r 



702 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



deep mil ,*JiiI c au^ujg tu bright b Uti a* it iiget, ; petal, 



form, and habit good. Mr>. Fos f er is a deeper coloured 

 Cent/ 1 flower, i^ood in form end habit, but not a free 

 grower, with good foliage. L dy Mary Labouchere 

 has been good th's jiear and of excellent habit — 

 white, with small margin of lavender blue, and mode- 

 rately dark disc. Admiral Dundas is one of the best 

 formed flowers we have seen — white with shaded blue 



and from what we have 





purple margin, and from what we have seen of it, a 

 flower worthy of every collection. So also is Optima 

 (Hopwood's), not a new variety, still little known— white, 

 with broad rosy crimson margin, a good exhibition 

 variety, and dissimilar to any other yet out. Empress 

 is while, with a broad margin of pale rose, light disc, 

 good form, but uncertain in colouring this season, having 

 a tendency to become mottled in colour, otherwise it 

 would be a most desirable variety. Prince of Prussia 

 Si a light blue, with a light disc, but deficient in form 

 .and substance. Esther, if first-rate in form, would be 

 a charming variety ; for in habit it is more compact 

 2nd even than any variety we know. In colour it is 

 clear white, with broad deep crimson margin, and dark 

 disc, dwarf and perfect habit, and beautiful early, but it 

 becomes starry as it ages. Notwithstanding this, it is a 

 general favourite. There are two or three other new 

 sorts, but as vet they have not bloomed well. Of 

 older varieties the best are Picturata, white with 

 broad even margin of bright rosy purple, good shape 

 and habit— certainly one of the handsomest Cinerarias 

 in cultivation. Rosy Morn is a very attractive flower 

 in a collection, rosy carmine with a white ring round 

 a grey disc, tolerable form, and very useful for exhibit- 

 ing. Esielle is a most serviceable flower — white, with 

 very broad deep rosy lilac margin, and dark disc, rather 

 cupped, good form, but deficient in substance to be a 

 - first class flower, still one of the best and most attractive. 

 Mrs Sidney Herbert, in its class, is unrivalled— white 

 with delicate rosy margin and pretty habit. Lablache 

 is a most useful blue, dwarf, and of first rate habit and 

 moderate form, and the colour is best deseiibecT as a 

 medium blue. Amy Robsart is not yet surpassed" iu its 

 colour, which is rosy lilac with a dark disc. Lady 

 Camoys is of dwarf habit, white, with medium bright 

 blue edging, and is a general favourite, and possesses 

 tolerable form. Kate Kearney is no doubt the best 

 wl i e, and Princ2 Arthur the best crimson. Marguerite 

 d'Anjou is duller in colour than Prince Arthur ; reflexed, 

 and not so good. Ted ding ton is a light purple with 

 wW\te disc, god form, but reflexes slightly; it is, 

 hovjver, of good habit and of a pleasing colour. 

 Formosa is a good variety for exhibition— light violet 

 purple with white disc ; of good form, and with a dwarf 

 compact habit. Asmodeus is a good dark blue, dwarf, 

 and of good form and habit. Advancer is white, with 

 purplish blue margin, but too starry. Scottish Chieftain, 

 ft first-rate in form, would be a great acquisition ; in 

 colour white, with deep violet margin, clear and well 

 •defined, but the flower is somewhat starry. Lord Stam- 

 ford is a very attractive variety in a collection— white 

 with medium margin of deep blue, light disc, and close 

 compact. habit ; the flower is somewhat confused and 

 indented at the edge, but it is notwithstanding a very 

 showy variety. Loveliness is a rosy crimson with white 

 ring round the disc ; a very distinct and serviceable 

 flower for exhibition purposes. Mrs. Beecher Stowe is 

 a very useful variety— white, with bnnd deep lilac, 

 margin and dark disc ; good form, valuable for exhibi- 

 tion purposes, and much better than Empress Eugenie, 

 which is deeper in colour, but by no means so good. 

