THE GARDENERS' CHRONJXLJE. 



[March 



i 



* I V 



\CIL* 



DHM IIYLU'-M 



T a remarkably u*ful pla . and, un.ler gr 



-<» head* of * n 





Irs 



l with which every shoot is 



J sparayue. 

 Asparagus beds willreq 

 will boi n eminence growing 



COMMON THINGS. 



that the weather has changed 

 aire early attention, as the plants 



Presuming of course 



Now 



th t have been top- dressed with 



rotten manure or 



^ave a very pie* g effect and .Mi a co ,de£ ^J^^ 

 U in beaut Alihou*h not very d.foenl o some 1 ght r . ^ ^ ^^ ^ ^ fork < 



,.♦* thfsf oart of its culture had better be left to J» ou « "" ... ^ rp of course not to go deep 



crown* 

 able me ; 

 propmg 



* pari of its culture had better be left to 

 *n ■ f« r the propagation of any hard-v ded 



olant is » work which requires time and careful atten- 

 tion, an 1 zo I, strong, well got np, young plants may be 

 cured r a trifle. 



lightly over, I ang care of course not to 

 .Tough to injure the crowns of the plants 





To bee , let us suppose that a eouple of n bush) 



re procured at once with which 



healthy young J> ! 



1 ise that at dwarf, boshy, an 



, neither nor over potted, should be 



\\ en received let thei ;.» laced in a close 



to con 



strong, an 



selected. . . 



part of the gre* use, where they will be near the 



glass and ut of way of cold draughts, giving water 

 Id the soil vcr arefully for the pre- \ About the 



beginni of March, see to the state of the roots, and 

 if these are f 1 to require more p< I om, shift at 

 oner to pots a good size larg» usin? 1 1 me rich turfy 



peat broken up rather small, ami well in rmixed 

 with lUnty of sharp silver sand and some lumpy hits 

 of charcoal, SttSMt the soil eing p meable b 



water. Secure perfect ratnage by placing plent of 

 potsherds in the bottom of the pot, ami n [ ting 

 Make the fresh soil rather firm about the ball. Hace 

 the plants after potting in the warmest part of th 



green h ise close to the glass, or in a pit vhere the 

 Bight temperature may he kept at about 4 keeping 

 them rat! close during the day, to ■ courage the 

 roots to itriks in »he fresh soil. With proj r care 

 t# IMS the ball and t I used in a lyalthy »*■♦* at 



cess «ry for 



seeds, he covered the ridges with a thick coat of 

 Rarely in this country is there enough of it to rZ^l 



go 



After the 



option of forking, a moderate Amfaf of jaltmv 

 be given, and when the newly broken np soil has been 

 acted ujon by the atmosphere sufficiently to allow of its 

 be ng neatly raked, this operatic PI he performed 



first s"< «P *• lo0fi ? S0il ,°f ° ? # y V£t 



spreading it over the surface of the bed. Jfae beds 



King neatly edged a, rher .dose of salt will ensure 

 the heds in a great measure against weeds. Before these 

 matters are attended to it is advisable to take up as 

 many plants as will be required for forcing, and cover 

 them with old tan or something similar, which will pre- 

 serve them from frost without exciting them. 



Scalale— It is a common practice to throw away the 

 old roots of Seakale that have been taken up and forced; 

 but it is a pity this should be the case, as if taken care 

 of they will produce fine plants for another year with 

 very little trouble. After the " Grass" has been cut, which 

 should be done without injuring the crown, the plants 

 may be laid in can fully in some sheltered out-of-the- 

 way spot, until a half spent hot-bed frame is at liberty, 

 with a surface soil of leaf and sand. The roots may 

 now be cut into pieces 2 or 3 inches long, and after 

 dusting them over with quick lime they may be planted 

 11 over the frame 3 or 4 inches asunder. The frame 

 should be kept rather close for a few weeks, and by the 

 time the season will admit of it the plants will be in a 



t , . . . , , A nice condition for removing to some rich well trenched 



s time after sol , but the plants should be dewed ^ ^ M t , je fiummcr before them will 



• head with the svi.mre on the afternoeas of < ■> ' , . , ailtlimn aQ it e eaual to win 



the soil beneath from frost ; but might not tld 8 pric ^ 

 serve as a hint to our gardeners ? Might not ft? 

 spread some waterproof material over tender planti 

 seeds? Old nets have long been sold for nailing a^ 

 walls, old carpets would form excellent protecnoTj 

 previously coated on one side, with tar for instance. / 

 Rain at Rothamsted, Herts, in 1854 : ' ' 



Large gauge 1.1000th of Acre. 



