9-— 1855.] 



— ^nrTthis difference in hmm would be merely 

 * iV»h«iae into the common form of names m 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



135 



^•^ .^i change into wit 



£ &ian language). If it be the same, I can 

 P fa ito quality being of the very finest in Wai- 



where I b ftve eatea ** in the latter P art of 

 _.^ , ] t W as then fully equal, if not superior to any 



\2Tl bare ever tasted, somewhat similar in appear- 

 ^fand quality to a very large and well-ripened 

 *Z*m Pippin. C W. Strickland, Wassand. 



sSish Arboricultural Society.— In your notice of 

 J*Zw Society, at p. 100, you say that "it is but just 

 TjL ye teran Bdlingtou to state that this (for/nation of 

 f*. a Society) is a measure of which he has been the 

 3"cateever s | n ce you remember his name." Now, if 

 J^knowledge of Mr. Biliington only began with the 

 l^cnt of the Gardeners' Chronicle in 1841, I take it for 

 wanted that another has a prior claim to the merit of 

 *_---*,•«* thfi nronrietv of establishing: an association 



iDg the propriety 



forth© improvement of Forestry ; for those who possess 

 -omaBof the "Gardeners' Magazine" will find, in the 

 October Number of 1833 of that work, that the utility 

 of forming such an association is insisted on at consider- 

 able length. A Forester, Easton Maudet. [What then ?] 

 fhe Winter m the North; at Jedburgh, N. B. — On 

 the morning of the 15th ult. we had the thermometer 

 down to zero, and on that of the 17th 4£° below that 

 Mint. This was at 5 o'clock a.m. At 8 o'clock on that 

 poming it was 3°, and at 2 o'clock 2° below zero. The 

 bow around the town has been a foot deep. Jedburgh 

 if situated in a finely sheltered valley, so that in some 

 localities near us the temperature would doubtless be 

 than 4 1° below zero. In a place not a mile and a 

 half off the thermometer indicated 9° below zero on the 

 17th it 8 o'clock, a. 3i. ; and I believe it would be per- 

 fectly correct, as it was the standard instrument by 

 which the owner, one of the most eminent makers in 

 the north, used to regulate all his thermometers. 

 We shall experience a fearful loss of plants ; bushes of 

 Aucuba japonica are as black as coal, all my Noisette 

 Boses, the very hardiest of them, and plants covering a 

 peat space of wall are killed to the ground. The loss in 

 standard Roses will be considerable, and I should think 

 the whin (Furze) fences, unless saved to some extent by 

 the mow, must be ruined. William Beans, Anna Nur- 



*ry, Jedburgh. An ordinary registering thermo- 



■fter fell here as follows : — Feb. 15, 11° below zero ; 

 Feb. 16, 16i° ditto ; Feb. 1 7, 20° ditto ; and on the 1 9th 

 4° below zero. The above occurred between 6 and 7 

 r 'dock in the mornings. Charles Kay, Blackadder, Dunse, 

 Bermhhire. [What is here meant by the expression 



below zero ! or has the writer a thermometer that mis- 

 leads him ?] 



Water Mats.— Having been rather an extensive planter, 

 to m ground and near a running stream, and having 

 ^much annoyed by water rats barking the young 

 «ea (about six inches from the ground) quite round 

 w stems, and comp i etelv destroying them, I am in- 

 weed to ask whether you can point out any effectual 

 Jtanfor killing these animals, except by shooting them, 

 wen is a very tedious operation ; the professed rat- 

 owners wd not undertake to extirpate these aquatic 



nm'- dfo SC l iber ' [We destroyed or drove away all 

 JJJ » l«38, by laying phosphoric rat poison in their 



Feb. 20.— The President 



Am. T, ' ±m * ^— Tne President i 

 Jjojg the objects before the meeting 



were three 

 Gimh;. T yr- 9 *™* i»e Kingdom oi iNyami, Upper 



Sum lS e ! er With the fruits of Amomum Dauielli, 



Wofoni I*- ' exsca P u m, and grana-paradisi, from 



tiZZ ' P resent ed by W. F. Daniell, M.D. The 



"in. communications were read :-l. A letter from 



fecordm.\K OC4CWOod ' °f Haileybury College, Hertford, 

 fcktP? occurrence in that neighbourhood during 

 »iIitITl Pe u Weftthep » of the r ed-throated diver, and 

 2. aI^T' bofch kiIled between Ware and Hertford. 

