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THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[Oct. 6, 1855. 



the bloom is very tender), have been well worth seeing, 

 being fuller of their large yellow Plums than I ever saw 

 any Plum tree before ; but here though handsome they 

 are very second-rate in flavour. The Overall, a new 

 variety with very long footstalks, is a large dark red 

 fruit not yet ripe, the trees are loaded, and it appears likely 

 to be a profitable kitchen variety. Bluker's Scarlet, 

 also a good kitchen sort, though a great bearer, has this 

 season almost missed setting. Jefferson appears a 

 great bearer; it is a medium-sized handsome yellow 

 Plum, just ripe ; from a standard it is good but 

 not first-rate; from a wall excellent — in fact 

 one of the best, and only beaten in flavour by 

 the Reine Claude family, of which the old Greengage 

 is the type. What is called Bluker's Yellow Gage is no 

 more like the Greengage than is our Golden Drop in 

 appearance ; it is like Jefferson — in fact, may be mis- 

 taken for it till tasted, when it will be found greatly 

 inferior ; it is a great bearer on a standard. Reine 

 Claude de Bavay is a late Greengage, quite equal to the 

 old variety in every respect, and about a fortnight later ; 

 this year it is bearing heavily. Reine Claude Violette, 

 a purple Gage, is one of the finest plums grown— I have 

 often thought superior to its parent Purple Favourite 

 is not a favourite here ; it is quite second-rate in every 

 respect Rivers's Early Favourite was a very full 

 crop ; a nice, rather small, dark purple variety of the 

 Prune de Tours family. Howell's Early resembles 

 Purple Favourite, but is, I think, a little worse. 

 Smith's Orleans from the wall is one of the finest 

 Plums in colour grown, being nearly black and of good 

 size ; its quality is very similar to the old variety. 

 Chapman's Prince of Wales is also of the Orleans 

 family, a profitable good red Plum. /. R. Pearson, the 

 Nurseries, Chilwell, near Nottingham. [We hope we 

 have read our correspondent's very difficult handwriting 

 correctly.] 



Potato Disease. — So much has already been said and 

 written on this subject that I fear what I am now about 

 to record will be little regarded. A remedy for the 

 disease may, however, be accidentally discovered, and as 

 this is purely so it may be found useful. This year I 

 planted on my farm seven different sorts of Potatoes, 

 on light gravelly soil. The Shaws proved the most 

 affected, all partially so, but there was evidently a 

 marked improvement in the produce of former years. 

 Sumeof the Shaws, however, accidentally got mixed in the 

 setting with the Flukes, generally a late sound useful 

 Potato, and in taking up the few straggling Shaws inter- 

 spersed with them, I remarked that they were little if 

 at all affected, and this was the more surprising, as my 

 men were taking up the Shaws the same day, and had 

 remarked how much worse they were than the others 

 I had planted. The Flukes had flowered well, and had 

 a large quantity of Potato Apples ; the Shaws also 

 flowered and crabbed equally well with the Flukes. I 

 want your assistance now to tell me the reason why the 

 Shaws planted accidentally with the Flukes were so much 

 better than when planted by themselves ; I fancy 

 the pollen of the one had mixed with the stamina of the 

 other, and had given some constitutional vigour to the 

 Shaw, which it had lost and did not then possess in 

 itself. The same kind of care is required I imagine in 

 the vegetable kingdom in propagating as is carefully 

 studied in the animal world. If my idea is correct I 

 shall be glad to hear it from you, as I have made up 

 my mind that it would be better to mix the sorts of 

 Potatoes judiciously in the planting, and sort them 

 afterwards ; when taken up you will, I maintain, have a 

 sounder and better crop than when planted separately in 

 the ordinary manner. William Wilson, High Park, 

 Oxenholme, Kendal. [We do not profess to explain our 

 correspondent's fact. But we can assure him that his 

 pollen theory won't hold water. Pollen can't act im- 

 mediately ; its effect can only be seen in the produce of 

 the seeds affected by it] 



Zinc Weathercocks (see p. 646).— Zinc and copper are 

 both much better conductors than iron ; and so far, 

 ceteris paribus, more attractive of lightning, though in 

 practice I do not think much difference has been found ; 

 nor can much protection be expected from paint. But 

 why not, to make sure, set up a conductor, and carry 

 all the lightning away from the bell-wires directly into 

 the sea by turning out the foot of the conductor, or 

 if too far for that, by aid of a stout iron waterpipe ? A 

 pointed conductor, well connected at bottom, will some- 

 times even prevent lightning by drawing off the 

 electricity from the cloud gradually and silently, and 

 the point may be carried up alongside the stem of the 

 weathercock. /. P rideaux ,Oct . 3. 



