1844.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



621 



whaT^eriod of a tree's existence it is to be con- leaves are equally broad and the roots are more abundant, 





v» 



- 





8 a "«e should then be able to form more correct 

 •is of how far " W. H." is justified in his concluding 



* ,Hnn-" that increased vigour, stature, and bulk 

 *~ i?s sure result ; " a position which, though backed 

 by 6 40 years' experience, I must still very seriously 



miestion.— Quercus. 



Sican Marking.— For the sake of the reader who is 

 unacquainted with what is called " swan marking," I 

 hall briefly state how that is done, without entering into 

 details as to when and how such laws or regulations 

 elative to swans were established. When swans are 

 Lot on large streams by different proprietors, their 

 servants meet about the last week in August, and besiege, 

 it were, the river, and cut the same kind of mark on 

 the beaks of the young swans as that on the bills of the 

 parent birds. They also pinion, or cut off the two first 

 ioints from one wbg— one joint not being enough— then 

 return the bird to the water. By that means each pro- 

 prietor's swans are known. When it happens that swans 

 belonging to different proprietors mate together, the 

 brood are equally divided, the odd cygnet always going 

 with the cock bird. In order to settle disputes, the old 

 swans are caught arid claimed by the marks already 

 noticed. Some speak against pinioning of swans. I 

 suspect, however, that the necessity of it is apparent ; for, 

 supposing they were not migratory, and had the use of 

 their wings, is it likely they would suffer themselves to be 

 caught by the neck with a crook, as a shepherd does his 

 sheep ? Even in the pinioned state it is attended with 

 difficulty, especially in large rivers. On the Yare I lately 

 observed a brood of 10 swans, being the greatest number 

 I ever saw or heard of. Those acquainted with Orni- 

 thology know that our common swan is not identical with 

 the wild sort that visits us in winter, but with what is 

 called the mute swan common in Russia, and is met with 

 in some parts of this country, without a master. — 



J. Wighton. 



Strawberries, Asparagus, &c. — With all due deference 

 to " Villagius," I must demur to the inferences con- 

 tained in his letter last week. In nine cases out of ten, 

 according to my experience, if you manage two Straw- 

 berry-beds in the same way — one bed being one, and the 

 other three years old — you will have the best crop from 

 the latter. Therefore it is quite clear, as his crops were 

 equal according to superficial observation, his experi- 

 ment proved against the mutilating, unscientific system 

 of cutting off the lungs of the plants. Now, as to the 

 time of applying salt to Asparagus, I have stated the 

 result of practice, not theory. I have -applied salt, after 

 dressing in the autumn and early in the spring — 1 lb. to 

 the square yard — with the most striking advantage. 

 Now the questions to decide upon this interesting subject 

 are— 1st, Do we actually apply the salt to the dormant 

 root, by covering the surface in autumn ? To this ques- 

 tion I answer in the negative ; inasmuch as the salt has 

 to be washed through a considerable depth of soil before 

 it reaches the root, and it is only reasonable to infer that 

 when it does arrive there, its caustic character will have 

 materially altered by dilution and chemical decomposi- 

 tion. 2d, Will not the salt do decided harm by being 

 applied to the delicate green, living texture of the young 

 shoots late in spring? Let "Villagius" try it, and 1 

 will wager him the best dish I cut next year that he will 

 destroy or materially injure his plants. But, as I said 

 before, I made my statement from practice, not theory. 

