



* «s 









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1844.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



427 



E 



ROSES. 



DENVER begs to inform the Nobility, Gentry, 



•nd his friends in general, that his superb Collection of 

 are now in full bloom; the standard and dwarf Roses 

 'tilanted on each side of a walk 66*0 feet, and consist of 500 

 •Jtie« Orders taken for the plants when in bloom, and de- 

 u "lid in November next. Admittance Gratis, dailr (Sundays 

 ceuted) Louphbourough Nursery, Brixton, within 3 miles 

 S London. June 28th, 1844. 



ORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.— 



_ EXHIBITIONS AT THE GARDEN.— The Third Meet- 

 inr will take place on Saturday, the I3th of July ; on which oc- 

 casion His Grace the Duke of Devonshire, the President of the 



H 



Society has kindly directed the doors of his Gardens and 

 Pleasure-Grounds to he opened for the reception of all persons 

 irho shall have been admitted into the Garden of the Society by 

 Tickets.-* 1, Regent-street. 



SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 1844. 



MEETINGS FOR THE FOLLOWING WEEK. 



_ , _ f Royal Bntanic Gardens. 

 Tomimt, July 8 -\ Horticultural 



FaiMT, 



July 5 



Botanical 



Sp.x. 

 3 rat. 



8r.M. 



We observe that a letter has been addressed to 

 the Editor of the Hereford Times, by Mr. W. 

 Godsall, strongly recommending all persons inte- 

 rested in the Potato Crop, especially cottagers, to 

 pull off the flowers diligently as soon as they appear. 

 We be£ to second that recommendation. All expe- 

 rience shows that flowers of the Potato are produced 

 at the expense of that organisable matter which 

 gives its value to the tuber, and which is diminished 

 in quantity in proportion to the number of flowers 

 that have been fed. For flowers must exist and 

 feed on something, and that something is what 

 would, if not removed by the flowers, descend beneath 

 the ground and collect itself in the tubers. 



The mere production of flowers is a loss ; but the 

 mischief is infinitely increased if the flowers are 

 succeeded, as they almost always are, bv the berries. 

 The actual amount of loss produced by" each truss of 

 flowers is not ascertained ; but it is probable that if 

 the flowers abstract one ounce of organisable matter, 

 the berries consume at least twice as much. Now, as 

 Potatoes are not grown for the sake of either the 

 flowers or the berries, every particle of matter which 

 is consumed by the plant in producing them is a 

 dead Joss to the grower. 



The man who makes his Potato-ground feed 

 flowers prevents its feeding his children. Every 

 ounce of matter consumed by the flowers is so much 

 taken from the consumption of the family. 



We cannot just now lay our hands on any precise 

 evidence of how much is lost in this way. Mr. God- 

 sail assumes it to amount to many hundred weights, 

 or even a ton an acre; but he is in all probability 

 under the mark. A bunch of Potatoe-berries weighs, 

 EL i Say \ half - a -P ou nd. Suppose that each 



m£l V l^ bears half-a-dozen bunches; that 

 1W ,° f worthless produce. An acre of 



f VPrQ !' gr T d carries about 20 » °0 P^nts on an 

 Z $F\£ thls 1 P ves 60,000lbs. of waste. But of this 



Sniiv * • be water > according to Mr. Edward 



mall e 5P u en l ment8 » an <* only 5322lbs. organic 

 woi,M ne 1 ! a »er, however, or 2 tons 7 cwt 58lbs. 

 of ? ln« . a< ?r d,n S l0 ^is calculation, be the amount 

 to flowe S r U a n a ^ r d ui Pf r acre > b ? ^wiog the Potatoes 



stat^n^' however > that this is an excessive 

 -and ir su PP° s,n S ^ to be wrong by even one-half 

 is the m'r n hardl y be so much as that-still there 

 Portance nf amp evidence to show the immense im- 

 enercv in rK Preventin & the Pot ato expending its 

 areof noJr?% Wasteful Production of parts which 

 ^ no sort of use for food. 



