Nov. 10, 1355.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



789 



ILL! AM 



N EW ROSES. 



WOOD and SON have 





triLLlAW \v\j\ju and ou« nave again much 



V t pleasure in recommending their beautiful Seedling Rose 

 the Perpetual DUCHESS OF NORFOLK; the colour is a veiy 

 jjch vivid crimson, the underside of the petals shaded with lively 

 pink, giving the flowers an exquisite shell-like appearance. 



Price for Standards, or Dwarfs, 3s. Gd. each. 

 Williams' Evergreen Climbing Rose, Is. Gd. each— This Rose 

 is a seedling from the Ayrshire Splendens fertilised with the 

 Yellow Tea Rose; its flowers are creamy white, deliriously 

 sweet-scented. 



N.B. The New Rose Catalogue and Supplement may be had 

 on application. 



Woodla nds Nursery, Maresfield, near Uckfield, Sussex. 



~~~ TRAINED FRUIT TREES^ 



WILLIAM WOOD and SON have much pleasure 

 in recommending their very extensive and superior stock 

 of Dwarf two-years-trained PEACHES, NECTARINES, and 

 AFKICOTS, which they feel assured cannot be excelled. The 

 trees are remarkably healthy, and furnished with well ripened 

 shoots ; they will be supplied at 60s. per dozen. 



Pyramidal Pears on Quince stocks, per doz. 

 Pyramidal Plums, extra fine do. 



Pyramidal Apples, do. do. 



Catalogues forwarded on application. Extra plants presented 

 with each order, to compensate for distant carriage. 



Woodlands Nursery, Maresfield, ne ar Uckfield, Sussex. 



M~~ "YATT'S admiral DUNDAS STRAW- 

 BERRY.— Strong plants packed and delivered free in 

 London, 25s. per 100. Also Myatt's British Queen, Ciuquefolia. 

 Globe, Eliza, Mammoth, 3s.Gd. per 100; Keens' Seedling, Hooper's 

 Seedling, Black Prince, Bicton Pine, 3s. Gd. per 100. 



MYATT'S BRITISH QUEEN.-In reply to several corre- 

 spondents, and in confirmation of the private answers I gave last 



AGRICULTURAL SEEDS, ETC. 



OETER LAWSON and SON, Seedsmen and 



*- Nurserymen to Her Majesty the QrEEN, and to thf 

 Highland and Agricultural Society op Scotland, are 

 supplying the following seeds of the best quality :— 



Italian Rye- Grass, Foreign seed i Dwarf Essex Rape 

 Crimson Clover (Tri folium in- 

 carnatum) 



Alsike Clover (Trifolium hy- 



brid un 



Winter Tares 

 Natural Grass Seeds, for 

 tores and Lawns, 



&c. &c. &c. 



27, Great rge Street, Westminster. 



THE TRUE LANCASHIRE SHOW GOOSEBERRIES. 



JOHN HOLLAND, Uradshaw Gardens. Middleton, 



• near Manchester, can now supply 24 string j>! ants for 12* 



12 plants for 7^., of the belav-namsd GOOSEBERRIES, which 

 are of fine flavour. Weights taken from the Gooseberry Grower 



or 



• • * 



• ■ ■ 



245. Od. 

 20 

 16 





Register of 1855, viz. 



: dwts. gi 



London ... 



• • • 



. . , rfu 



Thumper .. 



• ♦ • 



... 26 18 



Wonderful 



* • • 



... 26 14 



Conquering Hero 



... 23 19 



Slaughterman 



• • • 



... 23 13 



Catuerina... 



• si 



... 23 12 



Freedom ... 



• • • 



... 23 1" 



Companion 



«•• 



... 23 6 



Leader 



• • • 



... 23 



Drill 



• •• 



... 23 o 



Napoleon ... 



• •• 



... 22 22 



Overall 



• « • 



... 22 22 



• • • 



• » . 





Lady Leicester 



Random Green 



Pilot 



Railway 



Queen of Trumps 



Gunner ... 



Roaring Lion 

 Li s Provider 

 Goldfinder 



Turnout ... 



Broom girl 



Coppice Lass 



• • • 



• t 



• . - 



- . . 



• • 



- - - 



dwts. gr 

 22 16 

 22 15 

 22 14 

 22 10 



2 o 

 21 

 21 



21 



... 



• • » 



• • • 



■ ■ ■ 





■ - 



• • ■ 



* ■ • 



• - - 



■ • • 



- • • 



• - . 



n 



20 

 19 



22 



21 



6 



1 



5 







fo 



Post Office Orders to be made payable at Middleton, Lancashire. 



Catalogues on application. 



in error, and arrogates to himself the credit due to ray late 

 father, .Mr. Joseph Myatt, who was the originator of the variety 