 B'oile de Vaise is a little improvement on an old 

 viriety named * Anuie " — white, with dark plum 

 purple ; broad margin. We greatly want improve- 

 ment in this colour. Ringleader, although old, is a 

 very u ful flower for exhibiting, and is of a pale 

 carmine colour. Octavia is the lightest azure blue 

 we have, with light disc and dwarf habit. Of 

 seedling varieties the best we have seen is Emperor 

 of France, a very great improvement on Hopwood's 

 Optima ; colour, rosy crimson, with broad white ring 

 round a dark disc ; great width and depth of petal. 

 This is a flue stout flower, of great excellence. Rose 

 of England is also a first-class flower ; colour, clear 

 white, with medium margin of rich rosy purple ; com- 

 pact dark disc, fine form, and good substance. This 

 flower will be a standing variety. Magnum bonum is 

 Gf a rich purple crimson colour, with a small white ring 

 round a black disc ; a large, bold, and attractive variety 

 of first -rate habit. Lord Cardigan is a very large 

 striking flower that will be a great favourite ; white, with 

 a broad margin of violet purple; small dark disc. Florence 

 Nightiugaie is a very promising flower, of good substance, 

 white, with medium margin of deep rosy ldac ; good petal 

 and dark disc. Duchess of Wellington is evidently a first- 

 cla*sfic>wer;white,withabroad margin of iilac purple, aud 

 dark disc ; good substance, and of first-rate form. Lord 

 >elson is a lively purple self, rather thin in substance, 

 but with a close dark disc, and is certainly the best of 

 all the purples. Monarch is a shaded plum purple, 

 With fiery centre ; good form and habit. 



ing should be done in the morning, so that the atmo- 

 sphere may get moderately dry before night, when a 

 damp stagnant atmosphere is especially injurious to 

 flowers. But although some care is necessary at this 

 season to preserve plants in bloom from; being injured 

 by damp, it is easy enough to fall into the opposite 

 extreme, and as excessive dryness is much more 

 injurious to plants generally, than the amount of damp 

 which would ruin flowers, this must be guarded against. 

 Unless where fire heat is used too freely, however, 

 there is little danger to be apprehended from the want 

 of sufficient moisture in the atmosphere at present. 



FORCING DEPARTMENT. 



Pineries. — The plants expected to show fruit early 

 next year will be greatly benefited by being kept in a 

 comparatively dry state for a few weeks previous to 

 subjecting them to a warm moist temperature. The 

 atmosphere should be kept dry, also allowing the soil 

 about the roots to become as dry as can be done with 

 safety ; do not, however, subject the plants to a very low 

 temperature, but keep this at from 60° to 65° by means 

 of fire heat, for although the plants will bear a con- 

 siderably lower temperature without any apparent 

 injury, those not subjected to any unnecessary extremes 

 will produce the finest fruit ; and a short peiiod of com- 

 paratively dry treatment will ripen the growth, and 

 just as effectually induce a tendency to show fruit as 

 checking the energies of the plants by an unnaturally 

 low temperature, and without any of the ill effects of the 

 latter method. No dependence can be placed on the 

 weather at this season, therefore see to plants in pits 

 with insufficient means of heating being well protected 

 by means of covering at night, and maintain the com- 

 mand of a rather high temperature by frequently 

 renewing the linings, &e, so as to be prepared for 

 any sudden decrease of the external temperature ; 

 avoid anything approaching excess of atmospheric 

 moisture among young stock, whether in pits heated by 

 linmgs, or in better arranged structures, which only 

 tends to promote a too free rate of growth for the amount 

 of light, and weakly blanched foliage is the result. 

 Vineries. — Where forcing is commenced, attend to 



STATh OF TUB WEATHER AT CHISWirK Spar « ^^T 3 

 for*, week endin, Nov. i». IS^obse^ed W e KfiiSSffiPS 



Nov, 



Friday 23 

 Satur. 24 

 Sunday 25 

 Mon.. 26 

 Tues. 27 

 Wed. 2-i 

 Thura. 29 



Aver fine 

 Mov. 



