462 
THE GARDENERS CHRONICLE. 
[JULY 8, 
tected instead of being so persecuted as it always is by 
Gardeners ; there is a strong feeling against it, as being 
destructive to seeds ; whereas it is a soft-billed bird.—d 
Subscriber. . 
Asparagus.—‘ J.B.H.”’—In the Gardeners’ Chronicle, 
July 1, p.444, this correspondent says, ‘I followed your 
advice, and gave my Asparagus plenty of salt, much to their 
advantage in quality and size.” How much more obliged 
would your readers (and of course you, Mr. Editor,) be, 
if “J. B. H.” and other correspondents would be a little 
more particular, and state when, how much, and under 
what circumstances—of wet, drought, or other prevailing 
oints,—salt or other fertilisers may have under their 
direction been applied.—A. B. 
London V ineries—About eighteen months since, I took 
the liberty of asking your opinion upon the following :— 
I stated that I was about to build a small conservatory on 
the leads of a projecting room at the back of a house in 
the Edgware-road—that it should have a span-roof, and 
that I should plant Vines therein; and you were kind 
enough to say you thought my plan would answer. I am 
now about to tell you the result. I did not build the con- 
servatory in time to do much good last year; the plants 
I brought from the country becoming weak before the 
house was finished, and the summer being extremely hot, 
everything was against me. This year I have done much 
better. I did not plant the Vines till April last, but I 
then planted them in slate-boxes (made by Mr. Beck), 
about two feet every way. The Vines have broken ex- 
tremely well, and are quite strong and healthy ; the boxes 
are so formed that the front can be removed, and the roots 
pruned, or fresh earth put to them, or an additional length 
may be made to the boxes, as the Vines grow. All my 
plants (many of which are of last year), are quite healthy 
and flowering freely, which I attribute to this—every 
evening I give them a watering. The Vines and plants 
that are not in flower I water all over, and I also water 
over the flooring, and keep pans of water in the house, 
and I then shut it up entirely ; in a few minutes the glass 
is covered with steam, and in the morning everything is as 
fresh and healthy as if the place was twenty miles from 
London ; the plants scarely flag in the day, as I have an 
awning over the roof when the sun shines : this differs 
from the plan recommended in a recent paper, of throwing 
open all the windows at night. I generally find that when 
there is a draft of air upon wet leaves, they shrivel up; by 
my method this is avoided. I send you a flower of a 
seedling Pelargonium, raised by one of my daughters, which 
has been in the house all the winter, and has now flow- 
ered for the first time. Ido not send it as being any- 
thing extraordinary, except to show that plants may thus 
be kept in a fair healthy state in sucha locality as this, 
and I send you a Vine-leaf to show the same. The Pe- 
largonium flower is very like its parent, which is a very 
free flowerer (I don’t know its name), except that it seems 
of a more compact habit, which again shows, as I think, 
its healthy state. Will you be so good as to inform me what 
Proportions of nitrate of soda and water should be used, 
and whether you think it would be beneficial ; the great 
difficulty I have to contend with is the extreme heat (the 
aspect being due west), and being obliged to keep the 
plants always in the house. My object in this address is 
to show that even in such a situation plants may be kept 
healthy, and much rational amusement afforded, particu- 
larly to the female part of a family. Instead of the 
top glasses being let down they are hung upon hinges, 
and the ends put up to a height sufficient to let in enough 
of air; whereby the chimney-blacks, instead of falling 
upon the plants, are entirely kept out, and the whole 
kept perfectly clean.—D. X. [Nothing can possibly be 
more healthy than the foliage sent us by our correspond- 
ent ; completely proving the justness of the views we have 
always taken about the atmosphere of London. It is bad 
gardening only that has to be blamed for the bad state of 
ondon greenhouses. We do not see the necessity for 
nitrate of soda; but if it is employed, there should not be 
more than a piece as large as a nutmeg to a common 
water-pot of water. ] 
Potato Starch.—Will one of your correspondents 
inform me of the best mode of manufacturing Potato 
Starch—the machinery used—and particularly the man- 
ner of drying it, whether in kilns or otherwise, and if in 
kilns, the construction of them ?—M. K. 
