





THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



T HE ROSE-GARDEN.-No. VIII. 



Continued from page 105.) 

 Ar BuddinayWilh a j u,hinp eye (a Vail pous- 

 Hw for* most likely to succeed in this way are 

 ' EoSm-"" 1 H " hrid8 ' &c - Amongst which are 



and Hybrids, fee 



paftd 



ditto 



Notoette 

 ditto 



Greville 

 Multiflora 

 Double Purple 

 Banksia 

 Sec. 



U 



^^T torts of Hoses on the same Slock.— It may 



TSfcere that buds from Roses of different sorts 



frcc l y placed on the same stock ; but not if their 



§Am 



er of growing De ainerem , tuau „, -- «~, «~ 



delicate and slow ; as the free-grower famishes the 



«d M any rate, the tree grows and looks lop- 



St'if more than one Rose be put upon the same 



Lfcr,nre should first be had to the similarity of 



peri 

 acta* 



S^b, both in habit and vigour ; secondly to the ap- 

 E*ran« snd aize of the leaves ; and lastly, to the habit, 

 E~; « D d colour of the flowers. 



Cheiee of Shoot and Bud.— The shoot from which the 

 W |» taken should be healthy and vigorous, of the 

 Zfeanal growth, and should look as if it were in its full 

 ttreaftb, and on the point of finishing its growth ; the 

 wood of it alto must be sufficiently ripened. The words 

 m+tvmnal and spring, are not intended to refer to the 

 dt when the shoots first began to push, but to their 

 1 state at the season of budding. The sense in 

 which the former of these words is to be here under- 

 ttood, it, 4 * continuing in a growing state during the 

 autumn/' Ko opposition to those shoots termed spring- 

 shoou, which, having borne flowers at their sum- 

 nits, or from any other cause, are comparatively dor- 

 mant at the time when the buds are required for use. 

 Tbe urmt flower-shoots and wood-shoots may be substi- 

 tuted for spring and autumnal, provided we bear in 

 mind that Chinese Roses and Hybrids form a half-ex- 



nrpi'.n tO thi rule laid down, as their buds may occa- 

 sionally, and, indeed, sometimes must be, procured from 

 f:«er*i hoots. When, therefore, the species to be pro- 

 Mfited ii a free flowerer, and, like the Damask and du 

 Em, produces upon every shoot, grafting (with the ex- 

 ception o( such sorts as may not be found to produce 

 scions sufficiently woodv) is the most eligible mode of 

 propagation, both for the purpose of avoiding waste and 

 inuring success. When this is objected to, those shoots 

 should be chosen, the flowers upon which are forming, 

 in contradistinction to such as have full-blown flowers, or 

 their remains, at their summits. 



If a spring shoot be taken, it is fifty to one but the 

 «M is quite inactive, or else has imperceptibly opened ; 

 in which Utter case, evaporation would take place before 



Salt v. Asparagns-The observations you made in 

 your Leader (>,o. 15, April 13), induced me to delay 

 sending you the following observations respecting Aspa- 

 ragus and salt, as I wished to make as correct a state- 

 ment as I possibly could. Ko vegetable deserves greater 

 attention than it, and I suppose the more experiments 

 made in its culture, if faithfully watched, the more likely 

 are we to succeed in its improvement. Ever since you 

 mentioned salt as likely to be beneficial, I commenced 

 applying it, and in consequence formed an idea that 

 Asparagus could not be injured by it ; but I have bought 

 my experience too dear. I have two beds of Asparagus. 

 The first year I sparingly covered them in spring, and 

 sometime in summer. The second year I think I applied 

 the salt twice, but more copiously ; and last year I laid 

 it on four times, rather thickly each time, especially the 

 last time. Some half-dozen times I have constantly wa- 

 tered the beds with manure-water, from June to August. 

 The Asparagus certainly improved, and last autumn it 

 had attained the height of six feet, so that I anticipated 

 a noble crop this spring. After cutting down the haulm, 

 I gave my last and strong dose of salt( l ), and perhaps 

 three weeks after, covered the beds with long litter. The 

 beds were uncovered early in March, and well stirred 

 with a broad-pronged fork. It was long before any 

 heads made their appearance, and they were of the most 

 puny kind. Suspecting that all was not right, and fear- 

 ing that my most strenuous advocacy for the salt system 

 might come to nothing (for a friend of mine in the win- 

 ter declared to me that salt had killed his Asparagus, and 

 I had asserted that it could not do so), I commenced an 

 examination of the beds from beginning to end j and I 

 assure you that at least one-fourth were quite dead, 

 quite decayed, and I never met with a single root which 

 was not more or less injured. The upper portion near 

 the crown of the roots was rotten : this, I say, was the 

 case with every root, more or less. About this time, a 

 gentleman residing in Louth informed me that much of 

 his beds was also injured by the application of salt. 

