THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



193 





A\ 



C 



— ^.t ~~Z7Tcn bez~toTffer the following 



JACKSON ANDt • oeg hed : _ Tropasolam 



PLANTS, at the jer> loj P r g l t c abli8hed in 48-sizcd pots- 

 »»• W ' '^'^c i Clematis Sieboldii, 205. per dozen , 

 $p ecios*, 2, ';? ac ?' d'zen. Fuchsias.-12 of the most 

 ^d.aora. 24*. per do £"• beautiful Seed- 



- '* tinC l "7 SS&rSSnJt wW give satisfaction, 



i* >* * Dt f ^ ^uwaj station gratis. A reference or 



Delivery at ^^^r/cspondents is respectfully solicited. 



'**<* fr0m «anS? S« ?r Bedale. Yorkshire , March 25. 



-—-— r ^CTTRNOCK^nd MANLEY beg to inform 



ME LS M ,»nd the Public, that their DESCRIP1T VE 

 their F» cn # d ^r d HsAs VERBENAS, CINERARIAS, 

 CATALOG* ^.^V Treatise on the best and most success- 

 DAHLIAS, f-^; a uon, is now ready, and may be had on 

 I Mode* oi 



■Bestion- . . iful Fuchsia, Marnock's Prixcess Sophia, 

 V*-™" Tscnt !oSt; the stock is not large, therefore 

 * ?* Z?«fl Prevent disappointment. 

 g^^^Mar ch^^ 



SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 1844. 



MEETINGS FOR THE TWO FOLLOWING WEEKS. 



w»«». Anril 1 • Entomological . • 8 P.M. 

 *<*MT, April i r Horticultural . . 3 p.m. 



Tp»kat, April* '^Linnaean • • • 8 p.m. 



WwanwuT.Apriia • Society of Arts . ; 8 pm. 



FanuT, April 11 • Botanical . . . 8 p.m. 



Wl have now before us a goodly crop of letters upon 

 the speculations of Mr. W. Wood as to the principles 

 on which the rationale of potting is, as he supposes, 

 dependent. When his paper on Fuchsias shall he 

 concluded, we will endeavour to explain what we un- 

 derstand to be his meaning ; and, at the same time, 

 the letters of our correspondents shall be duly noticed. 

 In the mean while, we must beg to set them right on 



one or two points. 



Some seem to imagine, because we have directed 

 attention to Mr. Wood's paper, that therefore we 

 adopt his reasoning as our own. They could not have 

 fallen into a greater error. Our own little children 

 demand all our care, and our benevolence does not 

 go to the extent of accepting the paternity of other 

 people's productions. Although our observations upon 

 the paramount importance of studying the principles 

 of horticulture were connected with the paper on 

 Fuchsias, we did not intend that they should be inter- 

 preted into a eulogium of the particular views pro- 

 mulgated by its author. It is one thing to speak with 

 praise of the general tendency of a man's writings, 

 and another to approve of their details. What we 

 wished was to induce gardeners to think, and for 

 themselves; and to accustom them to search for the 



true causes of the most common operations of their 

 art. 



Suppose Mr. Wood's notions about the properties of 



T'lf' in connexion with the art of potting, to be 

 wholly wrong, that would not alter our opinion one 

 iota : they are new ; they are an attempt to explain 

 <m principle a very important process upon which 

 scarcely a thought has been bestowed by science up 

 to the present hour,— and that is enough for us. His 

 paper ls a step in the right direction ; and its errors 

 wm lead to discussion and consideration, out of which 

 the right will spring. The assertion of Democritus 

 tha the goddess Truth resided at the bottom of a 



IkSiT* 8 Wlsdom ' The wro "g reasonings of a 



taking man are like' failures in experimenting- 



SZJTf ? • Way tosucces s hereafter. The bad phy- 

 SwS# • ^nau* opened a road to the just views 

 no Z 'T"^^ Ve getable development; if it had 

 Xmil th A f aIse "Peculations of the alchemists, 

 wiuW 7 T M ^ been retarded for centuries- 

 Dai v V F aracelsus th ere might not have been a 

 of hJi e i"^ of Descartes led to the philosophy 

 misurlli a r d Newton >' and who shall say that the 

 Smlf ° nS . ° f Mrs * Ibbetson did not herald the 

 AnoA?T atl( 2 18 0f Brown ' MirbeI > and Schleiden ? 



