

THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



sby 



Jg3^hiStTooUin 

 ~.~A n r> a in my pla 



cr 



9 





: 



at a fast-growing plant of Abies 



,n mv plantation, a friend who was with me 

 peodara, m j^ slioot of the year was going up 



remarked, m ^ immediately rem oved one with 



^itb two ie . hig reach> The aIlnual growth of 



bis finger ju t * weU defined . and 



the tree in qncst ^^ rf b^ ^.^ ghoot of 1839 



DO w m io » the reach of any man f the common 

 appears ou ^ gaid thafc . q gQ trivial a c j rcumsta nce 



£tat " re Vin? a shoot off a tree, I may probably be mis- 

 as pincm 6 butthe f act is, I made a memorandum 



WSoT/of my bend's visit ; and he was never here 

 v • nor has he been since.-.* Subscriber. 

 W ffi^r^.-A correspondent, p. 523 speaks of 



v w a fine Mulberry-tree about 200 years old, of which 

 having a fine J > } d . he addg that the 



JftSS," . i?s oW»ged J to ma'kewill compel him to bury 

 ?he root fi^^r six fSet below the surface of the ground. 

 These alterations will inevitably be fatal to the tree, for 

 the root of the Mulberry cannot bear that pressure. He 

 has therefore, no alternative but to remove i', and he 

 must then remember that he is dealing with one of the 

 most difficult plants he possesses, at a very advanced age, 

 and in the removal he must have the hand and eye of the 

 master assisting. If autumn is the time for the removal, 

 he should first select an eligible situation to which to 

 remove it, and, taking the tree at the size he describes, 

 make a pit in a circular form, six yards in diameter and 

 two feet deep ; and if the bottom of the pit is not con- 

 genial, as for instance gravel, tile it, then put in about 

 three or four inches of the best fine-riddled loamy soil 

 that can be got— nothing is better than old rotten turf ; 

 the bed being now ready for the plant, take care to have 

 an ample quantity of good materials at hand for filling up 

 the pit. These things being finished prepare to take up 

 the tree, by removing the soil to the extent of six yards 

 all round the trunk, until you lay the main roots bare; 

 erect three poles round the tree to be raised with a pulley, 

 which must be fastened carefully to the tree under the 

 main branches; give the pulley a steady pull, and ascertain 

 whether you can raise the tree, but by no means force it 

 or tear the roots. If you cannot stir it, secure the pulley 

 where it is, and ease the roots of the soil with increased 

 care, then try the pulley again : repeat this every two 

 hours, adding additional caution as you get the finer roots, 

 and always take care to bind your pulley, as this will 

 always show you the resisting root, and call your atten- 

 tion to the point where your careful exertions are wanted ; 

 in this way you will raise the tree, but do not let it fall 

 from the pulley poles. When it is up take it to the place 

 where you intend to plant it with as much care as that 

 with which you took it up, and lower it in the way you 

 raised it, taking care to place all the roots in their natural 

 position and at ease ; then cover the roots three or four 

 inches thick with the same sort of soil as you have under 

 it as lightly as you can, keeping the tree perfectly steady. 

 XNow water moderately with guano water, and lay on 

 about four inches of loose warm stable manure, and in 

 like manner proceed until you get to the surface, always 

 before watering raising and settling the tree a little so as 

 to let the soil to the roots. In the upper layers use any 

 compound that is at hand, which is light and nourishing, 

 mm either slaughter-house, pig, or artificial manure, and 

 tnen bank it up and turf securely, steadying the tree with 

 taree or four props for the winter, and covering the whole 

 up wi fa > two or three feet of warm stable manure, which 

 suould be exchanged from time to time during the winter. 



inlt r0 °c tS at,ntcrfal « » moderate watering by remov- 

 ™!i..-_ r . 8 and P ut ting in about four bucketfuls of 



ano- water. In this 



nd trees about three 



pippins which he first sowed were of Pears of first-rate 

 quality or not. His great object was to raise a large 

 stock of young seedlings. From these (of which he 

 showed me probably a quarter of an acre, growing in the 

 rich alluvial soil of his nursery, in the lower part of 

 Brussels), he selected those plants which, from their vigour 

 of growth and largeness, and (I think) thickness of leaves, 

 he judged likely to answer his purpose, and transplanted 

 them ([incline to believe more than once, to hasten their 

 blooming), waiting patiently the six, eight, or ten years 

 that elapsed before they bore fruit. He did not care of 

 what quality this fruit proved. He sowed all the seeds 

 of all the kinds, and again selected the best plants. 