Actual weight 

 of Rain in 



Jan. 

 Feb. 



March 



April 



May 



June • 



July 



Aug. 



Sept. 



Oct. 



Nov. 



Dec. 



TotAl 4265 



Inches of Rain 



calculated 



from weight. 



In. 10. 100th 

 2.0205 

 0.9512 

 0.5121 

 0.4960 

 4.3823 

 0.7656 

 0.8560 

 2.6910 

 0.7776 

 2 2869 

 1 .5297 

 1.5783 



18.8472 



in. 10. 100th 

 1.6450 

 0.6650 

 0.3150 

 0.3425 

 3.7625 

 0.5250 

 0.6800 

 2.5650 



0.4975 

 1.8575 

 1.1350 

 1.3050 



J a. 10. lot* 



0.3755 



0.28ft 



0.1971 



0.1535 



0.6196 

 0.240$ 



0.1760 



0.1280 

 0.2801 



0.4294 



0.3947 

 0^733 



:ure a moist state of the attno- 



the time of petting, very little water will ben 



some tim 



over head with ti 

 day*, taking care also to 



sphere by 1 nt'y sprinkling any available surface. 



Jut, although »v« water < must be a led, 'he 

 pposite extreme * M be nearly as inj •, \ e- 

 fore when the soil my 'ires water, and only then, ve 

 a $00-: sop avoiding dri^ ling r wa ings 



when it i« abee required, h course of a 



month or so al r potti he r* i will probably have 



got hold of the fresh soil, and n* bc 1 as this apparent, 

 \mtk a» rtraggtiBf shoot, stop the others, and 

 train th^m nicely, c gi»g thsi well down to tl»e pot, 

 and keeping die thin. The object after this si lid 

 be to fit the plants to break as thickly and strong m 



and this will be best secured by keeping them 

 the glass, giving air freely on fine days, keeping 

 close when the wea 4 eehl f and the atmosphere can 



hardly be kept too moist. When the weather be m^mihi, 

 remove Aem to a cold frame, which is the best situation 

 for them in sum 00 r, and use a thin shade on the fore- 

 noons of bright day bat not until it is wanted, for too 

 much shad g is \ iu.tive only of long-jointed weakly 



As the young si >ts advance in length train 

 them out to neat thin made stakes, 



A second shift will probably be nesMed towards June, 



make fine strong plants by autumn quite equal 

 two-year-old seedlings generally are. 



hat 



and this should be atte 



full of roots, in order to n \ cheeking the plants, and 

 also to g< rooted into the fresh soil before 



winter. Use milar soil, &c\, to that recommended 

 for the lsst shift, and keep the plants rather close for 

 a f rtnight or po after repotting. In summer every 

 precaution must be used to secure a moist state of the 

 atmosphere, for e> pt this is attended to strong rapid 

 growth will 1 t be obtained ; and, perhaps, the best way 

 of effect this is to place the plants on a bed of coal 

 ashes, which, b} prinkiin^ in fine weather, can be kept 

 continually moist. I ve air freely on fine days, but 

 guard against drying winds by giving air sparingly, 

 and on the sheltered ride of the light keeping down 

 the emperature by shading. Sprinkle the plants over 

 head early in the afternoon, and keep them close for the 

 evening, but air sb Id be given freely for the night 



middk of July the lights may be thrown 



Home Correspondence. 



Grafted Rhododendrons.— Being one of the advocates 

 for grafted Rh< >dendrons, I think it right to observe 

 that I have had no « esire to adopt that " Irish " species 

 of defence which " J. R." attributes to them. My object 

 from the commencement has been to * tate in a straight- 

 forward manner my reasons for considering some of his 

 statements erroneous, and I have advanced nothing but 

 what my own observation and practical experience 

 prove to be correct. I have recommended grafted 

 Khododendrsps for standards, as 1 consider them better 

 calculated Is make handsome specimens than plants 



fropngated from layers, and ibis in a much shorter time; 

 only stated the fact of its being possible by deep plant- 

 ii to induce the scion to emit roota,and become independ- 

 ent of the stock, as a secondary argument, and with the 

 view of helping m J. It.*' out of his supposed difficulties. 

