•) 



1831.' 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



387 



IOICR CINERARIA SEKD. , m _ 



mmxihf pin* :, i> ( * have saved fr0 



gX 1 ', al the Rii it -d Fine.t Varieties 



£i Ue this season grown In great perfe -non, 



rf*l: rt !2jffl «^ *ll.Dt qttW; •« they beg inn 

 • CM""* bee*, f * ^ and warranted by them. 



lor sf.e, 



STumcd, free by post. If « » soon, strong plants will 

 **** *T.La ihich will flower in 1532. 



; fi ITCH and SON beg to call attention 



M to the three following rare ami beautiful HantA. £" 

 ! /L-JLT of *hich see Advertisements in Gardeners'Chromcle 



W rfMNTTA DEPENDENS 



MARRRIS DARWINII 

 IfEDIXILLA MAGNIFICA 



• • • 



- . * 



f • • 



. # ■ 



1 



1 

 3 



s. 

 1 

 1 

 3 



d. 

 

 

 



«§tabiitbed plants now ready for beading ont at the 

 v^tntfee* The usual discount to the Trade. 

 • •Tin Cantua is the plant that has attracted such general 

 ^ n tne recent Exhibitions at Chiswick and the 



and 1ms received Three First OUlSi WsU N 

 $ Jsw Pttnt.— E xt»»er. June 21.' _ 



I*~Vn\V\RD GEORGE HENDERSON is now pre- 

 L pared to forward by post his new CINERARIA SHED 

 I best nam «1 varieties of dwarf and gooi formed 

 ^ t. Id. each packet. Postage stamps can be sent by 



wko owo correspondents. 



BJ&. II. will also forward his new priced descriptive Cata- 

 wg5 of Plants post free on applioation. 

 "j^gton-roii Xur-ery, St. John^s Wood, London. 



FE1 S AND ORCHIDS. 



iVii.LIAM MASTERS has a Stove 40 feet square, 



M tiiJed with a rare collection of FERNS, some adapted 

 *r Warden cases, and, others for ornamenting Tanks, <fcc. 



AUo, a large collection of Orchids, some growing in pots, 

 t^n blocks, and in rustic baskets. Where the selection 

 a ltd to W. M., »hey can be can be supplied good and cheap. 



Orders aie respectfully solicited. 

 Hioti e Nursery. Canterbury. 



DALSION NUKSERY. MIDDLESEX. 



WILLIAM HARRINGTON, successor to the late 

 Mr. Job* Smith, begs to inform the Nobility, Gentry, 

 and the Trade, that he h .$ taken the above Premises, and 

 hope* by atteation and assiduity to be favoured with the same 

 liberal patronage as his predecessor. — June 21. 



SELECTED CINERARIA SEKD, saved from one 

 of the choicest and finest varieties* in cultivation, this 

 being the proper time for sowing (which any amateur may 

 tultirate with little trouble and sure success), to insure good 

 itrong plants that will bloom well the forthcoming season. 



Pickets of the ab we can be forwarded to anj part, on receipt 

 of 1^ pi-nny postage stamp*. — Edward Tilet, Nurseryman, 

 man. and Fl st, 14, Abbey Churchyard, Bath. 



NEW IIARDY JAPAN PLANT. 

 D^UTZTA GRACILIS (true ) 



JOSEPH BAUMANN, Nurseryman, Ghent, Belgium, 



v beriag a good stock of the above beautiful and distinct 

 DEL'TZIA, will *end it out on the 1st of August. 



Extra strong well established plants £1 



Smaller do. do. 12 G 



Grafted, 4 to 5 feet hi ? h 2 



J. B Deutzia gracilis will never grow higher than 2 feet. 

 II ugh L md Co., of Clapton, have seen it in bloom, 

 and have ordered 40 plants cf it. 

 Thi* plant may be had in bloom six mon'hs in the year. 

 J. B. has received the following prizes for this plant. 1850, 

 Ghent first prize; 1551, Chiswick, May the 3d, priz-of excel- 

 lence ; Regent's Park, May 14th, first prize. Bruxelles n> st 

 prixe, Aurwerp first prize, Mechlin first prize, Louvain first 

 prwvMeniz first prize. Erfurt first prize, Paris first prize. 



One ever to the Trade on three. No discount if less than 

 three plants are ordered. Free to London. 



