THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



a tune. 



inum od Uw groO»d More tlmn hs Uy» »t 



Th vtmwt ilw < ...toi-ioner ewidn o be .a 

 «*t asssw «**'«'*» by the fact that birdyudi 

 Shrk. Sftd other small Ian J bird, which do no ingnt* 



f all parties— namely, that the 



are very numerous, and must rind the 

 i« food faring winter. He concludes his reniarks upon 

 £-SS^n At following terms: 'That the quantity 

 of r*a 0T mow duntig winter cannot be very excessive 

 there is very conclusive eviuVnce, to which I have 

 drawn the attention of all parties-nj 

 »trwuna of water, which are very numerous and often 

 Terr eonrifrr&ble, in n one place present indications 

 Of luring been extended : the sod on each side is 

 always loose, deep, and rich, and covered with rank 

 wgetatkm ; nor are there any traces visible of trees 

 having been washed down, but, as in all other parts, 

 they bear the same twisted and bent form. 1 " Southern 

 Whale Fishery Company l *mU>WMr 9 3 Reports, dated 



25 April, 185a _ t __. 



i mposition for rendering Canvas and other Fabrvs. 



and Leathery Waterproof. —-This invention, for which a 

 patent was taken out in July last, is the property of Mr. 

 Jennings, Chemist, Great Tower-street, London. It 

 cm its in obtaining an insoluble varnish, applicable to 

 the waterproofing of fabrics, from the decomposition of 

 any soluble mineral or metallic salt, by any soluble soap, 

 by double decomposition. The modu* op* randi specified 

 by the patentee is as follows :— 1 cwt. of soft soap is 

 boiled in a copper vess.-i, in from 25 to 30 gallons of 

 water. V ii dissolved, from 5b' to i lbs. of sulphate 

 of zinc are added. L)ouU<- decomposition -iisurs, and 



the alkali of the soap unites with the sulphuric acid 

 from the sulphate of zinc, and forms sulphate of potash. 

 Tho paid of the zinc combines with the oil or stearine, 

 and forms an in luble metallic soap. In the case of 

 hard soap beu|| d instead of soft, sulphate of soda 

 will result instead of sulphate of potash. This metallic 



►p, which is collected from the solution when cold, 

 ami has the appearance of a white hard mass, is sub- 

 •tqucntl hoiled to purify it from any sulphate of soda 

 or potash whirh may remain. Next, heat 50 gallons of 

 raw linseed oil, as fn-e as possible from nmeila^e, 

 mixed with 5 lbs. of carbonate of potash and 1 gal! n 

 of wat« r, until it saponifies. Then add lU per cent, of 

 animal charcoal, and an equal quantity of water ; con- 

 tinu the boding for an hour ; filter, to remove the 

 phosphate of lime and other matters which would tend 

 to render the oil opaque. This last process need only 

 l>e and when a colourless waterproof varnish is required. 

 To this quantity of oil, thus purified or not, add 1 J lb. 

 sugar of lead, 2 lbs. litharge, 1 (be. red lead, 21 lbs. 

 black ream ; maintain these matters at 2 1 2° Fahrenheit, 

 until their mixture is completed, taking care to stir 

 them all the while for that purpose* Then incorporate 

 with them . :i) lbs. of the metallic soa; after which, add 

 48 ess. of caoutchouc, dissolved in 2 gallons of oil of 

 turpentine. The mixture may be applied to fabrics at 

 a temperature of from 150 M to 160°, by a brush. One 

 or more coats m be applied as required. When 

 cooled, which generally takes about 36 or 40 hours, the 



fabric will be waterproof. To wat< rproof leather, it 



should be steeped in a solution, at 2J.V, of equal quan- 

 tities of linseed od and metallic soap, until cold. Then 

 remove, by srraphg, the mixture in excess. From the 



ArthUcct, Feb. 8. 





Calendar of Operations, 



(For the ensuing week.) 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



There are so many things which can be done within 

 doors to forward the work of a garden, that no work- 

 need ever be exposed to wet. There is a double 

 ure in seeing the men at work in the sheds and 

 s during inclement weather, for while we know 

 that they are usefully employed, we are equallv certain 

 that their health is not likely to be injured. In a well 

 regulated garden there is always an abundance of work 

 to be done under cover, such as washing and painting 

 sashes, making baskets, pointing pea-stakes and flower- 

 stakes, and a great many other things too numerous to 

 be named here. To carry on such work to the best 

 advantage everything should be in readiness for the 

 men to commence work at any moment, when driven in- 

 doors by bad weather. 



PLANT DEPARTMENT. 



