ms THE GARDENERS’ CHRONICLE. 
[Jan. 14, 
Bliton, are at once set at nought by Paxton, who tells us 
that Beet is from the Celtic Bet, red. Here then a new 
light breaks in upon us, and we find another instance of 
the imperfect knowledge of the Etymologists of the last 
century, who traced everything up to the Latin, Greek, or 
Hebrew tongues, forgetful of their cognate, congeneric 
dialects. To say that Beet, Blitte, or Blite come from 
Bliton, is as much aside the truth as to say that Vater 
and Mutter come from Pater and Mater ormarnp and unT7np- 
Again, it would be as unreasonable to suppose that the plant 
or plants, by the Greeks called Bliton (whether Chenopo- 
dium or Amaranth), one of which our ancestors called 
Allycod, another, the true Strawberry-blite, an elegant 
plant, and severalof which were potherbs (it is reasonable to 
suppose) in the time of Theophrastus, were 80 called be- 
cause they were worthless and only fit to be thrown, 
“as men would serve a cucumber,” to the dunghill. 
While we thus dispose. of the French and English blette 
and blite as substantives, we are still in the dark as to the 
use of these words (the former of them, at least) adjec- 
tively. “I. K. S.,” another of your correspondents, 
quotes a ‘¢ Vocabulaire Etymologique ”’ for “ Blette, s. f. 
(Batrov, espéce de legume insipide),—plante. Adj.: Poire 
blette,—molle et presque pourrie.’” As the author of this 
Vocabulaire has not given the derivation of the adjective, 
you are left to suppose that it is the substantive word used 
adjectively- “?.’’ has probably hit on the right soil, 
and I hope he will continue to dig in it. His “ Glossaire 
de la Langue Romane”? informs us that bled, blette, bleque, 
&c., signify “soft.” We must look for some other origin, 
therefore, for the adjective, than the blette of the Greek 
Bliton, or of the Celtic bet. The softness and mealiness 
‘of some of the Chenopodia help the conjecture of a figura- 
tive application of the term. But the speculations of the 
etymologists are a byword and a jest, and we must wait 
for further information. Having already occupied so 
much of your space on what will appear to some a rather 
4 droxy” subject, I must only briefly notice some other 
of my fellow correspondent’s remarks. “‘ .” says that 
# blight? comes from the Anglo-Saxon blectha, which 
he translates “ scurf, leprosy.” On what authority does 
he rest, beside the affinity of sound? Lye defines this 
word by vitiligo, which, I believe, is not leprosy nor @ 
scurfy disease. ‘‘ Scurf’? exists entire in the Anglo-Saxon ; 
and for “leprosy,’’ Lye introduces the Gothic (quoting 
St. Matthew) thrush or thrustfill—literally, “ breaking- 
out.” Blectha comes nearer to ‘‘ blain” or ** bloteb.”” I 
cdlight ”) be Saxon, it is most probably from “ blestan— 
insuffiare, to blast ;” and this will agree with the invete- 
rate popular idea of blight from atmospheric causes. 
fellow correspondent concludes his remarks with a ‘‘ smaa 
nota bene” on the use of the verb ‘swerve ’’ in a passive 
sense. I dare say he is quite right; and I shall not look for 
authorities to gainsay his dictum: for if ‘ swerve”’ is not 
a transitive verb, it deserves to be made so, and the sooner 
it is done the better, for the sake of the ‘* copiousness and 
precision ” of our language. In the foregoing quotation 
from Booth’s Analyt. Dict. it will be observed that he 
spells the Greek name with an7 instead of an :—evidently 
with an eye to the root BadAew, to cast, or fling.—P. P. 
