THE GARDENERS 



CHRONICLE 



food, especially Wheat. This tradition is the more 

 remarkable because several naturalists have made 

 the observation that corn does not grow wild in any 

 part of the world. I do not know whether by a 

 process of improvement our garden fruits can be 

 derived from wild fruit ; it is well known, hoicever, 

 that the noble Vine Grapes grow wild w Colchis. 

 Whence, then, does corn come ? My opinion is 

 that God made direct provision for man ; some- 

 thing was given to all, real Wheat to the Asiatics, 

 and Maize to the Americans." 



Can any scholar among our readers throw light 

 upon the sentences printed in italics 1 They well 

 deserve a commentary. 



New Plants. 



126. Zebrisa pendula. Decaisne in Revue Horticole, 



4 ser. 9 vol. 4, p. 141, t. 8. 



This Is the common trailing Tradescantia-hke plant so 



much cultivated in our greenhouses for the sake of its 

 foliage, stained with purple beneath and striped with 

 broad bands of white on the upper side. It was 

 described in the Journal of the Horticultural Society \n 

 1850, under the name of Cyanotis vittata, from which 

 genus we see no sufficient reason for excluding it. 



1 27. Taxus adpressa. Carvih'e in Revue ffortlcole 9 ser. 4, 

 vol. IB, p. i)(i,i,e. a/maCephalotaxus adpressa of Gardens. 



M. Carriere has shown that this beautiful hardy plant 

 is a true Yew, and by no means a Cephalotaxus, as has 

 been supposed. It has long been known that the species 

 before us will not stand when worked upon the latter 



?nu9, although it does perfectly well on the common 

 ew, and it now appears that its fruit is precisely that 



of a Taxus. _____ ______ 



^ VEGETABLE PATHOLOGY.— No. LXXIII. 



316. Chlorosis 7. (Accidental and Functional) 

 Yellowness.— The form of Chlorosis which now comes 

 under consideration is that to which the name of Icterus 

 has been given by some authors, from the dull yellow 

 green which is assumed by a large portion of the plant. 

 It arises from various causes, or rather from conditions 

 unfavourable to health, as from stagnant water, depressed 

 temperature, especially when accompanied by deficiency 

 of light, from deficiency of light itself, or from want of 

 proper nutritious matter in the soil. The vital powers of 

 the plant are depressed, but more especially those of the 

 particular parts affected, insomuch that more favourable 

 circumstances seldom produce a more healthy tint in 

 the older plants, but onfy enable the plant to produce 

 more healthy organs, by which the general end for 

 which it is cultivated may be at length effected. Where 

 there is mere absence of colour, as in bleaching, with- 

 out any derangement of general health, exposure to 

 light, if it be not too abrupt or accompanied by 

 unfavourable conditions of dryness, whether of the 

 soil or surrounding air, will soon remedy the evil, 

 but in Chlorosis the tissues of the organs already 

 t ormed are so affected that they are seldom in a con- 

 dition to awnmri fresh energy. One of the most 



familiar examples is that of yellowness in Wheat crops, 

 which in some seasons is so prevalent, and unless it be 

 alleviated in good time is so prejudicial to the general 

 produce. Other things being equal, want of strength in 

 the soil, whether original or from defect of manure, is 

 a most important circumstance in connection with the 

 disease. A season like the present, of unusual cold and 

 dryness, has afforded many opportunities of examining 

 the circumstances under which the plant has suffered 

 most, and it has been impossible to glance over two or 

 three contiguous crops without observing that its inten- 

 sity is in direct proportion to the natural deficiency of 

 the soil or the negligence of the cultivator.* In wet 

 seasons, accompanied by a constant prevalence of north- 

 east winds, the effect is still more striking and more 

 universal. In every case the only hope of a good 

 harvest depends upon an amendment of the conditions 

 which have induced the malady. If the soil is really 

 in good heart, warm showers or an increase of tempera- 

 ture will ultimately remedy the evil, but if the sickly 

 tint has arisen from poverty of soil, it can scarcely be 

 expected that better weather will entirely mend the 

 evil. In such cases the only practicable remedy is to 

 apply some top-dressing, as soot or pigeon-dung properly 

 mixed, which may be rapidly absorbed by the foliage 

 itself or by the roots. Even where the plant has grown 

 well at first and looked healthy, in consequence of no 

 unfavourable conditions of climate, if the staple of the 

 land is not good or there has been a deficiency of proper 

 manure, the crop is sure to fall off just before the flower 

 stem is produced, even under the most favourable 

 external conditions. 



