654 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



29, 1855 



ment tor children, the a^d and iufirui, and would not seem to have resembled M. Von S.'s description of the it is very prolific, and chickens eat it &J~^u. 

 -■■ • • Japan varieties of the sweet Potato. J.H.H. iTn ™M *« **- "- - - eaam 



diUl«ux.T>n UIV HHWHH* "» 4««W«M vwe |T »»v»»* 



For the Plantain, Pinguin, and all similar herbaceous 



«* • a lal __ _ i _ . _*» i. ^ 



A v« •*,« *«.—.«, * «- 6 «..., — -.. ~ Oaks.— Your ransacking the dusty comers of the 



plants, machinery 'is absolutely necessary to separate country for Oak chips, has caused me to remember that 

 and clean the fibre advantageously; when this deside- sume 20 years ago I searched Be wdley Forest lor curiosi- 

 ratum is accomplished, and with one or two years' t ties in that way, and after satisfying myself that there 

 practice, there is nothing to prevent Jamaica competing ; were both Q. sessiliflora, Q. pedunculata, and Q. pubes- 

 with any part of the world of ten times the same ( cens, with intermediate varieties too numerous to men- 



tion, a 



extent. The inducement to do so cannot be much 

 greater than it is at present. I find by a statistical 

 account that the imports of Flax into the United 

 Kingdom during 1853 amounted to 94,163 tons 14 cwt., 

 and at the exorbitant price of 110Z. per ton, to which 

 the average price of foreign Flax has already risen, 

 shows a sum of 10,358,007/., which has been paid in 



cash for foreign Flax fibre last year ; and since the ™ * — ~. — 



prohibition of Russian hemp into European markets, have been ever since. In the winter, as a matter of 

 prices and demand are increasing dailv. course, the doors and windows were shut. In the 



Sometimes 



Mr. Corbet, one of my employer's wood-cutters, 

 told me that there were but three kinds of Oak in the 

 forest, viz., the black, the red, and the white ; and that 

 they could tell the black, if their eyes were shut when 

 cutting it, as it was harder, and consequently worse to 

 cut than the other two. He very kindly procured me a 

 specimen of the wood of each kind ; I cast them 

 — the floor of our Potato shed, where they 



prices and demand are increasing daily. 



My motive for laying before you my views on this 

 subject, and preparing the samples of fibre for your in- 



course, 



summer the doors and windows were open. „ 



these specimens were among straw and Fern, which 



spection, is, that I am anxious to submit to you, and covered the Potatoes. I have frequently examined 

 *k«Mmii %r^„ +,v *k-. — :„..i*„«:«*« «„,i «««~i« :„ o™„„«i them as to their soundness ; and though much has been 



said on the durability of the different kinds of Oak, I 



j. • - _4-*u j:xr :_ j.u~~~ t u„«-v-.:iU 



through you to the agriculturists and people in general 



of this island, the desirability and advantages in an in- 4 _. — . ._ , _ 



dividual and national point of view to be derived from cannot perceive ntuch difference in these. I herewith 



the adoption and extensive cultivation of fibrous plants. 

 As I have ** ! — J " a: — J * l *- "'- 



exorbitant pr:ce 

 fibre throughout 

 which it is manufactured of much importance, particu- 

 larly in this country, where labour is scarce and dear, 

 and agriculture at its lowest ebb. Many of these fibres 

 will be found of superior quality, and produced 

 in greater abundance than any grown in temperate 

 regions. 



I have made a very moderate calculation of the pro- 

 duce of an established field with Plantains, which I find 

 to be as follows : — 



An acre planted with suckers, at 10 feet apart, will 

 contain 435 plants* and the first year will produce 



many bunches of fruit worth 6d. 



U . m . A _ _ 



• ■ • 



Each stem will yield lib. of finely-dressed fibre, 

 worth 6d, J ' 



• • e 



• ♦ • 



• • • 



• • r 



■ . • 



• « • 



• • e 



t • • 



• •» 



• • ■ 



Amounting in all to ... 



• * • 



• • • 



• .« 



• • e 



• •• 



£10 17 6 

 10 17 6 

 21 15 



There can also be raised on the same land, along: with 

 the Plantains during the first year, a crop of Yams, 

 corn, Kidney Beans, and sweet Potatoes, worth at least 

 20/., thus realising the first year 41Z. 15s. The second 

 year each Plantain-stool will throw up three or more 

 suckers, the quantity of fibre v. ill thereby be tripled, 



pedunculata.] 



