i 



628 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



1855. 



embryos, may be thus treated artificially, for nature 

 sometimes performs the operation by accident. 



In his examination of the common Miselto M. 

 Dbcaisne found not only that the seeds often con- 

 tain two embryos, which was known before, but that 

 the latter occasionally grew to each other, forming a 

 true vegetable twin. (See his Memoire sur le develop- 

 pement da Gui in the Transactions of the Royal 

 Academy of Brussels, volume xiii. ; or a copy of one 

 of his figures in the Vegetable Kingdom, p. 790, 

 fig. 524.) Here we have one case of embryos 

 naturally grafted by contact. 



Prof. Roper mentions a similar case in the 

 Euphorbia platyphylla, where two embryos appeared 

 to be conjoined ; we must, however, add that he 

 could not wholly satisfy himself whether the wound 

 observed where they separated might not have been 

 accidentally caused by the knife used in dissecting 

 the seed (see this author's Enumeratio Euphor- 



biarum, p. 17, t. 1, fig. 67 — 71.) 



A similar condition of the common garden Cress 

 is said to have been observed ; but we do not recol- 

 lect where the fact is recorded. 



such as medicinal or ceconomico-technical planta ; the reform of the generality of botaniT^ t : densTrf 

 and where the pecuniary means are very limited it go through the whole herbaceous collections xtJ* 



becomes important that the plants admitted should 

 be of easy cultivation. Even in the richest gardens 

 a selection is better than a collection. A few well 

 defined species, accurately named, good repre- 

 sentatives of the really different forms included 

 under one generic type, authentic specimens of 

 useful plants, are infinitely more conducive to 

 facilitate the study of botany than the masses of ill- 

 defined garden varieties, mailing one into another 

 under false or doubtful names, which disfigure nine- 

 tenths of the botanical gardens I have visited. 



Let us take for example the first genera of Ranun- 

 culaceae, and suppose our limits very confined, our 

 climate that of central Kurope or rather colder, we 



and throw away every specimen which we canni 



confidently name and readily distinguish from? 



urest allies, and bestow all our nains on A 



nearest 



pains 



correct nomenclature and appropriate cultivation f 

 the remainder. Let us always remember that an 

 unnamed plant is useless and bewilders thestuden? 

 a wrong named one is a positive nuisance as leading 



hi in astray. ° 



We have said that annuals and biennials as well 

 as low shrubs, may well be mixed off with th 

 perennial herbaceous collection. The former cer- 

 tainly give more trouble, requiring usually prelimi- 

 nary raising every year in seed beds in the reserve 

 ground and transplanting into the borders* their 

 might plant in the herbaceous border Clematis j number will therefore be restricted where the pecu- 

 Vitalba, Flammula, Viorna, Viticella, alpina, and niary means are small. But the growing them in 

 cirrhosa or nepalensis ; Thalictrnm aquilegifolium separate beds saves little expense, and takes much 

 and minus ; Anemone nemorosa, coronaria,sylvestris, from their utility. As to shrubs those only can be 

 and japonica ; Hepatica triloba ; Ranunculus flam- admitted into the herbaceous borders which are 





mula, ficaria, arvensis, acris or bulbosus, sceleratus, 

 and aconitifolius ; aud so on : we should thus cive 



The most remarkable case is, however, that of the in a small space a very fair idea of the several 





Salisburia mentioned by Exdlicher, apparently on 

 the authority of Siebold. "In the seed of this 

 plant," he says, "are frequently found two, or 

 three, or even more embryos, which, when they 

 germinate form young plants so closely pressed 

 against each other that in the first season they 

 often grow together into one common trunk. 

 And this is imitated by the Japanese and Chinese 

 gardeners, who w r hen they propagate the Salisburia 

 by suckers graft several stems together in order to 

 give vigour to the specimen, which sometimes grows 

 with an immense trunk, and a noble wide-spreading 

 head." (Synops. Couif., p. 237.) The first part of 

 this statement is adverted to by Dr. Hooker and 

 Air. Binney in their admirable article on the fossils 

 called Trigonocarponand Sigillaria, lately published 

 in the Philosophical Transactions. 



Such instances seem to show that it is far from 

 impossible to graft one embryo on another. Nor is 

 there anything in the nature of plants opposed to 

 such a conclusion. On the contrary, one of the great 

 peculiarities of the vegetable world is the tendency 

 which young parts always have to unite, if in con- 

 tact. The whole art of budding and grafting turns 

 upon the facility with which this natural process can 

 be imitated ; all that is necessary being to bring 

 together the young cellular matter, which is exclu- 

 sively the part of the structure by which adhesions 

 are effected. Now, the embryo of a plant consists 

 of nothing except cellular matter. 