P. 735 LZ? f- ners ' Chr °™ck of Oct. 21st, 1843, 



Lotus' conphir ? and fi S ures were S iven of Aspi- 

 Dry scat Pu r - m u S ' the Apple-thei Mussel, or 

 there Bt*i*i Tu ch attacks various fruit-trees. It is 

 direction .. .if* these scales do n °t lie in one 

 downward f° rS S eneraI1 y do, with their heads 

 Placed vertical !° me , of the Apple-tree scales are 

 transverse dire r ° s obliquely, many have a 

 together in i n ' and sometimes they are crowded 

 Position, evenl - Cnse mulritude s in everv possible 



are hard, dark g i° ne ° Ver the other ' ^he scaIes 

 hke minute mu L i , fining; they are exceedingly 



the y are slfehtl ' but rather raore elongated ; 



funded at thl .? urved > transversely wrinkled, 

 * hich is semi, r \ and att enuated at the head, 

 f ust 7 colour ^hndrical, less opaque, and of a 



, in S the mj 5 adhere firmJ y to the bark, 

 W t en disl 0( U a , g T beneat h broad and woolly, and 



? blte - Wifhin *h S? u°u th °y had covered appears 

 f emale ' occupy * e sbe,1 i« Jound a fleshy green 



fiff in * e*tS P , a h rt £ f , the cavit y towifi the 

 St 1 with whke oU 6 hlnder s P a ^e being entirely 

 *L° r *<>**? hev ' >\ am r tin S sometimes to 



8 P eci ^I think ^ aL n/. ther , ar ^ er than in ™ st 



' and P rodu <* little white flat cocci, 



with two antennae and six legs; thev are lively and 

 run about for several days, but having fixed them- 

 selves, they grow, and by degrees become very dif- 

 ferent creatures to what they were immediately after 

 their birth." * 



As it is, according to all appearance, this same 

 insect which, by the statement laid by seve. al gentle- 

 men connected with the Orange trade before the 

 Entomological Society of London,* is now threaten- 

 ing the entire destruction of the Orange trees in the 

 Azores, it may not be uninteresting to add some 

 further observations which the facts already known 

 supply, together with the best means of eradicating 

 this pest. 



It- has been generally believed that the various 

 scale insects are confined to particular species of 

 plants and trees, and such is often the case; in this 

 respect, therefore, the Mussel-scale differs essentially 

 from others, for in England it attacks a variety of 

 fruit-trees, amongst which are the Apples, Pears, 

 Plums, Apricots, and Peaches, and in the Azores, 

 the Mulberry and Orange-trees. 



Although occasionally very numerous in this 

 country, we are not aware of its having caused the 

 destruction at any period which is reported to have 

 followed its introduction into the Azores, where it 

 has spread so rapidly under the mild temperature of 

 those islands, that in three years it has destroyed all 

 the Orange-trees in Faval ! If this scourge be not 

 checked, many evils will be the result, and the inha- 

 bitants may well be alarmed at the calamity which 

 threatens to deprive them of the profits arising from 

 their Orange orchards ; the public also may lose one 

 of the best sources from whence they derive a regular 

 supply of a luxury at once wholesome, grateful, and 

 reasonable ; for many years must elapse before the 

 Orange-trees of the Azores, some of them 300 years 

 old, and producingannually from 5000 to 6000 Oranges 

 each, can be replaced ; and even our revenue would 

 suffer from the suspension of the trade. 



We here have a striking proof of the importance 

 of Entomology as a science, for the ravages of this 

 insect can only be arrested by a knowledge of its 

 economy ; and we doubt not if some experienced 

 Entomologist had been on the spot, the mischief 

 might have been nipped in the bud. Whether it 

 be too late to be averted can only be ascertained by 

 the application of remedies under the guidance and 

 inspection of scientific men, well-versed in the 

 economy of insects. 



