1844.] 





THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



505 



ihTdochlik^ise being thicker, absorbed more of the 

 liquid. A good deal depends upon the quality of the 

 cloth The two bottles would scarcely do nine lights ; 

 I therefore got two more quart bottles (from another 

 agent, which were quite full) ; one of these finished the 

 remaining five lights, and also three more, much better 

 than the two quarts on the nine. I, however, committed 

 an error in using the first pint bottle. Mr. Whitney 

 directs that it should be applied quite hot ; so in making 

 it quite hot, I must have caused it to boil ; but instead of 

 becoming thinner, it formed quite a hard substance— 

 A. Threlkeld, Headingly- house, Leeds. . 



Whitney's Composition.— This *i\\ not be found to 

 stand heavy wind and rain, unless the material is thicker 

 than the calico recommended. A frame I had covered 

 •with it has been torn in pieces, and I find others make 

 the same complaint. During the previously dry three 

 months nothing could answer better. — A. R. C. 



Fixing Ammonia. — Have you ever known soot tried 

 for this purpose? My fuel consists altogether of dried 

 peats, and the soot, I find, destroys the offensive vapours 

 of a small urine tank.— Paddy. [No doubt soot, which 

 is chiefly charcoal, will perfectly answer the purpose, if 

 you can get it. We have often said so.] 



Hard Water. — My pump raises water unfit for many 

 domestic purposes ; soap is curdled by it, and vessels in 

 ■which it is boiled are coated over by a hard substance, 

 of a light-brown colour. Leaden pipes are, in about ten 

 years, reduced to a rotten state. Mixed with oxalic acid, 

 the water assumes a milky appearance, and deposits a 

 ■white sediment. Can any one say what would prevent 

 the deposit on boilers or kettles, without injuring the 



prater for use ? — Paddy. 



Cucumbers. — A market-gardener has failed in his 

 ridged Cucumbers these three years past. This year they 

 looked strong and healthy from the first, until about 

 three weeks since, when they again showed symptoms of 

 decay. They began to droop here and there ; and on 

 pulling up the affected plants, there were no wire-worms, 

 nor anything else visible at the roots to indicate the cause 

 of the stems dying off. Cucumbers have been grown upon 

 the same ridge for several years, but of course, with fresh 

 dung and mould ; and the reason for using the same place 

 so often is, that it is protected a little by a brick wall, about 

 3 feet high, a', the north. The soil is good and deep, and 

 although not drained, it is not very heavy or wet. The 

 subsoil is clay or chalk.— Hodge. [The disease, as above 

 described, is of frequent occurrence. It probably arises 

 from a want of moisture at the roots.] 



Chiswick Exhibition. — An error has crept into the re- 

 port of the Exhibition of the 13ih, which I cannot allow 

 to pass unnoticed. It is stated that " Mr. Rowland also 

 contributed Roses, but they were overblown; and the 

 collection contained no remarkable kinds." This is a 

 ▼ery great mistake ; and I can positively assert that 

 there was not one Rose overblown in the whole collec- 

 tion, which was at the time very much admired, particu- 

 larly the Devoniensis, Smith's Yellow Noisette, Prince 



pared from Fir- wood, but whether it was Pinus sylvestris 

 or not is uncertain. We do not perceive any difference.! 



Water Colour from the Cactus. — (See p. 24 7, 1844.) 

 — The Opuntia, whose juice is used for painting in Sicily, 

 has long been known for that purpose at Naples. It is 

 not vulgaris, humilis, Ficus indica, Amyclcea, or, in 

 short, what is commonly called the Prickly Pear, but a 

 scarce and more tender species, which I have never seen 

 in any English collection of Cacti. It is Opuntia Tuna, 

 a fine plant, a great bearer of yellow flowers and a fruit 

 of the richest carmine, not purple. — W. F. S. 



Vegetable Dyes. — The roots of the Epine Vinette, 

 which I take to be the common Berberry, is used in 

 large quantities in France and Germany by the dyers, 

 who extract from it a most brilliant green. The expense 

 of transit, together with the difficulty of obtaining it 

 fresh, prevents its use here ; but the price which our 

 dyers could give for it (from 10s. to 16s. per cvyt.), might 

 induce proprietors of large plantations to cultivate it as 

 underwood. Would not the root of the Berberis aqui- 

 folium answer equally well ?— J. G., Tulse Hill. [Com- 

 mon Berberry is the best.] 



