

THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 





• 



the name of Trocken liiule, there 

 •^f^knce'^wnatever between the two maladies. 

 f tS53 in paragraph (810) that the relation of 

 11 fJncurl has not at present been accurately 

 *7 . ° Be this relation, however, what it may, 

 -_ is unhappily too generally known from the 

 ** i-Mihich it occasions to the cultivator, and the 

 Cl^n. consequences which have arisen, more 

 fSkVi I in Ireland. The sets when committed to the 

 *rf remain either altogether dormant, and then pass 

 Lt> 1 site of decay, or they produce only weal, and 



shoots which either themselves swell into a 



MID 1 



lil e tuber or give rise wnuuui. an; »"*»'« uc*c- 



JS * r * to % few diminutive Potatoes, or if the shoot 



»n*th enough to appear above the surface it 



onlv small dimensions with a yellow chlorotic 





l * UMI "an'd periAca without, however, as far as 

 I hire observed, exhibiting any marked distor- 

 ts All the tubers from the same seed are not 



I 



f.MI 



anidy affected ; and in consequence the crop in 

 flOiraJ exhibits a patchy appearance. Now, it is at 

 oiee evident that every case in which the tubers refuse 

 to terminate is not referrible to the same cause. They 

 say have been heated, salt may have been purposely 

 eed with the Potatoes in the pits to prevent heating, 

 or the ToUtoes themselves may be partially decayed 

 from different causes, and in such cases we need not be 

 gnrprised if the crop fails. The essence of the disease 

 before us consists in the tubers being to all appearance, 

 even on attentive examination, perfectly sound, and yet 



to shoot—a condition precisely contrary to 

 (hat which obtains in tubers affected with the Potato 

 murrain, which are notoriously precocious. 



J15. One or two of the causes which have been 

 ttRgoed for this affection have already been disposed of. 

