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18.') I. J 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



Home Correspondenc 



Your 



100. 



fki CtytkU Palace ami the Victoria Regia.- 

 eorr6i pondent, m B," Gloucester, in his remarks i 

 Virion* Keg«*> as grown by Messrs. Knight and 

 fer*ot to mention the intense surface heat in whic 

 lowing there, the average being from 90° to 

 liid this Ugh temperature been required it would have 

 effectually precluded its cultivation in the Crystal Palace ; 

 1st at the nursery of Messrs. J. Weeks and Co., Chelsea, 

 the plant is to be seen in luxuriance, covered with 

 flowers, in the open air; on inquiry I was informed that 

 the whole pond was heated at the trifling expense of six- 

 pence a day ! a small boiler being used for a range of 



istance I have seen Larch ] 

 ufferine precise! v as he desc 



501 



jji£ an innumerable multitude of gold and silver fish. 

 IV waste water is collected in a tank, and, being warm, 

 it is* always applicable for watering plants, &c f with. 

 Therefore what an admirable place the Crystal Palace 

 •would be for its growth ! It is hardly possible to con- 

 ceive a more magnificent, novel, or interesting light 

 thin this Lily would present, surrounded by all the 

 species of Nymplweacese in one noble central aquarium, 

 if the idea is carried out of making a winter-garden of 

 the Crystal Palace. A Constant Header. 



Potato Disease.— L&te Potatoes are more healthy in 

 ippearan here, since the late rains, than in any month 

 of August since 1845. The early varieties, however, 

 are not so well spoken of in some districts in Essex. 

 f [curdy and Son, Mai don. — The disease is very prevalent 

 in this neighbourhood, and has wrought great havoc 

 among the earlier crops. Late-planted Potatoes, too, 

 though still green, have become affected. The withered 



of the Potatoes, in the gardens of the working 

 daises, is truly deplorable ; and, night after night, the 

 evil increases ; as a cottager remarked, it comes on 

 like a scorching fire. B. 9 Arundel, Sussex. 



Araucaria imbricata. — Can any of your corre- 

 spondents inform me where the tallest Araucaria 



That At Kew is 



As I 



any other that I have j et met with : and in this 



^ . Cumberland 



suffering precisely as he describes, in those pla and 



nose only where stagnant water is to be found in the 



oil. The remark is only incorrect when applied gem 



rally to all situations ; and on the Wolds, 1 believe that 



Larch plantations of from 30 to 40 years of age, where 



the soil on the chalk is thin, are almo universally 

 rotten at the heart ; but it is not only the Larch that 

 are so, the Spruce are generally even worse than the 

 Larch. In them the evil is frequently very evidei 

 before the tree is cut down, the butt of the "tree and 

 the large roots appearing of an unnaturally large size, 

 and being in fact mere shells ; in both kind's of tree th 

 disease is usually accompanied by an apparently un- 

 healthy constitution in the leaves, and especially in the 

 young shoots all over the tree, the latter, even at the 

 top of the tree, not reaching more than a few inches in 

 length. In the Larch it is not unusual to see in the 

 summer a considerable number of the smaller branches 

 dead, whilst those that are living make vigorous and 

 healthy shoots. This I have been accustomed to attri- 

 bute to late frosts or cold winds when the leaves first 



I have seen the same thins in several other 



aspect 



imbricata is to be found in England. 



the largest one of which I have any knowledge, 

 have had some little dispute respecting the matter, 

 perhaps some one will kindly set me right. A. Buthrs- 

 fitld, fader-Gardener. 



Floating Leaves. — It has been pointed out by those 

 who are skilled in aquatics, that it is important to 1« 

 the leaves of petiolated aquatics float. To what extent, 

 and under what circumstances, is this true ? For, firstly, 

 the seed dropping to the bottom of the water produces 

 an infant plant submerged to the entire depth of the 

 water, and incapable of reaching the surface for (I 

 should suppose) two years. And, secondly, in rivers 

 you may see the Nuphar and other water plants carried 

 down the course of the stream foliis secundis, and pre- 

 cluded from reaching the surface. What do you take 

 to be the rationale of the rule concerning floating 

 leaves? .4.7/. [The rule is, that submersed leaves, 

 properly so called, have no skin, while leaves exposed 

 to air have a true skin. The skinless species can 

 never live exposed to air even for a short time ; 

