630 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



rSEPT. 22, 1855. 



an advantage over evergreens in sustaining the casu- 

 alties of transplanting. 



Now nothing favours evaporation so much as a dry 

 moving atmosphere ; as, for instance, during bright 

 windy days in March. From this circumstance that 

 month is deemed, and rightly too, the worst in which 

 to transplant evergreens throughout the year. No one 

 who can possibly avoid it should attempt it then. It 

 is easy to imagine that, from the constant passing away 

 of the fluids of a plant with no means of replenishing 

 them, the individual must soon cease to exist. And in 

 March, too, vegetation is often as inactive as at mid- 

 winter, which circumstance, coupled with its inva- 

 riably dry atmosphere, is an additional reason for not 



planting then. 



When a shrub or tree is transplanted it should be 

 under conditions which will allow it to recommence 

 growth immediately, to enable it, by absorbing at the 

 roots, to counteract the loss of fluid at the leaves. To 

 ensure this the plant must be removed before it is com- 

 pletely at rest in the autumn, or after vegetation has 

 commenced in spring. At either of these periods nature 

 immediately sets about repairing any injury which the 

 plant may have received. The roots which are destroyed, 

 and many will inevitably be so, are then replaced by 

 others, the work of nutrition goes on, and the natural 

 functions of the plant are resumed. 



If you examine a shrub that has been transplanted 

 while vegetation was a c tiff in autumn, even a few days 

 after its removal, you will perceive the roots covered 

 with myriads of white shining points ; the new root- 

 lets in fact hastening to re-establish the plant before 

 winter sets in and renders the vegetative principle all 

 but inert. Plants require both at root and branch a 

 certain degree of warmth to enable them to fully per- 

 form their functions. In autumn the soil retain s a con- 

 siderable amount of heat, and is favourable to the 

 formation of roots. 



In mid-winter this is not apparent, even though the 

 weather should be open, for the soil has lost the greater 

 part of its acquired warmth by radiation then, only 

 to be again obtained from the returning sun in spring. 

 Plants removed in spring are in conditions somewhat 

 analogous to those transplanted in autumn. Vegetation 

 not being dormant, their roots are immediately formed, 

 and the plant is not materially checked. The great 

 drawbacks to spring planting are the daily increasing 

 power of the sun and the periods of dry weather which 

 are frequently experienced at that season. Where 

 plants are coarse rooted and have to be carried a long 

 distance, spring planting becomes hazardous, and great 

 care will be required in its execution if attempted 



then. 0. W. L. 



London \ John H. Hill, TJte Oil-mills, Ipswich. [ We and pupae, 

 think not. The case was not put in this form in the 



Some other modes of attacking the insect 

 are mentioned, such as the removing and burning of the 

 first question put to us.] I bored twigs which have fallen from the trees in August 



Transplanting at Midsummer. — I observe that Mr. and September ; but most importance is attached to 

 Scott, of the Merriott Nurseries, Somerset, asserts that these decoy breeding-trees, and to the careful clearing 

 it is better to transplant the numerous varieties of trees of the plantation in June and July of all felled Pine 

 and shrubs he mentions at midsummer than to follow stems and branches, and especially of all sickly and 

 the ordinary way of proceeding. I am not going to over-ridden plants, which last are chiefly selectedToy the 

 pay that Mr. Scott did not plant at such a time, or that insects as breeding places when they leave their'winter 

 his success was otherwise than he describes ; for I am quarters in March and April. Ratzeburg says he is 

 aware that such operations may be carried on at nearly j satisfied, from long continued observation, that, there is 

 any time of the year, but I cannot agree with him that | only one brood annually of this species, and that the 

 midsummer is best for the operation, even supposing 

 that the weather is not sufficiently dry to cause the 

 plants to suffer from want of moisture ; for with the 

 ordinary care bestowed in lifting, a plant must receive 

 a great check when moved in full growth, and conse- 

 quently, to say nothing of other disadvantages, it 

 must lose a portion at least of the time^ allotted 

 to it by nature for the formation and ripening of its 

 wood. Mr. Scott I understand has been in the nursery 

 business about five years, and no doubt he will, as I have 

 done after 40 years' experience, find out that October 

 and November are the best months for planting; and also 

 that advertisements look much better and have more 

 weight with the public when properly inserted in the 

 Gardeners 9 CJironicle or elsewhere, than in the shape of 

 Mr. Scott's letter, for in my opinion as well as that of 

 many others, Mr. S-ott's article on " Transplanting" is 

 an advertisement of his stock and nothing else. An Old 



Woodman. 



