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1844.1 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



DON. — ELE 



▼TMIWRSITV COLLEGE 



** a ^^l£\listinct!ons between the principal Natural 



.of plants belonging to the Flora of Europe. 



to •S*P ted for P* rsons commencing the study of 



Senior Class will commence early in May. 

 ■^llonl~~ w*y be obtained at the Office of the College. 

 9 1LCa***> A.M., Dean of the Faculty of Arts. 

 TanMAf Gaaha*. Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. 



C. Atkinson, Secretary to the Council. 



April t. 1M4. 



Cfje ©ar&eners* ©fjromcle 



SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 1844. 



MEETINGS FOR THE FOLLOWING WEEK. 



. i,# f Hortl.nltural . . 3 p.m. 



■.April 18 -j j Aananu . . 8 ,. M . 



._ r Society of Artl . . Am, 

 7 \ Micioacopical . . 8pm. 



[Fudat, April the 19th, Royal Institution, Mr. 

 E. Soli v.— m On the Chemistry of Vegetatiou, 

 id iu Application to Agriculture."] 



.1 





Now that the world has been sufficiently misled by 

 ^i ilium, speculations, or crotchets, and that money 

 has oeen spent in looking for improvements 

 blindfold, the value of well-conducted experiments 

 u beginning to be felt, and the importance of theory 

 Id suggesting them to be recognised. We do, indeed, 

 •otnethnet hear even now of a man's trying to do 

 sflttfling new, merely for the sake of trying; and 

 doubtless, occur where chance, rather than 



reason, if looked to; but such instances are few, and 



not worth notice. Good experiments, wisely planned, 



slrillulJy conducted, and carefully worked out, with the 



•trictest attention to the results, are now regarded as 



the abeet-anchor of improvement, in the all-important 



art of cultivation. The value of such men as Hales 



and Knight is felt, and none but blockheads sneer at 



for spending their time in experiments, or ridicule 



because they fail. Success is only to be obtained 



by means of failure : if it were otherwise, experiments 

 would not be wanted. 



Great Britain is now becoming one great scene of 

 exertions. Everybody interested in Gardening 

 and harming is opening a little campaign of his own, 

 »d it is to be hoped that, by the autumn, our letters 

 will give us intelligence of a good many strong places 

 UUn. and permanently occupied. Our war nfay be 

 toiexaung than that of Algiers, but it will be as 



J& UaT'S. t0 P - UbHc establi ^ents that the 



r^Ti; r , lhe , Garden , ° f the Horticultural Society 

 tete^*^«t« * expected 3 ! 



«n«v know what to S - *\ ° rder that the P ublic 



that those who wiA T" u*™ 1 at the Garden > or 

 tWnJZ. ™° Wl . sh t0 tr y the same experiments for 



according to the size, and it has alsobeen dug into the 

 borders at about the same rate. 



A collection of crimson early-flowering hybrid Khc- 

 dodendrons has been planted tt the back of a north 

 wall, with a view to ascertaining whether by thus re- 

 tarding their spring growth they mav not become 

 much hardier than they now are. 



Some very singular and unexpected results were 

 last year obtained, by increasing the daily rate of 

 growth of plants in a hothouse, as has been reported 

 in the last part of the Transactions. In order to 

 ascertain how far the same results are to be expected 

 from plants growing in the open air, the following 

 trial is to be made : — A Vine, a Fig, a Sweet Willow 

 plants experimented with last season, and, in addition] 

 a Jerusalem Artichoke and Scarlet Kunner have been 

 planted in rich soil in front of one of the Vineries, 



When fairly started it is intended to register their 

 respective growths during three equal portions of the 

 24 hours, the observations being made at 4. a.m., 

 12 noon, and 8 p.m. 



_ Calico screens, prepared with Whitney's compo- 

 sition, have been employed in front of Wall-trees for 

 protecting the blossoms. 



As manure for Onion crops, Charcoal-dust has been 

 applied at the rate of H peck per rod ; superphosphate 

 of lime, at 5 lbs. per rod ; Potter's guano at 3 lbs. per 

 rod ; soot 3 lbs. per rod | and a mixture of 1 of salt 

 and two of soot, in rather less quantity than that of the 

 preceding application. 



A Vine border has been covered with a roof of black 

 asphalte sheeting, with a view to determine whether, 

 by thus keeping off cold rain on the one hand, and 

 absorbing heat on the other, the Vines will be main- 

 tained in a more steady rate of growth. This is also 

 done for the purpose of ascertaining how far such a 

 material can be substituted for hot stable-dung, as 



employed for the same purpose by Mr. Roberts and 

 others. 



is introduced into a saccharine fluid, the consequence 

 being the impartation of a new character to the parti- 

 cles of the fluid, and an entire chant in the relation of 

 its chemical constituents. In order that diseases may 

 be thus producetl.it is not necessary that the contagious 

 matter be conveyed from one plant to another in a 

 tangible form, but the diseased cells mav be conveyed 

 through the medium of the air, in the same way as the 

 sporules of fungi which produce blights. 