5? 



a 



15 



16 



17 

 is 



19 

 20 



Bahometri, 



Max, 





9.764 

 89.924 



0.277 



30.2*9 

 30J 35 



30.112 

 3U11 



30.07 I 



29-750 

 29.8 9 

 30.043 

 30.241 

 29.9-3 

 30.019 

 3i».045 



Teitp 

 Ol the Air. 



'-aralSarue 



ERATUBE. 



Max. Min. 



43 

 43 



43 



42 



47 

 47 

 45 



34 



37 

 1S 



36 



42 



36 



33 



29.971 f 44.3 33.7 



?L*i5™ Wind. M 



Mean' 1 / 001 2leet 

 deep. deep. 



5 

 3 



2 ■>— Fine; overcast; cloudy. 



o- ~£ ine ; cloudy and cold ; showery. 



* 5 fJSS** ; c « udy a , nd cold * clear and fro *ty at night 

 -6 Clear; very fine; cloudy. **•**«. 



2/- H?.zy; overcast; slight raiu. 

 *S— alight rain ; overcast ; cloudy. 

 29— Overcast throughout ; cloudy at night. 

 _ Mean temperature of the week 12 de S . below the averts 



RECORD OF THE WEATHER AT CHISWICK 

 During tec la st 2 9 years, for the e nsuing week, ending l^c.'s, 185»5. 



Dec. 



* 



Sunday 2 



vl on. 3 



Tues. 4 



W ed. 5 



Thurs. 6 



Friday 7 



Satur. S 



v bf. £ 



47.5 

 47.2 



471 

 47.6 



46.S 



47.1 

 46.2 



0) ^ 



£ *> s 



35.4 

 36.0 



36J 

 35.3 



35.4 



36.2 



33.7 



si 



41.5 

 41.6 

 41.9 

 41.5 

 411 

 41.6 

 39.9 



No. of 

 Years in 

 which it 

 Rained. 



13 

 13 



12 

 IS 

 15 



17 

 17 



Prevailing Wind* 



r. 



.T^h^est temperature during the above period occurred on the 8th. 

 U de~ ' "* J iOWeSt °° tbe 5th and 6th » ««- tlam' 





previous directions as to keeping the atmosphere moist, 



as there will be some difficulty in getting Vines to break 



freely at this season except this is attended to. It 



circumstances allow of having a bed of fermenting 



manure inside the house, this will be found the best 



means of keeping the atmosphere regularly moist, but if 



this cannot be used the house must be sprinkled with 



j the syringe frequently, and the evaporating troughs kept 



full. Also see that the roots are afforded a steady gen tie 



warmth until the buds are fairly swelled ; keep the 



temperature about 50° by fire heat at night, and 60° by 



day, letting it rise to 70° on the forenoons of sunny 



days. Get succession houses cleaned, the Viues pruned, 



painted and put into order for work, and see that 



the heating apparatus is in perfect order, as if 



this or anything else about the house requires 



any repairs this should be done while the house is idle. 



FLOWER GARDEN AND SHRUBBERIES. 



Except where alterations are in hand, there will be little 

 requiring attention here at present beyond the clearing 

 up of leaves and putting the borders, &c, into neat 

 order for the winter. Get this done, however, with the 

 least possible delay, in order that the place may be ren- 

 dered trim and neat and as enjoyable as the season 

 will admit ; also sweep and roll the walks frequently, so 

 as to keep these clean and smooth, for without hard dry 

 walks pleasure ground is next to useless at this period 

 of the year. Turf will also require rolling frequently 

 to keep it smooth and firm, and prevent its being dis- 

 figured by warm casts. If any of the turf requires 

 levelling take advantage of any leisure time which 

 may occur to get this done. 



si 

 f 



Calendar of Operation 



week, 



PLANT DEPARTMENT. 



