



1851. 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



485 



of of there 

 As for 



hat u strange land " in armies 



to be found there,— far otherwise. 



_ u gloriovriy," I ventured playfully to doubt 

 \he authority of a worthy contributor to the 

 jJUwwiifr. who, under the nom de guerre of" A 

 stated that in Ireland guns were in constant 

 .^litjon to slaughter them by the million. (Page 203.) 

 S^Lfci even solicited my " kind aid " in inventing 

 _! im'" "* annihilate their race altogether, and so 

 «it hi* crops from total destruction. My remark, 



that they rose upon the wing with "every 



lion* to sing, but minus the power, is hardly 



for the moment they opened their sweet 



»n explosion took place from below, and great 



their fall. Vox audita perit. They sang their own 



in one short stanza. As for your correspondent's 



^rd * suspicion 

 •itreh." visit Ir 

 frr^hl y hope so 



all I can say is, — let 



us 



hope so. Such a voice, in such a country, 

 carryall before it. If otherwise, let^us drop 

 the tear of * pity." William Kiddy July 24. 



■ 









( 



\ 





ftr Paint. — Having been in the habit of using tar- 

 pjat of different kinds for several years, I venture to 

 1 tou the result of my experience, for the informa- 

 loeof * W. C. E.," and others of your correspondents. 

 I hire used the Trentham mixture extensively on wire 

 and hurdles, and found it to answer well ; but 

 I find it works better when not quite one part of Stock- 

 holm tar to two parts of gas tar are used, and that after 

 it has boiled for a quarter of an hour, it should not be 

 allowed to boil again, but only kept quite hot while 

 being nied ; otherwise it is apt to become too'thick. 

 J have found Hill's fire-barrow indispensable. ^Good, 

 however, as Mr. Fleming's mixture is, I have for the 

 last year or two discontinued the use of it, having met 

 with a tar-paint which I greatly prefer, although rather 

 more expensive than Mr. Fleming's. It is a patent 

 varnish, sold by Robinson and Co., Rainhill, Prescot, 

 Lancashire, at 1*. 6d. per gallon. ^The advantage of it 

 ii that it does not require boiling, is more easily and 

 quickly applied, and the iron retains a bright varnished 

 took for a long time afterwards. Whatever kind of tar- 

 punt is used, it is, I find, absolutely necessary to apply 

 it in fine hot weather, when the iron is perfectly dry ; 

 and I do not find that the work is the worse afterwards 

 for the iron having been rusty when tarred. T. W. T., 

 [ Cheshire. 



Flemings Tar Paint.— In answer to "W. C. E.," I 

 have to give the following replies (just received from 

 f the country), to his inquiries. " The wire-fences were 

 j not rusty. The wire-fences and wooden gates were 

 quite dry. The weather was cold and windy. The 

 mixture was warmed, and applied warm ; not boiled, 

 nor boiling hot The proportions of mixture were two- 

 thirds gas tar and one-third Stockholm tar." I have 

 not adhered to the original instructions, but I take for 

 granted that the mixture should have been hot, and not 

 wed on a cold and windy day. L. L. 