Longevity of Seeds. — I can confirm the statements of 

 your correspondent * J. R." that some seeds do, under 

 certain conditions, retain their vitality for a long 

 period. Previous to 1836 a number of plants of 

 Lavatera arborea had been allowed to seed in my 

 garden, a large portion of which was scattered on the 

 ground. Since that year not a single plant has been 

 left to flower, yet after the ground has been dug numbers 

 of seedlings have come up annually, and I have no doubt 

 will continue to do so for years to come. But the most 

 remarkable instance that has come under my observation 

 was the appearance of a great number of plants of 

 Lavatera Olbia on the sides of a new road cut through 

 the forest some years since. In order to raise the 

 road in a hollow place a large quantity of soil was dug 

 from the forest, and on this fresh turned-up earth 

 great numbers of common plants came up the following 

 summer, and among them many dozens of Lavatera 

 Olbia. If the seeds of this plant were not in the 

 soil, I know not how they could have got there, I 



, .^ -j j v » *.^* v "w ww* cujr mc uj^icu, auu, j. auuw iiul now uiey couju nave got mere, l 



and succeeding years would add to the produce ; and if have never seen the plant growing in any garden in this 



the Plantain m m t h.f™. #k- *w* u c a ^ I neighbourhood or elsewhere, and the portion of the 



road upon which the Lavatera appeared was in the 

 centre of the forest, and not a single plant could be 



the Plantain is cut before the fruit is formed, the 

 quantity of fibre will be fully one-third more, of a far 

 superior quality. I may here remark that the Banana is 

 a much hardier plant than the Plaintain ; it will live and 

 thrive at an elevation where the latter would not exist. 

 In selecting any particular variety of the Musa for cul- 

 tivation, sreat care ought to be observed, as on this 

 point much of the success depends. 



In connection with this branch of industry, other 

 plants, although of less importance, ought not to be lost 

 sight of, being available in meeting a great deficiency 

 as materials for the manufacture of paper, such as many 

 of our very soft aud spongy woods, which cannot be 

 classed anion- timbers ; the various and inexhaustible 

 supply of tough Withes, Reeds, Grasses ; and, perhaps 

 superior to all, the refuse of Arrowroot, as it comes from 

 the mill, divested of its starch ; many tons of this are 

 annually wasted, being thrown on the dunghill. The 

 above-mentioned materials are far more likely to 

 answer the purpose than the Bamboo, so much used in 

 Cnma for making paper. 



I shall conclude by briefly describing another plant 

 (the Pothos violacea), admirably adapted for all descrip- 

 tions of fine straw-plaits, particularly where strength and 

 richness of appearance are desired ; its plait will be 

 found superior to the best Leghorn plait. This plant, 

 although an epiphyte, and growing plentifully at the 



found anywhere except upon the newly upturned soil, 

 which had probably been undisturbed for ages till this 

 road was made. The plants flowered freely for a year 

 or two, but gradually decreased in number, and six or 

 seven years afterwards they entirely disappeared, 

 When I first noticed the plant I sent specimens to 

 Mr. Salmon, then residing at Thetford, and he informed 

 me that it was Lavatera Oibia. I firmly believe that 

 the seeds were in the soil, as I cannot suppose that they 

 had been recently conveyed there. The plants were 

 scattered on each side of the road for about half a mile. 



Henry Doubleday, Epping. As you have lately pub- 



lished such full aud interesting details on the case of the 

 long entombed Raspberry seeds, you may like to hear 

 that a somewhat similar instance has been observed on 

 the Continent. Gsertner (Versuche uber die Bastarder- 

 zeugung, s. 157) states on the authority of Jouannot 

 that seeds from the graves of ancient Gauls, of the date of 

 the introduction of Christianity (probably at the time of 

 Clodowigin the third or fourth century a.d.) germinated 

 and produced Heliotropium vulgare, Centaurea cyanus, 

 and Trifolium minimum. Gsertner gives, as reference' 

