

40— 18.) I 



THE GARDENERS 



CHRONICLE. 



A Post-office order 



/ qoUATH'STRA\VBKIiRY. 



( Tfx*to *iU t#cor© (package free) 100 strong plants of this 



' Strawberry, or 12 plant*, free by post, on receipt of 

 stamps. Also TaoLLop's Victoria, 41. per 100. and 

 Tths old rarieties at Tery low prices. The usual allow- 

 Smw ti*e tr«< te-— J**- KfTLgT, Lyncombe Vale Nnrnery Rath. 



D' — TTCII H V ACINT11S for Forcing, 3s. 6d. per dozen ; 

 ' Bast da, ft>r Glasses. 6d. to li. each. Double Roman and 

 - - -Hit* Karci»*us 4#. per dozen ; Single and Double Due 



y^fitk Tdatpa, 2s. per dozen. Aiso Crocus, Iris, Jonquils, 

 JSeissut, Anemones, and Ranunculus, of which a priced List 

 ilV t* r '» l1 free, per post, from A. Cobbktt, Italian and 

 wrLfrr Warehouse. 18. Pall Mall, London. 



^TJPEKB NEW PEA, "THE NOVEMBER 



^ PROLIFIC," supersedes ail other varieties, yielding a crop 

 m et traordinary abundance, stands the severe weather better 

 Asa say others. It is of the richest flavour, and mav be 

 Sb from November to July without mining a crop. Price 

 ?5. per quart ; to be had from \V. Hamilton, Seedsman, <fcc, 

 P^Cbeaffttd** London. 



A liberal discount to the Trade^_ 



Catalogue 



il* HOMES' Descriptive Catalogue of his 



If PELARGONIUMS may be had on application. 



i! Pelargonium Nurserv, Windsor. Oct. 4. 



NEW 



then the access of warmth from the earth should 

 be cut off by double floors and air passages between 

 them. 



It must be ventilated, without the admission of 

 light, except in a very inconsiderable degree. The 

 object of ventilation is merely to carry off the exces- 

 sive moisture that accompanies fruit when first 

 stored, or such dampness as may otherwise form. 



It must be kept as cool as possible, without 

 freezing ; that is to say, it must never be warm 

 and never cold. If warmed, the chemical changes 

 that result in the decay of fruit 

 more active and intense. 



627 



destroyed. 



are rendered 

 If frozen, all flavour is 

 The way in which frost operates in 

 destroying the flavour of fruit is unexplained ; but 

 the fact is certain, as was, indeed, proved in a curious 

 way two or three years ago. A gentleman residing 

 at Boston, U. S., wishing to send to London speci- 

 mens of the famous Boston Nectarine, packed them 

 in ice. In a very short time they arrived, plump 

 as when gathered, with all the beautiful appearance 

 produced by the rich and glowing colours that only 

 form beneath such a sun as shines in the United 

 States — but they were tasteless. In order to 

 secure a fruit room against frost, the room is lined, 

 and on the north roof even double lined, with 

 wood, so as to have one, or on the north two, layers 

 of air between the wainscoting and the outer wall. 

 The same precaution keeps off such solar heat as 

 would be inconvenient during autumn and winter. 



In addition, in case of very cold weather, a small 

 stove is provided, and here no doubt more attention 

 is demanded than in any part of the arrangements. 



0SEA WATERER'S Descriptive Catalogue of 



AMERICAN PLANTS, CONIFERS, HOSES, &c, for 

 *t cniaing Autumn, is just published, and may be had on 

 -jHcation. enclosing two postage stamps, to Mr. Hose a 

 ftftfts* Knap Hill Nu r sery. Woking, Surrey. 



JfTMBRtOAW NUKSBRY, BsW*flOT v *KJRKEY~. 



JOHN W'ATERER begs to announce that he has just 

 nfelishtda new CATALOGUE of Hardy Rhododendrons, 

 Anitas, Rosas, Conifers, «fcc, and which may be obtained by 

 eekttinf? two postage stamps. 



V The Colours of all the Rhododendrons worthy of culti- 

 ftflta gn described ; thus purchasers are afforded every facility 

 It fluking selections. _ ^^ 



BASS and BROWN'S Autumn Catalogue is now 

 ready, containing — 

 Past I. The New Geraniums, Fuchsias, Petunias, Verbenas, 

 Hi other new and select Plant*, at reduced prices. 