 <m the other hand, those with a skin can live under 

 water for a certain time without injury. We are un- 

 acquainted with the habits of seedling Nymphseas. What 

 we have seen have always had floating leaves ; but the 

 plants have been in small tanks, and similar artificial 

 reservoirs. ] 



R'jt in Li —I have been glad to see this subject 

 noticed in your journal, but I cannot attribute it to the 

 effect of bad drainage. I have Larch in various situa- 

 tions, and in two different soils, and I find the timber 

 rotten in many instances on both the soils in question, 

 borne Larches are growing upon the sloping side of a 

 limestone hill, eminently favourable to the growth of all 

 hnds of trees and shrubs, except those that require a 

 tfeep seil. The hill faces the south. Again, another 

 plantation grows upon a deep sand of a warm nature, 

 overlying a kind of pennant, where there are strata of 

 coal. The situation is a hill side, facing the north ; I 

 need not say there is no want of drainage here. The 

 only assignable cause of the decay consists in the fact 

 m the Larches are intermixed with Scotch Fir, and 

 that, too, thickly. Occasionally an Oak or Ash also 

 intrudes I suppose whatever is unfavourable to the 

 nealth of this tree, tends more or less directly to bring 

 about the internal decay in question. I do not know 

 wnetner the nature of the decay is the same in every 

 usance reported. This may need investigation. I 

 Sim go on planting Larch, as I am disinclined to believe 

 we (11^^ is, so to say, an inherent infirmity, but rather 

 ^visitation which may be warded off by ordinary "ood 

 management of the plantation. A. H. &. Bristol — 



rJr*r 1 SOme * ears observed w ith interest some 

 wen plantations growing on the Wolds (chalk), near 

 J* east coast of Yorkshire* The chalk rock is ex&mXr 

 ^7 > indeed, no draining could make it more so. The 



thin?°? \ tis ' in man ^ P laces on the hiH sides, very 

 J n j, but what there is is often of a clayey nature, and 



JJgt be somewhat retentive of wet. The plantations 



efi Zi\ Vari0U3 situations, and on considerable variety 



■joi 1 and extend over land where alluvial beds of sand 



appear. 



trees, especially the Wych Elm (U. montana), Apricot, 

 and Lucombe Oak. I was lately shown some Larch 

 trees in a high exposed part of the hill above Titsey, in 

 Surrey, which seemed to be suffering in this maimer, 

 but I have not been able to discover that this s ympto m 

 is particularly connected with the heart rot. In the 

 plantations where the Larch are unsound, the heart 

 wood appears to be very imperfectly matured; trees of 

 25 years' growth sometimes show scar ly any of the 

 red wood, and what there is is very irregular ;"and by 

 no means (as in a really well grown trees), leaving a 

 mar-in of sap of nearly uniform width. It is not so easy 

 to distinguish heart wood from sap wood in the Spruce, 

 but I have thought in these that 1 have sometimes more 

 distinctly traced the decay as beginning in more central 

 roots, and spreading from thence to the tree itself. In 

 the same plantations the Silver Fir is invariably 

 quite sound, and especially in wet places, and attain' 

 a large size, and grows very vigorously. The Scotch 

 Fir does not become hollow like the Larch and Spruce, 

 but it nevertheless does not thrive in general. The 

 wood, instead of becoming hard and red, as the In art 

 wood of Scotch Fir ought to be, is frequently spongy 

 and soft, and very little of the wood turns into heart 

 wood, and the trees not unfrequently die at from 20 to 

 40 years old. The question of the heart rot in Larch 

 seems to be part of a more general one. What are the 

 causes which favour or hinder the proper maturing of 

 the heart wood in different kinds of trees, especially the 

 Larch ? Perhaps those of your correspondents who are 

 interested in the subject would therefore observe also, 

 besides soil and situation, the times of thinning the 

 plantation, the height of the trees at theee times, their 

 thickness, and the height to which the branches were 

 dead ; thus, by including treatment, with soil and situa- 

 tion, we might hope to have information respecting all 

 the external circumstances by which a tree can be 

 affected, which might lead to some generally useful 

 conclusions. C. W. Strickland. 



