694 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



thought it necessary to look about them and make ready 

 their casks. About the end of May or June, however, 

 matters put on a different face, and people thought that 

 they had been too sanguine. At all events a half crop 

 might be expected. The fact is that the hot sirocco 

 winds which prevailed about that time began to powder 

 the leaves, which rolled up as if shrinking from the 

 deadly touch, whilst the branches showed an increase 

 of the plague spot. Now was the season of remedies, 

 and the * Giornale delle Due Sicilie," so silent on other 

 matters, was full of quotations from foreign journals 

 recording certain and only cures. Some said that the 

 Vine might be saved by laying it on the ground instead 

 of supporting it by poles; others that the Grapes, as 

 soon as the flowering was over, should be washed 

 with a mixture of sulphur, earth, and water, or with 

 glue much diluted, or that they should be powdered with 

 flowers of sulphur, whilst many contented themselves 

 with the priestly benediction which had been given at 

 Easter. I have tried or seen each one of these 

 remedies, and am therefore in a position to give you 

 something like a correct opinion of the results. 

 They proceeded almost all, as you will perceive, 

 on the supposition that the cause of the malady was 

 external and atmospherical. Especially was this 

 the case in the glue remedy, which was the first 

 I tried. For some time my Grapes looked green and 

 appeared to grow; encased as they were, my hope was 

 that the atmospherical deposit in whatever it consisted 

 could no longer touch the Grape, but as the season 

 advanced the fruit hardened, one side became tainted, 

 and then it burst, and it was a question of time when it 

 would become like a lump of charcoal. Another 

 remedy I tried was that of sulphur, earth, and water, in 

 a mixture of which I dipped every bunch of Grapes ; 

 it had been tried in Lombardy and was attended with 

 immense success ; not so however in this neighbourhood, 

 though I must confess that whether the result of 

 accident or not, the Vines which were treated in this 

 way were not so utterly ruined as the others. In every 

 bunch there is here and there one of a natural colour, 

 though I do not consider the result sufficiently decided 

 to found any assertion upon. Many are most sanguine 

 as to the advantages of laying the Vines down upon the 

 ground, which is rather a precaution than a remedy, and it 

 cannot be denied that those trees have for a much longer 

 time resisted the malady. Their fruit had kept its colour 

 till the season * as far advanced, and had increased in size, 

 though even these had at length succumbed to the universal 

 enemy, and in our knowledge either of the disease or its 

 remedies we are now pretty nearly where we were at 

 this time last year. " Le vuoV la mano di Dio" says the 

 inert Italian ; a sentiment which every one is ready to 

 adopt though in another sense, for man seems to know 

 little or nothing on the subject. We are now in the 

 middle of what, from habit, we call our vintage, and a 

 sad sight do the vineyards present. Large pendant 

 bunches all split down the middle, and looking as ashy 

 and blank as Dead Sea fruit. Still they are plucked 

 and pressed, or rather washed, in order to give to water 

 the flavour of the Giape. It is bet:er than nothing — it 

 awakens a reminiscence of the past. In one word, the 

 ruin will be better understood when I say that in a 

 vineyard which four years since produced 10 pipes 

 of wine, this year only 2 barrels are made, and my 

 fortune is attributed to the special interposition of the 

 Madonna della grazie. The consequence is misery 

 to all classes — the peasantry have little work, or what 

 work they hive is not paid for ; the tt colono n cannot 

 make up his rent, and his produce is seized, or his fur- 

 niture, in part payment ; the proprietor in many cases 

 is reduced to beggary, and compelled to sell or mort- 

 gage his land to pay the land-tax — this is exacted to the 

 uttermost farthing, blood must be drawn from the very 

 flints ; but the overgrown army must be supported, and 

 the legions of employes and spies must be paid, though 

 at the expense of suffering thousands. II. W. 



Sablons, near Moret sui* Loing, Seine et Marne, 

 Oct. 12. — Possessing as an amateur grower upwards 

 of 140 sorts of Strawberries I was naturally desirous to 

 try the new " Deliees d'Automne." After having in 

 vain endeavoured to obtain plants in Belgium, the 

 nurserymen there declaring that their stock had been 

 disposed of in England, I succeeded in procuring for 

 myself in November, through the kindness of Messrs. 