If scraping the trunks and branches be resorted to— 

 and we confess this seems to us the best mode of 

 attacking the Mussel-scale — powdered unslaked lime, 

 if it can be procured, should first be scattered thickly 

 round the base of the tree, in order that those which 

 fall down may be destroyed; or a fresh-tarred or 

 painted circular board, divided across the middle 

 with a central hole large enough to receive the stem, 

 would do as well. The scales having been scraped 

 off carefully with a wooden knife, the trunk and 

 branches, as soon as they have been thus freed from 

 the scales, should be washed over with some liquid, 

 as a paint, to destroy the embryo young and eggs, 

 many of which will otherwise remain uninjured. 



To ascertain the most effectual wash, mixtures 

 should be made of lime-water, of clay and urine, of 

 cowdung and urine, of train oil, &c; and if these be 

 employed hot, the result will be attended with more 

 complete success. The degree of heat which may be 

 applied for the destruction of the insects, without 

 injuring the trees, and the best of the mixtures, can 

 only be ascertained by careful and judicious experi- 

 ments. In the operation of applying these, a stiff 

 painter's brush should be used, which will penetrate 

 into the chinks and damaged places in the bark, so 

 as to leave no space uncovered ; for it is not only by 

 destroying the old scales that benefit will be derived, 

 by rendering the surface of the tree deleterious 

 to the young scales, those which may escape the 

 purification will be starved to death. Having some 

 further observations to make upon the scales which 

 affect the leaves and the fruit, we shall resume the 

 subject hereafter. In the mean while, if any one 

 could supply us with the maggots or pupse, in situ, 

 which live in and under the skins of decaying 

 Oranges, we would make them the subject of a 

 separate notice. — R. 



FRENCH CULTIVATION of the PELARGONIUM. 



The following are the details of the Propagation, 

 Culture, and General Treatment of the Pelargonium in 

 France, as they have been furnished by M. Bataille, the 

 Curator of the Botanical Garden at Avranches, in 

 Normandy, who, while he fully admits that his theo- 

 retical remarks are compiled from French works of high 

 authority, advances nothing in the practical portions 

 that he has not ascertained from long and assiduous 

 attention. I shall critically pursue his own order of 

 arrangement in treating the subject. — Martin Doyle. 



There are two divisions of the Pelargonium. No. 1 

 has tuberous roots, which may be divided into those 



* Gard. Chron., June 15th, 1844, p. 390. 



without stems and those with them ; No. '2 — the roots 

 are fibrous, and the species nearly ail shrubby : this di- 

 vision has more cultivated varieties than the other. 



The mode of vegetation in No. 1 differs from that 

 of the other in this respect, that, being tub^rous- 

 rooted, the species are without any tigns of growth 

 during a certain season, and then the quantity of water 

 given should be only enough to prevent the root from, 

 dwindling away : but as soon as it begins to give signs 

 of life, the watering should be gradually increased, until 

 the plant has entirely brought out its young leaves; then, 

 if in summer, it should be plentifully watered, bufcnot so 

 much as a plant with fleshy roots ; for the great quan- 

 tity of mucilaginous matter which accumulates in all 

 roots, whether bulbous or tuberous, keeps them alive for 

 a considerable time without any water. The means of 

 multiplying this race are not so numerous as those 

 employed for propagating the other : the seeds and 

 tubercles are generally used. The tubercles are distinct, 

 yet they are joined by a thread which runs through each, 

 so tint by cutting it, one tubercle comes out alone with- 

 out detaching the rest ; this may be set like, a slip or 

 cutting, provided it be sunk so deep that thejopper part 

 is even with the ground. If the tubercle ife fresh, by 

 placing it under a bell-glass it will grow without being 

 watered. The seeds should be sown as soonfas ripe, in 

 the early part of the summer, so as to givejthe young 

 plant time to acquire strength before winter ; (but if they 

 have not ripened in an early season, it is be>t to post- 

 pone the sowing until the following spring. 