 BAnoSn i0n ° f Dr * Hookep'a memoir on the 

 ^eyervl re8e * Polv morphism and extreme simplicity 



* this ora\? an T ere Stated t0 be the P^minent features 

 ^ " and f W n surveyed in a structural point of 



*ltir' an J •' ^"V^ *" « auuuiurai point OI 



b the Ll W ? S remar ked, were value to be attached 

 &*fed Ll - eVery ° rgaa a PPearing in a most 

 ^ophor^ m , J 0De or more of the species, 

 **'e *W* w ™. ld rank low » the system of plueno- 

 ^^eoLna Dlsre g a rding imperfection, however, 

 ** bebff ni are ,P reseilt which are necessary to warrant 

 ** of tJLo t- T amon S Ph«nogams, with the excep- 

 &e * plan! T r °i 0t8 - The arguments used to exc, ude 

 ^tkauthnl Phanerogamia were summed up 



S «onei« aS ?° mill e Within tbe following category : 

 ^diicC° U M v ! ewB * the nature of the seeds 

 •febeinL ?n I™' Blume ' and other s); (6) of their 



*SvS * ^ttinick) ; (c) a supposed similarity 

 ^^ric and ?. err ° neous idea that their appearance is 

 ^Uauce hi le,r growth ra P id (Endlicher); (d) the 

 u* 11 * of th tw *V he articulated filaments on the 

 ff^andbetJ .Y 08 ^ 699 * Rnd the paraphyses of 

 Nillj «a of to the P i8tiHa °f Balanophora, and the 

 ^ m «ani T Cl i Griffith and Lindley); (O 

 ^ eir characto T ? ,ftP and vascul ar tissues in some 

 £2? i (f) a v 6 0f Ferns ( Un g e r and Goep- 



Sf^efthen ^ pecul,ar view of the nature and 

 !?* ^fers b*u i the female fl,)Wer (Weddell, who 

 ST 315 )' T\J1 ? reffi with Rafflesiacew to Gymno- 



^ l ^thors w V,C i^ Dr ' Hooke r observes, their 



would never have entertained had 





the 



they been sufficiently furnished with specimens^ After 

 discussing further some of the opinions entertained 

 by botanists as to their affinities, Dr. Hooker goes 

 on to state his own view, which is, briefly, that 

 the vascular bundles in the rhizomes of Helosis 

 and Langsdorffia are sufficient evidence of their 

 being dicotyledonous, thf se being altogether exogenous, 

 and not differing from the stems of Menispermacese 

 and other anomalous but undoubted dicotyledons. " The 

 Balanophorese," he continues, " have an adherent 

 perianth in all the genera where this organ is developed, 

 and an epigynous stamen in Cynomorium, the only 

 species in which hermaphrodite flowers occur. These 

 characters indicate a position amongst the epigynous 

 Calyciflorse,- a group which, though far from being well 

 limited as a natural class, is in our present state of 

 knowledge one of considerable value, as comprehending 

 many nearly allied natural families. Amongst them, 

 the most direct relation of the Balanophorese is cer- 

 tainly with Haloragese and Gunnera, with both of 

 which it presents many important characters in 

 common, and between which I would place it in 

 the linear series." This [view Dr. Hooker pro- 

 ceeds to illustrate by a detailed comparison of in- 

 dividual organs, and to meet such objections as may 

 probably be urged against it. In the classification 

 of the genera and species, Dr. Hooker prefers Griffith's 

 primary divisions, monostyles and distyles, which are 

 perfectly natural. ^ The greater number of these plants 

 belong to the tropical and subtropical mountains of Asia 

 and South America ; in both hemispheres certain 

 species ascend to 10,000 feet. A considerable number 

 are extra- tropical, as Cynomorium, which attains 

 lat, 41 Q N. in Europe ; the two Mystropetala and Sar- 

 .cophyte, which inhabit South Africa ; an Helosis from 

 the Plata district, and the North Indian species of 

 Balanophora and Rhopalocnemis. The individual 

 species have often exceedingly wide ranges, though 

 some are extremely local. The most conspicuous 

 examples of extensive distribution are Cynomorium 

 coccineum, which ranges from the Canary Isles to the 

 mouths of the Nile, namely, through 3000 miles of longi- 

 tude ; Rhopalocnemis, which is found in lat. 27° N. in 

 East Nepal and Sikkim, in the Khasiya mountains of 

 East Bengal, and in Java under the line, places no less 

 than 3000 miles apart ; Balanophora fungosa, which is 

 found both in East Australia and in Tanna, places sepa- 

 rated by 1500 miles of ocean ; and in the New World, 

 Langsdorffia hypogtea has been found in the province of 

 Oaxaca, in Mexico, in the mountains of New Grenada, 

 and at Rio de Janeiro, having thus a range of 4000 miles 

 in a straight line. The widely distributed species, it is 

 remarked, do not vary much according to the distance 

 they spread. 