obscu? ^ stvlStn' '^^^^ P r0teStS a S ainst the 

 throw ill he P a P er on Fuchsias. But shall we 



it> or thfiT ° Ur COrn because of the chaff that hides 

 imUl thfv i We i!? 0t rather sift and winnow it patiently 

 is cast tn ! 1 aluable 1 g rai ns ave separated, and the refuse 



w^n.l nf Wlnds , ? And so ifc should be with the 

 thou"h°t s l. man; *f* rnay happen that the truest 



ment of soil ; it will therefore be as well that I should [ should be 2s or 4s, according to the strength you wish 



that whor , concealed by the obscurest words, and 

 apprehondl S ii Smoothl y and s peaks instantly to the 

 sudden T?" WlU produce an :effect as fleeting as it was 

 waters ihi 7 m ° re P rofita ble to fish for gold in muddy 

 crystal y ° S aze or * pebbles through a stream of 

 *nd confnoni I at we are advocates of a perplexed 



re *fei 'and I ' Which is a real misfortune to both 

 *urjt ( u CPn auth or; but we would not, on thatac- 



°n the cnn? rage the > nd eavours of untaught men. 

 P°rtant miH^' Were g arditas one of our most im- 

 *» conferrpH em P lo y the power which education 



^idence LT? * S in assistin g others to whom 

 lfiH»„ i . l las ?°! S ly en the same advantages. We 



confi.! 



^^ndenMif ♦- L .i o--~« we j^me auvaiua£es. 



are tff' trust -*at our readers will think that 



e 

 we 



Some 



FUCHSIAS. 



< lonbnued from page 179.) 



offer reasons for the recommendation ; which is founded 

 upon the principle (page 20, 1844) that M the accumu- 

 lative vigour of all plants is exactly in proportion to the 

 progressive agency of the causes to which they are first 

 subjected." Many years' experience has convinced me 

 that the larger the quantity of mould in pots, within rea- 

 sonable limits, the more rapidly and safely are plants 

 capable of acquiring vigour ; other processes interfere 

 more or less with their vital organs. To remove a plant 

 from given conditions before it is capable of availing itself 

 of such conditions, is opposed to reason and sound prac- 

 tice. In all cases of defective drainage in pots, it is found 

 that the mechanical arrangement is unequal to the external 

 pressure which acts upon the material. 



When the principal buds are formed as young branches, 

 they may be shifted from small, or large 60, to large 48 

 or 32 pots, according to their vigour, using two parts 

 turfy friable loam, 2 of well-pulverised cowdung or leaf- 

 mould, with upwards of one-sixth of sand. If the soils are 

 such as to part readily by the hand, which, in a turfy 

 state, is a certain test of its being well pulverised, sifting 

 may be dispensed with ; if otherwise, for the first shift, 

 the soil may be passed as closely as possible through a 

 sieve of 6-eighths or 1 inch in the wire ; and in all cases 

 when the several parts are sifted, the whole of the portions 

 should be passed through together, and not separately — 

 the latter method reduces the texture too much. Previous 

 to shifting, the plants should be in a uniform state of 

 moisture, or, otherwise, well watered when turned out of 

 their pots, so that surface-watering may be dispensed with 

 for one or two days after potting ; during which period, 

 the newly-applied soils being exposed to the influence of 

 sun and air, become less retentive, and more fitted to 

 receive repeated waterings. 



In the process of potting, the bottom-drainage should 

 (especially in the first operation) lie tolerably loose over 

 the bottom cavity, the potsherds or other material lessen- 

 ing in size upwards. The sub-drainage of coarse flakes of 

 partially-dried leaf-mould, or cowdung, or dry open turfy 

 loam, should be pressed tolerably firm. Of the soil 

 generally, the coarsest and most open portions should 

 occupy the lower and middle positions in the pot, and the 

 finer should be towards the top. As to pressing down 

 soil in potting, that should be regulated in proportion to 

 the vigour and size of the plants : being most considerable 

 on the lower portions, and slightest towards the surface. 