Ice-houses.— ■" A. E. W." wrote, in No. 8, Gardeners 

 Chronicle, that a Virginian, with some poles and straw, 

 will construct an ice-house for 10 dollars as good, if not 

 better, than those which cost our men of taste as many 

 scores of pounds. Cobbett, of old, wrote to the same 

 effect, and promised to give the full particulars, so that 

 any countryman should be able to erect it, for the benefit 

 anil luxury of himself and his village neighbours; but I 

 believe Cobbett never fulfilled that promise. Is there not 

 among your readers a good-hearted Virginian that will 

 give us this desirable information, in such a clear manner 

 that we could work thereby with a fair prospect of suc- 

 cess ? the first consideration being economy iu cost. A 



person having an unused Mushroom-house, on a retentive 

 soil, would, I fancy, find himself much disappointed if he 

 adopted the recommendation of M A- E. W.," without 

 putting in some drains to get rid of the water as it sinks 

 into the broken-up earth ; and if " A. E. W."be success- 

 ful, it more than likely arises from his house being on a 

 gravelly subsoil, which forms a natural and perfect drain. 



— H. S. 



Morphology.— The. interesting articles on Morphology 



that appear, from time to time, in the Chronicle will 

 induce people to look more attentively at vegetation than 

 they were formerly accustomed to do ; even those who 

 had a little * 4 smattering " of botany will look upon their 

 old acquaintance in a new aspect. In a Scotch Fir-tree 

 we commonly find a centre shoot and five or six side 

 ones ; but, where a cone is produced, there is a shoot 

 deficient, there being only four or five side ones. I 

 found, what I considered to be a remarkable coincidence, 

 between the pips of the cone and the leaves of the side- 

 shoots ; the number of pips was 62, and the number of 

 pairs of leaves on a shoot beside the cone was 64. Is 

 this an instance of leaves being turned into fruit, or seed- 

 vessels ? The male blossoms of the same plant are com- 

 monly on weak shoots, which have not half the quantity 

 of leaves on them that the more healthy shoots have. I 

 found 30 pairs of leaves on those that I examined, and 

 20 bundles of male blossom, with 10 or 12 pairs of leaves 

 above them, on the same shoot.— Peter Mackenzie. 



Vegetable Phenomenon. — I beg to relate a circumstance 

 which occurred to a Pelargonium. One of these plants, 

 on which no flower had then opened, had been with others 

 placed in an airy hall ; the expansion of this occurred on 

 the morning of the 6th day, when I was surprised at 

 its altered appearance, every petal having become white 

 and transparent as the clearest gauze, with the exception 

 of a border of the colouring matter the sixteenth of an 

 inch wide; the three lower petals were of a pale pink ; 

 the two others of a deeper colour ; every blossom in suc- 

 cession did the same, and by constant inspection I found 

 the transparency of each remained about five days; after 

 which, in the same succession, the colour of all was 



there has not been a single failure. I have given salt 

 in pretty large quantity, and the plants are very strong,, 

 each root having five or six shoots. I fancy I should 

 take out every other plant in the rows, leaving each two 

 feet apart ; before I do this I should be glad of your 

 opinion, and if you confirm my idea, whether I should 

 do it now or next season, a reply in the Chronicle will 

 oblige your subscriber. [We should not disturb the 

 roots. If the beds are well manured, the plants are not 

 too many.] I think I have fairly tried salt, for the beds 

 on which I have used it, now in the second year from 

 sowing, produce from each root five to seven shoots ; 

 whilst those sowed with the same seed, at the same time, 

 and side by side, are generally weaker in growth, and 

 put forth two to three shoots only. — J. G. B. 



Manures. — Hibernicus states that last year (spring 

 of 1843) he manured three beds, each containing 

 about 150 plants of Myatt's (Pine Strawberry); 1, 

 with nitrate of soda ; 2, with guano ; and 3, with bone- 

 dust. He remarked no difference in produce last year; 

 but this year, the one to which the bone-dust was applied 

 is much the best. 



Albert, Luxembourg, Charles Duval, Adam, &c. ; and 

 for which collection the Large Silver Medal was awarded. 

 So far from the Roses being overblown, the whole that 

 were exhibited remained in the same boxes several days 

 before one flower dropped, which can be testified by 

 several Amateurs who happened to visit my garden. — 

 Alexander Rowland, F.H.S., Rosenthal, Lewisham. 



