THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



^49 



» 



TTj^Teful, that it is doubtful whether 



ZL not lost in the process than are brought 



l* 01 *^ rm. — ^e others, perhaps more 



raluable 



* 00 !mA are known only to ' the scientific ob- 

 *■*** * hue it has been the endeavour of the 

 ■* r: to tIdSct attention. It is no unauthorised 



that in the depths of those great forest 



may bUD be many substances which 



recognition by instructed eyes to take 



J0 j'^aastrv, social comfort, or meuicai practice. 

 **2Lrf the "first, to extend the second, and to 

 %— ^flL t hird are the leading points to which the 



would direct attention ; and they have 

 to furnish to the best of their ability 



calculated to advance eacli of those inte- 

 li** |,IO i The general conclusions which appear to 



A~J "K-. i,K*v ■■ ■■ m ■!■■■]■ r»4-rt+*\_. 



to cling to. 



agents of manu- 



fj HHf&ittee 



rf fact and opinion, may be summed up as 

 .^\ That over large portions of the Indian 

 -here is at present an almost uncontrolled 

 $l of the indigenous forests in progress, by the 

 habits of the native population. 2. That in 



gfrw Tenassenm 



j^m me forests 



3. That these improvements may 

 C^^ded by a rigid enforcement of the present regu- 

 JJ^jind the enactment of additional provisions of 

 fcttoving character— viz., careful maintenance of 

 f fate by the plantation of seedlings in the place 

 imtm trees removed— prohibition of cutting until 



an well grown, with rare and special exceptions 

 fcrpeculiar purposes— in cases of trees yielding gums, 

 — =-- or other valuable products, that greater care be 

 . tapping or notching the trees, most serious j 

 at present resulting from neglect in this opera- 

 J^i That special care and attention should be given 

 H (be preservation and maintenance of the forests occu- 

 trfeff tacts unsuited for culture, whether by reason of 

 JEic or by peculiarities of physical structure. 5. That 

 it country to which the maintenance of its water sup- 

 pittil of such extreme importance, the indiscriminate 

 iterance of forests around the localities whence the 

 mlies are derived is greatly to be deprecated. 6. That, 

 H neb local ignorance prevails as to the number and 

 ■tare of raluable forest products, measures should be 

 I abnjto supply, through the officers in charge, informa- 

 tion calculated to diminish such ignorance. 7. That, as 

 ancb information which may be of practical utility is 

 contained in the manuscript Reports and Proceedings of 

 I fc late " Plantation Committee," it is desirable that the 



should be abstracted and given to the public. — 

 Captain Strachey said he could not agree with those 

 •ko thought that forests had much influence on climate. 

 wis a notion that they encouraged rain — but it was 

 ■ore probable that rain was the cause of forests. He 

 ikded to districts in India in which the forest vege- 



was just in proportion to the fall of rain ; being 

 mil and diminutive where there was little rain, and 

 ihadant and gigantic where there was much rain. In 

 temperate climates forests might produce an effect — but 

 eertainly not in the tropics. With regard to the 

 economical question, there could be no doubt that it was 

 Wish to destroy what was valuable, but we had not 



Bte power to arrest t.hfi nrPSPnt dp<afrnf>tinn nf fnrpsta in 



India. 



*tae forests did not exist and yet there was much rain, 

 «w others, where forests existed and there was little 

 am. Humboldt was our great authority on this subject, 

 jaa he had recorded his opinions of the influence of 



The plant likes plenty of heat and moisture 

 during the growing season. 



Phalamopsis amabilis, from Manilla; flowers as long 

 and profusely as the last-named plant, but the blossoms 

 are not so large. It succeeds best on a bare block, in a 

 warm moist atmosphere. 



Vanda teres. — This beautiful Indian plant flowers from 

 June to August ; the blossoms are large, and red, yellow, 

 and white in colour. It does best on a block suspended 

 in a hot and damp part of the house during the growing 

 season ; afterwards it should be kept dry for about two 

 or three months. 



