190 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



rail 



I in his time. This tract is 



IE KbrSrfcce little Above the present level 

 ea steme , nit «howinff no traces ot lull 



but hillocks of 



•^ AeVil full of salt showing 



fihS*t^yl»t.-«n ta all S,l,ola, Salicornia Yna- 



A^Smisia. The limit of this saline steppe, or ancient 

 •trait is hold and well defined to the northward by the 

 iarv cliffs and hills of the right bank of the Dnieper, 

 and of the high tertiary and granitic steppe which 

 extends from that river near Bereslap above- Cherson, 

 to the sea of Azof near MariupoL The southern hunt 

 of this low It steppe within the peninsula of the Crimea, 

 andsouthot Perel not sowell defined— the rise being 



gradual, and the change marked chiefly by the improve- 

 mefit of soil and vegetation. But all that central plain or 



[March 



Centrifugal Pump, where every drop of water which . Their tops and branches were thus bu 1 

 enters produces its due effect. An overshot water-wheel, — - u " »" 



42 feet high, is in his case ridiculous. Molar. 



Allow me to ask Messrs. 



continual snow, which lay upwards of a T^ \^ *• 

 kent the trees in that recumbent c *«*„ %« . 7*fcnj 



ecumbeut stau 



Hybrid Rhod drons. 

 Standish and Noble to name any hybrids which have 

 been produced by a cross from ciliatum or glaucum, 

 as I see they recommend them as breeders, and of 

 course their recommendation is not a theoretical one. 



March 1 9. 



Permit me to furnish 



W. P., 



Ipswich Standard Cucumber. 

 you with a specimen of this Cucumber, which is, how- 

 ever, by no means perfect, but is merely sent as an 

 example of what kind of fruit it produces when the 

 plants are overcropped. On Friday the 16th, four 

 Cucumbers, all over 20 inches long, were cut from one 

 plant, and the specimen sent for your inspection is one 

 of them. T. Wild, Ipswich. [It measured 20\ inches 



££ if not P co P streamlet, and U in every respecd 



Tl 



j full-grown Birch and Oak trees had been ^ l ** i ^ 

 and partly broken by the weight of the ccmS 

 their tops, while their collateral branches \v<f jS?* 11 

 to the ground. The thaw which began here to ** 

 latter end of February and the rays of th ** 1 ^ 

 indeed melted the icy incrustations on the n**^ 

 of the trees, but it still remained undissolved^* 8 

 branches which were fixed in the snow. ** *~ 



of ice on one side all appeared melted iqIq a io y 

 but on the lower part they were crystal 

 according to the usual configuration ot Irozt^?? 

 hexagonal and partly in rhomboidal figure*^? 

 others consisted only of hexagonal sections. TWiS* 8 

 were like the well known hollow cubes of salt, au ^^ 

 formed of icicles of a pyramidal figure when mt*J 

 broad on the surface, and narrow towards tbe^ 



The, 



equal to those similar high steppes of Southern Russia 

 north of the low saline strait, with the advantage of a 

 decidedly better, though still variable, climate. Were 

 justice done to this district, it would probable become a 

 line corn country, but its masters must change or be 

 changed before that is likely to happen. The natives 

 are docile enoi Picturesque palaces, and marine 



villas of nobles, belonging to St. Petersburg an 

 Moscow, will not make up for the depopulation of alar^e 

 province turned into a vast military position. I >n the 

 limestone steppes or plateau, the most conspicuous 

 an ig the Burian, or weeds, is the wild Hollyhock, 

 Alcea ficifolia, the e lour in the wild plant being in- 

 variably the sulphur yellow, and very handsome. 

 Another striking plant, "particularly so in the droughts 

 of summer,i8 the Liquorice, Glycyrrhiza glabra, forming 



pal ies of dark and seemingly indestructible 



Roasted Potato Sets.— The following is the result of part where they were fixed in the ice. A similj? 