Galvanised Wire Trellissing is used here in the con- 

 servatory for training climbers upon, and without any 

 ill effect on the plants. I flatter myself, indeed, that it 

 would be difficult to find a house of climbers in greater 

 luxuriance and beauty. So confident do I feel in its 

 ►daptibility for training purposes, that a vinery 50 feet 

 long, lately erected, has been fitted with it for training 

 the Vines upon. 1 have no doubt that such of your 

 correspondents as have not found this wire to answer 



have mistaken the cause of failure. H. Howktt, Haver- 

 land Hall. 



Lifting Plants from the open ground for Potting 

 At this season many plants will be lifted from the open 

 ground for the purpose of being protected in pots through 

 the winter, as well as for flowering in autumn. I allude 

 more particularly to such things as Chrysanthemums 

 and Salvias, which are well known to make the best 

 plants when grown m the open ground, and potted up in 

 autumn. Some recommend giving such things a good 

 watering before lifting them, but this I do not agree 



with ; on the contrary, I let tht-m get as dry as the 

 state of the weather will permit, for then I consider that 

 the sap vessels are comparatively empty, and on the 

 plant being freely watered when placed in its new 

 quarters the thirsty foliage will speedily begin to 

 demand from the roots fresh supplies, which the latter 

 must derive from the moist soil, consequently the whole 

 vital principle will immediately be set in motion. 

 On the other hand, if the plant is fed and gorged 

 with sap before it is removed, there is no necessity 

 created for an immediate circulation of the fluids ; 

 as a matter of course, therefore, stagnation of the plant 

 and sourness of the soil are the inevitable consequence. 

 When the foliage is fully charged with sap before 

 removal it must necessarily part with a portion of its 

 moisture before it requires more, so that one or other 

 of the following evils will most likely occur, viz., either 

 the foliage must flag before the roots can be called into 

 action to replace the loss, or if the leaves are kept up by 

 means of sprinkling and moisture in the atmosphere, the 

 roots must remain dormant, and the beauty of the 

 foliage will in either case be seriously impaired. If my 

 theory be correct, therefore, the plan I advocate will be 

 found the safest. //. H* 



Fluctuations of Temperature. — The morning of Thurs- 

 day, the 27th ult, was fair and calm, with the wind 

 N.N.W., a direction in which it continued till noon, 

 when it veered round to full N., accompanied by clouds 

 floating slowly to the eastward, and the sun pouring 

 down intense rays of heat, raising a thermometer 

 on a N.W. aspect to 93° ; about 3 p.m. the temperature 

 began slowly to decrease, the wind remained in the 

 same quarter, but the clouds indicated symptoms of a 

 change. The night was fine and clear ; at 10 p.m. the 

 thermometer indicated 33|°, with every appearance of 

 a change. The following morning the radiating thermo- 

 meter stood at 26°, vegetation was stripped of itssummer 

 beauty, bedding and other tender plants appearing as if 

 parboiled, and half-hardy plants sustained considerable 

 injury, the day following being excessively hot Now, 

 as I hear of no tidings so disastrous as these from cor- 

 responding counties, I am led to believe that the great 

 fluctuation of temperature mentioned above was owing 

 to this place being in a valley surrounded (except to the 

 northward) by huge hills, on which, however, such 

 tender plants as the Heliotrope, Dahlia, &c, are still 

 clothed in summer verdure, although not more than a 

 mile distant. In short, the difference of vegetation on 

 low grounds and the hill tops is very remarkable. 



/. R. T., Gardener to G. S. Winkle, Esq., Hucclecote 

 Gardens, near Gloucester. 



\ People's Park, Sunderland. — Permit me to express 

 my astonishment at the remarks made by your corre- 

 spondent w J. S." on the 29th ult., regarding this park. 

