1844-] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



445 







'country for 50 jear- 

 be*t, ves 



1 •*# 



wrvation, and I shall relate them shortly in 

 bjt own oo ^ aUow you tQ affix your judgment to 



§U ch a way ^ ^ . g bdng offered a for the ne west 

 each ini^«. f ^^ |fc bg f ^ to award thc prjze tQ 



,nd ^^"theium tricolor, a plant that has been in the 

 ^ mtm - y 50 years ? — [If it were both the newest and 



not otherwise.] 2. A prize being offered 

 the six newest and finest-flowered stage Pelar- 

 L • K in Dots, with names," would it be fair to award 

 S? n «r? 7e to spindled, pale-foliaged plants, having nu- 

 "* P ILi of individually inferior flowers of Caroline, 

 ?f r0 eg Flash, Fair Maid of Devon, Black Dwarf, and 

 r I Monarch, to the exclusion of compact, dark-green- 

 fY pd plants having comparatively but few trusses of 



• j— !> rt .ilv solendid flowers of Constellation, Cleopatra, 

 individually ^p SapphirCj and Comte de Paris ? _ 



fN 1 3. A prize being offered "for the finest grown 

 en of any recently-introduced perennial herba- 

 wousVnt in flower, with name;' would it be fair to 

 d the prize to a potful of Achimenes grandiflora, to 

 the exclusion of a single plant of Achimenes grandiflora, 

 better erown than the other, so far as single plant for 

 sinele plant went, being considerably the tallest 

 of the two, clothed with large dark-green leaves from 

 the pot upwards, and having, although necessarily 

 fewer yet better-coloured flowers?— [This could only 

 be ascertained by inspection. According to the case 

 here put, it would not be a fair award.] 4. A 

 prize being offered " for the finest grown specimen of 

 any rare, tender, shrubby plant or flower," would it 

 be fair to award the prize to a plant about two feet in 

 height, and about same diameter, of the comparatively 

 not rare, not tender, Pimelea decussata var. rosea, to the 

 exclusion of a plant upwards of one foot high and two 

 feet in diameter, of the comparatively rare and tender 



Turnera elegans ? [No.] As these instances are not 



altogether imaginary, and as a deep and extensive sus- 

 picion seems to be rapidly engendering against Horticul- 

 tural Societies in general, that may ultimately, and soon 

 advance to a serious reaction against them, it becomes 

 necessary — you will allow surely — to comment on and 

 check all misunderstandings and instances of unfairness. 



— C. M. C. II. S. [We can only add, that the motto 



of the Judge should be fiat justitia, ruat cesium, which, 

 being interpreted signifies, Do what is right and fair, 

 without caring who is pleased or offended.] 



Pine Apples. — Having a very large Pine stove capable 

 of holding nearly 100 fruiting plants, heated with hot 

 water, both for bottom and top, I resolved, about six 

 months ago, to adopt different plans of fruiting them. 

 For this purpose I had the bed divided into three compart- 

 ments. In the first division the pots are suspended from 

 holes formed on a wooden stage by their rims, into a hot- 

 air chamber, by which it receives its heat from hot-water 

 pipes, with dishes to hold water passing underneath, about 

 4 feet deep. In the second division brick pillars were 

 raised a few inches above the pipes, and a bottom of flag 

 and large pieces of broken brick was formed, upon which 

 about three loads of tanners' bark were placed for plunging 

 the pots. The third division was also covered in the 

 same manner, but instead of tan bark, a thick coat of 

 manure was laid over the brick-bats. The pit was 



fK ,/ ith fresh P eat an <* nver sand, well mixed to- 

 gether : 36 succession plants were planted out in this 

 compartment, and each division containing about the 

 Sime number ; the sorts are nearly all Black Jamaicas. 

 Attention has been paid to airing, watering, and keeping 

 a steady surface-heat, and, as far as could be judged, to 



r?h Dg il re8Ular bottom -heat; the plants are very strong 

 and healthy, and many have sent up suckers, but hitherto, 



aihi» T e f Ce P tion ' no fr "it has appeared. It is impos- 



n.i ,m. a- P ? COuld have a better appearance, but I am 

 mucn disappointed in not having fruit,— especially as in 

 Mackint osh's -Practical Gardiner- it is stated that 

 t*nt*m * ng . int0 fruit in August, may be considered 

 en U r UD V° bcin * lost -" Can «ny of your correspond- 

 them L g f ' f a T hod like] y to be successful in bringing 



BeeT rUlt , before August ?-A. B.C. 

