

■ 







re- 



^lar light, and consequently trees growing singly gene- 

 iJK contain the greatest amount of timber; but, from 

 I! hunches having the power of spreading in each 

 Action unobstructed, the bole or trunk which may be 

 nS the marketable part, is often out of proportion to 

 Se branches ; and this can only be managed to advan- 



♦ L bv tolerably thick planting and judicious thinning 

 *' wards The branches being thus prevented from 



fr- r * a «t'rong lateral direction, the plants get slightly 

 a wn and a proper bole or trunk is formed. Take care 



♦ thin whenever their branches interfere with each 

 th keep a single leader, and prevent strong lateral 



Soots from forming, by pinching out their extreme 

 rToints when growing, and whilst the trees are young, 

 d there will be little occasion for using either the 

 t fe or saw. Trees will thus be formed with finer tim- 

 h r and of more value than those managed by the most 

 refined dogmas of cutting and pruning that were ever 



P ., be f ore the public— John Spencer, Bowood. 



Quercus says-- The Articles in last Number 

 latin" to Forest-tree Pruning— and the Nerquis Plan- 

 tations by Dr. Thackeray and Mr. Roberts— are both 

 amusing and instructive ; both attack Mr. Billington, 

 and I fear with little advantage either to the respective 

 combatants, or to the Nerquis or other plantations. If 

 Mr. Billington conducted his inspectionunder the influence 

 of prejudice, and an overweening partiality to what he 

 calls bis own system, and gave the public, through your 

 columns, a warped and distorted description of Dr. T.'s 

 plantations and the management of them, he is very 

 much to blsme J at the same time, Dr. Thackeray, in 

 "accepting Mr. B.'s premises to overthrow his conclu- 

 sions," is, according to my opinion, greatly beside the 

 mark. He may be professionally correct in stating that 

 the amputation of a limb from a patient increases the 

 tendency to grow stouter — why ? because the nourishing 

 powers remain the same, while, minus a limb, there is 

 less to nourish. The analogy will not hold ; for, accord- 

 ing to Mr. B., the plant is nourished by that of which Dr. 

 T. deprives it. I agree with neither, yet partly with both ; 

 nor do I think Dr. T. happy in the instance he gives 

 of a transplanted tree, to elucidate what I imagine is 

 an erroneous notion, which he " conceives no one can 

 deny— that the various branches Mr. B. would preserve, 

 must appropriate to themselves a certain portion of sap 

 which would otherwise go to the nourishment of the 

 parent stem." In this quotation lies the radical mistake 

 ofthepnmers — something of a piece with accelerated 

 stoutness of a patient, otherwise healthy, when deprived 

 of his leg. Mr. Roberts's letter goes to show that the 

 ultra-Pontey system is that followed at Nerquis : it shows 

 up Mr. Billington' s prejudices, and says that his " system" 

 is wrong ; but these gentlemen may each in his turn 

 show up the errors and mistakes of the other, without 

 either being right. I would only beg each of them to study 

 Nature and assist her operations when practicable, but 

 not to violate her in accordance with their M systems," 

 however fondly cherished." 



Culture of Tulips. — The best aspect is south-east or 

 south-west ; the beds should be upon an open space, 

 8 yards at least from any wall, to avoid the reflection of 

 the sun. The soil should be free from manure, rich, 

 and rendered light by well-working it. It should be 

 taken from the surface of a field where Corn or Colza 

 has been grown. In August or September this earth 

 should be carefully passed through a sieve. Dig out the 

 beds 3 or 4 feet in depth, and in breadth about 3 feet 

 4 inches ; the length will be determined by the number 

 of plants. Take cut all the earth from your beds, and 

 replace it by that mentioned above. Where great atten- 

 tion is paid to the cultivation of Tulips, the beds are 

 inclosed by a frame of wood 4 inches high in front, and 

 j* inches high behind, which serves to keep up the 

 beds, and to form a plane slightly inclined to the sun. 

