1844.J 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



781 



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ft 





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amygdaloid seeds without albumen. The placenta of 

 Kandelia is almost the same as that of Napoleona, anil 

 in the former genus the petals are broken up into nume- 

 rous fringes quite analogous to those of the genus in 

 Question. To this may be added the great resemblance 

 that exists between the wood of Napoleona and of young; 

 Rhizophora, in consequence of both consisting in part of 

 slender acicular tubes, which give the wood, when 

 broken across, the appearance of containing slender 

 bristles. Finally, the ribbing, which is so conspicuous 

 in the outer corolla of Napoleona, is repeated in the 

 calyx of Bruguiera gymnorhiza. It is true that the one 

 genus is monopetalous and the other polypetalous, but I 

 cannot attribute much importance to that character in a 

 case where the stamens adhere so slightly to the corolla. 

 While, however, there is this reason to believe that 

 Rhizophoracese will prove most nearly related to Napo- 

 leona, the affinity of the genus to some Myrtacese is not 

 to be overlooked ; as, for example, to Yerticordias, in 

 which there is the same tendency to a multiplication of 

 the series of the corolla, to Careyas, whose fruit has a 

 very similar structure, and to Barringtonias to which 

 Napoleona is very similar in foliage ; but these affinities 

 are less striking than that of the Mangrove tribe. They 

 show, however, pretty clearly that Belvisiacese, for so it 

 is most convenient to call the Order of which Napoleona, 

 is the most conspicuous member, belongs to the great 



Myrtal alliance." 



The following arc the parts illustrated in the preceding cut, hejjin- 

 ning at top on the left : — 1. A flower-bud just expanding. 2. The 

 fleshy cup, and table-shaped stigma. 3. An expanded flower of 

 the natural size. 4. A perpendicular section of the same. (In this 

 the artist has carelessly added a fourth ring to the corolla on the 

 outside of the stamens ; no such ring exists.) 5. A perpendicular 

 section of the ovary. 6. An ovule. 7. Aripeseed. S. A stamen. 

 9. A transverse section of the ovary. 



Home Correspondence. 



Planting Forest Trees. — In laying out a new planta- 

 tion it is usual for the proprietor to name what sorts of 

 trees he intends eventually to become permanent timber; 

 generally, and I regret to say too often, Oak is selected 

 for that purpose, let the soil and situation be what it 

 may. Sometimes, however, Ash, Elm, or Beech, with 

 here and there a Silver Fir, are the kinds intended ulti- 

 mately to stand ; but whatever may be the sorts planted 

 for large timber trees, there usually is, and there always 

 ought to be, a number of some other kinds planted, to act 

 as nurses to the more useful but slower-growing favour- 

 ites. Before commencing planting I should recommend 

 the ground to be put in order ; for, rely upon it no after 

 attention will compensate for the loss of time and trees, 

 if they are not properly attended to at first planting. 

 The method which I have seen adopted with the greatest 

 success is to plant ground that had undergone a course 

 of husbandry ; plant in autumn, after the ground has 

 been repeatedly ploughed and manured during the sum- 

 mer, similar to the way in which it is done for Whea . 

 This may, perhaps, be objected to on account of the ex- 

 pense, but I am convinced that it will lepay the outlay. 

 Very steep hill- sides and other places sometimes cannot 

 be done in this way, and therefore must be planted by 

 the spade in the usual way, taking care to remove all 

 useless bushes and other rubbish likely to choke the 

 trees. Another way of preparing the ground is by what 

 is called bastard-trenching ; that is, one spit deep and a 

 shovelling. This mode is most applicable to pasture 

 land, in which trees do very well, provided no clay, 

 apt to produce canker, is brought to the top. As the 

 kinds of trees to be planted must be regulated by the 

 taste of the proprietor, the nature of the soil, and the 

 local demand, it may suffice here to observe, that if the 

 ground has been prepared as above they had better be 

 small ; 18 inches in height is quite sufficient, as they at 

 that size root much better, and fewer failures happen, 

 than when the trees are larger. I have never observed 

 much difference in the results between planting in 

 autumn and in spring. I imagine that many of the 

 failures of spring planting may be attributed to the trees 

 having been taken up in autumn and laid in by the, heels 

 all winter in large bundles, sometimes in the ground and 

 sometimes out of it. I have planted trees that were in 

 good condition as late as the end of March, with perfect 

 success. It is better, however, not to be so late, a i work 

 left to that late period is sometimes hurriedly and imper- 

 fectly done, especially when there is a want of hands ; 

