THE GARDENERS' 



CHRONICLE. 



very little better success. 



Now I have foilowe i 



6 



Now 



if so, 



;ia*n for several rears, and have rarely got what coiud be 

 SlJ useful CurVots. Certainly they do lb *™«*«P, 

 fc with; but when young ouesare wanted, I sow undei 

 J^n a hotbed in the end of January These become 

 Carrots both in taste and colour, while the autumn ones 

 operate into something like what I imagine the ongmal 

 Carrot was before it was brought into cultivation 

 I should like to know if autumn sown Carrots at othei 

 places are in the same condition as those I complain of 

 ' they cannot be of much use, except foi the 



commonest purposes. While on this subject^ I may 

 mention that wi!k me autumn-sown Onions .are neat y 

 M important a crop as the spring-sown ones ; hut these 

 I sow some time between the 12th and 20th of Aug ust ;,, 

 and allow them to stand thick all winter. la March they 

 are thinned, and a portion planted out on a well pre- 

 pared piece of ground ; they invariably do well, faking 

 them as a sample, they are not so uniform m shape as 

 summer ones, but many of them are larger. I have 

 sown several kinds with about the same result. 1 do not, 

 however, like the one most commonly recommended in 

 gardening works for the purpose, viz., the Tripoli. It is 

 very coarse, and becomes open and scaly. The silver- 

 skinned is, I believe, the hardiest ; but it is small, and, 

 for many purposes, not so valuable as some other sorts. 

 It is scarcely necessary to remark that seeds sown at 

 such an unnatural period as August and September 

 ought to be good; and do not pinch quantity. I generally 

 rinse the seed at that period, rejecting all that is doubtful. 



An Old G> letter. 



Oignon ile Is'»cera.— It is worthy of remark that the 

 Onions produced from seed of this variety, received 

 from the Horticultural Society this season, were a 

 with a disease exactly similar to that described in 

 your leading article at p. 605 ; not on the neck alone, 

 hut also on the hulbs. Other Onions in the vicinity, of 



11 



attacked 



I beg to infor 



a different sort, were not affected by the disease. F. S. 



Habiti of Hooks (see p. 629.)— The rooks; in a very 

 large rookery within a quarter of a mile of me, always, 

 except in breeding time, roost in a neighbouring wood. 



Bite. 



the Mai n Hair Tree (see p. 614.)— 1 Deg to intorm 

 an "Occasional Tourist 5 ' that there are two very gooa 

 specimens of Salisburia adiantifolia in the^arden of the 

 Duke of Beaufort, at Badminton. The largest measures 

 37 feet in height, 18 feet across the branches, and the 

 bole (6 feet from the ground) is 3 feet 8 inches in cir- 

 cumference. This is the largest and finest tree of the 



■I beg to say that there 



kind I have ever seen. J. T. 



is a fine tree of Salisburia adiantifolia in the kitchen 

 gardens of Earl Cowper, Panshanger, Hects. Anon^ 

 Sept. 27. • 



Himalayan Vegetation. — In your report of the pro- 

 ceedings of the British Association it is stated that 

 Dr. Hooker had ascended the Himalaya to the height 

 of 28,000 feet. This is assuredly the highest point ever 

 attained by man. Some 25 or 30 years ago Gerard 

 with great difficulty arrived at an elevation of about 

 20,000 feet in his futile attempt to reach Laduak, a 

 city which at that period some fabulous reports had 

 given interest to ; but the line of perpetual snow was 

 considerably below that point. I think also that Moor- 

 croft by another route accomplplied that object a year 

 or two after ; but to Webb and Gerard was assigned 

 the merit of having determined the snow line to be 

 much higher than geographers from analogy and other 

 imperfect data had fixed it. The latter had attained 

 an elevation of some few hundred feet above what 

 Humboldt had previously accomplished on the Andes, 

 and which was regarded as the highest point ever 

 ascended by man. Pray does the " Review " of last 

 week mean to say, that Dr. Hooker reached 28,000 

 feet or even 25,000 feet, or is that only given as the 

 estimated height of the range in the quarter alluded to. 