 A good effect is obtained by two parallel beds, separated 

 by a path a yard in width, having their surfaces inclined 

 towards each other. Animal manure injures the Tulip ; 

 the remedy which has constantly succeeded with me is 

 the » marc of Colza" * reduced to powder. 1 take out 

 the earth from the surface of the beds about 7 inches in 

 depth, and spread upon the remaining earth 35 lbs. or 

 40 lbs. of this marc, which I thoroughly mix, and then 

 replace the earth which was taken out. When the bulbs 

 come in contact with the marc, its fermentation favours 

 vegetation, and contributes to the nourishment of the 

 plant. 40 lbs. of marc suffice for a bed 12 yards long.— 

 ine above was sent to me by a French gentleman who 

 nw been very successful in Tulips. The mode he 

 adopts with regard to the Colza, I imagine might suggest 

 jeme useful hints. Perhaps some of your readers would 

 be so good as to notice what might serve as a substitute, 

 ^ould oilcake do?—//. B. Mason, Brewood, JVolvcr- 

 tompton. [No doubt.] 



Whitney's Composition. — In spring I procured a 



tV v ° f this ' and a PP lied two coats of ic t0 moderately- 

 J~ 1C J calico, strained over hoops, to use in place of a 

 *j a na-glass ; it has rendered the calico, after six months' 

 JJ* e » so exceedingly brittle, that the least touch tears it ; 

 10 that it is in effect useless.— Philobotanicus. 

 u ? l * nti *9 Pines in Tan.— The following is a reply to 

 Judex," who seems disappointed at my not complying 

 »h certain statements in his communication at p. 524, 

 twT h ° again, in a still longer article, p. 684, insists 

 wiat he has tried my system of planting in tan, and that 

 of «? proved a complete failure. I appeal to the readers 

 or the Chronicle whether this is not injustice, as his 



tnTh P ° 8t is ° f hia 0WI1 inventi on> and quite in opposition 

 Jiigfljg commended in my Treatise, pages 59 and 60, 



* ColnTis" a ~ 



from which oil 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



717 ] 



where I recommend nothing but pure British tan, on 

 account of its undergoing a slower putrid fermentation 

 than foreign tan ; I state that as it decays it is rendered 

 less fit for supplying plants with food, and that those 

 which I had planted in old tan made very little progress. 

 I have discovered this season, however, that old tan well 

 watered with liquid manure is rendered sufficiently 

 fertile for the culture of the Pine. "Judex," in the 

 commencement of his first article, writes as follows : — 

 u Acting under the advice given in Mr. Hamilton's 

 1 Treatise on the Pine-apple,' I planted out, a few days 

 after his work appeared, 24 fruiting plants in tan, or 

 rather tan and decomposed leaves, just what Mr. H. 

 would have selected himself, being tan and leaves that 

 had been at work about six weeks, and just in a decom- 

 posing state, mixed with about one-fourth new tan, just to 

 give life to the mass." Now in my Treatise I recommend 

 tan that will be long in decomposing. "Judex "puts 

 his materials in a heap in order to hasten decomposition, 

 and then adds one-fourth new tan to give it life, and 

 states that such a material was just such as Mr. H. 



would have recommended ; he thus misquotes my 



Treatise, in order to detract from its merits. Had ] with the one advertised by Messrs. Vouell and Co., called 



" Judex" said that he had used pure British tan, as my 



Treatise recommends, and that it proved a failure, I 



would have attributed the failure to bad management, and 



not to the merely mixing fresh tan with decomposing 



mutter, although this sours the whole mass. My book 



nowhere recommends such a compost, and all I want in 



favour of my system is an open field and fair play ; and 



if I am to discuss its merits, let it be with one who is 



neither ashamed of his name nor of his residence. I am 



sure that I have recommended nothing in my Treatise 



but what Las been ~cll tested by long practice. Before I 



speak of tan, however, first let it be observed that all the 



results of my threefold advantage system of Pine culture 



height, last March, in a corner of the tan-bed ; it is noir 

 ripening about 70 fine fruit ; its growth has been so 

 rapid that all who have seen it are aware that it could 

 not have been surpassed by planting in any other com- 

 post. I may state the same of an Ipomcea in the other 

 corner of the tan-bed, which was planted out about six 

 years ago. Again, so much has planting Pines in tan 

 been a favourite in this locality, that the late Mr. 

 Fallows, of Cotten Gate, near Didbury, succeeded so 

 well with it, that he sold his receipt for 5/., about 25 

 years ago, to several gardeners : one of them has fruited 

 all his plants in tan ever since, and this season I am 

 informed the plants are very fine. *' Judex " will find 

 that J. Justice, who published a work on Pines in 1740 f 

 (see p. 1 5 of my Treatise,) practised planting them in tan : 

 he states, " the fruit were larger than those in pots, but 

 not better flavoured." I have sent a specimen of Black 

 Jamaica for the Editor's opinion of its flavour. — 

 J. Hamilton. [It was of the best quality, and a most 

 beautiful specimen of Pine-growing.] 