 but otherwise I can see no difference between autumn 

 and spring planting. As regards the number of trees to 

 be planted per acre, there is a great diversity of opinion; 

 and many writers of late years have condemned the sys- 

 tem of too thick planting, pointing out the dep! hie 

 cord tion of many fine woods which have been spoiled by 

 so doing; whereas in fact the mischief lies not in the 

 planting but in the after management. For my part, I 

 would rather see trees planted too closely than too 

 thinly; and, where coppice-wood is wanted, is it possible 

 to have it too thickly planted ? Where fine, straight, 

 and useful Larch or Scotch Fir-trees are wanted, with as 

 little difference as possible between the thickness near 

 top and that near the bottom, they cannot be 



mould, and not with the stiff cloddy lumps which in dry \ 

 weather are always at the top. If the plantation is of 

 mixed trees, care must be taken to have them mixed 

 regularly, and planted so as not to appear in lines in any 

 direction. If they are planted in autumn, or even in 

 spring, it is advisable to go over them in May and tread 

 the earth around their stems, as by wind-waving they 

 make a hole around each stem ; in the month of June 

 the ground will require to begone all over with the hoe, 

 and, if possible, another time during the summer. On 

 the following autumn any deficiencies can be made up, 

 and if the ground is once more hoed during the ensuing 

 summer, the plantation will require little more attention 

 bejond keeping up the fences and destroying rabbits and 

 other vermin. By the end of the sf rond summer, if the 

 soil is good, the young trees will have made considerable 

 progress ; and if it is necessary go over the ground during 

 the ensuing summer with a reaping-hook, and cut down 

 Thistles and other tall weeds, for by this means the trees 

 will be much benefited. I have said nothing of the 

 kinds of trees most suitable for grouping together, as no 

 definite rule can be laid down that will suit every case and 

 locality ; I may however observe, that Scotch Fits do 

 best planted wholly by themselves, and they should not 

 stand more than four feet apart — even closer would be 

 better; but I fear I am venturing upon dangerou 

 ground, as it will be said that as a certain space of land 

 can only produce a certain quantity of organisable 

 matter and no more, too many trees will impoverish 

 esch other. I cannot, however, see that a medium num- 

 ber of trees will impoverish the soil more than a small 

 number of trees, and a great deal of herbage and other 

 rubbish. Again, we are told that trees planted so 

 closely, which remain so for a few years, draw each 

 other up, and are consequently spoiled. This, I admit, 

 is often the case where Scotch and other Firs are planted 

 amongst hard wood, but where Scotch Firs are planted 

 by themselves, and for profit, they ought to stand eight 

 or ten years before they are touched, or until they get 

 from 12 to 16 feet in height. Every wood-merchant 

 11 knows that Fir-trees taken from detached places, or 

 from thin plantations, are coarse, knotty, and short, 

 compared with those taken from a close plantation, and 

 the latter consequently fetch a much higher price. — 



S. JV. V. 



Nerquis Plantations. — It is rather singular that I 

 should be the only person, for a space of nearly 40 years, 

 who has differed on the spot, and in his presence, 

 from Dr. Thaekeray, about the management of his 

 plantations at Nerquis. But my object" in visiting them 

 was to see them and judge for myself; and, perhaps, I 

 had a better opportunity of inspecting them, and form- 

 ing an unbiassed judgment, than any of those eminent 

 men, from all parts, who had never seen more flourish- 

 ing plantations in their lives. I had a thorough ramble 

 of 4 or 5 hours, through them with Mr. Roberts (Dr. 

