







gS5 — ft 50 me otheTtreesriu~co n9e( l uence oi the 

 Viues, * Da f the g p r i n g S ap. It is perhaps well in such 



^ ttbtf f D f 'nature should find a ready outlet for fluids 



•flrtifiht produce bad consequences if stagnating in 



Si without any aqueous exhalation. In both in- 



* wrhaps it would be more proper to consider 



'^^ter as an abnormal phenomenon than as a real 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



85 



COMMON THINGS, 



ntrfodenia row*.— Though not very showy, this is 

 Jf a U5e f u l little plant, which, under ordinary culti- 

 *j£ may be made to blossom abundantly all through 

 !he winter and spring. Cuttings struck early this 

 MMtb wd properly attended to, will be bushy plants 

 Crthe'end of Jime, at which time they should be in 

 "inch pots, and should be removed from the stove or 

 wop^iting bouse to a light and airy greenhouse shelf. 

 fn^e specimens are not wanted, they should not be 

 Miei after this, but should be allowed to become 

 what pot-bound, and they will not require any 



further attention, except moaerare waterings tin tne 

 end of September, when a few of the plants may be 

 introduced to a light and warm shelf in a stove or 

 intermediate house, where a temperature of 65° or 70° 

 by day can be given. The rest may follow successively ; 

 and it is worthy of remark that they do not open well 

 except in tolerably bright light ; they, therefore, do 

 best placed on a shelf near the glass. For soil take 

 equal parts of loam, sandy peat, and vegetable mould, 

 mixed with a good sprinkling of powdered charcoal. 



Club in Broccoli — The following is a good way of pre- 

 venting this troublesome disease. In the autumn never 

 omit to ridge up the ground intended for spring sowing, 

 in order that it may have the benefit of the winter's 

 frost to pulverise it. When the time for sowing has 

 arrived level the ground roughly, then dig it over 

 regularly, and form it into beds ; when that is done, 

 burn any prunings of shrubs and trees that may have 

 teen collected during winter, and spread the ashes on 

 the beds to the depth of 2 or 3 inches. Then with a 

 Potato fork well mix the ashes with the earth to the 

 depth o( 4 or 5 inches, sow the seed in the usual way, 

 rake all in smoothly, and the operation is finished. It 

 maybe added that the fresher the ashes are the better, 

 and that thosa from green wood are preferable to those 

 from dry. It will be evident that the alkaline bases 

 found in the wood ashes are what produce the effect. 



^ CHOIX D'UN AMATEUR PEAR. 



There are some historical details relating to the 

 origin of certain varieties of Pears which are only 

 verbally known in the countries in which the varieties 

 have been obtained. If one does not take the trouble 

 to give an exact account where it will be recorded in 

 pomological works of the day, his knowledge will be 

 lost in some few years. After a certain lapse of time, 

 when the variety begins to fruit in various gardens, 

 questions will be asked respecting the name of this 

 Pear, when and where was it raised 1 



Towards the end of his career, the late Van Mons, 

 not expecting to see the fruit of his seedlings from 

 toe latest sowings in the nurseries of Lou vain, and 

 wing that after his decease these seedlings would not 

 w preserved, sent grafts of a certain number of the 

 •ost promising of these seedlings to his friend and 

 W M. Bouvier, of Jodoigne. One portion of these 

 **s sent in 1837. Being worked on strong seedling 

 «*««, most of the varieties fruited in 1842 and 1843. 



*.!? FH***' lt wil1 be understood, were well selected and 

 awfully worked. 



Neither the first nor the second fruiting was thought 

 «^cie n t by M. Bouvier for determining the relative 



™ ot the seedlings ; but of the third production, 

 faZJf Very abun <lant in 1844, that being a most 

 -curable season, he submitted many of the fruits to 

 ■* amateur friends and connoisseurs like himself; and 



nriSwl °^ hesitati <>n, said of the above-named 



*y> . ls m y ch °ice " (ceci est mon choix) ; and 



nnL ™ n, ™ »sly approved, it was agreed that the 



CwL v > CaJ1 * d Choix *™> Amateur, adding 

 <»fc of S Van ,f* 0llB > the 8 raft » having been taken from 

 A* Ms** Seedl j n g s raised b y the professor at Louvain. 