 Imperfect ripening of the tubers is one which perhaps 

 would deserve a little notice, if there were any reason 

 to wppose that, in the majority of cases in which it 

 occurs, imperfectly ripened sets were used. This is, 

 however, so far from being the case that the very con- 

 trary supposition, of the tubers being allowed to arrive 

 at the most perfect state of growth before their removal 

 from the aoii, is a favourite theory with some ; founded 

 partly on the fact that imperfectly ripened seeds germi- 

 nate more readily when committed at once to the ground, 

 *an those in which the tissues and their contents have 

 arrived at that condition in which they can retain their 

 vegetative powers the greatest length of time, and 

 partly on the notion that, where the whole or the 

 peater part of the contents of the cells are converted 

 ■to fecula, there is little or no nitrogenous matter 

 pw»nt to facilitate the conversion of the starch 

 grains into a soluble substance capable of affording 

 nourishment with sufficient rapidity to the nascent or 

 «raunt eye. It is not, however, observed that where 

 •ottered tubers have been accidentally left in the 

 gtond, or where whole plants have been left inten- 

 »nally, there is any difficulty of vegetation, or any 

 nat of strength in the young shoots. The practice of 

 PniBg Potatoes by exposing them to light depends 

 ?«»« notion ; but if it has any effect in producing a 

 J™!* C ™P» i* is probably because such tubers are 

 mm* to decay than others, or less exposed to the 

 •wswsuch fungi as prey on organisms in which the 

 « principle is liable to easy denotement. Thus 

 anLa ■ ct *J eelBB certain, that where whole tubers 

 «b£n m P re f r *nce to sets, the crops are much less 



5l„ n Fy r0t In their natural condition the 

 £™« cells are protected not only by the cuticle 



wberW in ♦ T eral la * ers of subcuticular cells, 

 **•«£/!? J are com P leteI y exposed, and it is 

 *Bfo *k imme<iiate subjection to the fluids 



**fy noxi< 

 **|fabarml 



**a**Uf. ™ n imbibed b y the cuticular surface 

 *£*£ ^ ay pr ° V6 ™J uriou s. The whole subject 



be 



open 



«K»ectAd Ju i^Huiry , out no result can 



*5T Z r ,f ro .^; econceiv ^ notions or hasty con- 

 frf«*iL :> ud g ment an <* prevent a fair exami- 



^^•aJJ^ l ? t ! Vep , henoineiia - Ifc is well ascertained 

 ^careful and competent judges, that i 



10 »*t of cerS* f tuberS baVe a & reat superiority 

 te< *wtfe^ nt ^ and P rodu ce ; it is wise, therefore, 



* **! entail .rT 6 ° f SUch authorities, even though 

 Whii*^* «"le additional outlay; and where 



m corn- 



el*** 

 aataj 





external injury. I have 



U**2fi m a \ he v USe ° f l raw manure > ***** h ™ 

 l **0ce in ™*L- m other aspects, cannot have 



retard 



it: 



ADVENTITIOUS ROOTS. 



t&^Z" 7 "* 11 established th *t, in pheno- 

 ^* *rre k U , ,0US root8 are not formed, except 



m *e v< L?' CU ? r tisSUe under whose ▼*■! 



*¥* ** o f 2,r? ^^ be devel( >P^ 5 a «d this 

 l^PHmary I x ^ ch Jurther uivi.ion of the root than 

 S^ed hil A » «cellent illustration of this 



B^Wly inL;r?i t erj l€aV€S *W<*hwi been 

 S* p ord ntJ V eh were forw *rded by Mr. 

 *$*** in th s ear!y ?"* of 1852, one of which 



i«f*», ." lhlb Journal at th* *;™' j_: 



2** *°oU 



« f STfalcSS" 1 A aHuS S enerated * the , 

 to in- 1 ue * A B»ngfo leaf has 



f 5811 ^ 



^na 



^4 

 Ma 



urf* 



just 



rootlet, as in the formtr instance, exhibited a direct 

 communication of the vascular tissue of the leaf with 

 that of the root, and had nothing more appeared I 

 should have considered it quite superfluous to call 

 attention again to the matter ; but the tissue was so 

 remarkably modified at the point of juncture of their 

 respective fascicles, that it is well worth a few more 

 words. 



In the root itself, and in the vascular bundle from 

 which it sprang, the spiral vessels (for true spirals, 

 capable of being unrolled, existed in the fascicles) were 

 straight and showed no peculiarity, but at the point of 

 junction they were highly distorted and branched, often 

 giving off short protuberances, and increased evidently 

 by the swelling out of their sides after the fashion of a 

 branched Conferva, and not by the production of new 

 cells within the parent cell, or the confluence of several, 

 and the subsequent absorption of the dissepiments. 

 The fascicles, too, of each pair of roots were more or 

 less connected. The structure was ia fact precisely 

 the same as that represented by Trecul in the abortive 

 adventitious roots of the yellow Water Lily (" Annates 

 des Sciences Naturelles, Nov., Dec., 1854,") though 

 singularly enough those roots which in Nuphar luteum 

 break through the bark exhibit no such structure, while 

 their ramifications present merely the obtuse, slightly j 

 curved, and incrassated ends of their spiral vessels 

 attached at right angles to the scalariform or reticulated 

 vessels of the main root. As only a single root-bearing 

 leaf occurred in which all the rootlets were well 

 developed, there was no opportunity of observing in 

 what precise manner they were given off, but it is 

 quite clear that the spongy cellular mass produced at 

 the fractured surface had no further part in their 

 production than supplying nutriment and temporary 

 protection to the nascent fascicle from which the new 

 root was ultimately developed. 