 Thackeray's man), before that gentleman came, when I 

 went and examined places where gentlemen on horseback 

 could not go. 1 observed to Mr. Roberts that they had 

 not begun to thin out the Larch and other things for a 

 length of time after these had been planted, which 1, 

 admitted to be the ca^e. I also remarked, that the Oak 

 and Ash had been retarded in their growth for want of 

 thinning out the Larch, &c, in time, and he admitted it 

 was so, observing that one could not have seen a large 

 object, a horse, for instance, at a little distance from the 

 rides, the woods were so thick. In some other parts I 

 observed that the plants had been nearly all destroyed 

 and retarded in their growth, during their infancy, by 

 the overgrowth of Gorze, &c, to which he assented. I 

 also noticed some younger plantations in a neglected 

 state; when I asked him the cause of this seeming 

 neglect, saving, that the Doctor's delight was in his 

 plantations, he replied, that he did not like to put the 

 Doctor to the expense. Now although all this passed, 

 and al hough Mr. Roberts agreed with me in every 

 respect while on the spot, yet he writes quite the con- 

 trary, end nisrepresents much that did pass when the 

 Doctor and the other persons were present. He writes, 

 11 Mr. Billington says the Oak and Ash are not fine 

 trees ;" yet I have said that there were certainly 

 M some very fine Oaks and Ashes near the rides, al- 

 though not what they might b*ve been under abetter 

 system, but that the greater part are not so." And fur- 

 ther he states, that I have selected fine, well-grown trees 

 in a better soil and climate as a contrast ; but has omitted 



descending filaments or woody tissue from the annual 

 leaf-buds and shoots. This is not theory, but a fact 

 which has been proved to be correct, by experiments and 

 observations made by myself many years ago. It is 

 evident that the Doctor imagines that the timber is in- 

 creased by the ascending sap from the roots upwards, and 

 that the nutriment is derived entirely by the roots from 

 the soil. I would recommend any unbiassed and com- 

 petent person, who makes an inspection of these plan- 

 tations, and reports on their appearance, 8nd on the 

 system of pruning practised at Nerquis, to go as I did, by 

 himself, or with Mr. Roberts, not only through the " show 

 parts," but through the whole of them ; and I feel satis- 

 fied that I may leave the result to himself.— IV. Bil- 

 ling Ion. 



Pruning Forest Trees. — Having observed in the 

 Chronicle several papers on this subject, I beg to offer 

 the following remarks ; first, as to the object desired, 

 which, as far as hedge-row timber is concerned, is gene- 

 rally a double one, viz., to prevent the tree from occu- 

 pying too large a space either by root or branch, and 

 thus injuring the crop of the farmer ; in this point of 

 view almost all pruning is beneficial. The next, to com- 

 pel the tree to form wood of increased value. By confining 

 the growth to the stem, and thus obtaining a large girth 

 for this purpose, large branches are frequently cut away, 

 and the top alone is left to increase. The result to any 

 thinking mind must be apparent ; the wounds do not 

 heal, and when the timber is cut it proves unsound (I 

 was told by a person of considerable experience, at a loss 

 of 10 per cent, to the value) and the top ceases to grow, 

 shoots being thrown out all round the tree, to be cut away 

 when large by the farmer, who gets in faegots what the 

 owner of the soil would otherwise get in timber, or if left 

 long enough, to re-form large branches and make the tree, 

 in the course of years, of the same shape as that it ori- 

 ginally bore, though not so large as it would have been. 

 I have seen a whole side of a park destroyed by an igno- 

 rant wood-cutter by these means. He seemed to have 

 forgotten that Nature has appointed the growth of trees 

 to be different, according to their different situations ; 

 the hedge-row tree requires defenee against wind ; its 

 branches are therefore thickly set, its form conical, 

 its growth slim, its wood hard and knotty ; it cannot 

 be made to grow otherwise, though the knife may put it 

 in another shape. The tree of the wood, surrounded by 

 its compeers, struggles to display its foliage to the air ; 

 it attains in height what it loses in spread, and though 

 not hard, so as to support friction when manufactured, yet 

 it has gained in length of fibre and elasticity ; the sap 

 ascends with greater freedom than in the exposed tree ; 

 and the large dimension of the girth proves its rapid 

 growth ; let, however, this tree be too closely 

 surrounded by others, and the result will, in a mea- 

 sure, be the smie as would arise fiom pruning; a 

 sufficient quantity of working wood not being in 

 action, the healthiness of the tree will be lost. If, 

 therefore, the cultivator desires to have his trees 

 healthy in the open field let him leave them unpruned ; if 

 in plantations, let him look to the thinning, a ivs keep- 

 ing the healthiest plants, and having a careful eye to 

 future removals, giving to each tree the utmost projection 

 possible, by means of those that surround it, yet leaving 

 it a sufficient spread of foliage to carry on those opera- 

 tions of nature, which in this instance cannot be inter- 

 fered with without disappointment as to the very object 

 sought to be gained. If he be a planter let him plant 

 such trees as the soil agrees with ; if he wishes for a 

 variety, let him plant in some degree alternately, and he 

 can then choose which trees he will keep ; but ye with the 



knives — 



" Procul oh nrocul este profani 



Totoque absistite luco." 

