38 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONCILE. 



good ; and if it happens to be indifferent, why, of course, 

 there 'then exists a substantial reason for their looking 



stunted, scrubby, and sickly. Any amelioration of its 

 natural unkmd'liness is never thought of ; but, if it 



it would be looked upon as a wild theory pro- 



were, 



overpowered by any neighbouring hive ; not, however, 

 we should suppose from any jealousy of the new comers, 

 but rather with a desire to rob them of their honey. 

 In the case referred to, the effect of stopping up the 

 entrance of the hive would be to enrage the bees and 



pounded by some speculative mind. 



occurred the other day, when I was called in by the 



owner of a small villa residence to inspect the place and 



A case in point | cause them as soon as released to side with the robbers, 



and help to destroy their own combs and honey. Y.] 

 Garden fidavnm. — Perhans some of vour corre- 



to give my opinion as to the reason why the shrubbery 

 looked unlike that of his neighbour, both having been 

 planted at the same period. The shrubs in the one I 

 examined had made comparatively little progress They 

 were yellow and stunted, with the exception of two 

 weeping M'illows. On trying the soil, I found that 

 at 6 inches below the surface there was a retentive clay, 

 which had not been touched in planting, beyond a 

 little scooping out where the plants had been inserted. 

 They were thus placed in a clay basin, filled three parts 

 of the year with wet puddle ; the roots which were made 

 in summer perished of course in winter. Now it will 

 scarcely be believed that the ground-work of 70 per 

 cent, of all the villa residences of our great towns is 



" Contracts are entered into, and a 



Edgings. — Perhaps some ot your 

 spondents can inform me what would be a cheap and 

 durable edging for the paths of cottage gardens, where 

 the proprietor likes to see a degree of order and neat- 

 ness kept up, but where the labourer has but little time 

 to spare upon the ornamental part of his work. A. B.> 



East Norfolk. 



Winter Gardening. 

 ciduous trees and shrubs which, on account of their 

 purple, red, and variously-coloured shoots, are very 

 attractive, and which, if judiciously associated with ever- 

 greens, would greatly enhance the appearance of our 

 winter gardens. Deciduous plants of this character, either 

 in clumps, or planted singly, would not only create variety, 

 but considerably relieve the evergreens of their niono- 



teract the bad effects of late spring frost beca 

 wood will be sooner and more perfectly ripened"^!?!* 

 trees I have to deal with were managed nearly "i 

 manner Mr. E. recommends, and most of them si* ^ 

 bloom in abundance. Some of them I protected* *^ 

 Spruce branches ; still the 14? or 16 Q of frost *w 



with 

 Mr. 



E.'s trees resisted, left me the rudiment of a v< 



on of ttj 



crop. It is necessary to say that the situation 

 trees is low and damp. Consequently the frost 

 take more effect on the blossom. 



*ould 



There are several kinds of de- 



Errington 



similarly " laid out ' 



polish is given to the surface. Shrubs and trees from the 

 nursery^ full of health, adorn the borders when the work 

 is done, never more to assume a similar aspect ; for, as my 

 friend remarked, nothing could look healthier than the 

 plants did when they were first planted. His gardener, 

 a bright sample of the class employed at such residences, Spircea Lindleyana 

 insisted that the soil of the place was the very worst in 

 the locality — that nothing would ever make shrubs 

 grow in it — that making any attempt at this would only 



: so that he found that there was no 



tonous appearance. The subjects I would recommend 

 for this purpose are Cornus sanguinea or red Dog- wood ; 

