86 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[Jan. 20 



derived from Beet-root, the difference being upwards 

 of 60 gallons on the produce of an acre. 



A liquor resembling cider can also be made from 

 the Holcus, and is said to be very good when pro- 

 perly prepared. The quantity of juice, according to 

 the above figures, would be 1207 gallons from the 

 produce of an acre. For making this liqudr, the 

 canes require to be either exposed to the sun for 

 several davs, in order to concentrate the juices by 

 evaporation, or to be placed in a slow oven ; or the 

 juice after being pressed out must be boiled down to 

 the required density, along with about 7 oz. of fresh 

 Oak chips for every 22 gallons of juice. The juice 

 readily ferments with the addition of a little yeast, 

 or with a bunch of Grapes squeezed into it. 



These statements, which are entirely taken from 

 M. Louis Vilmomn's ample reports, appear to 

 show that the Holcus maybe profitably grown in 

 this country for distillation, provided the Excise 

 makes no objection. But we learn from Mr. John 

 Henderson that the refuse, which has not been at 

 a considered in France, consists to a very great 

 extent of excellent fibre easily extracted and easily 

 bleached. We have ourselves ascertained that such 

 a fibre is worth at least 10/. a ton to the paper 

 makers, and probably half as much more. This 

 very important fact seems to remove all doubt as to 

 the value of the Holcus to cultivators. 



It may, indeed, be an exhausting plant, like Maize 

 and other white crops ; but deep cultivation will 

 meet this difficulty, if it be one, and at all events 

 the value of its sugar and its fibre, taken together,- 

 ought to leave a handsome profit, even although an 

 unusual quantity of manure should be necessary to 

 replace what it may take out of the ground, sup- 

 posing always, that the refuse left after distillation 

 and the extraction of its fibre should not of itself 

 represent as much as the crop has taken off. 



For further information upon this interesting 

 subject, the reader is referred to M. Louis Vil- 

 jiokin's report in the new volume of the Bon 

 Jardinicr, and to a detailed account of the Holcus 

 cultivation which we understand Mr. Henderson is 

 about to publish. 



The Dorset Reporter contains the following state- 

 ment, entirely confirming the opinions we have 

 always expressed concerning the Ciumean climate ; 

 as does all the intelligence received in this country 

 from the seat of war up to the present time. The 

 information was furnished by Mr. James Sinclair 

 who from 1838 to 1852 resided in the Crimea, 

 gardener to Prince Wouoszow, and may there- 

 fore be relied upon. He says : — i( The open-air 

 calendar of gardening for that, the south coast of the 

 Crimea, with the exception of some few sowings in 

 April, would suit to a nicety the whole south coast 

 of England, from Cardigan to Harwich. If you 

 place Eupatoria in Cardigan Bay ; contract the Bristol 

 Channel to the dimensions of the inlet before Sebas- 

 topol, and put Torquay at the heal of the bay, to 

 represent Inkerrnann ; make the Land's End, Cape 

 Khersonese, and the Isle of Wight, Balaklava, 

 and so on down to Harwich, which represents 

 Kaffii ; then add our south-coast climate to that 

 of the Crimea, and we are not far short of the mark. 

 The winters are just as variable in the Crimea as 

 they are in London or Edinbargh, but not so long. 

 The summers are much warmer and longer than 

 with us ; the spring is earlier and the autumn is 

 later there than here. Occasionally, but at long 

 intervals, the frost is harder there than in England, 

 by a few degrees, but does not last so long : for 

 several winters in succetiion the snow never lies 

 long on the coast, and the same kinds of plants do 

 not require the same amount of protection in hard 

 winters there as they do on the coast of Devonshire, 

 because they ripen better by the hot summers in 

 this part of the Crimea. The climate, however, is 

 more relaxing than with us, and low bilious fevers 

 creep on more and more on our people, after the 

 first few years ; my friend was seven years in 

 the Crimea before he felt the effects of this climate ; 

 but at last he was reluctantly obliged to come 

 home to recruit his strength, ' on leave of absence,' 

 with a promise to return after a year or so, with new 

 and improved breeds of plants and animals. 

 is now s;ife, and so will our soldiers be, for anything 

 of a winter they mav meet with there/' 



He 



Some leaves op Araucaria 

 mitted to us (as noticed in our 



were lately sub- 



was at first supposed by GSppert to arise from 

 llysterium Pini. But Dr. Stein has carefully 

 followed up the phases presented by the leaves, and 

 was convinced, like ourselves in the instance of 

 Araucaria, that the parasite was developed after 

 their fall, in which case, and not before, the myce- 

 lium was found penetrating the tissues. There is, 

 however, another disease which has been prevalent 

 on the leaves of Conifers, causing them to^ assume a 

 yellow tint, which has been prevalent since 1831, 

 and which was examined by Wallroth three 

 years later, in consequence of its extreme prevalence. 

