372 THE 
[JUNE 3, 
GARDENERS CHRONICLE. 
your to answer such objections as we have heard of, 
to show in what way it seems likely to be most use- 
fully applied, and to point out what the circum- 
stances are which have occasionally led to its failure. 
THE ANTIQUITIES OF GARDENING. 
No. I.—Extracts from a M.S. on Gardening, in the possession of 
Sir Henry Bunbury, Bart., written by his Ancestor Sir Thomas 
Hanmer, 1650—1670. 
Maracocs.—* The Maracoc is called in Latine Granadilla 
and Clematis trifolia, and Flos Passionis, the Passion-flower, 
because there are some parts of the flower which resemble a 
spear and three nayles, the instruments of the Passion. The 
flower consists of ten whitish leaves which stand round, and 
are covered with many crooked threads, of a kind of pale 
Peach colour, with a ring or circle of deeper Peach colour; 
out of the middle of the flower comes a pale whitish green 
head, spotted with red, with five crooked spotted horns, 
with broadish heads, from the midst of which rises another 
head, which bears three things like nailes, big above and 
smaller below. [Rapin, in his ‘Poem of Gardens,’ 
alludes to the representations which appear to have given 
rise to the name of Passion-flower, as follows :— 
«In summer months will Granadilla show 
Her bloom, which first in Amazonia blew, } 
And graced the shore sent hither from Perw, 
On lofty stems indented leaves adorn 
The blossoms, which, with prickles, as the Thorn, 
Our Saviour’s Passion in their form declare, 
Show all the barb’rous nails and bloody spear : 
For from the midst a three-forked chive she rears, 
And each bent grain like a crooked nail appears.’ ’’] 
Amaranthe.—‘* When Gerard wrote his Herbal, hee 
knew only of two Purple Amaranthes, and one Scarlet, 
and that with the painted leaves; but of late years the 
English florists have raised above half a score of new 
varietyes out of seed that came first from Surat, in Persia ; 
many of which are very fine, and are of different scarlets, 
and other reds, or of lovely yellow ; all the colours very 
orient and faire.” 
Roses.—‘t The Damaske Rose is very common with us, 
and the sweetest of all. The Variegated Damaske, or 
Yorke and Zancaster, which is the true Damaske, striped 
well with white ; a fine rose when it marks rightly, sweet 
asthe Damaske. Of Yellow Roses wee have only one 
double, which is as big as a reasonable Provins, when it 
blowes well, which it seldom does, either in England or 
other countryes, being eaten up commonly with wormes 
in the bud. In Italy, they hold it likes best in a coole 
place. Wee know by experience that it loves to run up 
high and not to be cut at the tops. It is a lovely flower, 
being of arich yellow colour. It blows very well in an 
Open pure aire, near Hogmagog hills, not far from Cam~- 
bridge, and a light soyle. In Italy, there hath been above 
these twenty years a fine Rose, the seed whereof came 
from the East Indyes; it is called in Latin commonly 
Rosa sinensis, by the Indians [Chinese] Fuyo. It grows 
to a high tree for a Rose, hath a leaf like a Fig [this is 
doubtless the Hibiscus Rosa sinensis]. Ferrarius was 
the first raiser of it from seed in these parts of the world.’ 
Christ’s Thorn.—* In Latin Paliurus ; itis a shrubby 
bush, with small roundish leaves and many sharp thorns. 
It grows plentifully in Palestine, and is called Christ’s 
Thorn, because it is thought that the crown of thorns 
was of this tree.” 
The Cedar, usually called of Libanus.—‘! No tree con- 
tinues longer free from corruption than this. Wee have 
of late had some fine plants raised from seed which are 
yet very small, so that it is very rare in England as well 
6s in the rest of Europe.” 
ON VEGETABLE MANURES, 
(Continued from page 334.) 
2. Turves.—In many parts of the north of Germany 
and Holland, heath-mould is cut into turves, called in 
German “‘ plaggen.” They are either used in stables, for 
litter, or placed alternately with strawy dung, in heaps 4 to 
5 ft. high (called Plaggenmist), and after they have 
become rotten, are used for manuring sandy soils. When 
long enough subjected to the action of dung (sheep or 
horse-dung is best, on account of the ammonia deve. 
loped,) the crops will turn out very fine. 
No doubt these turves, if properly mixed with dung, 
will form an efficient manure for dry, hot, sandy land, 
which they will supply with humus; and although the 
latter in the state of turves may be of a carbonaceous 
nature, yet the action of ammonia and the heating to 
which it is subjected will dissolve it, as it were, and con- 
vert it into vegetable nourishment. The coal of humus 
will then yield to the crops not only humic acid, but also 
lime, magnesia, sulphuric and phosphoric acid, alumina, 
&e. It is cleay chat the manuring action of turves will 
be considerab!y increased, if the heaps are also wetted 
with the drainage of dunghills, urine, &c., because in this 
case more ammonia will be generated to decompose the 
coal of humus. It is also advisable to add some lime, 
marl, &c., by which meansgood compost will be produced, 
This sort of litter is best adapted for sheep, under 
whos? influence the decomposition of the coal of humus 
and heaths willbe most perfect ; and the ammonia formed 
by the excrements of the sheep will be entirely absorbed 
by the humus of the turves ; indeed the ammonia which 
is perspired by the sheep will not be lost, as may be 
ascertained by a simple experiment. If a vessel with 
humus is placed in a sheep or horse-stable, it will be 
found that humate of ammonia will be quickly formed 
To prevent the wool of the sheep being injured by the 
turves, which are to be turned root upwards, a slight 
layer of straw is to be placed on the top. 
