590 
[Ava. 26, 
THE GARDENERS’ CHRONICLE. 
in Potatoes, brought the subject again to my mind. i 
have observed on various occasions, when the seed Potatoes 
are of adry and floury texture, or what is commonly 
known by the designation of ‘‘ mealy Potatoes,” they are 
very apt to produce, what, in the west country, seem to 
be designated ** Bobbin Joans ;”’ and I have also noticed 
similar results and much absolute failure when the seed 
Potatoes had been exhausted of their natural moisture, by 
improper modes of keeping, by fermentation in the 
Potato-house, and by being suffered to exhaust their 
strength by premature growths, &c. Whether any of these 
causes operate to the production of ‘‘ Bobbin Joans”’ in 
Cornwall, I cannot say; but I beg to state what was re- 
lated to me by an old Potato-grower, who lived a series 
of years in the west coast of Argyleshire, respecting the 
application—not, indeed, of salt—but of saline matter. 
My friend’s statement was this:—That the west High- 
landers set apart whatever portion of their Potato-ground 
was intended to produce the following year’s seed, and 
dressed that with Fucus, or ‘sea-wrack ; the effect was that 
the Potatoes, which grew upon that portion were so 
*«squashy’’ (watery), that they were quite unfit for the 
table. They were grown so intentionally forseed. I have 
never been located near enough the sea to put the above 
practice to the test; but if some of the Cornish men near 
the coast would try it, they might possibly get relieved 
of the undesirable company of “ Bobbin Joans.”— Quercus. 
Watering Out-door Plants.—I, like your correspond- 
ent ‘Moorland Willie’ (p. 542), am heartily tired of 
water-tubs and watering-pots, and have frequently expe- 
i hing like his disappoi in the use of 
them. I hope he will tell us of what his ‘‘ Macintosh” 
is composed, that others may profit by its application as 
well as himself.— Q. 
Extraordinary Tenacity of Life in the Potato.—In 
March last I planted a piece of land with the Regent Po- 
tato, but having occasion to raise the ground, I had a 
heap of mould about 25 feet deep laid on it, intending to 
level it in the autumn. Two or three days ago I sent a 
man to clean the ground, and was astonished at seeing the 
Potatoes, which had been buried fully 25 feet ; and what 
was very surprising, considering the weakness of the stems, 
I found that tubers had been formed near the surface.— 
G. T., Woolwich. 
Climbing Roses.—I have a strong climbing Rose, 
growing 16 or 18 feet high, in front of my house, which 
has a south aspect, but, as Mr. Ayres observes, ‘‘ the 
flowers are only semi-double, with flimsy petals,’”’ that I 
have felt so much dissatisfied with it, as to have had some 
intention of rooting it up. I shall, however, immediately 
bud some China and other Roses upon it, and hope to 
make it a more interesting specimen. I trust I am not 
too late for the operation. I beg to observe, en passant, 
that last year I put ina bud of a red Rose (name un- 
known), and another bud of jred Moss Provence, upon a 
common white garden Rose-stock, five feet high, leaving 
one shoot of the latter upon it, and this year I have had 
all the three sorts in bloom at the same time. This may 
not be new to practical men, but was quite so to me, who 
am an amateur.—Z£. B. 
The Mulberry.—The observations in a late Number 
respecting the propagation of the Mulberry, induce me to 
mention a fact which passed under my own immediate 
observation, and which appeared to me extraordinary. A 
large branch was torn from a Mulberry tree, in the garden 
belonging to the Widows’ Hospital, at Bromley, in Kent. 
The Rev. — Scott, chaplain to the institution, planted it 
without any particular attention, and two years afterwards 
saw it a large Mulberry-tree, in full production of fruit. 
. Re 
Ginger.—Mr. Brown, of Merevale, at p. 557, says, 
* After the first “crop of Ginger is gathered replace the 
old sets, and they will produce a crop for seed the follow- 
ing year.” Now, it appears that he excites his Ginger to 
a second growth. May I ask, When he first plants his 
Ginger—when he gathers his “ first’? crop—and how he 
matures his replaced “seed’’ for the following season? 
