the 



gSr the dutt. 



Stable result 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



3 



peration 

 ; coura 



to pity of l i? A 



Crijcean °l 



£fion of' everybody else. 



which, notwithstanding the 



plete, that life ceases in consequence of exhaustion with 



varie 



former occasion we called attention to some 

 i-iitiarv instances of ignorance of the com- 

 ^ farts of Natural History, which had appeared 

 ?" ^2lf articles of one of our leading reviews, in 

 m f^c\s by no means deficient in ability ; and 

 ^TlheJse it indicated some radical defect 

 f* S; education of a large and very important 

 *Jf of the community. Another instance has 

 ^Tfdlen under our notice, and as the same defect 

 ■ • Sated in a thousand directions, and if we may 

 ?_£_' by the sneering though personally compil- 

 er? remiirks of a medical journal of extensive 

 Saturn on the appointment of Mr. Busk and Dr. 

 Hooker as examiners by the Indian board, there is an 

 indisposition in some quarters to mend matters, we 

 afleast willing to record our own sentiments by 

 the production of the passage, which we should not 

 feel inclined to do if the utter want of knowledge 

 of such subjects which it evidences was less glaring. 

 Were we inclined to be hypercritical, two other 

 amy** might be adduced from the same review, 

 jbutthe one in question is so marked, that it wants 

 no corroboration. It occurs in an article entitled 

 "the London Commissariat," which treats of the 

 different sources from whence the alimentary wants 

 of the metropolis are supplied. Speaking of Straw- 

 taffies the reviewer says " Mr. Myatt, of Deptford, 



_______ „ . . . graft . 



produced from the old stock half-a-dozen different 

 kinds, the most celebrated being the British Queen, 

 which attains a prodigious size." Now, we are 

 not disposed to deny the possibility of grafting one 

 kind of Strawberry upon another, though the attempt 

 might be attended by some formidable practical 

 difficulties, but every one acquainted with the 

 amplest principles of horticulture is aware that new 

 varieties, except such an accidental case asr that of 

 the Laburnum, partaking of the twofold nature of 

 Cytisus Laburnum and Cytisus purpureus, could not 

 by any possibility arise from the process. Nor can 



^m ^™_ ^ 



the ^perfection of the process. It can easily be under- 

 stood therefore, that although a plant may flourish to a 

 certain extent, and produce its annual crop of leaves, or 

 even proceed to some imperfect transformation of them, 

 outward circumstances of climate and situation may 

 be such as to prevent the perfection of the fruit. This 

 is the case with many exotic plants in our stoves, which 

 rarely, if ever, produce anything more than foliage. In 

 all such cases the skill of the cultivator which has at 

 last produced promise of fruit in the Mangosteen, an 

 instance apparently the most hopeless, will at length, 

 in all probability, be crowned with success, wherever 

 it may be thought necessary to make the necessary 

 expenditure of time and labour, in addition to all those 

 appliances which cannot be supplied without ample 

 pecuniary resources. As regards mere acclimatisation, 

 little can be done except by the production of new 

 varieties more hardy than the original or more adapted 

 to the peculiar state and order of the seasons. 



252. One great difficulty, whether in cultivation in the 

 stove or in the open air, is due to the impossibility of 

 giving the same rest, whether arising from heat or cold 

 or drought or moisture, which the plants possess in their 

 own country. The want of this even in the absence of 

 any climatic excess, which may be injurious to life, is 

 often such as to preclude successful cultivation. Our 

 northern fruit trees, for instance, when removed to 

 tropical or subtropical climates are not able to endure 

 the constant state of excitement to which they are ex- 

 posed, and at the best produce a continued succession of 

 leaves without fruit, while many of them are unable to 

 linger through more than a very limited number of 

 seasons. 



253. The separation of the sexes in many species is 

 a necessary cause of sterility where one sex only is in 

 cultivation, as in the common Aucuba, the Weeping 





be advantageously grafted upon the stock of another, 

 always supposing that a suitable stock can be found. 