 Henderson, of St. John's Wood, three plants, which 

 were immediately planted in pots and taken great care 

 of during winter. In April last Mr. Makoy, of Liege, 

 sent me a dozen more and I must confess remarkably 

 healthy runners, with bold crowns, promising con- 

 sequently a fair crop. Part of them were planted in 

 the open ground and part in pots under glass ; but, alas, 

 not one of either of the three plants received from 

 London, or of the 12 received from Liege, has pro- 

 duced fruit ! One plant in the open ground showed 

 two or three flowers, which, however, did not set. Dis- 

 appointed, however, as I was, I did not lose courage, 

 hut continued my experiments on the plants kept under 

 glass, and which I had a certain right to expect would 

 compensate me in autumn, the more so as they were not 

 allowed to produce a single runner. They had pre- 

 viously been shaken out of their pots and largely sup- 

 plied with manure-water, but I am sorry to say that 

 they do not give the slightest sit>n of flowers, whilst 

 several other new aorta— namely, Underbill's beautiful 

 Sir Harry, and Ward's Omar Pacha, yielded a good 

 second crop in September, in spite of their having a 

 considerable number of runners still adherent to them. 

 I may add, too, that neither the plants of Sir Harry nor 

 those of Omar Pacha were by far so strong aa the , 



Deliees d'Automne, and that the two first named had 

 produced a splendid crop in spring. I now leave it to 

 the public to judge of my surprise in noticing in Messrs. 

 Makoy 's autumnal catalogue which I received a short 

 time ago, the De'lices d'Automne continued to be adver- 

 tised as "Perpetual des Alpes !" Ferd. Gloede. 



[Oct. 20, 1855. 



ocietteg. 



Caledonian Horticultural, Sept. 8. — In the Fruit 



competition, the following premiums were awarded, 

 viz. : — Silver Medal, to Mr. Campbell, gr. to J. John- 

 ston, Esq., for Catherine and Royal George Peaches ; 

 2d, Mr. Addison, Gosford, for Noblesse and Red Mag- 

 dalen. Nectarines : 1st, Mr. Halliday, gr., Scone 

 Palace, with Pitmaston, Orange, and Due de Tello. 

 Muscat Grapes : 1st, Mr. Stewart, gr., Dalhousie ; 2d, 

 Mr. Reid, Ballindean ; and 3d, Mr. Strachan, Jardine 

 Hall. Black Hamburgh Grapes : 1st, Mr. Wilson, Leith 

 Walk ; 2d, Mr. Blair, Mavisbank ; and 3d, Mr. Addi- 

 son. Frontignan Grapes : 1st, Mr. Lockhart, Arniston, 

 for Grizzly ; and 2d, Mr. Addison, for White Frontig- 

 nan. Highest flavoured Bunch of Grapes : 1st, Mr. 

 Blair, v, ith Chasselas Musque ; 2d, Mr. Johnston, Amis- 

 field, with the same variety. Pine Apple : 1st, Mr. 

 Halliday, Scone Palace, for a Lemon Queen, weighing 



5 lbs. and a quarter. Apricots : 1st, Mr. Addison, with 

 Moorpark; 2d, Mr. Edwards, Ealbirnie. Plums: 1st, 

 Mr. Edwards, with Goliath, Victoria, and Jefferson ; 

 2d, Mr. Mackie, with Victoria. Highest flavoured 

 Melon : 1st, Mr. Smith, gr. to W. L. Paterson, Esq., 

 with Beechwood ; 2d, Mr. Mossman, Thurston, with 

 Bromham Hall Green fleshed. Jargonelle Pears: 1st, 

 Mr. Mitchell, Ravelston ; 2d, Mr. Lockhart, Arniston. 

 Gooseberries : 1st, Mr. Smith, Cunnoquhie, with Red 

 Warrington ; 2d, Mr. Lockhart, with Hedgehog. 

 The Silver Medal offered by Messrs, P. Lawson & Son, 

 for the 12 best specimens of Lawson's Golden Gage Plum, 

 was gained by Mr. Allison, of PittencriefF, Dunfermline. 

 Two stands of Hollyhock blooms, placed in competition 

 for the prize of one guinea, offered by Messrs. JDownie 



6 Laird, were determined to be equal in merit. The 

 prize was therefore equally divided between Mr. Fowlis, 

 of Woodhouselee, and Mr. Cossar, Kingsmeadows. Mr. 