 Though, perhaps, not strictly within the province of the 

 cultural subjects of a gardening periodical, this question 

 is yet of importance to a class of inquiring minds, who 

 occasionally step out of the beaten track to get a peep 

 at some object in geographical science. The various 

 grades of vegetation from the plains of India to the 

 more elevated regions of Nepaul and Cashmere, have 

 often been treated of, and, beyond the line of profitable 

 cultivation, travellers have described the various families 

 of shrubs diminishing in numbers as a greater height is 

 attained, until only herbaceous plants appear, which 

 agam become lost, the limit of vegetation being some 

 X n ? ?• ^«es. fcow has not some writer or tra- 



eievat ons of this remarkable range vegetation ceases 

 entirely some considerable distance below the line of 



^T^aTTt least glean a little information as to how 

 to treat them in the altered circumstances in which 

 they are placed in this country. An Old Gardener. 

 [You are mistaken in supposing that the Gardeners' 

 Chronicle, in reporting the proceedings of the British 

 Association, savs that Dr. Hooker ascended the 

 Himalaya chain to either 25,000 or 28,000 feet. The 

 passage misquoted by our querist states that Dr. 

 Hooker " describes the district of the Himalaya in 

 which he travelled as reaching 28,000 feet, whilst that 

 described by Captain Strachy was only 25,000 feet." 

 The greatest elevation attained by man is, if we 

 remember aright, 22,000, and some odd hundreds of 

 feet— by one of the brothers Gerard, who, with a com- 

 panion 'and excellent instruments, ascended Purgeool 

 to that height. Purgeool is a mountain in Little Thibet, 

 lat. 31° 50' • long. 78° 40 E., having a total elevation 

 of 22,600 feet. Humboldt, in hit " Aspects of Nature, 

 seems unaware of this ascent. Both brothers had 

 previously ascended the same mountain to upwards of 

 19,000 feet, and a description of these ascents is given 

 in « Gerard's Account of Kunawur," a work in which 

 our correspondent will find most of the information he 

 requires as to the limits of cultivation, and of the snow- 

 line, and which, with Lloyd and Gerard's Travels, 

 Moorcroft's do., and the works of Royle and Jacque- 

 mont, Vigne, Hugel, &c, we would recommend to 

 his perusal. Various plants ascend to upwards 

 of 18,000 feet in the Himalaya, both herbaceous 

 and shrubby. Graminese, Cruciferce, Composite, 

 Ericese, Ranunculacese, and Cryptogams (Lichens 

 chiefly), to 19,000. Cultivation of Barley reaches 

 14—15,000 ft., and Turnips or Radishes on very rare 

 occasions to nearly 16,000. Pasturage maybe found, 

 in favoured localities, at 17—1 8,000 ft., but very scantily. 

 The limit of perpetual snow varies with the humidity of 

 the atmosphere and locality, &c, from 15,000 ft. to 

 20,000 ft. The position of the greatest amount, and of 

 the lowest level of perpetual snow, does not coincide 

 with that of the greatest elevation to which the mountain 

 mass of the Himalaya rises, but with that of those lower 

 spurs of the mountains, which, being nearest the plains 

 of India (and consequently the ocean) attract and collect 

 all the moisture that would otherwise fall on the much 

 loftier land behind them, in Thibet. Vegetation follows 

 much the same laws, and is hence more luxuriant close 

 to the perpetual snows in the humid regions, where the 

 latter descends to 15,000 ft, than in the arid, where 

 both ascend above 19,000 ft. //.] 