New Shrubs, dx. — An elegant tree that has lived out 

 three years and grown rapidly is the Mida salicifolia 

 angustissima ; Melicytus, which stands by it, was killed 

 to the ground the first winter, but has shot up and stood 

 well since. Cassinia rosmarinifolia and Aster aculeatus 

 make pretty shrubbery plants, with their profusion of 

 white flowers* Agave saponaria is growing most beau- 

 tifully ; it approaches in leaf another rare species I have 

 out of doors, A. virginica ; they have a tendency to cast 

 their leaves in winter, except the shoot, like hardy her- 

 baceous perennials, and look more like plants of 

 Asphodel or Phalangium than anything Bromeliaeeous. 

 Actual cultivation in open ground and air puts plants in 

 in such a new light I wonder it is not oftener practised, 

 as amere experim3nt, without reference to permanent 

 hardiness — some are hardly to be recognised. S., Dor- 

 setshire. 



Swalloics. 



are 



Pi 



found Larch 



of fmm QA ' "^"'^F^w^ions mave tound JLarch 

 mifiTfi l0i °y^ ° ld "able to be rotten in the 

 weJS 1? SeVeral feet from tho ground, but they are 



thitT? ? e f est t0 , the chalk > and whm the wil is 

 the snh; . observed thisbefore I read the remarks on 

 * object in « The Forester." 



I have no doubt of the 



**uracy of Mr 

 •We to 



in his remarks on the subject of planting than 



*i?i u sSr Ji!?J 8 mo ? tru , th 



As your correspondents are occupying 

 themselves with ornithological matters, perhaps they 

 will not object to informing me whether the transmarine 

 migration of swallows is established by any direct evi- 

 dence of recent times, or remains where Adamson left 

 the question. An answer on the fact, as well as a 

 reference to the best recent authority, will oblige A. II. 

 Aquatics. — I am glad to inform "A. H.," who 

 appears to be an experimenter like myself on bulbs and 

 aquatics, that Hemerocallis fulva has stood for three 

 winters in a pond here. The crown is just beneath the 

 average surface height of the water. It thrives, and is 

 very handsome and effective. This year I am trying 

 the yellow one, which I have long had planted round 

 the edge, where it makes a perfect fringe of gold, as 

 seen from a boat I have also planted in the water 

 Siebold's Funkia and the common one. I fear the 

 lovely subcordata will be too tender. I can only flower 

 it in perfection in the stove. Alpinia does not move, 

 though it was growing fast in the greenhouse when I 

 put it out, and had stood several degrees of frost last 

 autumn. I shall try Canna and Iledycliium. It is 

 said that the most noble of all aquatics, Thalia dealbata, 

 will stand our winters. I saw it in the south of France, 

 where it was as hardy as a Bulrush. The plants damped 

 off in the greenhouse last winter, so they had better be 

 wintered in the stove, and not put into water the first 

 season, but grown on rapidly, like a Canna. I also had 

 Iris ochroleuca in my mind, but could not lay my hand 



on a plant. There is a newly introduced sort, of very 



much the suue habit, but larger and handsomer. I 

 6 ft know the nam* Arundo Donax should be tried. 



MickUwdL 



Aspkalie Walks. — Having observed in your colum 

 several plans and attempts to keep down weeds on 

 walks, I beg to state that I have tried for 40 years to 

 cure this disease, which is more prevalent "in this 

 county, owing to the constant rain from the Atlantic, 

 than in any part of England ; in fact, a fallow becomes 

 a green sward in a few months in Pembrokeshire. 

 gardener, who came to me from Mr. Denison, of 

 Ossingtwu about two years back, said that the mixing 

 the navel (which should be sharp, and with as little 

 earth mixture as possible) with gas tar, is a certain 

 cure for weeds. 1 confess at first I could not bring 

 my mind to think of the horrid smell this substance 

 emits, but I tried it I got gravel from a river, 

 mixed it with coal or gas tar, and put the black com- 

 post on an extent of walk, perhaps 3 or 4 inches 

 thick— less would do. I rolled it and sifted soft sand or 

 -ravel over the surface, to make it the colour wished. 

 It swelled rather badly for about a month or so, and 

 none after that, now nearly two wars. Not a blade of 

 any description dare show his face ; and if the tar gets 

 a little dark, from being washed with rain, a slight 

 covering cases it: but 1 beg to say 1 h;ne only had 

 occasion to do this once since the trial I intend to do 

 all my walks with it. The Duke of Rutland has used 

 it with great success, having seen it at his son-in-law's. 