Deutzia cren ata vera, new (D. gracilis of some), Is. 



EXHIBITION OF MELONS.— A Present of ONE 



ttrT^ifk? 1 * wil1 ** ui wen to tne Exhibitor of the best flavoured 

 BROMHAM HALL MELON, at the Chiswick Exhibition in 



ii AiK ext, nu J Ldward Tilet, Nurseryman and Seedsman, 

 H, Abbey Churchyard, Bath. 



at the table d'hote : it w delicious ; some titled able w th the view we originally expn I, bt u* 



such places may be a mere layer of Band sprei 



English travellers were present, who seemed equally 

 charmed. Curiosity was awakened. What could it 

 be ? The German gentleman in waiting, napkin in 

 hand, was despatched on a special mission to the Chef 

 de Cu <ic, to know what we had been eating ; after 

 remaining some five minutes in suspense, the receipt 

 was revealed. It was a dish of Pea-shells, stewed 

 in butter, with a sprinkling of savoury herbs. Pea 

 shells are the ordinary diet of pigs on this side of the 

 channel ; but in Germany a little skill, a little 

 butter, and a little herb removes them from the sty 

 to the best dinner tables. ' The capacities of vege- 

 tables are mournfully misunderstood, Si% in Eng- 

 land ! ' said a plethoric old gentleman next to us, 

 who had already been fed by our cookery within a 

 beef steak or two of apoplexy. l Look at me, Sir ! 

 You never see a foreigner in such a state as I am ; 

 but what with light wines, and this kind of thing 

 (swallowing a mouthful of Pea- shells), I hope to get 



better.' " 



Cite ©atfjenerg' Chronicle* 



SATURDA Y y JUNE 21, 1851. 



MI TltfGS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK. 



C Medical and Chirurmcal . . . .84* m 



Tossjut, Juae 24^Zoolo«ical » r.2.' 



(London Floricultural ..!... 1 r m" 



w.«. ..,>.„ r C goysl South London ] T . M '. 



Widxbsdat, r- Zol Royal Botanic , ^p.m. 



(Geological 8$p m 



TuumtDAT, - 26 { J*" "* 1 Floricultural [3 p.*! 



». TTW , P • Royal Soc. of Literature 4 p.m. 



Cousrat S H ow«.-TuMd*y. Jum» 24: Hand*woxth and Lorelii Horti- 



fi7 W S P,d8f, 1 J,,n !\ ,nd Thur,d,y. June 26: Newcs'lcon ,Tr ,e 

 ^nicaland Hort«cuUural. r Thur f day, June2n: Ma.d.tone Horticul.ural, 

 W^Lircrpool Horticultural.- Friday, June 27: Tuubridge Wella Horti. 



Wb are among those who read "Dickens' House- 

 hold Words" with instruction and delight, and who 

 look forward to every coming Saturday bringing us 

 some new subject, discussed in the best spirit. No 

 w ? nfler > then > we should be eager to correct an error 

 *mch he has fallen into, with regard to Horticultural 

 matters; for the time presses, the green Pea season 

 s at hand, and many of his readers who respect 

 tae Household Words" as we do (and their name 

 is legion) will be led into error, and the authority 

 * tne author impugned. Speaking of cheap plea- 



\h«? r A y 24 )' he wisel y and honestly enumerates 

 «°>e of the table, and descanU on the cheap luxuries 



uie poor and middling classes, enumerating various 



and in \ ve 8 e ^ bles which he had eaten in Germany, 

 jw 1 in 'Which he could scarcely recognise the miser- 



^ m,tl re ,l S i *^?y&MH* of garden stuff, which 

 « met with at English tables. 



theTin "? ° f . the P leasures of the table as one of 



^ o&eV "1 f^ D >:: J ° HN80N agTeed With him >> 

 ^coaTof; 1 at m ^he present constitution of 

 our ami/ C00 W, eating is the most expensive of 



ii? n? ment !" l, TWs arises mainl y fro™ our 



*£Sr L ? getabIes / About the middle of kst 



^er, at Kreuznach, we partook of a certain dish 



Now we quite agree with the writer, that nothing 

 can be more dreary and more circumscribed than 

 our cooking of vegetables ; but if Mr. Dickens sets 

 his readers to cook up with any herb, or any quan- 

 tity of butter, the shells of our ordinary Peas, they 

 will be unsuccessful ; and the mockery of Mr. 

