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F 
840 
THE GARDENERS’ 
CHRONICLE. 
inches, scattered portions of vegetable mould (adhering 
to the under side) entirely free from the substra- 
tum of sandy soil beneath, as well as of the fresh 
growing portion above. Such, in a higher and more 
densed form of d positi may be considered 
as the character of a good material for cultivation. 
Again, in the entire absence of the true form or substance, 
take equal portions of thoroughly-fermented woody fibre 
ina dried ‘state, pure leaf- Jd in a half-d YT d 
state, divested of all earthy matter, charcoal, and disin- 
fected ‘night-soil ; these equally pulverised and highly 
reduced will give a tolerable idea of the texture of true 
heath-mould, as distinguished from a barren sandy peat. 
In the adaptation of all soils to the growth of plants, the 
higher the state of d position the more i diate may 
be their application, and the greater their capability of 
being appropriated by the organic functions of plants, and 
vice versa. The application of sand to heath-mould and 
soils generally is not, as is too often supposed, in order to 
render their texture more open or porous, but on the con- 
trary, to modify and compress the expansive properties of 
vegetable matter by its gravitating tendency. 
Vegetable substances in their various preparations are 
perhaps the most suitable of all materials for regulating 
the ‘proportions and enhancing the qualities of other 
ingredients in the cultivation of plants. Hence their 
application as a prime material in those instances of cul- 
ture wherein the higher and intense agencies of nature are 
applied. The subserviency of organic matter to a pro- 
gressively mechanical and nutritive effect will be still more 
effectual in the highest purposes of Horticulture when 
combined with concentrated forms of animal and other 
manures. 
Perhaps the most common and efficient substitutes for 
the deficiency of vegetable matter in barren or sandy peat, 
are pure half-decomposed leaves and woody fibre from 
the stems of plants, equally pulverized, in a highly reduced 
and dried state, with a third portion of charcoal, the 
latter reduced in proportion to the amount of soil used in 
each process of potting. 
The suitability of heath-mould for immediate use in the 
cultivation of plants in pots, without previous exposure, 
will generally depend upon its prepared state when ob- 
tained from its native bed—that is to say its being in a 
sufficiently pulverised and friable state. Its application in 
a very coarse form or texture will mostly depend upon the 
condition now given, and also upon such an arrangement 
in the process of potting as will secure under all con- 
ditions a uniform circulation of moisture. 
It is almost unnecessary to add that the addition of all 
d posed and porous whether vegetable 
or otherwise, is principally intended to produce a mechan- 
ical result, by maintaining the soil in an open state, so 
that fiuid may pass freely among it, and ultimately, by 
their gradual decomposition, become subservient in the 
mature stages of growth to a chemical and nutritive effect. 
This point will be readily understood by stating that the 
mechanical texture and arrangement of the material should 
in all cases be in proportion to its amount, it being through 
the medium of mechanical agency that a chemical or 
nutritive action both derives and applies its highest force. 
Where large quantities of material are wanted for the 
cultivation of plants requiring heath-mould ‘in open 
borders, and a sandy peat is the only material at hand, 
it may be much improved by adding an equal portion of 
fermented leaves free from earthy matter, in a partially 
dried and highly-reduced state. In the application of peat 
ina raw and undecomposed state (such as is generally 
used for fuel), it will be essentially requisite to reduce its 
texture until its component parts will admit of a uniform 
mixture with upwards of one-half thoroughly fermented 
leaves in a highly-pulverised and reduced condition, with 
an addition of one-sixth portion of sand. 
As the capability of plants to assimilate food from the 
materials to which they are subjected is in proportion as 
the mechanical texture of the soil admits of that medium 
circulation of moisture which ensures its nutritive proper- 
ties being held in solution for a period equal to the excita- 
bility of their organic structure, it may be assumed that 
the appropriate decomposition and texture of the material 
will, to a certain extent, determine its elevation in exposed 
situations, such as clumps. The higher the state of its 
decomposition, the slower will be the abstraction of its 
moisture by atwospheric and solar agency, and vice versa. 