General Remarks on the Shrubby Pelargonium*. — To 

 cultivate the shrubby species with success, the proper time 

 for flowering should be kept in mind, so as to advance 

 the plant by proper treatment with reference to that 

 period. Flowers may be had in the middle of April, 

 but the end of that month, or beginning of May, is the 

 proper time for flowering, before which season the full 

 beauty of the blossoms is not developed ; because those 

 which open before have formed their buds too early in 

 the winter, and consequently are not in proper condition 

 to undergo a critical examination. It is not before the 

 month of May that the flower appears in its full splen- 

 dour and perfection. The cuttings should be taken from 

 shoots which are neither too woody nor too soft, and 

 from branches of old stocks which had been topped after 

 the flowering; season. As soon as theeuttings are potted, 

 which should be in August or September, they should 

 be watered through a fine rose watering-pot, so as to 

 settle the earth about the roots. A small stick should 

 then be fixed to each cutting. As soon as the plants are 

 habituated to the air, they should be placed in a green- 

 house, or on a stand in some suitable room, care being 

 taken that the sun's rays do not fall too directly on them ; 

 but air and light should be admitted freely when the 

 weather permits. About a fortnight after they have been 

 placed in the greenhouse, they should be cut down to 

 the height of 3 or 4 ioches, and even if they should be 

 lower, topping is necessary, for it hastens the growth 

 and branching ; three or four buds are a sufficient number 

 to encourage. To those who have no greenhouse, any 

 exposed house will answer until the end of November, 

 when the pots may be placed in some apartment which 

 has a sufficiency of light and a southern aspect, and with 

 windows which can be opened when the thermometer 

 is not below 40°. In severe frost artificial warmth will 

 be necessary, and draughts of external air should be 

 excluded. 



Watering. — Even if a plant has languished from want 

 of moisture, heavy watering at one time is injurious, be- 

 cause the roots are not then in a fit condition to perform 

 their functions all at once, but by wetting the earth gra- 

 dually a healthy action will be induced. Watering in 

 the middle of the day, and particularly in sunshine, is so 

 injurious, that plants have been known to die suddenly 

 after this operation, which should be performed in the 

 morning during the winter months, and in the evening 

 from the month of March until about the fifteenth or 

 twentieth of October. When watering has been exces- 

 sive, the foliage becomes yellowish, the faded leaves ad- 

 here to the stem, and the earth does not dry as quickly 

 as usual. In such a case the plant should be taken out 

 of the pot and have the roots examined, when these will 

 be found decayed more or less ; the mode of renovating 

 the plant is to repot it, and keep it in the shade and 

 sheltered from heavy rain. In April and May, syringe 

 the plants gently which have not opened their flowers ; 

 and if the water is not sufficiently evaporated during the 

 night, open the doors and windows early in the morning, 

 to give a free circulation of air to dry the plants before 

 the sun is too powerful. 



Treatment of the Plants after their Flowering.— 

 They should be cut down closely, in order to concentrate 

 the sap in the lower part of the plant, and to keep it 

 as low as possible, because in such condition it produces 

 most seed, and is more attractive than a tall ill-furnished 

 plant ; besides, this operation tends to prolong its exist- 

 ence. July and August are the proper months for using 

 the knife for the above purpose, but two or three eyes 

 should be left upon the branches of the same year's 

 growth, for the buds are seldom vigorous on old wood. 

 The plants, when thus cut down, should be placed in 

 rows in a very airy place, and exposed to the sun to pro- 

 mote the new budding ; some cultivators put them in « 

 greenhouse, or under a frame, until the new shoots are 

 well advanced, and then pot them ; but others say tnac 

 the spring is the only proper season for doing that, tor 

 they consider that the second changing prevents the 

 plants from taking sufficient root in the pots, and cause* 

 them to grow too high during the winter. 



{To be continued.) 