This sort of manure will be much improved and made 
sooner available, if, like the leaves of trees, before being 
placed under the cattle, or mixed with straw, it is thrown 
in high heaps and left to rot ; by the heating thus : pro- 
duced, not only will the coal of humus (which is always 
alloyed with wax and resin), but also the heath and its 
roots, be subjected to a partial decomposition. 
When turves are littered in stables, or placed there in 
some regular order, no sinks for fluid excrements will be 
required, because the earth of the turves will absorb them. 
They are to be left, if possible, four to six weeks under 
the cattle ; then conveyed outside, and placed in heaps 
three to four feet high, for the purpose of heating, and if 
too dry, they are to be moistened with water. Under 
such circumstances, the ammonia cannot be lost, because 
it will be chemically absorbed by the earth of the turves 
as fast as it is formed. 
Tt is said that turf manure will improve by remaining 
four or five days in small heaps in the field before it is 
spread, and it is stated that the air will extract the acid 
which it always contains. It, however, contains no volatile 
acid. If it is true that turf manure is improved by lying 
in small heaps, it can only be by forming more humic 
acid with the oxygen of the atmosphere, which acid cannot 
be generated in large heaps so extensively as in small ones, 
ecause the air has not free access; and if turves be 
ploughed in at once, the access of oxygen will be equally 
prevented, 
Although it is well ascertained that making turf manure 
requires much manual labour and carriage, and that large 
tracts of land may be rendered still more barren by cutting 
the heath and its roots ; on the other hand, we are to re- 
member that fields of dry sandy scil are much improved 
by this manure, and it may be asserted that without it the 
soil would not even return the labour bestowed on it, 
Instead of heath, common turf is also used as litter, the 
roots and the earth surrounding it being cut to a cer- 
tain depth. This is a much better manure than peat turf, 
as it contains not only less carboniferous humus (saturated 
with resin), but the roots of grass are easier decomposed, 
and possess more manuring material than heath. If 
such turf is used as litter, the manure may be carried 
away and ploughed in in three or four weeks; whilst 
heath will not be reduced to the same perfect state in less 
than eight or ten weeks. It is seldom, however, that 
much use can be made of such turf, because this operation 
spoils whole tracts of land for a long time. It is only 
turf from roadsides, lanes, &c. that can be used. 
(Lo be continued.) 
AMATEUR’S GARDEN.—No. XXII. 
Or all the various tribes of plants which we cultivate, 
there is not one so admirably adapted for blooming through 
the winter as the Cineraria; and what renders it still 
more valuable is the fact that any one having a common 
frame may grow the varieties in as great perfection as 
those possessing an extensive conservatory. This is the 
tribe upon which the Amateur must mainly depend for 
flowers to supply his drawing-room table through the 
winter. Those readers who possess the Chronicle for 
1841 will there find my system of cultivating it; but a 
many do not, I shall here give a short abstract of my 
practice, which is simple, and has always been attended 
with very satisfactory results. 
About this time the plants that have bloomed through 
the season must be cut down, turned out of their pots, 
and have at least half the old soil removed from their 
roots. This being done, a piece of ground in a sheltered 
part of the garden, which, if not already rich and friable, 
must be made so by adding leaf-mould or rotten dung and 
sand to it—must be prepared, and the plants planted out 
in rows 15 inches apart, and one foot apart in the row. 
In planting, the old ball must be kept at least one inch 
below the level of the surrounding soil, the object being to 
get the young shoots, as they spring through the soil, 
firmly rooted before they are removed from the old plant. 
Throughout the summer the plants must be copiously 
supplied with water, in dry weather, and be kept free 
from weeds, either by hand-picking or hoeing ; but if the 
hoe is used care must be taken that the young plants are 
not injured, as they frequently protrude their offsets at 
some distance from the centre of the old plant. 
By the middle of August the plants will be getting pretty 
strong ; they must then be taken up and parted, retaining 
as much root as possible to each plant, and not rejecting 
any in consequence of their being small, as it is upon the 
various-sized plants that we must depend for a successional 
display of flowers ; since the large plants will bloom in 
autumn, while the small ones will not flower before the 
following spring. At this removal the largest plants must 
be potted in pots proportionate to their size, and be placed 
ina cool close frame until they are established ; after 
which they may be exposed until the approach of frost 
renders it necessary to protect them. The small plants, 
after the ground has been dug over, must be again planted 
at about one foot apart; they will require a little shading 
in sunny weather, and will make beautiful plants for pot- 
ting in October. 
