THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



133 



777M I LIAR BOTAP 



MnnrHOLOGY. ISO- >• 



NY. 



which we 



, ., ^(ur, shed us with the following winch w 

 ;A ,:vp frie »*}**££ ore proceeding with if. E.'s papers.] 

 ^V'^uVha very , of your readers will be induced 

 '" l r A M.Au tin's literal translation of Goethe's 



„ ,tudy Mrs. am friend ^ ^ ln 



. Metamorphose, as n»b j j ™ ao „_ 



only hope 

 powers of 



ce. 



JE£R CAronir/,, enough to discover the tu mea - 

 ^ nf the author, physiological or poetical. Or hey will 

 "*k n. b^ inclined to say, with Mr. Dangle, in < The 

 ^ ■ ' that ' the interpreter is the hardest to be under- 

 2S f the two.' The following attempt to make the 

 Elation more readable is at your service. I 



bat as Mr. B. E. has Wrr-rated his own 

 \ J • i roay not have or*r- rated mine. I beg to say, in 



iStis! that I have not the original German by me to 

 ^i.t me, and that it is a long time since I read 'The 

 Botanic Garden,' in which 1 think the same subject is 

 rert Goethistically wrought out."— P. P. 



TCJ J u k b _ wnat slow degrees, but ceaseless force, 



The husky seed unfolds its tender charge 



Of leaf and blossom, and endunng fruit, 



When urged by earth's all-fructifying jui 



And more attractive light,— life- giving light, 



Holy and pure!— Till now, the nascent power,— 



Mysterious germination, -slept unseen ; 



And mot, and leaf, and hud enfolded lay 



Inil <d within their husky tenement, 



(Incipient foretypes of the coming plant,) 



Id tilent life, half formed and colourless ; 



liut soon, rcpleted with earth- *iv'n moisture, 



It lifts i:sf!r above surrounding night, 



And breathes the incense of the open day. 



Still »s its early dawn distinguished 



By simple forms ; for even plants confess 



The Infancy prepared for all things earthly born. 



Quickly proceeds the growing impulse then,— 



Joint upon joint, and leaf on leaf arise, 



In order predetermine,— not of chance, 



Bat variously unfolding, points and parrs, 



And tangled edges,— parts unseen before, # 



Scarce moulded yet within the parent stem. 



So step by step the vegetable wonder draws 



Its great completion : ribbed and indented, 



On the exuberant st«m it stands secure, 



And challenges the soul to admiration. 



But Nature now with powerful hand arrests 



The quick enlargement; gently she leads on; 



In smaller channels, and for nobler ends, 



Diverts the all-important sap ; and now, 



The ranker vegetation binding those, 



Structures more pertect, more elaborate spring. 



Quickly the slender flower- stalk starts to view, 



Leafless and bare; save where in subtle shapes 



The curious eye detects the tiny forms 



That circle round the head, inuumerous ; — 



Leaflets compressed, in sheltering calyx bound, 



Each like to each, in stated order set. 

 The crown unfolds, the calyx gently yields 

 Its many-coloured charge ; and Nature now 

 Blooms in her gay, magnificent attire; 

 £?er anew thy admiration moving, 

 As limb en limb upreared, the noble flower 

 Waves o'er its frame of ever-changing leaves. 

 But still this glorious show but heraldeth 

 New operations,— with all-powerful hand 

 The work proceeds: the many-coloured leaf 

 Retires abashed, and tender forms crowd round. 

 Affianced couples they, claimants intent 

 Ou Hymeneal rites, whose quick'ning powers, 

 {Delicious odours streaming all around,) 

 JPerfect the destined union. Now compact 

 Together swell the teeming germs ; with fruits 

 lne bounteous mother's well-filled lap o'erflows. 

 Ijature s eternal circle here is closed : 



finv J a A gt , renewed '- anotl:er ri »S succeeds. 

 SP.* _ l L thln . 1,nk _entwined, the chain 's prolonged 



Throughout all Time.-io 'ail, and sev'ral given, 

 Life w.th.n i lfa _ „ »_« lBfiuite# _ p< Pt 



within life— a Bcin 



Home Correspondence. 