 The smaller the plant, in proportion to the quantity of 

 soil in which it is placed, the more uniform and slight 

 should be the pressure. The entire surface of the soil 

 should slightly incline towards the edge of the pot; but 

 this should not be managed by greater pressure round the 

 edge; the soil should be originally arranged in that way. 



After the first process of potting, the plants are to be 

 placed upon inverted pots on the front platform of the 

 forcing-house, to admit a better exposure to air and light, 

 and for the first forty-eight hours they should be plenti- 

 fully syringed ; then, morning and evening, the front 

 lights being closed for the time stated ; and if sun-light 

 becomes powerful, they should be shaded from 11 to 2, 3, 

 or 4 o'clock, in proportion to its intensity, if in a west 

 aspect ; or earlier and later if facing the east. 



After the surface soil shows that it has been sufficiently 

 exposed to the air, by beginning to require water, the 

 plants may, in the first instance, receive enough to pass 

 through the whole amount of soil. The second applica- 

 tion should be applied with judgment, and, to avoid ex- 

 cess, may, in part, be supplied by a copious syringing. 

 Such precautions may appear trivial and unnecessary, but 

 a difficulty will be found in drawing a line between the 

 application of water to recently heavy- shifted plants and 

 others. Alternate syringings are more beneficial for a 

 short period, in such cases, than repeated waterings, al- 

 lowing for casual exceptions. — William Wood, Pine- 

 apple Place. 



your Vines to attain ; bearing in mind that those in the 

 smaller size will ripen their wood earlier, and consequently 

 be available for forcing at an earlier period than the others. 

 This operation will bring us toa consideration of the descrip- 

 tion of soil or compost most suitable for the Vine. When 

 growing naturally out of doors the Vine will flourish in a 

 variety of different soils and composts ; but when its roots 

 are confined in so small a space as a pot, we 

 must place within the action of its roots that kind 

 of soil from which it can most readily assimilate 

 the elements which constitute its food. After trying 

 nearly all the different composts recommended by the 

 numerous authors on the Vine, I am convinced that the 

 more simple the constituents of the soil are for it, or 

 any other kind of pot-plant, the more successful will be 

 the results. The compost I use is two-thirds turfy loam, 

 from a down having a chalky bottom, and one-third de- 

 composed night-soil. Should the loam be strong, I use 

 the same proportion of half-rotten horse-droppings. The 

 turves in the loam should only be half decayed, and it 

 should be used as rough as possible. — John Spencer, 

 Gardens, Bowood. 



(To be continued.) 



ts to b3 



arrange- 



ON THE CULTIVATION OF GRAPES IN POTS. 



The first impulse given to fruiting Vines in pots was by 

 a paper in the" Horticultural Register for 1831," by Mr. 

 G. Stafford, then gardener at Willersly Castle, in Derby- 

 shire, and which at the time elicited much surprise. 

 Through him I became practically acquainted with the 

 system he followed ; and since then having been more or 

 less engaged annually in preparing and fruiting a consider- 

 able number of Vines in pots, I can safely bear witness to 

 the successful results that will follow the practice detailed 



below. 



After fixing on the kinds of Vines you intend growing, 

 the first thing to be done is to procure eyes (or buds) of 

 the required kinds, from some known good bearing Vines, 

 taking care to have the wood perfectly hard and ripe, 

 with the eyes prominent and round. If the Vines are in- 

 tended to be fruited the next season, the eyes should be 

 potted in 32-pots, placing them one inch below the surface, 

 and using soil of a light turfy nature, or if stiff, adding a 

 portion of half- decayed leaves ; only one eye must be 

 planted in each pot. This should be done early in 

 February, and when finished the pots containing the eyes 

 may be plunged in any pit or frame that may be at work, 

 where a bottom-heat can be maintained of 90°, or there- 

 abouts. They may remain there until growth has com- 

 menced, when sun-light being indispensable to the welfare 

 of the young plants, they should be placed (if they were 

 not previously) as near the glass as possible, sinking the 

 pots as the plants reach the glass, but still keeping a steady 

 bottom-heat, and supplying them with air every day if pos- 

 sible. It is supposed that the heat of the frame or pit varies 

 from 60° to 90° in sunshine. When the pots are filled 

 with roots, which will be some time in April, they may 

 be transferred at once into their fruiting-pots, which 



A FAMILIAR BOTANY. 