 These again were transplanted, and usually bore fruit after 

 a less number of years' growth than the first generation, 

 and several of the Pears always proved of good quality. 

 But a third sowing andsimilar selection and treatment were 

 necessary to obtain his finest kinds, and almost the whole 

 of the produce of this third generation was excellent ; 

 and it was in this way he raised his Marie Louise, and 

 other fine sorts. Thus, as far as my recollection serves, 

 his great principle was to select from successive genera- 

 tions, out of a large stock of seedlings, those which 

 from long observation he knew would be most likely to 

 produce good sorts, and it was not till the third genera- 

 tion that he calculated on producing first-rate fruits. 

 He told me that he had originally been led to follow this 

 plan from his experience in raising Roses from seed, of 

 which he had gained many fine varieties, and he pur- 

 sued a similar method in obtaining new Apples. Might 

 it not be worth while to add to the course of treatment 

 which you have so well pointed out for Elaeagnus parvi- 

 folia, the selection of the most vigorous and promising 

 plants for two or three successive generations from seed? 

 And probably a similar selection might also be important 

 in trying to raise improved [varieties of Raspberries, 

 Currants, &c. — W. S. [We have before heard some- 

 thing of this plan : but it is to be remembered that Dr. 

 Van Mons obtained very few good Pears out of thousands 

 of seedlings ; and that Mr. Knight obtained very few 

 bad ones out of a very small number of seedlings. We 

 prefer our own method.] 



Bulb Water Cucumber Glasses. — I some time ago 

 made several experiments with these, in opposition to the 

 dry cylinder. I found that the fruit in the bulb glasses, 

 after ten days' growth, was about one-third longer and 

 twice the weight of those grown in dry cylinders ; and 

 finding that with these advantages the quality was not 

 injured, I proceeded last year to make various experi- 

 ments upon Peaches, Pears, and Grapes. The constant 

 evaporation of water upon the fruit increased the size of 

 the Peach, but injured its flavour ; upon the Pear no 

 beneficial effect was apparent ; the Grapes were, in some 

 instances, improved in size and quality ; those that hung 

 nearest the water were preferable, and some of the ber- 

 I ries at a distance from the water prematurely decayed. 

 In the mea:/viaie, however, my object in writing is to 

 call attention to a propagating glass (which I have con- 

 structed constantly to evaporate water by heat, and con- 

 dense it by cold alternately), for keeping the cutting or 

 plant in a constant state of moisture, similar to Ward's 

 cases. I have placed a few in the hands of ray gardener, 

 who reports favourably of them. The accompanying is 



' u V ul turis an(l putting in about 

 sockage-water, chamber-water, or eu 

 way I removed two large Nut-Alufo» 



year ago, larger than what « A Correspondent" describes, 



shell i Wdl 5 the y ear before they had fine full-grown 



led nuts. Some years ago the Duke of Devonshire 



atso removed a much larger tree than the one described 



«n« a >cl? m Derb y t0 Chatsworth, a distance of 

 upwards ° f H miles ' w 'th success. About 18 years ago 

 from °!l f-V fiae Yew » of m ° l e than 20 years' growth, 

 ver? fin t '• * ith com P l€te success, and it is now a 

 years j\ r re ^ uired m y personal attention for two 



cnrrPs^T j' ' Buchanan, Nuneaton. Another 



oftW if * rites as Allows :-lf a verv large limb 

 takl rn.! , rry " tree is wedlocked and planted, it will 

 resnonl?^ gr ° W " eT * "«»• * im *S ine that " A Cor- 

 aHL A "F haZard lhe burial of his old friend, 

 do in nio!? hls im provements. Having had much to 



frequently" I n fA n d J a,in « out « rounds ' jt htl h "P» ,cncd 



the : son 01 1 - e buried man * trees 3 or l feet in 



in t^J trees m many instances died— young ones 



*ore L C t -H *<"?***. the more. Young trees, but 



out rook Tl V < J J ° plar ' Elm ' and Beech ' * illthrow 

 aupnortP \ve ° r et above what before sustained and 



operation /* have never found that ° aks liked the 

 extent e °\ C( ? Verin S in and embedding them to any 

 the stone, !S , m a 8raal1 way » viz -> in making roads on 



side amoL 1 V Uted hiUs : lhe 8oil thrown on the lower 

 does all trS! • &Uays S ave the m fresh vigour, as it 



ran "iVn '' eT £ n the Fir tri be.-A'. 