 W3r the nurseries > M - Bivort was charged 



in hiTZS 8 ° Ut thls new vft riety, and it was announced 



vated in m gUe 1845 " 6 ' Since then ** haa been «!*■ 

 ftne of if! 7 Du . rsenes > and has been observed up to the 



%onal; a g00d graft havin S been P laced at 7 feet 



1** tartan* g St ° C > we had the satisfaction of seeing 



handsome fr u - the branches of this 8» ft > abou * a score 

 * or even m***** is not describe(J in any special work, 



am 



deftc ription nf \u known » * shall endeavour to give a 

 ^e aeedi^; •? ^f' and of the fruit a »d its qualities, 

 neither in th* i, we have not been able to discover, 

 n °* in the »I i C0llect10118 of th * successors of Van Mons 

 of thepr f^ e " s l of Louvain, vhere, after the decease 

 inauy Qiu or > lt had doub*l»e« *«>-« i— » **— *i— -:*u 



er valuable sorts. 



! 8 37ha 



The strong stem grafted in 



^ *• Eouvip '~"xu qcara,ea Ior in tlle garden ot the 

 lessors diviZi A u , have bc * n informed that his 

 gently S en t f d ?* best of the tr * e »> which 

 f0Pe °% de^L n dlff t Peut directions. We can there- 

 **/ be 2* S ^ ° f the chara ^rs of this variety 

 NMar/j confidence from a pyramid of 



k ■ fcSg S? ^ yean> from the graft, and 



fore 



*8 



were con- 

 We can there- 



By the colour of its wood, the form of its branches 

 and shoots, by its leaves and the general habit of the 

 tree, this variety is as distinct from all others as the 

 Beurre d'Hardenpont, Marie Louise, Docteur Trousseau, 

 Prince Albert, Leopold L, and Comte de Paris, are dis- 

 tinct among themselves. 



The tree is hardy and vigorous, and forms a hand- 

 some pyramid. Its shoots are long and spreading ; the 

 upright stem is erect, and of stiff* growth. The colour 

 of the trunk is greyish olive brown, and the two-year- 

 old branches partake of the same hue. The one-year- 

 old wood is pale greenish brown, sprinkled with grey 

 dots, but these disappear the second year. The upper 

 parts of the shoots are bright brown, with very distinct 

 white spots. The buds are about an inch apart ; on 

 the bearing wood they approach to half that distance. 

 The wood-buds are very large, but pointed ; the fruit- 

 buds are still larger and rounded ; both have a greyish 

 appearance. The fruit-buds are large, plump, and can 

 be known decidedly in the second year of their formation, 

 a sign that the tree is a good bearer. The flower is 

 large and sets readily, which proves its hardiness. The 

 leaves are of a delicate green, undulated, and channelled, 

 and possess all the characters of those of varieties which 

 produce the finest fruits. It is very productive as an 

 orchard standard. A strong graft, taken from the stem 

 of the stock plant and worked on a vigorous stock, had 

 the shoots properly disbudded, pinched and not much 

 shortened, and produced in the summer of 1854 a score 

 of fruits after 50 had been thinned off in May. Part of 

 the fruit gathered on the 18th of September commenced 

 to ripen on the 25th of that month. Another part, 

 gathered on the 28th September, ripened from the 10th 

 to the 25th of October. 