 My beds are now looking beautiful, with lofty, flourish- 

 ing plants. As soon as they begin to die back, I shall 

 cut and dress them, and apply the salt as heretofore on 

 the surface, to be gradually washed in by the winter 

 rain. Should I fail, I hope "Villagius" will tell me 



* here to send him the lost wager.— C. R. Bree, Stow- 

 **rhet. [We quite agree.] 



Toads and Frogs.— A. few weeks ago, among " Notices 

 to Correspondents," I observed an inquiry in reference 

 to toads : the question was— Do they eat slugs ? I am 

 now enabled to say that they do. I am satisfied that 

 tney are carnivorous, and that they do not eat either 

 ^ 1 ,.°, r , vegetable8 - I referred to the "Penny Cycio- 

 E p „ and f °und an excellent article under the word 

 «m 'n 8 * . lhere Earned that they live on slugs and other 



r^^ 1111 ! 18 ; that the y take their P re y with s reat 



piaity and swallow it immediately, without mastica- 



"00. I Went ?rvf :»__ *___V. ...._ —J „.,♦• u 



on 



toad 



and 



thaT e T^ r, ,j had the toa<i taken the slug in with his tongue, 

 live 1 DOt see il done - l believe both frogs and toads 

 won the pests of the garden. I am always glad to 

 a f em / La st summer I had many slugs, and they 

 stroyea several crops ; this summer I have had plenty 



Zirmin *h* t0adS ' * nd Very few slu S s -~ Jasper Stokes, 



Tmt* e ' a £ pIes '-- k * the system of growing and fruiting 

 to be™ P ° ts is bec oming general, it is desirable 



mo«r !i ac( l uaint ed with those substances which are 



when n? ; UC ] Te to their 8 rowth - lt is evident that PineS 

 is cert •? ° Ut attaiQ more robustness, and this mode 

 Pots h + ?° re natural tQ an that of confining them in 

 tion of l whether u is more favourable to the produc- 



tain e»f ger fruit thaa the old P lan » remains to a cer- 

 oth*r i 1 Undec ided. Pines will grow in any soil, and 



different \ ^ d ° the Rame » but the re8ullS wUl be 

 fruit ani • * tron & soil ^vours the production of large 



a light 7k the habit of the P lant is more compact; 



effect Jtk, nce » such as leavcs or tan > has an opposite 



cnect— the plant an A fentt :-\i: ££-• t« 



but they are altogether deficient in substance and com- 

 pactness. I cannot suppose there is any advantage to 

 be derived from laying up a heap of soil before it is 

 wanted for use, particularly when a few inches only of 

 the surface is taken. When spread about that depth it 

 is more exposed to every atmospheric change than when 

 it is in one mass and turned several times during a 

 twelvemonth. In preparing a bed over a tank the first 

 stratum should consist of rough gravel lor two or three 

 inches in depth ; above that the same depth of leaves or 

 other litter should be laid ; then the last layers, consisting 

 of two parts loam, one leaf-mould, and one horse-drop- 

 pings, well mixed together, should be fifteen or eighteen 

 inches in depth. Pines grown in such a compost, and 

 duly attended to with heat, will reward the owner with 

 excellent fruit. Sometime ago I was informed by a gen- 

 tleman, lately residing in India, that in some of the Pine 

 districts near the sea, where the soil is naturally strongly 

 impregnated with saline substances, Pines flourish and 

 produce enormous fruit. The ocean, at times, flows 

 over the ground ; probably, therefore, a little salt intro- 

 duced into soil for Pines might prove efficacious to them. 

 — Memet. 



Gray Parrot. — I have read the different statements 

 respecting the treatment recommended for keeping a 

 favourite bird from plucking off its feathers. My treat- 

 ment in regard to its food is quite the reverse of many of 

 your correspondents. I have two fine birds, which I have 

 had for this last seven or eight years ; their food has been 

 bread and butter in the morning, meat two or three 

 times a-day, or anything the family may have — such 

 as Potatoes, pudding, cake, fish, fruit — everything 

 except salt meat ; that is avoided, if too salt. Their tins 

 are filled with clean water every day, and their cages 

 cleaned out and sand put in ; they take tea, and spirits 

 with water when given them ; they are taken out on the 

 hand every day, and fondled over two or three times to 

 exercise their wings, which I consider is very beneficial 

 to their health and the beauty of their plumage. I have 

 never given them any seed or soaked bread. With the 

 above treatment my birds have always been in good 

 health ; their plumage has always been good, and they 

 have never lost their feathers till the time of moulting, and 

 even then they have never looked unsightly. — James 

 Woods, Harwich, Essex. 



Variegated Leaves. — Mr. Groom has stated in last 

 Number that the leaves of some of his Pelargoniums have 

 become regularly edged with white iu consequence of his 

 having watered the plants with sulphate of ammonia which 

 had been exposed to the air for some time. Last autumn 

 I planted many young Box-trees ; and I have for some 

 weeks observed that nearly all the young leaves in most 

 of them are symmetrically tipped with white, giving the 

 young branches a mottled appearance. I counted twelve 

 trees thus affected. The older leaves are rarely tipped, 

 with the exception of two bushes, in which they are re- 

 gularly tipped, and the younger ones much less so. Mr. 