Morphology, No. IX. 



Lo ! on each seed, within its slender rind, 

 Life's golden threads in endless circles wind; 

 Maze within maze the lucid webs are roll'd, 

 And, as they burst, the living flame unfold. 

 The pulpy Acorn, ere it swells, contains 

 The Oak's vast branches in its milky veins ! 

 Each ravell'd bud, fine film, and fibre line, 

 Traced with nice pencil on the small design ; 

 Grain within grain successive harvests dwell, 

 And boundless forests slumber in a shell. 



The manner in which the embryo plant of the Yew- 

 tree is formed is essentially the same as that which is ob- 

 served in all other flowering plants ; and therefore, without 

 confining our attention to the Yew, we may now proceed 

 to consider in its general sense the value of the knowledge 

 gained by an examination of the manner in which the em- 

 bryo Yew goes through its various changes till it arrives at 

 that first stage of perfection in which it may remain asleep, 

 for ages perhaps, until the fitting circumstances awaken 

 its germinating: powers, and call it into a new and active 



life. 



It is plain that the embryo of the Yew was at first a few 



microscopical bladders, arranged in a loose and appa- 

 rently confused manner ; that through various changes it 

 arrived at another and much more perfect condition, in 

 which the bladders are collected into a solid mass, having 

 a definite form, with a pair of lobes at its free end. Let 

 us now suppose that the annexed diagram represents 

 some such embryo plant cut through lengthwise, and 

 placed ereci instead of being inverted, like that of the 



Yew. Three parts are then dis- 

 tinguishable, viz. c c, which are called 

 cotyledons ; p, a point between their 

 bases, called the plumule, or in a general 

 sense, the growing point; and r, a 

 cone, extended downwards, and named 

 the radicle. Here we have the whole 

 preparation which Nature makes where- 

 with to fashion out a plant, with its 

 leaves, stem, flowers, and fruit. In 

 no seeds have we anything more — in 

 some we have not so much. We have 

 nothing whatever except a collection 

 of little bladders, gathered together 

 into a definite form, invariable in each species, and pro- 

 vided with the wonderful power of working out of such 

 materials all that hereafter may be proper to its nature. 

 The cotyledons are, in fact, the first leaves, sometimes 

 having a peculiar shape, but often not distinguish- 

 able from those which succeed them. The plumula, 

 or growing-point, is that which lengthens upwards, and 

 changes into a stem clothed with leaves, flowers, and 

 fruit. The radicle goes downward, and gives rise to the 

 root. The embryo is, in fact, a young plant, whose 

 bones, sinews, and breathing apparatus are not yet formed, 

 but out of which they have to be developed ; and it con- 

 sists of a root and short stem, with one pair of leaves 

 upon it ; or, to use the language of morphologists, of an 

 axis and its appendages. The axis gives birth to all the 

 future ramifications above and below ground ; the appen- 



jfL— 



dagesare the rudiments of what, in one state, are called 

 leaves, in another, flowers, in a third, fruit, as I shall 

 next proceed to show. 



When the poet exclaimed that " every heart contains 

 proportions germ," he did not dream, perhaps, of the ex- 

 tent to which that beautiful truth may be applied. What 

 crowds of proofs rush forth the instant that the veil of 

 Nature is withdrawn but for a little space ! — Ji. E. 



REMOVAL OF TREES. 

 Would any of your correspondents oblige me with 

 their opinion respecting the best time for cutting a trench 

 round large trees to prepare their roots for future removal ? 

 Winter seems, according to my practice, to be preferable 

 to spring, after the buds have begun to swell; and it if 

 possible that autumn, or as soon as the leaves begin to 

 fall, may prove a still better period for that operation, and 

 that the descending sap would form the commencement oi 

 new roots, in lieu of wood on the stem, in readiness to 

 shoot with vigour in the spring. This experiment was 

 neglected last autumn, but it probably required a trial on 

 an extended scale, in consequence of the variable growui 

 of the roots of trees under apparently «»^°^[°2f: 



The question is asked, in the hope that it may meet tee 