The general form of the fruit is oblong-ovate, full 

 towards the stalk, and swelling towards the eye. It is 

 from 3 to 3 £ inches in 

 in diameter. The 



to 





1£ in length, 

 the spur, so that, till 

 fruit is not apt to be 

 eye is regularly 

 cavity. The skin is 

 green when the fruit 

 gradually paler as 

 maturity. The flesh 



length and 2 inches 

 stalk is from 1 inch 

 strongly attached to 

 fit for gathering, the 

 blown down. The 



formed in a shallow 

 thin, smooth, pale 

 is gathered,becoming 

 the fruit approaches 



is snow-white, melt- 



ing, juicy, vinous and sugary, very free from grit, except 

 a little near the. core, which is small. The seeds are 

 small, roundish, but well filled, which indicates that the 

 variety has sprung from a good race ; their colour is 

 black or brownish black. 



In short this variety may be considered as a valuable 

 acquisition. Although it ripens at the same time as 

 many other excellent sorts, the Choix d'un Amateur 

 will-maintain a distinguished place in the collections of 

 good judges who have tested the fruits, of which none 

 of the 20 gathered was found in any way imperfect ; 

 and it well deserves the name of Choix d'un Amateur, 

 applied to it by M. Bouvier. From its form it could 

 not be ranked in any of the classes of Pears designated 

 by a generic name [such as Bergamotte, Bon Chretien, 

 &c]. It is necessary to remark that this variety does 

 not succeed on the Quince stock. /. de Jonghe, Brussels, 

 Jan, 16, 1855. 



Note. — It is probable that as the tree gets older the fruit in 

 favourable seasons will be larger and less variable in form. 

 This observation is applicable to all varieties of Pears recently 

 obtained from seed ; for with regard to the qualities of such we 

 cannot decide with certainty till after having obtained fruit for 

 several successive years from healthy, vigorous, well established 





iCLIMATE OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES.— No. III. 



Nice, Feb. 2, 1855.— The snow mentioned in my last 

 as having fallen hereon the 21st ult. has since quite 

 disappeared, and is now succeeded by beautiful warm 



weather. Yesterday was equal to any of our English 

 summer days. In confirmation of my statement that 

 the temperature had been unusually low, I may observe 

 that a person who has been resident here for the last 

 five years informed me that the thermometer in a room 

 without fire has not been known to be under 50 until 

 recently, when it fell to 45°. 



At Paris, on the 24th ult., a partial thaw succeeded 

 to the late frost, but severe weather has again set iu 

 there. On the 26th the thermometer fell to 23°, on 

 the 27th to 20°, on the 28th to 18°, on the 29th to 

 12 Q . The Seine began again to freeze over. It has 

 been nearly the same at Lyons, and also very cold at 

 Brussels. On the 22d at Strasbourg it was down to 18 4 * 

 below zero of centigrade or zero of Fahrenheit. The 

 same at Turin on the 24th, and again on the 29th and 

 30th 31° below freezing. Here the min, was 5° above 

 freezing, and at a distance of only about 120 miles, 

 the difference being no doubt mainly attributable to the 

 peculiar situation of Nice and the proximity of Turin 

 to the Alps. 



I hope that the following description of the London 

 weather, which I take from the correspondence of the 

 French newspaper La Pressed a little overdrawn. You 

 may, however, like to see what account is given to 

 foreigners of the climate of our fatherland. Writing 

 from London 26th January, the correspondent says : — * 

 "It has snowed for the last four or five days without inter- 

 ruption ; a thick fog and rime envelopes the city. It 

 is mid-day, and I can hardly distinguish the letters I 

 trace upon the paper. This lugubrious atmosphere 

 naturally makes the spirits to be in unison with the 

 sentiments which now prevail in England." 



The increase and decrease of the power of the sun's 

 rays here in the day will appear from the following 

 account of a thermometer hung therein on the 26th ult. : 

 9 o'clock, 94°; half-past 9, 107°; 10 o'clock, 114°; 

 half-past 10, 119* ; half-past 11, 124° ; at 12, 121? ; 

 half-past 12, 117 Q ; 1,110° ; 2, 90° ; 4, 74°. 