Stove plants generally do beet when plunged in some 

 medium supplying bottom-heat ; and it is particularly 

 beneficial to them when newly potted, by assisting the 

 roots to freely penetrate the new compost. Get all plant 

 trellises -painted, that they may be ready for use when 

 required. Besides conducing to their preservation and 

 neat appearance, the paint effectually smothers any in- 

 sects or eggs which may be lurking about them. Active 

 exertions should now be made to eradicate scale, mealy 

 bug, or other insects, with which any of the plants (par- 

 ticularly those in the stoves), are infested. Hot water 

 is the best remedy ; it may be safely used at 130* and 

 eren higher. It may undoubtedly be applied much 

 hotter, at tins season, on the old well-ripened shoots and 

 leaves, than would be safe a month or six weeks hence 

 when the plants have commenced their new growth 

 Insects of all kinds can be eradicated with much neater 

 ease, now that they are, comparatively speaking, i 

 dormant state, than they can be a few months hence. 



FLOWER-GARDEN AND SHRUBBRRIES 



Continue to regulate the plants in the shrubbery • 

 and where large deciduous trees are standing among 

 them, it will beneficial to the shrubs to have a top- 

 dresaing|[of decayed leaves worked in among their roots 



Jf not assisted in this way, the trees, by shading and 

 robbing them, soon destroy the beauty of the evergreens, 

 and often" cause unsightly gaps, which are difficult to 

 fill up. *A circle of bare ground is frequently left 

 round specimen trees and shrubs, to afford greater 

 facilities for top-dressing with manure or compost, and 

 for loosening the ground to admit the sun and air more 

 freely. The effect of this, however, is not so pleasing 

 as when the turf is continued close up to the plant, and 

 it is besides much more troublesome to keep in order ; 

 and for this reason, as soon as the plants are thoroughly 

 established, and have began to grow freely, the bare 

 ground should be entirely turfed over. In small 

 gardens, it is a common practice to [cultivate flowers 

 in and round the shrubbery beds, and (though scarcely 

 in good taste), to make a similar use of the* circles 

 round single specimens, rather than allow them to be 

 covered with turf. Where such is the case, some leaf 

 soil should be dug or forked in, to stimulate the plants 

 into vigorous growth ; and, when planting the flowers, 

 a space should be left quite clear between them and 

 the base of the specimen. We have often seen the 

 lower branches of fastigiate trees completely spoiled by 

 neglect on this latter point. 



FLORISTS' FLOWERS. 



Pansies are making growth fast, it will be therefore 

 requisite to stop those which are too luxuriant, by 

 pinching out the leading bud. Those cultivated in pots 

 will now require more water, at the same time giving 

 abu [.nice of air, and free exposure at all times, when the 

 weather is favourable. Snails have been more than 

 usually troublesome this season with our plants ; we 

 find no trap so good for the marauders as fresh bran, 

 placed beneath a tile. Polyanthuses are showing in 

 many instances a premature bloom ; earthworms are 

 often extremely injurious to seedling plants, when grown 

 on beds ; they will draw them out of the ground, there- 

 fore late planted ones, particularly, must have especial 

 attention. We should ruueh like to see some alteration 

 in the ground colour of these flowers; to casual ob- 

 servers they present great sameness. We think that 

 by judicious hybridization, much might be done. We 

 have now in blooni in our garden a bright blue Polyan- 

 thus ; certainly, it is defective in form, lacing, eye, &c, 

 but why not endeavour to improve this by crossing and 

 seeding, &c. 1 At all events, if rotundity were obtained, 

 with a bright lemon eye and lacing, the ground colour 

 would, we think, be desirable ; and we are sure if this 

 plan were persevered in, many interesting hybrids would 

 be obtained. Cover Tulips on appearance of frost, and 



plant Ranunculuses when the beds are in good order for 

 so doing. 



FORCING DEPARTMENT. 



In clear fine weather assist Nature by giving some 

 additional heat to all the Pineries, as well as to the 

 Vineries and Peach-houses, now in operation. This 

 increase, accompanied by a proportional circulation of 

 air, by means of ventilators, will be very beneficial ; but 

 during dull cloudy weather it is advisable to be sparing 

 of artificial heat, for the double purpose of husbanding 

 the energies of the plants and preventing the needless 

 waste of that expensive article fuel. Avoid too moist 

 an atmosphere in the Pineries, or some of the shows 

 will be liable to come without their crowns ; and be 

 very careful in syringing not to allow any moisture to 

 fall upon the flowers. A little neglect on these points, 

 added to a deficient circulation of air, is productive of 

 monstrous crowns, and frequently, deformed fruit. A 

 slight syringing may be given about 3 p.m. to Peaches 

 which are fairly set, but with caution, for much splash- 

 ing of water at this season is injurious both to roots and 

 branches. Leave a small portion of air on at all times. 