 I\S. A carriage can go over the walk without marking 

 it, and the expense is trifling. Win. Idwardes. 



Blight.— ring a notice in your Paper ol the appear- 

 ance of the Potato disease, I wish to mention a few 

 facts respecting a similar disease which has suddenly 

 attacked other plants in this neighbourhood. On the 

 loth inst., we had a very severe gale of wind, which 

 lasted about 24 hours, but no rain ; two or three 

 days afterwards, plants which previously appeared 

 perfectly healthy, began to look sickly ; brown spots 

 appeared on the leaves and stems, and some were so 

 much affected, that they perished. A few rows of 

 Carter's Victoria Pea, which before the 15th were 

 in vigorous health, were attacked with the disease; 

 the blossom stems decayed, and the greater part of the 

 young seed-pods dropped off; those which remained 

 being covered with brown spots. The blossoms which 

 have since appeared look healthy, and seem to be doing 

 well. Sch izan thus retusus, Phlox Drummondi, Hra- 

 chycoma iberidifolia, and many other plants, were more 

 or 1 s affected. I am not aware that any of the Pota- 

 toes in this neighbourhood are diseased. Henry Double- 

 day. Epping, July 28. 



The Nightingale. — In reply to Mr. Wait, I would 

 observe that I found no better way of taming my 

 nightingales than by paying them constant personal 

 attention, — hanging them moderately low, &nd continually 

 tempting them by the exhibition of some luxury in which 

 they delighted, sueh as a meal worm, or some ants' eggs. 

 Those birds which I found too wild to be tamed, 1 got 

 rid of; for it was painful to listen to the noise they 

 made, whilst dashing about their cages. To avoid this, 

 I should recommend that "branchers" and "ne> iiiga >> 

 only, should be kept. Some old birds, when fresh caught, 

 are timid, and cannot be quieted. With respect to the 

 silence of these birds in confinement, simultaneously 

 with those performing the duties of incubation in a state 

 of freedom, — this is readily accounted for. The joyous- 

 ness they evince when first they come over, soon ceases 

 in a cage. They sing, and get no reply from their mate. 

 This breaks their spirit, and soon they become silent from 

 grief. The male bird, whilst occupied with his nest, stops 

 his song from prudential motives, fearing lest the enemy 

 should discover his whereabouts, and deprive him of his 

 local habitation. W. Kidd, July 30. — It has been stated 

 that the nightingale has never been heard in either 

 Dorsetshire or Somersetshire, but in the preceding year 

 a nightingale, not only " poured through the gloom her 

 weeping song," but even built her nest, and reared her 

 young in some low bushes, not more than 200 yards 

 distant from the house in which I was then residing. I 



frequently saw the old birds, and am therefore quite 

 confident " It may be an exception to the general rule'* 

 that the nightingale does visit Dorsetshire. P. P., Dorset* 

 Grafted Plants. — Among the improvements in modern 

 gardening one of the commonest, and one which is 

 daily becoming more common, is the great facility with 

 which most shrubby plants, hardy as well as tender, are 

 multiplied by the different methods of grafting, budding, 

 &c. The advantages of this system are, the ready 

 increase of new or rare plants, whose seeding is not to 

 be depended on ; the saving of time in procuring a 

 ready made plant, instead of awaiting the precarious and 

 slow maturity of a seedling or cutting ; and the greater 

 perfection, in some instances, of the plant produced. 

 In the case of rare species, of which seeds or seedlings 

 are seldom to be obtained, we must take what we can get 

 in the way of increase, or some most interesting plants 

 j would be lost to the country. But the grafting system 

 has its disadvantages. There are, 1st, the dying off of 

 the graft or bud ; 2d, that which is often the cause of 

 the 1st, viz. : the shooting of ^ranches or suckers from 

 the stock ; 3d, the consequent necessity of buying your 

 plant a second or third time from the nurseryman ; 4th, 

 in hardy plants, the not having a shrub or tree on its 

 own roots. Can you therefore recommend to growers 

 of new Roses, Camellias, Rhododendrons, and grafted 

 plants in general, any washing or other practice which 

 shall destroy or check side shoots and suckers without 

 injuring the health of the graft \ S. [No other than the 

 usual practice of removing them by knife or hand.] 



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