



1 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



texture may be changed from cohesive clay into 

 friable mould. 



i To follow this rule, then, in the case of a ploughed 

 'staple of G inches, only 4 inches of heavy subsoil are 

 to be raised at the outset, and the depth altogether, 

 either at two shallow spits of 5 inches each, or at 

 one full spit, will then be 10 inches. The cost, 

 then, at the outset, of digging this one spit will be 

 about 60s. the whole acre, or about 305. the half 

 acre — a price which, of course, will vary a few 

 shillings under special circumstances in the condition 

 of the soil, and according to the employer's know- 

 ledge of the value of labour. 



At the next digging another inch of subsoil is to 

 be raised, and as the first 10 inches will now be 

 pulverised by constant stirring and exposure, this 

 second easier digging can be accomplished without 

 raising the price ; and so on, year after year, till a 

 well pulverised depth of two full spits be attained, 

 " beyond which it is neither needful nor convenient 

 to go." 



There are other objections to Mr. Smith's scheme 

 of cultivation, resulting in failure; and we really 

 think we cannot do better than lay before our 

 readers what Mr, Smith himself says, in the preface 

 to the new edition of his pamphlet, in a few words 

 to those who have tried the plan and succeeded : 



And if, as judge, accuser, an (^defendant in one, a man 

 confess himself unable to reply to them affirmatively, he 

 stands convicted out of his own mouth, and I leave him 

 to the sentence of his own honest judgment. 1 ' 



108. Catasetus 



z< 



New Plants. 



incurvoi, Klotzsch in Allg. Garten- 



xitung, June 17, 1854. 

 The singular plant now figured was obligingly sent us 

 last summer by the Lord Bishop of Winchester, who 

 had purchased it at one of Warczewitz's sales, under 

 the name of C. secundum. The flowers are repre- 

 sented by our artist of the natural size, so that they are 

 probably the largest yet discovered among; the race of 

 Orchids. Of a dull green, streaked and stained with 

 purple, the great blossoms resembled nothing so much 

 as some portentous Arachnid seizing upon the shaggy 

 ear of an unhappy animal, and turning it inside 

 out in the struggle to grasp it, till a pair of horns 

 with which the Arachnid seemed furnished could be 

 plunged into the ear, in order to hold it fast. It is 

 most like C. saccatum, and, we presume, is what has 

 been called C. incurrum by Dr. Klotzsch. Whether it 

 is a monster, as it well may be, or merely a gigantic 

 form of C. saccatum itself, we are unable to say. No 

 one, indeed, in the present state of knowledge can 

 pretend to form a positive opinion as to what are 



" I have still a word for those who 



tried the 

 I have 



plan, and not succeeded ; and in repeating what 

 said in the former edition, I again bespeak the indulgence 

 of those whom it may concern, wherever they may be. 

 I reiterate, then, my declaration, which I make with 

 great deference but with the utmost sincerity, that 

 / never knew an unsuccessful case where I have known 

 the plan ' to have been stiictly carried out. Is it not 

 possible then, 

 that the ob- 

 scure direc- 

 tions have 

 been misun- 

 derstood, in 

 some cases, 

 in others 

 unknowingly 



overlooked \ 

 Let me be 

 forgiven if I 



to 



presume 

 think it possi- 

 ble, and with 

 that impres- 

 sion repro- 

 duce them in 



another form, and place them 

 in a stronger light, clear, dis- 

 tinct, and tangible, — the form 

 of question and answer ; and 

 let the unsuccessful experi- 

 menter look each question, 

 boldly in the face, and reply to 

 it himgelf. Any annoyance, 

 any distasteful recurrence to 

 catechism, rather than stumble 

 on in error. 



tt To begin with the material 

 on which you work, put it to 

 yourself : — 



" 1 . 'Is it Wheat land I am 

 cultivating, — clay or loam ? If 

 not, have I manured it I Be- 

 fore commenciiiLT, did I drain, 

 clean, and level ? 



* 2. • In sowing, did I drop or drill my 

 well-selected seed, early; and give it a solid 

 bed. 



" 3. * In digging the intervals, did I bring 

 up only so much of the subsoil as could be 

 thoroughly pulverised and mellowed for the 

 succeeding crop ; of clay only a few inches, 

 of any subsoil just so much as would lose its 

 rawness during the twelve-months' fallow ? 



"4. ' In cleaning the rows of Wheat and 

 the spaces between them, did I hand-pick 

 and hand-hoe the weeds, and keep the sur- 

 face open. 



* 5. ■ In scarifying the intervals, did I, besides cutting f natural, what 

 up and removing the hungry weeds, so time the opera- 

 tions of cleaning and stirring, that I fed the Wheat plant 

 as it required it V 



measures may correct the existent evil, and the aff 

 organism may return to its normal state of health a* 

 perfection. It is, therefore, strictly speaking, impro^ 

 to distinguish functional from organic disease, Q» 

 powers of investigation may not be sufficient to det$ 

 the organic change in what is called functional disea* 

 which may notwithstanding be more or less serious. 

 is to be understood, then, that in speaking of function 

 disease, it is not asserted that no organic change fe 

 taken place, but only such a degree of disarrangements 

 is not perceptible to ordinary powers of observation. 



237. Functional disease is seldom so formidable t 

 organic. From the very nature of the case, if deat 

 takes place, there must be some organic lesion, andth 

 disease then ceases to be functional. Functional disen 

 may, however, so depress the vital powers as to rende 

 the organism which is subject to it more exposed toft 

 baneful influence of any accident, or as to induce gerici 

 organic disease, in consequence of defective elaborate 

 of the sap, inactive generation of cells, insuffida 

 deposit of nutriment, premature thickening of the ct 

 walls, or by exposing the various matters which erne 

 into their composition, or into that of the solid and flui 

 substances which they inclose, to the ordinary rules o: 

 chemical decomposition, and consequently to ultimas 

 deorganisation of the constituent parts of the plant. Tb 

 functional malady has in fact induced organic change. 