The difficulty of performing the operation will 

 hardly deter such dexterous manipulators 

 have in abundance among amateurs as well 

 as professional propagators, and it seems well worth 

 a fair trial. Now is the time to do it, when seeds 

 are ripening and not yet hardened. Good races to 

 submit to the operation are not only the whole 

 Citron tribe, but the Peach and Nectarine, the 

 various breeds of Plums, Oaks, Chesnuts, and Fil- 

 berts. All that we would suggest is, that the seeds 

 be taken a little before they are quite ripe, that they 

 be planted in a gentle bottom heat the moment they 

 are grafted, and that in the case of plants like Oaks, 

 which abound in gallic acid, a silver knife should 

 be used instead of a steel one. 



By way of encouraging young gardeners to set 

 about this experiment, we offer to the first who 

 shall produce satisfactory evidence of his success a 

 free copy of the Gardeners' Chronicle for seven years. 



What plants should be admitted into the 

 different departments of the Botanical Garden is 

 a question of great practical importance, which 

 is but too often lost sight of. It being generally 

 supposed that the more complete the collection is 

 the better it will be, the endeavour is to cultivate 

 anything that can be harl. But completeness never 

 can be obtained. A limit is always set to the 

 botanical collection either by want of space or of 

 pecuniary means, or of scientific time or capacity for 

 keeping it in order, and it is a good selection, not a 

 complete collection, that must be aimed at. The 

 more restricted the space and the means the more 

 pains it requires to make such a selection as shall 

 best answer the purpose of instruction. No more 

 pecies should be planted in the herbaceous borders 

 than can be correctly named and maintained in 

 health and vigour of a sufficient size or in sufficient 





genera, which will be much improved if we have a 

 pond where we can grow Ranunculus aquatilis, or 

 an alpine border to include Thalictrum alpi- 

 nura, Anemone baldensis, and some of the alpine 

 species of Ranunculus. If our means are larger, we 

 might add such species as Clematis erecta, sibirica, 



and florida ; Thalictrum macrocarpum, 



The labelling is a simple 

 sideration 





naturally small, or can be pruned down to manage- 

 able dimensions without losing their characters. 



but important con- 

 , the names should be conspicuous, clear 

 and without useless words. In some gardens the 

 words u class/' " order," "genus," "native of," &c. 

 being inserted, only add to the expense, so muchg« 

 that the labelling never gets completed, or at any 

 rate maintained after having been once done. In 



azurea, 



angustifolium, dioicum, and tuberosum ; Anemone 



apennina, ranunculoides, stellata, vitifolh, vir- 

 iniana, and alpina; Ranunculus thora, muricatus, 

 philonoti?, parviflorus, asiaticus, reptans, chrero- 

 phyllus, monspeliacus, auricomus, fee. ; and our 

 collection is still more satisfactory : but what can 

 be the use to the student of ten or a dozen plants 



under the names of Thalictrum majus, medium, other species giving only the initial letter; but that 

 saxatile, concinnum, glaucescens, elatum, &c, &c, is apt to puzzl the student, and, still worse, to lead 

 which neither he nor the professor can satisfactorily to the accidental exchange of labels between genera 

 distinguish from T. minus; or of innumerable forms I with the same initials, without immediate detection 

 with the general characters of Ranunculus acris, cf the error. Where the means are more ample, the 

 but labelled nemorosus, lanuginosus, polyanthemos, ! addition of the indigenous name and native country 



the best-named gardens, the name of the natural 

 order stands alone in one word at the head of the 

 order, and to each species is a separate label with 

 the generic and specific names, both at full length. 

 This is strictly speaking sufficient in a purely 

 botanic garden with limited means. A further 

 economy is sometimes practised by willing the 

 generic name only once at full length, and for the 



are useful, together with the indication of the appli- 

 cation of practical plants, thus : 





brutius, Steveni, sericeus, velutinus, &c, which if 



ever distinguishable in their native stations require 



a different diagnosis in almost every : rden where 



they are grown ? And so it is with all genera which 



have hardy variable species ; they swarm in botanical 



gardens, monopolising the places and labels of their 



more distinct but tender allies. How often do we 



not see eight or ten real or supposed pecies of 



Reseda represented by R. alba, lutea, and luteola ; 



at least as many names to Helianthemum vulgare 



Isatis tinctoria Nepeta grandiHora Stachys ger- mor( ^ etai|8 - catl be ontered 



manica, &c, &c. ; and as to Asters, Solidncos, i - - .. 



Linum ubit&tiiB t.mu, 



Flax, 



Europe, 



Textile, medicinal, oleaginous. 