(Miration of the Strawberry.— Mr. Beach, a market 

 gardener, at Isleworth, having surprised every one this 

 year with his British Queen Strawberries, both in Covent- 

 garden, at Chiswick, and the Great Exhibition, they 

 tovmg been not only extremely large, but fine in flavour, 

 1 got an introduction to him in London, and he at once 

 Asked me to go down with him to Isleworth, and see his 

 pjace. He is one of those John Bull ready-witted class 

 of men, dark, and sun-burnt, somewhere about 55 years 

 of age, and looking altogether as if he had spent a month 

 « the south side of the Rocky Mountains. We took 



• ua at the Waterlo ° station, and turned off by what 

 » called the loop line, at Mortlake, through a large tract 

 <« market gardening ground. Mr. B.'s garden lies near 

 Jje bottom of a gentle declivity, about a mile from 

 Wounslow ; there is a large pond at the east end of his 

 «M, with about 20 springs continually flowing into it, 

 and this pond affords the means of irrigating the whole 

 of his ground. His Strawberry land, which consists of 

 *kmt 1 acres, forms a parallelogram, whose longest 

 fide runs south and north, the south end being about 

 «x feet below that on the north, while there is also a 

 declivity from west to east ; making it altogether pecu- 

 wly suitable for irrigation. When Mr. Beach took 

 «» Osier ground, for so it was, about five years ago 

 (and there is part in Willows now), he saw that owing to 

 we springs and the two falls of the ground, as well as the 

 «xture of the soil being a sandy, dark, loamy, soapy, 



»^k material > that Jt w <>uld answer the purpose to 



*mch he has applied it well. He took a lease of it, and 



«« nrst thing he did was to make a cart- way on the 



est upper side, throwing up the earth some two feet 



oove the general ground, so that the path where the 



<>rse goes is from ten inches to a foot deeper than where 



alo ii paSS along ' thus formin g water-courses all 



ong The next thing he did was to form his ground 



«™ > ridges, about 40 feet wide, running the short way 



wiAP Square > the ce "tres of these ridges are planted 

 *"n Fears and Apples, and between with black Currants, 

 *"?emg toaded, especially the black Currants, with crops, 

 ««cn as never were seen before. About three feet from 

 y eeson either side are water-courses, leading to the 

 _ worn of the ground, where there is a mill stream, and 

 c * e ^^declivities between the rows of trees are his 



dW a**?** 9 SOme five or six TaW9 of which are 

 rented along the sides of the two feet broad ditches, 



w»Z eCn i rid S es - The9e di tches receive the irrigating 

 ter, winch percolates under the plants down into them. 



ef th lm 1 necessai 7 to describe the size and strength 



«e plants, as well as the enormous crops they pro- 



ce - His heaviest Queens weighed 3 ounces ; ail his 



ff^w stand 2 feet apart each way. The laying out of 



this ground has cost him much, but it will in time well 

 repay all expenses. Mr. B. was also the first to form 

 Violet ridges, with a sharp declivity, upon a light sandy 

 soil. Russian Violets planted on each side of these 

 long ridges, not only come in early, but bear blossoms 

 in abundance. The ridges are nearly as sharp as a 

 Mushroom ridge. I advised Mr. B. to try Water- 

 cresses, which he could grow admirably, on account of 

 the continual flow of spring water which he has at 

 command. James Cuthill, Camberwell. 



The Cuckoo (see p. 496). — I need not say to natu- 

 ralists, that any opinion coming from Mr. Doubleday 

 •is entitled to much consideration ; but when he comes 

 forward to prevent the propagation of erroneous state- 

 ments, he is entitled to both consideration and courtesy. 

 Mr. Doubleday does not say the writer in the " Natural- 

 ist" stated that which he did not see, but simply related 

 some facts, which proved that he was mistaken. Natural 

 history is, I apprehend, a collection of facts and obser- 

 vations, and anything which is stated to have occurred 

 contrary to the beautiful laws of Nature is looked upon 

 naturally with a suspicion that the relator may be mis- 

 taken. Thus a naturalist may believe that Mr. Kidd is 

 wrong when he states that nightingales pair before they 

 arrive in this country : they may be permitted to 

 doubt the statement of Mr. Kidd that the nest of 

 the blackcap is placed in a • cunningly devised 

 nook," if their experience and their book-lore tell them 

 otherwise. They may be permitted to doubt, if the 

 statement of " C. E., Bodorgan, Anglesea," (see p. 469) 

 did not arise from a mistake, because it is contrary to 

 the laws of Nature for 8 or 10 white-throats to feed 

 a single cuckoo, brought up by two ; and reasoning upon 

 this, the naturalist knows that the cuckoo is an object 

 of aversion to smaller birds, and that 8 or 10 white- 

 throats, with food in their mouths for their own young, 

 might fly about a young cuckoo, who would, as a matter 

 of course, open his mouth and expect to receive that 

 which I very much fear he never did — although I do 

 not for the moment doubt that "C. E." believes 

 he saw 8 or 10, instead of the two foster parents, 

 perform this office. Now with regard to the statement 

 in the "Naturalist," contradicted by Mr. Doubleday. 