Your corre- 



Home Correspondence. 



Sulphured Hops. — You have already so well exposed 

 the folly of supposing that sulphur applied to the Hop 

 during the period of its growth could communicate any 

 taste to beer, that it is needless to add anything on the 

 subject. It might, however, be worth while inquiring 

 whether the sulphur used in such large quantities as it 

 is during the drying of the Hop may not produce the 

 effect complained of. I am credibly informed that one 

 grower in this place has ordered no less than 10 

 tons ; but, without pledging myself to the truth of 

 this statement, I may state this as a fact, viz., 

 that it is impossible to drive through the town of 

 Farnham without the most unpleasant taste being 

 produced and a feeling of suffocation experienced. 

 The sulphur is added for the sake of making the Hops 

 look more bright ; in other words for the sake of decep- 

 tion, and if factors would turn their attention to this 

 subject, and protest against the use of sulphur in Hop 

 drying, they would, I believe, confer a real benefit upon 

 brewers and their customers. A a Observer, FarnJiam. 

 [We entertain no doubt that the mischief complained of 

 by the brewers is committed in the oost house, in which 

 sulphur should not be permitted. We have ascertained 

 that a very large quantity of impure sulphur, smelling 

 strongly of sulphuretted hydrogen, has found its way 

 into the Hop districts — and there doubtless is the source 

 of the evil. Hop factors should refuse to buy Hops 

 sulphured in the oost house. There would be reason in 

 that, and there is no good reason to the contrary.] 



Chloroforming Bees, — The method you recommend 

 (see p. 552) of using chloroform in taking honey from 

 bees I have practised with success, having followed the 

 directions closely. It is a matter of great importance 

 to preserve the bees alive here, their working season 

 being so short ; I intend to use chloroform always. 

 John Conlon, Stornaway Castle, Island of Lewis. 



What Constitutes a Nurseryman t — In your Number 

 of the 15th inst, p. 616, I see in answer to * H. B." 

 you say — « A man is not a nurseryman or grower for 

 sale if he merely raises a flower and sends it out him- 

 self ; we should regard him as an amateur, and place 

 him accordingly." I imagine the case cannot have 

 been put in its real light or you would not have given 

 such an answer. The facts are these : Our society is 

 divided into growers for sale and private growers. 

 Now the party in question raised a seedling, named it 

 * Incomparable," ottered it to several nurserymen who 

 would not give him so much as he wanted for it, where- j 

 upon he says/ I will retail it myself '—and did so, selling 

 plants struck this spring at per plant, and not the whole 

 stock to one man ; and is then allowed to show Dahlias 

 in the private growers' class. If not too much trouble 

 I shall esteem it a favour if you will let me know if you 

 ire of the same opinion ; i. e. 9 if 1 raise seedlings and 

 retail them, can I show in the private growers 9 class in j 



New Belgian Strawberry (see p. 614). 

 spondent's plants which did not bear this year probably 

 failed from having been planted on very light land ; or 

 in his part of the country the autumn might have been 

 wet, which, instead of inducing the plants to ripen their 

 flower-buds, might have caused them to grow into leaf. 

 This frequently happens with large fruiting Straw- 

 berries in very light soils, and it will even take place in 

 loam the first year, when it has been dunged and 

 trenched up, but as soon as the loamy soils get more 

 solid the plants go on bearing every year. If growers 

 of Strawberries wish to succeed in very light soils, after 

 dunging and trenching they must tread all as solid as 

 the feet well can do, making allowance for wet or dry 

 weather ; then plant the Strawberries. When I lived 

 with the present Earl of Harrington, then at Cedar 

 Lodge, Putney, some 25 years ago, the soil there was 

 light and sandy. I tried all I then knew to make Straw- 

 berries succeed, but they always failed, until by mere 

 chance I turned some plants that had been forced out of 

 pots with their balls entire ; these produced a famous 

 crop the second year ; but the third year they rooted 

 out of the old balls and got into the sand, and 

 bore no fruit at all that year. In 1834 I lived in 

 another light sandy garden at Broom House, Fulham. 