Rooting.—I have two Hyacinths in flower-glasses, one 
of which is a common clear glass, the other is coloured 
dark biue ; the root in the latter has grown more than 
double the other in strength and height, and is showing a 
fine flower, which its companion is not yet doing. Is 
this by accident, or is it caused by the dark colour of the 
glass, excluding the light >A Young Lady. [Roots are 
formed with more difficulty when exposed to light than 
when in darkness. The first effort made by a young 
plant when it begins to grow is to force its rootlets down- 
wards into the soil, and although this may be prevented 
by art, yet a plant will never form its roots so willingly 
under the influence of light as if buried in darkness. ] 
Amaryllis Belladonna.—1 am not surprised at all that 
go few persons should cultivate this plant (a very great 
favourite of mine), as it is such an uncertain bloomer in 
the open ground. It has been in the garden here many 
years, but scarcely ever flowered till I got Dr. Herbert’s 
ook on this class of bulbs; since then, I have had the 
pleasure of seeing its delicate and fragrant blooms every 
‘@utumn. It is thus described at p. 275 of Dr. H.’s 
work: ‘* They are exceedingly hardy, but two things are 
necessary to their flowering,—4 strong growth of the 
leaves, and absolute rest from Midsummer until their 
period of flowering in September. 
early, and are so much damaged by severe frosts that a 
vigorous growth does not ensue in spring, oF if they are 
Preserved green by a wet summer after the period of rest, 
as if they have not moisture in September to promote 
cbt moming. it will fail.”—“ A strong Uses growth 
of be: leaf seems necessary to its formation ‘byt & age 
senroitn from the leaf at the time of their decay; the 
ircudibleMeee ne up of the leaf seems to be the requisite 
Tis wepot the if followed by asufficiently bigh aa aaa 
exatedes Hie the very easy to regulate the points above 
owe foay open ground, it can only be done by put- 
g 2 glass covering or awning over the bulbs, 80 as to 
keep off the rain in a wet summer.’’ ‘“ A south wall pro- 
motes the drying of the roots; they very seldom flower 
with me in the middle of the garden.” “In pursuance of 
these physiological principles, most of the bulbs here are 
now kept in large pots or boxes ; and they well repay the 
trouble by their delightful flowers. Probably the reason 
of their not being oftener met with is the frequent failure 
of the bloom for want of attention to their nature.—C.D. 
Sussex, [Plant them at the foot of a warm south ally 
well drained, and leave them to themselves, There will 
be no failure of bloom, we will warrant.] 
The Season.—I have in my possession a Cowslip in full 
bloom, lately dug up in this parish. It is no starveling, 
4 
but a fine fellow, with a fat, tall flower-stalk, and some 
twenty flowers upon it; and treading, quite as nearly as 
nature will allow a Cowslip to do, on the heels of its elder 
brother, Oxlip. My parishioners, who have spent their 
lives in the fields, seem to think this a very remarkable 
proof of the mildness of the winter. Cc. W. Bingham, 
Sydling Vicarage, Dorset.—[We think so too; but. we 
also have a Cowslip now before us in full flower in the cold 
London clay : which is still more remarkable. ] 
Cucwmbers.—About 12 months ago, I paid a visit 
to Mr. Mills, at Gunnersbury ; where I saw the best 
Cucumbers that had ever come under my notice at 
that season of the year. I may now state that the 
benefits of his system have reached this neighbour- 
hood. A few days since, 1 saw the Cucumbers at Wool- 
verstone Park, which are grown by Mr. Stannard, in the 
manner recommended in Mills’ treatise. There were six 
lights of various sorts, both plack and white spined, all 
looking well; that is to say, they are young, strong, 
healthy clean plants, with leaves from 14 to 18 inches 
wide, dark green, and bearing the appearance of spring 
rather than winter; with an abundance of fruit, in every 
stage of growth up to 16 inches in length. Some com- 
plaints have been made of the expense; but as it is well 
known that Cucumbers cannot be had at this season 
without (and very frequently not with) expense, I say, 
until some more economical and equally certain method 
can be devised, follow Mills’ system.— Thomas Wild, 
3, Tavern-street, Ipswich. 
