g 



1855.] 



THE GARDENER 



CHRONICLE 



-^^P^impieorforked stem, ^ to 3 feet high, 



"2S to the base with great, ligl _ 



^ ft was first seen in the garden of San Donato, 



133 



to the base with great, light green, membranous 



first seen in the garden of San Donato ; 

 the collection of Prince Demidoff. Mr. 



Its native country is 

 ^y to be tne pruvmuc ^* ^mas Geraes in Brazil. In 

 Am hands of English gardeners we have no doubt that 



{Tflorence, in tlie collection ol 

 r*n Houtte now possesses it. 



i .» k« rim nroviuce of Mina 



would 



A ROYAL FOREST. 

 Is passing through Whittlewood forest the other week, 

 I found by the auctioneer's mark apparently on every 

 me worth a shilling, that it is going to be disforested in 

 aunest S° """> s0 g° 0l ^> an( i though now too late to 

 retrieve the past as regards the trees, it is not too late 

 to Jet the country know the disgraceful manner in which 

 iti property has heen managed for nearly two centuries. 



Including Silsoe, I believe there are about GOUO acres of 

 excellent land under forest in the county of Northamp- 

 tonshire, and according to the account published in 

 your columns, they have been costing the country within 

 the last twenty years some 10,0002. above the returns, 

 for mismanaging it. But how can it be otherwise ?— the 

 Duke of Grafton claims all the underwood, and I believe 

 up to his time his forefathers claimed all but the Oak 

 timber ; it was, therefore, their interest to grow under- 

 wood and not Oak, and they have not lost the chance of 

 dom - " 



gso. 





I send you a rough sketch of the forester's system 

 of pruning, practised for I believe nearly two centuries 

 apparently to the satisfaction of John Bull. You will 

 see by it, that even the few straggling Oaks (many of 

 which must have stood there in Charles II.'s time, and 

 are 12 feet and upwards in circumference containing up- 

 wards of 200 feet of timber) are completely mutilated to 



attord pasturage lor the deer and allow the uuderwoouto 

 grow. Had this race of managers for the public done 

 the.r duty, these Oaks (a century past their best, and 

 now of no use for ship-building) would have been cut 

 ■ down long since, and the ground properly prepared and 

 | replanted with Oak (and Larch, the latter as nurses) and 



6000. annually. Since many thousand acres of 

 forests are still in the hands of the country, and are, 

 generally speaking, not much better than the above I 

 trust they wdl not be allowed to remain so. I think it 

 is quite tune to put aside the razor, and lay the more 

 powerful weapon the axe to the roots of this much- 

 abused branch of the public property. Aa the trees in 

 Whittlewood Forest will not be cut down till May, any 

 one who imagines that my sketch is in any way exa E2 ^. 

 rated has still an opportunity of satisfying himself in 

 the matter. David Ferguson, Slowe, Buckinghamshire 



VEGETABLE PATHOLOGY.-No. LXI. 



*«/ T i n TAXIS " Con stitutional and Organic or Acci- 

 2*„ a . ' SCHARGE of resinous fluids.— Like gum, 

 -moos fluids are deposited in particular cavities, or 



wagreater or less extent mixed up with the general 



Crimm? ,- Um ' from wh[ch i4 is necessary that 



; noma be eliminated when present in greater abund- 



■^uian is consistent with health. In some cases, as 



CmZ t Fir h the Cowdie ar ' d Kauri P»'e, &c, the 

 •» the air • • i naturally, hardening on exposure 



«f Bk»tr» a "r t0 a sma11 extent the 8am e may he said 



P*t dU,r in T plant3 ' but in othe r instances no 

 jj^scnarge takes place without accident or artificial 



<*lv J" 8 ""^ of matter discharged varies 

 HX'tS e !" Pistada Ter ebinthus (the Chian 

 **r*ot?h ' lt . amount s to only 10 or 12 oz. in the 

 * I>iDteroo7/ ear 'o m 9ome of the Indian Varnish plants, 

 ^ » JroS?' S , h ° rea ' Meanorrhea, &c,theW 

 ^RS' f w, 1 thou , t affecti »g i« «ny sensible 



'Wi° f th , e Plant - There we, however, 

 ■* ooS 2 l ta t0 the demand which ean safely be 



»» Loudon P « w n i I " u™ 8 and Vi f r ° us S P ruce Fir >" 