 Leycesteria formosa. whose steins resemble those of a 

 gigantic Rush ; and the Negundo,the beautifully polished 

 green shoots of which are very handsome. These, 

 again, would contrast well with the dark brown wood of 



be wasting labour 



help for him but to live in the midst of plants struggling 



between life and death 

 life. In this dilemma, my recommendations were 

 favourably received by the proprietor ; but stoutly re- 

 sist 1, as being absurd, by the gardener. The first 

 step was to entirely clear the whole ground, then 

 to form secure drains, 19 feet apart, and 3 

 feet deep ; and as road scrapings were abundant 

 in the neighbourhood, to cover the whole 3 or 4 inches 

 thick with them. Then to trench the ground 2 feet 

 deep, well incorporating the road scraping with surface 

 soil and clay, and then to replant the shrubs, taking 

 care however that the roots were not crammed into the 



Acer dasycarpum and A. striatum 

 would likewise be eligible, as also the gold-barked Ash 

 (Fraxinus aurea). To the above might be added Cornus 

 mascula, which will bloom, even in a small state, from 

 January until March. The above are the names of a 

 few, and only a few, of such plants as occur to my 



It occurred toT^ 

 on reading Mr. E.'s letter, that the vicinity of Oulr 

 to the forest might possibly be one cause of his esca^ 

 or success, as, having sufficient shelter immediatf 

 around the trees, the air without would be pure \ 

 dry. I do not, however, dispute the authority of Jfr 



n ; but, how to protect trees from the effects of 

 spring frosts, without incurring the expense of costW 

 materials, does not appear to be very plainly poi^J 

 out in the letter alluded to. S. 



Uses to which Glass may be put — Now that glass is so 

 cheap, it might be applied with advantage for manypm 

 poses for which it was once thought unfit. For instance' 

 it would make good copings for Peach walls 4 e ' 

 Whole orchards might be covered with it in the rid* 

 and furrow system, leaving the sides open ; and 

 walled gardens might also be closed in with it. 

 more late and hardy vegetables could be cultivated 

 elsewhere. But why not use it more extensively still 

 as in the shape of canopies for walks, in order that a 

 lady or an aged gentleman might take out-door exer. 

 cise at pleasure in all weathers ; and 1 see *no reason 

 why the drive round Hyde Park should not be covered 

 over, the main walks of Kensington Gardens, and our 

 new parks, besides all pathways and streets. This would 



9 



our 

 The 



diseased, yet still tenacious of memory at the moment; but however limited their j do away, in a great measure, with umbrellas, and secure 



number, they will serve to illustrate the kind of garden- 

 ing which I should like to see carried out, and which, if 

 adopted, I am certain would greatly beautify our winter 

 scenery. C. May, Hope Nursery, Bedale. 



for us dry pavements. James Cuthill, CamberwelL 



Out-door Vine, at Nettlecombe. — A few errors have 



pt into the article, which appeared at p. 822, of last 



volume, respecting the Vine that is trained against the 



Sporting Lahumium.—On a Laburnum tree, of about gardener's house, at Nettlecombe Court, Somersetshire. 

 12 or 14 years' growth, of the common kind, there are j In the first place, it is not a Black Hamburgh, but the 

 several tufts composed of thickly-set but slender i Esperione. In the next place, no mortar or stone was 

 branches, with blossoms, I am told, like the Broom, as used in planting it. It is also asserted that it is impos- 

 the foliage is, but they are of a purple colour. Part of sible to give it any assistance in the shape of nourish- 

 the tree has Laburnum blossoms of a purple colour also ; , ment, and that the rock out of which it grows, consists 

 but where this occurs, no seed-pods are formed ; the | of a red grit stone, belonging to the slate formation 



smallest possible compass, but regularly spread out to j principal part of the tree, which is of the yellow variety, J Now, the rock is wholly of the slate formation, and, 

 their extreme lengths, and the soil properly distributed bears seed plentifully. The garden is a strong deep soil, owing t 



amongst the fibr< 



in fact planted, but not accord- and there are other Laburnum trees, nearly similar in 

 ing to the vulgar notion of doing this. Before com- size, without this peculiarity ; but on one younger tree, 

 mencipg operations, however, I advised him to employ ; germs of a similar kind to what I have described are 



competent person who understood what planting 

 meant, and who would carry out the work in a proper 



_. • • j T f " * * %!• .1 « Oil * * 



beginning to be thrown out, and which appear of a para- 

 sitical character. E. W-, Gloucester. [We must refer 



spirit. I further assured him, that by following these j our correspondent to the discussion upon this subject, 



his shrubs would grow as 



simple recommendations, 



well and kindly as any in his neighbourhood, but that 

 everything depended upon how the instructions were 

 executed. Pharo. 



Home Correspondence. 



Patent Rough Plate Glass. — I was induced, a year ago, 



which took place at p. 325, 1841, and at p. 397, in the 

 volume for 1842. It is Cytisus Adami, a hybrid ob- 

 tained between C. purpureus and C. Laburnum, and 

 sometimes it breaks out the one and sometimes the 

 other.] 



High Winter Temperatures. — The very high tempera- 

 ture we have lately experienced is extremely rare at 

 this particular season ; it has not been so high since the 



by your recommendation, to re-glaze my Grapery with year 1824, when the maximum on the hurt day of the 

 Hartley s patent rough plate glass, 26 oz. to the foot, " " 



in panes 20 inches lonir, which I purchased of Messrs. 