Economical Pumps in Hothouses.—Having been at 
considérable labour in carrying water to the plant-house 
at Holme Gardens, our employer had a pump, occupying 
only six square inches, placed in the corner of the bark- 
it, Both in summer anc winter water is abundantly 
supplied from the rivers, even when our highland pumps 
are frozen. If the ornamental head of such a pump is 
objectionable, it might be covered with a creeper, such as 
Hoya carnosa, @ Kennédya, or some such plant. The 
water may be rendered tepid by constructing a concealed 
cistern beneath the bark or leaves ; and it may be con- 
veyed by means of pipes to any of the adjoining houses, 
Where the latter are heated by hot water, such a pump 
will be found still more advantageous. The expense of its 
erection is 5/., which is soon repaid ; as two men in one 
hour could easily do more watering in the summer season 
than could formerly be performed by three men in double 
that space of time.— Snowdrop. 
The Onion Maggoi.—Notwithstanding the great failure 
of the Onion crop in various parts, I have adopted the 
following remedy for the last five years with perfect suc- 
cess :—I diately on the app f the maggot in 
my Onions, I take advantage of a dull or rainy day, and, 
with a watering-can and rose, I saturate the beds well with 
strong soap-suds. I then pull up all those which are in- 
fected, and I seldom find another die off afterwards. I 
am surprised to find that your valuable correspondent 
(Peter Mackenzie) states that the salts contained in the 
suds keep the maggot from the seed, when it is well known 
that it does not originate in the seed.— W. B. T. 
Problem in Cookery.—What is the reason that fruit 
and liquors become, when heated, more acid, and, on 
cooling, arerestored to their natural sweetness? A 
solution of this seeming mystery will oblige a subscriber 
and occasional contributor.—K. 
Experiments with ‘Manures.—Impelled by your ob- 
servations last spring, | tried many experiments with vari- 
ous kinds of manure as a top-dressing to Grass land upon 
a tenacious clay subsoil. Among these were the ammo- 
niacal gas-liquor from the gas-works, sulphate of soda, 
nitrate of soda, common salt, sulphuric acid, and chloride 
of lime. They were all applied in the beginning of May, 
but, except in the case of the gas liquor, without any 
perceptible effect. Wherever the water-cart passed with 
the ammoniacal water, its course could be traced by the 
dark green of the Grass; but at the Hay harvest, the pro- 
duce did not much differ from the average quantity yielded 
by other parts. I likewise tried the mixture recommended 
so strongly for Potatoes by Prof. Johnstone, consisting of 
sulphate of soda and nitrate of soda; but the ridges so 
manured were very inferior to the ridges on which gio 
manure had been used: I cannot help attributing this 
universal failure in the application of these manures to 
the continued drought from which we (in Dorsetshire) 
suffered so much. I experimented also with Daniell’s 
manure for Turnips, and where it was sown broadcast it 
yielded an excellent crop of Swedes 5 but where it was 
drilled in with the seeds,the Turnips never came up; be- 
tween the drills there was, however, a most luxuriant crop 
of weeds. Iulso succeeded in getting a capital crop of 
Swedes from cloacine dried with coal-ashes, according to 
the directions which you were sO good as to give In reply 
to some former queries of mine.—A- H. 