In a wet bottom or subsoil a bottom-drainage is neces- 
sary, and the beds may be proportionately elevated, 
according to their depth or the quantity of material they 
contain. A dry or solid bottom should, in the first 
instance, have a_heav. b f d I d 
sphagnum, or other absorbent material; and the latter, a 
broken surface, or substratum of broken drainage, regu- 
lated by the same conditions as before stated. 
A consideration of the importance attached to the tex- 
ture of soil (essential to a uniform circulation of moisture,) 
apart from the consideration of its chemical or nutritive 
properties, appears to involve the following principles, 
viz.:— 
ist. AJl matter, however circumscribed by space, is subject in 
nature to an universal force of attraction. 
2d. Attraction is that force in nature whereby the atoms or 
particles of matter are mutually drawn to each other, and thus 
tend to form solid masses, or bodies. 
ature operat 
cation or construction of matter which counter- 
i 
acts the force of attraction between those particles or substances 
of which matter consists, may be considered favourable to the 
operation of other agencies in nature. 
5th. All attraction is inversely as the squares of the distances 
~ between separate bodies; that is, in proportion as the squares 
of the distances increase, in the same proportion does attraction 
decrease, and vice versd, 
6th. The force of attraction increases in proportion as bodies 
or materials approach each other; and by the same law it must 
diminish as they recede from each other. 
7th. As the attractive force of matter is in proportion to the 
number of particles which any given body contains, it may be 
assumed that all materials used in the cultivation of plants may 
be considered subject to an undue influence of attractive force 
or cohesion of their parts, in proportion as such materials are 
reduced beyond a certain limit, and thereby rendered less favour-. 
able to the operation of those agencies which are essential to the 
influence of atmospheric and solar agency upon matter. 
8th. As the reduction or division of matter beyond a given 
proportion is unfavourable to cultivation, by causing an undue 
cohesion of its parts, it follows that such an arrangement of 
materials as will tend to increase the distances of its several parts 
by expansion or porosity, will counteract that undue cohesion of 
matter which is unfavourable to the action of other agencics. 
oth. In accordance with the 5th principle, which states that all 
attraction is inversely as the distances between separate particles 
or portions of matter, it may be assumed that such a Mechanical 
construction of matter (vegetable or otherwise) as shall retain 
to a certain extent its organic form or texture, will ultimately 
ch a condition of the distances between the whole body 
of which it forms a part as is essential to a uniform operation 
of the general agencies of nature in the growth of plants.— 
W. Wood, Pine-apple Place. 
HORTICULTURAL AND AGRICULTURAL OB- 
“SERVATIONS MADE IN SOME OF THE PRO- 
VINCES OF TURKEY. 
(From the German of Dr. GriseBacn.) 
The Gardens of Salonichi.—The gardens of the Franks, 
which I saw here, although distinguished by fine groups 
of trees, are of too small a compass, and too much 
neglected, to deserve any great comment. I had, how- 
ever, an opportunity of seeing the flower-garden of a rich 
Turk, who was noted for his love of Floriculture. , Were 
any one to suppose that the ancient fame of the East, with 
respect to taking the lead in Horticultural matters, had been 
upheld in Turkey, or at least in Roumelia, where, on the 
whole, it is ata low ebb, and does not exhibit any striking 
characters, either in the taste of the designer or in the 
choice of flowers and plants, he would be deceived. The 
whole space is for the most part occupied by small beds, 
shaped into strange figures and designs, having generally 
a jet of water in the middle, around which these beds are 
regularly arranged. They are edged with box, and mostly 
contain a dense mass of Tulips, Marygolds, and similar 
plants ; while all variety of form or colour is totally 
neglected. Still, when compared with what I had pre- 
viously seen on the shores of the Bosphorus, the garden 
of the Turk at Salonichi was a pattern of art. Here light 
open pavilions of pleasing structure were observable, their 
columned walls covered with garlands of Roses, and the 
interior enlivened by elegant jets of water. Everywhere 
springs and fountains were bubbling around the beholder, 
and the somewhat confined area of the garden was hidden, 
or rather extended, by the walls having been covered with 
creepers, and the contiguous places planted with Roses 
