1844.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



555 





I 





TO THE LOVERS OF PANSIES. 



SwinV\LL. Grantchester Nursery, Cambridge, 

 ^ to inform his friends and the public that he has with 

 * b ^* ^ected his Superior PANSY-SEED, warranted to be 

 prwt care «*"£ ' nt * an d which he can with confidence 

 all new of the pjese . j favourable season for sowing:, it will 

 recommend. TJ» » whQ wish to crnam ent their gardens 



** * d v ant Kf a e n tif ul flower at a very cheap rate, as packets con- 



wfth thw beantiful njj e h carcful culti va'ion, to grow 500 



.mini: suffi- ent * c , ^ fr£e afc 6rf> per pck ^ 



pl*» to ^ cke u for os./upon receiving: a post-office order. 



£f je &arftengt^^ 



SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 1844. 



MEETING FOR THE FOLLOWING WEEK 

 ■mT- Aof.31 Royal Botanic .... 



4 F-M. 



Tt is Ion* since we adverted to the Disinfection of 

 Vancre "hat most important operation, which alone 

 «iU ever induce people in this country to employ ha- 

 Tiituallv the fertilising materials at their command, or 

 mevent their throwing away money in the pursuit 

 of substitutes uncertain, dear, and comparatively in- 

 efficient It is indispensable to find very cheap 

 methods of destroving the offensiveness of decaying 

 matter, or no stop will ever be put to the enormous 

 indirect waste of national wealth which is now 



going on. . _ •• 



Among the substances which have from time to 



time been proposed for effecting this end, some have 

 been dear, like chloride of lime, charcoal, &c. ; others 

 <langerous to use, and insufficient, like sulphuric 

 acid ; some slow in their action, like gypsum ; 

 others too bulky, like peat earth ; and others trouble- 

 some to employ, as is the case with muriate of lime. 

 Each of these reasons has proved a bar to the em- 

 ployment of such disinfecting agents. But among 

 those which have been occasionally mentioned is one 

 that seems more free than any others from practical 

 objections, and that is sulphate of iron, or what is 

 ♦called in the shops copperas, or green vitriol. 



In the year 1842, a Mr. Schattenmann published 

 an account of his manner of employing this sub- 

 stance; and we mentioned his method at p. 191 of 

 our volume for that year. As he is a practical man, 

 .and his employment of the salt was on a large scale 

 •as a farmer, his observations were entitled to the 

 greater attention. Nevertheless, we do not find that 

 his advice has been much followed; and therefore 

 we beg to invite attention to the following additional 

 evidence produced by Mr. Schattenmann in favour of 

 the u?e of sulphate of iron : — 



The offensive exhalations produced by putrefy- 

 ing matters arise/' says this excellent observer, 

 "principally from the flying off of carbonate of 

 ammonia and sulphuretted hydrogen gas : but if a 

 solution of sulphate of iron is thrown among such 

 matters, a double decomposition immediately takes 

 place; the sulphuric acid 'of the sulphate of iron 

 combines with the ammonia, and converts it into a 

 fixed salt ; the iron combines with the sulphur, and 

 forms a sulphuret of iron. The unpleasant smell of 

 ammomacal vapour and of sulphuretted hydrogen 

 disappears immediately, and the putrefying matter 

 tiiat is acted on retains nothing more than a feeble 



odour which is not in the slightest degree dis- 

 agreeable." s b 



Now any one may easily yerify ^ fac( . by takh)g 



smelling salts, dissolving them in water, and throw- 



hS m u m , e Bteen vitrio1 > when the fluid wiH 

 oecome bi ac k in consequence of the separation of the 



nf™ ° ♦ e °,( iron from the sulphuric acid, and the 

 f"f l sn J el wil1 go off in consequence of the com- 

 o nation of the sulphuric acid and ammonia. In 



ml V lf some S reen vitrio1 be dissolved in 

 aier and a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen gas be 



S!t ■ f- h ■* the fluid " m become Wack with 

 MilrA Fap 7' ln con sequence of the formation of 

 an T Z G v lr0n b y the decomposition of the gas; 