The soil which I have found most suitable for Cinera- 
rias is two parts of turfy loam, with one part each of 
leaf-mould and sandy-peat, mixed together and used as 
rough as possible ; but they will grow in almost any light 
soil. Some of the old kinds, as Hendersonii, purpurea, 
elegans, Waterhousiana, and King, are the best adapted 
for early flowering, and a shrubby kind called Greenii, 18 
also very splendid; but those who do not possess any 
lants at all may depend upon a tolerable good show of 
flowers from plants raised from seed, A friend of mine 
purchased a six-penny packet of seed at Carter’s sced- 
shop in Holborn, 12 months back: from this he raised 
upwards of sixty plants, a number of them very distinct, 
and one a blue flower, superior to anything I have ever 
met with round London ; so that the reader will see it is 
a 
not an expensive affair to procure a collection of Cinera- 
rias.—_W. P. Ayres. 
HOME CORRESPONDENCE. 
Errata.—tin Mr. Potter’s article on Nitrogen, p. 357, line 39 
from the top, for ‘and is, soto speak, shared by an unconcerned 
spectator,” read ‘and it, so to speak, stand by,” &c. In the 
same page, line 15 from the bottom, for “ slightly weighed,” read 
“slightly weighted.” Also, in the article on Apples, page 357, at 
the bottom of the third column, for “half-penny ” read **half- 
piece,” which our correspondent tells us is a mug used in Wales 
for containing milk, and holds about 28 quarts. 
Garden-pots.—I have just made a good improvement 
on the common flower-pots, which deserves to be univer- 
sally adopted. The shape, size, and expense are not 
altered. Ihave done away with the hole at the bottom 
altogether ; and, instead of the flat bottom, the maker 
pushes in the centre of it, like the bottom of a common 
black bottle, only not with so sharp a turn inside, and the 
drainage-holes are round the sides at the bottom, From 
2 to 6 holes, according to the size of the pot, will do all 
the business of drainage. The roots cannot get through 
the bottom, neither can the worms get in, and water can- 
not hang under the pot in winter, which, for Heaths, is 
the best part of the change.—D. Beaton. 
ees.—Having read in the Gardeners’ Chronicle of 
May 20 some observations by Mr. J. Wighton on the 
plan suggested by ‘“* W. W.” in the Chronicle for April 
29, as a remedy against the effluvia arising from the dirt 
collected in Beehives, I beg to coincide in his opinion, 
but recommend one of the American floor-boards made 
by Mr. J. Milton, of No. 10, Great Marylebone-street, 
which, by its construction, will at once obviate the neces- 
sity of lifting up the hive to sweep off the dirt, or dead 
Bees, &c. Asan inclined plane is made to extend the 
whole length of the centre of the American floor-board, 
t must of necessity be always clean, as nothing can 
remain upon it, The slight ascent forms no impediment 
to the Bees when returning home from their labours ©! 
collecting honey or pollen.—?WV. A. X. 
Roses.—I have taken some pains to inquire, amongst 
private growers and nurserymen, what their opinion was 
as to the exhibition of Roses by Mr. Milne and my gar- 
dener at Chiswick on May 13, and without an excep- 
tion I find them of the same opinion as myself—that they 
were highly creditable. Iam glad my situation as secon! 
enables me to speak disinterestedly ; and whilst I hold 
that we ought always to submit to the judgment of the 
judges, and give them the credit I do for honesty and im- 
partiality, yet I think a little discussion may prevent the 
repetition of an error if one be committed, or satisfy the 
disappointed that the judgment was correct. In No. 5 of 
this year’s Chronicle will be found a letter signed ‘‘ Rose= 
bud,” in which I state my opinion as to the possibility of 
a fine exhibition in time to come, but that the production 
of 25 varieties in bloom would, from the shortness of the 
notice and the novelty of the thing altogether be attended 
with difficulty to the first exhibitors. Who will doubt 
their being exhibited better in June ?—that is the Rose 
season. Why, the merit of the exhibition, in my views 
was their appearing out of season. Now I ask any one 
of the judges, in the very best spirit—that of inguity—@ 
they ever produce such a collection as Mr. Milne’s es 
such notice and at that time? If it be easy, how ashame! 
ought the nurserymen to be—the Rose-growing nursery> 
men—to let a gardener run them so close (I speak of a 
own) who had but 36 plants to get his 25 out of, ay 
never grew arose in a pot in his life before.—G- Bee 
[We shall be happy to insert any short letter upo? ne 
subject, if rose-growers wish to take it up.] t 
Plants for a Suburban Garden.—A corresponden 
having solicited a tabular statement, in the annexed toe 
of about eight hardy trees, flowering shrubs, and herbaceos 
plants, that would thrive in three different soils, abou 
or 4 miles from St. Paul's, we insert the followin» 
which may possibly be of more general use Spenaes set 
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