THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE, 



o7 strong brown paper, place it over the jar and tie it 

 down in the manner in which preserves, &c, are done 

 do not perforate the paper, but rather make it air-tight. 

 This done remove the pot to a place whose temperature 

 varies from 50° to 70°. If all goes on well the liquor 

 will become good vinegar in eight or ten weeks. \ our 

 correspondent may keep the young plants m a plate with 

 a little vinegar for several days before it will begin to 

 decompose. I do not recommend disturbing it often 



when in the liquor. Edicard Morse. 1 have used no 



other vinegar than that of my own making for these last 



On half a pound of treacle and a quarter of 



coriaria is covered with ■ Cynthia, but which 



pound of sni:ar foots I pour five pints of boiling water, 

 mix them well, and when lukewarm put in the plant. 



After 



two years 

 a 



I „ - , ., . 



I use a soup tureen and find the cover to admit air 



sufficient (the quality might be better for standing 

 three months, but the quantity would be less), 

 seven weeks I strain the vinegar, bottle it, and in about 

 three days cork it up, and it is fit for use. r lhe plant 

 will be tit for use after laying out for a fortnight : how 

 much longer time it might bear I cannot say. If the 

 new plant (which is generally formed in the seven weeks) 

 is very thin I use the old one as well. S. B., the Lodge, 



Watford House, l\ tfora\ Herts. 



J I hit to Naturalists.— At Ischia, Capri, and other 

 lofty islands on the coast of Naples, quantities of bin's 

 are caught in April, often very rare species, a».d 

 exposed for sale at Naples. At Ischia you find the 

 traps by hundred* up at the top of the mountain/2500 

 feet, at Capri 1900 ; many are knocked over by stones, 

 either they are stupid or tired out. On coming to 

 Marseilles in a steamer, the day wet and calm, the 

 Bwallows settled on the bulwarks and boats of the 

 steamer, and were so tired or tame that I CMght in my 

 hard three or four, and a sailor caught two in each 

 hand. Some finches were more shy, but kept flying 

 round and pitching on out-of-the-way parts of the 

 vessel ; one seemed like a small bright yellow-hammer 

 or canary. This happened opposite Ilyeres on the 30th 

 April ; we had nearly 100 souls on board, and not far 

 from land, from about 7 o'clock, a.m., for several hours. 

 Somerset* 



Hoots on the Stems of Vines.— I have been induced to 

 offer the following facts relative to this subject from 

 having been repeatedly asked the cause of roots ap- 

 pearing on tjie stems of Vines. The importance of 

 bottom heat to the roots of Vines is now all but uni- 

 versally acknowledged. Were it generally applied, 

 roots on stems would disappear. Of this I had what I 

 consider satisfactory proof during the past season. 

 Three Vineries under my care seemed to be equally 

 affected with these unsightly appendages. During winter, 

 when the pruning was performed, these roots were all 

 removed, being then in a dead state. On the border of 

 the earliest house a quantity of fermenting material 

 was placed, which raised the temperature of the surface 

 ©f the border to 100°, and even some inches below the 

 surface it was at that temperature. Operations in the 



interior of the house were conducted very gradually — 

 the Vines broke well, matured a good crop of fruit — 

 the berries were particularly large, and generally well 

 coloured. In this house no roots appeared on the stems 

 of the Vines. The Vines in the other houses subject to 

 precisely the same treatment, with the exception of 

 having no fermenting material on the borders over their 

 roots, had, as usual, their stems covered with a profu- 

 sion of roots ; hence I conclude that the cause of roots 

 on the stems of Vines is due to the inactive state of the 

 roots in the borders, owing to an insufficiency of heat 

 there, while the stems in the interior of the house are 

 being subject to a high moisture temperature. In 

 short, these stem roots are the result of an effort on 

 the part of the Vine to draw supplies from the moisture 

 of the house for the support of the young branches arid 

 leaves, the natural roots being too cold a medium to 

 furnish the demands made upon them. I may further 

 state that, although the temperature of the border in 

 the foregoing instance was raised to 1 00°, yet I do not 

 consider this by any means necessary ; 70° will be 

 found ample ; 100°, however, do not seem to have any 

 injurious effects upon the roots of Vines, and I have 

 been told of an instance in which the temperature was 

 raised to 116°, and yet no injury followed. Robert Grey, 

 Hadzor Gardens, Droitwick. 



Libocedrus decurrens. — I inclose you two plants of this 

 Libocedrus which have come in twins. We have ob- 

 served several cases this year of the same sort, but only 

 among the seedlings of this p T ant, and what has been 

 named Pinus Beardsleyi. I have never before seen this 

 happen, though I have looked for it. The seeds were 

 brought to this country by William Murray, Esq., and 

 they are now being grown in Messrs. Lawson's nursery 

 here. P. s. Robertson, Bangholm Nursery, Edinburgh. 

