702 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



straggling gruwer, and occupies a great deal 

 It is recommended in the Chronicle a« a 



of ruotij. 

 delicious 



winter vegetable. At present it shows no heart. A little 

 more information about the nature, culture, and growth 

 of the Tronchuda would oblige — B. I). Greys. [Its 

 leafstalks and heart are used like Seakale. It is tender. 



and is not a winter Cabbage.] 



Bees 1 Eggs.— At p. 638, Mr. Pettigrew finds fault 

 with my reply to * A Lover of Truth's " queries respect- 

 ing bees' eggs. I expect, however, that some apiarian 

 readers think otherwise, and see more reason to complain 

 of his statement that " queen bees lay only one sort of 

 eggs." I may state that I possess some working bees 

 cells containing the brood of small drones, or males, 

 which clearly show there is a difference in bees eggs, 

 and also that no alteration takes place after the eggs are 

 in the cells. Indeed, how could the latter be ,1 borne 

 say by royal jelly ; but that cannot change the sex of 



bees.— J. Wiyhton. 



Large Pine -apples. -In reply to an" Admirer of well- 

 grown Pines,- who asks Mr. Mills the following simple 

 questions, viz,— What has been the probable quantity ot 

 dung used to bring the fruit to maturity ? and the pro- 

 bable expense for labour in applying linings ? I would 

 state that every good gardener can tell the quantity ot 

 dung required to work a small five-light pit— and rotten 

 dxinl is always valuable in a garden ; and the labour for 

 working such a pit is not worth noticing. 1 will venture 

 to say, if an " Admirer of well-grown Pines" could pro- 

 duce at his employer's table a Pine of the enormous 

 weight of 15 lbs. avoirdupoise, his employer would, in 

 all probability, make no inquiry respecting the expense 

 of dung or labour employed, but would be glad to know 

 that his gardener had the merit of producing, for the first 

 time in England, a Pine-apple weighing 15 lbs. I should 

 have been proud to have been the grower of so noble a 

 specimen, which could only have been obtained under 

 the most skilful management, without which all the ex- 

 pense that could have been bestowed upon its growth 

 would have been of no avail.— IF. Taylor, Slreatham. 



Public Parks.— It must be gratifying to all who 

 desire to see the comforts of the middle and working 

 classes attended to, to know that a public park is about 

 to be laid out in the neighbourhood of Manchester. It 

 is unnecessary to dwell on the health-creating effect and 

 moral influence that such a place of public resort will 

 have upon the immense population of that town, as it is 

 well known that where public places of this description 

 have been opened to the community at large, the bene- 

 ficial influences have been beyond all calculation. Public 

 parks not only improve the moral character of indivi- 

 duals, but also lead to habits of industry, regularity, and 

 taste. By the public prints it appears that 21,000/. 

 have already been subscribed for this park ; but in the 

 expenditure of this sum, much will depend upon the 

 judgment exercised in laying out the grounds, to secure 

 the advantages which we ought to expect from a place of 

 public resort in the neighbourhood of that large manu- 

 facturing district. I am aware that few places of this 

 kind are properly upheld, unless they are arranged in a 

 manner that will enable the directors to pay at least 

 some part of the outlay. We may have liberal subscrip- 

 tions for the original purchase of the ground, but unless 

 some method is adopted by which the ground may be 

 disposed of, so as to supply a fund for upholding the park 

 in a proper condition, it will, like many other places of 

 the kind, except those in the hands of Government, fall 

 to the ground. Public parks have recently been laid out 

 near Liverpool, and in the improving neighbourhood of 

 Birkenhead. Both these parks have been judiciously 

 arranged ; the confines or outside borders are laid out in 

 villa grounds, which it is supposed will be sold for more 

 than the original purchase of the ground, while the inte- 

 rior of the park is devoted to the healthy exercise and 

 recreation of the public. It would be well to impress 

 upon the attention of the managers of the proposed Man- 

 chester park, that some such arrangement as that just 

 adverted to should be adopted. If it were laid out in 

 such a way that one-third of the ground was disposed ot 

 for villa residences, I have no doubt but that, under pro- 

 per arrangement and management, the ground so dis- 

 posed of would not only pay ultimately for the original 

 purchase, but would uphold the park in proper condition. 