 Many of the Sikkim Rhododendrons will eucceed 

 admirably, as we shall presently show, upon stocks of 

 the common ponticum ; while if grafted on those of 

 hybrid catawbiense, they either fail altogether, or at 

 best merely vegetate. On the contrary, most of the 

 hybrids in cultivation grow well upon hybrid catawbiense, 

 and more especially so if the hybrids so grafted are 

 strongly crossed with catawbiense. They also succeed well 

 on ponticum ; and for dwarf plants, such as are grafted 

 near the soil, the latter is largely and advantageously 

 employed. For standards, however, ponticum stocks 

 are not so well adapted, and for this reason : they are 

 readily excited into growth in spring, and if, which is 

 often the case, after being so excited, we have severe 

 frosts, the bark, being full of sap, bursts by expansion, 

 causing of course the death of both stock and graft. 

 Stocks of hybrid catawbiense are not found to suffer in 

 this way, consequently it is largely employed as 

 standards to graft hybrids upon. 



Your correspondent " J. It." thinks that maximum 

 would be a good stock, grounding his theory upon the 

 fact of the species being a large and robust grower. In 

 practice it is found to be the worst of all stocks, and 

 very few kinds will succeed upon it. Again, campanu- 

 latum will not grow on ponticum. It will certainly 

 make a feeble union with the stock, but it merely 

 vegetates, and never makes a creditable plant ; while ou 

 hybrid catawbiense, it grows tolerably well ; but as yet 

 no stock has been found to suit it well. Among the 

 Sikkim Rhododendrons, glaucum, cinnabarinum, and 

 ciliatum may be named, for which a suitable stock has 

 not been found ; and while Dalhousise, Edgeworthi, and 

 many others luxuriate on ponticum, they refuse to flourish 



on hybrid catawbiense. 



Of the relative degree of luxuriance between grafted 



plants of the Sikkim Rhododendrons and others en 

 their own roots, age and all other circumstances 



-From 



being equal, we subjoin a few examples : — J?rom a 

 number of seedlings of Dalhousise, four years old, a few 

 were selected, cut down, and the shoots separated into 

 single eyes, and grafted on ponticum stocks. In one 

 year these grafts made shoots from 12 to 16 inches long, 

 having leaves 6 inches long by 3 inches broad. The 

 remaining seedlings are now not more than 14 inches 

 high, though five years old, and in every way less luxu- 



speci- 

 men of this plant five years, grafted on a 3 feet ponticum 



ich through, having 

 I „:_ i„ „.,___ flAwan hurl a Wa npprl hardly sav that a 



because 



upon the previous keyword. It is in point of fact 

 most clearly a part of that educational deficiency 

 which makes our upper classes so often the prey of 

 every pretender to knowledge, and which leads to 

 inch disastrous issues in so many public under- 

 takings, both at home and abroad. Self-interest 

 indeed and a habit of jobbing are often concerned, 

 kt powerful as such influences may be there can be 

 IK) doubt that the ignorance we speak of is their most 

 efficient handmaid, and that in many cases better 

 knowledge would render the probable result so 

 notorious as to prove ail effectual prevention. 



Willow, and some other less familiar instances, but even 

 where both sexes are in cultivation, impregnation may 

 not take place from the absence of proper insects which 

 in the native country effect this process. The Vanilla, 

 for instance, remained barren under cultivation till it 

 was artificially impregnated by Professor Morren, and 

 the process is now performed by many gardeners, the 

 trouble being amply compensated by the value of the 

 produce, which is quite equal, if not superior, to the best 



importation. 



