1843.) 
THE GARDENERS 
CHRONICLE. 
823 
Mildew.—In order to show that there are doubts 
respecting the real cause of Mildew, I offer the following 
observations :—Supposing six practical gardeners were 
asked the reason why their Peach-trees were mildewed, 
they would most probably all assign it to different causes. 
The Ist is aware that his trees are in a damp situation ; 
hence arises the Mildew. The 2d, that his soil is light and 
ry, and this he thinks favours the disease. The 3d 
remarks that Mildew is a parasitical fungus, and that 
there is no getting clear of it. The 4th, that it proceeds 
from a fungus on the roots of the trees, and that the only 
remedy is to renovate the soil. The 5th contends that 
Mildew is a kind of itch, similar to that in animals, and that 
sulphur is the only cure for it. The 6th says, hesitatingly, 
having seen the effects of Mildew on trees in all kinds of 
| thi 
soil and situation, that he is at a loss to account for the 
cause of it, or to prescribe any certain cure. It may be 
observed that, if what I stated respecting the power of the 
Barberry to blight Corn be only a mildewed opinion, 
perhaps some one who knows more of Mildew than myself 
will explain the reason why that shrub is blamed for having 
such an evil influence upon Corn.—J. Wighton. ; 
A Weasel Sportsman.—A covey of partridges rose, Six 
in number, in a field near Newby Bridge, and when they 
were about three feet from the ground, a weasel was 
observed to spring up from the grass and fetch one of 
them down, and the observer immediately made to the 
spot, and found this new sportsman in the act of tearing 
the bird’s head off ; but being so early detected, retreated 
in quick time, Jeaving the dead bird, asa prize to the 
observer,—Facile. 
Capture of a Hawk.—A fine specimen of that rare 
bird, the Merlin (Falco Aisalon), was caught a few days 
ago in the river Lune, near Overton, by Richard Thomp- 
son, a fisherman, who, on going to examine his nets at 
low water, found the Hawk entangled in the net. It is 
supposed that he had been in pursuit of a sand-pipe, which 
had taken refuge beneath the nets, and, in his haste to 
Pounce upon his prey, overlooked the obstruction between 
them. His native ferocity continues unabated, he dis- 
dains raw flesh or dead birds; but, if a living one be 
Placed within his reach, he darts upon it with unerrieg 
aim, kills it by a single blow on the head with bis small 
but powerful beak, and devours it at his leisure. The 
Merlin is the least of the falcon tribe ; it flies with celerity 
and ease, and although so diminutive as scarcely to exceed a 
thrush or blackbird in size, is so courageous that it will 
hot hesitate to attack a full-grown quail or partridge, 
which it kills with asingle stroke. In the days of fal- 
conry the Merlin was considered the ladies’ bird.—Facile. 
Heating Apparatus.—This construction fully answers 
the purpose for which it was intended, viz., the forcing of 
Dahlias, the striking of cuttings, and raising of plants from 
Seed, towards the commencement of April. _ If you force 
much earlier than that time, you must deviate from my plan, 
by making the smoke and hot air to return in the frame, 
and enter the chimney somewhere near the point of start- 
ing ; so that less heat may be lost, and a higher tempera- 
ture gained, than in an erection like mine. I have found 
the temperature to differ only ten degrees from that of the 
Open air; my walls are not built below the surface of the 
ground, and I am inclined to think that a building above 
ground is preferable to one below, both for keeping plants 
through winter, and preventing the heat from being con- 
ducted outside, and consequently lost. The inclosed sec- 
tion is, I think, an improvement on the one given at 
p. 428. This plan is on the same principle as the hothouse 
flues are now 3and I am rather surprised that the thing 
should not have been adopted years ago, as it may be done 
at so trifling an expense. Fig. 1, is the ground plan, show- 
Fig... Fig. 2. 
ing the partitions in the inside to retain the heat in the 
Apparatus, as pointed out above; and it also points out 
that there may be a grate, so that it may be heated either 
by turf or coal. Fig. 2, isa section showing that the flues 
Tise one above another, which I think is better than all 
Upon one level.— M7, Saul. 
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. 
me 15.—A weekly Council was held at the Society’s House 
anover-square—T, R. Barker, Esq., in the chair.” ‘The Earl 
ecial purpose. strongest bundle is of the quality used 
for this machine, cut into lengths of about six inches, and fixe 
in wooden stocks. The bundle of slenderer grass, of whic! 
beg the Society’s acceptance, is such as is usually imported into 
London. ade of it chiefly for the use of butchers, 
no other being found which has equal endurance, or which pene- 
rates and cleans so effectually the cracks and fissures in their 
blocks and slabs. The selling price in London is 14/, per ton, 
The commercial name for the article is ‘ boss,’—so, however, it is 
called by the brush-make: Mr. Whitworth informed me tha 
it may be imported and d to a fair pro! per ton, The 
grass grows 30 feet in length. Its being so dry, from its woody 
fibrous nature, has led to the belief in England that itis kiln-dried, 
but Mr. Whitworth has informed me that such is not the fact— 
the tropical sun is a sufficient kiln!’’ Mr. 