Chysis bractescens, from Mexico ; flowers in March and 

 June ; the blossoms, which are pure white, with a yellow 

 centre, remain long in perfection, and are fragrant. It 

 succeeds on a block suspended from the roof, and should 

 have a good supply of heat and moisture during the 

 growing season, but afterwards it may be kept cool, and 

 allowed very little water. This will also thrive in a 

 basket in moss. 



Epidcndrum vitcllinum, from Mexico ; produces rich 

 orange flowers, which last eight weeks in perfection. 

 It is one of the most beautiful Orchids in cultivation ; 

 but it is somewhat difficult to manage. It thrives well 

 on a block, and likes a good supply of heat and moisture 

 during the growing season, but while dormant very little 

 water will suffice. It blooms from October to January. 



Epidcndrum bicornutum, from Trinidad ; flowers from 

 April [[to May. The blossoms are large, white, very 

 fragrant, and last three weeks in perfection. It does 

 best on a block, suspended from the roof, where there is 

 plenty of heat and moisture during the growing season ; 

 afterwards it may be kept much cooler and drier. 



Angrcecum bilobum, from Cape Coast ; is a good plant, 

 which blooms from October to December. The flowers 

 are white. It succeeds best on a bare block suspended 

 from the roof, in the hottest part of the house ; it likes 

 plenty of moisture during the growing season. 



Dendrobium aggregatum. — This beautiful East Indian 

 Dendrobe blooms in March and April ; flowers yellow, 

 with a very broad lip. It grows well on a block, with 

 a good supply of heat and moisture during the growing 

 season ; afterwards it may be kept cooler and have less 



water. 



Dendrobium Jenhinsii, one of the smallest growing 

 species of the genus ; flowers yellow, large, and showy. 

 It blooms in March and April, and if the blossoms are 

 kept dry, they will last in beauty two weeks. It must 

 be placed on a bare block. It will not thrive in a pot, 

 and it should have plenty of water while growing ; after- 

 wards kept drier. 



this moment three plants of Raspberries before me 

 which have been raised in the garden of the Horticul- 

 tural Society from seeds taken from the stomach of a 

 man whose skeleton was found 30 feet below the surface 

 of the earth, at the bottom of a barrow which was opened 

 near Dorchester ; he had been buried with some coins 

 of the Emperor Hadrian, and it is therefore probable 

 that the seeds were 1600 or 1700 years old." There is 

 a mistake here, as the coin was not found in the barrow. 

 I have it before me, in Mr. Maclean's own handwriting, 

 that" it was found in a field adjoining Maiden Castle," 

 close to which the said barrow was, so that the seeds in 



f «t 



vests 

 tared 



von 



Lankester 



laws of 



Ipid 





•frets winch have been mentioned, and which at first 



m appeared opposed to each other, might be explained. 



«« forests did not always grow in rainy districts, arose 



J™*£from the waters accumulating and forming 



2"£«s in which forest trees would not grow. In 



T"* 8 7 lere there was not much rain, there mitrht be 

 ^«i moisture in the 



atmosphere 



b y plants. 



rain in general 

 )f the water re- 



ftired 



**planat 



Sructio!; • Lan kester, gave an account of the de- 



jfait »v g u^ ? n m the forests of Isonandra gutta, the 

 ** JS ^ s tile P 1 *** Pertsha. The extent of 

 «*ectiiw 1S at P resent unknown ; but the process of 

 ^^g the gutta pertsha renders it highly probable 



^bishH PP &u this article ma y be verv considerably 

 ike hand* f ? Upply of this substance is entirely in 

 ^ntainrt, DatlVe P rinces > wh ° took no pains to 

 tree mi g ht J/ 1 ?* th of the tree s which yielded it. The 



£** the present 



Home Correspondence 



The Raspberry Case.— Having read in your leading 

 article of the 16th inst., some remarks about a discovery 

 of some fossil seeds made by the late Mr. Maclean in 

 one of the ancient barrows near Maiden Castle, in the 

 county of Dorset, and being in possession of some 

 facts relating hereto, I have, as soon as the duties of 

 my profession would enable me to do so, addressed my- 

 self to the subject of your remarks. I had the pleasure 

 of knowing Mr. Maclean intimately for a period of four 

 years before his death ; I attended him professionally 

 during that period, and I am not saying too much for 

 departed worth, when I express my firm belief that he 

 was a man perfectly free from guile or deceit ; in fact, 

 that no two meanings or false pretences ever attached 

 to any assertion he made. I have often conversed with. 

 him on the subject of the fossil seeds in question, and, 

 in' fact, have walked with him over the spot where he 

 told me he had found them at a depth of 30 feet below 

 the earth's surface. I recollect his remarks at the time 

 as perfectly as if they had been spoken only yesterday. 