 ia question.— W. Myatt, Manor Farm, Deptford.— Nov. 10. 



CRAPE VINES FROM EYES. 



T) GLENDINNING respectfully begs to offer an 



J-V. extensive collection of all the principal kinds of GRAPE 

 VINES in pots extra strong, either for forcing in the pots or 

 planting out. 



PEACHES and NECTARINES, established in pots two and 

 three years, full of blossom buds, and will doubtless produce fine 

 crops the next season; also strong FIGS in pots. 



A large and extensive assortment of trained Peaches, Nec- 

 tarines, Apricots, Plums, Cherries, Pears, and Apples, in fine 

 health. 



R. G. would particularly direct attention to his very large 

 collection of Pears for Pyramidal Training. They are from 

 5 to 7 feet high, and grown especially for the purpose, with 

 abundance of short shoots. The Horticultural Society's nomen- 

 clature has been adopted with all the Fruit Trees ; they may, 

 therefore, b.j relied upon as correct.— Catalogues of the above 

 and all othur Nursery Stock may be had on application. 

 . Chiswick Nursery, London. 



\/f ESS RS. E. G. HENDERSON and SON beg to 



-J-*-*- announce that thev have now received their noted collec- 

 tion of HYACINTHS in excellent condition, and for the assist- 

 ance of those persons unacquainted with the culture of the 

 Hyacinth, printed instructions will be given gratis with each 

 order they are kindly favoured with, Catalogues of which, to- 

 gether wirh their Plant and Seed Lists, will be forwarded post 

 *ree on application. 



CUCUMBER Henderson's NAPOLEON III., in packets, 3s. 

 and 55. Gd each. 



CALCEOLARIA, CINERARIA, and PRIMULA SEED of 

 first quality, 2s. Gd. and 5s. per packet. 



FUCHSIAS— Banks' Favourite, 10s. Gd.: Prince of Wales, 

 10s. Gd. 



NEW RHODODENDRONS.— Bootbi, Hookeri, Calophyllum, 

 Kendricki, Eximium Windsori Leucanthum. 



GYNERIUM ARGENTEUM (Pampas Gbas3).-E. G. H. & 

 Son having in their possession the largest stock in the country 

 of this noble ornamental Grass, can supply free healthy seedling 

 plants, which are superior to any other at 2s. Gd. each, 25s. per 

 dozen, or 71. 10s. per 100. 



Wellington Nur sery, St. John 's Wood. 

 T O PL ANTE R S. 



T SCOTT, Merriott, Crewkerne, Somerset, offers the 



*' • following :— Deodara Cedars, from 3 to 8 feet, by 6 to 16 

 round, at 3s. Gd. to 30s. each ; Cedar of Lebanon, same size and 

 price ; African Cedar, 2 to 3 feet, 3s. Gd. each; Red Cedar, 3 to 6 

 feet, 18s. to 30s. per dozen ; Cedar of Goa, 18 inches, Is. Gd. each ■ 

 White Cedar, 5 feet, 3s. Gd. each; Cryptomeria japonica, 4 to ltf 

 feet, very fine, 2s. Gd. to 15s. each ; Taxodium sempervirens, 4 to 

 10 feet, 2s. Gd. to 10s. Gd. each ; Cupressus macrocarpa, 2J to 5 

 feet, 2*. Gd. to 5s. each ; C. Govineana, 2 to 3 feet, 3s. Gd. each; 

 C.funebris, 1 to 3 feet, Is. Gd. to 3s. Gd. each; Thuja pendula, 

 o feet, 5s. to 7*. Gd. each ; T.aurea, 1 foot high, 3 feet round, 3*. Gd. 

 ^ach ; Juniperus chinenais, 4 feet, fine, 5s. each; J. squamata, 

 *> leet, 5s. each ; J. excelsa, 3 feet, 7s. Gd. each ; J. tetragona, 18 

 inches, 2s. Gd. each ; Irish Yews, 4 to 7 feet, fine, 35. Gd. to 10*. Gd. 

 each; Taxus adpressa, 2 to 3 feet, 6s. to 7s. Gd. each; Siberian 

 Aroor-vitae, 3 to 6 feet, U.Gd. to 3s. Gd. each ; Pinus excelsa, 2 to 7 

 *&h I*. Gd. to 7s. Gd. each; P. insignis, 2 to 5 feet; 2s. Gd. to 7s. Gd. 

 «■*«; Standard Portugal Laurels, 4 to 6 feet stems, 3s. Gd. to 

 4% eft ch. Apricots, Peaches, and Nectarines, drop trained. 

 ?**• per dozen: Pears and Plums, do., 24s. per dozen; Pears, 

 p "? s ' a nd Cherries, dwarf Pyramids, 18s. per dozen. These 

 * nut Trees are all healthy and young, including every Fruit 

 worfh growing. 150 sorts, large and Pompone Chrysanthemums, 

 in ^nch pots, at fo. per dozen.— Nov. 10. 



WATEREK'S AMERICAN PLANTS.—A new 



* * DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE is now published of the 



c ww)rated Collection of hardy Scarlet and other Rhododendrons, 



as exhibited by John Watebeb at the Royal Botanic Gardens, 



* f cent's Park; it will be found to contain a few practical obser- 



ations on their successful management, and will be forwarded 



on application by enclosing two stamps for postage. Apart from 



ts enumeration of the most popular American Plants in cultiva- 



l on, a List of choice Coniferse will be seen, embracing the latest 



^asportations of this fine and hardy tribe of Plants. 



4l ,:^- n as now the pleasure to offer in large quantities, and of 



*» heights, the following selection of CONIFERS, with the 



emark that they are all now growing in the open ground, are 



"shy and handsome as can be desired, and have been trans- 



P nted each succeeding spring, whereby no risk can be encoun- 



Araucaria irabricata, 





NEW HARDY PLANTS. 



A VERSCHAFFELT, Nurseryman, Ghent, Bel- 



<£± • gium,begs to offer the following Ifow HARDY PL \NTS: 



RHODODENDRON MADAME WAGNBft (hardV 15s. Oi. 

 „ PRINCE CAM1LLE DE ROHAM (hardy) ... 7 6 



WEIGELIA MIDDENDORKL— N.B Thi splaodtd 

 Weigelia has been sold already twice under wrong 

 names. The one I offer heti is warranted the true 



species. Good Plants each 12 



A. Verschaffkxt begs to inform Amateurs and the Trade 



that he has just published a new PLANT LIST, contai ng the 



English and Continental Novelties. 

 His Catalogue may be obtained on application of his Agent 



Mr. R. Sil berrad, 5, Harp Lane. Grp«t To *r*»r Strp pf, f>nrinn 



A NEW SEEDLING APPLt FROM THE. KIBSION Pi'PIN. 



OTEPHEN SHILLING begs to offer to gentlemen 



^ and the trade Trees of his entirely new Apple named OMER 

 PACHA, it being a first-rate hardy grower, stroog compact hnVit, 

 early and productive bearer. Fruit excellent flavour (dessert), ripe 

 in November, keeps until May. Respectable testimonials given 

 from those who have tasted the fruit. Strong plants supplied at 

 5s. Gd. each, or 60s. per dozen. The usual discount, to the trade 

 where one dozen or more are taken. Early application is re- 

 quested as the stock is limited; all orders carefully and promptly 

 attended to. Fruit of the above can be seen at the office of the 

 Gardeners 1 Chronicle, the British Pomological Society's Rooms, 

 20, Bedford Street, Covent Garden, Messrs. Nutting* & Son, 4 

 Cheapside, Messrs. Sutton «& Sons, Reading, Mr. C. Turner, 

 Royal Nursery, Slough, and at the North Warnborough Nursery, 

 near Odiham, Hants. 



NEW CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



JOHN SALTER begs to inform his friends that his 



'* unrivalled Collection of Chrysanthemums Is now in bloom, 

 including many seedlings, among which is ALFRED SALTER, 

 the finest light flower in cultivation. A visit to the winter garden 

 will amply repay those amateurs who may honour him with their 

 patronage. — Versailles Nursery, William Street, near Hammer- 

 smith Turnpike. 



Eht <§artrener«ET Ctirmttcle. 



SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1855. 



The degree of durability of the vital principle 

 in seeds, revived by our correspondent u C," has 



on former 



again 



as 



occasions 



produced 

 Let 



many 

 remarks and inquiries from others. Let us, then, 

 endeavour once more to put this very curious ques- 

 tion in a clear light, with the aid of such additional 

 illustration as the last few years have afforded. 



That the tales told by credulous writers of seeds 

 that have laid for centuries in such places as 

 mummy-cases, should have met with disbelief on 

 the part of the more sagacious part of the public, is 

 no more than might have been expected from the 

 unsatisfactory nature of the evidence upon which 