 Fowlis's stand contained Amandine, Miss Ashley, 

 Pourpre de Tyre, Hon. Mrs. Ashley, Ajax, Isaac 

 Walton, Joan of Arc, Beauty of Beechwood, Felicia, 

 Unique, Criterion, Walden Gem, William Hume, Prin- 

 cess Alice, Rosy Circle, Mont Blanc, Souvenir, and 

 Eugenie. Mr. Cossar had Marquis of Tweeddale, 

 Eugenie, Agricola, Lady Dalrvmple, Lady Charlotte 

 Neville, Pourpre de Tyre, Solfaterre, Eva, White Globe, 

 Omer Pasha, Beauty of Tweeddale, Sir David Wedder- 

 burn, Lizzy, Prince of Orange, Rosy Circle, Fairy 

 Queen, Shaded Model, and Lord Jocelyn. The prize of 

 one guinea, offered by Messrs. J. Dickson & Sons, for 

 the best 18 Roses, brought two competitors, and was 

 gained by Mr. Pender, Moredun, with the following kinds, 

 viz.: — Camellia, Panache, Duchess of Sutherland, 

 Phoenix, La Meldose, Charles Raynaud, Safranot, 

 Dr. Arnal, Julia Menout, Old Cabbage, Vicomtesse 

 Decazes, Alexandrine Bechmetoff, Pierre de St. Cyr, 

 La Carnosa, Henry Plan tier, Geant des Batailles, 

 Vulcan, Faustine, and Fulgorie. The prize of one 

 guinea, offered by Messrs. Dickson & Co. for the best 

 three Japan Lilies, was awarded to Mr. Lockhart, for 

 Lilium lancifolium album and punctatum. The prize 

 of two guineas, offered by Messrs. P. Lawson & Son to 

 gardeners for the best collection of dissections of the cereal 

 grains, was awarded to Mr. Anderson, Oxenford Castle. 

 In addition to articles for competition, a number of pro- 

 ductions were placed on the tables for exhibition only. 

 Dr. Paterson, Leith, sent fine plants of Cissus discolor ; 

 J. Renny, jun., Esq., a flowering plant of Yucca glo- 

 riosa ; Mrs. Fraser, a Mvrtle-leaved Orange, with 

 numerous ripe fruit; Asters and Marigolds were shown 

 by Mr. Hal ley, Mr. Edmond, and Mr. Gemmeil, Mr. 

 Melville, Dalmeny Park, sent bunches of the Champion 

 Black Hamburgh Grape ; Mr. Mossman, Thurston, a 

 Melon raised from seeds found among the late Dr. 

 Mackenzie's papers received from the Crimea, of small 

 size but good quality ; Mr. Thomson, Elton Pine Straw- 

 berries. From the nurseries of Messrs. J. Dickson & 

 Sons, were Dahlias, Hollyhocks, and Asters ; from Mr. 

 Handasyde, Dahlias ; from Mr. Stark, Asters, Mari- 

 golds, &c. ; from Mr. Tough, a large Hydrangea, 

 bearing 33 heads of flowers ; from Mr. Dickson a 

 seedling Dahlia ; from Messrs. Sang & Son, Kirkaldy, 

 Asters ; from Mr. Chater, Saffron Walden, blooms of 

 seedling Hollyhocks — Empress, Criterion, Fearless, 

 Alpha, and Superb. From the Society's own collection 

 were several fruit trees in pots, particularly a Morello 

 Cherry, bearing 15 dozen well-ripened fruit, and a Pear 

 tree with 43 good sized Pears on it, grown in an 

 orchard house. 



potters of 25oofe& 



The Phasis of Matter. By T. L. Kemp, M.D. 2 vols, 

 small 8vo. Longmans ; with a geological map and 

 numerous woodcuts. 



Dr. Kemp is of opinion that our introductions to 

 chemistry, however admirable they may be, are not 

 what is required by those who merely study the science 

 as a part of general education ; and that they are 

 better suited to professional men than to those who 

 like himself only attend to chemistry in common with 

 physiology and other sciences. To use his own words, 

 w chemistry has now become of such importance, that 



every educated man, to be such, must have a general 

 knowledge of it ; and there are a great number of pro- 

 fessions and trades, of which medicine, farming, calico 

 printing, or brewing may be instanced at random, which 

 can only be satisfactorily conducted, and be reasonably 

 expected to be improved, by means of chemistry. To 

 supply this numerous class with a manual of chemistry 

 having a moderate bulk and price, has been my object 

 in writing the following sheets." He is also of opinion 

 that the reason that so very many students of 

 chemistry, certainly the majority, break down in 

 despair long ere they have mastered the subject suffi- 

 ciently, is partly owing to its being treated so much as 

 abstract matter by itself, and so little in common with 

 the general philosophy of matter. 



^ The volumes before us are intended to illustrate these 

 views, and to offer the reader a system of chemistry 

 adapted to the wants of the general scholar and man of 

 the world. The author commences with the chemistry of 

 the laboratory in its relation to inorganic matter ; and 

 thence proceeds to that of the crust of the earth or of 

 geology, treating among other things of British geolo- 

 gical formations, which are illustrated by a good map. 