 Are we to permit statements directly contrary to all 

 experience and to the best authorities, to pass current 

 as true, upon a single observation, which might be erro- 

 neous ? Surely not. The writer in the " Naturalist" says, 

 that a cuckoo deposited her egg in the nest of the hedge- 

 sparrow in July. Mr. Doubleday states that which is 

 well known : that the cuckoo leaves this country in the 

 beginning of July ; and that the hedge-sparrow builds 

 in May. Who can disprove these statements ? The 

 writer in the " Naturalist " says that he heard the 

 female cuckoo, having deposited her egg, call u cuckoo, 

 cuckoo." Mr. Doubleday states, and with a truth sup- 

 ported by all experience, and by all authority, that the 

 female cuckoo does not make this cry. And, thirdly, 

 the writer in the " Naturalist " says that the cuckoo fed 

 its young with the larva of the Currant moth, taken 

 from Gooseberry trees ; to which Mr. Doubleday rejoins, 

 with great force, that such larvae do not there exist, and 

 that as the writer has evidently been wrong on so many 

 points, it is a fair inference that he is also wrong in 

 the statement of the cuckoo feeding its young. 

 If such arguments as these are not to be adduced 

 in objecting to what people believe they see, we may 

 as well revert again to the days when " geese came 

 from barnacles," or M vipers swallowed their young." 

 The fact is, we have a great many writers, but very few 

 sound observers ; but among these few, the name of 

 Mr. Doubleday will always have a conspicuous place. 

 The following are extracts from some of our best 

 authorities on the habits of the cuckoo, &c : " The 

 voice of the female is different from that of the male, 

 and has been compared to that of the dabchick and the 

 gallinules." (Yarrell.) * Old cuckoos take their final 

 leave of this country the first week in July." ( Jenner, in 

 Ph. Transactions.) u The hedge sparrow is one of our 

 earliest breeders, and begins to lay its eggs in March 

 or beginning of April." (Hewitson.) * The note of 

 the female cuckoo is so unlike that of the male, 

 which is familiar to every one, that persons are some- 

 times with difficulty persuaded that it proceeds from 

 that bird. It is a kind of chattering cry, consisting of 

 a few notes uttered in fast succession, but remarkably 

 clear and liquid." (Jenyns* Obs., p. 158.) * Cuckoo 

 first heard April 27, last heard June 27. Mean of 

 1 1 years." (Ibid. Calendar of Periodic Phenomena.) 

 " Hedge accentor hatches April 18." (Ibid.) From 

 these extracts it will be seen that it must (which I fully 

 believe) be rare for the cuckoo to lay its egg in the nest 

 of the hedge sparrow, as it does not perform this act 

 until the middle of May. The most common nests 

 chosen by the cuckoo are those of the meadow pipit and 

 pied wagtail. I have taken the egg out of the nest of the 

 reed warbler (Sylvia arundinacea). I have never seen 

 the cuckoo assisting in feeding its young, or met with 

 the eggs of the hedge accentor in July. The difference 

 in the call-note between the sexes is too well esta- 



blished to need a comment. C. i?. Brce, Siowmarket 

 I have great pleasure in being able fully to confirm Mr. 

 Doubleday 's statement in every particular; and I may 

 remark that the fact of the writer in the " Naturalist " 

 relating that the female cuckoo uttered the well-known 

 cry of the male, throws a doubt over the remainder of 

 the story ; although I am aware a similar statement was 

 made by a young lady who, in a work published some 

 years since by Messrs. Dart on and Co., said that she had 

 proved that the female birddid utter the cry of " Cuckoo," 

 as upon opening one shot in the very act, it was found to 





contain two, and only two eggs. Chas. V* Browne 

 Having for nearly 20 years paid dose attention to the 

 economy of our native birds*, 1 think I ought to know 

 something about them ; and my only motive in sending 

 the few remarks about the cuckoo was to disprove the 

 absurd tales which have recently been published by 

 various writers about this bird. No bird is more regu- 

 lar in its time of appearance in the spring than the 

 cuckoo. The male arrives about the middle of April 

 (seldom earlier than the 1 3th or later than the 20th) in 

 the southern counties ; and no dependence whatever 

 can be placed on the accounts of its being seen or heard 

 during the months of January and February, as that is 

 the period of moulting, and it is a well-known fact 

 that birds never sing while that process is going on ; 

 besides which, it could not possibly obtain its food 

 at that season of the year. The females do not 

 make their appearance till the beginning of May, and 

 I believe seldom, if ever, deposit their eggs till the 

 middle or latter end of the month. The most usual 

 time is during the first fortnight in June, and the 

 young are hatched early in July, at the very time when 

 the old birds are leaving the country. In confirmation 

 of my statement, I will quote a few lines from the 

 admirable work on British Birds, by my friend Mr. 