and Oleanders. The paths were kept particularly clean, 
and sprinkled with water. Notwithstanding all this, the 
same dearth of plants, and the same attempt at insignifi- 
cant ornament prevailed. The proprietor himself, dressed 
in a most costly manner, did not deign to enter into con- 
versation with us, and after a short salutation continued 
his lonely ramble. A dervise, however, who seemed to 
have received orders to attend us, walked with us through 
the grounds, duly extolling the beauty of the garden and 
the riches of his patron. Contrasted with this well-kept 
garden, was one which adjoins the monastery of the 
dancing dervises, which is in a perfectly wild state. It 
was here that I had an opportunity of observing what 
kinds of plants will luxuriate in this climate, when the 
soil is left to itself ; they consist, not indeed, of weeds or 
turf, but of evergreen shrubs. I found here, also, amongst 
a few Pomegranate and other fruit-trees, a most dense 
vegetation of Oleander, which had evidently been planted 
at some former period, but which had increased rapidly, 
and overgrown everything else, showing, as it were, that 
there is a natural predisposition in these localities to repro- 
duce (if left to themselves) that evergreen cover of vege- 
tation which, most probably, had clothed these coasts 
previously to their being subjected to the control and 
arts of man. Although this had occurred in the garden 
of these lazy dervises, who passed their time lying 
about in the halls and near the fountains of the establish. 
ment, it could not take place generally in the immediate 
vicinity of this industrious town, because most of the 
places which are not cultivated are ill adapted for any 
plants of a robust character, being for the most part stony 
and dry slopes, which, on the north side of Salonichi, 
descend to the shores of the Bay. On one of these hills, 
which is crowned by the castle of Heptapyrgion, I paid 
particular attention to the vegetation, as far as the ad- 
vanced stage of the season, and the heat of the latter 
days, by which many plants had been parched up, would 
permit. This inclined ground possesses only a slight depth 
of soil, which has resulted from the decomposition of the 
mica schist, large strata of which are visible amongst the 
soil. With the exception of a few trees, among which I 
remarked some vigorous specimens of the Celtis australis, 
the soil does not bear any hard-wooded plants, but merely 
exhibits that scanty herbage, which becomes pulverised by 
the heat of the summer, piercing with their tenacious 
roots into the crevices of the rock, and constituting (if we 
take them either by families or the great variety of this 
species) the most important constituent of the Me- 
diterranean Flora. It is the very limitation of most 
of the plants belonging to this group, within a very cir- 
cumscribed habitat, which is the reason why in such local- 
ities (amongst forms widely diffused, and common every- 
where), some rarities are also to be met with, which 
characterize the country at present under observation. 
This phenomenon has struck every botanist who has 
visited the shores of the Adriatic, and has had an oppor- 
tunity of observing on Monte Spaccato, near Trieste, for 
instance, that abundance of gregarious plants, which is not 
to be met with in any other locality in Europe north of the 
Alps. @A similar vegetation adorns the schistous hills, 
near Salonichi. But in the same ratio as the seasons 
have a greater influence on this than on any other form of 
vegetation, one single observation can afford but a very 
incomplete idea of it. In the middle of June, the nume- 
rous annual herbs have already disappeared, which, in con- 
junction with monocotyledonous plants, spread a transient 
hue of flowers over this country. Still the greatest dearth 
is apparent at a somewhat later period, when even the most 
striking objects of this flora—the dicotyledonous shrubs, 
—have completed their annual growth ; when the decaying 
herbage above their perennial roots has lost its verdure, 
and a barren rocky solitude has ostensibly usurped the 
place of what shortly before rather resembled a cultivated 
arden. In order, therefore, that my assertions on the 
predominant vegetation of the Heptapyrgion may not 
assume a too general character, I may remark that the 
middle, or rather the last—period of vegetable life had then 
already commenced—thatin fact, which I call the season 
of Composite, because it is plants of this group which, 
amongst the two largest families of European vegetation, 
are most numerous in perennial as well as in characteristi¢ 
species ; whilst annual leguminous plants are met wit 
most frequently in spring. 