In treating of contagious diseases, or those produced 

 by animals and plants, most writers have paid almost 

 exclusive attention to the agent producing the disease, 

 not taking into consideration the condition of the 

 plant attacked. In human beings it is well known 

 that only a small proportion of persons exposed to the 

 influence of contagion will take the disease that it 

 is calculated to produce. There is, in fact in both 

 animals and plants a condition of the tissues of 

 the individual, brought on by circumstances, which 

 favours the production of disease, and it is alone 

 in our power over this condition that we can 

 ixpect to control the visitation and destruction of 

 epidemic diseases. That such a condition < plants 

 exists is, we think, proved by the t-wi that epidemic 

 diseases arising from the attacks of ins. s and fund 



to mention ?„ W 3 * e ha J e obtained Permission 



Prfnripj Urials Z milS ' fr ° m time t0 time > the 

 TheWT are ln P™g r ess. 



•nutiSfof T Um T of the seas °n Wffl be an ex- 

 ■*» other! iLn T^\ ° btained ^ Mr « Campbell 

 ehfl n»cal sdutinn. 4 * f° akin g seeds in various 



*»J ha, XeSri' F °V his P Ur P° se Mr - ^ward 

 ^»oim.SVl r of the most important 



•• wmch have been sown in similar soil 



«•«■" naving W, V MTOI sown in similar soil, 



S^e of the •eTd.u P in Various saline soluti ons. 

 *>"* were steer^^ S0Wn without any preparation, 

 Jfrnainder were i*L") . pure water done, whilst the 



TW « ■^mentHpffl '"™ I " 8 °L diff e re "t salts. 



*" * "" e various 



«f 



5 *hai extent tliL 8 £2 Wnatlon of the seeds > and ^so 

 * *e Pl«ms ; an l^ - e " C f the s »bsequent growth 

 TT"^ ripectin i' 1S h °»' ed that the conflicting 

 *"«{ «*n,inT M= ' h f, aetion "f steeps will & 

 *™ ch excited so mn 't - y s ex P eri ments on Wheat, 



? ttted °n the sam^ I ln J terest last y ear ' ■« a gai" 

 f* 1 ^ with thS "? nd -, Each Pl« of Whelt is 



t 1 y*f.; thus a fah P ?l m ? le manure as was a PP liei1 

 rL^'^pated * X an il more correct result may 

 «««t exCtus^/^ fotl having been to a certain 



* *™» «ate to exhS" 6 ^ ,ast y ear ' s cr0 P is in 

 «e, and it SnT the eSect s of each individual 



"•"o* will nudnta! SeC, t W r hether sim P ]e ^"o 

 PouuT' !f a -«% rVtd fm G ity ° f , laDd K 



^y^ *ere m-n^^i-T atea - Ground on which 



It is a well-known fact that the Diseases op 

 Plants, like those of animaK are occasionally epide- 

 mic, prevailing over the vegetation of large districts ; 

 and the question has been often asked— Are they con- 

 tagions or infectious ? — Are they propagated by matter 

 engendered in one individual and communicated to 

 another? We shall endeavour to answer these ques- 

 tions; and we think that the conclusion must be ar- 

 rived at, from the evidence before us, that the dis- 

 eases of plants may be, like those of animals, produced 

 by contagion. 



Amongst animals, diseases are engendered by the 

 application of organic matter in three forms:— 1st, 

 that of animals, as in the case of the itch-mite, rot- 

 worm, and the various forms of epizoa and entozoa ; 

 2d, that of vegetables, as in the fungi of scald-head, 

 the conferva? cf impetigo, and other cutaneous dis- 

 eases ; J3d, that of organic cells, which do not give 

 evidences of the possession of a specific animal or ve- 

 getable life, as in the case of small-pox, measles, scar- 

 let fever, typhus fever, &c. ; and it is these diseases 

 which are most frequently epidemic. 



The same agents are capable of producing diseases 

 in vegetables. The attacks of the aphis, the scolytus, 

 and other insects, are well known as producing exten- 

 sive destruction of herbs and trees over large districts ; 

 and the most frequent pestilences that desolate the 

 cultivated plants of our fields are produced by various 

 forms of fungi. The agency of fungi is so great in 

 producing blights, that some writers have been in- 

 clined to attribute all the diseases of the vegetable 

 kingdom, not produced by insects, to this cause ; and 

 the peculiar characters which the cells of plants as- 

 sume under disease have been named as though they 

 were so many species of fungi. We are indebted to 

 Unger, a German botanist, for having pointed 

 out this error, and the real source of the sup- 

 posed forms of fungi. There is not, however, 

 any doubt that the greater number of the most 

 destructive pests of our fields— as those known by the 

 names of smut, brand, mildew, rust, kc— are pro- 

 duced by the introduction of the seeds of fungi 

 into the tissues of the affected plants. With the his- 

 tory and nature of these, we are happy to say we 

 shall be able to make the readers of the Gardeners' 

 Chronicle acquainted, through the able pen of the 

 Rev. Mr. Berkeley. 