 Two fungi, as Wallroth supposed, accompanied the 

 malady, which, according to Dr. Stein's observations, 

 are really states of one single species. ^ It germinates 

 on the upper surface of the leaves, into which its 

 mycelium soon penetrates, affecting especially the 

 tissue beneath the stomates, and producing a con- 

 version of the Chlorophyll into starch, which either 

 vanishes entirely, or is multiplied to such a degree 

 as to completely gorge the cells, forming large con- 

 fluent solid masses of fecula. The cell walls soon 

 assume a yellow tint, which passes into brown, and 

 as a consequence the mycelium itself perishes. The 

 yellow tint appears on the leaves in bands or spots 

 of very different sizes, according to the strength and 

 prevalence of the fungus, which belongs to the 

 Cytisporous tribe, whose species are remarkable for 

 naked hyaline spores discharged in the form of 

 gelatinous masses or tendrils. Dr. Stein does not 

 state what is the exact genus or species to which it 

 belongs ; but the elongated constricted spores show 

 that is not the common Cytispora which occurs so 

 frequently on Pine leaves in England.* 3L «/". B. 



organs which supply the ovules, or by which tk. 

 impregnated, whereas in the vegetable world tL? 





9i 





New Plants. 



110. Escallonia tterocladon, Hooker, BoL Mag., 



t. 4827. 



A 



plant of this pretty shrub was exhibited some 

 months ago by Messrs. Veitch as an evergreen which 

 might be expected to prove hardy; but we delayed 

 publishing it till more certain information upon that 

 point should have been gained. We now learn from 

 the " Botanical Magazine," where Sir William Hooker 



the 



are unpicgua^u, »..»^*-»-«^ *— .»*~ -v 6 v iauic world tW, 

 is a constant reproduction of those parts from a n? 

 morphosis of which the organs of fructification 

 produced. If, however, the peculiar tendency tf? 

 individual or variety be to produce organic chana* 

 those parts, we have no means, comparatively spe*]^ 

 by which we can control that tendency. ^^ 



246. Sterility may be induced by organic chan „ 

 various kinds, both in the general envelopes, anffc 

 male and female parts of fructification. In the WW 

 ear carnation, for instance, the sepals, though retai2 

 to a great extent their natural appearance, are multiS 

 to such a degree as to prevent the formation evearf 

 petals, much more of the interior organs ; and simiu 

 conditions exist in varieties of many other plants, &g » 

 the Sweet William, Foxglove, Lupine, &c. I n . a ^ 

 instances the interior organs are more or less perfect 

 and impregnation may occasionally take place, or a ifej 

 seeds be matured, but the general effect is company 

 sterility. Where such abnormal tendencies exist, ev* 

 should the pistil be formed and perfect pollen generated, 

 there is often a concurrent tendency in the ovules or 

 ovaries themselves to sport, in consequence of whi<4 

 they frequently afford most favourable opportunities of 

 studying the morphology of the organs, a branch o( 

 botany which has so much weight in the elucidation^ 

 natural affinity.* 



247. The unnatural multiplication of the petals, or 

 any great hypertrophic change in the structure of the 

 sepals may be equally productive of sterility, as ia noto- 

 rious in the varieties of ornamental plants which ar» 

 due to the skill of the florist. Experience shows thai 

 efforts to overcome this sterility for the production i 

 new varieties are seldom successful, the best resold 

 arising from those stray seeds which are produced wii 

 difficulty by highly metamorphosed flowers. A plump, 

 well nourished seed, is almost sure to give rise to some 

 form entirely worthless to the florist. In such cases 

 artificial efforts are directed, in the first instance, H 

 produce such changes as are conducive to sterility, ad 

 then to keep up as much as possible that abnormal con- 

 dition, both for the preservation of the variety itaek' 

 and for the production of new forms possessing valuable 



qualities. I 



248. The total suppression of the petals is seldom i 

 much consequence. Varieties occur, as for instance a J 

 the Sweet William, where not a trace of petal exuM 

 and yet every ovary is impregnated ; but the contrar ' 

 condition is not infrequent. In several species of VvT 

 the early petal if erous flowers are often barren, w\k 

 those which appear later in the season are producfe 

 In Ajuga I va,f fertile flowers occur indifferently with e 

 without a corolla. In Ononis minutissima, in conto 

 distinction to the Violets, the earlier flowers are ap«fc 

 lous, and equally fertile with the petalif erous flower' 

 which are produced later in the season, and the same 

 equal fertility belongs to both kinds of flowers in HeliiB- 

 themura, J in which genus, Lespedeza,&c. (as mentioned is 



a note to the translation of Re's treatise), they are gen* 

 rally simultaneous. In some of these cases the stamens 

 seem very imperfect, and I am inclined to think tl* 

 seeds are often produced in such flowers, as in Cd> 

 bogyne, without impregnation ; a very limited numb*, 

 however, of pollen grains may sometimes be found, I 

 we are assured by Brongniart, though the great fertility 

 of such flowers, if entirely dependent on impregnate 

 could scarcely be insured by such a precarious suppty 

 judging at least by the experience afforded by hybridi* 

 tion of the quantity of pollen necessary for success. 