Effects of powerful Smells upon different Insects.— 
The wasp appears to be sooner affected by pungent scents 
than some other insects, since the fumes arising from 
Cayenne pepper thrown on hot iron will kill them in less 
than a minute; while the aphis, though infinitely more 
delicate, can bear them in a closed box with impunity for 
anhour. The fumes arising from burnt sulphur do not 
affect the white scale. I submitted some Pine-suckers, 
which were covered with scale, to these fumes in a close 
box not a foot square; and I found that neither the plant 
nor the insect were affected, although half an ounce of 
sulphur was burnt.—Flora, _ 
Spirits of Tar.—In the article on spirits of tar atp. 5 of 
this year’s Chronicle, I perceive that your correspondent 
recommends that it be mixed with sand, and sown with 
Peas and Beans, to preserve them from the attacks of mice 
and pheasants. The mice I can deal with, but I have never 
other things; I cut 50 stalks, which weighed nearly all 
4 oz each, and took the first prize at a local show ; the 
tops were of a very dark green, and kept growing late 
into the autumn. Onions in 1841 kept growing too late; 
they were very large, but did not harvest ; in 1842 there 
was no perceptible difference. Coniferze, increased depth 
of green, and vigorous growth. Turnips, sown with the 
seed, which came up with unusual rapidity, and continued 
to grow fast until they arrived at maturity ; they were 
tender, juicy, and mild in flavour, with a perceptible im- 
provement in the following crops. The soil is a remark- 
ably friable sandy loam, on a substratum of loam and 
brickearth, much spotted with gravel, having a great 
tendency to burn in dry summers. The quantity of nitrate 
used was at the rate of 14 lb. to the rod. In the case of 
the Asparagus, the whole of the land was measured, but 
no nitrate was put in the alleys. In every instance, ex- 
cept the Turnips, where it was harrowed in with the seed, 
it was applied when the plants were in a growing state, 
being strewed on the ground and allowed to be washed in. 
It appears to me that, wherever discrepancies arise as to 
its action, it must either be attributable to the sort of 
plants to which it is applied, or to the time and mode of 
using it. I, of course, mean on the same soils.—J. G., 
St. John’s. 
‘Lichens.—In the Travels of the Abbé La Lande, who 
visited Italy 1765, I find an observation, of which I add 
the following free translation :-—* There is a manufacture 
at Rome of a powder called Cyprio, because the secret of 
making it was derived from the island of Cyprus. It is 
perfumed by a Lichen, or Moss, very common upon 
trees, which, by maceration in water, acquires a very 
delicious scent.” Is it at all known to what kind of 
Lichen he alludes?—R. E. K. [We do not find any 
account of this Lichen; but there are many which are 
fragrant. Lecidea aromatica is very sweet-scented when 
bruised ; some Collemas become fragrant when moistened, 
and Parmelia fragrans has a similar quality. ] 
Advantaye of Buying Corn.—I am enabled to confirm 
Mr. Loudon’s statement respecting the benefit to be de- 
rived by the labourer from the purchase of corn instead of 
flour, or bread; having made inquiries of parties, who at 
the present time adopt the system. The following fact, 
however, speaks for itself, A quarter of wheat will pro- 
duce 130 four-lb. loaves: that at 40s. the quarter, is, 
within the smallest fraction, 33d. a loaf. Wheat at the 
figure quoted, is better than that of which cheap bread is 
made; the general price of bread in the metropolis is 
from 54d. to 74d.—C. K. 
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE. 
Cape Palmas.—We reached this settlement on the 18th 
of July. For neatness of houses, &c., this must rank next 
to Sierra Leone. During our short stay at this place, I 
was so fortunate as to meet with Mr. Minor, an American 
missionary, who assisted me greatly in my researches« 
In a ramble through the bush we met with a fine species 
of Smeathm4nnia, growing to the height of 20 feet, and 
producing abundance of large white flowers, with some 
noble specimens of the Butter and Tallow tree (Penta- 
desmis butyracea), which is very ornamental, with large, 
‘ 4 le dul it U 
Lapanee. 
species was growing about the settlement, and is sought 
after by the people for its delicious fruit—the appellation 
given to it is Lapaumee. The dried fruit of a species 
brought from the interior was given to me by Mr. Wilson, 
of Fair Hope, Cape Palmas. One of the Fan Palm 35 
found at a short distance from the beach ; the leaves of 
this, when cut into narrow slips, are plaited by the natives, 
and are then converted into hats, or sold to the seamen 
visiting this port: this is. known to them by the name ©) 
Sennite. The Oil Palm is also plentiful, but is not taken 
much notice of bythe settlers. I may also mention Habzélia 
aromatica, another plant of the Anonaceous order, the dried 
seeds of which are known in the shops of this country as the 
Piper ethidpium. The seeds are used at Cape Palmas 5 
but in the interior, at the confluence of the Chadda and 
Niger, it is not taken any notice of by the natives, though : 