 such statements usually rest. That they are in 

 some cases indeed untrue is certain, and in others 

 probable. But it is in the highest degree unphilo- 

 sophical to refuse to examine what are called facts, 

 merely because some can be shown to be false, or be- 

 cause some principle which they involve is incom- 

 prehensible to our limited understanding. 



Three classes of statements have been adduced in 

 support of the opinion that the vitality of seeds is 

 inexhaustible ; some absolutely false, some doubtful, 

 others susceptible of what we regard as rigorous 

 proof. Among those which we take to be abso- 

 lutely false are some of the statements of Arabs and 

 Egyptians, that seeds or bulbs, which have grown, 

 were taken from the cases of mummies. No doubt the 





red m their removal from the nursery :- 



^yptomena japonica; Pinus Douglasi, Cembra, excelsa, Lam- 



>d ? a ' in,si S n *3» Jefferyana, Beardsleyi, tuberculata, &c.; 



artis Deodara, Lebanon, and Africana; Wellingtoniagigantea, 



_\_^! mn > Junip-rus, Taxus, Thuja, &c. 



*ntf~ J^ e attention of gentlemen, public companies, and others 



iniWi i i ! , n P ,antin £» w especially directed to the foregoing; 



usdp J "^tending planters would be well repaid by a visit to 



caim * u 0ur stock » as much may be seen which of necessity 

 "not ta £i Ven within the Hmitg of an a^ert^ement. 



FarnK Nur8eT T is easily reached by railway, bein*r near the 



on%ho 5 OUfi L h 5 tatloi, ' dontn - VVea toni Railway, and Blackwater 

 0tt the South-Eastern Railway. 



The American Nursery, Bagshot, Surrey. 



bulb mentioned by our correspondent <f C" is one of 

 them ; another is the Pea called Grioistone's, which 

 was proved in the garden of the Horticultural 

 Society to be identical with the common "Branching 

 Marrow Pea," (see p. 115, 1849); and to this may 

 certainly be added all the stories told of Onions and 

 Garlic still living at the expiration of hundreds of 

 years. The principle of vitality so remarkable in 

 seeds does not exist in bulbs in a durable form. To 

 i he doubtful class we must refer all mummy Wheat, 

 the history of which was formerly given in our 

 columns (p. 757, 1846): for although we do not 

 regard the reasons for disbelieviug its authenticity 

 quite sound, nevertheless we may allow that some 

 suspicion attaches to it. 

 [ After eliminating these cases there still remains 



a large body of evidence which cannot be contested, 

 from which no other inference can be drawn than 

 that, under peculiar circumstances, the animation of 

 a seed may be suspended for an indefinit period, 

 and then be revived if it is prese? d to the condi- 

 tions upon which vegetable growth depends. In 

 works ii m \ ^etable physiology many such instances 

 are mentioned uj u ;iutliorit\ which no one disputes 

 (See Lindl. Intr. Boi. 11. .Si, 4th od.). Instead of 

 repeating them we prefer on this occasion to 

 rest our case upon evidence of i oo me what loos 

 hacknied kind. M. Pferm ha* lately proved experi- 

 mentally that Coniferous seeds n lio their vitality 

 unimpaired for many years. He ind that Pinus 

 Pmea grew when 16 years old, Pi natters at the same 

 afe, and Scotch Firs v jen 13 years old. Now if it 

 is conceded that the viulir of a seed may be sus- 

 pended for 13 or 16 years, it is perfectly conceivable 

 that it may also be suspended for 130 or 1 K), or 

 my other number of years. Nor is it allowable 

 in m inquiry of this sort to insist upon the quo- 

 tnodo of suspended vitalit v boinir explained. Were 



we to 



pen 



disbelieve 



y being explained. 



th 



everything that cannot bo 



explained our belief would be very ri cum ibed. 

 The sudden appearance of Ch lock all over railway 

 cuttings and i lse where, a perfectly well authenti- 

 cated fact, is merely an example of the same nature 