 Phillips and Co., Bishopscrate-street Without. Feelinir, 

 however, somewhat «" ptical as to the result, from the 

 novel character of the glass, I determined to glaze 

 only half of the roof of my house at that time, until I 

 was satisfied from experience, of its fitness for the pur- 

 pose. I am happy to say the experiment has amply _„_, .,*»«„ * v « „*~ « ™«« ..... ^* v ****^ 

 realised my wishes. The Grapes under the new glass to Jan. 151^^ 



were much finer than those under the old crown glass, 

 the bunches being from one-third to one-half the size 

 larger. I am so well satisfied tlmt I have just finished 

 the other part of the roof with the same sort of glass, 

 and feel assured that any one who had seen my Grapes 

 last summer, would have been completely sat ; led as to 

 the perfect adaptation of the glass in question to the 

 roof of a Vinerv. ™'~ ■ L - « T *■ 



year reached 53°. and again on the next day, Jan. 1, 

 1825, the daily mean temperature for that day also 

 averaged above 50 v \ All these high hybernal tempera- 

 tures are introduced by strong westerly winds, and 

 accompanied by a high barometer. The wind blew fz % om 

 the west on the 31st of last month and on the 1st of 

 January, with a mean of 50 J , both by day and by night — 

 the atmospheric pressure rather high. From Dec. 21st, 



e year, 





and any great departure from the mean, upwards, is 

 very unusual, the short period of our winter being 

 generally frosty. It will be remembered that last 

 October was unusually cold. Now in the year 1817, 

 that month was the coldest perhaps on record, and a 

 mild January succeeded. It would appear then, that 

 when the mean temperature is low in autumn, con- 

 stituting as it were a kind of premature winter, the 



Pees. 



. , ,. ah- , - 0n referring to the journal lor j lead. If you can* send some of the wood, or can &* 



s with him. All j the ensuing month of March, we find that all the fruit [any of the beetles living in it, they shall be examined; 



LTr aV 1 ^ S"? ( 1 fPPfe tree «eeP*"0 were in blossom by the similar cases are not uncommon, and the evil is a 

 nnfcnda. A* h* 3 i stj and tbe Horse Chesnut tree (iEsculus Hippocas- 



tanum) in the park just in leaf, and green. I shall 



The wood has thoroughly ripened, 



™tr er m hmSS }> VeS P ron Uf of a cr °P of fruit ' next following winter will be mild, and in all probability be 

 season. Thomas Canning, Elsenham Vicarage, Bishop's j succeeded by a cold spring. The winter of 1846 was 

 orjord. wonderfully warm, the mean temperature of January 



. As you have often treated of bees, perhaps the being 7°, and that of February 5k° above the mean 

 ioiiowmg tact may be interesting to your readers. A of these respective mouths, and there were only 

 inena ot mine, who has kept bees for many years, 11 frosty nights during this period of two months, re<ns- 

 removed, in July last, four miles from his former rest- ! tered at Hyde Vale. ~ " 

 dence, and carried his two glass hives with him ' " " 

 went on well till about 10 days after 

 he observed some of his bees dead outside. As he 

 could not guess the cause, he shut the doors at night, 

 and when he went in the morning, he found the hives 

 surrounded by strange bees, evidently waiting the open- 

 ing of the doors to make a rush in ; and no contrivance 

 could prevent the fatal invasion, in which they not only 

 succeeded in killing the inmates, but they either eat or 

 took with them all the honey which had been made. 

 Could it be that the " natives*' were afraid of a famine 

 in the land, by the new settlers arriving at that period I 

 of the yt ar \ and may my friend hope to be more suc- 

 cessful with a new colony earlier in the season X H M 

 near Worcester, [if bees are moved at any season of 

 the year when they are actively employed out of doors 

 it follows that they are much weakened ; in the first 

 place by the loss of those which are out at the time 

 of removal, and cannot find their 



to its loose texture, and the numberless fissures 

 which it contains, the plant receives a great deal of 

 nourishment from rain water, mixed with soil that flows 

 over its roots from the land above. Your corresponds 

 is right in stating that it is very prolific, and in a favour- 

 able season the fruit is very fine. It is trained outk 

 horizontal system, and at the winter pruning the lateral 

 shoots are cut back to one eye. In this way a crop is 

 obtained regularly all over the Vine, from the main 

 stem to the extremities. It was planted 18 years ago, 

 and now it covers above 400 square feet of wall. The 

 late Mr. Loudon once saw it, when it had a full crop of 

 fruit on it, and he was much pleased with it. Charh 

 Elworthy, Nettlecombe Gardens. 