 These beds were not old ones— 7 or 8 years old, like 

 mine ; but he had only applied the salt once. Up to this 

 time I have carefully watched my beds, and the heads 

 cut from them have been very mean indeed. I ought 

 to have mentioned that the last time I examined the 

 crowns, they were putting up very thin heads; and since 

 they have appeared, they have presented only the same 

 mean appearance. Upon these beds also I see several 

 Sycamore plants coming up, so that the salt could not 

 have been, I think, so very strong. Shall we, therefore, 

 conclude that salt must not be very strongly applied? 

 Of this I am quite certain, my beds are ruined, for this 

 year at least ; and I can conceive no other cause than the 

 salt. Should I be wrong in taking oneof these beds up, and 

 mixing the soil with sea-sand and a due portion of 



* * ft m » • 



Injunction became effected, and the bud would perish; o _ _ 



■^nraer, the ibud is not in the state required, being guano? and then re-pianting the roots VponVhcTfirs! 



WOtorpid to effect anninn : <. . . l., r ° . J . 



too torpid to effect a union. 



Tbe autumnals, also, part better from the wood, and 

 are larger in girth, from having the strength of the sap 

 ikTj T n . them9elv es, instead of upon the flowers, 

 (beiidesthe circumstance of the tree being at that period 

 in full sction,) and they frequently start the same year 

 witt success ; whereas the buds of the spring, in a 

 «ar case, generally fail. If the shoots are in the 

 jwator 8 garden, they should be cut as nearly as 

 « I. V he , m ° ment o( use ; if from a friend's, the 



22t .i Pa i' ed in a ™ ter ^-P0t to keep them 

 •J-t, and care taken to keep them from the sun, using 



" 4 O I 



appearance of rain ? [We cannot suggest a better remedy 

 for the mischief than that which is here proposed. But 

 as to the mischief itself, there can be no doubt that the 

 last dose( J ) was what did the mischief. Salt should only 

 be applied when the plants are in full growth. To put it 

 on when the haulm is dead, is to pickle, not to manure. 

 The following memorandum has come in while we are 

 writing th^e remarks : — " I have tried salt on my 

 Asparagus-bed, both last year and this, with the greatest 

 advantage. I mention this to add my testimony to its 

 value, in case it should be doubted by any of your 

 readers who have hesitated to try it." — T. T. H.] 

 Gentiana verna. — This is a plant of great beauty, but 



As it U frea rl SUn ' nse in the mor ™ng- it is very much neglected. Being easily cultivated, it is 



•Merable distanc th P?f esJ ! ary to carry buds a con- well suited for forming edgings round the margin of 



iMp A\ Bt ..■' ** v - v ^ i " a ' y io carry ouas a con- 



«. iff ,£ £"'*• th 5 f0ll0wiD 8 m ° de "V be adopted : 

 ™*pe th Z * • an , d P P intS 0f the sh ° ots as m»»». «"<• 



•"» of Ptanrin^ "u W6t m0SB umil aD opportunity 

 **hfoffl« the , sh °o t8 a * above directed. Th' 



«« off S 'f " • w the leaf ' which ° u e bt t0 be 

 «be .hoot f ro„ L mch from the b«d, on separating 



Tom the parent plant, in order to avoid the 



tbl <. »• base Tn !? be centre of the shoot are prefer- 

 tho ^ * the ton flr p re m ° re likel y t0 lie dormant, and 

 *V*n and unrirJ. 5? S ° Safe ' bein & sometimes a little 



i!*%. and shoot b d I Under the bud should be 

 «**riant growth. ' ' ,eaves » appear of even and 



«re 



Sp**gPtnZa ^ A ? 1Tes Pondence. 