 as M. Pepin's Coniferous seeds ; and I >aki nd other 

 plants which suddenly appear wlun the Pine forests 

 of North America are cleared would 

 to the same class. But the 



m to belong 

 most remarkable 



examples of which we have any knowledge are 

 those of the Melrose I ind pit, and of the Dorchester 

 tumulus. It is recorded in the Annals of Natural 

 History, vol. xiii. p. 89, that seeds taken from the 

 bottom of a sandpit, from St > to 60 feet above the 

 level of the Tweed, and 25 feet below the surface, 

 grew and produced Polygonum Convolvulus, Sorrel, 

 and an Atriplex — we believe patula. How many 

 years were required to bury these seeds 26 feet 

 deep in sand at so high a level 



leave our geolo- 

 gical friends to determine. Mr. K.mi», who drew 

 attention to this curious fact, date- he deposit long 

 before the time of the Romans in Britain. 



The Dorchester tumulus case is of much the 

 same character. A Mr. Maclean having opened 

 a barrow near Maiden Castle found a coffin contain- 

 ing the remains of a human body, coins of Hadrian, 

 &c. ; and among them a quantity of dry turfy 

 matter, which, from its position he regarded as the 

 remains of the intestines. A portion of this turfy 

 matter the writer of the present notice received 

 from Mr. Mat lean for the purpose of examination. 

 He found in it a considerable number of Raspberry 

 seeds, many dead, all much decayed superficially, 

 but some with an appearance of life. Some of the 

 latter were sown with every poosible precaution 

 against error. The season was mid-winter, the place 

 a hothouse, and the gardener was perfectly ignorant 

 of the history of the seeds entrusted to him. Ons 

 or two grew and produced a common wild Rasp- 

 berry plant, which is still alive in the Garden 

 of the Horticultural Society. It is understood that 

 Mr. Page, the nurseryman of Southampton, also 

 ^aw the turfy matter alluded to, and recognised 

 Raspberry seeds in it. We entertain the most 

 entire conviction that this example is open to no 



able doubt. 



It had, however, been objected 

 to, upon grounds which we thought very insufficient, 

 so long ago as the year 1836, and this led to some 

 correspondence with Mr. Maclean, then alive, a 

 copy of which we now, for the first time, publish 

 without curtailment. We do this in the hope that 

 it may finally set at rest a vexed question, for if, in 

 one instance only, it can be demonstrated that a 

 seed has retained its vitality 1000 years, all the 

 other instances of similar longevity, concerning 

 which rigorous proof is deficient, may, nevertheless, 

 be judged of better by the mere aid of circumstan- 

 tial evidence. 



Copies of the Correspondence Respecting rat 



Dorchester Raspberry Case. 



" London, Aug. 9, 1836. 



a Sir,— After eorae little trouble I have procured the 

 address of the clergyman who I mentioned to be 

 referred to f viz., Rev. C. Bristed, Winterborne, 

 MoncktoB) Dorchester, Dorset The farmer's name is 

 Phelps, whose -ervaiit furnished rae with one portion of 

 the under-jair with teeth found previously by him in the 

 same barrow, and who will assist (if still there) Mr. 

 Bristed in naming the two labourers, who I employed 

 in discovering the other matters. You will cause Mr. 

 Bristed to be particular in his inquiries of the man who 

 ^ave me the Roman coin, and to whom I gave a port! 

 of the stomach which he had taken home as a great 

 curiosity, but on my discovering afterwards what it con- 

 tained I returned on purpose to obtain it from him, 

 fearing it should be laid aside or lost I found this was 

 the case ; it could not be found, which on mentioning 

 the circumstance the individual will call to his recollec- 

 tion. As to the seed no person could conjecture an; 

 thiner about it without an examination and a curiosity 