In some gardens the plants have numbers only, 

 corresponds to a list kept by the d i rector, in which 



~ " " " but this confines the 



use of the garden to the director himself, or to those 



Hieracia, Rubi, Potentilla*, Henclea, and such like ff|r tQ wh * m he ]ew{ hU , Ut Q , A 



the chaos is generally such that the identifying of 

 any one species is perfectly hopeless. 



It is argued that the creat use of cultivating 

 closely allied forms, whether species or varieties, 

 is to test the constancy of their character, and, when 

 tested, to prove to all the world their value 



bad. 



It is not uncommon for Pears while they are yet 



hanging upon the tree to lose their colour in one or 

 two places, gradually acquiring a brown tint ana 

 preeenting evident symptoms of decay. This may 

 take place where no trace of any wound is visible 

 species, tfood or bad. This testing of characters on the outer surface, and great surprise in conse- 

 may be of great importance as long as it is carried on quence is felt at the unaccountable seizure. &uca 

 by the director or curator under his own eye, | a case ka> lately been submitted to us, ana tnoug 

 especially if in a private or reserve garden, where it i a microscopical examination indicates the cause, * 

 is easier to guard against accidents and mistakes, are utterly unable to say why it has been exer 

 Fie can there raise seeds taken by himself from in an- particular instance or why some fruit o 

 authentic specimens, and follow the jrowth of the tree should fail, while other remains uninjured, 

 plant through several years or several generations the case transmitted, the fruit exhibited two bro 

 with a tolerable certainty of its identity, even if it ! patches one on either *ide. The evil was cleaj 

 may lose the characters which distinguished the | derived neither from the stalk nor the eye, w 

 original parent. He has obtained a result which I were perfectly healthy, but the most 



intimate 



will be admitted by all who rely on his accuracy and I tissues^ especially the vascular bundles, wl1 * 

 good faith, and specimens dried and labelled by him | central or scattered thronch the flesh, **« re t 



versed in every direction with strong and abnnc 4 



to accompany his notes will 1 good corroborative 

 evidence to future botanists. Hut living plants in 

 the herbaceous collections, ho#ever satisfeetory th< 

 may be to the director or curator who has 

 raised and proved them, are of little authority to 

 those who succeed him, when they come to con ler 

 how many are the chance of label misplaced by a 

 labourer, of a sickly specimen having died down and 

 become replaced by a seedting or sucker from a 



B 



versed in every direction wim suo»a fthscelk 

 mycelium penetrating the inmost recesses on i 

 The discoloration of the veesels was visible w 

 to the nake eye, and th *ai a pier but ^ ^ 

 discoloration elsewhere. Though the inu« 

 placed in the most favourable condition i , 

 development of the mould, it could not w 

 into the production of fruit, though the mjt 



burst out abundantly in little P*^... 1 " ho ^ 

 vigorous neighbour without even the gardener's being direction from its surface. In all proband v jr, ^ 

 aware of it, and many similar accidents well known «^«- +*»« wm»M t C i ti/Hntn fructicenuni, * w r^ . f 

 to the practical botanic gardener. The labels of 

 plants require constant checking by a verification of 

 the characters of the 







numbers for the purposes required. To render these 

 as instructive as circumstances will permit, they 

 must be selected in each family from as many 

 different types as possibh and m every : nus 

 where several species can be admitted, these should 

 be made to represent as many as possible of the 

 distinct forms assumed by the .enus. If, out of 

 everal species equally instinctive, room can only 

 be found for a portion, a preference should always 



be given to those which afford some practical iateresV The first th efore, to be recom endedT'for 



specimen; and, if the* 

 characters are vague and uncertain, all rontrol over i 

 the correctness of the nomenclature is gone. 



One consequence of this excessive multiplication 



of closely allied forms (varieties, races, or allie 

 pecies) of the more hardy and variable Linnean 



types, is the great labour which conscientious 



directors bestow. on their d crimination, a labour 

 enerally entirely lost, for we very sel >m find two 

 ardens where such forms designated by the same 



names are distinguishable b? the same charade: 



ever, the mould is Oidium fructigenum, «i r^ 

 which is oft i destructive to Pears and W 



as Apricots. Apples, &c. 



Our principal object in noticing the su 



biect is * 

 J where 



Vsl attention to the fact that ^ most ca^ j,, 



plants are attacked by mould it M 



In tbe 



nnrlles which «nff« the most evident >• ^ 



Turnip, for instan. . when decay is "» blaC t 



-•■*-- ----- of the ducts li F^ taiB81 r 



mildew the inside 

 The probability is that 



as theee vesse 



mruiini 



cafe 



onlv when perfectly developed, and « - outwtf d 



"means of the superficial organs vvitn ui ^ ^ 



tn ohere, they arc the medium by wfl ^ 



f, a is communicated. In this ™ n ? lT *L ing the 



nov rtruc observer tlnnfc of set 