 Dickens' vegetarian cookery will become a household 

 oord with our ordinary cooks. Surely, Mr. Dickens 

 must have overlooked the absence in the German 

 dish of the hard, indigestible skin which lines all 

 the Pea-shells to which he was accustomed in Eng- 

 land, and therefore he and his readers should be 

 warned that no success will attend the concoction 

 of the mess he recommends, let the Phillis be as 

 neat-handed as she may, unless he first procures that 

 variety of the Pea called Pois sans Purchemin. 



Once or twice our excellent correspondent 

 " Dodman" has attempted to call the attention of 

 our readers to the importance of the good and varied 

 cookery of vegetables, and now and then there have 

 appeared in our columns a few valuable receipts ; 

 but this matter has not been taken up systematically. 

 We must not talk now of Synods, even though they 

 be of cooks ; but why does not such a man as M. 

 Soyer set up as Professor of Cookery, and give 

 clinical lectures, and confer degrees in this art as 

 well as the London University confers degrees in 

 other arts. What a comfort to the young and 

 tremulous housekeeper it would be, with a cross 

 husband coming home to dinner, and comparing 

 everything at his own table with what he was used 

 to "at his club" in his bachelor days ! Why, if a 

 lady could go and taste the dishes executed under 

 Soyer, and be named a senior optima even in frying, 

 or a wrangler in omelettes, it is veiy possible she 

 might, more than could be hoped for, smooth down 

 the ruffled temper of her husband, and win golden 

 opinions of her guests as regards the excellence and 

 the economy of her table. 



There is some lady (Mrs. Ellis we believe), who 

 has her young ladies taught such household duties as 

 superintending cooking, pickling, preserving, scouring, 

 and marketing. Let us hope she attends most 

 especially to vegetarian cookery ; and that the 

 rising generation of husbands may hope to see 

 even Pea-shells (without the parchment) well 

 dressed at their tables. 



id over 

 hard pan keeping down water, but through which 

 he roots of trees can penetrate j or those places may 

 be basin- filled with water at the time when trees 

 are making growth, although they become dry after- 

 wards. 



Many recent communications, which unfortunately 

 show that the disease is becoming more and more 

 common, render ij; desirable that the question should 

 be again discussed ; and that our opinion, if un- 

 founded, should be shown to be so. In the mean- 

 while, setting asifle speculation as to the cause of 

 Larch rot. we may state what is certain upon the 

 subject. It is certain that it begins in the heart- 

 wood, near the root ; and that it spreads outwards, 

 layer after layer crumbling like saw-dust. It is 

 certain that among the crumbling mass is to be 

 found in abundance a mouldy appearance, which is 

 the spawn of some fungus. It is certain that when 

 the rot has reached the alburnum a thick leathery 

 white formation annears between the bark and 



wood, which 



appears 

 formation 



is 



identical with the 



We have not 



Those who have Larch Plantations should look 

 at them just now. If the trees are thriving, green 

 at the top, and well furnished with leaves, all may 

 be well. But if the upper branches are bare or 

 naked, or if the leaves there are yellowish, it will 

 be probably found that the trunk is attacked with 

 the a heart-rot ;" and in dealing with this disease 

 time is to be lost. Should the disease have 



no 



made much progress the trees are not likely to 

 recover, and it will be better to remove them. If 

 the symptoms are slight, it may still be possible to 

 arrest the evil, by removing the cause of the mis- 

 chief. What is that cause 1 



Many years ago we expressed an opinion that 

 heart-rot is owing to the presence of too much 

 water about the roots (July 15, 1843, page 488), 

 a view in which our correspondents could not 

 concur, because the disease is prevalent in dry 

 sandy heaths (page 542 of the same volume), and 

 concerning which other opinions have been subse- 

 quently expressed. For ourselves we adhere to our 

 original conclusion, whi^ was derived from the 

 consideration of many cases that were then within 

 our knowledge. We knew that the disease was 

 most common on low stiff clay lands, where Larch 

 grows for a few years with great luxuriance ; that 

 it is also frequent in mossy springy places, even on 

 hill sides, if means are not taken to carry the water 

 continually away ; and that on hills it is chiefly 

 near the bottom, where water collects, that the trees 

 suffer most. As to dry sandy heaths often pro- 

 Lucing the disease, that is by no means irreconcile- 



appearances connected with dry rot. 

 ourselves observed fungi proceeding from the leathery 

 matter in question ; but there is no room to doubt 

 that they do proceed from it. Therefore it is certain 

 that the Larch rot is a kind of dry rot. 