 It is not only a serious matter, but one that requires the 

 greatest judgment on the part of the managers of this 

 affair, to secure the services of those who are well qua- 

 lified to advise and arrange a matter intended to benefit 

 succeeding generations. I hope, therefore, that the 

 directors will not lose sight of an arrangement which 

 may enable them to have funds to uphold in strict order 

 and regularity a park worthy of their justly celebrated 

 town. — A Friend to Public Parks. 



Bokhara Clover — Noticed in a former Number of the 

 Chronicle, I find a failure ; the great drought of the 

 summer may have caused this. It can hardly be said to 

 have blossomed here. I purchased the seed as recom- 

 mended, in order that my b. es might feed on its flowers. 

 It is a coarse large sort of Clover, and grows 3 or 4 feet 

 in height. — B. D. Greys. 



Irish Yew, <Jc— It may be useful to state that I have 

 raised many seedlings from the Irish Yew ; some are 

 three years old, but all evidently are the common Yew ; 

 and this may save others the trouble and time necessary 

 for their development. The fine season has been the 

 means of the double-flowering Peach and Pyrus specta- 

 bilis producing fruit — the latter in unusual abundance, 

 which, when frosted, is nearly equal to the Medlar in 

 flavour ; and the birds — good epicures certainly — prefer 

 them to all the other fruits in the nursery. — W. G. 



Extirpation of Mice. — Your correspondent M Nemo/' 



who inquires how best he may destroy the mice with 

 which he is annoyed, is recommended by one who is an 

 old practitioner to proceed as follows : — In the first 

 place, let him arrange his canaries (which at present 

 must be greatly disturbed by the mice getting into their 

 dwellings at night) on the walls of his room, so that they 

 may hang in even rows ; under each row of cages, and 

 nailed close to the wall, let a well-planed and neatly- 

 painted half-inch deal shelf be erected, sufficiently wide 

 to project several inches beyond the line of cages, and 

 let it extend the whole length of the room. It will be all 

 the better if a beading or ledge run along the front of 

 each shelf. By this provision, the greater part of the 

 seed, so unsparingly scattered about by the birds, will be 

 prevented falling on the ground, and so, the temptation 

 offered to the mice, who are greedily fond of canary and 

 rape-seed, will be infinitely lessened. The next step will 

 be to reduce the number of mice, for where'there is bird- 

 seed there are sure to be mice : this is easy. Procure a 

 few pennyworths of nux vomica in powder, and, with a 

 small portion of it, mix thoroughly some bruised canary- 

 seed and crushed Wheat ; place this in a saucer in a 

 corner of the room, and close to it a second saucer filled 

 with cold water; then, just before retiring to bed, sweep 

 the floor carefully, and remove the seeds, husks, &o., 

 that may have fallen from the cages. This will prove a 

 night of terror, for death will make sad havoc among 

 the birds' enemies. Next morning let " Nemo," after 

 collecting the dead and the dying, and burying them, 

 nail flat pieces of zinc or tin over every mouse-hole he 

 can find. This will prevent any effluvium that might 

 arise a few days afterwards from the decomposed bodies 

 under ground. The remaining mice, their suspicions 

 being awakened, will now troop off. Should they at a 

 future period return, let the former dose be repeated at 

 bedtime, and the result will prove equally satisfactory as 

 before. If a cat's services be required, let her be domes- 

 ticated when quite a kitten : then, by the aid of a slight 

 switch as a corrector, a positive familiarity may be 

 created between Grimalkin and the birds — the latter ex- 

 hibiting pleasure rather than fear when the former is 

 present. Where cats are inmates, poison must not be 

 used ; for if a mouse be poisoned, and a cat afterwards 

 eats it, her death too frequently follows. Some of my 

 neighbours, have, I understand, been recently placing 

 poison in their grounds for the destruction of rats ; the 

 consequence has been the ascertained death of eleven 

 fine (and several of them very favourite) cats. This is 

 to be regretted, and no person will suffer more from it 

 than myself. Though I have a large collection of birds, 

 the only weapon I bring to bear upon their sworn ene- 

 mies, the cats, is a legitimate one, viz., a long whip, 

 which is artistically laid on, in terrorem, as occasion 

 serves. As ** Nemo" has between 30 and 40 canaries, 

 I would suggest to him whether, in such a case, it would 

 not be advisable to appropriate one room, with a door at 

 either end, to their entire use. All vermin would be 

 thereby excluded. — W. Kidd, New-road, Hammersmith. 



