Dec. 8, 1855.] 



THE GARDENERS 1 CHRONICLE 



- 



UEARS CRAFTED ON THE QUINCE AS PYRAMIDAL 



SHAPED TREES. 



J and J. FRASER beg to announce that their 

 • Priced List of the above is now published, and may be had 

 post free on application. 



J. & J. F. have sold a large number of these Trees for the last 

 three years, and have received numerous lefters from gentlemen 

 in the country speaking in very high terms of their productive- 

 ness. They can therefore recommend them with greater conn- 

 dence to the notice of their friends and the public in general. 

 Lea Bridge Road, Essex. 



BUSBY'S STOCKWOOD GOLDEN HAMBURGH CRAPE. 



ESSRS. VEITCH and Son in reply to the many 



M 



EST 



of th 



inquiries they are constantly receiving as to when plants 

 i plendid new Grape will be ready for distribution, and 

 for the information of the public, beg to say that the stock of 

 eyes they have just received from Mr. Busby is sufficiently 

 ample to justify the belief that it will be ready for delivery in 

 the autumn of 1856. at the price previously announced, 21*. each 

 All orders already given have been duly registered, and will b«' 

 executed strictly in rotation, and the same rule will be observed 

 with reference to all future orders. Consequently the earlie 

 orders will secure the strongest Vines. 



Nurseries, Chelsea and Exeter, Dec. 8. 



EARLY 



NEW K A K L Y MARROW PEAS. 

 Harrison's Glory (blue) & Harrison's Perfection (white.) 

 — Tli' se extraordinary Peas, which are nearly similar in habit, 

 are as early as Double-blossomed Frame, about 3 feet in height, 

 full of large pods which cluster from the bottom to the top of th 

 haulm, and are equal in flavour to Knight's Marrow. Samples of 

 the haulm may be ssen at the following firms in London, of whom 

 only they can be had, in quart packets at 5*. each :— 



Meg **• Batt, Rutley, & Silverlock, 412, Strano* ; Bpc«. 

 Henderson, & Child, Middle Wharf, AdVlphi, Hirst & 

 M'MtfLLBW, 6, Leadenhall Street; Minier, Nash, & Nash, 63, 

 Strand; Noble, Cooper, & Bolton, 152, Fleet Street; Jacob 

 Wrench & Sons, 39, King William 8tr« , City. ^^ 



ENYl R'S NEW PROLIFIC GREEN MAR- 



MEN t.—17U Proprietors have during the past rummer 

 considerably enlarged their Office* and Seed Wan rues 

 at a coh derable expense, so as to be enabled to cxecu: 

 all orders with regularity and dispatch. 



With increased exertion/redoubled energies, and more aasist- 

 anr they hope to give the greataat satisfaction to all who honour 

 them with commands. 



William E^Rkn-dle & Co. eed Merchants Plym th. 



NEW TURNIP. 



ECLIPSE," PURPLE TOP YELLOW HYBRID 



TURNIP. 



Avn ?™.!? NGLAND 1I0RTlcl 'LTUKAL known to the Greeks and I mans scholars are aware. 



AND AGRICULTURAL SEED ESTABLISH. t wh > they obtained them is a mystery! 



Targioni Tozznii says they were all introduced m 

 yearly times from Asia or Africa. The only 

 critical inquiry tha has been made int their origin 

 is by M. Alproxsi l>g Candollk, in that learned 

 work of his to which reference has been already 

 nude. The Pimmhn he thinks all evident -ads to 

 show must have come from thesoutl. f Asia hough it 

 has not n found in a wild star Havin ; jo name 

 m HK „ ow nA r t - > ■ «_...,, i in Sanscrit Jt >* l»i bable that it or 



1 ^he Pari £nn S V T* 7 ? % ^ v'n ^^^ th « °» *> " ™* »• **»* ** the «Utk A 



*__the Purple Top Swede and Pur.ls Top . ,-.low Serf* | pe ,, , |V] j ){ -, ^ ^^ , ^ r ^ 



WAITES 



Turnip: it possesses the prop* ies of the Swedi-. at.d maybe 



n much later. Coloured Drawings of this splendid Turnip 



may be had on application, or may be t- a at the principal Seed 



Establishments throughout the kingdom. The «d nm be 



obtained <»i all respectubie J: dsmen. price 3*. per lb.- A III 

 wee to the Trade. 



_J. <;. Wait s, Seed M •. 181, High H oi bom, Lon don. 



$ £ E D POTATOES. 



SUTTON and SONS, Sekd Crowkm, Seadin 

 have a large Stock of the best early kinds of i 

 very true and free from disease. Prices, &c 9 will be sent 

 post free on application. 