 [We are not acquainted with any similar case. The 

 specimens were united for the greater part of the length 

 of the first joint of the young stem below the cotyledons.] 

 Result of not Protecting Apricots. — I have given my 

 Apricots no protection either this season or last. The 

 Moor Parks were a famous crop last year, and they are 

 equally good now, not having been damaged in the least 

 by spring frosts. In the spring of 1858 I covered them 

 with double mats, but had an indifferent crop. /. Stevens, 

 Malvern Hall, Solihull r ' 



7he Spring in Dor**.— The late rains have revived 



number of plants that were, to all appearance, dead 



last week such as Azaras, Ugerstroerma, Lonicera 



Japonic*, the iKew Zealand evergreen Clematis &c 

 lex Cunninghami and dipyrena seem perfectly hardy 

 more so than the American Hollies ■ and Lauras glauca 

 (against a wall) is perfectly untouched ; these are^great 



acquisitions. Your Berber is 



blossom, while tinctoria seems killed. Rhododendrons, 

 Camellias, Azaleas, and all hardy bulbous plants are 

 flowering more luxuriantly than I ever saw then* 

 Beschorneria yuccoides is again throwing up a hand- 

 some scarlet spike and bracts. S. 



Forcing of Small Fruits.- Gardeners whose ^ employers 

 are fond of high-flavoured fruits will do well to cultivate 

 the Hautbois Strawberry largely for forcing. I find it 

 most excellent. The small fruits, as Raspberries, 

 Currants, and Gooseberries, bear forcing well. I hope 

 to show them at the Crystal Palace on June the 2d. I 

 was glad to observe by your report of the exhibition at 

 Gore House that high-coloured fruit met with some 

 attention. This in my opinion is the best test of excel- 

 lence. G. M'Eiccn, Arundel - 



" They manage things better in France."— Any one 

 passing by the Tuileries at this time will see the fresh 

 mark of the knife where the dead or rotten branch has 

 been carefully cut away. Any one passing by our parks 

 will see the dead or broken branches of last autumn's 

 gales hanging in the trees. To particularise, opposite 

 the end of Albion Street, Bayswater Road, there are 

 several trees of no greater age than 30 years suffering 

 at this moment from this disgraceful neglect ; even at 

 Naples you may see them cutting out the dead wood at 

 this very time, but then the gardeners were bred gar- 

 deners, and not, as in our Woods and Forests, butlers, 

 valets, or gamekeepers. Somerset. 



Gooseberry Caterpillar. — In confirmation of my former 

 recommendation to gather the pin-hole leaves with a 

 view to get rid of this pest, I may mention that I am 

 just come in from looking over 100 bushes— the opera- 

 tion has taken half an hour ; I have found very few. 

 My crop is large and safe, and even this late season I 

 hope to partake of a green Gooseberry pudding in May. 

 Having followed this plan several years, I am inclined 

 to think the fly is nearly extinct in my garden. T. C. 

 Brown, Cirencester, May 23. 



Plant Stealers— I think that you would be rendering a public 

 service if you would put your readers on their guard against the 

 depredators, who at this season rob the gardens of plants which 

 are prepared for bedding out, or have just been put into the 

 ground. I am led to write to you in consequence of my Fernery 

 having been stripped of every scarce or fine plant on the morning 

 of the 18th. The thief must have had a thorough knowledge of 

 Ferns, as he left all the common sorts which to an ignorant eye 

 would have appeared the most desirable. Great mischief arises 

 from the readiness with which persons buy of itinerant dealers, 

 who steal in one part of the country and carry their booty to sell 

 in another. If ladies and gentlemen would only buy rare plants 

 from parties of known respectability, the robbers would soon be 

 driven to seek a more honest way of gaining a livelihood. E., 

 BecJcenham. 



1851 and 1852 by Prof. Bohemann. 



sidered as ^JntWT _, 

 accordingly named Sat. Ricioni, from the CiaL 

 plant, upon which the caterpillar feeds. Mr. Do«eu!^J 

 called attention to a paper recently published bvH 

 Horning, giving an account of the early states of^2? 

 species of micro- Lepidoptera, especially of the ir 

 Phycita. Mr. Stainton called attention to the nWi S 

 upon the Coleoptera of France, recently commeiiJSfc 

 M. L. Fairmaire, and to the Bibliographical Ref«2 



Mr. Kewnm ^ 

 hibited several rare Australian beetles, also % 

 remarkable variety of Cynthia Cardui captured tt? 