317. Where plants are cultivated in pots it is often 

 very difficult to secure a proper drainage, and much 

 more frequently no due attention is paid to the subject. 

 The surface of the soil, too, becomes compressed, so that 

 the air does not penetrate into the pores, its original 

 texture is not good, or algse grow upon the surface, 



which are inconsistent with health ; where the pots are 

 very bibulous, evaporation is going on rapidly from the 

 surface of the pot, and the temperature in consequence 

 of that part which is in contact with the most active 

 roots is depressed, where the pot is not sunk into the 

 soil. Under such conditions many plants, as Calceolarias, 

 Pelargoniums, Fuchsias, &c, are very apt to acquire a 

 yellow hue, which is sometimes very difficult to remedy, 

 and which renders such plants very unfit for propaga- 

 tion. The first point towards their recovery is to repot 

 them with greater care as regards drainage and the 

 texture of the soil ; and if there is reason to believe 

 that the evil has at all arisen from poverty, guano can 

 be administered cautiously, or a little old and very 

 rotted cow-dung may be mixed with the soil. The very 

 best effect is also produced in some cases by the inser- 

 tion of two or three small crystals of sulphate of iron in 

 the soil, which gradually dissolve, and act probably as a 

 tonic. Fuchsias which were apparently past all hope 

 of recovery will sometimes revive rapidly under this treat- 

 ment. M. J. B. 



[May 26 



increase of bottom-heat at the tim<Tof "pUSSTT-i 

 amount is a matter of much greater imporuJe?-? 

 hurrying the roots of plants into the ground the W 

 fine day, just because the sun is shining or th. .;.._!* 

 head is a little genial. What I .m^Sjj 

 just what I have practised for many years, and if 

 who do not happen to think on this matter as 1 4 

 please to make the experiment, I know the 

 satisfied with the result. Let them get heat'uita 

 soil, then plant and give a sufficient watering with wi 

 water, and when it has soaked in leave the surface oT_l! 

 soil loose, fine, and smooth, and little after- wat__? 

 unless the weather is very dry, will be found n ^* 

 Daily dribblings of water may be all yen 

 occupy the leisure hours of amateurs " vho^kJI 

 nothing else to do ;" but gardeners, and those 

 them, may spend their time far more profiubU 

 W. P. Ayres, Whittlebury Lodge, May 22. 



will be 

 4* 



Close to the place 



am writing are three contiguous 



fields, the first of which has not heen fallowed for nine years, 



r of inferior 



crop following Oats; the third of much the 



' — - - - --»•* «•» nut neen rauowea ror nine years, 



nor was the ground manured for Wheat; the second of inferior 

 8ttple, with a Wheat crop follow in t? Cktt* the fhirrf n f mn *i. #k* 



same quality 

 skins used b 



rmediate patch under 



common cultivation. The difference is* verV"iitrfkiiiff The 

 manured crop is most luxuriant, the unfallowed land of rich 

 staple covered with an excellent plant of a very health v asnpot • 

 the patch under ordinary cultivation is yellowed tbaffieed- 

 Jng Oats on poor land extremely yellow with little hope of 



BEDDING PLANTS AND BOTTOM-HEAT. 