 * In this barrow, doctor," said he, as we stood upon the 

 partially-filled excavation he had made, * I found the 

 seeds I told you of, and from which were raised the 

 Raspberry plants I have shown you the two dried 

 specimens of, and yet Dr. Lindley, to whom I 

 gave the seeds from which those plants were raised, 

 has never thought it worth his while to mention my name 

 or me as the discoverer of them ; this is the way, doc- 

 tor " he added, * that some of your discoveries may 

 perhaps be treated," &c. " But, my good sir," said I, 

 « you could have easily set that all straight by writing on 

 the subject yourself." To this he replied, "as my 

 object in opening those barrows was chiefly for the 

 purpose of ascertaining the state of human teeth at 

 a very remote period, I did not take the trouble to see 

 after this matter farther than the seeds produced under 

 Dr. Lindley's direction, the Raspberry plants you have 

 seen which I gathered myself in the garden of the Hor- 

 ticultural Society at Chiswick." The facts therefore 



1 . That Mr. Maclean did discover m a bar- 



Romans,, 



probably centuries before ; nor can we see any just 

 grounds for limiting their antiquity to 1600 or 1700 

 year?, since the seeds of the mummy-wheat discovered 

 by Sir Gardner Wilkinson during his travels in the 

 Thebold, where he opened an ancient tomb, and found 

 them, after being buried perhaps 3000 years, have pro- 

 duced plants, under the direction of Mr. Topper, of 

 Guildford, in 1840. We have, moreover, ample proof 

 of the vitality of seeds daily before our eyes, after being 

 in the earth for thousands of \ears in excavations of 

 various kinds, notwithstanding the experii nts of Prof. 

 Henslow would tend to prove the contrary. I must here 

 close this sketch, with a regret that Dr. Lindley should 

 have omitted to give the name of the discoverer of 

 the Raspberry seeds. I have seen a letter of Prof. 

 Lindley, dated 1836, on this subject to Mr. Maclean, 

 and a copy of the letter of the latter in reply, together 

 with a copy of a certificate of the labourers employed 

 by Mr. Maclean, in proof of the facts h< r« in stated ; 

 the originals of these were no doubt sent to Professor 

 Lindley. William Smith, M. I)., Weymouth, Aug. 26. 



Fruit Crops. — While some are complaining of having 

 such bad crops of wall fruit this season, others are more 

 happily circumstanced. For my part (writing from 

 Northumberland), I never had such a magnificent dis- 

 play of fine fruit as I have this season. It is delightful 

 to look at it, and the trees are in most excellent health. 

 To have Apricots, Peaches, and Nectarines in per- 

 fection in this variable climate, they must be favoured 

 with a wall which, in Scotland and the north of England 

 is generally flued, and fire-heat applied, which answers 

 two good ends. First, the protection of the blossom and 

 young fruit in spring ; and, secondly, the ripening of 

 the wood in autumn. Or, if it is desirable, ripe fruit 

 may be obtained a month sooner by keeping a little fire 

 on through the spring and early part of summer. We 

 have been gathering ripe Apricots from the open wall 

 since the 1st of July, which is an acquisition, making 

 the Apricot season about three months' duration. In 

 addition to fire-heat in the spring various kinds of cover- 

 ings are used, among which I prefer canvas, to let up 

 and down when required. With such materials at com- 

 mand, I have little fear of the weather ; and if the trees 

 blossom, and are in health, a crop is certain. The 

 weather has been very peculiar this season ; and although 

 we had no very severe weather in spring, yet it was 

 sufficient to destroy whole crops of wall fruit where it 

 was not properly guarded ; therefore, I attribute the 

 failure of such crops this year in the south of England to 

 the want of protection, which may easily be remedied in 



after years. John Grey. 



