Sept. 29, 1S55/) 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



645 



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branch be examined as soon as the mischief is visibly a [ Bee, to console, support, and direct this said " publi< 



vertical section through the pith will generally reveal 

 the point from whence decay has commenced, which is 

 usually some bud, and most frequently a flower-bud. 

 The flowers in the first instance may not have set, pos- 

 sibly from some innate weakness in the bud, without 

 hbv external cause ; or some of the circumstances 

 hich usually produce sterility, whether in an earlier or 

 later stage of growth, before or after impregnation, 

 may have operated, but the effect is the same. The 

 footstalks may separate from their point of attachment 

 tearing the bud, which was already in a weak condition, 

 in a state unfit for further vegetation and the development 

 of one or more axillary buds in order to the formation 

 of a new fruit bud, or the young fruit may still re- 

 main, withering on its matrix, which has not vitality 

 enough to throw it off. Either the matrix itself imme- 

 diately, or the dry fruit remaining in situ, decomposes 

 as the season advances, the morbid matter is carried 

 down to the tissue surrounding the pith, and if the 

 branch has strength enough to resist the infecting 

 matter, though the bud itself decays to the base, it is 

 soon covered over with fresh layers of wood, and no 

 permanent injury is caused ; if, on the contrary, the 

 constitution be weak and the vitality low, the woody 

 tissue perishes all round, and soon involves the bark 

 which covers it, so that both are incapable of trans- 

 mitting the nutritive fluids, and the branch which was 

 ust before apparently free from diseases perishes as if 

 y a flash of lightning. The bark immediately in con- 

 tact with the diseased wood soon perishes and often dis- 

 appears, while that of the upper portion which perished 

 merely from the cutting off of its supplies of sap affords 

 a fit nidus for fungi, which soon complete the destruc- 

 tion, and sometimes bear that blame which belongs to 

 totally different circumstances. All this may be com- 

 plicated with the woolly aphis and such cases of canker 

 as that described in our last article, so that the tree in 

 every part presents a gnarled and warty aspect. 



while 60 or 80 corpses lay dead in one place, and the 

 survivors were nearly paralysed by terror and grief. 

 What said the Time* then I Neither cannons nor pop- 

 guns were loaded for its beloved public ; and had the 

 President of the Board of Health (the M.P. for Mary- 

 lebone) depended on its pages for encouragement, very 

 little, indeed, would he have done for the benefit 

 of that public who lay dying and dead around 

 him ! The arrestati^n of the cholera, and the present 

 exemption from the pestilence may be considered much 

 owing to that same man's ability and indefatigable exer- 

 tions to make effectual laws, to carry out measures for 

 its arrestation and future prevention or mitigation. 

 The public would do well to look to antecedents, and 

 then judge whether the Times or the present Chief 

 Commissioner of Works has proved the most faithful 

 friend and trustworthy guide on former occasions. The 

 Times has truly distinguished itself by abuse of Lord 

 Raglan till he died, and then it changed its opinion; al 

 by similar uncomplimentary predictions against the 

 present Ministry, till one day when Sebastopol was 

 taken ! Now new excitement is wanted— new grievances 

 must be manufactured at any price to keep the people 

 amused till Parliament meets — and what can be so 

 sweet an employment as to pull the present Chief Com- 

 missioner of Works to pieces, because he does not 

 belong to the " sleeping family " of some of his prede- 

 cessors, who happen to be special favourites with a 

 minority of persons in printing offices. It is greatly to 

 he desired that the much-quoted public of the 

 Times would examine the style of writing of recent 

 attacks in that paper, aa they appear to be all 

 variations played by the Bame hand; whether arti- 

 cles or letters, the motive seems to be very foreign 

 to the apparent subject, while the variations run 

 wide of the original theme. It is much to be re- 

 greted that the individuals who have so carefully per- 

 formed in the same style (which cannot fairly be con- 



Many varieties of Pear are equally subject to canker, and sidered that of " modern improvement ") should be so 

 the phenomena in their case are nearly the same, except J modest as not to record their names, which, if as 

 perhaps that the cankered spot is more apt to be gouty 



363. Where there is a great weakness of constitution 

 it is obviously very difficult to contend against such 

 circumstances. Something, however, may be done by 

 very careful inspection of trees, and the removal of 

 every spur which does not appear healthy. The bark 

 will often close rapidly over a clean section, where it 

 would be made unhealthy by the contact of a de- 

 caying twig, and though the tissue of the wood may 

 be slightly affected, if the source of infection be removed, 

 the surrounding tissues may remain healthy and the 

 tree be preserved. 