On the hills of Salonichi, as far as growth is concerned, 
may be distinguished two groups of plants, the first of 
which comprises plants of a stunted form, mostly trailing 
on the ground, growing intermixed with others, and beat 
ing stiff interwoven branches; the other, those of a more 
portly growth, possessing equally numerous branches, yet 
distinguished by growing in tufts, which are divided 
according to the different species to which they belong 
Amongst the former the principal arethe Cynarez, Silene® 
and Umbelliferze * ; but their abundance is surpassed by the 
Teucrium polium, which grows so extensively over all the 
south of Europe, the Proteus form of which, if I may 8° 
call it, creeps about everywhere in the shape of a small- 
leaved variety. It is this plant also, which, by its woolly 
appearance, confers another characteristic feature on the 
vegetation of those southern hills, where the sun, glaring 
down for months from an unclouded sky, would destroy 
the unprotected epidermis of the plants, by an evaporation 
which exceeds the moisture supplied by the soil, if they 
were not provided with this covering. In the higher gre" 
garious shrubs of the second class +-, which are still more 
subject to that influence, because deficient in the enlarge 
rootstock, which modifies the circulation of the sap, the 
same protecting organs of vegetable life are to be met 
with. Whilst a branchy Marrubium is wrapped up in @ 
dense silky covering, the Eryngium, of pithy, dry struc 
ture, resists a superabundant evaporation by its close- 
skinned epidermis; the Peganum, on the other hand 
which prevails in many localities, approaches, by We 
afiinity of its natural order, and probably by some interm® 
mechanism which retains the moisture of the atmosphere 
and the soil in its cellular tissue, to those fleshy-leave) 
plants which are capable even of resisting the heat a™ 
dearth of the African deserts.—J. Lh. 
THE ANTIQUITIES OF GARDENING. | 
No. I.—Extracts from Sir Thomas Hanmer’s Manuscri?! 
Gardening. (Céntinued.) f over 
“ Of Fruite-trees and Orchards.—Fruit-trees ees 
for ordinary walls under 9 foote high, are— Cherries 
the May Cherry, the Duke Cherry ; but the walls mu® 
i on 
higher for the following : White, Blacke, and Re: ee 
the Blacke is best; the Caroone Cherry, the or 4s 
Cherry, a new Cherry. Plums: the Cherry Plum, 
Plum, 
the 
olland 
ite 
Plum, Catalonia Plum, the Orleans, alias Lambert 
Peaches : the Red and the White Nutmeg Peach peachy 
early and small), the Newington, the Admirable athe 
the Primordian Peach, the Bellowes, the Savoy Benches 
Pan Peach, the Persian Peach, the Rambouillap ent 
the Modena Peach, the Orleans Peach, the Super te ion 
Peach, the Smyrna Peach, the Laval Peach, ‘i G Re 
Peach, the Magdalen Peach. a Nec- 
Roman Nectoran, the Murrey Nectoran, the Green 
toran, the Elrug or Gurles Nectoran, which 
the White Nectoran. Apricockes: t 
the Masculine Early Apricocke, the Oran 
Peares for wails are only used to bee with us— ‘Monsiewt 
Bon Chrestien, and the Wynter Bergamotts, Pears, the 
John, and the Beurree Pears, all good Wynter ears 
other sorts bearing well enough as standards. vine, the 
“ Vines fittest for England are the ey Me Yellow 
White Muscadine, the Red! Frontiniac, ore very good 5 
Frontiniac ; the D’Arbois Vine—a white Grape, 
the Muscat, the Auvergne Printanier- foote 
“ Fruit-trees for Hedges or aienee setae fe any 
high commonly : — Codling Apples ears, Sommer 
Sommer Apples, Sommer crea t all other sorts 
Bon Chrétien Pears, Slip Pears, and ee Cherries. All 
of Pears. Dukes, Flanders, and Cone manner © 
sorts of Plums, Quinces, and ‘Vines. her with straight 
making the ;Hedges [Espaliers] 18 eats jaca 
lee r ~ Seabioga ueranica, L.; Cental 
_aetewerag olin, i, Sablon £5" panos flues 
sibth.; Bupleurum | glumaceam, Sms * Agee : 
Dian iua estas ae See Hato es Eryngium campestre, Ly vars 
Peganum Harmala, L. 
m5 
[Drc. 2,” 
ee 