Beehive Raspberry. — This has been cultivated in this 

 neighbourhood for some years. I consider it identical 



the Fastolff. Iu good rich soils it continues bearing until 

 it is destroyed by frost. — John Spencer. 



J'ohnaise llcati)i<j. — I stated, at page 525 of the 

 Chronicle, respecting this mode of heating, that the 

 flue containing the heated air is situated at the back of 

 ttie house, and that cold air is admitted from without, to 

 keep up a healthy atmosphere ; 1 also, at the same time, 

 pointed out my reasons why such an arrangement would 

 be fatal to any system. No answer has been attempted 

 in explanation of these objections, unless it be the mar- 

 vellous fact that Grapes were positively cut from this 

 vinery, and exhibited in Edinburgh on the 20th of Sep- 

 tember ! Why, anybody can do that without any heat- 

 are from plants which had been grown in soil, kc. ; and j ing apparatus at all. Nothing could have been more 

 that I merely, in the beginning of my system, recom- apposite than to place this system under the protection 

 mended tan for trial. I have since tried it, and the , of him whose researches in Don Quixote had led him to 



result has more than surpassed my expectations. When 

 " JudexV first article appeared, I invited him to pay a 

 visit to Thornfield, in order to see the largest fruit he 

 ever saw, according to the size of the plant, growing in 

 tan; but possibly he may have been one of the 109 gar- 

 deners that have visited Thornfield this summer, as nearly 

 all of them were personal strangers to me, but all of 

 whom signified their approbation of my system, and also 

 bore witness to the fact that equal results were accom- 

 plished by plants growing in various composts. The 

 same results may yet be seen ; some of the plants are in 

 pots, others are turned out in tan, &c. I, nevertheless, 

 again invite " Judex" to visit Thornfield, and I imagine 

 that he will see the largest Montserrat and Sierra Leone 

 he ever saw ; one is ripening, the other is swelling ; both 

 were planted in such tan as this locality affords, and let 

 it be remembered that both plants are suckers ; the Mont- 

 serrat is maturing the fifth fruit in four years, from the 





believe that he had discovered the whole art of gar- 

 dening. It is really quite terrible when he brings his 

 small wit, and his smaller erudition, to bear on any 

 subject relating to gardening. I repeat that, unless 

 something like an explanation is advanced respecting my 

 objections to this system of heating, I shall consider it 

 useless to revert to it again. My only object has been 

 to elicit the merits of the system, if it has any, of which 



I then was and still am doubtful.— //. Glcndinning. 



//. says— "The great results which have attended the 

 system of heating at Polmaise appear to suggest an im- 

 portant consideration, to which, as far as 1 am aware, no 

 one has yet alluded : it is this— Whether the method 

 now so generally in use of employing hot-water pipes 

 laid within the house, is really that perfect system it has 

 hitherto been considered to be. The advantages of the 

 Polmaise plan appear to consist chiefly in the introduc- 

 tion of fresh air previously warmed ; and there can be 



same plant. I have also now ripening a fruit of the Black I little doubt that this method, affording, as it does, a free 



Jamaica of tolerable size, notwithstanding that it is the 

 fourth fruit in three years. It is grown in a pot ; its 

 predecessor was cut in last December, and weighed G lbs. 

 I have stated in my book that I had grown the Mont- 

 serrat upwards of 7 lbs. ; the Black Jamaica generally 

 rather larger, and Envilles 8 lbs. 14 oz., all in pots. 

 Now, with these facts before me, and surely " facts are 

 stubborn things," I may state that my system does not at 

 all depend on what kind of material the plants are grown in, 



supply of oxygen for the healthful growth of the plants, 

 approaches most nearly to the natural condition of the 

 Vine in those countries where it attains the greatest per- 

 fection. There is a strong prepossession, however, in 

 favour of hot water, and every one who has been accus- 

 tomed to its use will be slow'to adopt any other mode of 

 heating ; indeed, any return to the now almost obsolete 

 hot-air plans appears a step in a retrograde direction. 