No l justing smell will cease to be perceived. 

 fflffl :. a 7 l ' then > of the accuracy of Mr. Schatten- 



ch«inl i ement can be entertained, and thus a very 

 c "eap and ranid m M no *e a~ •__*£« *u„i — ji.il 



tt T 



atonJ ™ ra P ld means of destroying foul smells is 



use of cH a \ ned ; not indeed so quicWy as by the 

 and QuitPf ° f lime > but at infinitely less expense, 

 this L! u enou 8 h for an y useful purpose. By 



»^ lTlliAr* O »^^« %*** J UUVAUA |'UI www* ^^J 



fied and S . 1 most offensive matters may be puri- 

 removed P " l / ld su °stances of the worst description 

 from M J out even so much annoyance as arises 



Comn? m ° n stable manur e. 

 4/ 4* nTl sul P hateof ir on is worth, at the outside, 



occumvJ I i ; - *? not liable t0 in jury by keeping, 

 in water T* 7 L 1 " e s P ace ' and dissolves very readily 



No W ,\ ch state U is necessary to apply it. 

 ^cause nf 1 ^ ^ entertaine <* of the sulphate of iron, 

 manure • \ lts . lron ' ln juring the quality of the 

 mat it mrvi Penence shows what theory indicates, 

 the advanhT CeS no . such effect > but that it secures all 

 drawback antlcmated f rom it, without a single 



\v * 



H orti e cu[ t e ur T pted t0 introduce this subject into the 

 ^dtural part of our Paper, because in fact, 



much as it interests everybody, it concerns more 

 especially gardeners, who are cither obliged to buy 

 their manure, or, if it is furnished from a farm, are 

 involved in incessant disputes with the farming 

 bailiff on account of it. We advise them to think 

 well upon this article, to disinfect all those offensive 

 matters which are now wasted, and to show the 

 farming bailiff that with hot-water on one side, and 

 sulphate of iron on the other, they can snap their 

 fingers at the farm and all the assistance that is so 

 grudgingly bestowed by it. 



" I think it a very fit thing," says worthy Master 

 Gerarde, " to adde in this place a rare observation of 

 the transmutation of one species into another in 

 plants ; which, though it have beene observed in 

 ancient times, as by Theophrastus, ' DeCaus. Plant.,' 

 lib. 3. c. 16, whereas among others hee mentioned 

 the change of Spelt into Oates, and by Virgil in these 

 wordes — 



' Grandia ??c?e quibus mandavimus Ilordea sulcis, 

 Infclix Loliuro, ct steriles dominantur Avenae * 



" That is— 



" In furrows where good Barley we did sowe 

 Nothing but Darnell and poor Oates doo growe; 



tC Yet none that I have read have observed that two 

 severall graines, perfect in each respect, did grow at 

 any time in one eare ; the which I saw this yeare 

 (1632) in an eare of White Wheat, which was found 

 by my very good friend Mr. John Goodyer, a man 

 second to none in his industrie and searching of 

 plants, nor in his judgement or knowledge of them. 

 This eare of Wheat was as large and faire as most 

 are, and about the middle thereof grew three or four 

 perfect Oates in all respects ; which being hard to be 

 found, I hold very worthy of setting downe, for some 

 reasons not to be insisted on in this place." 



What the good Gerarde's "reasons not to be in- 

 sisted on" may have been, we are unable to discover. 

 Perhaps he was afraid of being laughed at as a 

 dreamer ; or, may be, he dreaded an indictment for 

 heresy. Then, it is to be imagined, as now, the doc- 

 trine of the transmutation of grain was laughed to 

 scorn; and we have numbered ourselves among the 

 scorners. 



But are the scorners right? Are we so very sure 

 that one kind of grain has not been formed accident- 

 ally from another — that no room is left for argument 

 or evidence? Some years ago we should have said 

 yes ; we now say no. We now say that we are not 

 so very sure about the matter, although we do still 

 hold hard to the orthodox faith in the matter of 

 species. What has unsettled our belief, and changed 

 us from sceptics into doubters, is the extraordinary, 

 but certain fact, that in Orchidaceous plants forms 

 just as different as Wheat, Barley, Rye, and Oats, 

 have been proved, by the most rigorous evidence, to 

 be accidental variations of one commonTorm, brought 

 about no one knows how, but before our eyes, and 

 rendered permanent by equally mysterious agency. 