TO 



THE SEED TRADE 



) 



D 





ROW PEA.— -A fine variety for succeeding the first early 

 Crops. Very hardy, and one of the greatest cropping Peas in 

 cultivation. It obtained the first prize at the Hastings and also 

 at the St. Leonard's Horticultural Exhibitions. 



From the Dean of Battle.—" The sample of Peas you sent me 

 surpasses in beauty of colour and richness of flavour any that 1 

 have ever met with." 



From Mr. Waters, Gardener to Lady Webster, Battle Abbey. — 

 41 1 have examined the growing stock of your new Pea, and find it 

 crops abundantly, the pods being a good length, very broad, and 

 well filled. It is also a fine flavoured and beautifully green- 

 coloured Pea." 



From Mr. Bunyard, Maidstone. — " My opin ; ^n of the new Pea 

 is, that it is a distinct sort, a good cropper, anil >r colour I do not 

 know its equal." 



From Mr. Parks, late Nurseryman and Seedsman, Dartford, Kent. 

 — " I am much pleased with your new Pea. It certainly is a very 

 fine cropper. The Peas are large, and the pods completely filled. 

 It will when known become a superior Pea for market." 



Price 3$. 6d. per quart. Post Office orders payable to William 

 Denyer, Seedsman, Battle, Sussex. May also be had through 

 the London andjother seedsmen. 



SPLENDID - NEW~ RHUBARB— SALT'S CRIMSON 



PERFECTION. 



ROBERT SALT begs leave to inform the Gentry, 

 Nurservmen, Gardeners, &c, that this splendid variety of 

 RHUBARB* is now ready for distribution; it is nniversallv 

 allowed to he the most early, prolific, and delicious variety ever 

 offered to the public. See Gardeners' Chronicle, June 11, 1853 :— 

 "Very .irood, and of a most beautiful crimson; compared with 

 others, it is remarkable for the small amount of acidity it con- 

 tains."— Ed. 



Certificates of merit were awarded for specimens exhibited at 

 the meeting of the Horticultural Society, Regent Street, London, 

 June 20, 1853; at Nottingham, May 24, 1854; at Derbv Midland, 

 May 25, 1854 ; at Ormskirk, Lancashire, August 30, 1854,-Price 

 3s. 6d. per root, three for 10s., and six for 11. A few two-year- 

 old Plants at 5s. each. 



Orders addressed to Robert Salt, Longton, Staffordshire, or 

 the following: Agents will have immediate attention :— Messrs. 

 Hurst & M 1 Mullen, 6, Leadenhall Street, London; Messrs. 

 Burgess & Kent, Penkhull, Staffordshire ; Messrs. Francis & 

 Arthur Dickson, 106, Eastgate Street, Chester; Messrs. James 

 Dickson & Sons, 102, Eastgate Street, Chester; Mr. Salsbury, 

 Melbourne, Derbyshire. A liberal discount allowed to the Trade. 

 —A Post-office Order from unknown correspondents. 

 Longton, Dec. 8. 



WAT BRER'S AMERICAN PLANTS — A new 

 DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE is now published of the 

 celebrated Collection of hardy Scarlet and other Rhododendrons, 

 as exhibited by John Waterer at the Royal Botanic Gardens, 

 Regent's Park; it will be found to contain a few practical obser- 

 vations on their successful management, and will be forwarded 

 on application by enclosing two stamps for postage. Apart from 

 its enumeration of the most popular American Plants in cultiva- 

 tion, a List of choice Conifer® will be seen, embracing the latest 

 importations of this fine and hardy tribe of Plants. 



J. W. has now the pleasure to offer in large quantities, and of 

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

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

 bushy and handsome as can be desired, and have been trans- 

 planted each succeeding spring, whereby no risk can be encoun- 

 tered in their removal from the nursery :— Araucaria imbricata, 

 Cryptoraeriajaponica; Pinus Douglasi, Cembra, excelsa, Lam- 

 bertians, insignis, Jefferyana, Beardsleyi, tuberculata, Ac.; 

 Cedms Deodara, Lebanon, and Africana; Wellingtoniagigantea, 

 Cupressus, Juniperus, Taxus, Thuja, &c. 



Bf The attention of gentlemen, pnblic companies, and others 

 engaged in planting, is especially directed to the foregoing; 

 indeed, all intending planters would be well repaid by a visit to 

 inspect our stock, as much may be seen which of necessity 

 cannot be given within the limits of an advertisement. 



The Nursery is easily reached by railway, being: near ihe 

 Farnborough Station, South- Western Railway, and Blackwater 

 on the South-Eastern Railway. 

 The Am erican Nursery, Bagshot, Surrey. 



WALTON NURSERY, LIVERPOOL. 