«- iw 2 H ginff .r U is Served by Dr. Hooker, in bis 

 m Pr i7 ► ?' pa S e 181 > that Calluna vulgaris makes 

 well ! , fiJL ?n g t0 g arden -plois, and bears clipping as 

 ferH..7 c* , 8u Periority of Heath as an edging is 

 ChrnZ T f Q - ed by a receut ^t\ce in the Gardener* 

 «l7^i ♦ , lng J llt,,at Hwth-edginga have been WO- 

 S^u^ iQt0 the Speaker', gardens at Heck- 

 in the CaV . Ut f ° ur y ears a 8° edgings were required 

 few n.tX c ' S ardens > a »d in the adjacent common a 

 wher tt °r 3r0Un * Heath *«« found that had sprung up 

 Karsb f SU f CCOt the ground had been pared off a few 

 the iurf.pI C -\ ■ these an fcd S«ng was formed by cutting 

 two Jen t ° narr ° W stri * ,s ' about two inchcs wide and 



la^fl* i rh r 86 P icces > 0Q being brought to the garden, 



6-und was p evfn ^ formed the cd « in S at 0nCe * Th « 

 *°*e Heart £« i? 8ly l ,re P ared ^r their reccptio 

 Heafh ;' r. m0uId was add ed to encourage growth. 



were 

 grou 



and 



The 



Heath is cut f ■ U to encourage growth. The 



eagine Ra A* a - vear > and forms a neat and pretty 

 ttun ha- iL P ur P 0M H eath deserves more attention 



hitherto Kp«, n „: A _ _•. , , , . , 



erto been 



remark. I own I feel some doubts whether the word 

 " whiteness" in the extract is an accurate translation of 

 the original ; the Greek word might perhaps only express 

 u pureness," or M clearness ; ? but as 1 have not the 

 Greek original to refer to, I cannot satisfy myself on this 



head F. S. [All speculations as to what the Lily of the 



Field may have been, are set at rest by the discovery that 

 our Saviour must have referred to the LUium Chalcedo- 

 nicum, as is proved at p. 854 for 1842.] 



Analysis of the Raspberry. — The following i3 the 

 analysis of the Raspberry, whicji I extracted from some 

 work ; but the authority I neglected to note down, viz. : — 



Silicic Acid 0*25 



Phosphate of Li rre .... 36 1 



Carbonate of Lime 3 jo 



Potash 114 



Soda • . 50 



Ox. Manganese ..... 100 



given to it, and 1 hope to hear 



— T/ lomas B crr y t 



r , . — v... .„ mentioned in the 



^nronxcle that most probably the Ixiolirion 

 i which is I believe a beautiful Amar? His with 



New 



Pe^aee I nil j y ° U may like t0 have pointed out. 



efctiealL ec i \?^ cun in tlie 9th of St. Cyril's « 



Pare 94 ^ r, u , res (Oxford ed. in "Library of the Fall 



14 01 



It 



up 



Cardenir'sL eld -r- {h ^ e "en it 



m °atanQro 



»P«le.blii.'fl TU, * ;i1 1S1 Del »eve a beautiful Amaryll 



T e«Um ent a JV' I s the P Iant allud «l ^o in the 



of Solomon . theLl, y°f the Field/' surpassing the glory 



wit h a n... t n arra >'ed in all his splendour. I met 



which I thinl 6 ° ther da ?' militating against this idea, 



The 



Cate- 



P"ge94) ^"^v^'oraea. in "Library of the Fathers," 

 men * then/ c ° p was Porting out to the catechu- 

 whi ch are , Cr the AImi ghtvas displayed in the things 

 ^e flowers of n nr^ ntemi,late '" he said/' the spring, and 

 0nc another 11 % ' ln a11 lheir like ness still diverse from 

 in ? *hit C ne ; f P crirnson of the Rose, and the exceed- 

 rtin » one an ? ?l the Llly - The y come of one and the same 

 ha * formed « ? lhc " me earth ; who has dintinguished, who 

 hectares in i , Cyril is said tohave delivered these 



therefore to » U9a , lem about a.d. 348, and he was likely 

 doubt Wf .li v a,Iude d to the same kind of Lily— one no 



wellk 



nown— as that on which our Lord based his 



was stated that the Raspberry most generally springs 

 where fields had been burnt over, and also by the 

 sides of decomposing stone walls. — W, P. Keane, Ley- 

 boume Grange, Town Mailing, Kent, 



Large Pine- Apples. — Respecting the large Pines men- 

 tioned at p. 102, in addition to what is there stated, Mr. 

 Dixon wishes us to publish the following, viz. : — " That 

 the gill suckers were heartless, and of very small size ; 

 that the weight of the suckers on the one weighing 11 lbs. 

 15 oz. was 3j oz. ; and that those which grew on the 

 one weighing 14 lbs. 12 OZ. were very small and ouite 



beirtless." 



Melons. — In answer to your correspondent, who asks 

 which is the best Melon for preserving, " M. P." begs to 

 state that she has tried several, and that none answer 



the purpose so well as the old Rock Melon. -Another 



correspondent confidently recommends the Yarmouth 

 Prise Melon for preserving, and Mr. Sherwood, of Stam- 

 ford Hill, states that the best Melon he has ever grown 

 for that purpose is Cuthili's Early Melon. He informs 

 us that it is well flavoured, has very thick flesh, that it is 

 a great bearer, and ripens earlier than any Melon he 



has tried. 