 I do not wish to deny that stocks, even though weaker 

 than the scion, will not occasionally throw up suckers, 

 but I hold that even when this does happen to its 



greatest extent, it is but a small evil, and easily remedied 



to as soon as the pots are by common attention ; it is an evil too which gets less 



every year, and when the scion has gathered strength 

 will disappear altogether. I am, however, perfectly 

 aware that sbme skill is required in the selection of 

 proper stocks for different varieties, but this is never 

 overlooked in an establishment where the proprietor has 

 an eye to his own interest. In endeavouring to refute 

 my assertion that Rhododendron ponticum and maxi- 

 mum are more luxuriant than their hybrids crossed 

 with arboreum, m 3, R." seems to be unacquainted with 

 the parentage of the hybrids, which he names as 

 examples ; R. Russelianum is not from caueasicum, but 

 from some of the varieties of catawbiense crossed with 

 arboreum, and it illustrates very well the truth of my 

 statement that hybrid Rhododendrons almost inva- 

 riably assume the habit of the female parent ; but 

 the hybrid obtained from caueasicum crossed with 

 arboreum, and known as Nobeanum, furnishes a more 



habit of 



— J. B. Lawes. 



Temperature.— In your Paper of Feb. 24, p. 115, j<* 



give a table *of the extremes of cold since the yeaa 



1813 or 1814, but in the column Extreme Lowest again* 



the yeajrs 1819 and 1820 are three dots, thus ... ; alio 



in 1822 and 1823, and again in 1855. May L« 



whether this means above zero % [Yes ; the dots hue 



been put in merely to fill up the space.] All the othr 



years have the minus sign — , meaning, I suppo*, 



below zero. [Yes, in the usual way.] The follow^ 



table, copied last year from one of the leading journA, 



may perhaps be useful. It is by Mr, Lowe, of (k 



Highfield Observatory : 



1810— February21... 12° { ^ero! 

 1814— January 9... 4 



n 



1815 





n 



n 

 n 

 it 

 n 

 v 



1826— January 15... H°{*JJ* 



n 19... 10 

 „ 20... 



-March 14... 13 



1830 

 1838 

 1841 

 1845 



H 



1 





1854— January 3... 4 



MM 



■a 







and after the 



off in the erasing, as to expose the plants to the ; perfect illustration; here we have the dwarf 

 night dews, replaein • them in the morning before the caueasicum 

 sun becomes powerful. 



and the foliage far more like that variety 



than arboreum, and many more examples could be 



■imed in support of this point. As regards my assertion 



iat hybrids raised between hardy and tender sorts will 



A drier system of treatment must be pursued in 

 antomn, in ordpr to get the wood well ripened for 



winter, and the phm should be removed to a light .not be hardy unless the seed is saved from the hardy 

 airy part of the green I use for the winter. The same sort, I may state that, before trying the experiment 

 treatment pursued a seeond season will produce nice myself, I had the testimony of two or three practical 

 httle specimens, which will be useful for flowering, j hy bridisers of extensive experience. And I have since 

 and in this case they should receive the ordinary green- j proved it for myself in the case of a batch of hybrids in 

 nets* > treatment until they come into bloom, when they which the seed was saved from a tender sort all of 

 s&e*I be dig Hy shaded, to prolong the beauty of the which suffered from frost, while those from the snme 

 wwets. As s as their beauty is over, cut back parents crossed vice-vend have stood uniniured 



. " ^1 <m feti f 1 ar +r\ Ancnt<n « tsr-vmn*. *%* #-*-m^ m -*L £\.— -.. C** . 77 *~ * — , • -m , » 



13... 3 

 14... 5 

 33 ... 11 

 1816— February 9... 2 

 1820 -January 1... 6 

 1823 „ 19... 6 



On 14th March, 1845, temperature fell to 1° below tm a 



the Grass. 

 On the 3d January, 1854, the thermometer on the Grm is 

 6° below zero by several thermometers ; at 4 feet abore fie 

 ground it was 2° below zero. 



The year 1829-30 was a very severe winter, but none cf 

 the tables I have seen seem to notice it. The river 

 Med way was then full of ice. [In that winter tbe to 

 mometer gave the following results for the 31 ce4deat 



days : — 



1829—1830 Mean max. Mean min. Mean. Lowest extern 

 Dec. 20 to Jan. 19 34*12 2580 2999 Jan.lSthlfr 



The period was remarkable for continued low, but 

 not extremely low temperature.] On Feb. the 104 

 inst. we had the thermometer at 5° above zero hert 

 Fred. B. HanTcey, Fetckam Parle, Surrey, FeiJ.25. 