Ginger being a great favourite of mine as a preserve, I am 
very anxious to obtain all information regarding it. I 
have been accustomed to opposite culture these last six 
years with the greatest success, but still stoop to “live 
and learn.”—J. M, Dytch. 
Potting Plants.—At p. 479, “‘ E.C.,” when speaking of 
the treatment he pursued towards some seedling Pelar- 
goniums, seems to have misunderstood a passage ina late 
article “on Potting, &c.’’ by me, and I would therefore 
beg to say a few words by way of explanation. If he 
takes the passage in question, which runs thus—“ to 
bury an inch or two of the stem of a plant is very 
injurious,” in an isolated point of view, I grant him 
some ground for his remark ; but, if taken in connection 
with some passages preceding it, I confess I cannot see 
the slightest foundation for his objection. I said, “ at 
all events, let it not be placed deeper than when it received 
its first remoye from the cutting or seed-pot ;”” by which I 
mean, when a plant requires to be removed from the 
minute pot it was placed in—when taken from the cutting 
or seed-pot—when the stem has acquired a somewhat 
woody texture—when it has adapted itself to the external 
action of light and air, to bury it in the soil, and subject 
it to darkness and moisture is anything but natural, any- 
thing but wise. We know itis very often desirable, when 
seeds by some ill-treatment become “ drawn,” in potting 
them off to bury the weak and fibrous stem to a consider- 
able depth, to enable it to support itself; but this has 
nothing to do with the potting of the plant, when its 
stem and branches assume a more solid and woody texture 
—in a word, when it has assumed the true character of 
the substance peculiar to the nature of its several parts. 
When a seedling it could scarcely be termed a plant, being 
in fact nothing but an embryo, and had nothing, or partook 
very slightly, of the character of a true plant. The several 
organs by which it was to absorb the nourishment from 
the soil, and adapt it to the constitution of the plant were 
certainly formed, but had not as yet become of such a 
nature as to be affected by treatment, which, if the plant 
were subjected to it in a later stage of growth, would prove 
fatal, or at least materially affect it.—Tyro. 
Wrens.—On the summit of an arch covered with the 
Laura de Voorst Rose, and within six feet of my door, is 
a Wren’s nest, termed the ‘* cock’s nest.’’ I could but 
notice with what astonishing rapidity, those little creatures 
constructed this nest, asit was only from three to four 
days from their commencing before the work was com- 
pleted, although a large nest for such small birds. The 
outside is roughly built of old thatch from a building hard 
by, and the inside is lined with coarse moss from the shed. 
The cock is the only one that appears to visit this nest, 
although the pair assisted each other in building it. There 
is another nest close by, which seems to claim the attention 
of the cock during the greater part of the day. Visitors 
have often been shown the peculiar situation of this sin- 
gular nest, and not altogether without its advantages, as 
it has ofttimes been the means of selling plants of the 
above lovely Rose.—S. Dillistone, Nursery, Sturmer. 
Pelargoniums.—** C.’’ blooms a few hundred Pelargo- 
niums annually, from cuttings struck the year before in the 
open air, on the plan detailed by Catleugh. These are kept 
in small pots in a small Greenhouse throughout the winter, 
with as little artificial heat and water as possible. In 
spring they are re-potted and removed into frames. Ag 
the plants begin to bloom, they are returned to the Green- 
house, affording, from their irregular period of blooming, 
a continued succession of unbroken gaiety for three 
months. The appearance of the leaves is singularly 
healthy, but the flowers are inferior in intensity of colour 
and substance of petal to others so treated as to bear only a 
few and yellowish leaves. ‘‘C.” states this fact in relation 
to Pelargoniums only. ‘“C.” must not omit to mention that 
he does not use either bone-dust or liquid manure in the 
management of his Pelargoniums. The soil employed con- 
sists of fresh loamy turf, leaf-mould, peat from a moor, 
and about a sixth part of very old stable manure.— 
August 13, 1843, 
Bees.—In reply to Mr. Golding, in the Chronicle of 
July 1, I mentioned two things concerning Bees, which I 
find he has noticed in the Chronicle of July 11, viz. :— 
The supposed instinct in Bees to close their door-ways 
against their enemies, founded on what is related by Huber ; 
likewise the manner in which Bees collect their pollen, 
mentioned by Dr. Bevan, in his Work on the “ Honey Bee.”’ 