the weather, as in moist, damp weather he found U* 

 wounds would not heal.— Mr. Harry Goodsir exhibited 

 drawings of the condition of the parts in the reproduce 

 legs of a species of Crustacea — the Cancer pagurus 

 The reproduction in these animals was effected by means 

 of a gland. This gland was surrounded by a aeries of 

 vessels which also accompanied the reproductive germ u> 

 the ovaries of the animal. — Dr. Lankester pointed out 

 the importance of studying this subject in a morpholo- 

 gical point of view. The reproductive cell of all organisa- 

 tion possessed common characters, which once obtained 

 we should find an easy expression for the counties* 

 variety of secondary forms which it exhibited. 



REGENT'S-PARK GARDENERS' SOCIETY. 1 

 The adjourned meeting for the discussion of Mor- 

 phology (see page 639) took place on Tuesday evening, 

 Oct. 8. Mr. Reith, the chairman, directed the attention 

 of the meeting to specimens of Rhododendron and Ca- 

 mellia, which, after having formed and set their blossom 

 buds, had produced leafy shoots from the same buds in 

 consequence of being improperly excited. He considered 

 these as illustrations of the necessity of setting such plants 

 out of doors in summer, to mature their annual growth.— 

 Mr. C. Moore read some paragraphs from an article in the 

 " Magazine of Botany," opposed to Morphology, which 

 he characterised as being evasive of the true question. 

 He then referred to specimens of Cry ptogramma crispum 

 in which the fertile fronds are evidently a changed state 

 of the barren ones, thus proving that the production of 

 seeds on the leaves, as in Ferns generally, was in no way 

 opposed to the doctrine. Allium scorodoprasum was 

 next referred to, in a specimen of which the flower-stem 

 at its summit bore perfect seeds, in the ordinary seed- 

 vessels, seated on little pedicels, and bulbs springing into 

 leaf at the base of these pedicels, and there attached 

 to the stem. — Mr. O'Neill asked what was really 

 meant to be established by Morphology, as apparently 

 opposed to the established order of vegetation 1 — Mr. 

 Maher said that Morphology, which strictly meant a 

 11 discourse on form," taught us to believe that all the 

 parts of plants are originally alike, being produced by 

 the vital action from the same original tissue, and, con- 

 sequently, that any part of a plant, before it was deve- 

 loped, would have admitted of a different kind of 

 development under the influence of exterior circum- 

 stances. He said that buds, and bulbs, and seeds, the 

 several offspring of the stem, the root, and the flower, 

 were identical both in nature and office, as containing the 

 vital embryo, and capable, when detached, of reproducing 

 their kind. In the case of the Allium, the bulbs, being 

 directly attached to the top of the stem, could not be 

 confounded with the seed, which was produced at the 

 extremity of a pedicel ; and, that they were occasioned 

 by some invisible impregnation before the development 

 of the flowers took place, as had been assumed by some 

 of the speakers, he designated as an idea wild in the ex- 

 treme. He then took a summary glance of the progress 

 of a plant. The root, when in its ordinary position be- 

 neath the surface, did not produce leaves, but little naked 

 points of tissue, whose office was to absorb fluids ; if the 

 root were brought above ground, it would frequently 

 produce leaves, and assume the character of the stem. 

 In illustration of this, he mentioned a specimen ot a 

 seedling Potato plant in his possession, in which from 

 the same point, near the surface, several runners were 

 produced ; some of these had been buried and had pro- 

 duced both fibres and tubers ; others had been exposed, 



and were leafy stems. The stem assumea m«uy .*»-. ., 

 and was different from the root, m being furnished^li 



air,~it "had to perform the function of respiration, as well 



and was dirierent rrom iuc i^uv, * u ~w.. a 



stomata, or breathing-pores ; for, being exposed tot 



S&ocfetfe*. 



BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 

 Oct. 4. — J. Reynolds, Esq., Treasurer, in the 

 chair. Various donations were announced. Read — A 

 General Description of the Botany, Climate, and Phy- 

 sical Geography of the Neighbourhood of Embleton, in 

 Northumberland; drawn up by Robert Embleton, Esq., 

 in illustration of a Local Herbarium of the District, col- 

 lected for the Society by the same gentleman. The 

 Description and Herbarium will remain at the Society as 

 a valuable record of the present condition of the district. 