J* of consul JT y • d ever * second >' ear frora 40 t0 50 

 *"> 20 to o' reSl " ' and this ma y be col 'ected for 

 f»*e;butif iwJ!!T> ! f no ,?ther value is set upon the 

 ^*" of time t ?' lecUon of the sa P be continued for this 

 FH birth tn «, • ^" ee becoi nes rotten and decays, 



fte 



•Ofround 





ncr ♦ "««:uis, which seriously injure 



ng trees. It is therefore better to cut the 

 «« extracting the sap for 10 or 12 years, 

 wood may then probably be used for 

 ■' anu •" a ny rate will be good «— f -^ — J 



cautions are given by 



fcT 1 "?^ and P^T • , are 8 lven b y Hartig. In 

 ^^greedv H. ° niathe disastrous consequences of 

 *'«ol ? land ^L resin are notorious. The 



•**P « the fw kl t n e an '"ci^iou i, 





produced in immense 

 into the bark with an 



crust 



trunks from 8 to 10 feet high are so lad that they can 

 scarcely be sold at the price of firewood. Moderate 

 bleeding is attended by no evil consequences, especially 

 if the trees are allowed to rest every alternate year. l( 

 such precaution be not taken, they soon assume a sickly 

 aspect, the growth becomes dwindled, the seeds do not 

 come to perfection, and death ultimately ensues. 



273. A discharge of resinous matter is not so likely to 

 be injurious to a tree by inducing decay as gumming, 

 because it has a tendency rather to exclude than admit 

 outward atmospheric agencies which might prove inju- 

 rious to the ruptured tissues. It may, however, be 

 complicated with gangrenous disease. In shallow ill- 

 drained soils, with an impervious substratum, where the 

 ground is alternately water-logged or extremely dry, 

 extensive disease Bometimes prevails amongst Conifers, 

 the bark cracking in the first instance from drought, and 

 then affording a perennial outlet for the resinous sap ; 

 or in case the discharged sap hardens into a compact 

 mass of resin, through which nothing can pass, the cir- 

 culation is impeded, and the tissues swell around the 

 original wound, producing unsightly tumours. In these 

 cases where the disease is very aggravated, decay is the 

 sure consequence, but where the injury is but slight, 

 genial seasons may effect a cure, or what is far more 

 effectual, the roots may at length penetrate the barrier, 

 and convey a more regular and better supply of nutri- 

 ment, under the influence of which the more healthy 

 tissues may overgrow and ultimately obliterate the 

 diseased patches. Where the subsoil is absolutely im- 

 pervious the plantations will never recover, and the 

 profitable growth of timber is altogether hopeless. In 

 some cases, as in Liquidambar styraciflua, the liquid 

 balsam is collected principally from fissures in the bark, 

 through which it exudes from accumulations between the 

 bark and wood. Occasionally the flow of resinous matter 

 in Conifers is so great that the stream extends from the 

 trunk to the roots, where it at length finds an exit, and 

 in consequence protrudes into the surrounding soil 

 large amber-like masses of resin. 



74. Besides the cysts in which resinous matters are 

 usually contained, which themselves vary considerably 

 in size and form, and though having no proper tissue of 

 their own are closed with a wall built up of regular 

 cellular tissue, more or less distinct from that which 

 surrounds it, there are in some cases irregular cavities 

 which contain large quantities of such production, com- 

 parable to the accumulations of gum in the trunks of 

 Cycads. In the trunk of Dryobselanops Camphora, for 

 instance, vast cavities or fissures sometimes exist, as in 

 a case from Labuan, described by Mr. Motley (see 

 Hook. Journ., 1052, p. 201), in which five gallons were 

 saved from one cavity, though much was lost. From this 

 the camphor itself is deposited in crystals on the walls. 



275. Sometimes on the contrary, the turpentine pe- 

 netrates by infiltration into every part of the wood, 

 even those which in general are free from resinous 

 matter. Wood in this condition is called by the 

 Germans Kienholz. It is probable that in such 

 cases there is a defect of vitality in the cell walls, 

 in consequence of which the turpentine is distri- 

 buted according to mere dynamic laws. It is well 

 known that dead branches of Pines inclosed in living 

 wood are strongly impregnated with turpentine, and 

 acquire, in consequence, an extreme degree of hard- 

 ness ; and such is more or less the case with all the other 

 portions of the wood. The punctate woody tissue and 

 the medullary rays are equally affected ; their mem- 

 brane itself is saturated, and the intercellular passages 

 are gorged with resin. The affection is either general 

 or partial, and is sometimes confined to the tops of the 

 branches, which are then known in Germany by the 

 name of Kienzopfe. The wood, however, for many pur- 

 poses, i9 not deteriorated by this process, but acquires a 

 high degree of durability, and in consequence is much 

 valued by mechanists. The roots of Fir trees gradually 

 acquire a similar condition, and are dug up in ancient 

 forests after the expiration of hundreds of years and 

 used as torches, from the immense quantity of resin 

 which they contain. M. J. B* 



