454 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 







scale, tiie sap became dark-brown, and the shoots dry 

 and brittle, so that if I bent them they broke. This 

 insect had also attacked some neighbouring Apricot and 

 Plum trees, and a limb of a Moor-park Apricot died 

 off in consequence. An article in your paper directed 

 the application of a mixture of two parts cold boiled 

 Linseed oil with one of raw. I painted my Vines over 

 once with it; the insect was perfectly destroyed, and so 

 are my Vines nearly ; for one Black Hamburgh has 

 thrown out only one weakly shoot, the other Black 

 Hamburgh three strong shoots from three consecutive 

 eyes on the top of one rod only, and the White Mus- 

 cadine none at all, except at the bottom of the trunk, 

 where the oil had accidentally not been applied. This 

 agent, though destructive to my Vines, has, I am con- 

 vinced, been of immense service to my Apricots and 

 Plums. They are thriving this season in a manner 

 they have never done before, and strange to say, the 

 ants, which in previous years had infested the Plum 

 and Apricot trees in millions, have entirely withdrawn 

 from their favourite sylvan haunts, and now not one is 

 to be seen on these trees. C. B, Garrett, Surgeon, Thames 

 Ditton, Surrey. 



Art v. Nature, considered in relation to Horticultural 

 Operations.— The letter of "J. D.," which appeared at 

 p. 326, suggested this article. In that letter there are 

 ideas sought to be promulgated, so utterly at variance 

 with sound theory, or known practice, that it is difficult 

 to believe the writer iu earnest. It has so much the 

 air of a burlesque, that one is at a loss whether to con- 

 sider it a clever satire or an absurdity. Assuming, 

 however, the writer is in real earnest, there appears to 

 me sufficient reason for pursuing a few points of inquiry 

 suggested by his arguments, from which may be gathered 

 some instructive hints. Whoever heard of the gar- 

 dener, theoretical or practical, that did not pride himself 

 on his adherence to the laws of nature ? However ad- 

 verse in reality the practice of two individuals may be, 

 each asserts that Nature has been his preceptress ; that 

 his code of rules is based upon her laws ; that his suc- 

 cess is to be ascribed solely to a rigid adherence to 

 Nature. But how are we to recognise the apparent 

 contradictions? In this way. As the "devil can 

 quote scripture for his purpose," so the gardener, 

 with equal facility, can quote Nature when he 

 deems it expedient. The fact is, we all deceive our- 

 selves with this same stereotyped assertion — "the 

 laws of Nature." We know that certain laws in the 

 development of organic life cannot be violated with 

 impunity. We know that vegetables possess life, and 

 exhibit its attendant phenomena ; and, in a measure, we 

 adopt our modes of procedure to meet them. But to 

 say we follow Nature in a hothouse, or copy the climate 

 of India in a Pine stove, is a manifest absurdity. The 

 truth is this. Nature, i e. the Creator of the Universe, 

 has endowed vegetables with certain innate properties, 

 capable of being developed, to contribute to the wants, 

 comforts, or conveniences of man, and at the same time, 

 has endowed him with intellect to work out those pro- 

 perties. In their natural state almost all our fruit and 

 vegetables are vastly inferior to the cultivated ones, to 

 say nothing of the countless varieties which skill and 

 perseverance or accident has originated. Are the Pines 

 of Trinidad, produced by the hand of Nature, equal to 

 those of artificial production in England or France? 

 Are the Grapes from the banks of the Rhine, or from 

 the vineyards of France or Portugal, at all comparable 

 to those from the houses of Trenthara or Frogmore ? 