 Groom states that in his Pelargoniums the older leaves 

 are chiefly affected. The Box- trees are quite healthy, 

 and growing well. I gave to some of them nitrate of 

 soda, but it has made no difference in this variegation. 

 Those growing in deep shade are not tipped, nor are 

 some older trees. These facts may appear trivial ; 

 but I think the first appearance, even if not per- 

 manent, of any peculiarity which tends to become 

 hereditary (as I fear is the case with the variegated 

 Sycamore) deserves being recorded. — C. Darwin. 

 Mr. H. W. Bucknall, of Bed minster-lodge, Bristol, 

 also forwarded leaves taken from three Greengage 

 Plum-trees, which were regularly edged with yellow. 

 Mr. Bucknall writes that the trees were watered 

 with ammoniacal liquor diluted with five times its bulk 

 of water by mistake, instead of ten times. Tbe whole of 

 the leaves of each tree have turned yellow round the 

 edges, the rest remaining a healthy green. The trees 

 perfected their fruit well, and are otherwise in good 

 health. The same mixture, he adds, was used on 

 Peaches and Nectarines, but did not affect them. 



Lilium lancifolium album, Sfc. — In the spring of 1843 

 I paid three guineas for a flowering bulb of one of these 

 fashionable Liliums, which flowered well, and also 

 ripened a pot of seed, which I sowed in a shallow box; 

 this was kept during the whole summer in a Melon- 

 frame, and was watered and nursed with particular care. 

 Notwithstanding this, however, not more than half a 

 dozen plants ever appeared ; these did not produce more 

 than one leaf, and put forth small bulbs about the size of 

 a grain of Wheat. After these were fully ripened, I 

 proceeded to take them up, and in so doing I was sur- 

 prised to find the whole of the soil in the box full of bulbs, 

 superior even to those that appeared ; they were an inch 

 deep in the soil on which the seeds producing them had 

 been laid upon the surface ; the seeds, as they swelled 

 by moisture, were barely covered. I have thus most 

 unexpectedly found myself in possession of 180 bulbs ; 

 and I should like to know how these wholesale under- 

 ground operations were conducted. This circumstance 

 should induce others to examine narrowly their seed-pans 

 before discarding them; as, before this was known to me, 

 I am sure that I have sacrificed thousands of bulbs. 

 —AT. M. T. 



Transmutation of Corn.— Is it possible that Wheat, 

 Barley, and Oats, can change, from being kept from 

 coming into ear ? If so, then perhaps it may be true that 

 Primroses, turned root upwards and made to grow so, 

 become Cowslips. I have always laughed at the idea, 

 but it is believed in some parts of Wiltshire. I have 



will become double in a year or two. Can it be? 

 Mignionette kept from flowering for a year becomes a 

 shrubby plant and perennial, but still it remains Migni- 

 onette, only much more powerful as to scent. — A Non- 

 believer. 



Wistaria sinensis. — I have a plant of this truly beau- 

 tiful and ornamental climber, about five years old, which 

 has been allowed to grow in a very irregular state ; no 

 attention has been paid to it during that period. Early 

 in March of this year I thought, on seeing the noble 

 specimen in the Horticultural Gardens at Chiswick, that 

 something might be done to assist Nature in forming a 

 similar specimen, in course of time, out of my deformed 

 plant. Accordingly, I cut and trimmed all the branches 

 to within a quarter of a foot of the stem, leaving two 

 wood-buds, and also flower-buds, varying from one to 

 three on each spur ; after which it has bloomed well. 

 About the middle of March I commenced giving it a 

 plentiful supply of water, twice or three times a week. 

 This I continued to do for about six weeks, occasionally 

 loosening the ground about the roots, so as to prevent 

 the earth becoming baked uuder the influence of a May 

 sun. It went on growing, and still continues doing so ; 

 but two of the principal shoots, measuring 26 feet, the 

 growth of this year, have turned by a freak of Nature 

 into monstrosities as flat and about the same thickness 

 as a penny-piece. They are about 7 feet in length, turn- 

 ing upwards and dividing into two branches at the ex- 

 tremity : one branch measures two and the other one 

 foot from the division. Will you inform me what plan, 

 under these circumstances, had better be adopted, in 

 order to insure a healthy and vigorous growth next 

 spring. — T. D. Gordon. [Your branch is what botanists 

 call fasciculated ; it is of no consequence, for the new 

 branches, &c. will come from it all the same if you get 

 it ripe. It arises from over-luxuriance. ] 



Country Shows. — We have a Society in our village, 

 and on the morning of its July meeting I met a respect- 

 able tradesman whom I shall call Mr. Smith, and said : 

 " Well, Mr. S., I suppose 1 shall see some of your plants 

 at the Show to-day?" Mr. S." No you won't, ma'am. What 

 is the use of my sending plants when and 



and 



rin** ~- P lant an d fruit grow quite disproportionate. « D . 



