rn ete 
THE GARDENERS 
CHRONICLE. 
reed 
1843.] 
receive without effort its ideas, as the unbroken surface 
ofa river the images of the trees and buildings which 
adorn its banks—is not stirred from this state of quies- 
cence without some sense of uneasiness or pain. No one 
canattentively considerthe operations of his own mind with- 
out being aware that to think long, connectedly, and 
deeply, on any subject, requires considerable exertion and 
is attended with much trouble. To this natural slothful- 
ness of the intellect in the majority of men is to be 
ascribed the multitude of erroneous opinions on all sub- 
jects held by them; for it cannot be doubted, if they 
could be induced to think more, and to make active use 
of those powers which a bountiful Creator has denied to 
none but to fools and idiots, truth would take the place of 
error, and those few thinking men who now lead public 
Opinion would, in order to preserve their proud 
pre-eminence, be compelled to think yet more profoundly, 
to observe more closely, and argue more conclusively. 
Thus all classes would have made an onward step towards 
that perfection which is ‘our being’s end and aim.” 
Asking pardon for this digression, which I fear will 
appear irrelevant, [not at all,] I return to the subject of 
is completely avoided. The exit-tube may dip under the 
face WwW 
n 
ur of mercury. e have thus provided an 
atmosphere destitute of ammonia, which can be renewed 
at each instant,—irrigation without admission of external 
air, and the means of light and heat. So much for the 
general description of form of apparatus—the details I 
leave to others ; they will readily suggest themselves, and 
may be varied almost ad infinitum. ‘The soil might con- 
sist either of pounded rock crystal, or white marble, 
according to the precise object of the experiment. Much 
attention should be paid to the purity of the water. I 
would recommend that it be twice distilled, rejecting each 
‘time the first half that comes over, for it almost always 
happens that all natural waters, whether spring or rain- 
water, particularly the latter, contains some ammonia, 
which, by taking the precaution pointed out, may be got 
rid of. It might be advisable before distilling, to fix 
the ammonia either by a few drops of sulphuric acid, or 
chloride of platinum.—W. H. Potter, Chemical Works, 
pper Fore-street, London. [We do most earnestly 
hope that this very important matter, to which Mr, 
Potter has thus ably drawn attention, will be seriously and 
this letter. That Liebig’s views are not 7 to the 
minds of others equally gifted with himself is proved by the 
fact that such men as Boussingault, Daubeny, Johnstone, 
Pereira, and others, dispute their correctness. It appears to 
me that this discordance of opinions amongst persons 
equally capable of judging arises from the want of appeal- 
ing to actual experiment, which alone can settle the point 
at issue. The reason that this has not been done may be 
the difficulty of so arranging the conditions of the experi- 
ment as to supersede every possible objection. It is acknow- 
ledged that the difficulty exists, but it is submitted at the 
same time that it is not insuperable: and this being the 
case, it should, far from discouraging exertion, prove an 
effectual stimulus to it. Itis indeed certain that nitrogen 
as it exists in the air, is wonderfully indisposed to combin- 
ation; and the most energetic chemical action may take 
Place in contact with it, and is, so to speak, shared by an 
unconcerned spectator. But this is only the general rule, 
and some exceptions can be pointed out (and they may be 
More numerous than we imagine). Why may not the 
action of plants be one of them? When the atmosphere 
is traversed by the lightning’s flash, the track is pervaded 
bya chemical combination (nitric acid) of the nitrogen 
and the oxygen of the air. When pearlash, carbon, and 
iron, as in Thomson's process for making Prussian blue, 
are heated together strongly inan open vessel, and often 
stirred, the nitrogen of the air is absorbed by the mixture, 
and gives rise to the formation of cyanogen, which may 
be easily resolved into ammonia. Thus we see how, indi- 
rectly, ammonia itself may be formed from the atmosphere. 