Fragrance of the Victoria Regia. 



Could not the essen- 



ce 



subj 



ted, and forests of it might be grown 

 supply failed, if attention was paid to 



^HIDS FOR THE MILLION.-No. XIII. 



^ttUTF ILLUMS * gr - t0 C - B - Warner, Esq., Hoddes* 



SMOOTH 



Pkda> • Blocks without Moss. 



*^£?J* grandi fi° T ^ — Tbis magnificent plant 

 * ^ e Year aVa !i ** produces pure white flowers nearly 

 "*» it bo J 0l Jk A bare block with a Smooth surface 

 *** that il I Utter shou,d be about 2 feet ,on S* in 



were may be plenty of room for the roots 





are these- -. . 



row, near Maiden Castle, in the county of Dorset, in 

 1834, a human skeleton, 30 feet below the surface of 

 the earth, from which were taken the seeds of the 

 Raspberry plant in question.1 2. That with the skeleton 

 was found a tusk of the wild boar, 6 inches long, which 

 I have mvself seen, and which he (Mr. Maclean) con- 

 sidered had been worn as an ornament or trophy, from 

 its having been perforated with a hole for, as he sup- 

 posed, attaching it to the body. 3. That urns and other 

 matters, which I have also seen, were found in the 

 same barrow, but no coins. The coin of Hhe Emperor 

 Hadrian was found in an adjoining field to that ot 

 the barrows, and nearer to Maiden Castle. 4. lliat 

 Mr. Maclean gave a portion of the seeds found in 

 the skeleton to Professor Lindley, who says in Ins 

 « Introduction to Botany" published in 1835, • I.have at 



tial oil containing the delicious odour which is so 

 powerful in the flower of this plant as to remain m the 

 air for some hours, be fixed and retained, so as to become 

 an essence, and made use of as a scent for the toilet ! 

 It might become a fashionable article of commerce 

 under the name "Balm of Victoria," as I am very 

 certain it would be in great request. Perhaps some of 

 your correspondents will kindly answer the question. An 



Old Reader. . . . , . . 



Sea Monsters.— I was fishing on the 18th inst. in 



Donegal Bav, when one of my boatmen called my atten- 

 tion to what appeared to be a large fish swimming 

 rapidly along the surface of the sea, with- an undulating 

 motion, at the distance of about half a mile. Several 

 whales were sporting in the bay at the same time. 

 About an hour afterwards we were lying at anchor, 

 fishing for hake, with about 40 other boats, when 

 some one called out that there was a shark in the 

 offin<* : the sea was then perfectly calm, and the same 

 appearance was distinctly visible. It seemed to be a 

 fish of 30 or 40 feet long, partially covered by the 

 water, and swam with great velocity for a couple of 

 hundred yards at a time on the surface. After several 

 distant appearances it rose not far from the boat in 

 which I was, and made directly towards it. I had a 

 rifle ready, expecting to bag the sea serpent at least, 

 when to our surprise we found that the fish, whatever 

 he was, did not show above water at all, and that what 

 we had taken for an undulating body was merely the 

 ripple, or wave, which he threw off by swimming very 

 rapidly near the surface. When he had approached 

 within about 40 yards of the cluster of fishing boato 

 he sank, and did not show again till nearly a mile 

 off A couple of hours afterwards we were agree- 

 ably surprised by a closer view of him. This time 

 lie rose about 1 00 yards off, and came straight towards 

 the boat till not distant more than 20 yards. I was 



standing on the gunwale, and distinctly saw a fish ap- 

 parently about 7 or 8 feet long, his body barred or 

 banded with black and white, swimming about a foot 

 below the surface, at the rate I should suppose of 1 4 or 

 1 5 miles an hour. Perhaps some of your readers, 

 skilled in ichthyology, can tell what sort of a baste he 



was. 



Whilst writing of the finny 



uninteresting to give an idea of the quantity 



• 