 of imnrnvJ I Pears -— Your remarks on the best mode 

 «uy recoil ? flUit 0f Elaea gnus parvifolia brought to 

 Mons of R the P rinci P les °n w bich Professor Van 

 new Befei p 8els ' tbe P roducer of so many of the fine 

 as 1 had h 11 J ears ' P r °ceeded in obtaining them, which, 

 statin* l details from his own mouth, may be worth 

 distinct p? ° lally as l do not recollect to have seen a 

 cultural * planat, °n of his views in any English horti- 

 vvith the n He pa * d no Mention to impregnation 

 Knieht n P ° IIen of superior sorts, as practised by Mr. 

 Will nnf° r ' a8 far as ] re member (though on this head 

 n °t speak positively), did he eare whether the 



a plan, both of the open and close condensing propa- 

 gator. The close condenser, No. 1, should be some- 

 what of the form of a conical dome, or between the cone 

 and the parabola, in order to allow of the drip, on adher- 

 ing to the interior of the g^ass, to descend into the chan- 

 nel A, for the reception of the water ; the channel beii 

 once filled needs no farther attention, as the diffusion of 

 moisture by heat, and its return and alternate condensa- 

 tion, not only feeds with moisture the plant or cutting 

 more regularly than by syringing, but by its condensed 

 particles adhering throughout to the interior surface of 

 the glass, the drip is prevented. No. 2 is an open con- 

 denser applicable to Grapes, either in or out of the 

 bouse ; it would require more frequent supplies of water 

 than No. 1, as the greater portion of the water would 

 fly off by evaporation, and would not be condensed again 

 into the glass. Ribbed glasses are perhaps preferable, 

 for preventing drip, to plain glasses. — Apsley Pellatt, 

 Falcon Glass Works. 



Aspiragus, &c. — M If you please. Sir," said my 

 gardener to me a day or two ago, " I want some more 

 salt." " Salt !" I replied," have you not plenty of liquid 

 manure fixed and prepared with sulphuric acid ? What 

 can you possibly want with salt?" "Why, Sir," re- 

 turned the man, " we want that too ; but you know, Sir, 

 you said in the spring, that we never had such fine 

 Asparagus before, and depend upon it, it was all owing 

 to that 'ere salting we gave the bed last year." I quite 

 assented to the fact and the inference, and more salt was 

 ordered. I was turning away, when the man again 

 arrested my attention: " We must not make the new 

 Asparagus bed yet, Sir ? " " And why not ? " I replied ; 

 41 the weather is fine, and vou have plenty of dung. 

 "Whv,you see, Sir, them young plants a'n't done growing 



what's good for the Strawberries is good for the Grass ; 

 and John Squinell killed all his Asparagus by cutting 

 off the tops in June." Here are two practical proofs 

 of the value of the advice contained in the Gardeners 1 

 Chronicle, viz. the salting of Asparagus, and not cutting 

 off the leaves of the Strawberries. I give the colloquy 

 as it occurred, because the testimony is all the stronger 

 for being unsought. Your correspondents who have 

 failed in the use of salt, have doubtless applied too much. 

 The quantity I used to my bed was a pound to every 

 square yard, applied after cutting off the tops, and early 

 in the spring in rainy weather. With regard to the 

 Strawberries, I think my gardener's argument un- 

 answerable — " What's good for the one is good for the 

 other." I certainly never had such fine plants in the 

 spring, or better crops in the summer, than I have 

 obtained since I left the leaves alone. Can you explain 

 the reason why Myatt's Eliza has completely failed this 

 year, both in my own and neighbour's garden ? The 

 stock was good and true, and bore well last year ; but 

 this, I have not had a dozen fruit on three beds.— 

 C. R. Bree, Stowmarket. [Dry weather ?] 



Destroying Wasps. — Your correspondent's plan of 

 putting the spirits of turpentine into a bottle instead of 

 into a cup, is a decided improvement. If he has an op- 

 portunity of doing so, would he try a plan I have 

 suggested more than once, but do not know whether it 

 has yet been tried ? Let a small quantity be squirted 

 into the hole as far as possible, and then let the hole be 

 blocked up with clay. It is possible the soil may imbibe 

 so much of the turpentine as to prevent success, but the 

 experiment is worth trying. — J. S. Henslow, Hitcham. 