309. Gumming is in many cases merely a form of 

 canker, the exudation of the gum aggravating the con- 

 dition, and makiDg the wound extremely difficult to 

 heal. M. J. B. . 



PROPOSED 



NEW ROAD THROUGH ST. 

 JAMES'S PARK. 



As your paper has ever been the organ of plain, use- 

 ful sense, uncontaminated by personal malice or party 

 feuds, I hope you will not object to insert a few lines 

 from an impartial observer on the uproar recently raised 

 against the proposed new road through St. James's 

 Park. For myself I am neither an inhabitant of Bel- 

 gravia nor St. James's. It is nothing to me whether 



yet unknown to fame, might henceforward become cele- 

 brated for logic and for eloquence ; and it is hoped that 

 in the next editions future variations to the tune of 

 H Dear public, what will become of thee 4" will be signed 

 by some one of the many Jacks, or victorious holders-on, 

 whose talents find such liberal encouragement in the 

 Times, and whose leisure hours assist in this dull interval 

 to fill up vacuums in the Daily News and the Sun. 



I hope you will not consider that these few words 

 upon the real value of such sort of attacks are mis- 

 placed in the Gardeners' 1 Chronicle; it is my sincere wish 

 that the valued public (not the " public n of the Times 

 but the reality claiming that name) may be permitted 

 by that literary luminary to make use of its own 

 memory and understanding. John Field, Hose Cottage, 

 Fulham. 



NOTES ON TRANSPLANTING.— No. IV. 



In planting to a limited extent, as in removing a few- 

 favourite or valuable specimens, many resources are 

 available to ensure success, which could hardly be em- 

 ployed largely. Thus should the weather be dry after 

 planting, the branches may be occasionally syringed or 

 protected from the action of the sun by a screen of 

 canvas or mats, or better still both the syringe and the j sort of proportion to the importance of the results in- 



w « — - covering may be used together. The practice of [ volved. But there is a talismanic charm about the 



Westminster or Lambeth, May fair or Mary lebone are syringing newlv-planted shrubs cannot be too much 



aCGOmmnrlatAfl • Vint « f*\* »*1«„« ;« *U A **- -r _„ J . ° , * i ii i *. u u it 



praised, many a valuable plant has been preserved by 

 it. If the leaves and succulent shoots of plants give off 



sive alterations were immediately commenced. Near 

 the mansion were several lar^e shrubberies, or what 

 had been in tended for shrubberies, which, as I learned 

 from a person who had long resided on the estate, had 

 existed for several years, but in consequence of the poor, 

 stiff, wet soil, the plants would not flourish ; neverthel 

 the vacancies from deaths had been made good every 

 year, with the hope that some would at last succeed. 

 The appearance of the then existing shrubs and trees 

 was sad indeed. The trees were of the ordinary 

 deciduous kinds ; the shrubs coram on and Portugal 

 Laurels, with hew and there a Holly or an Arbutus. 

 Very few had made any growth since they were planted ; 

 the Evei-greena wore a yellow sickly hue ; the deciduous 

 trees were covered with Lichens, a great portion of 

 their branches were dead or dying, and, as I before 

 observed, this state of things had existed for some 

 years. In the course of the alterations these plan- 

 tations were swept away, a few of the shrubs being 

 retained to be planted again subsequently. The 



rounds, prior to a new arrangement, were thoroughly 

 drained, and spaces for the shrubberies deeply 

 trenched. Many of these embraced portions of the 

 ground where the old shrubberies had been, and 

 in planting the new ones some of the shrubs which had 

 been n tained were pine 1 to nearly their old positions. 