The Gladiolus.— I have read in the Chronicle lately an 

 extract from J. de Junghe, in the li> vue Horticole for Sept. 

 1813, headed The Gladiolus, which contains many inaccu- 

 racies. In the first place, Gladiolus communis, which is 

 a native of the south of Europe, is much less common at 

 present in the gardens of England than Byzantinus, being 

 less hardy and liable to perish. That " these two specie - 

 have afforded a great number of varieties of different 

 colours, such as White, Rose-colour, Orange and Vermi- 

 lion, Purple and Lilac," is utterly unfounded. There 

 exist no varieties of G. Byzantinus in the gardens. There 

 are several natural varieties of G. communis from dif- 

 ferent localities in Italy, but they are little known, and 

 afford no great variation of colour, except a whitish one. 

 G. segetum, which has the seed without the winged or 

 foliaceous margin, has a white variety, which M. Bouehe 

 makes a distinct species, but to which no native locality 

 is assigned. G. Boucheanus, crispiflorus, caucasicus, 

 and some other natives of Europe and Western Asia, are 

 unknown to M. de Junghe, but do not afford the colours 

 which he mentions. The plants of various and brilliant 

 hues to which he alludes are those which were raised by 

 myself, when I lived at Mitcham, about the year 1810, 

 between G. ordinalis, blandus, angustus, and tristw. 

 The intermixed produce from their seed, which is fur- 

 nished abundantly, and the produce of similar intermix- 

 tures has been obtained by other persons from the same 

 plants since. Other crosses were n.ade about the same 

 time by me at Mitcham, but are less known. The plant 

 named G. floribundus, and so called by most vendors, 

 is totally unlike G. floribundus, which is an old Cape 

 species, figured long ago in the Bot. Mag. /The pub- 

 lished name of the G. floribundus of the shops is G. op- 

 positiflorus. It is a native of Madagascar, and probably 

 of the Natal colony also. It was found to breed readily 

 by intarmixture with the Cape mules, and the species 

 from which they were produced, as well as with G. nata- 

 lensis, otherwise called Psittacinus, or Dahleni. The 

 crosses are as much English as Belgian productions. The 

 G. ramosus of the shops, which varies in colour in dif- 

 ferent individuals, is a cross between G. oppositifolius 

 and the mules by G. cardinaiis and cardinalis itself. It 

 thrives much better in Belgium than with us, because the 

 soil there suits it better. Many such, and some hand- 

 somer, with an intermixture of tristis, have been raised and 

 flowered by me, but are very subject to perish in my soil. 

 The Gladiolus, called Gandavensis by Mr. Van Houtte, 

 of which he is stated to possess the whole stock, was 

 raised abundantly by me, being the produce of G. oppo- 

 sitiflorus by Natalensis, but it did not thrive as those 

 raised in Belgium. Some, however, which were raised as 

 early by Mr. Bidwill in this country, and taken by him 

 to Sydney, far exceeded the Belgium plants in growth 

 and vigour, and the roots thereof brought back by him 

 from thence flowered with greater strength than those for 

 which; I was indebted to Mr. Van Houtte; some were 

 exantly similar to his plants, and one in particular with a 

 very different posture of flower. I have now seed obtained 

 from his bulbs set last spring in Devonshire, crossed a 

 second time by Natalensis. As yet I have no cross on 

 the correctness of which I can rely between Natalensis 

 and any Cape species or mule; nor between any Cape 

 species and »pecies of the Northern hemisphere. G. Col- 

 villi ia one of the best varieties of the crosses of tristis 

 with cardinalis and cardinali-blandus. The forraosis- 

 simu3 mentioned is one of the Cape mules, but inferior 

 to insignis. — W. Herbert, Manchester. 



Secdlim Auriculas.— I took several pots of green- 

 edged Auriculas, and placed them together iu a shady 



place, giving all possible air. As they came into bloom, I 

 pulled off all the flowers from every Self and Alpine. I 

 had seed enough, but among the seedlings only one proved 

 an Auricula, with a gray edge, indeed, but worthless. The 

 rest were all Alpines and Selfs, of better properties than 

 I had met with in seedlings raiaed from Alpines. Some of 

 them had nine or ten petals. — O. 



American Bug. — The following is from " Waterton's 

 Essays on Natural History," (3d edit. p. 276). After men- 

 tioning several ineffectual applications, such as unctuous 

 preparations, decoction of Walnut-leaves, spirit of turpen- 

 tine, for destroying the downy white insect or American 

 Bug on Apple-trees, the author says : — M Despairing of 

 success, I was on the point. of quitting the field and leav- 

 ing the Bugs in undisturbed pOJBCSSWO of it, when i began 

 to conjecture that I had not gone the right way to work. 