To Noblemen and Gentlemen Planting New Pleasure 

 Grounds, or Improving Parks or Drives, and to Com- 

 panies Planting Public Parks or Cemeteries. 



WSKIRVING begs to offer his extensive Stock of 

 • TREES and SHRUBS of various sizes, adapted either 

 for immediate effect or for extensive new Plantations where | 

 Manlier sized and less expensive plants are required. In addition 

 *> his general stock of the leading kinds of Trees and Hirubs 

 *hich is allowed to be the most extensive m England, he this 

 ■ea*on offers upwards of a hundred thoorad of the two most 

 valuable Trees latelv introduced, the ARAUCARIA IMKM- 

 CATA and CEDRUS DEODARA, of various sizes, from one 

 *° six feet 



«, W. S. 'invites anv one wanting considerable quantities of 

 Specimen Trees and Shrubs to inspect his collection and obtain 

 P; s on the spot, as the mere height of such trees (as Rioted in 

 ll «t*) gives no idea of the value of well grown select plants tor 



choice situations. B a . „t,«„ ,i 



N.B. A few hundreds of the larger sized and finely shaped 

 Plants of the Araucaria imbricata and Cedrus 1 -tfara nave Deen 

 pown in tubs, to secure their travelling in safety to great aib- 

 **&ces in this country, or to any part abroad. 



Priced Lists will be sent on application. 



on plication. 

 CAKi; l\ of si ! sorts. 



M VNCKL WURZIL. 

 Sutton & w. , Read i n 



ClMITHFiKLD CLUB.— Baker 



SK1KV1N . s tock 



(iUl \ GLOBI Tl NIP. 



H 



^ STANDS Nos. 153, 154, 155, and 156. 



SUTTON and SONS, Kkadikg. 



A/.AAR. 



Eiu ©artrenerjef Chronicle. 



SA TURD A Y, DECEMBER 8, 1855. 



it is not recogn i in its wild g^ate ; or perhaps 

 Liknj ^ was righl n. regarding it as a mere variety 

 of the Gourd. (What v the wa it the « 

 the v id Pumpkin/) <i<n d«, propttU to called 

 formed the Colocynth* and 1 poi md< Ml 

 of the cireeka and liomans. M. ]>e (\n<iol]e 

 considers it quite certain that th*yar« not nhal 

 tantR of AmeHw " H ncmbei he oi /ea f 



"that t lie name Cucurbita is p»n<* Latin, that the 

 Gr« k words Kolokanthe and nl appear to 



be hue Greek, that the apeciea has no Seoeerit 



name (fori: x\r *< n'iCuc I'epo in a different plant); 



aeeinq moreover how many uere to all appearance 



thp varieties in the time of the Komii | eapen- 



ally in 1 irope in the Ifith century, I hen'«' 

 between the Meditetranetn re|fcn and Sot' hern 

 Asia as their original birthplace. At any r the 



species has not been found mild, IVaeihly it may 

 be hereafter found in the Sooth of China. *' As to 

 the Squash . lb 



same great autl. iiy »eerves 

 th th j>n»hah]yan attificial race, produced 



in Europe by cultivation in the 16th century. 



It would appear however t! I our friends n the 



other side the Atlantic have a eady way of settling 

 difficult questions of thi* sort without a careful 



Some of our readers have asked us questions con- stn,i > r of h,s ] f irts : for N fuu] in lh * R<*1*»i 



cerning the distinctions and origin of what are call I °f thc Commissi enotjxi nil for the year 1 



It would be i ouder the head of Agrir tnre, the following state- 

 ment by Dr. T.W. Harris, of Harvard \)m\ ity. 



Pumpkins, Gourds, and Squashes. 



useless to refer them to standard English works in 



satisfaction of their curiosity ; for nothing satisfac- 



" Accident led me, some foui ears ago, to under- 



and Pumpkins, which has led to quite intere* ng 



Most of the older and well-known r-peciee 



It 



d to 



factory therein appears. Neither is it worth saying take the investigation of the history of -quashes 



" look into the (>>'opraphie Botaniquc raisonncc of ** 



M. Alphonse De Candollb and similar foreign 



works," for either they have them not or cannot 



read them. It therefore seems worth while to 



devote a column or so to the matter, especially since 



the time is approaching for procuring is against 



the season of 1856. In doing this we borrow largely 



from the important work just quoted. 



Three races belonging to the genus Cucurwta. 

 are designated by the three names above mentioned. 

 Botanists call Pumpkins Cucurbit a maxima ; Gourds 

 C. Pepo ; and Squashes C. Meloprpo. We shall 

 speak of them under their familiar names. 