New Potatoes are now sold in the market, at 9d. the 

 kilogramme, being rather more than 2 lbs. weight 

 English ; Green Peas (in pod), Is. 2d. for the same 

 quantity. In the vicinity of Nice there is a valley partly 

 covered with the beautiful single blue Hepaticas (triloba), 

 which are now coming into flower. Crocuses (wild) are 

 also in blossom. Some Snowdrops in pots I saw yester- 

 day treated as greenhouse plants ; they are, however, 

 found wild on some of the hills. Primroses also are in 

 flower, but are rather scarce. Violets, the sweet single 

 blue, are becoming quite plentiful on the banks, and the 

 Anemones in the Olive grounds. There is a beautiful 

 bright yellow flower now also in blossom (under pro- 

 tection) called " Jonquil ferruginea," upright in growth, 

 the flowers nearly the size and shape of the Petunia — • 

 a charming winter plant. 



Temperature at Nice, 











7 A.M. 



12 P.M. 



10J P.M. 



1S55. 

 January 26... 















•»» «•« ••• 



• •• 



• •• 



35 



53 



37 



j> 27 ... 



•*• ••• ••• 



«•• 



• • . 



37 



4< 



39 



n 28... 



••• •«• •«* 



• •• 



• • • 



34 



53 



40 



.« !..'... 



••• ••• ••• 



• • • 



• . • 



37 



55 



44 



., o\) . .. 



••• •«« ••• 



• • t 



• • 



44 



59 



42 



j) 31 ... 



•#• ■«• «•• 



»•• 



• • * 



45 

 1 56 



56 



46 



February 1 ... 



••t •», ••■ 



• •» 



• • ♦ 



63 



46 



—E.G. 













NOTES UPON THE LATE REPORT TO THE 

 TREASURY ON THE PRESENT STATE OP 

 THE ROYAL WOODS AND FORFSTS. 



In the instructions to the Commissioners when 

 authorised to inspect Alice Holt Forest, and to give 

 their opinion on the point of dispute between Mr. 

 Brown and the Deputy Surveyor, the Commissioners 

 are, with a semblance of impartiality, desired to have 

 i\o intercourse with either of the parties interested: from 

 page 5, however, it appears that they did call to their 

 assistance the Deputy Surveyor's officers, men openly 

 opposed to Mr. Brown. 



(P. 13.) The Commissioners are directed to decide on 

 various questions of controversy which have arisen 

 between Mr. Brown and the Deputy Surveyor of 

 Bere Forest, and are directed to resort to the latter and 

 his officers for explanation and information; of course 

 Mr. Brown being absent. What is the worth of a 

 verdict given under such circumstances ? 



Iu spite, however, of the " foregone conclusion " of 

 the referees, their statement on one of the most 

 important points rests solely on information supplied 

 by the Deputy Surveyor ; for instance (p. 15) great 

 credit is attached to that officer for his "skill in 

 dealing with difficult local circumstances ;" and at p. 16 

 « the drainage " is said to have been " originally well 

 laid on and abundant," while in the following para- 

 graph the * drainage up to a recent period has been 

 greatly neglected/' We doubt the existence of such 

 sagacity on the part of the Commissioners as would 

 enable them to discover from inspection the exact time 

 during which a drain lay neglected, and when it again 

 began to receive proper attention. 



The paragraph (page 15), "The amount of income, 

 &c., n is utterly unsound, and proves the determination 

 of the Commissioners to adhere to the good old plan of 

 eschewing all profitable returns. What private gentle- 

 man does not consider profit from thinnings a criterion 

 (among others) of good management I 



(P. 20.) Where one "dead branch is caused" by 

 injudicious thinning, 50 are killed by defective thinning. 

 Branches are killed by the absence of air and light, not 

 by their presence. 



(P. 20.) The intense ignorance displayed by the 