 1 reflected that none of my applications could have pene- 

 trated sufficiently deep into the curved and knotty sinu- 

 osities of the diseased parts, and that on this account there 

 would be a sufficient force of the enemy left alive to 

 recommence its depredations at the first f*\ curable oppor- 

 tunity. Wherefore I concluded that nothing short of the 

 entire destruction of the eggs, the young, and the adult, 

 could save the trees from ultimate ruin. Knowing that 

 the Bug could not exlit if totally deprived of air, I resolved 

 to bury it alive, and this I effected by an application, at 

 once the most easy and simple that can be imagined — it 

 costs nothing. I mixed cIhv with water till it was of a 



consistency that it could be put on to the injured parts of 



the tree, either with a mason's tiowel or with a painter's 

 brush. I then applied it to the diseased places of the 

 tree, and it soon smothered every bog : a second coat upon 

 the first filled up every crack which showed itself when 

 the clay had become dry, and this resisted for a sufficient 

 length of time the effects both of sun and rain. The sickly 

 parts, now effectually freed from the «v y which had 

 been preting OB their vitals, were placed In a state to be 

 cured by the "healing process of >. dure, and that Nature 

 has done her duty, my Apple- tiees amply testify."— 



Vtrlumnus. 



Hampton Court.— "In reference to Hampton Court I 

 should be so sorry to see " Q.'s" wishes on the subject 

 realised— not that I think tjiere is the slightest chance of 

 it— that I hope you will allow me to address a few words 

 to your Journal, of which I am a constant reader. Did 

 it ever occur to him that there are thousands of.shop- 

 keepera' clerks, men of business and different professions, 

 who are occupied during the wh.de day for every day of 

 the week? That Sunday is the only day on which they 

 can take a walk with their families, and breathe the fresh 

 air after inhaling the smoky atmosphere of London for 

 six days? Is it ungodly or profane for them to admire 

 the fresh green Grass— the fine old trees — those temples 

 not made by hands-r-to feel what a beautiful world this is, 

 and bless the God who made it? Dues the cheerful voice 

 of the youi g visitors grate upon his car, that he.calls 

 them profane and a nuisance ? 1 always make a point of 

 going to church on a Sunday ; residing in London I have 

 been all my life fond of every plant, from the Oak to the 

 Lichen, and the pleasure I feel in a ramble about 

 the walks of Hampton Court and Bushy Park is no doubt 

 equally felt by hundieds there. I always found I had 

 plenty of time to go to church also, and it certainly never 

 occurred to me that I was a sabbath-breaker. I am sure 

 that her Majesty, who, as " Q." says, is •• the head of the 

 truly Apostolic and purely spiritual Church, is well 

 aware that the best way to make her subjects love and 

 fear God, and be dutiful to herself, is to give them the 

 means of innocent amusement, and of cultivating the 

 purest taste— that for Nature -and that they will be 

 encouraged to show their happy faces, free from care for 

 one day in the week, in Hampton Court. As for the 

 respected gardener there, I should doubt much whether he 

 will thank his friend for bringing this forward ; he must 

 have known what *ould be required of him, and of course 

 need not atav there longer than he likes. I fear " Q." is 

 of a sour disposition ; I really should be almost atraid 



of his blighting the plants if he was my gardener.— Pp. 



A second communication is a3 follows:— *' I regret to 



" Q." should have made 



tunity of breathing tresti air t is u rair or 

 to style such people a host of ungodly, profane 

 eakers? I strongly suspect " Q.' ! to be from 





A secon 



observe that your correspondent 



such bitter complaints on the practice of opening these 

 gardens to the public on Sundays. I would ask how 

 professional men, tradesmen, assistants in shops, &c, can 

 have a more innocent recreation than enjoying a walk 

 with their families in the Palace gardens alter being con- 

 fined closely to business during the whole week, without 

 any opportunity of breathing fresh air! Is it fair or 



charitable 



sabbath-bre _ _ 



the north side of the Tweed, by such a display of the 

 narrow bigoted spirit of Calvin and John Knox. \\ ith 

 regard to the gardeners, why cannot they take turns of 

 duty eve y alternate Sunday, or every third week ? Thus 

 they might attend Divine service without hindrance, and 

 spend the day as they wish."— C. D. [Having allowed 

 the letter of <4 Q." to appear, we cannot refuse insertion 

 to these ; but we feel that the subject is not suited to our 

 columns, and therefore we would beg our correspondents 

 not to carry it fur ther.] 



Societies. 



BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 

 Nov. 29, 1843.— Seventh Anniversary Meeting. The 

 Treasurer in the Chair. From the Report of the Council 

 it appeared that 13 new members had been elected since 

 the last Anniversary, and that the Society now consisted 

 of 159 members. The Report of the Herbarium Com- 

 mittee was read, and stated that many interesting British 

 plants had been presented, including several species of 

 Carices collected by the late Mr. G. Don, which were 