Past II. Roses, select Evergreen and Flowering Shrubi, 

 Bkafctrt, Hardy Herbaceous Plants, Jfcc. \ n ^ i« ^ A * " ? j i i "* . . 



fUr hi. Flower Roots, embracing splendid collections of A negligent servant would be almost certain to 



tnaacoU, Gladioli, Early and Late Tulips, Iris, Lilies, im- 

 parted Dutch Hjacinths, <fec, &c. 



Copies mi;) plied or. application, published complete with the 



sewiptper itamp, to go free. 



8i*d and Horticult ural Esta blishment. Sudbury. SaflhUc. 



^ ^ ^VICTORIA REGIA. 



J WEEKS and Co., King's-road, Chelsea, have great 

 • pleasure in announcing the complete Fucces* of this 

 ■Sfroiticent Aquatic, the Qu? en of the Lakes, GROWING IN 

 THE OPfiX AIR. The splendid flowers are now open every 

 4ij. to the great admiration of ail who see it. A few fine 

 T0r>'G PLANTS ARE NOW FOR SALE. Full instructions 

 fcr its cultivation will be forwarded on application to J. 

 JtottitndCo.. Kinar's-road, Chelsea. 



over-heat the room one day and to let the fire out on 

 another ; or, as a matter of course, to light the fire in 

 warm weather, and forget it in a hard frost. It is, 

 therefore, a question whether this fireplace could 

 not be dispensed with by a further casing of wood 

 in the inside of the room. Half-inch boards are so 

 cheap now that it is quite possible that an additional 

 casing would be cheaper than a fireplace, the need 

 of which it would obviate. 



farming There were some few, too, who neither 

 ridiculed the idea of applying science to practice, 

 nor yet blindly adopted whatever was asserted, 

 but, suspending their judgment for a while, set 

 seriously to work to investigate for themselves ; but 

 certainly the loudest voices raised were those of the 

 country gentlemen and rich landlords, who, without 

 much knowledge of science, and certainly without 

 attempting to ascertain the truth of the views pot 

 before them, eagerly seized on Liebig's theories as 

 the true key to farming, and lauded his book as the 

 dawn of a new reformation. If the landlords have 

 been misled, it is hardly fair to blame the unfor- 

 tunate chemist alone, for the fact is, that having let 

 their wishes and hopes far outrun the facts, or their 

 own convictions, they have necemrily fallen into a 

 wrong path, and now, having found out their error, 

 they seek to put all the blame on the man who 

 tried to help them, forgetting altogether how much 

 was caused by their own want of consideration and 

 caution. 



It has all along been a matter of regret, that the 

 new chemical theory of agriculture was so wry 

 warmly taken up, and so highly praised by some of 

 its supporters ; and we must take some credit to our- 

 selves for having from the first objected to such blind 

 hero-worship. At the same time practical men are 

 o slow to receive what is new. and so little inclined 

 to receive favourably a more theoretical probability, 

 that had not Ln:m<;\s views been put forth with the 

 utmost decision, and in the most positive manner, 

 they would probably never have excited one-tenth 

 part as much attention as they really did ; and, there- 

 fore, even though his conclusions were ultimately 

 found to be wholly incorrect, he would neverthel 



EARLY CABBAGE.— Stout Bedded Plants of 

 •uperior true sorts, 45. Qd. per 1000, package included, 

 MNred free of carriage to the Edenbridge station of the 

 Soith-Eastern Railway.— Address, John Cattell. Wester- 

 ksm, Kent. Cash or stamps must accompany orders from 



correspondents. 



PTRST CLASS GKRANIUMS.— TWO GUINtiA &BT. 



TTILLIAM E. RENDLE, Plymouth, Florist to her 



" Majesty, will supply Twelve of the following first-rate ' 

 GBBANIUM3 for 21. 25.. with a plant of Elliott's Surprise over. 

 ERIDLVS BEAUTY OP MONTPBLLIBK ; May Queen 



(Hoyle); Xectsr Cup (Hoyle); Ajar (Hoyle) ; Rubiola (Hoyle) ; 

 !■• tHoyle) ; Flavia (Hoyle); Generalis3imo (Hoyle); Gaiety 

 y*Hr); Corinne (Hoyle) ; General Jun^ Bahadour (Gaines) ; 

 I*Aj Feel (Paley's, first time sending out) ; Candidate ; Boule 

 • fa; Tillage Maid ; Cardinal (IToyle) ; and Heartsease. 