 "An own Ga rdeners' Chronicle, p. 197,1841, 



a simian ? rreSpondent " will find that I have recorded 

 by a 1 k P Ce r ? f int «ment with his own, attended 



as su cee d P Ti S l rC8Ult - To obviate such a f atale * ent 

 moval of n„J r^°T 0f no sure remed * but the re ' 



tte bees' Zht ill T^T be y° nd the usual range ° f 



WDDWl/f ' l lhe fl ° WerS aff0r < 



•uppiy ot honey.— If n »< r«„„* «. r> 

 Page 2Ri «f «.u J \ Constant Res 



of the 2d Sv U } edition of the " Honey Bee," or 328 

 tbeusenfr i?. ,he wiU find that l there recommend 

 the same rl ll6 4 alkali ' for ^ same purpose and for 

 •nd the for D u at he makea use of the fi-^d alkali; 

 m °re penetmin ^ advanta S e over the latter— it is 

 °f it* I hav i 8 "' a no caut i° n is required in the use 

 **>an, Esqa^F* f ° Und !t s P eedil y effectual.— Edw. 



Bee*.— Havi ' Newtown, Montgomeryshire. 



^▼e system of^'*** 8everal articI es on the conserva- 

 awarming whirh ee P ln g bees, so as to prevent their 

 \ * tried the follow* 80 " 16 a P iarians imagine is the best plan, 

 On the 6th of Y? ex P eriment with two old stocks :— 

 awarmine and* I tbey 8n °wed every symptom of 

 1 Placed a la r ° l . er to Prevent them from doing so, 



^ches deep J? 1 u 1Xnder each * The hives are 14 

 ^ a wooden t Same in diame ter ; each is made 

 ? Uar e; then*.. 8nd a hole iQ the centre 1$ inch 



7 h °f June onT f °u n fiUcd them with comb > and on the 

 the 8war m »-ilk i h , em » altho °g b well shaded, swarmed ; 



y , et On the lfri r l bs " Tbe other ha « not swarmed 

 **• °ne that had ? 6 l t0ok off the top hive from 



°* v e»7 clear an H 8Wa -\ n ? ed » and from it 1 obtained 20 lbs. 



<* b «-ood near thA°°.* 0n ^ y ; there was a small quantity 



<*r the bottom of the hive in two of the combs. 



the flowers afford them an ample 



Reader " will refer to 



Now, I am desirous of information on the following 

 points : — If I take the hive off the top of the other hive 

 (which is exceedingly strong) will not the decrease in 

 room cause it to swarm ? Again, if I leave it on much 

 longer, and then take it away, will not the bees be pre- 

 vented from procuring sufficient food for their support 

 in winter, as there is no place here to which they may 

 be transported in autumn for a supply ? Will not an 

 old stock work up as well as down ? Any experienced 

 apiarian who will kindly answer these inquiries, will 

 greatly oblige — A Cottager, JVest Dean, Sussex. 



Sting of Bees. — Apply the blue-bag used by the 

 washerwomen. Five minutes ago (and which induced 

 me thus to address you) I was stung by one of my bees, 

 who made three distinct attacks before he could succeed. 

 I applied the bag, and the pain ceased instantaneously. 

 I have tried the same remedy before, both on myself 

 and children, and always with the same result. — F. G. C. 

 Aston Hall, Hawarden. 



Humphreys's Compound.— The letter of "F. R. M 

 attracted my attention, as well as that of Mr. Humphreys, 

 and I felt anxious to know if the remarks made by that 

 writer may be trusted, as also whether the explanation 

 offered by Mr. H. is admissible. That the Compound 

 contains no phosphate of lime is admitted, but who ever 

 heard of guano without it ? As well might we speak of 

 syrup without sugar, or brine without salt ! But it is stated 

 that, although phosphate of lime is absent, phosphoric 

 acid is present, and that in a state more generally avail- 

 able. Of course, if this be the case, it is capable of 

 proof, and a simple experiment will suffice for this pur- 

 pose. I took a portion of Humphreys's Compound, and 

 found it readily soluble in water. The solution was 

 diluted, made alkaline with pure ammonia, and a drop or 

 two of solution of chloride of calcium added to it. There 

 was not the least precipitate or opalescence produced, 

 even after some length of time, which would have been 

 the case if phosphoric acid had been present. To prove 

 this position, a glass rod was dipped into a very dilute 

 solution of phosphoric acid, and applied to the mixture. 

 The well-known appearance of precipitated phosphate of 

 lime was almost instantaneously observed. This experi- 

 ment must, I think, be admitted as conclusive ; and if 

 so we have before us the anomalous statement that a 

 11 liquid guano" can be produced from a " compound " not 

 only not containing phosphate of lime, but utterly devoid 

 of phosphoric acid in any shape ! When Mr. H. proposes 

 by public advertisement to substitute his preparation, 

 excellent as it is for some purposes, for my" liquid 

 guano " (for this is evidently pointed at), he should first 

 rub up his chemistry a little, or at least give others the 

 credit for not taking an unsubstantiated assertion as 

 indisputable fact. In conclusion, I should propose that, 

 instead of regaling the public with our discussions, and 

 occupying, very unprofitably to you, your valuable pages, 

 that Mr. H. be so good as to withdraw the objectionable 

 part of his advertisement, and let each of us prosecute 

 our career without interfering one with the other; for, 

 surely, there is plenty of room for both, without jostling 

 or falling out by the way.— fV. H. Potter, 28, Upper 

 Fore-street, Lambeth. 