To destroy Ants. — "It happened that a piece of 

 camphor was laid in a drawer containing sugar, and 

 which was sadly infested by ants. On opening it a few 

 days afterwards, the bottom of the drawer was literally 

 strewed with dead ants. The experiment was repeated 

 with success — a small piece of camphor placed in a 

 corner of the drawer being quite sufficient. Camphor 

 dissolved in alchohol and diluted with water might 

 destroy them if sprinkled on trees or walls, or if poured 

 into their nests." — John J. Godfrey, Albany, New York, 

 March 3, 1832. " Proteus " forgets where he met with 

 the foregoing extract, neither has he tried it ; but, con- 

 cluding from late Numbers of the Chronicle that the 

 destruction of ants is an object of interest to some of hi8 

 fellow-subscribers, he contributes his mite to their 



service. 



Sting of a Bee. — I beg to inform a correspondent in 

 a former .Number, who applies for a remedy for the 

 sting of a bee or wasp, that the application of a washer- 

 woman's blue-bag, moistened, is the best remedy, and 

 acts almost like a charm instantaneously ; it is far 

 preferable to liquor potassse, or any alkaline solution.— 

 Medicus Corcagicnsis. 



Gooseberry Caterpillar. — Being for many years 

 annoyed by this destructive pest, I have endeavoured to, 

 get at the root of the evil by studying the habits of the 

 insect. In a. flower-pot filled with earth, and covered by 

 a finger-glass to prevent the caterpillar wandering, I 

 placed on a leafy slip of the Gooseberry tree six cater- 

 pillars, supplying them every second day with a fresh 

 sprig, and thus watched their progressive changes until 

 they dropt from the branch, and buried themselves. In 

 this manner I discovered that there are two seasons in 

 the year for the ravages of this pest. The first cater- 

 pillars appearing about the middle of May, and eating 

 for five weeks, in this time the usual mischief is done, 

 and the fruit is destroyed, unless the trees are carefully 

 picked ; but I imagine that few persons are aware that 

 the evil is only half met by this one picking. The Saw- 

 fly (Xematus Ribesii), according to Stephen, again 

 emerges from the pupa state in the beginning of 

 August, or a few days earlier, according to the season"; 

 and after having again defoliated the trees, deposits 

 itself in the earth until the May of the following year. 

 The early decay of the Gooseberry leaf— the indifference 

 about the tree when the fruit is gone by-— may be the 

 cause why this second swarm is not taken notice of; but 

 certain it is that on the second picking depends the 

 extent of the plague for the next year. If then carefully 

 picked there will be no larvre in the ground for the 

 next season. If neglected, the increasing plague of 

 insect life goes on. Two successive years of autumnal 

 nicking I can say from my own experience, will banish 

 the Gooseberry caterpillar, though one careful looking 

 over the trees on the third year in autumn may not be 

 misplaced. Perhaps gardeners are not aware that 

 seedling Arbutus are a favourite food of the same 

 caterpillar.— A Lady Gardener, County Cork. 



Sporling Character of the Peach. — A rather curious 

 instance of this has occurred here. A Peach tree — the 

 Vanguard — has produced a very fine red Roman Necta- 

 rine. The Peach tree has a fine crop of Peaches, and 

 the Nectarine looks singularly curious among the 

 Peaches. In what way can you account for it ? 1 never 

 saw anything of the kind before. — Did you ? — M. Busby. 

 [Yes — often. These occurrences are called sports, and it 

 was doubtless thus that a Nectarine was first obtained. J 

 The Gray Parrot. — In reply to M A Constant Reader," 

 I would mention that a good way for preventing a 

 favourite bird from picking off its feathers, is to brush or 

 rub the parts that it is fondest of picking with a stroDg 

 solution of bitter aloes soaked in water. If this is done 

 for a short time I imagine the bird will soon desist from 

 plaving these tricks.— M. //. W. Another corres- 

 pondent remarks that the bad condition of ''^ Constant 

 o ".»—>.»* u;_j ; ; a k* " want" of "attention 



yet ; 'and as we had such a capital crop of Strawberries to diet." « Bread and mi*, , cmc«- - - 

 because we didn't cutoff the leaves, I should think not to be met with everyday in tne Aire 



Reader's" bird is occasioned by M want 



to diet." " Bread and milk, chicken bones, &c are 