These cryptogamic diseases of plants must be 



no noi occur in tne same districts in following years, 

 although there can be no doubt that there are more of 

 the seeds of disease,— as the ova of insects, the seeds of 

 fungi, &c, in the vicinity of crops, in the vear follow- 

 ing an attack of the d .than in years cither 

 previous or subsequent to the attack. We think, then, 

 that there is reason to conclude that there are con- 

 stantly in the atmosphere germs which are capable of 

 producing disease in a plant, provided the plant gets 

 into a condition to be attacked. 



The circumstances that would produce such a con- 

 dition of a plant as to render it liable to the develop- 

 ment of epidemic diseases, are of a general nature. 

 The state of the atmosphere in relation to moisture, 

 the prevalence of unseasonable, hot or cold weather, 

 the amount of light, and probably the electrical con- 

 dition of the air and earth, are the circumstances which 

 act on plants generally, and which may produce a 

 state in which insects, fungi, or organic germs, may 

 generate disease. 



A more limited cause of predisposition to contagious 

 disease is the natural decay of a plant or parts of a 

 plant. Thus we find that the leaves are more exposed 

 to the attacks of fungi just before the fall than at any 

 other time. The trunk and branches of a tree become 

 most frequently gangrenous when they have attained 

 maturity. Soft fruits— as Apples, Bean, Oranges, 

 Melons, Grapes, &c.— are more exposed to the attacks 

 of disease the riper they get. Ripe fruit is already 

 entering into a state of decay, and this process is 

 hastened by the introduction of the seeds of fungi 

 or the cells of diseased tissue. 



Can the epidemic diseases of plants be averted.' 

 We think in some cases they may, and in others very 

 much mitigated. We cannot control the sun and the 

 wind, nor prevent electrical accumulations and 

 escapes ; but we may act in anticipation of their 

 influence, and, if we cannot altogether prevent the 

 occurrence of epidemic diseases among plants, we may 

 do much to prevent their destructive consequences. 

 Plants which have the most perfect health will always 

 withstand depressing or exciting influences best, and 

 the most carefully cultivated farms and gardens will 

 always be those which, in the long run, will suffer 

 least from blights of any kind. It is not our object 

 here to point out the means of keeping plants in a 

 healthy state; but we would say to farmers and gar- 

 deners—Take all care that your plants are healthy ; 

 be careful of stimulating them with heat, light, water, 

 or manures ; be equally careful of depriving them of 

 a sufficient quantity of these things; and guard 

 against poisoning them by noxious gases or improper 

 manures. The influence of particular varieties of 

 plants, and the age of them, in producing disease, we 

 shall discuss in a separate article. — L. E. 



» 



^rrfted 



in order 



year be rm^ V w wun salin 

 ? Cerui n the infl? Pped Wlth Bar ley, 



5> iffiL 1 ? 1 y« * ■ !Tp« J h h ch l l! ose substances 



^^^--.uoretumsi 

 t*£23 «jon Grass 



■ 



'^ee h^'fcCS n, hat ^ e-ati;run out 



"'""or two SUS™T ed in , the P ro P° r - 



068 to a P^nt when removed, 



.v. b «*«v, t » do wuidgtuus, since mey are produced Dy 

 the contact of one portion of organic matter with 

 another. But the diseased cells of a vegetable are 

 capable of communicating their diseased action to 

 healthy cells, just as the cells from an animal affected 

 with small-pox are capable of giving that disease to 

 another. If a healthy plant of Cactus be inoculated 

 with some of the fluid from a plant affected with 

 moist gangrene, diseased action will immediately com- 

 mence, and extend more or less rapidly according to 

 the condition of the plant thus inoculated; and this is 

 the case with some other forms of vegetable disease. 

 The kind of action thus established is analogous to 

 that which occurs when a small quantity of ferment 



FUCHSIAS. 



{Continued from page 212.) 



The last Paper recommended young plants which are 

 found in a defective state of bottom -drain age, or in too 

 retentive a soil, to be first excited to a healthy circulation 

 of moisture, and then to be removed to 48 and 32 pots, 

 or larger in proportion to their vigour. Well established 

 plants in small 60s, of the present year's growth, may be 

 removed to 24s, to be therein established prior to receiving 

 a larger or final shift. 



A difference of opinion exists as to the fitness of peat 

 for Fuchsias. In the Natural Order, Onagracea, to which 

 the genus belongs, it is found, in connexion with other 

 genera characterised by requiring loam principally for 

 their growth. Judging from those plants, to the cultiva- 

 tion of which peat is essential, such as Heaths, Epacriset , 

 Pultenseas, Dillwynias, &c, it will be found that the habits 

 and structure of the Fuchsia are very opposite. Therefore 

 loam, with its usual accompaniments of leaf-mould or de- 

 composed manure, may be considered as the most natural 

 material for the cultivation of Fuchsias in pots. The 

 fitness of peat depends upon the conditions to which their 

 growth is subject, and will be alluded to hereafter. 