 Then, says Reason, if these inconceivable changes 

 have been proved to occur among Orchidaceous 

 plants, why should they not also occur among Corn 

 plants ? for it is not likely that such vagaries will be 

 confined to one little group in the Vegetable King- 

 dom ; it is far more rational to believe them to be a 

 part of the general system of the creation. 



And then arises the puzzling question of — Where 

 do the Corn plants come from — what country gave 

 them birth— where are they still to be met with in 

 their savage haunts ? History says nowhere. The 

 origin of Wheat is wholly unknown ; so is that of 

 Oats. Rye is said to occur wild in some of the Cau- 

 casian provinces, but that is doubtful ; and the Barley 

 which was found by Col. Chesney in Mesopotamia 

 may have been the remains of cultivation. How 

 then can we be sure that Wheat, Rye, Oats, and 

 Barley, are not all accidental offsets from some un- 

 suspected species ? 



A gentleman who lately travelled in Germany was 



assured, that if Oats are sown early, not allowed to 

 produce ears for the first year, but compelled by 

 artificial means to defer their earing till the second, 

 they will change to other sorts of Corn. A seem- 

 ingly more monstrous proposition never emanated 

 from the father of paradox. Nevertheless, there 

 could be no harm in putting the statement to the 

 proof. The Marquess of Bristol has done so. At 

 his lordship's request the Rev. Lord Arthur Ilervey, 

 in the year 1843, sowed a handful of Oats, treated 

 them in the manner recommended, by continually 

 stopping the flowering stems, and the produce in 

 1844 has been for the most part ears of a very 

 slender Barley, having much the appearance of Rye, 

 with a little Wheat, and some". Oats; samples of 

 which are, by favour of Lord Bristol, now before us. 

 What is to be inferred from this ? 



But, it will be said, Has the question been fairly 

 tried? The mode was this :— A handful of Oats 

 was taken out of a manger, sown in a garden, dili- 

 gently cared for, and finally reaped. As Oats do 

 not usually consist of a mixture of Barley, Wheat, 

 and Oats, it could not be suspected that any error 



would so arise, more especially since the Barley that 

 has been raised is not exactly Barley, for it is longer 

 and thinner— nor Rye, for it wants the structure of 

 that sort of Corn. Nevertheless, there is the possi- 

 bility of error; and therefore the experiment will be 

 repeated with every precaution, and we hope to be 

 allowed to report the result. 



In the meanwhile it would be as well if a good 

 many persons would try the experiment in different 

 parts of the country. The question is, Whether by 

 any means Wheat, Oats, Barley, and Rye, can be 

 made to change into each other ? The Germans say 

 that it will happen if Oats are sown early, and pre- 

 vented flowering till the second year. Gerard says 

 that he saw it happen to some extent, though he did 

 not know how. Is this true or not ? The cause will 

 come on for hearing at Michaelmas, 1846. Let the 

 country be the jury ; and then, " Gentlemen, what 

 say you r" will be our inquiry. 