Conservatory, &c— A little fire heat will be indispen- 



Sat 1 - here daring cold damp foggy weather, in order to 

 allow of admitting a little fresh air to carry off superfluous 

 moisture without lowering the temperature too much • 



HARDY FRUIT AND KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Ilie tedious work of pruning and nailing wall frees 

 ihould be prosecuted with the utmost dispatch on every 

 avourable opportunity. Trees infested with scale 

 should be loosened from the wall entirely, the bark well 

 scraped and painted with a mixture of soft soap, cow- 

 dung, and lime, taking care to well work the compo- 

 sition into the crevices of the bark. If any planting of 

 young trees or removing of others has still to be done 

 attend to this at once. Get Gooseberry and Currant 

 bushes pruned on frosty mornings, or when the ground 

 is in a dry state, so that it will bear treading U( ,on 

 without injury. After pruning give the ground amon<r 

 the Gooseberry trees a good dressing of lime, which we 

 believe to be useful as a preventive of their great 

 enemy caterpillar. Also get whatever manure may be 

 necessary for the other small fruit bushes wheeled on first 

 favourable opportunity, and get the ground dug so that 

 it may look clean and fresh. Where the Raspberry grub 

 M troublesome give a good dressing of gas lime before 

 digging the ground, taking care to apply j t re<mlarlv 

 about the base of the plan,* The ground LZf. S 

 bushes should be dug very hghtly, especially in the case 

 of Raspberries which have their roots near the surface 

 and it is better m all cases to dispense with di^in ' 

 where it cannot be done without i n j arin g the str^ 

 roots. The unusually fine dry weather which we hav." 

 experienced for some weeks past has been very favour 

 able or getting on with the work of mailing and 

 trenching m the kitchen garden, and where this is back 

 ward ,« should be pushed forward on every fav OU rabt 

 opportunity until every spare bit of ground is thrown up 

 as to expose it to the action of the weather ui 



Srl W L th ft*L* C ° V - erin ! f0r ™**y> ^ end 





Notices to Correspondents. 



Books : S G F. Roberts on tbe Vine, with the exception of that 

 portion o. it which relates to carrion, which should never ba 

 used in Vine borders.* 



Common Plants : 8, Esq. No taste can be worse than that which 

 limits beauty to mere colour. It is the feeling of savage and 

 not ot refined life. Not that we would in any way depreciate 

 the effect of colour, which, if skilfully managed, is charming- 

 but we regard it as only one ingredient in beautiful effects' 

 and altogether subordinate to form. For examples of the latter 

 it is not necessary to travel from "Indus to the Pole;" you 

 will find instances of the most perfect beauty wherever plants 

 can grow with their natural luxuriance free from the invasion 

 of cattle or the dominion of man. 



Cucumbers : We have received another letter or two relating to 

 the " Ipswich Standard ;" but we think the difference of opinion 

 respecting it can only be settled by such a comparative trial as 

 is proposed by Mr. Ayres, who has sent us twelve seeds for 

 expei iment. Mr. Wild having also sent four seeds we will put 

 them into the hauds of growers from whose judgment there 

 can be no appeal. 



Deform kd Mushrooms: Anon. Specimens of Mushrooms like 



those which you have sent are not very uncommon. The 

 appearance is not confined to that species of Agaric. We have 

 however seen a far more curious case than yours in the common 

 Mushroom. A new hynienium was produced on the top of the 

 fibres with all the characters of Merulius, and what is still 

 more curious the spores of the new hynienium were different 

 from those of the ordinary gills. 31 J D. 



Erythrin-a macrophylla : Ashdean. Roast it in summer, starvi 

 it Id winter, and if you can cut the roots well in, do so. If it is 

 a seedling it may not yet have arrived at the age for bearing. 



Fa. - it Antarctica \ Ashdean. This will bear even such a winter 

 as the last, in a cold place near London, but it does not Kfeit. 

 In a warmer climate, like the west of England or sheltered 

 places m Sussex, we should not be alarmed about it. All the 

 specimens we have seen are mere bushes with no tendency to 

 form a trunk. If it grows into a tree it must be, we think, a 

 very little one. 



Fungus : Sylvanus. If you will refer to p. 744, col. c, you will find 

 that yotir question has been answered J 



Hedgehogs: An Old Sub. Harm! no, no, they are harmless 

 enough, poor things; and what is more, they help you to get 

 rid of garden pests. We are happy to see them running about 

 in the fading light of evening. 