 Froriep Notizen, B. xliil, No. 946, p. 348. It seems 

 that no known botanist looked to the correctness of these 



r °° ^Til rT" "* hm '"S u «st trees, at an eleva- na 



may readily Potato Disease.— In reference to the article in your 



be cultivated in woodlanda and moist places. The part 

 made use of » the petiole, or footstalk of the leaf, which 



ETiT r^!^^*^ «»<% *vides 



last Number relative to this disease, there is no doubt 

 that the reason of the preservation of the plant in bog 

 soil is its antiseptic quality. I have proved this by 



into strips of anv dimension., ,^7' I V.- i " ,,Ube P H0 qua»ty. I have proved this by 



fibr,, whfch the comnTn X 12 frZTv T* "%"? Potat ° eS in SOme ° f the worst >*™ in » «** 

 does' not, and S ££"££? ££"%£ £ ftST^*.^? ^ ° f V* ^ " 

 advantages may tend to bring the plant into notice after " " * ^^ aD8Wered 



ft. TV rill** • on/1 %f ^t* — -.-.—1^ _.. i ii 



awhile; and rf through my humble endeavours, any 

 of the undeveloped resources of the country are brought 

 mto notice, a happy result will be effected. 



Home Correspondence. 



/tt T ft -- Potatoes — Bearing on the subject of 

 I iS ^communication in your last number, 



to^ET"?' 1 1 \ Cm r be ° f 8ervice to aD y one **hing 

 Po£ *Jfi£ , t,eJa P anese variety of the Sweet 

 a» Tnltl It * €Ul g,3eS *° h * h 'y> *hat many years 

 Stoet Kt^ my f ""T'r ° ne 0CCa8i0n Phased a few 

 narvSwe^ / a k,Ild ver y Afferent from the ordi- 

 nary bvveet I otato so common in that country. They 

 were about 4 mches l„ng, i„ 8hape resembling a sho/t 

 Uuck sausage; when .tressed the interior consisted of a 

 fine white mealy substance, so slightly sweet as to be 

 eearcely percepuble, and only suffic g ien J y 80 £ J ^ 



£ wUh , a de "cacy ot flavour much surpassing any 

 kind oi Potato or Yam I have ever met with. I wi 

 toU I they were brought from Goa, the capital of Z 

 1 ortnguese possessions, from which I was then some 20 

 mite, or more distant ; and except on the occaSo" re- 

 ferred to I never met the same kind in India. They 



m L . xaju x , vm ^^ perfect) v 



whilst plants not so managed were almost destroyed by 

 disease. Woglog. ' 



Turf Pits. 



In many situations by far the cheapest 

 and not an inconvenient hot-bed or plant-preserving 

 frame, may be made by building the sides with sods 6 

 or 8 inches wide, driving small stakes through to stiffen 

 them These sod walls may be either built solid or 

 with holes left, d la Macphail, for leaf or other lining to 

 be added when des rable. Upon the top of these walls 

 lay a frame of wood (we use only the Larch slabs) halved 

 into each other, and with screeds nailed on their sides to 

 form the top frame slide, to receive and keep in their 

 places either glass or other coverings. Simple as this 

 may be for a few pence you have a Mushroom, Plant or 

 Cucumber receptacle far more capable of keeping out 

 rost than wood brick, orstone. In Old CorrlZndlZ 

 [An excellent plan where sods can be had. 



/. C., Cold Spring Harbour, L^g lltZd™? % «*»• 



Seedling Fruit Trees.~Az several differee * . 

 ments have been published on how far the diff^* 6 " 

 varieties of our fruit trees produce seedlings mZT* 

 parents I think very interesting information iilfr 

 given by some few of your correspondents 2 * 

 have carefully sown named seeds and have * . V** 

 result. Jourdan (in the « M emoires de Vi f ^ 

 Lyons," vol. ii., p 94, 114) states most positively^ J e 

 has tried repeatedly, and that all the many L2? he 

 which he raised from the same variety of fn,^ ^ 

 resembled each other in foliage and general !1 ^ 

 of growth as perfectly as d°o the § ,S ^ 

 of any wild species whatever; and thereLfT 8 

 they differed from the seedlings of everv J &t 

 variety of the same fruit tree. Hence i]J 

 he asserts, the seedlings of one variety can never k! 

 confounded by an experienced eye with those of arm.h. 

 variety, being as distinct as were their parents \f 

 over, he states that the fruit of seedling Pears ^rf 

 Apples, though differing greatly in size, succulencv 3 

 flavour from those of their parents, yet resemble them 

 in the more important characters of form and in »h 

 nature of their seeds. On the other hand Van Hon 

 asserts that he sometimes raised from the seed of onft 

 variety of Pear a quite distinct kind ; but it now 

 appears that Van Mons was careless in marking the 

 varieties sown. If any one can give accurate informs, 

 tion on this curious subject, I hope that he will be so 

 kind as to take the trouble to do so ; and will <n Ve as 

 far as he can, some idea what proportion of seedlings 

 are produced which resemble their parents in foliage and 

 general habit ; for if seedlings differ from their parents 

 only in a few rare instances, this might perhaps be 

 attributed to au accidental cross from some neigh- 

 bouring tree. Is it known whether some varieties of 

 Pears and^ Apples tend to produce truer offspring than 

 other varieties? Plums are said to come very true. 