Horehound.— Many thanks are due to your corres- 

 pondent (p. 375), for having directed attention to the 

 valuable properties of the Horehound in cases of influ- 

 enza, &c, as restoring the tone to the stomach, and 

 allaying irritation. I question, however, if the generality 

 of your readers would venture upon a second glass of the 

 mixture there prescribed, owing to the peculiarly bitter 

 character of the plant. The mixture 1 have seen used 

 for the same purpose, though probably less efficacious 

 than that of " M.D." was certainly more palatable. It 

 consists merely of a strong decoction of Horehound (pre- 

 pared in the same manner as Camomile-tea), sweetened 

 with honey to the taste. Any tolerable hand at taking 

 medicine will find no difficulty in drinking a wine-glass 

 or two of this mixture the first thing in the morning, or 

 at any time when oppression on the stomach is felt. 

 Yarrow-tea is in some parts of Yorkshire a favourite 

 beverage among the old women, the effects of which are 



possibly similar. — M. A. 



Labelling.— Allow me to say that, although I referred 

 to the " Rose-garden," I think the labels and my little 

 implement applicable in other ways. I use such labels 

 to my fruit-trees, plants in pots and borders, to my 

 wine bins, &c. Those, however, who, like me, detest to 

 see that crooked which ought to be straight, may find 

 themselves disappointed with a few round-based letters — 

 the c, g, J, o, a, and u. The makers of the punches — 

 why, I cannot tell — are apt to leave them thicker in the 

 ed»e than the other letters, which causes them to stand 

 higher than the true line. A file will sometimes correct 

 the punches ; if too hard for it, as generally they are, 

 any cutler or whitesmith will do it on his grind-stone. 

 The Q, however, is nearly impracticable ; his tail will not 

 let him " keep the line." The only way, I believe, is to 

 use the o instead, and, with a knife, the corner of a small 

 chisel, or a graver, give him his appendage after- 

 wards. — W» 



SbQcfetft*. 



HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



July 3.— W. H. Pepys, Esq., in the chair. His 

 Majesty the King of Saxony was elected an honorary 

 member of the Society ; and the following gentlemen 

 were elected fellows— Sir T. Tancred ; J. B- P hl »P!» 

 Esq. ; Dr. W. Speir, and Mr. F. C. Ball. The Exhibi- 

 tion included several objects of great interest. Mr w. 

 J Hooker sent from the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, 

 the charming Thunbergia chrysops, remarkable for its 

 eye of gold in a field of the richest purple'; a beautiful 



specimen of Dracophyllum gracile, with its clusters of 

 snow-white flowers ; a noble new species of Justicia r 

 resembling J. carnea, but with leaves as soft as velvet ; 

 a new species of Oncidium allied to O. Baueri, but quite 

 distinct, from central America ; and several other inte- 

 resting things. — Mr. Best, gr. to Alexander Park, Esq., 

 Merton Grove, Surrey, obtained the Silver Knightian 

 Medal for a new shrubby Nolana, with large sky-blue 

 flowers ; this plant may be expected to become a very 

 valuable addition to our collections, if, as is probable, it 

 will grow out of doors like a Pelargonium during the 

 summer. — Mrs. Mason, of Copt Hewick, produced 

 blossoms of that Passiflora membranacea, largely distri- 

 buted by the Society from Mr. Hartweg's seed, with 

 beautiful foliage, which no one had succeeded in throw- 

 ing into flower ; it proves to have pale lemon-coloured 

 blossoms lying within a pair of pale purple bracts, 

 looking exceedingly like some gay bivalve shell. — 

 Seedling Calceolarias came from W. C. Alston of Bir- 

 mingham, and Mr. Jones, gr. to Sir Moore Dis- 

 ney ; and seedling Pelargoniums from Mr. Fish, 

 of Colney House. — Mr. Glendinning, of Turnham 

 Green Nursery, produced a beautiful little specimen of 

 the splendid Clerodendron infortunatum. which is thus 

 shown to blossom freely while small. — Roses, Brachy- 

 comes, and other plants were received from Mr. Jones, 

 who also gained a Certificate of Merit for a nice dish of 

 Black Tartarian Cherries — Of Fruit there were some re- 

 markable specimens. — Mr. Hugh Frazer, gr. to E. D. 