254. But sterility is often induced in the more 

 common objects of cultivation by outward circumstances 

 of various kinds. The floral organs are greatly altered 

 or influenced by the nature and condition of the soil, stem; the head is 24 teet 



' ' ' >v ru v r*i ___. *^ w ^ Anything which induces a weak state of health or an six large flower buds, 



we appose that by a mere slip of he pen the word ^>^ seedling of the same age, under the best treat ment 



"grafting" has been written instead of crossing, ^^reproductive process in plants.* Witness the would hot bear comparison with this plant When th* 



infertility of badly drained orchards or fields, against ! one was grafted, 25 others were inserted on hybrid 

 which th y e most liberal cultivation in other respects is catawbiense stocks There is now one alive .and ^ hat 

 not able effectually to contend. | but a sorry specimen ^g^rthi also grows i*pidy 



255. Excess of nourishment again will often produce on ponticum, yet it will scarcely live on fay bnd cataj- 



«ri«, .here *«. j. »o «*£ .*. - -_«W «« £ ^ jf 2SE£iESj2S*~ & 'ZS 



u ~ «„ «*a~a A* tw r^fifW tVipir ™*tils Even while others on their own roots, ana oi ine same age, 

 when expanded do not periecc tneir pisuis. x_veu 1*4 :„ rt v,^ r*f w ^ri in 



without a P rtinc ia . manure, the supply of raw nutriment ^^^^^^^ he alth and general 

 from the soil is so rapid as to produce the same effects, every way mierior, uom »s jrrgai d 6 



for fertility does not depend on the immediate supply of I appearance 



nutriment, but on matter already deposited.! The 



precise mode in which this is regulated will perhaps 



never be known ; but in such cases experience shows 



that plants may be forced into fruit by root- pruning, 



or by confining the descending sap within certain limits 



by separation of the bark, the application of a ligature, 



or deflection of the branches, so as to subject them to 



season, and are in 



New Plants. 



Hit BOLBOPHYLLUM LASIAKTHUM, ClUdS AniSOpetalum 



Usianthum, De Vriesc ic. 249 ined. 



8 



. (hlbosum, 

 coriiceis 1 



pubescent* 



■cumiattis lateralibus longioribus setis pilifonnibus carnosis 

 otitis petalis linearibus setaceo-acuminatis multd brevio- 

 ujw, labello linguiformi angusto marginato basi crassissimo 

 crista oTali foveata, column® angnlis acutissimis integris. 



^ knowled g e we had of this remarkable plant 

 *M from a coloured drawing, from Sumatra, shown us 

 D J our learned friend p***? «!___ v «..<_.__•«_ t+ u aD nnw V-qot. 



With the ordinary garden hybrids there is also the 



same advantage apparent, both as regards luxuriance of 



growth and precocity and abundance of flower of 



grafted plants over others on their own roots. We have 



now a batch of seedlings, four years old, the best of 



which are about 12 inches, having at most but two or 



When these 



It has now been 



fanned in a living state, a specimen said to have come 

 ST J?a a bavin S flow *red with Mr. Loddiges. 



It is 



Jnllv * * V v "*& vov op cv:JC! * auuwD, in© leaves measuring 



7 i laches by 2, the scape being somewhat taller and 

 Sml 8 / earl v 2 inches long. The latter are dull 

 Pointed V* C0 P i0U9l y covered with long fleshy hair- 

 formed ]f 8t * es * ** evidently belongs to the group 



vyanum, nilgherretise, imbricatum, <Lc 



J- VEGETABLE PATHOLOGY.— No. LVI. 



l^\^ niu '^^Ac€idental and Functional— We 



the laws of gravity .J 



2.56. The parasitic growth of fungi again may pro- 

 duce sterility by appropriating that nutriment which 

 was prepared for the purposes of fructification. It is 

 seldom, indeed, except where organic mischief is in- 

 duced, of which we Bhali have to speak presently, that 

 the sterility is perfect. Where, however, mildew is 

 prevalent, whether externally or internally, the fruit is 

 always more or less affected, as the farmer knows to his Standuk <b Noble 

 cost by the effcete or dwindled produce of his crops. 