P riod g h°T 6 ia leaves balfdecomposed, willfin a given been also told that if single Primroses Mip.. Poly- 

 Penod, be larger plauta than those growing in loam ; the anthuses, and Auriculas, are turned root upwards, they 



will beat me out and out ? Haven't they the use of the green- 

 house, stove, manures, and all that their masters' purse 

 can buy ; and what chance can I have with my frame 

 only? Depend upon it, ma'am, those Horticultural 

 Societies will not last long, if they don't alter ! Now, If 

 I had a chance of a prize I would send my plants, and I 

 would take my family, and some of my friends would go 

 too, and then they would get as many shillings towards 

 their funds ; but now I stay at home, or I go to the Stag 

 and smoke my pipe instead." X. "Then you think 

 there should be a prize for tradesmen, or those persons 

 who possess a frame only ?" Mr. S. " Certainly I do ; 

 but, bless you, they'll never do anything till they let the 

 women have a share." X. " Then you think there 

 should be a lady's prize?" Mr. S. " No, I don't mean 

 quite that— I mean that there should be prizes for women 

 only ; let there be two of them — one for ladies, and the 

 other for women in a lower rank, or it will be just the 

 same as it is now with the men. Why, ma'am, it would 

 do no end of good ; instead of being stitch, stitch, stitch, 

 all day long at that worsted-work, why they would get 

 out into the air, and it would do them a world of good." 

 X. " Well, Mr. S., I should be glad to see your sug- 

 gestions carried into effect ; but I fear " Mr. S. " Ah, 



well, ma'am, all I can say is, that if something is not 

 done our Society will die of consumption; and if they will 

 only use a little common sense about their rules, why 

 they will prevent consumption in others, for instead of 

 spending our evenings at a tavern, we should be tending 

 our plants." We then separated, and I send Mr. Smith's 

 hints, as showing what I know to be general senti- 

 ments respecting garden societies. — Jl. 



Onions. — A piece of garden ground, 13 yards long, 

 and 4 feet wide, cultivated by Mr. Everitt, gr. to D. 

 Hoste, Esq., Barwick House, Norfolk, produced this 

 year 28 st. 12 lbs. of White Spanish Onions. Is not this 

 an unusually fine crop ?— IF. E. — [Very.] 



Wasps. — A few weeks since I observed in the 

 Chronicle a statement made by a correspondent to 

 the effect that a wasps' nest might be easily de- 

 stroyed by means of turpentine. I have since tried the 

 experiment, and, in accordance with your correspondent's 

 directions, I inserted the neck of a bottle containing 

 a small quantity of turpentine into the mouth of the 

 hole, and plaistered it round with clay. The result was, 

 that' it not only did not destroy the nest, but the next 

 morning a wasp, perfectly alive, actually came out from 

 the bottle ! I wish to know wherein I was wrong in 

 making my experiment, and how your correspondent 

 reconciles this fact with his former statement. — //. P. 

 [Spirits of turpentine poured into wasps' holes will 

 certainly kill them ; the bottle experiment we have 



not tried]. 



Growth of Trees. — Respecting the elongation of the 



spaces between the tiers of branches on a tree after they 

 are formed, it is said, that after a year's stem-shoot is 

 fully formed, it will elongate, and that a side-branch at 

 one time — say any given number of feet from the ground 

 —shall in a few years afterwards be raised considerably 

 higher from the surface. Whoever defends such a notion 

 has surely never attentively observed the growth of trees. 

 Take a Fir, for instance, after it has been planted, even 

 20 or more years, it will be found that the lower branches 

 are as close to the surface of the ground as when it was 

 planted, and of course the distance between each succes- 

 sive tier of branches remains of tbe same length, as 

 those spaces never elongate after they are 4 ormed.— 

 W. Billmgton. 