If some of the most common chemical actions can thus 
Withdraw and fix the nitrogen of the air, who shall say 
that the overruling and superior force of vitality is unable 
to effect the same? But to the proof: and first let us 
consider the necessar diti of the exp 7 a 
then the means of fulfilling them. If we sowa certain 
weight of seed, containing a known quantity of nitrogen 
in an artificial soil known to be destitute of that element ; 
if we irrigate with pure water, and permit the atmosphere 
slowly to traverse an apparatus properly constructed for 
the purpose only after having been deprived of all its car- 
bonate of ammonia (ever present in very small quantity), 
we shall, I apprehend, have secured all the necessary con- 
ditions of a very accurate experiment. After the plant 
has arrived at the greatest maturity possible under these 
circumstances, we have only again to recur to analysis, in 
order to ascertain whether or not the quantity of nitrogen 
has undergone any change. Should it be less than the 
seeds originally contained, then the plant must have im- 
Parted some nitrogenous compound either to the air or to 
the soil. If more, it will prove one of two things—either 
that the plant possesses the power of forming nitrogen 
Out of some of the materials in contact with it, and there- 
fore (what has been asserted by some) nitrogen is not an 
€lement, or it has absorbed it from the air and combined 
it with its own substance. I know of no other way of 
ascertaining which alternative is the truth, than by forming 
80 artificial atmosphere in which the nitrogen is replaced 
Y Some other gas not containing it; or, by attaching 
@nother gasometer to the exit-tube to receive the air after 
it has passed through the apparatus, we may, by analysis, 
discover if any of the nitrogen has been abstracted. In 
Making the experiment, two things arrest the attention— 
the form and arrangement of the apparatus, and the state 
Of the materials employed. I suppose it will be reckoned 
Necessary that the vegetating seed must be supplied with 
heat, light, water, and an atmosphere that can be constantly 
renewed. All this, I take it, may be accomplished by 
Sowing the seed in a shallow glass vessel capable of being 
hermetically covered by a glass dome, having three aper- 
tures, into’ which should be secured, also hermetically, 
three tubes, one from a gasometer, one from the water- 
Vessel, and one to serve as an exit-tube. The gasometer 
will contain common air and be slightly weighed in order 
~ drive a current through the apparatus. Between this 
ind the gasometer shall be two absorption-tubes, one con- 
ae Solution of sugar of lead to stop the carbonic acid 
pe the sulphuretted hydrogen; the other containing 
Ydrochloric acid to absorb the ammonia. If these are 
properly arranged, we may be quite sure that neither car- 
ee acid nor ammonia can vitiate the air of the experi- 
th nt Care would be taken immediately after sowing 
© seed to displace the air in the apparatus by that from 
i 
7 
the gasometer. The water-vessel would be on the prin- 
filter, used for the liquid caustic alkali, 
Re with r necessary to replace the descending 
tania is drawn from that part of the vessel into which it 
Thus all contact with the general atmosphere 
experimentally ig rofs. Daubeny and Johnston, 
Dr. Playfair, Mr. Edward Solly, Mr. Fownes, and other 
working chemists, should at once take it in hand, and their 
united experiments would settle the matter in six weeks.] 
Draining.—I hope the remarks of your correspondent 
J. S. F.,” p. 318, will be well considered by those agri- 
culturists who are disposed to afford their land this most 
valuable improvement. The greater cheapness of “ plug- 
draining ’’ is too often a temptation to its adoption (it is 
done in this neighbourhood for 4d. to 5d. per rod), but if 
the theory of Mr. Smith, of Deanston, as explained in 
his lecture at Bristol, that, as the soil becomes dried by 
the operation of the drains, it shrinks and becomes broken 
in a degree, to the depth of the drains, be true, it is rea- 
sonable to expect it will crumble down into the space left by 
the plug as a passage for the water, and eventually obstruct 
and close it. But if the work be properly done, and the 
clay well rammed down on the plug, it must act asa 
‘‘puddling,”’ and prevent any surface-water from arriving 
at the drain. If the soil be not so tenacious as to be 
consolidated by the rammer, moles will be very likely to get 
at the drains and therefore choke them. I would strongly 
recommend all who expect permanent improvement from 
draining to remember the old saying, ‘‘ Once well done, 
is twice done.’’—ZLusor. [See the observations of ‘A 
Clay-land Farmer,’’ in our last. 
