790 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[Dec. 1, 185 



5. 



counted 91 trees in the Worle Hill plantations, I dare 

 Say I could have doubled this number by going deeper 

 within the coppice; but say that only these 91 Oaks 

 had 50 gall-nuts on a tree — although many hud hundreds 

 of them— that only would give more than 4500 of 

 the Cynips to commence the next season with, so 

 that next year instead of only 01 trees attacked I may 

 expect to find thousands, on every tree perhaps 

 throughout the plantations. The mischief is that the 

 Oaks are certainly rendered barren by these hard 

 gall-nut?, and wherever they occurred on the larger 

 trees there were no acorns at all produced. It has 

 been suggested that these gall-nuts may be used in the 

 manufacture of ink, but I should doubt to such a 

 profitable extent as to keep the Oaks entirely for 

 that purpose ; and if not it is but a poor consolation 

 to have ink produced only to record the destruction 

 of plantations made and kept up at some expense in the 

 hope of good timber being some day ripe for sale. Can 

 any suggestion, then, be made upon the subject now, 

 before the Cynipidal hordes have spread to all the 

 Oak trees in the country, whether of Qnercus robur or 

 Q. sessiliflora ? Sylvanus, St. John's, near Worcester. 



Food and Cookery. — The still increasing price of 

 provisions, and the near approach of the rigorous 

 season, will doubtless lead benevolent persons to assist 

 the poor by supplies of food; mi^ht not the oppor- 

 tunity be embraced to introduce articles and modes of 

 preparation successfully habitual in France ? In that 

 country many nutritious substances are made use of 

 which here are neglected and despised, and French 

 cookery extracts a greater proportion of aliment from 

 a given quantity of ingredients. We, in England, waste 

 a considerable amount of nourishment : m the common 

 process of baking, meat is much dried up ; in broiling, 

 fat falls into the fire, and the surface of a chop is often 

 burnt to a cinder ; if fish or even meat be boiled, the 

 liquor is frequently thrown away ; and in regard to pulse 

 of all kiuds, the boiling on a fierce fire softens indeed 

 the grain partially, but not sufficiently for easy diges- 

 tion. The French more frequently make soups or stews, 

 thickened with grain, pulse, or roots, thus retaining the 

 juices which contribute so greatly to nutriment. Another 

 difference in the cookery of the two nations is, that in 

 England the use of condiments is apt to be neglected ; 

 the Frenchwoman flavours with herbs or spices, and 

 even with Celery leaves and other items here cast away. 

 Our labourer rejects what he calls " messes," which, if 

 seasoned to his taste, might be relished. Were bene- 

 volence to distribute stews in lieu of bread, the 

 superior mode of cookery would perhaps be ap- 

 preciated ; a given sum of money would also 

 go farther : for bread, as Count Rumford has 

 shown, affords greater nourishment soaked in soup or a 

 stew than when eaten dry. Of late, many books have 

 been published containing receipts good and economical, 

 indicating also articles now despised, which if suitably 

 prepared, afford wholesome food ; of these publications 

 the following amongst others maybe found useful: — 

 * Soyer's Shilling Cookery," * Domestic Economy," by 

 Tegetmeier, "Cottage Cookery" and "Cottage Com- 

 forts," by Esther Copley. With the assistance of these 

 and similar books, the benevolent, whether in town or 

 country, might instruct the industrious poor, how, with 



small outlay, to provide an abundant family meal. 

 There are, however, some cheap or neglected substances 

 not mentioned in these publications, for instance, 

 gelatine, now only used for confectionary, but of which 

 the quantity is so great in bones, that those of London 

 would suffice for the basis of a pint of soup daily for 

 every inhabitant : true, many of these bones are not 

 lost, being collected for manure ; desirable, however, as it 

 is to enrich the land, substances fit for human diet should 

 scarcely be employed for the purpose,and besides they are 

 just as fit for manure after boiling as before. Even the 

 cottager might make soup from bones by means of Papin's 

 digester ; some years ago one was presented to a mother 

 who found that by its use the allowance of meat for two 

 days amply sufficed for three. Another article, which 

 in this country is even cast into the gutters, but which 

 our wiser Scotch brethren make use of, is the blood of 

 sheep and oxen : and why should it be rejected, when 

 that of the less cleanly animal, the hog, is habitually 

 made into black puddings ? M. 