 mv second year's experience in roasting Potato sets :— . nomenon was observed m many woody region £ 



growing wmi tne vaioma uai . l suppose 

 e tlie same as that of Southern Austria 



greet. , which resiflts the strongest heats of summer and 

 autumn, while everything is parched around it. It 

 teems to flower but sparingly, even in a state of 

 nature. Son f the coarse biennial or perennial 

 Centaureas considered as flowering bushes, C. ovina, &c., 

 are not ugly when in bloom. As to Koch's Quercus 

 pubesceiis, it seem* d to me the same as that which I 

 saw some months later on the hills around the plain of 

 Troy, growing with the Valonia Oak. 1 

 t to be the same 

 and probably Hungary, which is not seen in Western 

 Germany, except in a few pleasure grounds, as an 

 ornamental grey tree. Juiiiperus rufeseens seems very 

 near J. ma« >earpa of Greece and Naples— very near 

 J. oxyeedrus — which might easily extend to the Crimea. 

 It seems everywhere to prefer sea shores. I am in- 

 terested in the question of the identity of the J. excelsa 

 with ours, or that of Nepal and Siberia. In some 

 botanical worl . every species from Russia which is not 

 known to be European, and some European ones too, 

 are set down as Siberian. Koch's description is exact. 

 The words ia italics in ywtv quotation only need the 

 omiMon of the last comma, and perhaps the transposi- 

 tion of the word u have " to be quite correct as a 

 translation from what 1 conceive the original German, 

 from its sense, to be. Ji imagine the Isle of Wight 

 on a larger scale, the i- ithampten water suddenly run 

 dry by a subttorne earthquake in the Atlantic (the 



These were kept on the hot flue near a month before 

 planting out, which was done in June to procure a late 

 crop of new Potatoes. Some time before the disease 

 had generally shown itself, one plant was very securely 

 inclosed under a hand-glass ; now precisely at the same 

 time that the attack upon the crops in general com- 

 menced in my neighbourhood, the whole of these 

 showed unequivocal symptoms of the rot, nor was the well 

 covered plant any more protected than those imme- 

 diately around. The result of my observations lead 

 me to conclude that the cause lies at one particular time 

 of the year, and not in the age of the plant, for that 

 does not secure them ; but, on the contrary, the younger 

 they are at such time the more severe the rot will be ; 

 therefore those are right who recommend planting early. 

 Last year the mischief, severe in the tops, did not show 

 itself at first much in the tubers here, but a creat many 

 apparently very sound ones were found tainted after- 

 ward and had to be re-sorted over and over again with 



loss. C. G., York. 



Rain at Dor wards Hall, Witham, in 1854. — 



Inches. 



Saratof." M. J. B. 



Coniferce. — Like your correspondent " Pinus GW 

 trensis " I should much like to see gome comZi! 

 authority taking up the nomenclature of such jSk 

 rarely known Couiferse, as were not included i&jL 

 synopsis of Coniferous plants published in the J 

 of the Hurt. Soc. Many kinds of 



January 



February 



March 



April 



May... 



June 



July 



• •• 



• ■ • 



• f • 



■ •• 



• . ■ 



• it 



* . . 



■ a • 



. . i 



• • • 



• a ■ 



• • ■ 





- - . 





• * * 



* * # 



1.81 



0.6: J 

 0.24 



0.36 

 2.92 



0.86 

 0.61 



7, 



■ a I 



Brought forward 

 August 

 September 

 October 

 November 

 December 



• ■ t 



fl • * 



- 



• at • 



• • 4 



• • « 



■ • • 



Indies. 

 742 

 2.57 

 0.59 

 1.74 

 1.69 

 147 



at. 



Total 



• • ■ 



• • • 



15.48 



Straits of Dover 



the water in the Solent and Sfrithead lowered so as to longer than any other. 

 leave a spit of sand for an i 

 brackish pools and salt mi 



Carried forward 



Henry Dixon. 



Pinm insignis. — One peculiarity of this Fir is the 

 difficulty in good ground of keeping it upright ; another, 

 that if you cut off a branch in spring it sprouts from the 

 mutilated stump exactly like a deciduous tree. Except 

 in gravelly or sandy soils, a good specimen cannot he 

 considered safe from being uprooted however carefully 

 planted. Somerset. 



May's Magnum Bonum, alias Bedale Hall Cos 

 Lettuce. — Observing that Mr. May is advertising this 

 Lettuce in your columns, I wish to say that it is 

 decidedly one of the best summer Lettuces grown, 

 attaining the largest size ; it requires to be planted 

 2 feet apart each way, which space it will quite fill up. 