Ancient Charcoal. — Some time ago when a person was 

 digging peat he came upon a quantity of charcoal ; the peat 

 was upwards of eight feet deep, and the charcoal was 

 found about four feet from the surface. One naturally 

 inquires how old it may be, and when the fire was kindled 

 that charred the wood? Could it be by our na^ed an- 

 cestors, or those who came to conquer them? It is said 

 that the Emperor Severus gave orders to cut all the forests 

 in Scotland ; or perhaps it was done by the followers of 

 John Duke of Lancaster, when he set 24,000 axes to 



work to cut down the Caledonian woods. Not far from „„ 1WM .„ „ ._ - .- 



where the charcoal was found there is an embankment restored with the freshness of newly-opened flowers, 

 which goes by the name of the Roman Camp; and at the ™ »~ s " t "* n,l " ,M '* h * A mr n»rt»«mlai 



Foreign Correspondence. 



Canton, Feb. 17, 1844 The Chinese here are now 



making great preparations for the celebration of their 

 new year, which takes place to morrow. Flowers of all 

 kinds are in great request amongst the inhabitants, who 

 employ them in the decoration of their dwelling-houses 

 and temples. In going up the river towards the Fatee 

 Gardens, I met boats in great numbers loaded with the 

 branches of Peach and Plum-trees in bloom, Enkianthus 

 quinqueflora, Camellias, Cockscombs, Magnolias, and 

 various other things which flower at this season. The 

 Enkianthus is brought down from the hills with the 

 buds just expanding ; and after being placed in water 

 for a day or two, the flowers come out as healthy and 

 fresh as if the branches had not been removed from the 

 parent "tree. This plant is a great favourite amongst the 

 Chinese. The common Jonquil too comes in for a most 

 extensive share of patronage ; and in the streets of Can- 

 ton one meets with thousands of bulbs growing in small 

 pans amongst water and a few white stones. In this 

 case the Chinese exhibit their peculiar propensity for 

 dwarf and monstrous growth, by planting the bulbs up- 

 side down, and making the plants and flowers assume 

 curious twisted forms, which are most agreeable to the 

 eyes of a Chinaman. Large quantities of all these 

 flowers are exposed for sale in many of the shops and in 

 the corners of the streets in Canton, where they seem to 

 be eagerly bought up by the Chinese, who consider them 

 quite indispensable at this particular season. Not only 

 are the houses and temples decorated, but the boats on 

 the river also come in for a most extensive share. In- 

 deed, these boats are only floating houses ; for, as you 

 know, a very great part of the population of Canton lives 

 upon the river. The flower-boats, as they are commonly 

 called, are particularly gay at New-year time with 

 flowers of all hues, and gaudy flags streaming from their 

 mast and stern. The crackers, or fireworks, of which 

 the Chinaman is so fond, are let off in large quantities 

 for several days in all parts of the town, and form part of 

 their religious ceremonies or offerings to their gods. 

 Their shops are closed on New-year's day, and for two 

 or three days afterwards. The greater part of the na- 

 tives have now on their holiday-clothes, and tramp about 

 amongst their relations and friends to chin-chin them, 

 and wish them a happy new-year, as we do at home. 

 Large parties are made at this season to go up to the 

 gardens at Fatee ; and on particular days, you find there 

 hundreds of these flower-boats crowded with well-dressed 

 young Chinese, enjoying themselves as our own popula- 

 tion do at Richmond or Hampton Court at home. This 

 is the only season when well-dressed ladies are visible at 

 Canton, as they now go over to Fatee in the flower-boats, 

 and walk about in the gardens. — R. F. 



base of the hill upon which it is situated there is part of 

 the line of an old Roman road. It is well known that 

 Roman coins and Roman vessels are found in peat that 

 is much deeper than four feet ; but it is difficult to ascer- 

 tain the age of peat by its thickness, for peat only two 

 feet thick may be as old as that which is twelve feet thick ; 

 and we may not be very far wrong if we say that the age 

 of the charcoal may be 1500 or 1600 years. I have 

 sent you a small portion of it for your inspection ; you 

 •will observe that it wants the jet-black appearance of 

 well-made charcoal ; this is perhaps owing to the colour- 

 ing matter of the peat in which it had been so long 

 soaked. [The charcoal had been prepared from Fir- wood.] 