257. Various external causes, as wind, rain, &c, 



three shoots— many of them only one. 

 plants were one year old a number were selected from 

 among them, from which the tops were taken off and 



They are now from 1 2 



grafted upon ponticum stocks. 



to 22 inches high from the graft, and from 12 to 18 

 inches through the head, and many of them have from 

 two to a dozen flower-buds. The seedlings have not a 

 single bud among them. Some of the other objections 

 raised by "J. R" we shall allude to in another article. 



may prevent the settling of the pollen on the stigma, or 

 may wash it off before it has germinated. So long, 

 however, as the stigmatic surface is uninjured, such 

 accidents are not probably of much consequence. M.J.B. 



COMMON THINGS. 



The following mode of producing these 



Cut turves 2 or 



cases 



r7 vu un 

 P^iliarii 



RHODODENDRONS : GRAFTED OR NOT 



GRAFTED ? 



This is a question of considerable horticultural im- 

 portance ; the communications of " J. R " induce us to 

 offer a few facts which may assist in solving it. A series 

 of years devoted to the culture and propagation of the 

 Rh^mlPTidron enable us to assert confidently that there 



or 



. • *- ■W««^^V7, UUU . V.*»« VW<W.J IV OV1UV 



indu ' constl tution, whether purely functional 

 j_* ci ng evident organic change. But sterility 

 ^ frequently on e * 



r*T tendency i n th 



,£r,*n€ii known are 





causes, where there is no 



thoQ&h b^ U * nown are, under certain circumstances 

 **trol ft/41! 10 means always, more or less within the 

 mii* eB J * he c ^tivator. The formation of fruit is the 

 ' or fc* for "f Vc S eta tion, and requires a great exertion of 



>*% and ti,*!! 0mpUtth . mellt This ia frequently so 



miption of nutritive matter so com- 



* n^v_ . *— . 



i^^ P*mge8 in question are contained in u. 295 



* It is well known that in some conditions of the animal system 

 which tend to ultimate death, as in persons of a strumous habit, 

 there is an increased productiveness, but that when those peculiar 

 functions cease death ensues very rapidly. Something S}" 1 "* 1, 

 or rather something analogous obtains in fruit trees subject to 

 gumming. They are often peculiarly productive just before 

 dissolution. A large crop is formed and perhaps ripens and 

 vitality is exhausted by the effort, the small connecting thread 

 of living tissue being unable to keep up the necessary supply. 



t Many fruit trees bear only every alternate year, an interval 

 of rest being requisite for the deposition of new fruit- producing 



matter. . ^^ 



% Sterility may arise from a precisely contrary cause , viz., tne 



over-production of flowers, the strength of the Pl ftnt a ^" lg w ^ 

 exhausted as to prevent fertilisation. This case, however, win 

 mma «_ _ * <*rm«_-»mi->ncA under another head. 



Early Peas.- 

 has been practised with success. 

 3 inches in breadth and 18 inches in length, turn them 

 upside down, make a small mark lengthwise in the turf 

 sufficient to hold one row of Peas. Place them on a 

 hotbed or in a pit with a little heat, then sow the Peas. 

 Two ordinary lights will hold about 50 yards. Sow 

 about the 1st of next month, and plant out on the first 

 favourable opportunity in March. 



Composition for Fruit Tit**.— The subjoined has been 

 found of use in protecting the buds of Gooseberries from 

 the ravages of birds in the winter and spring months, 

 as well as an effectual remedy for clearing the bark of 

 fruit trees generally from Moss, Lichen, and the larvxe 



of insects : Take hot lime and soot in equal quantities ; 



add cow's urine until the mixture has attained the con- 

 sistency of thick paint. Paint the trees regularly over 

 with the ingredients thus prepared, and the result will 

 be not only a beautifully clean and clear bark, but an 

 increased vigour will also be perceptible in the growth 

 of those trees to which the mixture has been applied. 



Propagation of Tropaolum tricolorum. — The simplest 

 mode of doing this is to take off the weak laterals that 

 are not likely to flower, when about 2 inches long ; u 



with a heel so much the better. Any time from 