 I followed the same plan of turning out the plants af er 

 they had been forced. They had been grown in Wimble- 

 don loam ; and I think that it was while I was with 

 Mr. Sulivan that I discovered the value of the plan of 

 treading the ground, after dunging and trenching, as 

 hard as a road, in proof of which I may mention that 

 after the Strawberries have borne their crop, in order to 

 get plenty of good runners I have had the ground forked 

 between the rows to enable them, as I then thought, to 

 grow quicker and get more easily into the ground. I 

 soon found, however, that by not forking at all, but by 

 leaving the soil trodden as it had been in gathering the 

 fruit, the plants always produced the best and earliest 

 rooted runners. Yesterday, upon having a piece of 

 ground well dunged and trenched, an Irishman who did 

 the work asked of the lad who was treading it before 



planting—" What is the use of trenching ground and find by adopting the plans laid down in the J' ^^^ 

 then treading it as hard as it was before ? n One thing, 



beetles rarely if ever winter in the perforated twigs* 

 which either remain on the trees or fall to the ground 

 in autumn ; but that they pass the winter in the bark 

 of those roots which are covered with Moss at the base 

 of the Pines. If this is correct, and if, as is said, the 

 beetles are found not isolated but in quantities together 

 might it not be practicable in small plantations to 

 destroy them in winter, after removing the Moss, by 

 means of some liquid which would not injure the trees 

 as perhaps lime-water or urine I W. S. [No ; unless 

 corrosive sublimate could be given them.] 



Filter. — Can any of your correspondents favour me 

 with directions how to construct a filtering tank to filter 

 and hold rain-water for domestic uses. What are the 

 best materials for filtering large quantities of water for 

 such purposes, and how many filtering chambers should 

 there be. Should the reservoir to receive the filtered 

 water be air-tight ! Useful instructions on these points 

 will oblige. C C. C, Milton, Abingdon. [You will find 

 directions for constructing a very good filtering tank at 

 p. 102 of our Vol. for the current year.] 



Orchard Houses. — Having read Mr. Rivers' "Orchard 

 House, or the Cultivation of Fruit Trees in pots under 

 Glass," I determined to visit Sawbridge worth and judge 

 for myself of the feasibility of the plan. Having for 

 many years lost our crops of wall fruit from spring 

 frosts, and from the lateness of this season having few 

 Peaches and Nectarines perfectly ripened, I last week 

 visited these nurseries, and I can only say that I was 

 more than satisfied. I minutely inspected this system 

 of cultivation, and can not only bear testimony to the 

 truth of all Mr. Rivers has stated in his little work, but 

 can conscientiously affirm that what I saw exceeded 

 my expectations. The small trees are in 11-inch pots^ 

 loaded with fruit of large size, perfect in colour and 

 flavour, the trees looking exceedingly robust and 

 healthy ; the new shoots, although very luxuriant, are 

 well ripened and not at all drawn up, the trees being 

 Peaches, Nectarines, Apricots, Pears, Plums, and Figs, 

 which, although bearing abundant crops, I am informed 

 from the ripened state of the wood are capable of bear- 

 ing the same crop every season, the chief art bein 

 perfect ventilation and root pruning, which is conducts 

 on a most simple method, the roots being allowed to 

 grow through the bottom of the pot into a shallow 

 border of compost, from which their chief nutriment is 

 derived ; if the growth become too luxuriant, the pot 

 is merely tilted on one side, by which means both the 

 size and growth of the tree is regulated with the 

 greatest nicety, and after the leaves have fallen off and 

 the plant becomes in a dormant state, the pots are 

 removed from the borders and stowed away into close 

 winter quarters, where they require no further care or 

 attention, the hardest frost appearing not to affect them. 