249. Sterility may arise, again, from some nwl<^ 

 ganisation of the pistil and its component parts, * 

 where the carpels or ovules are transformed into leavefif 

 or where the ovules put on the guise of carpels. & 

 such cases, however, sterility is not always absol* 

 though the normal tendencies of the fructifying orgi* 

 may be frustrated, as for instance where a little bud f 

 bulb is formed at the expense of the true fruit, *& s 

 proliferous Grasses. In the genus Crinum and s<& 

 others the seed is apparently replaced by an enormoj 

 mass of cellular tissue. Accurate search, however, w» 

 detect a perfect embryo in the midst of the tissue,* 

 originally described in Brown's Prodromus.§ 





250. Though all the parts of a plant may be perfe* 

 and impregnation may take place, and an embryo w 

 formed, the plant may still be sterile from com* 

 abortion. This is especially the case where the w*^ 



has named it, that it is u a decidedly hardy shrub, 4 to 



5 feet high, an abundant bloomer and fn^rant ; » ■ the ovaiy 



Uvoa ,,, - „ , , ^ T . bu *y P lant > Wlt » I of the finer varieties of Pears, &c, perfect seed »J 



ZZ FnUuTl ^ *& f- nd r 7 -F ettyl comparatively rare occurrence while, on the con*** 

 almost Epaens-like flowers, white tinged with red. in gLp- *tLh»A h„ ^m— k. B J*a .™ in een* 



recommendations, he observes, for a 



Our own wild specimens, for which we are indebted to 

 Messrs Veitch, were found by Mr. W. Lobb on the 

 coast of Patagonia, and fully bear out the expectations 

 thus expressed. We thought, indeed, when the live 

 plant was before us, that in beauty of foliage it was 

 quite equal to a Pernettya. It derives its name from 

 certain wavy wings which stand out from the young 

 wood, and of which traces are for a long time visible 



in Grapes attacked by mildew the seeds are in g eI ^ 

 multiplied. In such cases, as the properties ^ 

 make the fruit valuable are altogether independent 



KM . ■ ' *"" '-*i 



* One or two curious instances have lately been el ?*u0 

 one of which, that of a monstrous Foxglove, has already . 

 reported in this Journal (1854, p. 660), and another of »-„ 

 William 

 the nature 



T »de„ ls , No». ,8, MM), ***$££ Jt£ ST ° ld ***- '^ *» <T *W 



which causes a spotted appearance, and materially 

 injures the beauty and symmetry of the leaves, on 

 vhich the ornamental effect of the tree depends. 

 Ihe disease was evidently independent of the growth 

 of parasite?, though a minute fungus had 

 developed after incipient decay. 



belongs. 



m mis journal (lsoi, p. &&.)), ana anoiuei «* \\S* 

 , at present unpublished, which throws ^ u J ft *uL| 

 re of the placentation of the natural order to w«* 



srsfr 



VEGETABLE PATHOLOGY, 

 245. Sterility.- 



No. LV. 



1 1 was 



been 



♦ a 1Vl , - f1 .---*- The remarkable 



tendency exhibited of late in many parts of Ger- 

 many by Conifers to cast their leaves prematurely, 



-Constitutional and Organic.- 

 stated above (241), that functional sterility is not so com- 

 plefcely uncontrollable in the vegetable as in the animal 

 kingdom, because in the latter there is no ren ewal of 



I \ V ? ^? a'Winted with Dr. Stein's memoir, which is con- 

 medio the "Tiiarander Jalirbuch" f™ m ♦ w* LZZ^JZmZ 3 ? 



1 1 cultivated this species at Margate two or ^™*J n AV 

 succession, and never obtained a flower with a corolla, tflo w 

 seeds were all perfect. . ^ 



% Cistus surrejanus, L., figured in Eng. Bot., t. 2207, is » 

 apetalous form of the common wild Helianthemum. . * z \0 



I I h 

 observe 



ave heen informed by a very accurate botanist t 



rthat the seeds of Crinum sometimes appear i.B£| 



nate indifferently from any point in which they may wj 1 ^ 



contact with the surface of the soil, as if germination id .^ 



cases-' -' " et] 



or in 



tained in the " Tharander Jahrbuch 

 "Botanische Zeitung," Feb. 17, 1854. 



from the notice of it ia 



might take place without the intervention of the ^ 

 _ ... its absence. The matter is well worth attention. ^ 

 no observations of my own to offer on the subject, but l ^£ 

 ocular testimony to the fact that it was the habit of tn e ^ 

 in question to raise seedlings from the large cellular bod ie f 



merely on the surface of the soU, and not covered with »• 