 The sequel may be imagined. The draining and pre- 

 paration of the soil acted like enchantment The first 

 season the plants merely established themseln*, much 

 growth could hardly be expert* d; but in the succeeding 

 year the value of the treatment they had received became 

 apparent enough. Dark green foliage and strong 

 healthy shoots were everywhere conspicuous ; and what 

 a dozen years of previous labour had failed to produce, 

 was obtained by well directed expense in two years. 

 Before the ground was prepared under the new pro- 

 prietor, rain which fell in the autumn and winter 

 collected in pools on the surface, and did not disappear 

 till it was evaporated in the spring. The roots of the 

 plants were in water fix months out of the twelve. 

 Death was of course the rule ; few trees beside a 

 Willow or an Alder could exist there for any time. 

 Thorough draining with subsequent cultivation of the 

 soil, however, changed the whole aspect of the grounds, 

 and rendered the soil as healthy and as well suited for 

 the growth of all ordinary trees as could be desired. 



There is one other important matter in reference to 

 planting which I must not pass over — I allude to what 

 is called cheap plants, or in other words when, from an 

 idea that he is procuring a bargain, a gentleman pur- 

 chases a quantity of coarse-rooted stunted plants con- 



iderably below the fair market price demanded for 

 good ones, and cheats himself into the belief that he 

 lias made a bargain. The amount paid for these so- 

 called bargains is generally so much money thrown 

 away. The failures are so numerous that the greater 

 part of the plants have to be made good in the following 

 year — both time and money are thrown away, and the 

 work has to be done over again. To speak somewhat 

 paradoxically, but nevertheless truly, cheap plants are 

 in nine cases out of ten very dear ones. The same 

 expense for labour in the planting is incurred, and ail 

 attendant charges, with the exception of the actual pur- 

 chase money, are the same for good as for bad plants. 

 And the difference between the price of a good article 

 and a lad one is in reality very small, and bears no 



accommodated ; but " fair play 

 Englishman, and therefore it is 



is the motto of an 

 well to look at the 

 source whence all this clatter proceeds. " Oh ! ■ says Mr. 

 Johnson to Mr. Smith, « It is the public voice. The 

 public is aggrieved, the public will have its own way 



the Times says so. 5 ' Let us try to examine, for 

 one moment, what is "the Times: 7 "Is it a man?" 

 "No. It's many men." " What ! the men that make 

 the public i" « By no means— the public knows nothing 

 About them." « Who are they P " Nobody knows." 



Way do they write articles about the public V 



« v e f ause tlle ? are wel1 P aid -" * Who pays them t" 

 mobody knows." « Why do they not put their names 

 to their articles i» "Because if they did, nobody 

 •would believe they were the confidants of the public— 

 *nd the public, which is to be played upon, 

 would not respond." Now, this late cannon- 

 ^ de is something like a pop-gun loaded with peas 

 discharged at a timorous female in the dark. The 

 serves are so tremulous that the understanding goes for 

 jiotlung ; she believes that each cold pea is a red-hot 

 }>ullet ; and not only that murder is intended, but that it 

 Tl &Ct £ al,y commifcted > and 1 that she is bleeding to death ! 

 f.J^ me8 ,oad8 pop-guns, rightly judging that it can 

 ^ghten the public, and make it believe that St. James's 

 ark fc already nsarly destroyed, that "by reason 

 the public health is gone, and that its destruc- 



a large amount of water by evaporation, they also take 

 in a good deal by absorption. The leaves, branches, 

 and stems of a new-planted tree or shrub, should, if 

 possible, and especially if removed in spring, be kept 

 moist till the production of new roots renders such 

 assistance unnecessary. 