•*■■« ipwtrd, Z'Z Ab f Ut the 20th ^ March I trans- 

 •U Join* well i d ° Zen 8ta ndard Roses ; and they 

 fPerinent. About e Jf e P tln S °» e with which I tried an 

 ?^^ common Uu re l 8 r e ^ l amoved Portugal 

 !??P U »ts, amon'st u A , UCUbaS ' Rhododendrons, and 

 tJ^H-ell. rltt i! hlch was a Yew i a11 o( which 

 Z*°»* once since th 6 ° nly been * atered ^ice, and 

 S^^to di S c ern wK h : e { Were pIanted 5 and [t is scarcely 

 U^ile those «iU«f°^ Were reraoved i and which were 

 J? D «**ber are n ear . ilV^ months of November 



J&^'how that f t , / n m lt; l onI y mention this in 

 Ci?f?> rej^ » ?P u e "tion is rightly performed, 



7 m spring. In plant- 



• litfi. " of rotten rl,,„ . i7 " Da on tms i put about 



W fd "?» in order t in? r . u Und ' and covered it with 

 ^/^owin^tu;. ?^ prevent birds «c«.»l«. * „k„... 



I have i 



ffOttff, 



birds scraping it about. 



er r^f '" pian, 



"^""CmttT""- [We d0 -' ^ how 



flower borders, where its bright blue flowers have a fine 

 appearance. About 300 yards of this was planted as an 

 edging to flower beds here in April, 1843. It flowered 

 tolerably well the first season, but during this year it has 

 been the most striking feature of the garden, and has 

 been admired by all who have seen it. — R. T., Hornby 

 Castle, Yorkshire, [Is it not Gentiana acaulis that is 

 here spoken of?] 



Hybrid Rhododendrons. — As the blooming season is 

 arrived, would it not be desirable for the readers of the 

 Chronicle to communicate, through the medium of its 

 pages, a description of any new and striking varieties that 

 have fallen under their notice? Much remains to be 

 accomplished by the growers of this most exquisite tribe, 

 as, notwithstanding the beauty of numberless hybrids, 

 a fresh race is required, which would unite the glowing 

 tints of the Indian species with the hardness and freedom 

 in flowering that characterise both R. Maximum and 

 Ponticum. At Highclere this has been done ; as by 

 crossing the finest varieties of -Altaclarense with a variety 

 of Ponticum, known as Lee's Late Purple, a collection 

 of perfectly hardy sorts has been raised, on which no 

 severity of the winter has any effect, and which adorn 

 the grounds of that noble seat with flowers of a most 

 beautiful description. These Rhododendrons combine 

 every requisite quality, being abundant bloomers, and 

 productive of immense trusses of large flowers, of 

 every shade of pink and rose, crimson and dazzling 

 scarlet, and purple, in some instances dark as the fruit 

 of the vine ; with the additional recommendation of 

 being in perfection from the middle of May to the begin- 

 ning of June. I believe that these fine varieties are not 

 in the possession of the trade, which is to be regretted ; 

 and the object of this paragraph is to stimulate both 

 nurserymen and amateurs to embrace the present season, 

 and cross such varieties as may, by an intermixture of 

 habit, colour, and size of their flowers, render their 

 progeny equal to those I have been describing. It cannot 

 be doubted that the uniqn of some fine, high-coloured 

 hybrid, with such kinds as Lee's Late purple, Ponticum, 



317 



Lee's Grandiflorum (a very large flower), a rose-coloured 

 or purple Maximum, would produce such shrubs and 

 flowers as would not only be suited to our uncertaia 

 climate, but be the admiration of all who saw them.— A 

 Devonian, 



Chicory.— It has been my opinion these ten vears that 

 Chicory would become as common as Endive. It is much 

 more easy to grow and preserve than the latter, which 

 requires continual covering, and is very liable to rot 

 About three years ago I grew a quantity for Covent- 

 Garden Market ; the first lot I sold to Mr". Steptoe, and 

 made 9*. 6d. of it ; it was the first that had ever come 

 into the market. The next market morning Mr. Steptoe 

 shook his head, and said he had sold but two bunches r 

 and those to a Frenchman. I, however, gave him the 

 next lot, and the third time, having no better success, I 

 never attempted to grow it since. For market-gardeners 

 I would recommend them to take out a trench just in the 

 same way as they do for Rhubarb, and to plant it in the 

 trench, covering it over with mats and straw. No far- 

 ther trouble is necessary. The best time to sow it is 

 about the 1st of June, so that it may become very large, 

 and not run to seed. 1 have grown the roots as fine at 

 the largest Horseradish ; but to do this the plants ought 

 to be thinned out to a foot each way. The following 

 article on this subject was sent to the ,l Gardeners* 

 Magazine," in 1837 :— " It is with much pleasure that I 

 have to notice the success that has attended my cultiva- 

 tion of that most valuable salad- plant, the Chicorv, which 

 was brought into notice last year by Dr. Lippold". I am 

 well aware that Chicory has been known in this country 

 for many years, and also that it has not been cultivated 

 to any extent; but I may safely say, that a more valuable 

 salad-plant for winter use never was introduced. Our 

 autumns are so changeable, that the gardener finds great 

 difficulty in keeping Endive in a good |state of preser- 

 vation for winter use ; while Chicory can be taken up and 

 put into a pit for forcing at pleasure. The pit which 

 suits it best is one flued all round, on account of damps ; 