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and the average of a crop of 70 acres. 
LINNEAN SOCIETY. 
November 22.—Edward Forster, Esq., in the Chair. D. W- 
Mitchell, Esq., was elected a Fellow. A specimen of a variety 
of Campanula glomerata was exhibited. Dr. Robert Dickson 
exhibited several specimens of Hunt’s Flower Pots. i 
nuation of Mr. Griffith’s paper on the Rhizanthez was read. 
conclusion the author criticised the position in which Blume and 
had been discovered by the author in his recent expedition to 
ssam. The genus Sabria holds a position between the genera 
Bi ‘ansia and Raffiesia, The paper was illustrated by beau- 
tiful drawings of dissections of the only species of Sabria, the S. 
Himalayana. This plant was found parasitic on a species of 
Cissus, which is abundant inthe Himalaya. In our last report 
we stated that some specimens of electrotyped plants were exhi- 
bited; we ought to have added that these had been prepared by 
Mr, Neville, of Birmingham. 
NOTICES or NEW PLANTS WHICH ARE EITHER 
USEFUL OR ORNAMENTAL. 
DENDROBIUM AQUEUM. Watery Dendrobium. (Orchidaceous Epi- 
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genera, this plant seems to be hitherto unknown to the botanists 
of India. With the manner of 
pale watery green flowers are destitute of the attractive colours 
of that gay species, and are entirely different in the structure of 
the lip, which is furnished with a large cavity, almost a pouch, 
mixed with pieces of broken pot: 
oung shoots become 
matured, water should gradually be withheld, so that in winter the 
species. In the first place it has a dark eye, which the old kind 
nas not. Then its petals have a short and slightly emarginate 
ppendage, and not a long bifid one. In the form of the calyx 
there is this difference, that in the plant before us it contracts 
iddle, while in Coeli rosa it narrows very 
like the Coeli rosa, is 
Giles Manby on dry hills, thirty miles from Algiers, and given by 
him to Messrs. Backhouse, Nurserymen, York, to whom our 
specimens are owing. This pretty annual may be sown in any 
ood rich garden-soil, in the open border, about the end of Maren, 
in the usual way. Afterwards the plants should be thinned so as 
to stand singly, in which state they flower longer and produce 
much larger and finer blossoms. Jt may also be sown in the 
autumn, remain in pots in a cold frame through the winter, and 
pe planted out abont April. It flowersa great part of the summer 
and autumn.—Botanical Register. 
D ong-leaved Duvaua. ae 
green Shrub.) Anacardiaceze. Polygamia Moneecia, ~The Da- 
vanas are a race of evergreen shrubs, smelling of turpentine, 
BoronrA Frasert. Mr.’ Fraser’s Boronia. (Greenhouse 
Shrub.) Rutacese. Octandria Monogynia.—This is the Boronia 
anemonefolia of ‘* Paxton’s Magazine,’’ an 
plant, however, is wholly at variance with the B. anemonefolia 
of A. Cunningham ; nor does it appear to be 
s Botanical Mareene a 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
French Winter Gardens.—We learn that the good 
people of Paris have proposed to get up a company to 
raise twenty millions of frames, by shares, for the purpose 
of constructing a Winter Garden larger than the Palais 
Royal, which is to be covered in, heated, and decorated 
with the rarest flowers and plants. 
Parchment Labels.—Some nurserymen use these with- 
out any preparation, writing on them with ink; others 
slightly moisten the surface of the label and write with a 
black-lead pencil, or with ink; some, as Sir Thomas 
Frankland (see ‘‘ Hort. Trans.,’’) write with Indian ink 
instead of common ink; others again rub a little white 
paint on them, as is done in writing names on wooden 
tallies; but the mode at present considered most efficient 
is to rub the surface of the parchment with white lead 
mixed with a little red ochre, and write with a black-lead 
encil. The writing thus made, Mr. Rivers informs us, is 
so durable, that he has seen the labels quite readable at 
the end of the second season, though exposed to the 
weather the whole of the time.—Loudon’s Gard. Mag. 
Statistics of Agriculture—(From the *‘ Census of 
England and Wales,’’ 1843.)—Waste Land.—There are 
3,450,000 acres of waste in England, and 530,000 acres 
in Wales, capable of improvement. Rent of Land.—The 
following table shows the average annual value of land, per 
statute acre, in England and Wales :— 
ENGLAND. 8. d. ENGLAND. s. d. 