It is worthy of remark, in connection with the fact of 

 the adventitious roots in the former case arising from 

 ascending fascicles, whereas, in the present, they are 

 due to descending offsets, that in the yellow Water Lily 

 all the adventitious roots are originally ascendant, 

 though eventually those only appear to be in general 

 developed which are on the side which is in contact with 



335 



bottom, with a layer of moss to keep the soil from 

 mixing with the drainage. In filling the pots, I use the 

 rougher portion of the soil first, and the finer as the 

 pots become nearer full. This mode of proceeding 

 secures perfect drainage, which is cf the highest im 

 portance. My pots filled, and light! v pressed' down, I 

 insert my bulbs, leaving their crowns just below the 

 surface ; I then give a good watering with a fine-rosed 

 pot, and keep them afterwards moderately damp : but 

 I never allow water to stand in the pans, as they are 

 impatient of much moisture at any time, except when 

 in rail flower, and then they require a rather plentiful 



I always fix the trellis on the pot at the time of 

 potting, as it saves the roots from being injured, as 

 would happen, if the operation was delayed to a future 

 time. I carefully lay in the shoots as soon as they are 

 produced, and fill every part of the trellis, which is 

 brought over the front of the pot to within 4 or 5 

 inches of its bottom. This gives them a neat appear- 

 ance ; and a month before they come into full bloom, I 

 contrive to have the shoots equally distributed all over 

 the trellis ; for when this is the case, the beauty of the 

 plant is very much enhanced. Aljha. 



Are 

 have, 





the soil. The figure exhibits four pairs of roots springing 

 from three marginal ribs of the leaf, as seen from the 

 upper surface, the spongy body, in consequence of its 

 obliquity, being completely concealed. The fascicle of 

 vessels alone is represented as seen in a vertical section, 

 not passing directly through the centre, but a little on 

 one side, the bast cells which surround it being entirely 

 omitted as not exhibiting anything peculiar. The outer 

 surface of all the roots was clothed with short delicate 

 hairs, which no doubt are a great assistance to the 

 spongy tissue in imbibing nutriment from the soil. I 

 have nothing to add to the practical inferences which 

 w r ere before deduced from this curious subject. M. /. B. 



TROP^EOLUM TRICOLORUM. 



Tha.n this, few plants possess more real interest ; and 

 it is as useful as it is interesting, for it continues to 

 flower nearly the whole season through. It is so easily 

 managed, too, that it may be cultivated successfully in a 

 greenhouse, a pit, or even in a window, if frost is kept 

 from it ; and then its curiously formed, lovely red 

 flowers, when once developed, create such a charming 

 display, that any little care bestowed on it during its 

 early growth is amply repaid. Nobody who loves 

 flowers— and who does not ! — should be without this 

 valuable little plant, the training of whose tiny shoots 

 over the slender trellis that is destined to support them 

 affords agreeable employment for many an otherwise 



profitless half hour. 



The mode of culture I pursue is as follows. As soon 

 as the plants have done flowering, they are removed to 

 the back of the greenhouse, or to any sheltered place 

 most convenient, and are allowed to dry off gradually. 

 When the stems have become completely dried up, and 

 break from the bulbs, the latter are carefully taken out 

 of the pots in which they have flowered, wrapped in 

 paper, and preserved in a drawer, until the time arrives 

 for their being started a^ain into growth. This will be 

 about the middle of September, when they will have 

 grown a few inches. I then pot them directly into the j 

 pots they are intended to flower in. For bulbs from 

 four to five years old, I me 11-inch pots, and smaller 

 in proportion to their size. 



The soil which I find to suit them best is a mixture 



with a 





ce 



K v mical 



of equal parts of turfy loam and fibry peat, 

 portion of well-decomposed cow-dung, and a sufficiency 

 of silver-sand to make the whole gritty. These materials 

 should be well mixed together, and used in a rather 

 rough state. In potting, I employ clean washed pots, 



Home Correspondence. 