 The Cherry-house, if not already done, should now be 

 put in order for forcing, by having the trees well washed 

 with a mixture of soft soap and sulphur in some warm 

 soft water, in the proportion of halt' an ounce of each to 

 a pint of water. 



HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



Gardens are frequently seen crowded with large fruit 

 trees, the greater portion of which is of inferior or 

 worthless varieties, and even the good ones are, from 

 want of proper management, generally unproductive ; 

 besides which their roots exhaust the ground, and their 

 tops shade it, thereby causing injury to the crops of 

 vegetables which are planted near them. This system 

 should be entirely changed ; all inferior varieties should 

 be removed, and of the remaining ones the standards 

 should be drawn down, if they will bear it, and the 

 dwarfs trained as pyramidal or goblet-shaped bushes. 

 it the soil is rich, which may be expected among vege- 

 table* the production of gross and superfluous wood 

 should be prevented by regular and systematic root 

 pruning. An economical arrangement of fruit trees for 

 a kitchen garden is to form rows of pyramidal or goblet- 

 shaped trees on the south side of all "walks running east 

 and west and on both sides of all running south and 



*. 



small spray to fill up the bottom, it will Tcolurib^ 

 their more perfect protection. Care must be tak ' 

 prevent the ravages of mice and birds ; rats alanu 

 quently attack Broad Beans just as they are start^" 

 and if not noticed in time, they will destroy the^? 

 Broad Beans raised in boxes may be planted ont^ 

 warm rich soil ^whenever the weather is mild. 1^ J* 

 situations a sowing of Onions and early Horn CarrU 

 may be made. The Potato Onion is much esteem 

 by many, and these being early rooting plants and W? 

 may be got in with advantage. Ji 



State of the Weather near London, or tbe week ending Feb 13 mi 



as observed at the Horticultural Garden, Chiswick," ' * 



Feb. 





Friday.. 7 

 Satur. ,. S 



Sunday. 9 

 Monday 10 

 Tues. ..11 

 Wed. .. 12 



Thura... 13 



Arerajce 



• . • 



* 



'a 

 o 



c 



2 



6 



7 



10 



11 



12 



BamoMiTiB. 





Tkmpihatu&b. 



Max, 



30.171 



30.144 



30.375 



30.0-i* 

 30.250 

 30.152 

 30.074 



30.173 



Min. 



29.897 

 29.B56 

 30.326 

 30.3' 6 

 30.208 

 30.040 

 3U.002 



30.091 



Of the Air. ] Of the Earth. 



Wiadjl 



5 



Feb. 





in a 



north The Gooseberries and Currants should occuov 

 a border by themselves ; and the Raspberries should 

 also have a separate border or compartment, by which 

 means more space would be made available for vege- 

 tables. It will be necessary to support the fruit trees 

 with stakes for a few years until properly formed, after 

 which they will support themselves. We mention this 

 now, as all planting of fruit trees should be completed 

 as soon a possible. r 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Draw up ridges of soil on each side of the rows of 

 early Peas which are above ground, in order to protect 

 them from cold sweeping winds ; it will be as well also 

 to put the stakes to them at once, and by nsin* the 



7— Densely and uuitonuly overcast; raio. 



8— Fine •, heavy clouds; clear at night. 



9— Fine; cloudy and fine: overcast. 

 10-Overcaat; baxy; cloudy. 

 11— Frosty ; clear; cloudy at night. 

 12— Fine ; very fine : overcast. 

 13— Hazy; cloudy ; rain; slight foj?. 

 Mean temperature of the week \ deg. below the average. 



State of the Weather at Chiswicx during tbe last 25 years, for the 



ensuing week, ending Feb. 22, 1851. 



^n A 





•?& 



If 



No. of 

 I ears in 



Feb. 



gH 



Iti 



which it 





Zx* 



iflfi 



Rained. 



Sunday 16 



46.2 



31.4 



38.8 



4 



Mon. 1/ 



46.4 



32.3 



39.3 



9 



Tues. is 



45.0 



32.4 



38.7 



11 



Wed. 19 



45.5 



32.1 



38.8 



13 



Than. 20 



45.6 



32.6 



39.1 



15 



Friday 21 



47-* 



33.9 



40.6 



14 



Satur. 22 



46.6 



34.4 



40.5 



11 



Greatest 

 Quantity 

 of Rain. 



Prevailing Wink 



0.23 in. 



0.32 



0.30 



0.64 



0.51 



0.20 



0.29 



The 



1S4 



!he highest temperature during the above period occurred ou ike i;t* 

 7— therm. 57 deg. ; and the lowest on the 19th f 1845 —therm. 16 deg. 



Notices to Correspondents. 