Mr. Golding is silent respecting the principal or leading 
point,—fortification @ Ja Huber. For the manner in which 
Bees collect pollen, Mr. G. refers me to the Editor of the 
“ Quarterly Review,” (vol. Ixxi.), who says, ‘‘that the 
‘Honey Bee’ may be considered as a standard work on 
our domestic Bee,” and observes, ‘‘ he would not be easily 
led away by a ‘mealy Bee story.’’”? I did not say he 
would. However, be that as it may, it is a pity when 
errors creep into standard works, for they are more likely 
to mislead than otherwise; for example—the writer in the 
‘* Quarterly Review ”’ seems to have been led away by a 
‘* mealy Bee story.” He says, at p, 16, “ Bees will at times 
roll and revel in a flower, like a donkey in a dusty road.’’ 
One thing brings on another. I find that the same autho- 
rity mentions some things at variance with Bee knowledge ; 
for instance, ‘‘ Bees store away more pollen than they can 
use, which, in its decomposition, becomes to them a sore 
trouble and annoyance.’ At one time I thought so too; 
but now I think otherwise, and consider that a store of 
pollen is as needful to the prosperity of a colony as that 
of honey, for without the former the brood could not be 
reared. The desire of Bees in storing up pollen is only 
in accordance with that of storing up honey, for it can 
only be collected at certain times, and becomes to them no 
trouble or annoyance, when the real use of it is generally 
known. If pollen was as valuable as honey, I question if 
we should hear of the unthriftiness of Bees collecting more 
of it than they really want, for honey mixed with pollen 
makes it into brood bread. Bees are good chemists, and 
of course know how to preserve it from decomposition. 
At p. 18, the writer in the ‘‘ Quarterly Review ”’ relates 
the story of the snail, that intruded into a hive which the 
Bees sealed down, only round the edge of his shell. This, 
of course, appears very funny; but, after all,it only agrees 
with the instinct of Bees sealing anything loose inside their 
dwelling. I may remark that this writer recommends 
giving straw hives three good coats of paint inside, a thing 
which no good Apiarian would countenance, for the Bees 
know best what to do in this respect. Of that powerful 
enemy the Wasp, with which the Honey-bee has to con- 
tend, the writer remarks, ‘these brazen-mailed invaders 
take good care never to attack any but weak hives; here 
they very soon make themselves at home, walking in and 
out in the most cool, amusing manner possible. As an 
instance of the extent to which these intrusions may be 
carried, there was sent to the Entomological Society in 
July last, a very complete Wasp’s nest, found in the inte- 
rior of a Bee-hive, the lawful inhabitants of which had 
been put to flight by the burglars.” A slight reflection 
may show that the last sentence is not correct, for only 
one Queen Wasp begins a nest, and of course cannot 
attacka hive however weak—nay, a hornet dare not attempt 
it. The truth is, Wasps never form their nests in Bee- 
hives unless they are tenantless. Again the “ Quarterly” 
observes, ‘ Bees, like men, have their different dispositions, 
so that even their loyalty will sometimes fail them.” He 
says so, because he knew of ‘a hive, which having early 
exhausted its store, was found, on being examined oni 
and the only symptom of life was the poor queen her- 
self, ‘unfriended, melancholy, ‘slow,’ crawling over the 
honeyless cells, a sad spectacle of the fall of Bee great- 
ness.” Loyalty sounds well, though it has nothing to do 
with this event ; death put an end to the Bees because of 
their weakness, which also led to numbness and barrenness 
in the queen ; her being the longer-lived accounts for her 
surviving all the rest. This same writer mentions that 
Dr: Bevan ‘‘cuts the life of the worker Bee too short,” 
that is, to six months, and he says, ‘‘if his account were 
correct, the sacrifice of their lives by stifling would not be 
so great a loss as it would at first appear.’” And he fur- 
ther observes, “their use in the second year is not so much 
for gathering honey, as for tending and nursing the young.”” 