238. However true it may be that vital force is onlj 

 a name for a certain set of phenomena, so long as tk 

 cause of those phenomena is unknown, there is i 

 serious objection to the term, provided we retain i 

 proper consciousness of our ignorance. In function* 

 disease this vital force may either be excited to sudt 

 an extent as to produce unnatural development of Si 

 ferent parts, to exhaust the powers by over excitement 

 or by the production of insubstantial cellular tissot 



which is not at all adapted for the maintenances 

 its proper functions, or to resist external in- 

 fluences which under other conditions might 

 be harmless ; it may, on the contrary, to 

 depressed so as to prevent the completion a 

 certain processes, as the formation of the Hon 

 envelopes or the proper impregnation of tin 

 ovules when formed ; or, again, it may be s 

 deranged as to induce abnormal conditions of tlx 

 contained fluids, or the walls by which they Hi 

 inclosed. These various conditions again ma] 

 be so combined or modified as to afford the cul- 

 tivator many useful objects of cultivation, oft« 

 in consequence of their inducing organic change 

 insomuch that the promotion or sustenance of il 

 peculiar functional derangement is the point 6 

 which his skill is principally directed. Whili 

 on the one hand, for instance, sterility is tfa 

 most injurious functional derangement whicl 

 can occur, as in those trees which are cultivate 

 simply on account of their fruit, there are other 

 where the grand object is to encourage it i 

 much as possible, or to defer the formation « 

 fruit to the most remote period. A variety c 

 Turnip or Cabbage, for instance, which has 

 tendency to run to seed, is perfectly useless fa 

 the objects of the cultivator, as fertility en 

 only take place at the expense of the unnaturs 

 development of the cellular tissue of the root 

 The functional peculiarity, whatever it may fc 

 which in the particular variety induces »■ 

 organic hypertrophy, may at the same til* 

 induce a second functional derangement If 

 which the formation of the organs of repr* 

 duction is retarded ; and other cases might k 

 induced where it is either altogether prevent 

 or where the formation of perfect seed is a com* 

 paratively rare occurrence. 



239. The 



funs- 



true bearing of the terms 

 tional and organic being thus explained, aJtfj 

 their intimate connection with each other, ,1 

 shali proceed to the consideration of speci 

 diseases, keeping the distinctions above sta# 

 as strictly in view as it is possible, where the) 

 are so apt to elude the nicest appreciation. M* Ji 



* 



PEAR GROWING. 



tt 



*' In the latter question is a high refinement in farming 

 which has been left in the directions to the judgment of 

 the operator. The intelligent farmer is fully aware that 

 early in spring a well-timed application of guano or 

 nitrate of soda is of infinite service to the poverty- 

 stricken plant. Now, a judicious stirring of the inter- 

 vals, under similar circumstances, is equal in its good 

 effects to a top-dressing of either ; just as an ill-timed 

 and injudicious application of the horse-hoe is equal in 

 its ill effects to a top-dressing of guano or the nitrate 

 given without discretion ; and the result of that is now 

 well known, in late 



mildew. 



The observations of "II. S. H* in 



Chronicle, pp. 806, 807, 1854, prove that thei* 



author is an attentive cultivator. He has * 



rare good fortune to possess Pear trees which b»* 



monstrous, what permanent, what ! attained the age of three-quarters of a century. $ 



accidental states of the genus Catasetum. The best ' ' ' '" " ... -* 



service that can in the meanwhile be rendered to science 



is to publish figures of the flowers of as many forms, 



larvae, species, or whatever else they may prove to be 



as appear to be different from each other. Eventually 



we shall no doubt learn how to interpret them. As 



regards the name of C. secundum, the drawing and dried 



specimens to which that name was provisionally given, 



although similar in form, were so very different in 



many respects, especially in size, that we can scarcely 



believe this plant to be what was intended. In fact, the 



name was suggested by the numerous flowers growing 

 in a long secund or one-sided raceme. 



tillering, 



over-luxuriance, and j 



" There are many other questions to be responded to, 

 hut these may be considered the leading ones. One and 

 all must be satisfied in order to full and entire success • 



most of them being indispensable to any success at all! 



VEGETABLE PATHOLOGY.— No. LIII. 



236. Classification of Disease 

 Constitutional. — Fnnc nal. 



■a, Internal or 



It is probable that no 

 constitutional disorder of the system can exist without 

 concurrent organic change. This change may be only 

 temporary. New circumstances or proper remedial 



wishes to leave his trees as they are, and he is p 1 ' 

 fectly right. I would never induce any one to fell, * 

 to mutilate large fruit trees, even if they only yiel** 

 fruits fit for kitchen use. It requires too much tin* 

 and trouble to rear them. Pear trees of that advan^ 

 age must have retained all the vigour of youth, a* 

 by proper treatment may be preserved a long time * 

 this state, and yield every year full crops. The ea* 

 which this description of tree requires is not ety** 

 sive, and in an ordinary year will not exceed the on* 

 fifteenth or one-twentieth of the produce. . 



It is only necessary to bring the trees under a g°°* 

 system of pruning, to remove carefully ail insects, 

 supply manure every year in order to repair the & 

 haustion resulting from very heavy crops. Let * 

 suppose that the trees have been grown from their yo°£ 

 without pruning, that the main stem divides at a cexfr* 

 height above the ground, and that the upper bn^ c ^ 

 have taken the directions natural to the varieties £ 

 tivated by « H. S. H." It is even possible that 90 

 them there may be some which have preserved * c ^ 