Back Numbers : One shilling will be given for No. 1, 1&6, 

 Fancy Geraniums : S B H W. Anais and Queen Victoria wB 



suit you.* 



Ferns: A Correspondent. The most economical plan of genus, 

 a good and large collection of Ferns is to beg or barter fa 

 them. The easiest and best is to purchase them of Mean. 

 Loddiges or others. 



Fruit Trees : Novice. As you require late Pears for us 

 in Jan., Feb,, and March, you should graft your Jargonelle, 

 growing on the south end of a barn, with Winter JSelis, 

 Knight's Monarch, Easter Beurre, and Beurre Ranee, yi 

 your other trees with March Bergamot and Ne plus Meuriij 



Fungi : JF,jun. The specimen of fungus growiog upon an oK 

 hollow Willow stump in which Geraniums are planted seafl 

 to be a slice of some Polyporus.— Tis. The fungus on tbefiv 

 tato is so shrivelled that we do not recognise it. It wifiuot 

 remain examinable while going through the Post-o&ct, 

 unless wrapped in damp paper within the box. 



Insects : W S. The centipede (or millipede) is the comma 

 Julus pulchellus generally found in the roots of decaitt 

 vegetables. The small beetle is the Rhyzophagus rote, 

 generally found under the damp loose bark ot trees ; and » 

 small caterpillars may be the species which bores iato till 

 corks of wine bottlei. fK.~ D Q. We suppose the learesrf 

 Tropaeolum tiicolor may be gnawed by woodlice. rm 

 damp moss or slices ot Turnips in the angles of the bed, a» 

 examine them every morning and destroy the woodlice wnica 

 will there congregate together. W. 



Laurels : Pod. We never recommend dealers. % 



Lime : Questor. There is no material difference between tb« 

 two kinds of lime, except that that from oyster shells is tw 



purest. . 



Mesembrtanthemums : A Lady. Tour cuttings probably fin 

 more water thau the heat and light, one or orher or both, to 

 which they had been exposed would enable them t0( ^jjv 



Mushrooms : A B. Your bed appears to have been P r0 £2 

 made, but you have kept it too dry. It* you give it ajw 

 watering with lukewarm water now, it may possibly prww 

 you a crop yet.{— A Y G. Seven inches in diameter is c* 

 tamly large for a forced Mushroom. , ,. 



Names of Plants : Anon. 1, Some Crinum, indetermuuw 

 from such a specimen; 2, Rhododendron dauricuni; » 

 Andromeda axillaris ; 4, Pyrus Aria.— D T. Tneseedtf »J 

 common Mango.— W J. The Juuiper is not in a «la«^ 

 identification ; we, therefore, are unable to answer 5<> 

 inquiry.— John James. Acacia conferta. — T W L. j^jr! 

 baiearica.— R E. Your specimen is in so withered a ■*■ 

 that it is doubtful whether it can be determined. At 

 events it requires more time than we can possibly spare* 4 

 week. — Anon. Erica herbacea, Clematis baiearica. ^ 



Obache : J S and Sons. No neglect was intended ; DUt *' 01 ^, 

 seemed more convenient for distant correspondents, whop 



bably have agents there. 

 Orchids : F D B. All the species in your list are 



m 



(&0 





flowerers and handsome, nor do any except the Defldroo ^ 

 demand unusual beat. For species likely to suit yoa 

 must refer you to d. 308 of our last year's volume. 



Temperature : Holkham. Under inquiry. . _-* 



Verbenas : S H H W. Tbe following six will possibly anaww 

 your purpose. Defiance, scarlet ; Mont BJanc, white ; &^ 

 Supreme, rose ; Imperatrice, Josephine, blue ; *^?.^ 

 Alice, white, with a pink centre ; and Jimperor ot w»» 

 crimson.* «, 



Vine3 : A Subscriber. One Vine for each rafter is quite enW. 

 and preferable to two.'lh- Novice. We presume you 

 pruned your Esperione Vine, which you intend to grat|»r, 

 all you have to do is to wait till the buds have just w 

 into leaf, when you may safely graft every spur, or wna* 

 part of the stem you please, without danger of bleeding* ■ I 



Willow: Saiix. The Huntingdon Willow is S. Bus*^ 

 we believe. If we are wrong, some correspondent 

 perhaps correct us. -h§ 



Misc : 3HHW. Plants of Campanula carpatica albsflWtf 

 had of any respectable nurseryman.}—/' T O. Pru „ tf ioOf 

 Roses now and your evergreens in April. In remoj »L 

 Pear tree preserve its roots as much as possible. lfl * ^ 

 planting will have the effect of sufficiently checking anj 

 luxuriance it may possess. J 



* SEEDLING FLOWERS. . ^ 



Cinerarias : R L. Beautiful in colour, but in its P r ^ | °|L r n 

 a little deficient in shape. It may, however, come w*"^ 

 the season advances.* 