Asnaragus.— 1 fear I am not singular in my dis- 
appointment from adopting the method of cultivating 
Asparagus, described in your Chronicle for 1842, p. 187 ; 
but with me it has beena failure. I took two beds, which 
had been made three years ago, with every precaution to 
ensure fertility. On the 29th of October, I covered them 
about four inches thick, with a mixture of one-third of 
fresh night-soil, with two-thirds of road-dust, swept from 
a limestone road; on the 23d of February this was 
forked in, dressed with a pound of salt to each yard, and 
the beds were covered about seven inches with leaves 
that had before covered the Seakale beds. My neighbours. 
have been cutting for two or three weeks, but my grass 
seemed unwilling to make its appearance, till last week I 
observed a few heads, and on removing the leaves was 
able to get a few small, long, white shoots, much crooked 
in forcing through the leaves, but which, when cooked, 
were (as you observed) like ‘‘ bleached timber,’’ with half- 
an-inch of eatable Asparagus at the end. I have had the 
leaves removed, but the few buds that are now breaking 
through the surface are looking very weak and small. 
expect to have lost the crop for this season at any rate. 
What the next will prove time will show —Lusor.—[The 
next will repay you for a temporary disappointment. 
Time is wanted fox all these operations, and this year a 
miserable May has rendered time more necessary than 
ver. | 
Fungus on Tan.—1 would recommend your corre- 
spondent who complains of fungus growing on his bark- 
bed, to try the effect of soot sown moderately thick over 
co as I have killed it several times by that means 
= 
@ 
Hedgehogs.—J_ consider these inoffensive animals as 
very useful inmates of a garden. I once had a very young 
one, and it was amusing, when he was rolled closely up, 
to throw a snail near him. It seemed as though he 
detected the proximity of the snail by smell; for he would 
soon begin to unfold himself with great caution, till he 
saw his prey, when he would suddenly dart upon it, and 
commence crushing the shell with great haste; as soon as 
the shell was removed, it ate the snail with much relish. 
I think the hedgehog would assist materially in the 
destruction of snails and insects in a garden.— Lusor. 
Guano applied toMangold Wurtzel.—In answer to the 
inquiries of *‘ A Correspondent,” at p. 216, respecting the 
application of genuine Guano to the Mangold Wurtzel crop, 
I beg leave to offer the following particulars of the method 
purpose, and have found that when onejis put®into a pot 
or frame where woodlice abound, the number of the latter 
soon decreases. But I never had an opportunity of seeing 
a toad in the act of devouring his prey until a day or two 
ago, when, on removing some Dahlia roots, several 
woodlice, disturbed by the operation, commenced runnin, 
about in different directions. These, a toad, confinedia 
the same frame, immediately approached and attacked, 
I at first thought that he opened his mouth and sucked 
the insect in; but, on a closer examination, I found that 
the toad possessed the property of being able to thrust 
out to a considerable extent his tongue, with which he 
seizes and conveys the insect into his mouth with such 
precision and rapidity, that to an inattentive observer it 
would appear that he only opens his mouth, when the 
insect immediately leaps down his throat. In the space 
of two or three minutes I witnessed upwards of 20 
woodlice take the above leap. I have had the same toad 
for upwards of three years, and in the winter months, 
when his services were not required, a hole was dug in 
the earth, in the bottom of which a piece of slate was put, 
and on this he was placed, under an inverted flower-pot, 
and buried at about the depth of one foot from the 
surface.— Tom Toad. Toads will keep frames quite 
clear from ants, beetles, and woodlice, and they are per- 
fectly harmless. I have seen them eat thousands of ants 
and woodlice, and I always keep a number of them in my 
houses.—Jemsheed. 
Pine-apple Strawberry.—Last year there was a good 
deal said about the difficulty of managing the ‘ Pine- 
apple Strawberry,’”’ and very many persons are hence de- 
terred from cultivating it ; yet one of your correspondents 
asserted that it was as hardy, and as easily managed, with 
perfect success, as any other. As this is so delicious a 
Strawberry, it may not be out of place for me to press 
the same opinion. My soil is strong, yet I have not lost 
a single plant, either young or old, during the winter, and 
Ihave a good many. Their treatment is the same as the 
other kinds. I find, however, that the maggot of the 
Crane-fly is a great enemy to them. Would spirits of 
tar be as likely to drive them away as it does the wire- 
worm ?—Discipulus. [The experiment is worth trying.] 