■ 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 

 Oct. 7, 1844. — Geo. Newport, Esq., President, in 

 the Chair. A specimen of Tortrix rutilana was exhibited 

 by Mr. Bedell — an insect new to the British Fauna. 

 — Mr. Westwood exhibited a specimen of Lenopalpus 

 striatus, taken in Leicestershire by Mr. Plant. Several 

 new Coleoptera, taken in Chili, were exhibited by Mr. 

 Canning. — Mr. Raddon sent for exhibition living larvae 

 from Potatoes and Turnips, which had this year been 

 veiy destructive in his neighbourhood. Mr. Westwood 

 6tated that they were the larvae of some species of Noc- 

 tuidse, probably an Agrotis. There was no other way of 

 getting rid of these animals but by hand-picking. — The 

 President laid upon the table a number of specimens of 

 Lepidoptera, in which the legs had been reproduced 

 after having been broken off. The reproduced legs 

 were none of them of the size of the old legs. The legs 

 were broken off during the larva state of the animal. 

 — Several specimens of insects were exhibited from Cap- 

 tain Boys, sent from India ; they were prepared in a 

 peculiar way by placing the whole insect between very 

 thin plates of talc. — A new Pausus-like insect was sent 

 by Dr. Cantor— the Trochoideus amphora. It attacks 

 the leaves of the Cocoa-nut trees, of which it is very 

 destructive. Dr. Cantor also forwarded some notes on 

 the habits of Arachnida. — Some notes upon an orthop- 

 terous insect, a grasshopper, which had the power of 

 swimming on the water, were read, from Captain Boys. 

 The Secretary observed that he believed this was the 

 first instance on record of an orthopterous insect with 

 aquatic habits. The. President referred to the but- 

 terflies whose legs had been reproduced. At a «» - -- - j«.» B oii A f nnpnin? aa 



recent meeting of the Society this subject had been dii- converted into leaves, ™£ad °f o enmg * 9 

 cussed, and it had been supposed that reproduction young plants being produced l ™"ta under8to0(J , it 

 would not take place in insects in which true metamor- subject comparatively new, anaow . ^^ 



phosis took place, but this was set at rest by the result was most essential to do away witn V™* Fitzpatnj* 



of his experiments. Although the legs and claws were, factory conclusion could be ^arrived at ^.^ . q ^ 

 always reproduced, the armature of the insect never was. was not convinced by tne ' ae " f Peac h-trce, 



The reproductive power of the insect depended much on I Gardeners m Chronicle. iue bdqo. 





The stem assumed many forms, 



the root, in being furnished with 



ores; for, being exposed to the 



ie function of respiration, as well 



as of absorption. The leaves are com posed of the same 



tissue as the stem, but developed m a peculiar manner Tor 



he elaboration of the sap ; and they are furnished with 



stomata Bracts are similar to leaves. In a specimen ot 



RhSndron, then before him, he said the ^true bracts 



which Bhoald have been situated at the base of the bud on 



aflat axis, were scattered along a leafy stem, exhibit nga 



gradual transition to a leaf, and in the «d £*~ 



b actescent leaves the flowers were produced, instead of 



assuming their natural character as a terminal cluiter. 



the a™ s too, was lengthened out, and would have formed 



a perf cl leaf branch" The flowers that were produced 



we P re much altered from their usual characer but ^ 



thPv were flowers was plain, from their being coloured 



Xl«7«dhe could detect the filaments and ^.tig. 



purpic , onDOsed the doctrine. In the casr 



duce shoots from the roots when ""^ J^bich 



cone of the Larch producing a » h ™» ^^'Ffco cone 

 had been laid before him, proved nothing , tor in 

 was filled with perfect seeds, in the usual manner, and h^ 

 must have been the produce of flower. , therefore tb 

 could not be a transformed flower. mp« ro us u 

 again, were simply illustrates of another mean 

 dained in nature for the perpetuation of plants «, 

 Moore said that he had observed the case of the ro 

 J Xing tubers and leafy stems from the same kind* 

 runners, under different circumstances of exposure , » 

 he thought this to be sufficient nemnn.tr.Uon of *£ 

 lation bf tween roots and stems. The ™P«°«» .b 

 produced on the Grasses were the result of a ehungum 

 Should be the eeed^earing o r/ ans the --P*-*^ 



IB* 