Cork-barked Elms. — The Elms growing in the upland 

 districts of this parish, the soil a stiff white clay, have 

 their shoots covered, even when quite young, with 

 corky bark in great abundance ; they are varieties of 

 Ulmus glabra, and called here the Hertfordshire Elm. 

 I gathered the enclosed from a hedge-row at the side of 

 a wood ; all the shoots, even those growing vigorously, 

 were covered with the same bark. T. Rivers, Sawbridge- 

 worth. [The Elm in this state, with its bark producing 

 rifted cork, is the Ulmus mberosa of Ehrhart. Can our 

 experienced correspondent explain the cause of this 

 condition of the bark ? All the European Elms except 

 U. m on tana, the Witch Elm, and Ulmus effusa, appear 

 to be liable to the affection, sometimes being smooth- 

 barked, sometimes cork-barked. We believe the cause 

 of the oork formation has never been explained]. 



Holcus mecharaiuss—l was surprised to see at p. 774 

 a statement to the effect that neither sheep, horses, nor 

 cows would eat this plant. I sowed two large pans of 

 seed of it last April, and placed them in heat In the 

 first week in June I planted them out in the kitchen 

 garden ; for a few weeks they made but little progress ; 

 they, however, at last grew vigorously, and attained the 

 height of 5 feet. They were just unfolding their 

 panicles of bloom, when the early frost in September 



finished their career. The plant appears to be very 





tender, for the night on which the Holcus was destroyed 

 the Heliotrope was not the least injured. I tried cows, 

 pigs, and a donkey with it, and all of them seemed fond 



of it. E. Bennett, Ferdiswell. The following is 



the result of my trial of this plant. The seeds 

 were sown rather late in the spring of this year, 

 and made little progress till towards the end of July, 

 when the plants commenced growing rapidly, and by 

 the middle of September they were (reckoning the 

 whole growth of the plants) 8 feet high, the stems (or 

 canes) being 6 A feet. They came into flower the latter 

 part of October ; on the 23d of November they were 

 cut, and on the 26th the canes were pressed in a com- 

 mon cider press, and yielded just 6 gallons of juice. 

 The seeds were sown in my garden, under a south wall, 

 on a piece of land (highly manured for a former crop) 

 in four rows, the piece of land being only 18 feet long 

 by 8 feet wide. So far from the foliage being rejected 

 by cattle, I found, on the contrary, that they were 

 eagerly devoured (when in a growing state) by one of 

 my horses to which I offered them. O. S. K., Brooke, 



Norfolk. With regard to the statement that no 



animal will eat this plant, I beg to say that my 

 donkey would eat nothing, else if he had a choice 

 in the matter. An Old Sub. 



Quercus sessiliflora. — Can you favour me with the pro- 

 bable age of an Oak sessile-fruited, having a circum- 

 ference of 25 feet at that part from which the enclosed 

 was cut. Eben. [The specimen, which is genuine, is 

 li inch wide and has 15 rings. The diameter is 

 8 feet 4 inches, or we suppose deducting the bark, 8 feet 

 2 inches. The semi-diameter is therefore 4 feet 1 inch. 

 Supposing that the specimen sent represents the average 

 rate of growth, about 600 years will have elapsed since 

 the birth of the tree ; but as it grew faster when young 

 than now it is old it may not be too much to reduce the 

 estimate of age by 100 years.] 



Horse- chesnut Flour. — The following is M. Flandin's 

 plan of making flour from Horse Chesnuts. Grind the 

 Horse Chesnuts and mix with the pulp carbonate of 

 soda in the proportion of one or two per cent at the 

 utmost, and then wash the produce until it is perfectly 

 white ; 1 lb. of carbonate of soda will purify 100 lbs. of 

 Horse Chesnuts and produce 60 lbs. of flour fit for 

 bread, as the salt removes the bitter principle from the 

 nut. A. L. 0. 



names of articles belonging to the vegetable kingdom. 