IkttrijitioTis of Elliot's Surprise, and Rundle's 

 Beauty of Montpellier, will be found in the Gar- 

 dners' Chronicle, Sept. IWi, page 578. 



Twelfe excellent GERANIUMS ... 



Twelre excellent Fancy do. 



Twelre excellent Scarlet do. 



Twelre excellent CINERARIAS _. 



for names of the varieties, see page 578, Sept. 13. 

 Ail Orders above 21. will be delivered Carnage Free to 

 % Station on the Great Western, Bristol and Exeter, or 

 ** Devon Railway, or to Cork, Dublin, or Belfast. 

 *U Orders attended to in strict rotation. 



have done good service, by the impetus which they 



could not fail to give to farming, and by the effects 



which must necessarily result from the desire for 



knowledge which they would produce in practical 

 men. 



The fault, then, of Linn in the first instance was, 

 that when he ought to have said, " I think it is pro- 

 bable," he said, "it is an undoubted fact ;" and the 

 error of the landlords was, that forgetting for once 

 their usual caution and fear of being misled, they 

 blindly adopted all he taught them, and, not even 

 satisfied with that, imagined a great deal more. That 

 Liebig, though in error, was perfectly honest and sin- 

 cere, is proved by the fact, that he even went bo far as 

 to connect himself with a trading speculation, endea- 



- - . 



• • • 



• • § 



• • • 



5. 



12 



20 

 15 



10 



d. 





 

 

 



We believe no register is kept of the temperature 

 in Mr. Moorman's room, but we can hardly be wrong 

 in saying that 40° and 80° should represent the 

 occasional extremes, 45° being the mean. 



A smart skirmish has lately taken place be- 

 tween Mr. Pusry, on the one hand, as the cham- 

 pion of practical cultivators, and Baron Liebig 

 on the other, as the representative of theoreti- 

 cal men of science. 

 j parties place themselves a little in the wrong'; but succe of a doubtful, though plausible scheme. 



as is not always the case, the dispute is instructive * k ~ ~™ '~* ~* *"" *~*" ' ' — ~~* ' 



and useful to the spectators. Setting aside the mere 

 question of profit and loss, we must say a few 

 words on the subject, treating it as a broad question 

 of vegetable physiology, and the nourishment of 

 plants, for the purpose of placing before our reader 

 what we believe to be the true state of the case. 



vounng to make money by a patent manure, and 

 As *is usually the case, both \ l ^ us risked his scientific reputation on the pecuniary 



As 



A Urge Collection of BULBS has just arrived from 

 JWfatt'J, which will be offered at very reduced prices.— 

 VmogiMS on application. 



tft!? 7 t0 . William E. Rendle, Union Road, Plymouth, 

 "jwamg the Terminus of the South Devon Railway. 



She Oatlrettersr Chronicle* 



SATURDA Y, OCTOBE R 4, 1851. 



TrwB4 T MB> n TI . NGS POR THE ENSUING WEEK. 



Tmiidi.'* 7-HorticulturaI 3 p.m. 



«»i»at, -. ^-National Floricultural 2 r.B. 



T . 



w T " 7 e !J 8tated in the extract which we gave 



Sctett the Journal of the Horticultural 



Unit the c . onditions to be observed in keeping 



iarkne^ 6 L uniform temperature, coolness, and 



Moor-, • s seems to be the fire** secret in Mr - 

 kdv T?k S Practice, which it is admitted by every 



Wdon £u St successful in th -e neighbourhood of 

 p «ar 8 left *v nobod y ha s eatable Apples and 

 j^^. re, this gentleman produces his in the highest 



fen J f P j?? 8 accompanying Mr. Thompson's descrip- 



tms fruit-room will enable every one to 



It is obvious 



ws nl^ 1 ? ^' an em P t ) r chamber, or any like 

 porno y ° Q T chea Pty at } d rapidly adapted to such 

 •tain SC " * s i nd i s peusable, however, that 



*»• cnEr^ 0118 should be ta^ 11 ' and that the 



tfctir •£? •"? above referred to be observed in 

 ^jf exact spint. 



^■^e S° m * Sh ° uld not be on the Srmmd floor, 



-*""i-iuuui win enauie 



^ irac t a similar place for himself. 