 Can it be ascertained by the Pine wood that is found in 

 peat if it belongs to the same species that at present goes 

 by the name of Scotch Fir, Pinus sylvestris? From the 

 quantity of rosin that is obtained from the wood that is 

 got in peat some imagine that it belongs to a different 

 species. Some time ago a Pine trunk that was found in 

 peat was cross cut, and exhibited rather an uncommon 

 appearance when smoothed by the plane; there was seen 

 five series of concentric circles, the largest series con- 

 taining between 80 and 90 circles ; they appear to be all 

 perfectly united to each other, except at some places 

 where traces of bark are seen ; the diameter of the trunk 

 measures in one way about 14 inches and the other 9 

 inches. May we suppose it to have been a stunted tree, 

 or the seasons to have been warmer than they are now ? 

 The growth of 182G can be easily pointed out in cut 

 timber, being well known from the small quantity of wood 

 it contains.— Peter Mackenzie. [All we can say, after 

 the examination of the charcoal, is that it has been pre- 



The case being so extraordinary it had my particular 

 attention, which enables me to say you may strictly rely 

 on my statement. My son not being at home during 

 this time 1 dried some for his inspection, and this brought 

 back the colour. This plant, I assure you, was the 

 wonder and admiration of the many who saw it ; parti- 

 cular care was taken of this plant, which I desired should 

 remain untouched till the following summer, but no more 

 of these changes have appeared since. — E. B. Paington. 

 Curious Growth of a Scotch Fir. — In the Chronicle, 

 p. 574, 1842, there is a notice of a Scotch Fir-tree whose 

 growth was somewhat remarkable ; this year it is still 

 more so. The leading shoot, and also the side shoots, 

 started in the spring to all appearance like their neigh- 

 bours, aud continued to grow as on other trees of the 

 same kind until the leader was about 4 inches long ; 

 when the side buds on the top, instead of remaining buds 

 until the next spring, grew into branches. A leading 

 shoot was again formed, which grew about 6 inches more, 

 when the side buds a third time grew into branches, 

 which are at present about 2 inches long. — Peter Mac- 

 kenzie. 



Myrtles. — Two years since I planted in my shrubbery 

 two broad-leaved Myrtles. They face the east, and my 

 house stands on one of the highest summits of the Chil- 

 tern Hills, South Bucks; they have stood the two last 

 winters without any shelter or covering. A severe frost 

 late in the last spring destroyed most of the leaves on 

 one of them, but it has renewed its foliage and is healthy. 

 —J. Peers. 



Asparagus.— \ have half a dozen beds of Asparagus, 

 two years old, from seed ; they were sowed in rows one 

 foot apart, and the seeds set one foot apart in the rows : 







societies. 



ROYAL SOUTH LONDON FLORICULTURAL 



SOCIETY. 

 This, the third Meeting for the season, was held in 

 the Surrey Zoological Gardens. The weather was fa- 

 vourable for the occasion, and the Exhibition was, in 

 many respects, superior to the former meeting. — The 

 Miscellaneous Collections of Plants shown by 

 Amateurs were deficient ; but those produced by Gentle- 

 men's Gardeners and Nurserymen were highly creditable. 

 The best collection in the gardens was from Mr. Bruce, 

 gr. to B. Miller, Esq., and comprised, among others, 

 Achimenes loogiflora and grandiflora, finely managed ; 

 Hova carnosa, twining gracefully round a wire trellis ; 

 Siphocampylas betulifolius, flowering abundantly, and in 

 excellent health; a good Clerodendron squamatum, aad 

 a pretty Euphorbia splendens, together with Pentas 

 carnea, and several well-grown Heaths. — Mr. Atlee and 

 Mr. Hamp also showed as Gentlemen's Gardeners, the 

 former producing, among others, a very large plant of 

 Erica intermedia, a tolerably-good Manettia cordata, but 

 scarce of bloom ; Hoya carnosa, and the useful Gardenia 

 radicans, together with Burtonia conferta, Erica ampul- 

 lacea, and Saviieana, loaded with blossoms. — Mr. Hamp 

 received a Lar e e Silver Medal for a group containing the 

 free-flowering Erica mutabilis, Clerodendron squamatum, 

 a pot of Achimenes grandiflora, and a large Ipon cea. 

 In the Nurserymen's Class there were three exhi- 

 bitors, viz. Mr. Jackson, Mr. Fairbairn. and Mr 

 Bushell. The group by Mr. Jackson whs the best. . «ri 

 was awarded a GoldVdal. It indu de^mong otb e „, 

 good plants of Statice incana, smuata, and Dickensoiu . 