Wild Piwms.—In the last Number of the Chronicle, 
under the head ‘* Amateur’s Garden,” we have the follow- 
ing passage :—“‘ Nature, unaided by Art, has accomplished 
much, aud has produced the Golden Pippin Apple from 
the wild Crab, and Damson and other Plums from the 
common Sloe.” I have seen the same asserted in different 
publications with regard to the Sloe being the parent of 
all our Plums. If it is so, I should be glad to have your 
Opinion of the origin of the Plums found in North 
America. One species which is plentiful in Upper Canada 
as a handsome fruit of the same shape but larger than 
the Damson; when ripe, itis finely shaded with yellow 
and red, which gives it a transparent appearance; the tree 
has the habit of the Damson. I do not find it described 
in Pursh’s Flora—is it grown in this country? Pursh 
describes the Chicasa Plum, the tree of which I have seen, 
but not the fruit; the tree has yery much the appearance 
of an Apricot. Now with regard to the Sloe, I believe it 
has not been found in North America, except in some o: 
the older States about settl ts, evidently i Huced 
from Europe.—B. [We have not much faith in the 
statement that the Sloe produced the domestic Plum ; on 
the contrary, we believe that it and the cultivated Cherry 
really originated in the East, from a different race from 
our Sloe and wild Cherry. We are unacquainted with the 
wild American Plums ;' but there are several, considered 
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES, 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
July 4.—R. W. Barchard, Esq., in the chair, Capt. Du Cane, 
R.N.; T, Twisden Hodges, Esq., and Marmaduke Salvin, Esq., 
were elected Fellows of the Society. There were exhibited from 
D. D. Alves, Esq., two specimens of Sugar Canes, showing the 
effect of the application of farm-yard manure and crushed bones 
to the land in which they were growing. It is now being found 
out by planters that some kind of manure is necessary to the 
a d experiments are being made on the relative 
benefits of the different sorts in use. From Messrs. Elkington & 
Co,, there were some specimens of leaves, covered with copper 
by the electrotype process, showing that the natural leaves of 
plants may now be plated over with silver or other metals for 
personal ornament, or for house decoration. C.B. Warner, Esq., 
sent an ornamental basket, made of strong iron-wire, and coated 
over with copper by the electro process. It is considered prefer- 
able, in point of appearance, to that covered with zine, ina similar 
manner, which was presented at the last meeting. The exhibi- 
tion of plants was not extensive, most of the suburban growers 
probably reserving their specimens for the Chiswick Séte. From 
blotch of orange in the lip. This specimen received a Knightian 
medal. Mr, Appleby, gr. to T. Brocklehurst, Esq., the Fence, 
Macclesfield, brought a very excellent specimen of a dense- 
flower, between P, Loudoni and P. princeps, partaking of the 
character of each, yet distinct from both, and being somewhat of 
a botanical curiosity, from having part of the nectarial fringe 
attached to the base of the stamens, and the rest forming quite 
a bunch in the bottom of the flower, instead of issuing in a regu- 
larly rayed circle. A certificate of merit was adjudged to this. 
Mr. Field also had two seedling Pelargoniums, which were rather 
pretty, but small. Mr. Hugh Low, of the Clapton Nursery, 
brought a nice and unique s 
of the most interesting, as well as the finest, of the Sun- 
from Swan River. i 
glandular hairs, and the plant is used for dyeing purposes. 
the old but 
Scarce Amaryllis advena, was also from Mr. Low. From 
Mr. Mountjoy, of Ealing, was a plant of the showy crim- 
Son-flowered Achimenes grandiflora, the blossoms of which 
appear to be borne almost in clusters. It is a g 
panion to A. longiflora, Mr. Step! 
and Celine, as two new and very dark 
varieties, the latter particularly good; Unique de Provence, the 
old Rose Unique, mossed ; Louis Colet, with curious foliaceous 
sepals ; French Crimson (the Mousseuse pourpre of the French), 
very bright and pretty; E’clatante, also very brilliant, and a 
most vigorous grower; © Miniature Moss, a singular and 
unique variety ; Panachée pleine, the double-striped Moss ; the 
old or Shailer’s White Moss, not so pure a white nor so mossy as 
the White Bath, which was also in the collection. from ‘the 
gardens of the Society there wer 
nica, in a very beautiful state; Cycnoches chlorochilon, remark- 
able for its large and aromatic flo 
from Cabul, which is hardy, bushy, and has numerous heads of 
lilac flowers; a fine Clematis Sieboldii, which is proved to be 
dium Wentworthianum, and Lanceanum, Galeandra Baueri, 
and cut flowers of Pz6énia albiflora fragrans and Humeii, two 
excellent varieties; with Stranveesia glaucescens, a handsome, 
though slightly tender, evergreen shrub. Myatt, of Dept 
ford, sent a pumnet of his new Deptford Pine Strawberry, to 
which a Banksian medal was awarded. It was stated that the 
next meeting of the Society in Regent-street would be held on 
the Ist of August. 
ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. 
A srecia1 Council was held at the Society’s House, in Han- 
making the prizes alone, for stock, implements, Essays, &c., to 
be awarded next year out of the funds of the Society, amount to 
no less a sum than 1,6902. It was decided that the prizes of 302. 
and 20/, for the ‘* Best Stallions for Agricultural Purposes,”’ and 
those of 20/, and 102. for the ‘Best Mare and Foal for Agricul- 
tural Purposes,” should not, as heretofore, be limited to those of 
the “cart” breed; that the exhibitors of Seed-Wheat and 
Barley should next year be required to send along with the 
grain specimens fairly taken of the eal i 
the ear, with the whole of the straw, in a bundle not less 
than one foot in diameter, and with the roots attached; and that 
the last day for receiving certificates for the Southampton meet- 
ing should be the Ist of June, 1844, The Council then selected 
the judges required for the various departments of the show at 
Derby. Mr. Thompson gave notice that he should present, at 
the next monthly Council, a tile made by Lord James Hay, and 
move “‘ that a select committee be appointed to conduct a model 
experiment with tiles made on that principle, and to report to 
the Council on their efficiency.” r, Clifford Cherry, principal 
veterinary surgeon to the army, presented a paper on the best 
mode of improving the breed of horses, which was referred to 
the next Council. 
TANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 
May.—This Society held its seventh meeting for the season at 
the Botanic Gardens, Dr. Neill, the President, in the chair. 
John Kirk, Esq., was elected a Resident Fellow. Mr. Brand read 
a communication from Dr. Joseph Dickson of St. Helier’s, 
Jersey, respecting some recent discoveries in the Flora of that 
island. Dr. Neill communicated an interesting letter from Mr. 
Brackenridge, was at one time a journeyman in the 
‘Xperimental Garden here, and now holds the post of Botanical 
Curator at Washington. We insert full excerpts from his letter, 
more readily, tt his successful career may encourage 
others of his profession to similar exertions. Mr. Brackenridge 
writes, ‘I spent the first fourteen months in the United States 
very much to my satisfaction, as foreman to Mr. Buist, who has 
one of the largest plant establishments in America, When the 
South Sea expedition was organised, I was induced by Mr. 
Poinsette, the secretary of war, to accompany it in the capacity 
of Assistant-Botanist and Horticulturist, 
nearly four years, and m 
years was 1200 dollars per annum. The squadron (under the 
command of Lieutenant Wilk t 
Madeira, the whole of which we scoured. I ascended the peak 
of Ruivo (6246 feet high) almost to its very summit. It is covered 
with dense forests of Erica arborea and Mediterranea (which 
mahogany (Laurus Indica, and foetens) is in great abundance, 
and as large as the English Oak. In five days we collected 460 
species of plants onthe island. Atthe Capede Verds, Rubiaceous 
annuals and grasses were the principal plants found. But Brazil, 
Botanists distinct from those of Europe.] 
at which we next touched, may be denominated the head 
quarters of Flora, I went about 150 miles inland, in a N.E. 
direction, from Rio de Janciro, travelling most of the wa: 
through forests of flowering-trees, fantastically adorned with 
innumerable parasitical and epiphytical plants. These trees 
were often propped up by aerial roots, which reminded one of 
the rigging or stays of a ship. The undergrowth in such places 
consists of Palms, arborescent and many other Ferns, with a 
goodly number of Solanaceous and Rubiaceous shrubs. The 
Organ Mountains, seventy miles from Rio, after all that Mr. 