 Lawrence, in the Isle of Wight, by Mr. G. Ing*||. ^ 

 Athous campyloides, a new species of Elaterid© t^H 

 by Messrs. Forster and Dawson upon Elders in Um 

 at Ramegate. Specimens of the very rare moths ImSf 

 pteryx cucullina and L. carmelita, reared from the 

 state, were exhibited by Messrs. Creed and S. Ste 

 The latter gentleman also exhibited specimens of A» 

 Dicranocephalus, sent from China by Mr. Fortune tad 

 which was considered in Paris as distinct from D 

 Wallichii. Mr. Stainton exhibited leaves sent frcm 

 Calcutta by the Rev. Mr, Atkinson, infested by thl 

 minute mining larvae of a Lithocolletes. The district* 

 tion of minute Lepidoptera, and other minute iagetfe 

 in tropical countries, led to a considerable discnawn, 

 Mr. Henry Doubleday communicated the descriptia 

 of a new and beautiful British species of Noctiuda 

 from North Wales, which had been erroneously cam* 

 dered as Spselotis Valesiaca. A memoir by Mr. Lub- 

 bock was read, upon the entomostracous Crustacea o: 

 South America. The species described belonged to III 

 genera Cypris, Diaptomus, and Daphnia. The pr«h 

 dent announced that M. Yersin, of Switzerland, 



* 



engaged on a monograph of the Gryllidee and Loot 

 tidse, and requested species from this country. Thl 

 death of M. De Haan, of Leyden, one of the fordo 

 honorary members of the Society, was also announced. 



JiUbtefos 



£ octettes* 



•The President 

 were read : — 



2, Notes on 



Botanical of Edinburgh, April 12.- 



in the chair. The following papers 

 1, On Placentation, by J. Cleland, Esq. 

 the Flora of the neigh fcourhood of Castle Taylor, in the 

 County of Gal way, by A. G. More, Trinity College, 

 Cambridge ; 3, Notes on the Flora of the Bass Rock, 

 by Prof. Balfour ; 4, Notice of Plants collected during 

 a trip to Loch Lomond, in July, by Prof. Balfour ; 

 5, Register of the Flowering of Spring Plants in the 

 Royal Botanic Garden, as compared with the four 

 previous years, by Mr. M'Nab, 



1S55 



1854 



1853 



1852 



• »■ 





Tnssilago alba 

 Symplocarpus feeti- 



dus 

 Corylus Avellana 

 Narcissus pumilus 

 Scilla bifolia, alba 



n ri rubra 



Rhododendron atro- 



Mar. 15 Feb. 14 





n 



20 



„ 21 

 April 2 

 5 



if 

 it 



• • * 



• • * 



Yirens 

 Daphne Mezereum 

 Prim nl a d en t iculata 

 Arabis albida 



Aubrietia grandi- 

 flora 



Nordmannia cordi 



folia 



Dondia Epipactis ... 

 Primula nivalis ... 

 Scilla bifolia, cseru- 



lea 



Pulmonaria angus- 



tifolia 



Symphytum cauca- 



sicum 

 Doronicum caucasi- 



cum 

 Draba aizoides 

 Erythronium Dens 



cania 



Anemone Pulsatilla 

 Tussilago Farfara... 



11 



n 

 if 



* ■ 



• • ■ 



it 



ft 



ii 

 ii 



ii 



>j 



n 





it 



ii 

 ii 



6 

 6 



7 

 8 



8 



9 

 9 



10 



10 

 10 

 10 



11 

 11 



11 

 11 

 11 



Mar. 



if 

 ii 



Feb. 



n 

 ii 

 it 



Mar. 1 



1851 



n 



Mar. 



19 



n 



n 



n 

 it 



ii 

 tt 



3 



10 

 10 

 13 

 14 



18 

 18 

 27 

 15 



17 



1 



11 



4 



15 



19 



11 



11 



10 

 14 



ii 

 •i 



Feb. 27 Jan. 26 



Feb. 



16 



9 



21 



27 

 30 



1 



ii 1 

 Mar. 25 



* IB 

 Feb. 1 



Mar. 24 

 25 

 15 



ii 

 Jan. 



Mar. 



ti 

 tt 



20 

 25 

 11 

 21 



2b 



Jan. 14 



„ 21 

 Feb. 19 

 18 



Feb. 

 Jan. 

 Mar. 



if 



a 



Jan. 



it 

 Feb. 



it 



4 



16 



5 



8 



17 



2 



28 



15 



7 



Principles of Agricultural Chemistry, with special rtfa. 



ence to the late researches made in England, By J 



v. Liebig. 12mo, pp. 136. Walton and Mabcrly. 