 Selby. '* Naturalists have been puzzled to account for 

 this bird not performing the office of incubation ; but as 

 their researches have principally been directed to the 

 anatomical structure, in which point it does not essen- 

 tially differ from many others that perform this office, 

 we arrive by these means at nothing satisfactory. The 

 above peculiarity of this remarkable genus must probably 

 not be looked for in any principle of conformation, but 

 must be explained from their habits and economy. 

 Let it be remembered that these birds are migratory, 

 and that the period during which the adults remain 

 with us is very short, but the propagation of the species 

 must be effected during that period. Now as their 

 arrival does not take place till the month of April, and 

 the egg is seldom ready for incubation before the middle 

 of May, there would not be a sufficient length of time 

 for the young to be hatched or (making every allowance) 

 sufficiently fledged, to accompany the old birds at the 

 period of their departure, which seldom or never 

 extends beyond the first week in July. The egg 

 quires a fortnight's incubation, and the young are not 

 able to fly in less'than five or six weeks, which facts have 

 been ascertained from repeated observation." The 

 above extract fully confirms my as rtion, that the old 

 birds leave the country at the very period when the 

 young are hatched, and it is therefore impossible that 

 they can assist in rearing them* Mr. Kidd does not 

 attempt to defend the ridiculous statement of the female 

 bird uttering the cry of * Cuckoo," which alone is suf- 

 ficient to excite suspicion as to the accuracy of the rest 

 of the tale. I now take leave of the subject, fully con- 

 vinced that no one can disprove what I have advanced 

 respecting this bird. Henry Doubleday, Epping, July 29. 



Pinks. — Will you oblige myself and others of your 

 readers in these parts, who wish for information on the 

 subject, by informing me whether split pods, i. e*, pods 

 slit down to the sub-calyx, are held to be disqualifica- 

 tions to showing Pinks in the neighbourhood of London, 

 I see that Goliah (Hillyer's), Great Britain, and Nar- 

 borough Buck, were in the first stand at the Botanic on 

 the 2d of July, the pods of which are so short and 

 round, especially the first named, and the flower so full, 

 that with us they invariably split. Is this to be avoided, 

 and how? A North Briton. — [Pinks are not shown 

 about London witJi pods split down to the sub-calyx. 

 Such sorts as Great Britain, Goliah, Narborough Buck, 

 &c., require considerable care to bloom them " sound ;" 

 but in perfection they are beautiful varieties. In order 

 to lessen the difficulty, more buds are left on such kinds, 

 when it would be desirable to disbud such varieties as 

 Criterion to one. Sorts requiring medium treatment, 

 such as Lola Montes, Sappho, Whipper-in, &c, are 

 most easily managed.] 



London Nurseries, Victoria Regia, and the Crystal 

 Palace. — What an exquisite treat is a visit, at this 

 season, to the nurseries around London, especially to a 

 person like myself, residing far from the metropolis, 

 and consequently but rarely able to command such a 

 pleasure. The great improvements effected within the 

 last few years, in almost all the large establishments, 

 would be scarcely credited by one new T to those charm- 

 ing scenes. Especial attention seems of late to be 

 given to the culture of aquatics, the germ of which may be 

 traced to the successful cultivation of the Victoria Regia, 

 at Chatsworth, by the inimitable Paxton. On visiting, 

 the other morning, the old nursery of Messrs. Knight 

 and Perry, at Chelsea, — so rich in exotics — 1 was 

 equally astonished and delighted with their new aquarium, 

 which, in itself very spacious, and, as it appears to 

 me, admirably adapted for its purpose, is not more to 

 be commended for the recherche collection of plants 

 which it contains, than for the beauty of their arrange- 

 ment, each individual specimen being located so as not 

 only to exhibit to advantage its peculiar beauties, or to 

 contrast with its immediate neighbour, but rather to 

 form an essential part of a grand and beautiful assem- 

 blage, worthy to decorate this palace of the Naiades — 

 the great variety and beauty of colour which is here 

 presented to the eye, from the most delicate white to 

 the deepest crimson, the latter in rich abundance, the 

 central group being the Queen Lily herself— -I parody a 

 celebrated phrase, used by a great and justly-lamented 

 statesman, and write — "sitting prostrate" among her 

 subjects. The effective shading afforded by the lovely 

 green of the varied-shaped and exquisitely beautifu 



t 