Messrs. Wrench's Samples of Seeds.— I beg to suggest 

 that it might be interesting, and also useful, to the 

 unlearned, if Messrs. Wrench were to sell collections of 

 seeds, such as those exhibited by them, and mentioned 

 in your last week's paper, at p. 634. Tuesday. 



p resen 

 is not 



t size 



annual, as manv i™ • lI| W MuT " 

 will become a woody ArZ^X^^St 

 it is well managed, and kent f. * for . v «oZ? 

 -Mr. Rivers/of ' SawhX^^J^ 



eworth 



made, Mr. Rivers entertains 

 compressed earth for 



M 



a 



very 





Strawberry plants, illustrative of t 



paring them for forcing. Thev ! 



filled with two- thirds loam and L^Jf *■*» 



J he novelty that attached to them ^ **■ £ 



these materials firmly i nto the .L??**^ 



were stru~ u --"- -■ ■ p0lS befn - *- ~ 



food than uiey could possibly "obtJn Z F 



'highly; 



-Mr. Fleming, gardener Tt Iff?^ 

 at Trentham, furnished four Queen V 

 whose weights were, respectively tt lk."*** 

 14 oz., 5 lbs. 15 oz., and 5 lbs. 10 oz u T ' * 

 remarkably fine fruit, was hardly iine i »* 

 Medal was awarded. Mr. Jones, a V n o A ?*» 

 Bart., received a Certificate for a ml* o °5 

 weighing 6 lbs. 3 oz. ; and a similar awX ^ 

 to Mr. Frost, of Dropmore, for a B fi "" 

 5i lbs. A Queen Pine, 5 lbs. 4 oz was inJS 

 Mr. Fraser, gr. to the Earl of Radnor • andTsL. 

 gr. to I-I. Minton, Esq., had a Ripley QMeTtSS 

 4 lbs. 14 oz. Mr. Elphinstone, gr. to the Sn2^ 

 Heckfield, received a Banksian Medal for bnSH 

 Black Hamburgh Grapes, well swelled and ripeneSL* 

 not very large, which were cut from Vines rawiS 

 eyes that were only struck on the 10th of Febwmy 

 They were grown in pots, and one of the V^lt, 

 from the pot was submitted to the inspectiou dfZ 

 meeting. It was about 4 feet high, stout ad Z 

 ripened. Ti *~~' 1 ' x ' ' ■ 



high, 



K 



It had been topped when about 15 U. 

 and had afterwards thrown up a strong Aat 

 which produced the fruit. mL " 



Horticultural, Oct. 7. — Mr. Glendinnixg in the 

 chair. Sir E. B. Baker, Bart., Sir C. 4ticketts, Bart., 

 Sir J. Thorold, Bart., H. Wilson, Esq., and Major- 

 General Fox, were elected Fellows. Messrs. Veitch 

 received a Banksian Medal for a nice specimen of 

 a yellow-flowered shrubby Calceolaria from Peru. 

 Though not quite hardy, even in the climate of Devon- 

 shire, it was mentioned that it might be worth while 

 wintering it under protection for the purpose of plant- 

 ing in the shrubbery in spring, where it would pro- 

 bably form a bush, some 2 or 3 feet high, and prove 

 very ornamental in summer. The somewhat ample, 

 shining, bright-green leaves, in which its value in 

 part consists, will no doubt be looked upon with inte- 

 rest by the hybridist who is anxious to improve the 

 foliage of some of the finer flowered kinds. — Messrs. 