Large Boilers Economical?— Messrs. Weeks 

 by their advertisement, shown the extent to 

 which they have applied the system of heating numerous 

 houses and pits from a single boiler, and by an assump- 

 tion of the saving which they calculate would be 

 effected by a more general adoption of it (which, 

 however, has been shown to be not quite correct in the 

 case of the Palm-house at Kew), have re-opened a subject 

 on which discussion has languished since the death of the 

 zealous advocate of the Polmaise plan. But, as I 

 apprehend, the subject can scarcely be considered to be 

 exhausted, if men so practical and of such extensive 

 experience as Messrs. Weeks and Mr. Ayres differ so 

 widely in opinion ; and as economy in fuel and attend- 

 ance cannot be an object of indifference to the many, 

 whatever it may be to the few, especially with the 

 increased price to which these have lately attained, 

 perhaps you will allow me to make a few observations 

 rather with a view to elicit the opinions of the 

 experienced than to express my own, premising, how- 

 ever, that it is a point to which I have given some 

 attention, and that the cost of my experiments, success- 

 ful and the reverse, falls on my own shoulders. There is 

 perhaps truth in the proverb, that we are apt to attach 

 some, it may be an undue, value to experience 

 which we have acquired at our own expense. 

 The question, then, as far as the public is concerned is 

 (leaving out all extreme cases of very large structures), 

 to what extent a number of separate horticultural build- 

 ings may with advantage be heated, hot water being the 

 medium, from a single boiler, as I suppose that few will 

 be found to maintain that each separate house and pit 

 will require a separate boiler. This naturally divides 

 itself into two sections : the first the original cost of one 

 boiler with the additional connecting pipes and stops, in 

 comparison with a less quantity of pipes and stops, and 

 an additional number of boilers and setting ; the second, 

 the loss of caloric along the extra conveying pipes in 

 the first, against the escape from the chimneys and 

 furnaces in the other. The objections offered by Mr. 

 Ayres are important ; and if they were without remedy 

 the subject would seem to admit of no further discus- 

 sion. But are they so in reality ? Take, for instance, 

 the one to which I attach the most importance, the 

 bursting of the boiler ; and as I have not escaped this 

 calamity I know how to sympathise with others in the 

 same predicament. But if instead of one large boiler two of 

 an equal aggregate capacity were placed in j uxtaposition, so 

 that the same chimney and one setting were available for 

 both, with stops connecting with the same main flow and 

 return pipes, a precaution against the worst disaster 

 arising from the bursting of a single boiler is secured, 

 and other advantages obtained ; for, as both of the 

 boilers could be worked separately or together, the 

 control over the heating power would be much more 

 complete ; and as one supply of fuel would serve, 

 scarcely any appreciable extra attendance would be 

 required. I am of course presuming that the houses 

 and pits to be heated are in such proximity that the 

 mains can be connected with each without being carried 

 to wasteful distances. And this brings me to another 

 of Mr. Ayres's objections — the expensive connecting 

 valves, and the trouble of attending to them. If a 

 valve cannot be bad for less than 42a., perhaps one 

 might pause to consider; but if the alternative be a 

 valve or a boiler, perhaps the balance might be in favour 

 of the former, even at that price. I think, however, 

 nay, I know, that a simple and effective stop may be 

 had for much less. If it be required to keep several 

 houses and pits at given or varying temperature, it will 

 be as necessary to attend to, and vary the supply of 

 heat as frequently, if each house have a separate 

 boiler, as if they have'one in common, always, of course, 

 supposing the command of a sufficient amount of heat 

 for the whole ; but where in general practice is this 

 excessive nicety observed ? Is it, indeed, essential ? If 

 so the almost hourlv attention is in cither alternative 



• lmt ;. *7? r**«^i roots Trom the 



; 2 Ioot s \??? the u pp er ."p of the 



£ tifii *\ were uniformly iu ruugu sun*.-. ±ix powing, i empioy «ic»u waou^u jju%,o, ««▼« Jivua^* * uv **v« wkwu tv ^ucjuuu *»^ mi i mi 



through the leaf and young j and place about 1^ inch of broken crocks over the advanced by Mr. Ayres, that a given quantity of fuel 



equally so, with our constantly varying changes in the 

 external temperature during the 24 hours. The rela- 

 tive temperatures may easily be secured by the quantity 

 j and arrangement of the pipes laid in the respec- 

 tive house*. I do not intend to question the axiom 