 Yet the former, without perhaps being strictly natural 

 productions, are at all events much more so than the 

 latter, a blind recognition of the efficacy of a state of 

 Nature would, in gardening, as in society, soon produce 

 disastrous effects. Yet we attempt to cheat ourselves into 

 the belief of that which, beyond all others, we should not 

 believe. However anomalous this may seem, it is not the 

 less true. The operations of Nature were never intended 

 to be exposed by man. Her laws should serve as guides 

 not as oracles. The great distinctions between man and 

 the inferior animal* lies in this very particular Man 

 improves experiments, digests ; the brute performs the 

 same to-day as a thousand years past or to come. The 

 one follows Nature, the other improves her as it is his 

 peculiar province to perform. If we had only to copy 

 Nature, where the use of intellectual powers? If the 



nk eTwo^ud W Sf "IT* aPP i Hed ^ civiHsed c °~ 

 nmes, uould it have been endowed with the valuahlp 



properties which man has developed I The same mav 

 be said of hundreds of other plants. The pSS £ 

 Apple, the Plum, amongst fruits ; and in flowed a con nt 

 less host present themselves to notice. Because NaW 

 is ^metimes pleased to perform strange th££ f it £ 

 not follow that man should copy her. If she Vl ants \n 

 impenetrable forest, and weaves it togeth r wfth £* 

 ropes and creepers innumerable, it if because ^certain 

 conditions are necessary adjuncts to such TJ£?% 



Yet the man who should plant Campanulas in the joints 

 of a wall, with the idea that he would realise like results, 

 would justly be considered insane. And to follow the 

 Ci natural system ** of forest management, suggested by 

 " J. D.," would be equally absurd. When it is said of 

 a painter that he copies Nature on his canvas, it 

 signifies nothing more than that by artificial means he 

 produces an effect representing to the eye the scene he 

 has been copying. He may convey the effect of a tree 

 to admiration ; but he does not represent that tree 

 leaf by leaf, and branch by branch. To attempt 

 that would be to defeat the end in view. By skilful 

 manipulations he produces the desired effect, each 

 different artist by a peculiar system of his own. A 

 dozen skilful artists may each attain equal perfection by 

 as many opposite styles, and all be said to copy 

 Nature. So is it in operations in reference to vegetables. 

 Each has a system of his own. He produces a series 

 of causes, by which he influences the plants under his 

 treatment, and a known result is arrived at. Yet, in 

 many instances, the combination of causes is as opposite 

 to what would take place in Nature as can be well 

 imagined. The constitution of plants is such that they 

 adapt themselves to our treatment. Were it not so, our 

 success would often be a sorry one. The management 

 of forest trees, as generally practised, is of a most primi- 

 tive description. Any one who has ever paid attention 

 to the subject must be aware of this. Practice inimical 

 in the highest degree to the welfare of the tree when 

 living, and calculated to depreciate its value when felled, 

 is obstinately followed. The fact is. that forest manage- 

 ment has hitherto been placed in the hands of a class of 

 men possessing no capabilities whatever for the task — 

 in no way responsible for the charge placed in them— 

 yet the fault is not theirs. We cannot blame them. 

 If their superiors are satisfied, it is enough. At all 

 events, there is ample room for improvement in that 

 particular and importantbranch of rural economy. The 

 theory of " J. D." will not effect that. G. L. 

 ^ Plan of a Cottage Stove. — The following is a descrip- 

 tion of my cottage stove, which I hope will be found to 

 benefit the labouring classes : a, grate and fire-place ; 

 b, ironing-stove ; c, removable lid ; d d d, boiler ; e, 



oven in chim- 

 ney back, 

 round which 

 the heat and 

 smoke from 

 the fir e 

 passes into 

 the chimney; 



/, aperture 

 from which 

 hot air as- 

 cends ; g, 

 aperture at 

 which cold 

 air is ad- 

 mitted and 

 conveyed \o 

 a hot air 

 chamber at 



'* 



?$&£*. St 



*■ s 



but instead ofsmjerhir^Alvr — ^^ 



gold of the very 1 co ^ * ^ f 



to tell the gemle^an of r/dU ! •• "*" 



he might have sent m e (vr^ PP °' ntm « 



but he tells me to plant uS"**' - 



and then I shall be more ^L fa?* \' 



he has seen them from 6 to r • i ; t] * 



say that such transformation »?? »*<* _ 



true," and I make no doubt S ff ' " «*fcZ 



the wizard of the north, wTbe M J? ^Si 



but before communicating n *- g .- ^Vnik^J 



hear if it has succeeded with ativ «* ' — — 



our Bath seedsman. J, G. P J }0Ur r< *»a 



Fruit at the Regents-park Show - V n 

 who says your report of the StrawW;L 

 is wrong, is himself in error „ 1™* * 



ei ™r, as may be 



M* 



in thinking that it is no great woX fl^r 

 now and then committed, where there h T** - 

 fusion as almost invariably takes n u ■ , "•** 

 at the exhibitions in question .^ ft*" *■ **! 