 Davenport, Esq., produced four Providence Pines, weigh- 

 ing respectively 6 lbs. 2 oz., 8 lbs. 12 oz., 7 lbs. 2 oz., and 

 6 lbs. 15 oz., and obtained a Silver Banksian Medal for 

 the first, which was handsome as well as heavy. Next 

 him came Mr. S. Rylance, gr. to J. B. Glegg, Esq., to 

 whom a Certificate was given for a very pretty Providence 

 Pine, weighing 4 lbs. 8 oz. — Among Melons was a 

 Hoosainee from Mr. Hendry, gr. to the Rev. Win. 

 Antrobus, weighing 12 lbs. 3 oz., for which, although 

 degenerate, a Banksian Medal was given, because of its 

 good cultivation. — Mr. S. Rylance also produced another 

 of the same kind, and, like that, of a runaway sort, weigh- 

 ing 5 lbs. 1 oz. — Finally, Strawberries were shown by 

 Mr. Bulger, gr. to R. Wrench, Esq., and by Mr. Fish, 

 who also produced a eeedling, but it proved coarse, and de- 

 ficient in flavour. — Of the Plants from the Society's Garden 

 the most interesting was a beautiful plant of Elaeocarpus 

 cyaneus, loaded with snow-white cups, cut at the border 

 into feathers. Few people flower this species ; the speci- 

 men produced had been exposed to a long season of 

 heat, comparative dryness, and bright light, in the iron 

 conservatory ; Lindleya mespiloides, one of the sweetest 

 of fragrant evergreens, but tender, was there in beauty. 

 Finally, the result of a tiial of charcoal versus bone-dust, 

 as applied to Fuchsias, was produced in the form of two 

 plants of Fuchsia Chevalieri : they were struck from cut- 

 tings in one pot, and were potted off on the 15th Feb. 

 A thumb-pot full of bone-dust was mixed with the soil in 

 which one was potted ; the other received the same 

 quantity of charcoal ; each was potted in a 48. For 

 a few weeks the only perceivable difference was, 

 that the one in bone-dust had leaves .of a much 

 darker colour than the other. Both were repotted 

 on April 26th, into 16s, a 60 pot of bone-dust being 

 then given to the one, and of charcoal to the other, in 

 the same way as before ; both plants had grown so much 

 alike, that it was hardly possible to say which was 

 best; and thus it appeared, that good as bone-dust is, 

 it is equalled by charcoal in the treatment of Fuchsias 

 for specimen plants. 



ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



July 2.— The third and last Exhibition for the season 

 was held in their gardens, Inner Circle, Regent's Park. 

 The morning was exceedingly wet and unpromising, but 

 towards noon the sky began to clear, and the afternoon, 

 although cloudy, continued favourable. At this Exhi- 

 bition, although less showy than either of the two former 

 meetings, there was a considerable number of plants that 

 strikingly exemplified both skill and good management. 



Of the two large collections present of stove and 

 greenhouse plants, that of Mr. Barnes, gr. to G. W. Nor- 

 man, Esq., contained the greatest number of well-grown 

 specimens, comprising a variety of Clerodendron squama- 

 tum ; Aphelexis humilis, loaded with flowers, which, on ac- 

 count of the dnlness of the day did not open; Stephanotus 

 floribundus, finelv in bloom, trained on a wire trellis ; 

 Swainsona galegifolia, with beautiful purple blossoms ; 

 an Ixora coccinea, and a dwarf-spreading specimen of 

 Phcenocoma prolifera. In this group was also a beauti- 

 ful Rondeletia speciosa ; Lilium longjflorum, small, but 

 a mass of white bloom ; and Leschenaultia formosa, dwarf 

 and busby, together with several well- grown Heaths. 

 The other was from Mr. Hunt, gr. to Miss Traill, and, 

 except in a few instances, was little inferior to the 

 preceding. It contained, among others, a well-managed 

 Leschenaultia formosa, covering the pot ; Clerodendron 

 gquamatum, having five fine spikes of brilliant scarlet 

 flowers ; Sinningia velutina, with delicately-spotted, 

 cream-coloured blossoms ; a small, but beautiful Ronde- 

 letia speciosa ; a large pot of Achimenes longiflora, in 

 fine condition ; together with an excellent Boronia serru- 

 lata, and a magnificent specimen of Crowea saligna, 

 5 feet high, in luxuriant health. 



. Collections of 20 Stove and Greenhouse Plants wert 

 contributed by Mr. Bruce, Mr. Baker, and Mr. Green, 

 and in the nurserymen's class by Mr. Frazer and . wr. 

 Pawley.— Mr. Bruce sent a large Coleone aa P ulc * ru ™J 

 the gracefully drooping branches of which were loaaca 

 with small pink blossoms ; an exceedingly well cultj rated 



Aphelexis humilis, exhibiting a mas. of bloom ; a large 