 The next subject is the chemistry of organic matter, 

 which is logically followed by that of life, or of animal 

 and vegetable physiology ; and the chemistry of the 

 arts closes the circle. 



As far as we can judge, the author has executed his 

 task conscientiously and well. Although it can only be 

 regarded as ancillary to more elaborate treatises, it will 

 be doubtless found extremely useful with that limita- 

 tion — perhaps the more useful because of it. The style 

 is perspicuous, and considerable tact is shown in dis- 

 tinguishing where to enter into details, and where to 

 cut them short. 



As an example of the manner in which the author 

 treats his subject, we may select a part of his remarks 

 upon the sap of plants : — 



w The constitution and reaction of the sap of plants 

 are subjects regarding which there is great difficulty 

 and obscurity. Still we are now able to have clearer 

 ideas regarding them than was possible a few years ago. 

 Perhaps the best plan of obtaining a notion regarding 

 them is to consider what takes place in a particular 

 plant, say an Apple tree ; and we will suppose that this 

 Apple tree is in the midst of summer, and that (although 

 practically this is absurd) it has flowers, unripe Apples, 

 and ripe Apples upon it. 



" The greater part of the wood, bark, and vessels of 

 the Apple tree is composed of cellulose (carbon and 

 water), some albuminous principles (nitrogen, carbon, 

 oxygen, hydrogen, potassa, soda, phosphorus, &c), 

 and a little oil (carbon, oxygen, hydrogen) ; the bark 

 also contains chlorophyll (a non-nitrogenous matter) ; 

 the flowers contain cellulose and wax ; the partially 

 ripened fruits malic acid, starch or dextrine, and some 

 albuminous matter ; and the ripened fruits, besides 

 the acid and albumen, possess sugar ; lastly, upon a 

 crack in the bark there will likely be a little gum. 



" We will further suppose that for the last 20 hours 

 the nutritive functions of the plant have been exercised 

 with great activity, that the tree has increased in size, 

 that new cellulose and albuminous matter have been 

 deposited in its structure, new chlorophyll in its bark, 

 that new flowers have been produced, that some of the 

 flowers have passed into unripe fruit, and that some 

 unripe fruits have become sweet, and also that a little 

 more gum has been secreted. All this implies the 

 addition to the tree of a great deal of carbon, nitrogen,, 

 oxygen, hydrogen, potassa, soda, phosphorus, &c., all of 

 which have been obtained from the sap. We will last of 

 all suppose (although this is never literally the case) 

 that during this 20 hours the sap has received no addi- 

 tions to it, and has therefore become much diminished 



in quantity. 



u The manner in which the Apple tree would proceed 



is pretty nearly as follows : — The extremities of the 

 rootlets have no epidermis, and can absorb the soluble 

 parts of the soil ; but, in all probability, the manner in 

 which they effect this is by secreting cells, which take 

 up the matter of the soil ; and it is likely that fresh 

 cells are developed from germs, until the one most in 

 advance comes into contact with the particular elements 

 which the sap requires, in order to restore it to its per- 

 fect state. At least this appears to be the only manner 

 in which the selecting power of the rootlets (which 

 power certainly exists) can be explained. The cells 

 having acquired what is needed, are taken into the sap 

 at the extremity of the root. 



" The substances thus taken into the sap, along with 

 water, are probably apocrenate of ammonia, nitrate of 

 ammonia, carbonic acid, the product of the conversion 

 of humic acid into apocrenic, and (but in very small 

 quantities) silicates, sulphates, phosphates of potassa,. 

 soda, magnesia, lime, and oxide of iron, and chlorides of 

 potassium, sodium, and magnesium. 



" Whenever these salts, however, enter the sap, the 

 chemical affinities fall into utter abeyance, and new 

 compounds are formed. The apocrenic acid (and the 

 carbonic, along with some water) furnishes dextrine, 

 which is the base of sap, and the nitric acid and the 

 ammonia form albuminous compounds, to which the 

 potassa, sulphur, &c., attach themselves. Of the man- 

 ner in which the elements of the soil so arrange them- 

 selves as to form the compounds of the sap, an explana- 

 tion cannot, perhaps, in the present state of our existing 

 knowledge, be given. It may, however, be said, that it is a 

 vital one, and not one of chemistry. Chemical affinity 

 is that tendency to motions of different elements when 

 placed near together, and when not under the influence 