Discrepancies between Thermometers at different Elm 

 tiorts.— At p. 115 you make a comparison between the 

 observations at Chiswick, during the late severe fro*, 

 and those of Howard, for the frost of 181 3-1 4, as give 

 in his " Climate of London." Now, a comparison £ 

 tween two instruments can only be strictly true wW 

 the elevation of those instruments is identical J Midi 

 can prove that there was a difference between the > ew 

 tion of Howard's instruments and those at Chiswitf 

 amounting to no less than 9 feet, as regards then* 

 mum thermometer. When I wrote to you on this s^ 

 ject in March, 1852, you inserted a sketch of thepjr 

 tions of the instruments at Chiswick in your Paf* 

 M arch 1 3, which I have now by me. In the expiaj*** 

 of the diagram you say, « The minimum tlie J^£ 

 is about a foot above the surface of the ground, 

 quently within the influence of radiation, and inawjj 

 with precision the temperature to which vegetatioaa 



But Howard's observations seem to have ^ ^ 



posed. 



reference to the science of horticulture. 



If you refer fr 

 * artier 



the " Climate of London," vol. i., page 4, in the ^^ 

 temperature, you will see that Howard's instn^ 

 during the frost of 1813-14 were suspended no w> 

 " 10 feet from the general level of the g^f^gjr 

 it is a known fact that the temperature, 1 ioot aw 

 ground, is always lower than at 10 feet elevation^^ 



the shoots sufficiently to ensure a compact growth, 

 and remove the plants to where they can be afforded 

 a moist atmosp re, keeping them eh to the glass, but 

 not trie warm, in order to induce them to break close 

 and strong. As soon as they fairly start into growth, 

 give a ihift tf the roote *x? found to be in want of more 

 •pace, wi 1 will 1 the ease if all is right. Attend to 

 training the shoots as may he necessary, and treat 

 Aem durvng the remain r <>f the ^ason as already 

 commended^ J^nh care in watering, &c ., the plants 

 may be expected to last many eeasois, and form fine 



SE 5?" ; ^ WiH * «* to be piS for 



the loss of a^pecimen occasionally by havinj ; a Jaceess on 

 of youn* plant*. The compact heads of wbiSTKZ 

 are very suitable for bouquets, in which they are mudh 

 gained and therr removal for this purpose improve 

 rather than injures the plant Alpha. . 



_ . Hugh 



Fraser, Stanwell Nurseries, Edinburgh. 



Snow a Protector of Vegetation.— Y ouv observations 

 at p. 99 remind me of the protection afforded by snow 

 to vegetation in the neighbourhood of St. Peterson rh 

 On the melting of snow there I noticed in a large field 

 that the last year's Grass, and many weeds mixed with 

 it. remained green, excepting that the ends of the leaves 

 were frost-bitten ; young shoots were even sprouting out 

 between the old stems. The preceding winter had been 

 unusually long and severe ; on one occasion Reaumur's 

 thermometer marked 25° of cold about noon 5 it had 

 been as low as 30» the preceding night, being equal to 

 3o£ below zero of Fahrenheit. Market gardeners 

 seemed to avail themselves of the protection snow 

 affords, for at Ochta, near St. Petersburgh, I saw a man 

 sowing Peas on prepared ridges whilst snow was still on 

 ; the ground around them ; after drawing earth over the 



bservations conducted at this height, though va 



- - - - A1 — as regw^ 



effect of frost on vegetation. As a proof - ^ 



g rumentsofdifferenteler^ 



as a record of weather, are worthless aS r 7\t. e 

 offont ^f f*.„„*. «„ ™ — >«>+;^ri Ac a uroof 01 n* 



*- 



crepancy between two fastrnmcin* w ***~rr ar on* 



I may mention that on January 10 of thl ^ e A -^fyM 

 my thermometers (a), 6 feet above the gro"" 



und m ( 







at 8 a.m. 24°, while another 1(b), 20 feet aW* R 



ground, registered 29 Q 

 while (b) was at 17 Q . 



On the 

 Here, 8° 



1 ** (a) »su 



has been *e » 



point reached by (a), 9° by (b) on Feb. 18. « q{ & 



ml 



4 



would make it a rule to give the elevatiou^ 

 ii struments as well as their readings, a C0 J 3 P, e <#& 



be instituted on strict principles, and « e j*t 



be much v* 



meteorology and horticulture 



C. B. N. P., Stevenage, Herts, Feb. 26. 



u Dvmmiska* Apple.— Mr. Hogg me 

 work 



ntions, 



» 



$ 



the name 



on « British Pomology," a foreign App rf ^ 

 ame of « Dommiska," amongst the 



d. C0. 



if 





with which he ifl imperfectly acquainte<^ ^ 



correspondents give me any certain ,nf " rI " rJl ,,ioB P^ 

 ing the Apple so called ? From the desci ^ ^ 

 of it, I 6U8 f) ect it is the same as an Appi g pir 

 with in Wallachia, where it was calieo. «* 