 Mr. Rivers, and possibly others, could probably give 

 very interesting details on this head. C. Darwin. 



Linnean, Dec. 18.— Prof. Bell, President, in the 

 chair.— W. Archer, jun., Esq., and W. Dickinson, Esq., 

 were elected Fellows. Mr. Pamplin exhibited living 

 specimens of the Argyroneta, which had beea the sub- 

 ject of a communication at a previous meeting. Prof. 

 Bentley exhibited a specimen in spirits of Papaver bm- 

 teatum, showing a conversion of stamens into carpels, to- 

 gether with some other vegetable monstrosities. The 

 following papers were read : 1. "Notes on some 

 West Indian seeds, washed up on the coast of Wales," 

 by Dr. Hooker. The principal interest attaching to 

 these seeds was said to be derived from the exten- 

 sion of the area over which they proved the Gulf 

 Stream to be capable of transporting foreign bodies 

 it having been hitherto generally supposed that cross 

 currents or other causes prevented any of these 

 floating seeds from being carried into the Irish Sea. 

 2. « On Dictyocline, a new genus of Ferns/' by Mr. T. 

 Moore. This genus was stated to belong to the Hemio- 

 nitidese, a group distinguished by having anastomosiry 

 receptacles, and continuous linear reticulated sori. It 

 differed from the allied genera in having the veins 

 pinnate, and the soriferous venules transversely anasto- 

 mosing between them, forming two or three series of 

 roundish hexagonal areoles. It is a native of Assam. The 

 provisional name of Chorizopteris was suggested for 

 another Assam Fern which does not associate with any 

 known genus. It has the veins uniformly reticulated, 

 forming two or three series of oblique, unequal, elon- 

 gated, hexagonal areoles, and is supposed to belong to 

 the Acrosticheae. Two species were noticed— C. pmnata 

 from Assam, and C. bipinnata,from New Caledonia, ihc 

 paper was concluded by some observations on the value 

 of the receptacle as a discriminative character among 

 the Ferns. 3. The commencement of a memoir Ua 

 the Natural History of the Glow-worm;' by the late 

 G. Newport, Esq., prepared from the author's Mb. Dy 

 Prof. Ellis, of University College. 



editorial remarks, p, 659.] 



See some 



The Eolcus Succharatus, or Sugar-cane Grass of 

 which you sent me seed, has, I am hannv tn^ 9 

 ceedetl here admirably. It grows " T iffiT 

 and it is thought that it will Jrove a ve Ty Ji^fi* 

 for cattle. I divided the seed amon Z * J J „ t **? 

 bours, two of whom are going to sow an L? X T^" 



#otice<s of Mote* 



We have received a volume of Sermons entitled 

 The Gospel in Fzekiel, by the Rev. Dr. Guthrie (BI*J, 

 Edinburgh), to which we would draw »^ ntl0 P. . ' «L 

 sake of the happy imagery derived from natural history, 

 which we find scattered here and there througo 

 pages. Upon its doctrinal merits we, of course, exp ^ 

 no opinion. The rev. [author sets an example ^ 

 we should be glad to see more generally followe d ; fefr 

 the object of a preacher is to produce a yl VV*l eT e 

 sion upon the minds of his hearers, especially ^ 

 they form a rural congregation, he will h^d no j 

 their hearts more direct than through apt llnw* 

 derived from natural objects with which tuey 

 familiar. This was thoroughly understood byj j . 

 spired writers, but has long been too much »eg ^ 

 Or if attempted, it has sometimes been witn * ^ 

 skill and knowledge as to render ^tural imagery ^ 

 ridiculous than impressive. No one can say tn* > _ 

 Guthrie, one of whose similes we take as an ^ a "^ f 



« Compare man with any of the other crea ur 