Gardner and others have done, abound in thousands of fine 
re are Gesnerias, 
Gloxinias, Cacti, Tillandsias, and Orchidez, in the greatest 
profusion. I calculate that more than one-half of the plants of 
Brazil are still unknown to botanists. Insects, birds, and 
quadrupeds are as varied, in proportion, as the vegetable kingdom. 
pent about two months on Tierra del Fuego. Here wa: 
atrast to Brazilian vegetation : stunted Birches, with Misoden- 
drums in tufts like birds’ nests on their tops—scrubby Berberries 
—Winter Bark—and Embothrium (a splendid proteaceous shrub), 
were the characteristic features. The face of the hills is covered 
with spongy, mossy turf, in which we found a Primula (like 
Scotica), Drosera, Pinguicula, several species of Pernettyas, 
a Myrtus, and the charming Callixene — with many nice 
things which I thought well adapted for your alpine frame, 
We reached Chili in the dry season, so that we did not find much 
in flower till we arrived at the mountains. Behind Santiago, on 
the Andes, in the region of perpetual snow, we found an immense 
number of Alpine plants belonging to genera and tribes new to 
us. Figure to yourself 10 or 12 kinds of umbelliferous plants, 
with Heath-like leaves, and fruit as large as that of Heracleum, 
and yet none of them over one inch in height. In Peru, behind 
ima, we crossed the Andes at the height of 16,000 feet, and 
descended a considerable way on the opposite side, along one of 
the branches of the Amazon. This was a rich journey for us in 
plants,—fine Rhododendrons (?) at the height of 13,000 feet. Atthe 
base of the snow was a dense sward of plants, none of them over 
an inch high, principally composed of Saxifragas, Composite, 
Gentianas, and curious Calceolarias. At 14,000 feet we found 
yast patches of an Echi i 
id Oxalis crenata. Very little rain falls in the 
vicinity of Lima; so that to raise fruit and vegetables recourse 
must be had to irrigation. The Cherimolia (Annona tripetala), 
is here the finest of all fruits I ever tasted. You wi 
country that the English land cra 
it up tobe. The climate is very wet, and the soil cold and poor 
—consisting principally of a stiff yellow loam. great part 
of which nothing grows but a species of Pteris, whose roots form 
the principal food of the natives. The surface of the country 
round the Bay of Islands is very irregular—high ridges and valleys 
succeeding each other in rapid succession. some of these 
valleys, from eight to ten species of Coniferous trees are found 
among them the Courie Pine (Agathis Australis), 120 feet high. 
Leaving New Zealand, we touched at Tongataboo on our w: 
down to the Fiji Islands—260 in number—all which we surveyed. 
In doing this, two of our officers were brutally murdered by the 
natives. We had also a proof of these islanders being cannibals, 
as they brought in a canoe, alongside of our ship, part of @ 
human body, which they were eating. We discovered several 
new islands on the line in passing to the Sandwich Isles. The 
grandest sight scen during our cruise was the volcano on the 
Island of Hawaii. After spending six months on the north-west 
coast of America, our voyage lay again by the Sandwich Isles; 
and searching for anear passage to the China Sea, we were led 
among the Souloo Isles and Straits 0} 
Singapore, which is a very flourishing place. Here I 
cousin of Sir Walter Scott’s, who looks very much like what the 
old man was. During this voyage we collected and dried 
upwards of 10,000 (?) species of plants ; sending also a great many 
live ones and seeds to the National Institute at Washington, to 
which I am at present attached. To me the most interesting of 
the learned Professor and his able coadjutor, Mr, M‘Nab. 
une.—This Society held its eighth meeting for the season, at 
the Botanic Gardens, Professor Graham inthe chair, Donations 
were presented to the Library, from C. C. Babington, Esq., Came 
bridge, (his Manual of British Botany); from Dr. J. K. Maly of 
5 illwyn, Esq., and others. 1. Mr. James M‘Nal 
d Laburnum in the Horticultural Gat- 
pureus; and inthe nursery of Messrs. J. Dickson and Sons» 
several of the plants, two years grafted, have shoots of the Menon 
but none of the purple. ‘The red Laburnum first appeared id 
Paris in 1828, in the nursery of Mr. Adam, and was @ hy i 
between the common Laburnum and Cytisus purpureus. auls 
Graham observed that it was difficult to explain the cause of 
phenomenon, viz., of mules 
(Pinus resinosa), from Quebec. oF 
ble to making deck planks, or for light spars. Senta 3 
Rock Elm (Ulmus Americana), the Black Birch if et the kin 
were likewise noticed along with Beechwood, as being 