 One object of this work, which may be regarded as Ik 

 best of those which Professor Liebig has written <* 

 practical agriculture, is to show that the so-ciDed 

 " Mineral manures 5 ' manufactured by the advice of M 

 eminent chemist, and which so signally failed to produce 

 the effect expected, were right in principle and ought 

 to have succeeded. Another object is to show that the 

 conclusions arrived at by Mr. Lawes in his experaart 

 upon agricultural chemistry, are not only not supported 

 by evidence, but that the evidence produced goestostof 

 the very contrary of what has been supposed. 



"Of all the memoirs," says the author, " which ban 

 as yet appeared on this subject, that of Mr. J. B* 

 Lawes, of Rothamsted, is the most remarkable, « 

 account of the extent and duration of the experiment! 

 undertaken by him ; and as the conclusion itw 

 he has arrived, and the consequences which he Ml 

 deduced from it, are in contradiction to the P^P? 

 which I have laid down, I consider what he call! » 

 practical criticism on scientific views as pccoMW 

 adapted to serve as an example, by which agncultiW 

 may be convinced how necessary it is to choose a com* 

 method in the institution of experiments, if suca expe- 

 riments are designed either to convey instruction «» 

 confirm or to refute views already promulgated. ^^ 



" In fact, all the experiments of Mr. Lawes pit 

 exactly the reverse of that which in his °P ,n £"2 

 ought to demonstrate. Nay, I regard them as ©€■» 

 incontestable proofs in favour of that very 



doetn* 

 andthe 



which they were originally intended to disprove ^an*^ 

 facts which he has established yield so .many uopj 



Mar. 18 



ii 

 ff 



it 



v 



27 

 30 



31 



Feb. 



10 



8 

 20 



Mar. 1 



Feb. 20 

 Jan. 4 

 Mar. 16 



Mar. 20 



a 



6 



ii 



1 



• • • 



n 



26 Feb. 2 



it 



it 26 

 April 1 



Mar. If) 



April 13 



„ 4 



Mar. 26 



ii 12 

 Feb. 21 



• »• 



23 



25 

 14 



■ » X 

 April 15 



Feb. 19 





i ^ 



lessons'ln reglrdToThecuUivation and »«"«J«^ 

 various soils, that I consider these facts of mesi »r^ 

 value for the theory of agriculture." | p-.huMfci 



We leave our learned and skilful friend at "JTCJ 

 to reply at his leisure to these stricture V < 

 little or no horticultural application, ti « J ^ 

 should, perhaps, feel inclined to say uw ^ ^ 

 Professor Liebig may have been right, n 



a highly cultivated country hle^J ^ 



baveW; 



not suited to 

 however valuable it 



poverished districts, 

 appreciated by those 

 must, however, leave 



might have 

 and could not 



well 

 ddreaaed, 



to whom it was aa-^ ^ 



£ 



Note.— Between 10th March and 12th April, 1854, 65 spring 

 flowering species were recorded, and during the same period this 

 year only 22 of the species have come into bloom. 



Mr. Evans stated that the first expanded flowers of 

 the Apricot were observed in the Experimental Garden 

 on 24th March, being about three weeks later than last 

 year. 



Entomological, May 7— J. Curtis, Esq., F.L.S., 

 President, in the chair. Various rare British insects 

 presented to the Society's collection by Messrs. Bates 

 and Plant, of Leicester, and books forwarded to the 

 library by the Royal Society, the Entomological Socie- 

 ties of Paris and Stettin, the Natural History Society of 

 Vienna, &c., were announced as having been received 

 since the last meeting. Mr. Douglas read a notice by 

 Dr. Boisduval on the nomenclature of the Indian silk 

 moth, recently introduced into the south of Europe, and 

 J which had been considered as identical with Saturnia 



our agricultural fr^caa* 

 their'own battle, and confine ourselves to ^ | 

 ~* i- ~i»*^.«r*« trpnpral horticulture. *£ rf ^ 



** 



c 



extracts relating to general >-—"- pos8 ible, 

 an explanation, in the condeest form l > 

 learned author's present views of tfie m»» 



P ' « ^wth of a plant is f^£^^ 

 is contained in the seed. Land plants ieq f» 



and without air and moisture no plant ^s^ 

 words soil, air, and moisture are not ^j 



expression of necessary conditions for n ^ 

 reous, clay, and sandy or f'^" 8 .* %, and ^ 

 from granite, gneiss,clay s ate or n«« . * ^ m + 

 which are very different in the* J [ fflf , WJ 

 quality. The word soil is a co lee ^ t^ ^ 

 number of conditions; a fertile so ^ noarh hiD0» 

 the due proportion required «or t im- 



plants ; £ a'barren soil, -^J^er, *• *% 



conditions are wanting. I" J""*® 



and air include a pln» f/^l, 



of con^ * 



«! anure 



"•KV-* 



chemist, with the means at b* ^^ ^a ^ 

 kinds of soils ; he analyses also m» 