 Being a native of Sunderland, though at present a 

 resident in the far north, I had heard and read with 

 much pleasure glowing accounts of the beauty of the 

 people's park, but until I came to Sunderland I was 

 much at a loss to conceive how a quarry hole could be 

 converted into a park. A park, however, there is, and 

 permit me to say, and I say it without exaggeration 

 but not without observation, a park unsurpassed by 

 any place of the kind in England. Who Mr. Smith, 

 the gentleman laying out these grounds is, or what are 

 his antecedents I know not, nor do I care to inquire, 

 but I am sure that every unprejudiced person at all ac- 

 quainted with the place a few years ago, and looking at 

 what it now is, and that at a trifling cost, must pronounce 



it a perfect marvel reflecting great credit upon the skill 

 and taste of all concerned. Your correspondent " J. S." 

 is certainly in error when he informs you that 3 acres 

 only have been laid out as a park. The fact is there 

 are not less than 15 acres so laid out, and planted with a 

 very choice collection of forest and ornamental trees, 

 and laid out, as far as my judgment is concerned, in the 

 most approved style of landscape gardening. The 

 rubbish heaps grassed over, about which u J. S." writes, 

 are graceful and artistically formed mounds intersected 

 by wide and well gravelled walks, exceedingly pleasing 

 to the eye, suggestive of seclusion, and affording more 

 ample space for exercise than could by any other con- 

 ceivable means have been obtained. In my estimate of 

 this delightful retreat I am not alone. The inhabitants 

 of the town generally, and also of the neighbouring 

 towns, are loud in their praise, and justly proud of its 

 beauty. I have heard, how far true I cannot say, that 

 some parties are dissatisfied because it is not the product 

 of native skill. If " J. S." is one of these parties, and 

 is seeking to vent his spleen by damaging Mr. Smith he 

 is morally, to say nothing about intellect, vastly more 

 degraded than the poor donkey referred to. However 

 that may be, I am glad to inform you that as there was 

 only one ass tethered so, as far as my information goes, 

 there is only one who will speak of the Sunderland 

 people's park as * J, S." has done. Medicus. 



Night Flowering Wheats.— While reading Hue's 

 « Empire Chinois," I met with the passage subjoined, 

 which I have translated literally. Is the night flower- 

 ing of some Wheat plants a fact ?— perhaps some of your 

 readers may know and be able to furnish information 

 on the subject. It is a new idea to me. The following 

 is the paragraph alluded to :— " The spirit of observa- 

 tion with which the Chinese are endowed in the highest 

 degree has led them to make a curious remark on the 

 Wheat plant, and one, which in their opinion, is of the 

 greatest importance in agriculture. One of our 

 Christian converts asked us one day if, in France the 

 species of Wheat which flowered during the night were 

 very numerous. The question was puzzling enough 

 and we candidly confessed to our questioner that, not 



being agriculturists, we knew nothing of mT^umWTf 



species of Wheat which flowered during the night • that 



we had never heard a similar phenomenon spoken of 



and that, probably, the cultivators in our country would 



be themselves much astonished by a similar question 

 ' Why, no/ *«*^ ^<* «w— . ~.,ii.: — x — _ ■ , n °°' 



astonished : 



cried he, ' your cultivators would* not "be 

 they must necessarily know that, otherwise 



how could they occupy themselves successfully i a agri 

 cultural labours. Do they sow their fields by change" 

 without taking any account of the sun and the moon ] > 

 We were obliged to confess for the second time gup 

 profound ignorance in these matters. Thereupon our 

 neophyte began to develope to us the most singular of 

 theories on the flowering of the Wheat plant. He told 

 us that the numerous species of Wheats were divided 

 under two great heads — the one whose blossoming 

 began always and invariably during the night, andthe 

 other which could flower only with the day. The choice 

 of soil, the time of sowing, and the kind of culture varied 

 according to the species; and he maintained that for 

 want of knowing these two classifications and conform- 

 ing to the rules prescribed for each of them, people ex- 

 posed themselves to the liability of bad harvests. We 

 cannot say to what point one may give credit to this 

 singular observation of the Chinese." ("I/Empire 

 Chinois" par M. Hue, 2me edition, 2nde tome, pp, 

 361-2.) A. R. C. [This story is quite worthy of the 

 gossiping Monsieur Hue] 