 For example, badiane, or star anise, is untranslated • 

 ecorce de quinquina is called cascarilla instead of Peru' 

 vian bark ; absinthe, or Wormwood, is untranslated • 

 lierre, Ivy, is rendered ground Ivy, a totally different 

 plant : Garou, or Daphne Gnidium, is called Spurge 

 Laurel ; Brou de Noix signifies Walnut husks, not nut- 

 shells ! and Tourteaux de graines oleagineuses are ,; oil 

 cakes," not husks of Olive, &c, as they are here ren- 

 dered. We need not say that if errors like these occur 

 in other parts of the tariff, the mercantile utility of Mr 

 Yapp's translation is much impaired. 





^ottres; of So oft*. 



We have before us the first part (Van Voorst, 10s. 6d.) 

 of Contribution to the Natural History of Labuan, and 

 the Adjacent Coasts of Borneo, by James Motley, Esq., 

 of Labuan, and Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn,g Esq., F.L.S. 

 Mr. Motley has become advantageously known by his 

 interesting communications to Hooker's Journal of 

 Botany, and his residence in Labuan affords himself 

 and Mr. Dillwyn a very favpurable opportunity of 

 making themselves acquainted with the natural products 

 of that island. We learn from the prospectus that the 

 " Contributions " are intended to contain descriptions of 

 such animals, both vertebrate and iu vertebrate, as in- 

 habit the island, accompanied with original notes on 

 their natural history. Illustrations are to be given of 

 such animals as are new, or of which figures are not 

 easily attainable. The work may be expected to extend 

 over several parts, two or three of which will be pub- 

 lished annually. The first part is worthy of being 

 published by Mr. Van Voorst, but we must object to its 

 title, which should have been " Contributions to the 

 Zoology of Labuan," &c, not Natural History, Botany 

 being wholly excluded from the plan of the authors. The 

 12 plates which it contains are charming representations 

 of animals, birds, and snakes. We find at page 15 the 

 following interesting note upon the habits of the Pectoral 

 Sunbird (Nectarinia pectoralis) : — 



" I think there is no doubt that this lovely little bird 

 feeds almost entirely on honey ; three or four of them 

 frequent all day long a beautiful plant of Russelia 

 juncea just before my office window, clinging to the 

 slender twigs in all sorts of positions, and turning up 

 the scarlet bells to insert their fairy little beaks ; they 

 appear very sociable little birds, never passing one 

 another without putting their beaks together with a little 

 chirp. If any one comes too near, off they go like 

 meteors, but are back in a minute. I think I never 

 saw anything more beautiful than this plant (whose 

 beauty you cannot imagine from greenhouse specimens) ; 

 its long pendent twigs are one blaze of scarlet blossoms 

 for months together, with half a-dozen of these living 

 gems flitting among them. I often sit and watch them, 

 and wish I could place them some fine morning before 

 your window; birds, flowers, broad sunshine and all." 



The Duties on Imports into Franc, . ?—;*»** ulc 



Official Tariff, with the latest modifications, an English 

 Translation, and full Index. By G. W. Yaon 8vo 

 Stanford ; pp. 183. FF * 



This is one of the first results of the Great French 

 Exhibition, showing how intimately French and 

 English trade is becoming mingled. A few years since 

 who would have thought it worth while to incur the cost 

 of publishing a translation of a French tariff ; yet 

 1855 has produced two, the one in Mr. Newdeyate's 

 great work noticed in our columns lately (p. ,583) the 

 other now before us. In the present case we fear the 

 execution is beneath the conception • in a work like this 

 accuracy is the only point to be attended to, and accuracy 

 has scarcely been attained by Mr. Yapp—not at 

 least, if we are to judge from his translation of the 





garden, 

 20 acres 



but 



In a little volume called The Newspaper and General 

 Readers Pocket Companion, for the price of a shilling 

 uneducated people will be able to learn the meaning of 

 the foreign scraps with which overeducated or pedantic 

 writers are fond of interlarding their discourse, till 

 their 



English is cut on Greek and Latin, 

 Like fustian heretofore on satin. 



We are no admirers of such a lofty style, but others 

 are, and it passes current with the many, for the usual 

 reason that people are apt to admire what they cannot 

 understand. Anything to make it intelligible is there- 

 fore useful, and the little volume before us accomplishes 

 that purpose. 



Garden Memoranda. 