■■* 3^ cut through the chalk), It is a sweet and tender Lettuce, and will last good 



Bearfield's Bath Cos is the 



tnius partly covered with best Lettuce extant for autumn and winter use; indeed 

 lea, and uniting the low it is a good Lettuce for all seasons of the yeir, and 



shore of West Cowes with the nearest point of the then " 



dry bed of the previous Southampton Waters, and you 



hare a good idea of the geography of the Crimea— its 



stands the "winter in the shape of young plants with 

 impunity. C. Hewson, Bedale Hall, Yorkshire. 



tertiary plateau being further represented by the I 

 tertiary country about Newport; the Medina might be the 

 Salghir, and the chalk and subjacent secondary strata 

 very truly and correctly figuring the limestone rocks of 

 a similar formation in the Yaila range, with a warm 

 sunny under cliff of older beds, in both peninsulas, 

 cropping out from below. & 



Under-ground Manuring. — Allow me to bear testi- 

 mony to the value of this mode of applying liquid 

 manure to Melons and Cucumbers. I have practised it 

 for the last five years as follows : — Having put in the 

 pit or frame about two-thirds of the soil intended for 

 the plants, I then placed on this soil horizontally, at 

 about 18 inches from the sides of the pit (all rouud), a 

 row of common drainage pipes about two inches in the 

 bore, together with three or four placed perpendicularly 

 leading into them — 1 then put on the other third of soil. 

 By this means you are able to water the roots with 

 liquid manure without interfering with the surface. As 

 % proof of the success of the plan, I may mention the 

 following facte :— On the 21st June, 1853, I exhibited a 

 Victory of Bath Melon at the Guildford Horticultural 

 Inhibition, and gained a prize. I brought it home, 



*r W *< *t * eeds next roori "ng, and cut and showed on 

 «*• -4th beptember at the same place, from this sowing, 



Holcus (Sorghum) Saccharatus. — We read in the 

 " Botanische Zeitung," that at the sitting of the Berlin 

 Society of Naturalists, on the 16th January, Herr plants have been killed to the ground 



Liidersdorf spoke of the Sorghum saccharatum with 

 relation to its saccharine principle. According to 

 him the saccharine principle is only developed in the 

 stem towards autumn, and is more considerable in the 

 lower part of the stem than towards the panicle. The 

 sugar contained in the whole stem is, according to his 

 experiments, only 7*54 per cent, and, therefore, much 

 less than Vilmorin found. This sugar is for the most 

 part cane-sugar 



Cupreaftu,* 



Abietinese are to be met with, scatteed through v* 

 nursery establishments, but it is difficult tu uj ik 

 they really are, not being referable to auythingia 

 mentioned. Again much confusion exists in the aa* 

 of species which have been long introduced. 1 now %j 

 allude to Abies grandis and amabilis — the one \m 

 often substituted for the other, and vice versa. Ytm* 

 inspection of many collections I am of opinion fc 

 there are very few plants of amabilis in the 

 and very few more of grandis ; most of the 

 I have examined under the name of araabilii \m 

 nothing more than Frazeri. Mr. Veitch hub* 

 ever seedling plants of true amabilis in a ml 

 state. I once purchased a plant of Pinus bungs* 

 from Mr. Glendinning, who informed me it came fat 

 Japan, and reached him through a continental irawr. 

 Pinus Padufica, or Padufiana, I know to comefroifc 

 Crimea, having myself received cones from thence ; fc 

 species belongs to the two leaved section, and has 

 closely resembling the Scotch Fir. There is a doll 

 rectify in the names of many species of Cuprem I 

 may mention the one under the name of macrocirpi, f 

 its synonym, Lambertiana — as it represents two ptal 

 of very distinct habit. I have another kind mi 

 Knighti or majestica, about which I can beam 

 it is a very fast grower, and is making a grand loikac 

 tree, evidently of the Thurifera section. CorneTiM,* 

 your correspondent observes, is certainly not thwm 

 fcemina. The Junipers are likewise in much caotal 

 and require a revision to correct their names; »■■ 

 can however only be satisfactorily done byanexs» 

 tion of living specimens. I am a great admireM 

 Coniferous plants myself, and anything which will m 

 to throw light on their history will be accept»We»» 

 interested in their cultivation. John Spencer, BM* 



The Winter in East Lothian.-The effects of *•» 

 severe frosts in this district have of course been ; * 

 according to the elevation and dryness of the «■■■' 

 but so long a contiuuance of such a low tempew* 

 l p and 2° above zero is not remembered ***>** 

 sequently the destruction amongst evergreens *» F^ 

 usually considered hardy has not been "^S 

 the last quarter of a century ; the foliage of «*&■£ 



has in all cases been browned, and in some in «■» 