 But then, the nature of the pipe plan almost precludes 



Colza is a kind of Rape grown near Caen, in Normandy 



resid.,« a r/ °il is made - What is mea 

 residue after the oil has been expressed. 



is made. What is meant by the marc, is 



the 



protidedtt is sweet when applied, an*d kept porous and the possibility of combining with it a supply of 'fresh 

 1 - ■ •■ '-- • W arm air ; to obtain this desideratum, therefore, and at 



the same time not to forego the advantages of hot water, 

 recourse must be had to some of those modifications of 

 the pipe system in which the air is heated before it enters 

 the place where the temperature is to be raised. If any 

 one has tried this plan, will they state with what result.' 



Mr. Hoare 1 s Vine Border.— -Mr. Hoare, in his recent 

 Treatise on Vine Borders, has especially drawn our 

 attention to this important point more than any other 

 writer on the same subject, and on that account deserves 

 our thanks. Perfect drainage, and the exclusion of long 

 continued rains, has been well understood by our best 

 practical gardeners ; but I think the exclusion of soil en- 

 tirely from forming any part of the mater.al necessary in 

 the formation of a compost for the roots is a new doc- 

 trine, and an assumption opposed to our knowledge of 

 horticulture, both practically and theoretically. Ine 



Vine 

 and 



esMciallV when 7ubjected to the artificial treatment and 

 temperature it usually undergoes, to produce such mag- 

 nificent fruit as we annually see exhibited at xhe fetes in 

 the garden of the Horticultural Society. Soil intermixed 

 with a portion of manure, will be more likely to attain 

 the result just stated, than the absence of both. This 

 maybe considered mere prejudice; theory is all very 

 well, but good practice with me Las the preference. It 

 is a question of some importance, and worth ascertaining, 

 whether Mr. Hoare ever has produced by his system of 

 prepared borders, Grapes superior, or even equal to 

 those we witness every year at Chtswick, and which we 

 know are the result of the old repudiated manured bor- 

 ders : for, after all, this is the question. Mr. Hoare is 

 surely aware that the Grapes produced in this country in 

 our vineries are not only equal, but, in the great propor- 

 tion of instances, superior to those grown in f 06 , 1 ^ 1 . 111 ^ 8 

 where the Vine is extensively cultivated, to which Mr. M. 

 so often refers. I shall say nothing respiting Mr. H. s 

 recommendation of paving the border with brick or tie , 

 we old-fashioned gardeners like to keep stirring the 



uniform in regard to warmth and moisture. If the roots 

 are sufficiently supplied with these, I have no doubt but 

 that the Pine would grow suspended from the roof of a 

 Pine-stove. Thus, it will be understood that my system 

 of Pine culture comprehends something more than a mere 

 course of routine management. Perhaps I was the first who 

 completely exposed the absurd practice of disrooting the 

 Pine. J .have explained in my Treatise the real habits of 

 the plant", the longevity and multiplying tendency of its 

 roots, which forms the basis of my mode of culture, 

 ihe results of which prove its superiority over the old 

 system. I contend that the roots are co-existent with 

 the plant ; that the first roots formed at the base of the 

 trunk are capable of being preserved so long as the 

 trunk is ensured from the baneful effects of over-heats 

 and sudden changes in the sub-temperature ; and the 

 equally bad effects of sub- acids, generally occasioned by 

 using rich soils of not sufficient porosity to admit the 

 influence of the atmosphere, they become 60ured. I 

 therefore recommend the use of such composts as are 

 capable of maintaining the greatest uniformity of heat, 

 air, and moisture, as being best adapted for preserving 

 the' bottom of the trunk and roots in an active, healthy 

 state, which is of the greatest importance to my present 

 system of culture, as the roots are intended to remain 

 for years undisturbed, that the plants may perfect a suc- 

 cession of fruit. Now, as I have stated in my Treatise, 

 that sometimes tan is impregnated with something per- 

 nicious to the roots of the Pine, I would advise a trial of 

 the compost given at p. 59 of my book, which I have 

 used with the very best success. In order to further 

 show the fertilising properties of tan, I may state a few 

 particulars, namely, when Vines are planted in a corner 

 of a bark-bed, partitioned off by bricks, to cause the 

 ts to descend along the bottom of the tan in the bed, 



roo 



they grow most vigorously, and produce the most 

 luxuriant shoots imaginable, in nothing but tan ; and the 

 number of bunches, and size of berries, are not sur- 

 passed by those grown in the richest composts ; indeed, 

 I have never tried any plant in tan but I have always 

 found it to luxuriate more than in any other material, 



I planted a Musa Cavendishii, only about two feet in I soil.— R. G. 



In the Editorial remarks on Mr. 



