ; when well-managed, the point of 
the shoots should therefore be pinched off from time to time. 
GreENHOUSE.—With the exception of the common routine of 
watering and syringing, the next thing of importance to green- 
house pants now in active growth is to form them into handsome 
specimens—some by training, others by pruning, or rather 
stopping, and all by being kept in a healthy, vigorous state. One 
of the greatest faults committed against young, promising speci- 
mens is to let them flower too early; if the plant is quite new 
there is no resisting this course, but in all other cases avoid it 
as much as possible. 
succeed the annuals, you will now 
Out-door Department. 
F.Lower-GArpENn.—Planting the beds here is the only topic 
? ic mode of 
arranging is better than another ; the grand points are, after all, 
to have suitable soils in the beds ; to have a succession of plants 
flower; never to haye 
@ season, and the whole to 
have @ healthy, tidy appearance.—D. Beaton, Shrubland Park 
NS. 
g May 11,1843, a8 } 
wick. 
—| Wina. |Rain, 
S.W. | 1.26 
Ww. BS 
105 
M 57 
Tuesday 02 
Wednesday10 i 
‘Thursday NE 
Average a 
al 
May 5. Rain; cloudy and fine ; excessively heavy rain at night 
6, Continued heavy rain, with some large patches of sleet atnoon ; clear 
cold at night. ‘ 
aly 
ight haze; cloudy ; clear and fine at night, 
zy ; light haze and fine; clear and very fine at night, 
Mean temperature of the week 6.52. below the average. 
State of the Weather at Chiswick during the last 17 years, for the ensui 
___ Week ending May 20, 1 ee 
No. of 
May. Lapeer Atenn Years in Coscia 
| Temp. | ‘Temp. |7emp| which jt 
Sun. 14 |g 644 | 41.0 6 
on. 66.5 40.9 4 
Pues. By 4 
‘ed. 5 
Thnrs.18 4 
Fri, 19 6 
Sat. 7 
REPORT ON COVENT-GARDEN MARKET. 
For the Week ending May 12, 1843. 
TneEre is a great improvement in the hothouse Grapes this 
week, as they are particularly abundant and fine in the market. 
The bunches are of a very good size, as well as the Grapes, and 
the latter are finely coloured; they are principally of the Black 
Hamburgh kind. Peaches are also much less scarce; and t 
are some tolerably large Nectarines. Cherries and Strawberries 
are of good quality. Gooseberries are more numerous. Apricots, 
being the thinnings of the trees, are plentiful. There are some 
Strawberries in pots, on growing plants, in good order. Asparagus 
is singularly frequent and fine. Pt are more common. Carrots 
and Turnips are to be had, both old and new. The old Carrots 
have been planted and started into growth ; then pulled for the 
market, French Beens continue good. Some Sea Kale is shown 
in one of the stalls; but it is now getting greenish. Cucumbers, 
of all sizes, may now behad in profusion. Oranges are becoming 
dear. Thereisa great influx of new Cocoa-nuts. Of Cut-Flowers, 
there are Tree Ponies, Dodecatheon media, Carnations, Capri- 
‘olium sempervirens, Fuchsia fulgens, and Kalmia latifolia; 
while of plants in pots, we noticed Fuchsia Chandleri, Clianthus 
puniceus, Boronia pinnata, some very dwarf Hydrangeas, not 
more than six inches high, yet flowering well, Azalea sinensis, 
Cereus speciosissimus, and Lachnzea purpurea, that have no! 
been mentioned before, 
PRICES, Sarunvax, May 13, 1843.—FRUITS :— 
= — Portugal, per lb. 1 Chesnuts, per peck, 4s to & 
Xpples, dessert, per bush., 8 to 16s _| Almonds, perpeck, 
— ’ Kitchen, per bush. Gs to? 10s* | Sweet Almonds, per pound, 8¢ 
Pears, dessert, per hf. sieve, 20s Filberts, English, per 100 Ibs. 50s to 55s 
Strawberries, forced, per oz.,6d tos | Cob Nuts, per 100 Ibs. 608 to 65s 
Gooseberries, per pottle, 8d toils uts, per bushel — 
Apricots, per pottle, 1s d to 26 — Brazil, 16 
Oranges, per doz,, is to 266d , — Spanish, 18 
— ” per 100,68 to 18s — Barcelona, 24s 
ir, per 100, 6s to 208 12s 
Shallots, per Ib., ts to 1s 6d 
Asparagus, large, per hundred, 4s to 6s 
—_ Sprue, or Small, 1s 6d to 29 64 
Peas, forced, per hal 
Lettuce, Cabb., p.h 
Cabbage-plants, per dom 1 to as 
Cabbages, pei 
eve, 428 
—_ Purple, do, 1s to 1s 9d jeve, Isto 1s 64 
Beans, Kidney, forced,p-100, 1s6dto@s6d| ‘os, per do., ‘9d to 2 
Potatoes, per ton, 50s to 8s Endive, per score, Gd to 
— per ewt. 25 6d to 4s 
—  perbushel, Ir 6d to 26d | RI 
— Kidney, p.bush., 1s 6d to 2«6d/Small 
— — Scotch, per bushel, 1s 62 G 
—~_ New, per lb, le to 2a Gd *, | M 
Jerusalem Artichokes, per half-sieve,|Parsl 
sto 16 6d Ta 
Turnips, per doz. bun., 3s to 5s 
Spring, per bunch, 6d to 1s 6d 
s 
a 
to 3s a 
Red Beet, perdozen, 9d tols ch Gil 10 9 
Horse Radish, per bundle, 1s to 6r ‘9 
Radish, spring, p. doz. hands, 6d to 1s to ls 6d 
‘Turnip, p. doz. bunch, 9d to le bun., 4s to 58 
Carrots, per doz. bunch. 6s to ions, p abet 8a 
— Young i 10d to 1s] — "Spring per bunch, 4d to, Gd 
Spring Carrots, per bunch, 1s 6d to 22 Pickling, .» 48 Bd to 
ols 
Parsneps, per dozen, 
Garlic, per lb, 6d to 8d 
Green, p. doz. bun. 26 to 4@, 
Spanish, per doz. 26,0 3a 