NOTES ON THE CONIFERjf OF JAPAN. ^ 



Abies Jessensis, Sicb. Tab. 110, p. 10.— This belongs 

 to the Spruce division, and resembles A. Menziesii ia 

 its glaucous leaven, and most probably is identical with 

 A. orientalis, a kind considered by some old writers as 

 only a variety of A. alb* (the White Spruce of America), 

 but which I imagine, although very much resembling 

 that species in foliage, but not in fruit, is entitled to rank 

 as a species, as it always comes true from seed. It also 

 attains a mucli greater height, but is never so robust ia 

 the trunk as either that kind or the common Spruce. I 

 may here state that the true Abies orientalis of Tourne- 

 fort is a Spruce and not a Silver Fir, as is stated by a 

 writer (from Nikita) in the Gardener* s Chronicle, p. 206, 

 1842, and where the same writer expresses his surprise 

 how I could have stated in the " Gardener's Magazine'* 

 for 18-10, that it very much resembled the White Ame- 

 rican Spruce, an opinion entertained by Loiseleur Des- 

 longcharaps, who examined the original specimens be- 

 longing to Tournefort, and who accordingly published it 

 as a variety of Abies alba; an opinion also entertained 

 by the late Mr. Lambert. I am quite at a loss to know 

 how the writer from Nikita could have made such a 

 statement — he certainly could never have seen either 

 living plants or dried specimens of the true kind, or even 

 consulted any books on the subject ; possibly the mistake 

 arose from the writer entertaining the same views as some 

 continental authors, who have atempted to reverse the 

 divisions or subgenera of Abies and Picea. 



Abies polita, Sieb. Tab. Ill, p. 20.— This is the Abies 

 Khutrow of Dr. Royle, the Abies morinda of Dr. \V al- 

 lien, and the Picea obovata of Dr. Ledebour. It belongs 

 to the true Abies or Spruce section, and very much re- 

 sembles the common Norway Spruce, but differs in the 

 leaves being larger, and the cones shorter and rounder. 

 It attains a great height, and is now very common in 

 collections, under some one of the above names. 



Pinus densi/lora, Sieb. Tab. 112, p. 22.— This belongs 

 to the true Pine section, and has only two leaves in a 

 sheath. In foliage it seems not to differ from that of the 

 Stone Pine (P. pinea), from which most probably it 

 is not specifically distinct ; for although in the plate a 

 figure is given of a full-sized cone, which is very small 

 and conical, and very much resembles that of Pinu3 

 Massoniana, it certainly must be a mistake, as on the 

 opposite side of the plate the figure of a young cone is 

 given, which represents the true, round shape of that of 

 the Stone Pine. In Japan this kind is stated to attain a 

 height of 40 feet with a clear stem. In Italy the Stone 

 Pine attains a height of from 40 to 50 feet, with the stem 

 clear of branches 20 or 30 feet, and the top forming a 

 kind of parasol. The Stone Pine ( P. pinea) is frequently 

 raised from seeds received either from Japan or Chins, 

 but differs in no way from that of Europe. It has also 

 been raised from seed collected in Arctic America. 



Pinus Massoniana, Sieb. Tab. 113 and 114, p. 24 — 

 This kind is not to be distinguished from Pinus pinaster, 

 except in the cone3, which are not more than one-fourth 

 the size of those of the cluster Pine. The leaves are in 

 pairs, very robust, and the buds are non-resinous and 

 imbricated. It has been frequently raised from Chinese 

 seed but not the least distinction can be seen between 

 the young plants and those of the common Pinus 

 pinaster either in habit or foliage. The late Mr. 

 Lambert, in his " Monograph on Pines,' considered it as 

 identical with the P. pinaster; and Mr. Loudon, in 

 his "Arboretum Britannicum," adopted the same views 

 upon the authority of Professor Don, who evidently had 

 never seen cones of the true Pinus Massoniana. The 

 Chinese Pine of Mr. Lambert (Pinus sinensis) is a very 

 different kind from P. Massoniana, and has been erro- 

 neously published in the " Pinetum Woburnensis," as P. 

 nepalensis ; the P. nepalensis of Dr. Royle being the same 

 as P. Massoniana of Siebold. 



Pinus parvifolia, Sieb. Tab. 115, p. 27.— This is the 

 Siberian variety of Pinus cembra, seldom makes 

 shoots more than a few inches long in the course of the 

 year, and probably will never grow more than 10 or 

 12 feet high in England, even under the most favourable 

 circumstances, while the Helvetic, or Swiss v * n . etv : 

 which is the most common in collections, attains a ae'S" 

 of from 30 to 40 feet. The leaves are in fives, .and tne 

 cones >re smaller and longer than those of the owiss 

 kind. — George Gordon, 



* "ENTOMOLOGY. 

 The Apple-blossom Weevil called Anthonomm 

 pomorwm.-Last April I received some Apple-buds; 

 the petals had formed globes, but had assumed a rusty 