Bedford .. oe +. 22 0} Suffolk .. 3 way le 
Berks . es +. 19 10} Su SP a 
acks 4. 5 Se BBE i ST8E 
Cambridge 5 ae MEDS rwick .. ee «= 24°10 
Chester .. eS .. 23 1] Westmoreland .. Boe ree 
Cornwall .. a 14 2| Wilts e 5 a ie 
Cumberland 10 2) Worcester a se ee 
.» 19 0| York—East Riding 
15 0 ity and 19 8 
Tay dist Ainstey 
fe North Riding .. 12 10 
Peete sis West Riding .. 17 7 
32-3 — 
20 0 Average of England 18 10 
19 1 
Huntingdon 19 10 | Anglesea .. = #, AGNI 
Kent a Re eco m| D : Pie ia 
Lancaster 24 9 | Cardigan .. id jak 
Leicester .. 20 9 | Carmarthen ok” Ae 
incoln .. 21 1 | Carnarvon ws cha dae 
Middlesex . 83 9| Denbigh .. a oo ee. 
Monmouth ~- 15 9| Flint ea e- 1811 
Norfolk .. 18 8] Glamorgan é: CH S98 
Northampton ., +. 23 0 | Merioneth een, Se.) 
Northumberland +. 12 4|Montgomery .«- oe 3 
Nottingham =. .. 21 6| Pembroke ih oe 
ford et 21:10 o oo oo 81 
Rutland F M908 33) — 
alop Gs .. 20 4] Average of Wales .. 9 5 
Somerset .. ae -. 25 10 — 
Southampton .. ee ES TO Average of England 
Stafford .. 23 9 a Vales.. i SRP ER 
Extraordinary Cabbige.—There was gathered a few 
days since a Cabbage, grown in the garden of John Lee, 
mason, at Pound, adjoining the town at Moretonham- 
stead, which weighed 42\bs.—Lxéter Flying Post. 
Ancient Oaks.—I\n the court-yard of a modern farm. 
house, which stands a league and a half south-west of 
Saintes, in the department of the lower Charente, grows an 
Oak which is estimated to be from 1800 to 2000 years old, 
and is thought likely to stand some bundred years longer. 
The diameter at the ground is from 24 to 27 feet; at the 
height of a man, 18 to 21 feet. The expansion of the 
branches is from 112 to 120 feet; the height of the tree 
is 60 feet. A room has been built out of the dead wood, 
from 9 to 12 feet wide, and 9 feet high—Annals of the 
Ayricultural Society im Auslande, No. 192. 
German Travellers.—Professor Charles Koch appears, 
from late intelligence, to have landed safely at Trebisond, 
with his companion Dr. Rosen, having left Constanti- 
nople on the 14th of July. The voyage across the Black 
Sea was not interrupted by bad weather, but the pas- 
sengers were one night very near coming in contact with 
another steam-boat, the passengers in which appeared to 
be asleep ; an accident was, however, prevented by backing 
the engine. The Pasha of Trebisond showed them mucir 
attention when he was informed of their intention of pro- 
ceeding to Erzeroum. They thought of starting on the 
25th of July, by the caravan-road, which is as much fre- 
quented as the high road between Frankfort and Leipsic. 
—RBotanische Zeitung. 
Dr. Bischofi—Professor L. W. Theodor Bischoff, a 
talented physiologist, and well known as a botanist by his 
memoir ‘¢ De Vasorum Plantarum Spiralium Structura,”’ 
has been appointed Professor of Physiology in the In~ 
stitute of Giessen.— Botanische Zeitung. 
Ripe Strawberries, Apple and Pear Trees in Full 
Bloom, and Indian Corn.—Irish letters and newspapers 
speak of some remarkable cases of this sort. Apples in 
flower in the garden of Mrs. Baylee of West Grove, near 
Cork, Strawberries ripe, and Jargonelle Pears blooming 
and fruiting. Mr. Warren, of Warren’s Grove, also 
mentions some fine growth of Indian Corn grown in 
the demesne garden of Creagh ; length of cob nine inches, 
and containing 12 rows of grains, and 38 grains in each 
row. Some of the plants grew to the height of eight 
feet, and one plant had 15 cobs equal to the specimen 
sent. Mr. Weldon observes, that ‘‘ The advantages which 
the Americans derive from this plant are too well known 
to need comment; and though they have the advantage 
of a hotter summer, yet to balance that we are enabled to 
sow the Corn much earlier than they can in the season, as 
it will not bear the slightest frost. I mean to sow some 
of the seed saved this year next season. By thus pro- 
ceeding, if the seed ripens for one or two seasons succes- 
sively, it might in a short time be acclimated.” 
Singular Occurrence. — About six o’clock on the 
morning of Thursday se’nnight it was discovered that one 
of the largest and oldest Oak trees in Danbury Park, the 
seat of Mr. J. Round, M.P., was om fire. Assistance 
was soon afforded, and the tree was saved from total de- 
struction, but the interior touchwood was wholly burnt 
out. The fire pouring through the various cavities which 
time had worn in the trunk presented a very curious and 
i ting app We und d that ‘‘ the brave 
old Oak’ has not suffered any vital injury, but is likely 
to be rather benefited by the accident. Itis highly valued 
by Mr. Round for its antiquity and picturesque form. Ne 