rience 





&Qtitt$ (ft 2504&Su 



The Art of Travel, by Fraucis Galton, (Murray, post 

 8vo, 12s,) will be found as indispensable to the traveller 

 in wild countries as « the Handbooks" are to mere 

 tourists. It is evident that the author is a man of expe- 



he knows what the traveller wants and what he 

 has to encounter ; upon both points he gives advice, 

 which is as judicious as it is abundant. Water, fire, 

 bivouac, clothes, food, discipline, defence, hiding places, 

 boats, ponds, &c. ; roads, carriage, carpentry, skins, 

 writing materials, cattle, horse furniture, fire-arms, 

 trapping, fishing, medicines, presents for barter, ex- 

 penses, philosophical instruments, form so many distinct 

 subjects, each of which is carefully worked out and 

 well illustrated with woodcuts. Such a quartermaster- 

 general or commissary-general would have secured us 

 against the disgraceful mismanagement in the Crimea ; 

 it is of men like Mr. Galton that such officers should 

 alone be made, carpet knights and gentlemen in uniforms 

 with red tape facings are only fit for the atmosphere of 

 St. James's. The author's advice as concerns water 

 enables us to make an extract illustrative of the manner 

 in which his very useful little volume is written : — 



* To purify water that is muddy, putrid, or salt. — With 

 muddy water, the remedy is to filter, and to use alum, 

 if you have it. With putrid, to boil, to mix with char- 

 coal, or expose to the sun and air ; or, what is best, to 

 use all three methods at the same time. With salt 

 water, nothing avails hut distillation. 



" Muddy Water. — When at the watering-place there 

 is nothing but liquid mud, take a good handful of Grass, 

 and tie it roughly together in the form of a cone, 6 or 

 8 inches long ; then dipping the broad end into the 

 puddle, and turning it up, a streamlet of partly-filtered 

 water will trickle down through the small end. This 

 excellent plan is used by the northern bushmen — at 

 their wells quantities of these bundles are found lying 

 about (Andersson). Otherwise, drink through your 

 handkerchief — either put it over the mouth of your 

 mug, or else throw it on the liquid mess as it lies in the 

 puddle, and suck through. For a copious supply, the 

 most perfect plan, if you have means, is to bore a cask 

 full of auger-holes, and put another small one, that has 

 had the bottom knocked out, inside it, then fill up the 

 space between the two with Grass, Moss, &c. Now 

 sinking the whole in the midst of the mud, the water 

 will filter through the auger-koles and Moss, and rise up 

 clear in the inner cask, whence it can be ladled. With 

 a single cask, the lower parts of the sides may be bored, 

 and alternate layers of sand and Grass thrown in, till 

 they reach up above the holes ; through these layers 

 the water will strain. Or a canvass-bag that is kept 

 open with hoops, made on the spot, may be moored in 



the muddy pjol, by having a heavy stone put inside it, 



and will act on the same principle, but less efficiently 



than the casks. Turbid water is also, in some way as 



yet unexplained, made clear by putting a piece of alum 



into it. Three thimblesfull of finely-pounded alum will 



clarify a bucketful of turbid water. It is generally used 



in India. I cannot say if alum will clear every kind of 



turbid water, but it is certainly met with in very 

 general use. 



Putrid Water should always be, at least, boiled before 

 drinking it, as low fevers and dysenteries too often are 

 the consequences of its being used ; bitter herbs, if 

 steeped in it, or even rubbed well about the cup, are 

 said to render it less unwholesome." 



Tintem Abbey: a Poem (by F. B. Ribbans, F.A.S. 

 4to, Hall and Virtue), contains three extremely good 

 representations of this fine old ruin, introduced by some 

 agreeably written stanzas, and a few antiquarian notes. 