 and it must be planted in very dry mould ; the mould, 

 indeed, cannot be too dry, as the roots are sure to imbibe 

 moisture enough for their support. I planted them six 

 inches apart, and found it quite enough ; the heat re- 

 quired is very little, but that must be regulated by the 

 quantity of Salad to be raised. In place of taking the 

 outside leaves, I cut the head close down, though not so 

 low as to injure the second cutting. Some of the heads 

 produced enough for one salad each, along with other 

 small salads. Every gardener who has to produce good 

 salads during the winter ought to provide himself with 

 Chicory, and if he has not got flued pits, the next best 

 place is any shut-up or inclosed shed ; if there is a stoke- 

 hole with fire so much the better, but no light must get 

 at it, as it must have a fine cream colour when fit for 



table. Market-gardeners would also find Chicory a most 

 valuable salad when their Endive was ail 07er."~Jam« 

 Cuthill, Camber -well. 



Sparrows. — People complain of the loss of their 

 Gooseberries thts year by birds — for birds, I imagine, 

 we should read grubs. I had a tree loaded with blossom, 

 and it is now all blank ; I saw six or seven sparrows on 

 it at a time, and was induced to watch them closely. I 

 saw one knock his bill against a leaf and eat something; 

 at last he knocked one of these somethings to the 

 ground, when I ran and frightened him away, and found 

 his lapsus humi was a green caterpillar. I now 

 examined the tree, and found that sparrows did not eat 

 the Gooseberries. Every third or fourth leaf contained 

 one of these depredators — of a sort that let themselves 

 to the ground by a gossamer thread. Black Currants 

 are all gone by the same marauders. — F, 



Rabbits, — These are easily taken alive, by soaking 

 their favourite food, Parsley, in strong rum or brandy. 

 A similar method is employed in catching small birds 

 with steeped seed. They, like the rabbits, are so in- 

 toxicated by the spirit, that there is no difficulty in ob- 

 taining as many as you wish. — J. R. L. 



Morphology. — \t is due to the genius of M R. E.'* to 

 express gratitude to him for his very instructive letters 

 on Familiar Botany ; his plain, unvarnished exposition 

 of the gradual changes that the organs of plants undergo, 

 must ultimately lead the most sceptical to embrace the doc- 

 trine of Morphology. It appears to me as reasonable and 

 as possible that flowers should be metamorphosed leaves 

 as that many insects change first from the (ovum) egg into 

 the (larva) caterpillar or maggot, then into the (pupa) 

 chrysalis, and lastly into the (imago) fly, or perfect state. 

 While the butterfly lies in the body of the caterpillar, its 

 wings are long and narrow and wound up into the form of 

 a cord, and the feelers are rolled upon the head ; the 

 trunk is also twisted and laid upon the head, but in a 

 very different manner from what it is in the perfect ani- 

 mal, or indeed in the pupa state. How similar that is 

 to the leaf of a Paeony and its petals, the same organ in 

 different states, as is clearly proved in the last letter of 

 11 R. E." That a tadpole should become a frog appears 

 more wonderful than that leaves should be metamor- 

 phosed into flowers ; the egg of the frog being laid in 

 the water produces that lively little animal the tadpole; 

 after some time legs and feet burst through the skin, 

 the tail drops off, and he is a perfect quadruped. The 

 amusing and useful letters of M Ruricola" have given to 

 the readers of the Gardeners* Chronicle many examples 

 of the various metamorphoses by which insect life pro- 

 ceeds from the ovum to the perfect state. As another in- 

 stance, in confirmation of the change of leaves into sepals 

 and petals, so clearly explained by"R. E.," I be S t0 

 direct the attention of the unbelieving, or those doubtful 

 on the subject of Morphology, to a bed of Tulips, where 

 is frequently to be seen at this season of the year that 