 The remark recently made by the writer of the Calen- 

 dar relative to the propriety of planting out strong plants 

 in June rather than weak plants in May is very judicious 

 in a season like the present, when the ground tempera- 

 ture is excessively low, and when, too, in many instances 

 from the losses of the winter, plants are not so strong 

 as they are wont to be in more favourable seasons. I 

 have frequently, both privately and publicly, pointed 

 out the impropriety of early planting, that is before the 

 20th of May, and, except in very rare situations and in 

 the case of unusually forward springs, I am quite con- 

 vinced that there is not a day gained by planting before 

 the first week in June. I have had several thousands 

 of Geraniums and other plants bedded out since the 

 middle of April, but they are standing on sheltered 

 south and west borders, and have been nightly, and 

 sometimes during the day too, covered with Spruce 

 branches and mats, to protect them from the severity of 

 the weather. These plants look well, are making root, 

 have healthy green foliage, and have quite recovered 

 the check they experienced at the time of putting out ; 

 but had they been planted in the flower garden at the 

 same time, their safe protection would have been far 

 more difficult, and the nuisance of the protecting mate- 

 rial in a dressed garden quite intolerable. The advan- 

 tages of this system of bedding out all established plants 

 are very great ; for you not only get a plant with an 

 improved constitution, but one-third of the pots neces- 

 sary under other circumstances will be found quite suffi- 

 cient. The trouble of planting and transplanting will 

 of course be urged as an argument against the plan by 

 the advocates of the old system ; and though I admit 

 there is a good bit of trouble and time occupied, the 

 saving in watering more than counterbalances it, while 

 the rapid progress the plants make is another decided 

 advantage. Cold as the weather has been, these plants 

 I find are making root into an inch or two of leafy 

 dun^ which was placed under them, and I have no 

 doubt that they will remove to the flower-beds almost 

 without sustaining any check, and will be in bloom in a 

 week or two without presenting any of that rusty appear- 

 ance so general in newly -planted things. 



But independently of the risk we run in planting out 

 before we have settled mild-growing weather, it is also 

 of great import in a season like the present, that the 

 ground should attain its natural heat before tender 

 plants are committed to its fostering care. A week or 

 two back we were told that Nettle seed would not vege- 

 tate at the same temperature as Groundsel, and that the 

 generality of exotic seeds would not vegetate in a 

 temperature below 46°. I have just been testing the 

 temperature of the soil in the flower garden here, and I 

 find it range from 44° to 46° at from 9 to 12 inches 

 deep, according to the exposure and the time the beds 

 were last digged, the highest temperature, that of 46°, 

 only being found in a bed that was dug on a sunny day 

 a fortnight back. Now, the mean temperature of the 

 earth at 1 foot deep, as explained by an important table 

 in Dr. Lindley's "Theory of Horticulture" just pub- 

 lished, is April 46°, May 53°, and June 60°. The 

 lowest temperature for May was in 1845, viz., 50°, 

 the highest for the same month in 1848 56° ; the 

 lowest temperature for June is 56° in 1852, the highest 

 64° in 1846. Thus it will be seen that the ground at 

 the present time is 4^ colder than it has been known 

 since 1844, and 10° below the highest temperature 

 during the same period. Need we then be sur- 

 prised if plants make slow progress \ It is 

 physically impossible that they could do otherwise 

 until the earth attains something like its natural tempe- 

 rature, and the more plants are watered under such 

 circumstances, except with water very considerably 

 warmer than the soil in which they are growing, the 

 greater the injury they must receive. To drench plants 

 with cold water at the present time is labour worse than 

 lost. But what is to be done? To plant even now 

 until the earth has attained a temperature of 55° will 

 not be a wise proceeding, yet plant we must. Fifteen 

 years back, in my treatise on Cucumbers in pots, I 

 recommended the * digging in" of solar heat for ridge 

 Cucumbers, and I should now advise the same process to 

 be observed with all flower-beds that are not stocked 

 with plants. By forking the beds over after 4 o'clock 

 every sunny afternoon for a few days, making or raking 

 the surface of the ground tolerably fine, its temperature 

 may be raised from 6° to 10° in a very short time, and 

 it is I t\ uite unnecessary for me to explain that nn 



DOES SEA - WATER KILL SEEDS 



As you have done me the honour to notice fry^ 

 my wish to ascertain experimentally the powerTf 



re- 



Maiauuc ill occua iu me lujunuus action 01 &£&-W__» 



you may perhaps like to have a report. As such exit! 

 riments might naturally appear childish to manyl 

 may be permitted to premise that they have a direct 

 bearing on a very interesting problem, which has late!? 