Lead Tanks. - What has perforated the sheet lead, as 

 per inclosed specimen 1 It is taken from the lining of a 

 salting tank, in use about 10 years, for salting bacon, &e. 

 My plumber tells me it is the saltpetre, but that lie 

 never witnessed a similar case before. I cannot tab 

 his opinion. Would not the effect of any corrosive b 

 in irregular holes and blotches ? whereas these are 

 round, as if drilled. My own impression is that a grub 

 or insect is the cause. Pray observe that the holes ap- 

 pear to have been commenced from the under side of 

 the lead, next the wood — some not entirely through,* 

 the holes are commenced sideways, and not perpendi- 

 cular to the plane of the surface. I fancy in some (if 

 the holes I find the remains of an insect, with hard- 

 cased wings like a beetle or flea. The whole sheet, 

 5 feet by 3 feet, is similarly perforated. I cannot aj 

 how long it has been in this state, as it has been out i 

 use four or five years ; but it was serviceable seven 

 years ago, certainly. Pray give me your opinion on 

 the matter. Bishop's Cattle. [The perforations in tie 

 sheet-lead lining of the salting tank, which have ren- 

 dered it useless, are, as you very rightly conjecture,not 

 caused by the action of salt or nitre ; they are probably 

 the ravages of some small Coleopterous insect, the eggs 

 of which were deposited in the wooden case below tie 



con- 



I conclude this short remark with an extract from my 

 I journal, dated Feb. 28th, 1846 :~ «On this day at 2 r.M. 



siderable one, for new pests of this sort are occasions 



introduced with foreign woods. The only certain 



abundance 



I 



the thermometer rose to 60 J in the shade 

 of flowers in blossom every where ; the meadows sprmkW 

 with Daisies; in the market gardens between Bermondsev 

 and Deptford, about 3 miles S. E. of the city, Plum- 

 trees in bloom ; Lilac-trees and hedge-rows < Quick 

 Ihorn) green ; great quantities of flowers are gathered 

 and sold m the London market, and even in the streets 



n, v W °J ve S etables a** in plenty." /. Henry 

 Btlmlle, Hyde Vale, Greenwich. 



Pear Trees and Spring Protection.— Some months 

 ago, an article appeared in the Chronicle, from Mr. 

 Ernngton, on the management of Pear trees. 



abode, 

 from 



way to their new j thing ^>n that subjecrbelng^to me \Try Tcceptabfe"^ 



There was one part of it 



if 



In the second place, all those bees which teku.* „ « i •*, -.i 



the hive before they 'ha ve observed^ ite altered 7^ lt ^^ fe *™* , , 



. ^ iL _ ,r J , „ uuserveu its aiteied however, which seemed rather doubtful. 



position return to the old locality and are lost "^u^SZT^ "^ ^"^ rail, , er aoubttul - He **ys, it 



weakened t\ evare of course liable to U ? a^kJ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ n ^ 0mAy ^^ aUended t0 > b * root - 



uame to be attacked and , pruning, stopping, &c, it will, in a great measure, coun- 



of preventing their ravages appears to be that of buflj' 

 I ing the wood which they are found to have attacked. 

 Would you send us some of the wood and another pfe^ 

 of lead, in order that they may undergo an entoniologic* 1 

 examination.] 



How to Smoke a Greenhouse Effectually.— Take a she** 

 of touch- paper, spread it out, and roll half an onncew 

 1 oz. of tobacco up in it, light it at botfi ends, put it u£ 

 the house, leave it there, remain outside with your han<* 

 in your pockets, and the job is done. In the mornU? 

 all the green flies will be dead, Edward Huggin8,B&W* 

 Lincolnshire. 



Hippeastrum aulicum. — As this showy AmarTi^ 

 blooms beautifully in December, it is well worth a^ 

 extra care. A young plant has flowered with me && 

 successive seasons in that month, and it is hailed *i*j 

 delight by every one who sees it at that dull season. 

 received it from the nursery about the month of AP^ 

 when it had a good shift, and was put into an inters 