 These houses, although admirably answering the intended 

 purpose, were constructed at surprisingly low prices, 

 some of them, with Beech hedges forming the wdes^ij 

 not more than ill. each. Being thoroughly convinced 

 of the advantages to be derived from this system, I have 

 determined on building two houses 110 feet long, and 1 



however, is certain, viz. that the Strawberry plant will 

 not thrive unless the mould is very firm for the roots to 

 grow in, and then it matters little what sort of mould is 

 employed. I have lived these 1 6 years where I now am, 

 and what with dunging heavily and annually putting on the 

 ground the Cucumber mould out of the pits, my Straw- 

 berry ground is now the lightest round London, and I 

 am obliged to adopt all sorts of plans to keep such 

 ground in good bearing and without any rotation of 

 crops* There is one more plan which I practise, and 

 that is, every spring I have prepared a large quantity of 

 rotten dung, and throw it over the beds to the depth of 

 an inch ; this is very beneficial to the crop. The plants 

 immediately make fresh top roots, and are more able 

 to bear a large crop, as well as swell the fruit to its 

 utmost size, and if this plan is adopted annually the 

 same plants will last for many years. I have a large 

 Pine of Black Prince at least nine years old, as well as 

 a Pine of Prince of Wales six years old, and every suc- 

 ceeding year they bear enormous crops. James Cut hill 9 



Camberwell. 1 beg to say that from the favourable 



report which was made in your columns of the Delices 

 d'Automne, I was induced to purchase a few plants, but 

 to my great disappointment I have experienced exactly 

 the same result as your correspondent. The plants, which 

 have done well this summer, are now showing no fruit 

 whatever, which it was stated they would do ; on the 

 contrary, they are throwing out abundance of suckers, 

 which it was stated they would not do. Henry Mantm, 

 Sleaford. 



Hylurgus Pin iperda. — In Ratzeburg's " Forst- 

 insecten" several instances are given of this beetle 

 having been effectually kept in check by means of 

 decoy trees laid in the parts of the Pine wood affected 

 in the months of March and April and removed and 

 destroyed in June and July, whilst containing the larvae 



House" I can construct them at a most trifling P nce > 

 and having by me a stock of fruit trees purchased » 

 winter from Mr. Rivers, I look forward to an abundant 

 crop next season, the trees from previous cultivation 

 having thriven beyond my expectations. A visit at tnis 

 season of the year would amply repay any one intereste 

 in this most delightful of all systems of horticulture ; 

 they would also see 00 acres of Rose and fruit trees o 

 the choicest description, the latter laden with fr ? lt /° 

 the earth of the deepest and richest colour ; and tltf 

 same originality of ideas would be perceived 

 through, carried out in the most judicious vn 

 skilful manner, affording food for contemplation tor 

 many months afterwards. A, Newinyton.- — .*? 

 bear ample testimony to the usefulness of ^r^g 

 houses; I had one erected at this place, on Mr. R ive " 

 plan, late in the autumn of 1853— it is 85 feet in JengJJ 

 and 13 feet 6 inches in width. I purchased at the s*u» 

 time 80 Peach and Nectarine trees, all except 12 j^r^ 

 plants ; I potted them in accordance with the rules 

 down by Mr. Rivers in his little work on the 0rc r*~l 

 house. The plants cost 12*. per doz.; I cut them <» 

 in the usual way, potted them in 14-inch po *> "1 

 treated in every respect according to Rivers's direcu ^ 

 and this year they are bearing a most splendid c*°K^ 

 fruit; I have at least 120 dozen of fine full-sized «gjj 

 and Nectarines of first-rate flavour and quality. *F 

 have not found to succeed so well, they bear a 

 dantlv but drop a great deal of their fruit jost w 

 beginning to ripen ; notwithstanding this, howev er, / 

 have ripened a tolerably good crop. Apricots nav ^ 

 yet been tried ; they were only potted last s V nn ^ ^ 

 they have made fine wood. Strawberries I have w*^ 

 to ripen perfectly; I place them in the vacancies bei 

 the trees, a situation in which I bloom all my lorcu^ 

 Strawberries after the beginning of March, ana 

 remove them into heat- I also keep the whole oi i»j 