AH the i*^ 



— Kit! mP 



tribe, and even Leeks not covered with snow,» ^ 

 blanched and withered; and Caulinowers,J""j ^ 

 under glass, have been completely destroyed _j 

 garden, the soil of which is low and d «»P!*!° ^ 

 to exhalations from a small river, 1J ~* jjQja 

 severely. Besides the effects noticed aM". ^ 

 Roses even on a south wall have been cut a^ u 

 roots. On Moor Park Apricots, covered 



This surely was not bad 



*nd gained another prize. 



work. » 8. j VhetUr ^ uendou, Middlesex. 



befn,?L i * ft? p - 175 -)~"S. N." should consider, 



£«»« .power * i ioVse •tJLTjKL^ 



2TJ .1 , b<>, «". dw,J ' m mone y *«"« onVnennv If 

 he st.ll thinks this small power mi«l u be toiSS 7* 



let hun p* in . wheel Z the J^L&Tl^ffi 



; but is unfortunately, like the sugar of 

 Maize, mixed with Grape-sugar, so that the Sorghum is 

 not likely to add to the number of useful sugar-bearing 

 plants. Specimens of the plant and of the sugar pro- 

 duced from it were laid before the Society, B. 



Trees broken down by Ice. — The effect of ice in weigh- 

 ing down the branches of trees, when it is formed as 

 fast as the rain falls, as mentioned by Mr. Rogers in the 

 Card. Chron. 9 Feb. 10, 1855, is described in an article 

 m the " Magazine of Natural History'* (vol. vi., p. 100), 

 from which a very graphic quotation is given in 

 Loudon's « Arboretum" (vol. iv., p. 2136). A view of 

 a Birch forest near Saratof, broken by the weight 

 of the ice and bent down into the snow, is printed 

 in Palias's «« Voyage through the Southern Pro- 

 vinces of the Russian Empire" (vol. i., p. 88). The 

 description of the phenomenon is given at p 55 as 



f ?i loW ? 1 : T a A fter paS8ing the Sokura we met with con- 

 siderable heights, which abound with wood, and divide 



the brooks of the Tshardym from those of the Kurdvum 

 Here our curiosity was gratified by anew and uncommon 

 appearance of the trees, of which we had received an 

 imperfect idea in the former part of our journey The 

 cause of th.ss.ngular phenomenon was as follows Severe 

 hoar frosts had commenced in these regions before 

 Christmas, and were followed by snow mixed with rain 

 or sleet, so that even the smallest branch** of the trees 

 were covered with ice an inch thick; by thisall tiu, flexible 

 B,rch tree, had been bent to the ground in semicircles. 



with •** 



toe*** 



buds, I do not expect half-a dozen Mosbqib"^ 

 the buds being all brown and lifeless. t t 



little better, and a good many forwa.a ^ w y,» 

 same condition. It is satisfactory to ot>sw ^ 

 Mr. Fortune's importations have *«•«!*" ^ 

 Weigela rosea, Forsythia viridissnn*, &P«JjJ r ^* 

 being apparently uninjured, while a ^0 

 the beautiful Jasminum nudifWum, 1^^0,0 

 bloom, once or twice in the intervals oiw ^ 

 surrounded by snow, opened a few bl ^ r ; J»«J 



marked out, but it will take «»«* /*£, ^ 

 plants to their former condit.on jj^ ^ 



nearly covered with fully expanded flow 

 weeks the ravages of the weather will «* . 



W^ ■ AUVK4W w» *» ■ m-m^r w — '— — — - - 



Preserved Vegetables. — The 



great 



bulk and weight" of vegetables preserv 



'ed iB *'^ 



specimens will never recover. Jo^~ ^imfr"** 



edio 



way ia of considerable importance,^ bttt istrf 



land carriage, or freight of ^*T^jm»% 

 questioned whether pressure ot su<^ ^ ofr j£W , 



id* 1 ? 





wise desirable, more especially as ^ 

 process that the vegetables requir ^ 



time to cook them. For soups udow ^ ^^ 

 no objection, but in most ^^b^^l^ 

 It is possible that the ^° x m ^°\^ -f 



of *" 



natural form to the air ; and on ""^"tbtff^ 

 expedient to press those herbs & T ^ ftf^ 

 for aoups or stews j but where a 



e* 



preserved in cakes of them ih *^\cc*^ [ 



£ti<*& 