 especially in America, attracted much attention, mm, 

 whether the same organic being has been created at one 

 point or on several on the face of our globe. As geolo- 

 gist I feel a special interest on the possibility of pbtfc 

 being transported by sea to distant islands, owing to 

 the great influence which it is very obvious the Tiewi 

 of the late ever-lamented Edward Forbes hare had 01 

 the subsequent writings of botanists and zoologist 

 Forbes, as is well known, boldly supposed that the 

 north coast of Spain had formerly been directly «*. 

 tinuous with Ireland, and he extended the continat 

 of Europe as far as and beyond the Azores. To 

 imagine such enormous geological changes within toe 

 period of the existence of now living beings, on m 

 other ground but to account for their distribution, seen 

 to me, in our present state of ignorance on the means of 

 transportal, an almost retrograde step in science— it call 

 the knot instead of untying it. Weighty objection 

 might, I think, be urged against Forbes' hypothesis u 

 applied in the above and many other cases, but thii ■ 

 not the proper place to discuss such a question. Ai 1 

 had not the least notion when I began, whether or Mt 

 the seeds would be all killed by a single week's imnw- 

 sion, I at first took only a few, selecting them almost by 

 chance from the different great natural families ; bat I 

 am now trying a set chosen on philosophical princtpkl 

 by the kindness of Dr. Hooker. 



The sea-water has been made artificially Wlth *__ 

 procured from Mr. Bolton, 146, Holborn Ban,wni* 

 has been tested by better chemists than men, namely, 

 by numerous sea animals and algse having lived id * 

 for more than a year. The seeds were placed id «i* 

 rate bottles, holding from 2 to 4 oz. each, out of com 

 in the shade : the mean temperature has during m 

 period been about 44°, rising during one week to i 

 mean of nearly 48°. Most of the seeds swelled mm 

 water, and some of them slightly coloured it, and a* 

 kind gave to it its own peculiar and strong odour, « 

 water in which the Cabbage and Radish seeds ^ 

 placed became putrid, and smelt offensively in i a?m 

 extraordinary degree ; and it is surprising tn« - 

 seeds, as was the case with the Radish, could fij* 



contingency- 

 I also pUeiJ 



U ennV 111 



water, to ascertain wneuier m* — -- v^; 

 temperature of 32° would better resist the »*- 

 this water, like that in the small bottles, torn) y ^ 

 became turbid and smelt rather oBennr&j. _ tke 

 following list I have no reason to suppose, ex* ^ 

 cases where so stated, that the seeds have en 



full time. cativnm b»* 



(1) Seeds of common Cress (Lepidium sai 



germinated well after 42 days' immersion, ™ ^s ^ 

 a surprising quantity of slime so as to con ^ 



(2) Radishes have germinated less well alter ^^ 

 period. (3) Cabbage seed: after H aay ^^i 

 only one seed out of many came U P' - g a #** 

 rather strange considering that the Cab ^f e geve ral *• 

 plant ; in the ice-cold salt water, b ™*?'^ #** 

 come up after 30 days' immersion, W» feW w* 



grown well after 42 dap; (^?TVncSot **® 

 germinated after the same period ; \p) fap 



Celery seed well after the 42 days ; (8)j*> *„ ^ 

 alis, (9) Capsicum, (10) Cucurbita ovifera ^ 



nated well after 28 days' immersion , U*^ ^ 

 rather tender kinds, were also tn imJBflri 



grown 



som 



\e*** 



mi 



out of a mass of seeds (which gave . <mt n. ^fog" 

 up after the 28 days, and the aum ^ J ier #* 

 1 4 days ; and only three seeds can ^ ^ , eT j fi* 



seven days' immersion, &X£« At **Si* 

 (13) Rhubarb, (14) Beet, (15 0»cK J^is b»* 



Oa/s, (17) Barley, 08)^^^ lik ^*^ 



l few s«rn fn « 



day 



;r ( 20r Furze or Ulex : «^tf» I 



difficulty' H days ; ^ f ^ e ^J^^^ 

 in the ice-cold water. (21)Feasg 



■ft** 





• 