 The volume is one for the drawing-room. 



Every Man his own Printer, or Lithography Made 



Easy (4to, Waterlow, 5s), is an explanation of the 



manner of preparing lithography for the printer, and of 



using the " patent autographic press," now a good deal 



employed in large offices for the rapid multiplication of 



copies of letters, &c. Private persons will, we suspect, 



prefer to send their drawings to a printer for working 



off, rather thai\ trouble themselves with a press of their 

 own. 



Garden Memoranda. 



Horticultural Society's Garden, Turnham Green. 



— The stoves here are now becoming gay with Begonias 

 which are well known to be most useful plants for winter 

 decoration ; but in addition to these some other plants 

 at present in flower require especial notice. One of the 

 most ornamental of these is Thyrsacanthus rutilans, a 

 stove plant as yet scarcely known, but which should be 

 in every collection, as it is really one of the handsomest 

 things that has been introduced for years. It produces 

 great quantities of brilliant crimson tubular flowers 

 attached near the ends of long branched drooping flower 

 stems, which when tied out a little, so as to fully expose 

 the blossoms to view, render the plant very effective. 

 The flowers also keep a long time in perfection, a 

 desirable property at all times, and especially at this 

 season of the year. Another plant, which cannot be 

 too highly spoken of, is the Flax called Linum trigynum, 

 a hardy greenhouse plant, whose numerous bright yellow 

 blossoms, each as large as a half crown piece, are 

 extreme!}' showy, and they continue to be developed in 

 succession for several weeks. Sciadocalyx Warscewiczi, 

 a Gesnerad resembling Achiinenes picta, is a tolerably 

 handsome stove plaint at this season, as is also a Clero- 

 dendron, with pale yellow flowers, called C. splendens 

 Hugeli. 



Among Orchids in bloom the most important was 

 Dendrobium speciosum a noble plant, which, however, 

 is scarcely yet in perfection, It has upwards of 12 

 flower spikes on it, many of them quite 15 inches in 

 length, and when fully out must produce a glorious 

 effect. This plant has been kept comparatively cool, 

 and we are thus led to believe that the reason it so 

 seldom flowers is because it is kept all the year round in 

 too warm a temperature. 



In the great Cons rvatory several kinds of Habro- 

 thamnus were in bloom, among which one called scaber 

 promises to be an improvement on elegans, to which it 

 bears considerable resemblance. A mass of H. fasci- 

 cularis was also in blossom, and when large and well 

 flowered as th s was few winter flowering plants are 

 handsomer. The Camellias in this house are coming 

 finely into flower; elegans in particular is literally loaded 

 with its large showy blossoms, notwithstanding that its 

 flower-buds had been previously very much thinned. 

 The sweet-smelling Luculia gratissima is also still in fine 

 condition, although it was in full flower when we saw 

 it a month ago, and even long before then. On the 

 side shelves plants of Selago distans were in flower, 

 together with Heaths, early Tulips, Hyacinths, and 

 other spring bulbs, Primroses, and Acacias, all of 

 which serve to produce a large amount of gaiety, even 

 thus early in the year. 



The Orchard -house has been re- arranged and put in 

 order ; it is well stocked with fruit- trees of new or little 

 known kinds in pots ; even Raspberries, Gooseberries, 

 and Currants (red, white, and black), have been potted 

 and put in it for trial. Round the sides of the beds are 

 Strawberries in pots, a situation well adapted for them 

 in winter, and from which they may either be removed 

 to warmer quarters if it be desired to have them early, 

 or if allowed to remain where they are they will come 

 in a little before those in the open air. 



Protections for pits, Sec, hav. been in great requisi- 

 tion during this winter, and in addition to frigi domo, 

 several contrivances made of straw have been tried. 

 The best of the latter has been made of long Wheat 

 straw laid crosswise on three pieces of tar twine (at 

 equal distances apart), on which the straw is worked 

 with common twine, in the manner recommended by Mr. 

 Brewer, of Pine Apple Place. These protections when 

 completed are about 10 feet in length, and nearly 4 feet 

 in width ; they are light, and have the advantage of being 

 capable of bein^r speedily rolled up and set on end in 

 any corner out of the way. Another description of 

 covering is straw fastened on a skeleton sash ; this 

 answers very well, but when they are pulled off they 

 cannot conveniently be put out of the way. The third 

 kind of new covering tried has been straw placed be- 