Pumpkins are tho^e i:reat rambling plants which 

 bear fruit the magnitude of which astonishes the 

 novice. One of them, the " great yellow Pumpkin/ 1 

 often seen in shop windows, weighs commonly a 

 hundred weight, and sometimes twice as much. 

 Sauvagfs happily described it as Sphcera polis com- 

 pressis meridianis sulcatis (a sphere compressed at 

 the poles and furrowed at the equator). Several 

 other sorts, green, grey, &c, are grown by the 

 French, who consume them largely as a vegetable, 

 merely "boiling them, or more commonly making 

 them "into soup. They are all rather coarse, and 

 inferior to the other races. Moreover, they are bad 

 bearers, as might be expected from the enormous 

 weight they commonly acquire. 



Gourds are also scrambling plants, but their 

 flowers are smaller, and contracted at the base. 

 Among them stand Vegetable Marrows, Orange 

 Gourds, fieg Gourds, Gi reunions, Crooknecks, Turk s 

 Caps, Waned Gourds, &c. Of these sorts the 

 quality varies greatly ; some, like the Orange Gourd, 

 are bitter even when young; others are always 



The best known to us 



are, for eating voting, the vegetable Marrow, and 

 for soup or mere boiling when ripe, the Egg Gourd 

 The latter is in reality'one of the most valuable of 



and varieties were by modern botanists sup 

 have come iginally from Asia, a i particularly 

 from India. This I have prov i to be an error, and 

 have hown that these fruits were wholly unknown 

 to the ancients, no mention being made of them in 

 the Scriptures, nor by (Jreek a I Latin authors. 

 The writers of the middle ages, while th describe 

 or take note of other Cucurbitaceons ] tuts, entirely 

 omit Pumpkins and Squi hes ; and these did not 

 begin to be known and noticed in Europe till after 

 the discovery of America. Early vovagen found 

 them in the West Indies, Peru, J >rida 3 and t m 

 on the coast of New England, where tbev were 

 cultivated by our Indians before any settlements 

 were made here by the Euro] ans. The old 

 botanists, who flourished during the first century 

 after the discovery of the New WotHL or the West 

 Indies, begin to describe them for the fir- time, end 

 give to them specific names, indicating their Indian 

 American) origin. Hence arose the mistake of 

 modern botanists in referring these Dlants to the 



delicate and fit for food. 



the Vegetable Marrow 





UUHIW 



Ivist Indies and to Asia. 



•"From a study of the history of the plant, 1 

 went next to a study of the species, with particular 

 reference to their botanical characters, and to this 

 end have been cultivating and examining every year 

 all the kinds accessible to me. I think I bar- a- 

 blished the fact that all the fruits known by the 

 names of < Pumpkins' and < Squashes' are of 

 American origin; that there are three distinct 

 groups of them; the first, including summer 

 Squashes, that have shells when ripe the econd, 

 the winter Squashes and Pumpkins with deep five- 

 furrowed fruit stems ; and the third, the winter 

 Pumpkins and Squashes, with short cylindrical 

 and longitudinally wrinkled (but not fire-furrowed) 



long 



fruit stems. 



The last group* 



probably origi 



ine latter is m xeamy *m« ^ ~~ ----- , routined to tropica and suD-tropicai parts 



t'ouraede Valparaiso and the Courge sucrikredu 

 Brekl; but we are unacquainted with either. 



The most esteemed varieties now cultt- 



Squashes are the Gourds which do not scramble 

 over the ground, hut form bushes 3 feet high and a 



In shops tbeir seeds may be had under 



3K2ft p«Ew^j; 'rfiS opinions 



Artichoke Gourd. In this country they are htt e 



Their fruit is small, broader than long. 



In >orth America 



to Chili. — - , , . . 



vated in New England belong to thm group, and 



the best of them are the ■ Autumnal,' « Marrow,' 



and ' Acorn ' Sqnwhes." At „u: 



We are afraid Dr. Hams will have to modify hii 



known. 



w-ith the edge often furrowed. 



they have a great "g^JJJ an d are much 



inferior to our Vegetable Marrows, <* 



^hetf Ihe. plants come from ? Some wHte 



from the Levant, some from India, others horn 

 Africa, others from America ; yet they are hardly of 

 I universal origin. 



say 



That Gourds of some *ort we re 



Wk learn with great pleasure, hat Lord Frrz- 

 witxtam has already commi-ioned Mr. Hendkwo*, 

 his very intelligent and experienced gardener at 

 Wentworth, to take means for ascertain J ug the corn- 

 parative of value of our two English I. A 



couple of trees, of similar age ( -out 120 years), 

 have been selected for experiment. I hat they 

 are genuine we know, in con enee of specimeng 

 of the leaves and acorns hav % en sent us for 