What is Cockneyfied 1 — The judicious remarks on this 

 subject, quoted in your Paper of the 15th September, 

 made me ask myself this question. A vase, a statue, a 

 fountain, or sun-dial, are not necessarily so— can be 

 rarely accused of making a garden look so abroad, but 

 almost invariably make one look so in England, and of 

 course in America. I would describe cockneyism as a 

 feeling for the beautiful of a mind untaught in seeking 

 for it. Thus a statue on rockwork (which may even be 

 seen in Naples) is a case in point ; the statue and rocks 

 are beautiful apart, and in their several places, but never 

 can be whilst together, a ruin rising out of a shaven 

 lawn is another case 5 a smooth-sided canal twisting like 

 a torrent another. Our money-seeking race are taught 

 to make that their study, and not the beautiful ; there- 

 fore we make money and execrable patterns for design 

 and lose many customers to our manufactures thereby. 



Somerset. 



Transplanting at Midsummer. — Permit me to offer a 

 few words in reply to the observations of * An Old Wood- 

 man," made on this subject. As he does not endeavour 

 by argument to combat my assertions, and is not going 

 to say that my success was otherwise than is stated by 

 me, I need not occupy space in discussing that point, 

 although I see I might derive considerable support in 

 the matter from your correspondent H G. W. L.," whose 

 letter, No. 3 I think, bears directly upon the subject, 

 both practically and physiologically. The " Old Wood- 

 man " says, that no doubt I will find, as he has done, 

 after 40 years' experience, that October and November 

 are the best months for planting. Now, I have dis- 

 covered, not "in five years," but from time, locality, 

 and circumstances, such as fell but to the share of few 



that October and November are months only 



men 



" second best" for planting in. Let any one try a 

 thousand or two of Portugal Laurels, Evergreen Oaks, 

 Arbutuses, Hollies, and upright Cypresses in November 

 and June, let the weather be what it may, and then tell 

 us the result ; and I will stake my reputation on the 

 success of the midsummer moving, let the weather be 

 ever so hot. Now, I would not be so self-confident were 

 not my experiences founded on years of observation, 

 and I may say on millions of plants, " from the Cedar 

 of Lebanon to the Hyssop that springeth out of the 

 wall. The " Old Woodman," possibly just roused from 

 his lair, « Old Routine," naturally feels disturbed at my 

 statement, which he calls an advertisement ; if tnfl 

 writings of other contributors, however, are to be stig- 

 matised as « An Old Woodman * has done mine, an end 

 must soon come to all open and fair discussion on any 

 subject. The following note addressed to me from tne 

 Rev. John Cox, of Misterton, will serve to show what 

 success attended some planting done for him by me in 

 summer. He says—" The Holly you had moved for me. 

 May 31st, has lived, and appears to be doing well. lj 

 is about 15 feet high and 20 feet in circumference, ana 

 had never been moved before. The large Portugal 

 Laurels sent by you on the 11th of June have grown 

 satisfactorily. The Holly when removed did not app** 

 to be well rooted/* John Scott, Orewkerne, Somerset* 



Dilices d'Automne Strawberry.— I entirely conc !£ * 

 Mr. Cuthill's excellent remarks on the^general cultiva- 

 tion of Strawberries ; but I consider his observations 

 inapplicable in the present case. The garden here is * 

 the southern part of the county of Nottingham, in tn 

 vale of Belvoir, which is probably one of the dries 

 districts of the midland counties. The soil is ot tn 

 most tenacious .and stubborn character, on the has I 

 mation, but extremely fertile when properly cwtiw^» 

 producing Strawberries for size, quality, and ****■*£ 

 equal if not superior to those of most other g*? a *; 

 As regards the Delices d'Automne it has oot «****??£ 

 any of the disadvantages Mr. C. suggests. It sboui 

 borne in mind that I only received the plants 

 December from Belgium ; consequently they were 



iu the least affected by the autumn of this ^gj 

 which, however, was one of the driest ever kn0 **K ^ 

 Delices d'Automne being a hybrid from a s Pj*^ e 

 Alpine without runners (sans coulans) f 1 expected .^ 

 fruit on the early runners of the same year, and _^ 

 I had taken all pains to encourage. I was tna g^ 

 rather unfavourably impressed when I saw them *** 