Holcus saccharatus: G R C. A full account of this plant has 

 been given at p. 835 of our last year's vol. ; you will also find 

 some further information respecting it in our " Home Corre- 

 spondence " of to-day. X 



Names of Fruits: J A. 1, Bellissime d'Hiver; 2, Duchessede 

 Mars; 3, Autumn Bergamot; 4, Marie Louise; 7, Achan; b, 

 Brown Beurre; 0, Bezi de Caissoy ; 1, K y Pippin; 2, Court 

 of Wick; 3,Fearn'sPippin;4, Blenheim Pippin; 5, Wormsley 

 Pippin; 6, 7, Dumelow's Seedling: 8, fteinettf du Canada, 

 10, Winter Queening; 11, Keswick Codlin; 14. *5*£ d "rJ 

 Nonpareil.-A' Y Z. 8, Winter Cmssane (Knight's); 5, Beune 

 Diel; 6, Old Colmar; 7, probably Thompsons: 8, fasse 

 Colmar: 9, St. Germain.-* P.. 1, King of the PiPP""^* 

 Court Pendu Plat; 3, Beurre d'Aremberg ; 4, 6, Glou Morceau , 



5, Beuri-6 deCapiaumon. , ~, ^,...v .»«... 



is the Bishop's Thumb.— JV H. 3, Knight's Monarch; 5, 



Marie 

 12, 



Louise; 6, Swan's E#g; 7, Bacon's Incomparable; »> J£ 

 ivurre" Ranee; 13, Urbaniste; 14, Aston Town ; lo, tKiuw 



Kent; 11, Kvmer; 12,13, •PP^S 

 •KOP.lt you will -ayouriru^cariage 



ley will be named as soon alter tuey 



to reluctantly 



, -„, www-* 



the Gravenstein. 



paid to our office, th 



received a* it is possible to do so. J . 1|(finIIV 



Names of Plants : We have been ho often obliged to i^*' 

 decline naming heaps of dried or other plants, that we ^, 

 to request our correspondents to recollect that we neve 

 or cuil i have undertaken an unlimited duty ot tins * • 

 Young gardeners, to whom these remarks more especially **• 

 should bear in mind that, before applying to us lor aS ^ tion ; 

 they should exhaust their other means of gaining lliro "?" kin< / 

 We cannot save them the trouble of examining and w»j ^ 



It is now 



for themselves; nor would it be desirable if we could. 



ijured 



ea- 



can do is to help them— and that most willingly. It * ^ 

 requested that, in future, not more than four P\ an \™ if an 

 sent us at one time.— E B. Rhus Cotinus, the >» 

 Sumach.*— EM G. Juniperus recurve.— JUstom. I^P ^" ^ 

 monefolius.— FP. We will compare the leaves once nunc 

 give you an answer next week. h nc j, g 



Personalities '.DBG. We will have nothing to do witn .>>■ 

 discussion. All papers which admit them ultimately suner* 

 it—and very properly. 3 , AW % 



Phai Koran: J MA. It is suffering from damp and too . w 

 temperature combined. We will ascertain the name o 



plant in time tor next week. -I 



Seumons : A Sub. We could not possibly venture to recomnw 

 book si ooi You should consult the clergyman oi i- 

 church or chapel you attend. mat nhat 



The s< ash : R W, We now see that the squash y° tt J* m T in I 

 from your youth is a kind of Vegetable Marrow. TW *» 

 ricans have many kinds to which the name is *PP lie 'J' ^ 

 French call them P&fissons. Since} i cannot ..et f ^ ^ 

 througl our seedsman, we recommend you to apply to i«e 

 Chart wood & Co., Coven* Garden. m ^ 



%• As usual, man v communications have been received tw 

 and Others er nedtillthen. ary inquiries can ne ma _ . 



We must also beg th- Uilgence of those correspondents 

 insertion of whose contributions is still delayed 





Br 