Supposing Dr. Bevan to be correct, (and I think he is,) 
that would not affect the plea of destroying Bees any more 
than keeping them on the depriving system, for their 
places are filled up by the quick succession of brood. 
Respecting old or nurse Bees, though they may be seen 
with tarnished wings, yet I never could discover any that 
were not able to quit the hive in search of food. In fact, 
Bees have too much enmity to their aged or sick to allow 
them room in the hive. The writer in the “‘ Quarterly,” 
like most of our Apiarians, follows Huber’s belief, that 
the impregnation of the Queen Bee takes place in the air ; 
this most hidden thing in the economy of Bees, however, 
we have yet to learn. Perhaps those who think other- 
wise will hardly believe Huber’s statement to Bonnet, 
viz., that “he constructed the entrance of a hive so as to 
prevent the Queen making her exit, but allowed free pas- 
sage to the workers.’’ If that could be accomplished, 
why not adopt the plan to prevent the Queen entering side 
boxes in hives to deposit eggs? it would be the means of 
superseding all attempts at ventilation. But the fact is, 
there is hardly a pin to choose between the hole that would 
let out a worker and keep in a Queen Bee. The “ Quar- 
terly’’ also observes, that ‘‘ we are indebted to Huber for 
the knowledge that wax is produced from honey.’’ This, 
J believe, is doubtful, and I consider that Bees collect wax 
from plants ; however, if I am wrong, it is excusable, for 
Wighton. 
Truffes.—You noticed some time since the occurrence 
of a new Truffle (Tuber ferrugineum, or rather, Tuber 
rufum,) in Essex. This has been sent me lately from He 
neighbourhood of Corsham, from whence I have sever . 
new underground Fungi. The Tuber moschatum af 
Sowerby occurs in that neighbourhood in abundance, a 
is used at Bath in preference to the common Trufile, 
under the name of Red Truffle, though it has so lon8 
been lost to botanists. It has, however, little in one 
mon with the Truffle in appearance or qualities. of 
surface is quite smooth, and the scent very like thet ie 
decaying pears. ‘The flesh is black, with fine whitis ie 
yellowish veins, and instead of being dry and brittle, 
The reproductive bodi 
the tips of certain cells. ent 
Tuber at all, but to Melanogaster. 
lanogaster Broomeianus, after C. E. Broome, Esq: 
successful i igator of the underg d Yun aaa 
which has been adopted by Messrs. Tulasne (to ¥ 
had communicated specimens) in the last Number or 
Annales des Sciences Naturelles. 1 wish some £ 
Sussex or Hampshire readers could meet with 
smooth, white Truffle of Sowerby, which 1 hav' 
sought for, and which, like the Musk Truffle, ts; an 
many years been overlooked, at least by botani® ynieate 
if so, that they would have the kindness to ooh ‘King’s 
specimens addressed as below.—™M. J. Berkeley, 
Clif, Wansford, Northamptonshire. 
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON: various 
E. Gray, Esq., President, in announced, and 
near Bridgewater,’ by Mr. E. Lees; _G. A. K.T 
found in theneighbourhood of Bristol, by enous to this locality, 
‘he author enumerated 133 species a Flora. ie President 
some of which were new to F ys apifera, which ha 
hr 
drew attention to an abnormal form ios ‘The two lower Oe 
been sent to him by a lady from Dork upper norm 
ve i 
of the spike had two distinct unites ver-lapping the 
lilac, and exactly resemD! 
three sepals of the middle te two of the sepals of the te 
i a 
an OPE Gt any lip, and me 
while to examine if ST te reduced development of the Or the 
moreover stated that thi d by Mr. His, where each of the 
ee er Tia onICOTURAL SOC a 
mearum,—The prize Bir a ee iet to Mr. Parker, 58, 
Meeting onthe sth and 9° vt tor. Larcomb, as stated at p- 558» 
A 
morning, to be utterly deserted ; the comb was empty, \ to J, Oughton, Esq, and n\ 