 — Bhodon. 



Destruction of the Meahj-Bug. — This is one of the 

 most formidable enemies with which a gardener has to 

 contend, and persons are often inquiring by what means 

 it may be extirpated without injury to vegetation. I have 

 often seen a solution of soft soap, and soft soap and 

 sulphur recommended ; and this is perfectly efficacious 

 if repeatedly and carefully applied ; for instance :-—Take 

 a leaf with some of these pests on if, and smer.r it over 

 with soft soap and sulphur, and it will almost imme- 

 diately kill the insects. On account of the Mealy-bug, 

 however, secreting itself and its larvse in very small 

 chinks and crevices, it is difficult to destroy it ; and this 

 appears to me to set at defiance all attempts to extirpate 



the 



obtained where they stand far apart; of course Fir-trees 

 cannot be allowed to draw each other up where they are 

 plant- d as nurses to other trees, and consequently must 

 be thinned out when their presence becomes hurtful to 

 their more tardy-growing neighbours. I may observe, 



Iftnn*^ 1 S roun d prepared as above I usually plant about 

 fuOO trees per acre, or sometimes fewer, being about 

 'our feet apart ; and as the trees are small, they are not 

 so expensive to purchase as a smaller number of larger 

 rees. I am care f u i j n planting to dig holes sufficiently 

 ia *"ge to contain the roots spread out neatly in a hori- 

 zontal position, and I cover them with a little fine 



rer, mai u lu* 3 ^ &"» •*« -■ ~j r~-- = " . - 



solution of soft soap and sulphur lukewarm, and applied 

 with a painter's brush, rubbing it well into the crevices. 

 Pines may be more easily cleared by the vapour of hot 

 dung.— William Jones, Beddinglon, Surrey. 



Mealy-Bug, Thrips, and Bed- Spider. — It is a source 

 of pleasure to me, in common with other gardeners, 

 that so simple'a means of destroying the Thrips and Red- 

 spider as is mentioned pp. 749 and 705, has been disco- 

 vered. 1 have no doubt that this discovery will lead to 

 important results, and that, at no distant period, a re- 

 medy equally simple with bruised Laurel-leaves will be 

 found for destroying the Mealy-bug, and that the whole 

 will be rendered applicable to our largest plant-nouses. 

 My attention has for some years past been < ted to 

 this object, but all that could be desired is far from being 

 yet accomplished. I have, however, been able to concoct 

 a lotion, which, although rather tedious to apply, is su- 

 perior to the old method of taking the insects off with 

 the noint of a knife, which never destroyed the million 

 to what I believe to be the true cause or me »- the ^int of a k , and water, which, to 



crease of timber in the branches and stem, viz., the. OIc re»» yr Ul Ui r 



stem, by being pruned on Dr. Thackeray's system. That 

 striking example of the bad effects of divesting trees of 

 their branches adjoins the place where the magnificent 

 Cedar of L< non grows, at the Hayes, near Oswestry, 

 and is near the place where the noble Larch, of about 

 -10 years' growth, in Mr. Gore's plantation, is growing. 

 Very soon after we had met with Dr. Thackeray, and had 

 entered the plantations again, I expressed my opinion of 

 the woods. He said that I only looked at the worst trees. 1 

 replied that I must look at the worst as well as the best, 

 in order to form a correct judgment. I then asked the 

 Doctor how the timber was increased in the stem ; he 

 replied that he did not know. I said, was it from the 

 top downwards, or from the bottom upwards ? he said 

 from the bottom upwards ; and, pointing to a Spruce Fir 

 that had been pruned, and that was oozing out sap, re- 

 marked that it was increased somehow by the ascending 

 sap ; and so confident was he in that opinion, that he 

 repeatedly said I was wrong, nor could I get him to listen 

 to what 1 believe to be the true cause of the in- 