Birds,—The other day a nest was found at Ashford 
Lodge, near Halstead, containing three blackbirds and one 
thrush, fully fledged. The nest was in a secluded place, 
and does not appear to have been in any way disturbed.— 
J. Pugan, 
Keeping Apples.—There are many theories and plans 
for keeping Apples, but the following instance will show 
that they i reserve th Ives in a very unac- 
countable manner. Last week my gardener found two 
Apples—one a Tankard, the other a sound juicy Apple, 
which we call, in this part of the country, the Harvey— 
in the Box-edging of one of the walks, perfectly fresh and 
sound, although they had been exposed to all the frost, 
snow, and rain of the winter—the two former unusually 
severe. What makes it still more extraordinary is, that 
all the ‘‘ Harveys’’ had disappeared from the fruit-room 
at least a month before the solitary one was found !— 
EL, FOL. 
Amaryllis regine.—Surely ‘‘ J.B.,’’ p. 138, ismistaken 
when he states that he cultivates Amaryllis reginee, with A. 
formosissima and vittata, in the open air. The two last are 
greenhouse bulbs, and will do out of doors; but A. reginze 
is one of the tenderest of stove bulbs, as far as my expe- 
rience goes, invariably suffering if left in the greenhouse 
late in autumn, and seldom flowering butin strong stove- 
heat; its constitution seems even to affect hybrids with 
more hardy species, for A. aulica reginze requires far more 
heat than A. aulica, so much so that the two will not flou- 
rish under the same treatment. Mr. Herbert doubts if 
A. reginze came from Mexico, on account of its tenderness. 
Is it not probable that it did come from the neighbour- 
hood of Vera Cruz? We had little communication wit 
Central Mexico and its Tierra templada in 1728, when 
A. regine first flowered in England.—J. R. 
Scotch and English Farmers.—I shall enter no farther 
into controversy with your Stirling correspondent ; for 
what truth can be established, or what right conclusions 
come to, with one who reiterates that a partial decline, 
although considerable, and a total giving up, are the same 
thing. Or that there is no difference between a simple 
statement of fact given on the authority of the Reports 
of the Great Agricultural Meetings at Liverpool and 
Bristol, and without the reasons being quoted; and 
reasons invented for the occasion by your correspondent, 
whilst the new matter introduced into his last letter, in 
reference to my first ication, is gk i) 
version of my meaning. I shall, therefore, wait for a 
clearer-headed adversary before I again address you on 
the subject of Scotch and English Farmers’; only now 
remarking that your correspondent’s manner of argument 
confirms the opinion now growing in public belief, that, 
by false statements, the character of Scotch Farmers has 
been attempted to be placed in a false position.—g > 
r= 
adopted by my gardener last spring :—Drills were drawn 
6 inches in depth, and 2 feet apart, into which the 
Guano was strewed at the rate of 1lb. to 15 yards, and 
covered over with an inch of mould; above this the 
Mangold Wurtzel seed was afterwards sown. The produce 
of the seed thus treated was fully one-third more than of 
that which received a dressing of farm-yard manure ; the 
average weight of the roots being from Sibs. to 9lbs.—Z. S. 
Toads and Woodlice.—I am rather surprised to find 
that Mr. Beaton, at p. 176, doubts the fact of toads de- 
stroying woodlice ; and yet he says he would not like to 
see his Cucumber and Melon pits without one. Now, if 
they do not destroy insects, why have them there? If 
they are not useful, they are certainly not ornamental. 
I have always considered them to be useful for the above 
Gosforth.—[Here this controversy must cease, so far as 
the Gardeners’ Chronicle is concerned. 
Bees.—J. A., Devonport, begs to submit, with every 
respectful deference, that the ‘“ Bar-and-frame Hive,’’ 
of which a sketch was so kindly supplied in the last 
Number of the Gardeners’ Chronicle, is not quite intel- 
ligible. Will ‘“E. M.W.” be so obliging as to describe 
the several parts, and letter them, in the next publication 
of the Gardeners’ Chronicle. A key of this kind would 
remove all the difficulties from this ingenious and (I 
should hope also) useful Bee-box. 
Apples.—I think I could show ‘‘A Tivy-side Sub- 
scriber’? Apples in two months hence as good as he 
describes. We keep ours in what we call here half-penny (?) 
pots, or even in boxes. We always place them as they 