Place 



It appears, then, that the English country gentle- 

 men complain that they have been misled and 

 deceived by the crude chemical speculations of the 

 celebrated German chemist; that they have been 

 taught visionary theories in the place of sound facts, 

 and that, trusting to the weight of a great name, and a 

 high scientific reputation, they have been led astray, 

 even further from the real truth than they pre- 

 viously were, when he first undertook to instruct 

 and enlighten them. It is stated that "the 

 mineral theory of Liebig has broken down, and 

 no other has taken its place ;" and following 

 out this observation, Mr. Pusey goes on to say 

 " it is a great mistake to suppose that men 

 can be made farmers by teaching them doubtful 

 chemistry ; " and, in conclusion, he remarks, " I 

 should not have said so much, but that the public 

 are sometimes led, by a false estimate of chemistry, 

 to undervalue our real progress in other sciences/' 

 At the same time, however, whilst thus condemning 

 the views of Liebig, and very properly objecting to 

 the teaching of false science, Mr. Pusey does not 

 wish to condemn chemistry altogether, but is 

 desirous of drawing a marked distinction between 

 crude speculations or scientific errors, and sound 

 practical facts and well established knowledge. 



When Liebig's "Chemistry of Agriculture" was 

 published, a dozen years since, it naturally excited 

 a great deal of interest ; the reputation of the author 

 commanded attention and respect, and the decided 

 and plausible manner in which his book was 

 written, soon gained for it plenty of believers and 

 admirers. The agricultural world was divided into 

 two classes, those who obstinately refused to listen 

 at all to such new-fangled doctrines, and, on the other 

 hand,those who, blindly adopting as true all the views 

 put forth, even without attempting to weigh the 

 evidence by which they were supported, receivedevery 

 theory of the great German chemist as an established 

 j fact, and believed in the most extravagant results as 





** is far more difficult to keep one cool in 



™ on , than if raised into the air. If cir- ._, _ „ _ _„._ 



es ren ^er a ground floor indispensable. \ likely to spring from the application of chemistry to 



the mere fact of his taking out a patent for the 

 /manufacture of artificial manure naturally lowered 

 him in the estimation of many, seeming to convert 

 the high and independent lover of science into the 

 petty money-seeking trader, so the subsequent failure 

 of the patent manure still further tended to bring 

 his views and opinions into discredit. 



Mr. Pcsey's remark, that very little practical 

 service has yet been rendered to agriculture by 

 chemistry, and the manner in which he mentions 

 the failure of Liebig's mineral theory, produced a 

 somewhat angry and hasty reply, published in the 

 second edition of " Liebig's Letters on Chemistry " 

 (p. 479). He begins, by stating, that Mr. Posey's 

 remarks are quite incorrect, which, however, is not 

 to be wondered at, because he is not a chemist " by 

 profession," a fact which he endeavours to prove, by 

 observing that on two occasions Mr. Pusey has made 

 chemical mistakes in his writings. No one imagines 

 that Mr. Pusry is a chemist, but if a writer is to be 

 condemned because he has made two mistakes, we 

 fear Baron Liebig must surrender his own che- 

 mical reputation ; for it would be easy to show that 

 he too has occasionally made mistakes, perhaps 

 even more serious than those of Mr. Pusey. . 



In answer to the complaint of the landlord, the 

 chemist replies : — iC We have in the last ten years 

 given you the most complete explanations of the 

 nutrition of plants, and the sources of their food ; we 

 have shown you that plants must obtain from the 

 soil, as well as from the atmosphere, certain ele- 

 ments ; we have explained the nature of the soil, the 

 effects of liming, rotation of crops, and fallowing ; 

 we have given agriculture a scientific basis, which it 

 did not before possess. Besides all this, chemistry 

 has taught the farmer the importance of phosphoric 

 acid, about which nothing was known ten years 

 ago (!) ; the true source of nitrogen, the value of 

 ammonia, and the modes of fixing it ; these and many 

 other practical facts have been discovered during the 

 last ten years." 



All this sounds very well ; and if only half of it 

 were true, it would certainly make out a strong 

 case for the chemists ; but we fear the picture is 

 much too highly coloured, and that the facts 

 themselves do not warrant such a boast. The 

 scientific basis of agriculture is still but a very 

 crude and imperfect theory; and so far from the 