 ooked in vain for the award board of LUL* 

 know other persons were equally unfortuS.^* 

 quite clear that three judges are unah Tf 

 their task of deciding tie L^^&S 

 shown on the last occasion ; and that tlie 1!? B * 

 to it is insufficient. Surely these two rf^X*** 

 be easily remedied. Who^ould tell at a ^ 

 one exhibitor's fruit from another ia tfelff 

 manner in which the dishes were placed ? nuJf* 

 Koses— The following Roses were buddeSl 

 on the Manettn stock, in the summer of 1830 ind' 



of 1851 : Standard of Marengo, 20 plants' hoZ/C 

 June 15th. 1851. from n. nlm.f ♦!>„. flo',™.^ 





greenhouse. 



the side of the fire-place thence to the aperture ; h, aper- 

 ture at which cold air is admitted and conveyed to a 

 hot air chamber at the back of the fire-place thence to 

 the aperture / ; i, damper. The warm air from the 

 two hot air chambers would be sufficient to warm a 

 cottage of almost any size, and would take but a verv 

 small quantity of fuel. The boiler would furnish a con- 

 tinual supply of hot water, and by removing the damper 

 the oven would be heated in a few minutes. A little 

 extra heat would be required in heating the oven. I 

 have one put up which warms a room 25 feet by 1 5 

 feet, and 14 feet in height, and heats an oven at 

 the back, although the oven is 10 inches back from 

 the fire-place, and opens into another room. I can 

 heat it sufficiently to bake a dinner, but if it was 

 situated as the one above, it would require much less 

 luel to heat it. It burns any kind of rubbish, which is 

 a great advantage to cottagers of small means. It 

 would be an improvement to convey pure air from with- 

 out to the hot air * " _ _ 



to be laid underneath the floor/ which* would'not^ 

 serious expense ; indeed, an active labourer might accom- 

 plish the whole of the making of the drain and removing 

 and relaying of the floor. It is my opinion that if therf 

 -as a stove of this description put up in all our eotte 

 he inmates would derive great benefit and comfort 

 ^Z Tt Y lU i° Ut the C00kb S W^atus, it is equally 



rt^i or a t i e r\ ,n ?, of c , ,mrche9 ' cha P e,8 > "^oi 



A, A ! ■ *a anl P * ' CS ° f Somen's 



«™ •* *v , hot au * does not come in contact with 

 ron, it therefore gives a very agreeable warmth, free 



<* pipes, 



a 



now, 16th July, 2 feet 6 inches in height and 

 with bloom. Princess Clementine, buds and q* 

 3 feet high ; Mos* Lanei, do., 3 ft.; do. CobJJ} 

 Munnais, 4 ft. ; do. Unique de Provence, 2 ft • <fc Wfe 

 Bath, 3 ft. ; do. Crested, 3 ft. to 4 ft. ; Gai 4*1 

 tallies, buds and grafts, 1 8 inches, and denael; **rf 

 with bloom ; Harrisonii and Persian Yeflor Bnt 

 from 3 ft. to 4 ft. ; Bourbon Dupetit Thorn, 7T 

 Louis Bonaparte, buds and grafts, 3 ft. ; Jofie Enfe 

 a dwarfish grower at all times ; not a (laotUU. li 

 was grafted April, 1851, and is now 18 hicbtslu^ttl 

 covered with bloom, together with maiy other fcfc 

 Dilfistone and Co., Stunner Nurseries, HaltaL 



Tlie Cuckoo.— In a review of the " Natural i jm 

 last number, it is stated, on the authority of a trim 

 that periodical, that the cuckoo does feel attachoatlil 

 young, &c. This statement, in such a widely mad i 

 journal as the Gardeners' Chronicle, maymisleadnam | 

 sons accustomed to place implicit confideBce in it- 

 ten ts. A s i t appears to confirm assertions altogether!* 

 rect, I will proceed to notice the writers pem«b:ki 

 says, " In the month of July, a hedge accentor enwl 

 its nest in a holly hedge." This bird isonttf* 

 earliest breeders, and I much doubt if ever area** 

 was seen in the month of July. (( Immediately ft I 

 being finished, and before the owner had timeto&ptf 

 her second egg 9 a cuckoo deposited in the nestlwj 

 which occupied but a few minutes, and i mmediaiebrji* 

 her departure, uttering at the same time her well-hPl 

 cry of * cuckoo, cuckoo,' in rapid succession." fcR 

 all the old cuckoos leave this country at theer 

 and beginning of July, and the female never ■*■■ 

 cry of " cuckoo," her only note being a \m »» 