But what causes this dry rot ? It is by no means 

 proved that fungi are the first cause of dry rot ; on 

 the contrary, it seems to be tolerably well ascer- 

 tained that they merely appear in timber, because 

 circumstances exist favourable to its decay ; and that 

 they, in the first instance, attack decaying timber, 

 because it offers a suitable soil in which they may 

 root. It is, however, admitted, that having once 

 attacked timber, they spi id with dangerous rapi- 

 dity. Thus, a deal board placed on end, where air 

 circulates freely all round it, was never known to 

 suffer from dry rot; but introduce it into a floor on 

 sleepers over heavy clay soil, making no provision 

 for the rapid circulation of air beneath it. and in a few 

 years the whole of the underside is overrun with dry 

 rot. That is to say, place it where its surface begins 

 to decay in consequence of the dampness to which it 

 is exposed, and the dry rot fungi immediately seize 

 upon it, and establish themselves^ among the rotting 

 wood. Is it not probable, that in the case of the 

 Larch the wood receives from heavy damp or spongy 

 land more water than the leaves can carry off ? that 

 this water then collects among the tissue and brings 

 on decay ; and that this decay is immediately suc- 

 ceeded by a crop of fungus-spawn, which spreads 

 rapidly round the centre where it first appeared, as 

 fungus-spawn always does ? To us this seems a 

 satisfactory solution of the problem. 



If this be so, the remedy for Larch rot is thorough 

 drainage. To remove superfluous moisture is to do 

 away with the cause which first induces decay, and 

 prepares the wood for the inroads of fungi ; and it 

 is this proceeding that we must recommend to all 

 who are suffering from what seems to be becoming 

 a rural calamity. Perhaps our advice will be re- 

 ceived with more favour if we support it with that 

 of Mr. James Brown, of Arniston, the second edi- 

 tion,* of whose book on Foresting is the best work 

 of the kind in our language. 



" The Larch is a native of the south of Europe, and 

 also of Siberia. It inhabits the slopes of mountainous 

 districts, in the lower parts of which it attains its largest 

 dimensions. In its native mountains, the Larch is 

 never found prospering hi any Situation where water 

 can lodge in the ground in a stagnant state ; nor is it 

 ever found of large dimensions in any extensive level 

 piece of country having a damp retentive bottom or sub- 

 soil. On the other hand, the Larch in ita native locali- 

 ties is found luxuriating upon a soil formed from the 

 natural decomposition of rocks ; for there the surface 

 soil rests upon a half-decomposed stony subsoil, through 

 which all moisture passes %pely in its descent from the 

 higher grounds. In this state of things, the roots of the 

 trees always receive a regular supply of fresh and pure 

 moisture, and, at the same time, the ground in which 

 the .trees grow is kept in a cleansed and sw t state, 

 not having any stagnated gas or water lodging in it ; 

 and this forms, in my opinion, the perfection of soil for 

 the cultivation of the Larch. 5 ' 



OF 



" Now, until on inquiry I was made aware of th 

 circumstances relative to the Larch, as found in its 

 native localities, I never could satisfy myself as to the 

 cause of the disease which has appeared among the 

 Larch plantations in Scotland ; but since I have been 

 made aware of the above circumstances, and have com- 

 pared them with examples of healthy and unhealthy planta- 

 tions on several estates where I have had the opportu- 

 nity of examining for myself, I am now perfectly con- 

 vinced as to the cause of the disease in question ; and I 

 am further convinced that any man who will compare 

 the state of the ground upon which a healthy plantation 



" The Forester ; a practical Treatise on tho PI an tin?, Hear- 

 ing, and general Management of Forest Trees, frith an Im- 

 proved Proces for Transplantation of Trees of ianre size. f 

 Hy James Brown, Foctster, Arniston. Second edition, en- 

 larged. William Blackwood and Soms, E*Ui&urgU and 



Loudon. 1851. 