When it is determined a year or two beforehand to 

 remove a large plant which it is worth while to ease, it 

 is a good practice to cut a trench at a distance from the 

 stem proportionate to its size, severing all the roots and 

 filling in the trench with a light mould, in which rotten 

 leaves form a large portion. This favours the produc- 

 tion of fibrous roots, and enables the plant to be removed 

 with a fair chance of success. If the plant is very large 

 and its roots extend a long distance from the stem, 

 the operation of root cutting had better be extended to 

 two seasons, cutting half in each. If all are cut through 

 at once the check would probably be too great, and 

 endanger the life of the individual. 





word cheapness, and we are all more or less affected by 

 it, which too often, like a veritable Will-o f -the- Wisp, is 

 a delusion and a snare. If you have a shrubbery to 

 ant and intend purchasing the materials for it, deter- 

 mine to give a fair market price, and insist upon being 

 supplied with the best article of the kinds you require. 

 Give your order to a respectable tradesman on these 

 conditions, and you will have no reason to complain. 

 But bear in mind what has been said before about the 



shrubs may be safely transplanted so as to be very 

 useful afterwards, by cutting off all their branches, 



treatment of the plants when you get them. 



There are, especially in the neighbourhood of London, 

 frequent sales by auction of nursery stock. They are 

 held for the express purpose of clearing off quantities of 

 inferior plants such as nurserymen are glad to get rid 

 of at any price. Nevertheless purchasers are always 

 found, and it is not till a few months afterwards that 

 they are fully awake to the almost worthlessness of the 

 goods purchased. For those who chiefly patronise 

 these sales are but little acquainted with plants, and are 

 induced to become purchasers mainly in consequence 

 of the apparent cheapness of the lots. These sales are 

 Many large rough a fertile source of disappointment in planting, and those 



who may eontemplata attending them to make pur- 

 chases, will do well to be wary, or still better avoid 



plain 



Has the public forgotten 

 Has it forgotten that this is 



&on has been perpetrated in cold blood by the Chief 



Commissioner of Works. 



*ho that individual is ? 



*te very man who was President of the Board of Health 



---the very man who risked his life this very time 12 



onths for the preservation of this same public ? — the 



j~* u to whom we are indebted for the enormous 



oroia which his colossal mind and wonderful powers 



a Pplication have brought to bear, and carried through 



Dtihr UBe °^ Commons this very year I This same 



atta h t0 wnien tne Times is apparently so much 



t&ched, heard very little through its columns last 

 September of the then President of the Board of Health 



pollarding them in fact, and taking them up with as them altogether ; and, in fact, unless they h: 

 much root as can be conveniently secured without 

 attempting to secure a ball. Such will generally succeed, 

 and make luxuriant growths the second if not the tir*t 

 season after planting. Where appearance is of no con- 

 sequence for a year or so this mode of planting may be 

 very usefully employed. 



In reading what I have so far written, it seems to me 

 that enough has not been said on the importance of 

 draining as a preliminary to planting where the soil is a 

 retentive one, and the subsoil unfavourable for the pas* 



pie is said to be better than pre- 

 cept, I will give one illustration of the position. The 

 inferences to be drawn from it will be of more practical 



a good 



sage of water. As 



value than anything I can urge by way of theory io the 

 absence of some such illustration. . An estate which had 



knowledge of plants themselves, or can take the advice 

 1 of some one who has, will be much the gainers by 

 . rigorously avoiding what are called m bargains n iu 

 plants under any circumstances. 



To recapitulate, plant in the autumn if possible, and 

 always prepare the ground well beforehand. If com- 

 pelled to carry on the work in spring, great care will 

 always be required; and unless the weather is very 

 moist, and other circumstances favourable, the month cf 

 March should be avoided altogether. In limited opera- 

 tions great license may be taken with established rules ; 

 and in those of great extent, local or peculiar circum- 

 stances may warrant a wide deviation from the dictates 

 of general principles. 



In conclusion, a word or two on planting by contract. 



, __ ^„ ^ m » tmmsfmm UA % w ^ v «*^ v . **v«.~. long been in the possession of a gentleman who cared | Do not choose an estimate solely because it is a low one 



w «eu he went into the infested regions of London, to httle for improvement, fell into other hands, and exteu- Recollect that any nurseryman can supply plants of the 