 Tlie writer then goes on to state that the youag «ij |» 

 by the female cuckoo, upon the larvse of A^r 

 sulanata, taken from Gooseberry bushes. ><» 

 happens that in July not a larva of this moin ** 

 found, all having assumed the winged staie ; iM£ 

 which strips the Gooseberry bushes of their ****£ 

 to one of the saw-Hies (Nematus ribesu). ^tTI 

 I positively state that ihe cuckoo never feadj" 

 young ; that the female never utters the^^ 

 and that an old cuckoo is never seen m t°» "^ 

 the end of July, at which time, accorimgto«* 

 statement, the young cuckoo was in the *** 

 an equally erroneous statement about tne ^ 

 pecker by the same writer ; probably some pp^ 

 was meant - aU ~ u} - 1 ' ™™<*™^er inhabits p iUi 



bbi** 



pine forests of the north of Europe, 



m • A V.*vr\n TTIi 



of Afify 



two instances Deen " iet / Itil , , ° ^ 



and lias most certainly never been bred in 



houses. 



Henry Dovhhday, Eppiny. 

 Strawberries.— After having made up » 





»m not tnat man who wants timber for parrot 

 •ngs, and ships, and a thousand oth.r Z f *™ 



poses, should follow the example. 



roots to the soil beneath 



pur 



. Because an Ash 



turned wall, and nush dr»«m 



does 



Parrots (see p. 438).-I have kept a grey African 



h for many years, its sole food 



a chicken or nmtto* w"* jTfS*^*-^ 



being boiled bread and milk 



which I put 



exceed I lb. **%« « , _ rft g™- 



I cannot say, whether these ^Jfrt* 

 .n't TIipv were erown onanu^ ^ 



Not often having 



1 'aper 



flishrf' 



heir**! 





inferior fruit. They were grown od ^ 



., ,.i- i ♦ -eceived manure 



, kofnrft tD*» 



loamy soil, which has not 



« j. -wjsiia J^fZz S» 



cannot Bay. Tl 



Gardener to 



k M^ 



iuuis tu cue sou oeneath dop* it frji , *u Z -••««*" "^ »uw 



should make ruins, on which to ml L ™; l V at we r » Iarl 7 ^j-rious. The picking out of th I Whm. 



Lealcyh 



' y. ncua ««*-"- ^vision ao* " 

 names almost every Cactus (of tne ^ jj 



Cactus Opuntia, C Ficus 



no* 



uis of Anglesey, 



been tnere these 40 



years. Does i fo ow that m* trees re^i l«d to 

 gro W instead o so.l I The finest plant 2 Carnp^nu a 

 pyrarmdahs I have ever seen grew from betweKrt 

 joints of the bricks in a darap^all. ifhad a s em ^ 

 thick as mv wri«t «nrl W o fl \ a*_ » J* wt . m ^ 



distinguished as Opuntia), of J^° se 

 long known in 



brass 



i 



or described, 

 new speeie3 



case of your correspondent's parrot, I would recom- 

 mend a plentiful supply of boiled milk da v Mv 

 parrot was kept in a galvanised wire ca'e not a * 

 one. A. B.,Morchath, Devonshire. °' 



^nd^rful, if true.- A Bath seedsman advertised in 

 theCkronrcle to supply see d (per p()st) of a ^J" 



kmd of Afncan Marigold ; J sent to him foT a packet 

 of it, and the plants raised from it are now in fl- "-- Jr3LTZZ^r;«wMch.'al«o 



CO 



Mediterranean 



has 



rot 



rx «****• — , inc»»^^ 



known' till lately, an^are ^t^^ 



tins (iescriptiou. t^iu 3 v r — n i.i n cr WWr'TM 



that which is used in Italy ;■* wak » ^ Jg mIlc itfJ 



ised 