Enville Hall, the Seat of the Earl of Stamford 

 and Warrington. — Within the last few years this place 

 has deservedly become very celebrated, in consequence 

 of the Earl of Stamford and Warrington having ex- 

 pended an enormous sum of money in adding consider- 

 ably to the pleasure grounds and glass structures, as 

 well as purchasing extensively both ornamental and 

 new plants. In thi3 his lordship has received valuable 

 assistance from Mr. Aiton, the head gardener at Enville, 

 so that in a very short space of time this has been made 

 one of the most extensive and beautiful gardens in the 

 country. When the Earl of Stamford came into pos- 

 session of the estate there were but six acres of 



in 1847 and the two following years 

 more were added, and within the last 

 two years upward of 50 more, making in all about 

 100 acres of pleasure ground. The grounds are richly 

 diversified, while the situation itself is naturally 

 beautiful, and with the introduction of water in four 

 different places the tout ensemble is such as to please the 

 most fastidious. A noble conservatory has just been 

 added, and is the most majestic glass erection we haie 

 ever seen, and so far as our pages will admit, the accom- 

 panying sketch gives a good representation of it. It 

 was built by Messrs. Gray & Ormson, of Danvers 

 Street, Chelsea, and certainly reflects credit on their al- 

 ready well known taste and skill as horticultural builders. 

 It is we believe the most magnificent and substantial 

 structure of this elegant branch of architecture ever 

 erected. It is 150 feet in length, 70 feet in width, 

 65 feet in height to the apex of the domes, and 30 feet 

 to the top of the curved roofs. The style it will be 

 seen is mixed, gothic being predominant ; the perpendi- 

 cular part is of wood, the curved roofs and roofs of domes 

 consist of cast-iron principals and wrought iron bars. 

 It is well supported and bound together by ornamental 

 columns and girders of cast-iron, which have a fine ap- 

 pearance inside, and from which ornamental baskets will 

 be suspended. It is heated by a hot-water apparatus. 

 It is not intended to plant out the different kinds of 

 plants in beds, as is common in large houses of this 

 description, but to grow them in pots and tubs, and by 

 this means a much greater display can be kept up 

 throughout the year, by using the extensive plant-houses 

 in the kitchen garden as a nursery for that purpose. 

 Creepers are to be planted out round the pillars, ana 

 number of ornamental baskets filled with suitable plants, 

 similar to those that have such a pleasing effect at toe 

 Crystal Palace, will be suspended from different parts tf 

 the building. In the ground plan the internal lines give 

 the idea of divisions, but the" •^ ■"■ fnnfc not B0 ' * 



are merely lines showing _ 



columns are. The flower garden, when we saw it 

 August, was a complete mass of bloom, and is • 

 no paiticular plan, the beds being chiefly ^r^' 

 of a good size, and each filled with one variety of p»&j 

 The most effective colours for contrast are chosen, au 

 many of the beds were filled with very choice thmff* 

 such as Calceolaria Purity, a new white variety, WW 

 has succeeded very well, and will make a valuab ^P» 

 for the Italian style of flower gardens. C. » ,n P'f xl fV. ( j 

 is grown largely, and is an excellent late variet ^ , t u er 

 one of the best bedders when well done. Among ow* 

 Calceolarias used at Enville are Prince of °^ e ' 

 light orange kind, of excellent habit, and certainly <m 

 of the best, being very dwarf, and a profuse blooD Sf 

 Frosti, a pretty small yellow ; but soon flowers * ^ 

 out ; Gem, a deep rich brown variety ; and Aj?^ 

 In Geraniums, the sorts grown are Sidonia, ^. n ^J 

 and Conspicuum ; these three do best in pots, P ltt ^e 



IliiX piOill HH5 HAW*—-— - 



they are in fact not bo ; tney 

 in* where the girders » 



Commander-in-Chief, Cerise Unique, with sora * °Ly 

 best old kinds of scarlet, are also freely used; HeD ^^. 

 is found to be the only white worth growing out ot v 

 Boule de Meige, Skeltoni, Miss Emily Field, and S^ 

 land Pet have been tried, but are not effective. log .^ 



Princess Alice and Shrubland Rose bloom freely 'an . 

 well here, as also Purple Nosegay. Variegated k 

 are grown very extensively ; Flower of ^ e J\jL to- 

 by far the most effective, taking foliage and "^^--e 

 getber; Mountain of Light, of which there was a w 

 bed, was very patchy and irregular as regards &* 