 Weeks sent a bloom of the Royal Water Lily (Victoria 

 regia), a bud of Nymphcea cserulea, and a flower and a 

 leaf of N. dentata, from the open heated pond in their 

 nursery, in which such plants have been found to grow 

 and flower successfully. The leaf of N. dentataNvas 

 certainly as large and fine as it could well be in the best- 

 managed stove aquarium. It was stated that the Vic- 

 toria had produced 50 blooms in the course of the past 

 summer, and that the plant was still unprotected. A 

 Banksian Medal was awarded.- 



The young plante-slhi 

 placed on a warm Vinery flue— were shifted in Ari 

 and afterwards forwarded in a bed of leaves. S 

 were topped when 4 feet high, and were shifted m 

 their fruiting pots in May. A dish of Black IlaoteA 

 Grapes was exhibited by Mr. Rust, gr. to J. Micbni 

 Esq., of Ticehurst, Sussex ; and examples of the m 

 kind of Grape were furnished by Mr. Fry,gr.toMrs.M 

 Manor House, Lee, Kent, with a view to prove the 4s 

 of sulphur in killing the Vine mildew, which has beat 

 prevalent, both in this country and on the contiaa 

 When the disease first began to show itself in the Vm£ 

 which it did both last year and this, the tempenli 

 was raised, and sulphur vivumwas freely applied. If 

 means of Fry's sulphurator. Under this treatment, fc 

 mildew disappeared, both from the leaves andM,ii 

 the course of four or five days. The Vines were »&* 

 wards cleared of the sulphur, by syringing them ti 

 clean water, through a fine-rosed syringe.- A punnet ri 

 round white seedling Potatoes were shown bv Mr. W| 

 mer, of Sunbury. It was reported to be very early d 

 prolific— From the Garden of the Society came tn 

 Orchids, various Achimenes, Tillandsiaama^iTiaf 

 of the Japan Anemone, the white Lilium Wallicfciaw, 

 a Cape Heath, the useful Lyperia pinnatifidi^i 

 bold Sedum, Torenia asiatica, and Cyrtoeercs i*nj 

 together with fruit of the Late Admirable Peach, (W 

 Golden-drop Plum, Gravenstein, and Mere deMaf 

 Apples, Belle et Bonne and Double Phillip" 

 and a dish of Black Prince Grapes 

 were sent to show that Grapes may be kept m 

 from mildew by early and repeated sulpha^ 

 both leaves and fruit The Grapes were q«^ 

 any smell or appearance of sulphur, all WjjT 

 stated to have been covered with it the da\ **< 





The H* 



It may be removed either by pM\ 



~ clean water or by -™ 



Mary field, contributed cut 



I. Anderson, Esq., of 



it 



of**** 

 consists of** 



toextingtdsh vegeteble life, ^l^^^SLS 



ster h tv va a l j th . nk Moorcroft desS 



leet, which, though receiving the waters of several large 



rivers, was completely landlocked, the extreme dryness 

 of the atmosphere aWrl.;™ »n „ a c uijui-ss 

 ouicklv as it ™;,7, ° *; 11 su P erfl uous water as 

 quicuy as it was supply . and t , ^ thermome- 

 ter indicated an amount of cold many dL»S Tbdow 

 our freezing point, vet tWm w „o •!/ u V ees *>eiow 



appearance^? frost ? Now a Vt i8 n ^ er t ,C fi "" *">' 

 be a mistake in the 28,000 fee \lnJtT- *?? mUSt 

 traveller, pray tell us the hwJjS^i V^ 

 reached by Europeans on tS b£2> 5? haS bee " 

 whether itl.as ever been «J3ST2j!»T 8 * "J 

 in the Western hemfrphere. TheTe 2it aSC - Gnt 



Portant for gardeners 1 to kij, teT^ "* £ 

 imitate the rarity of the atmosphere wh ch L ^T? 

 we have from there enjoy i/ their XfLggJ 



. specimens of a seedling 



Veronica, which, although pretty, was inferior in beauty 

 to V. Andersonii,a charming hybrid, raised by the same 

 -rentleman Mr. Frost, gr. to E. L. Betts, Esq., of 

 Preston-hall, Aylesford, furnished a seedling Begonia, 

 obtained by crossing B. cinnabarina with B. nitida. 

 The result is a freer flowering plant than B. cinnabarina, 

 with even h.gher coloured flowers than those of that 

 hne kind while the foliage is very nearly the same 

 as that of nitida,. A Certificate of Merit was awarded 

 it.— Air. Kennedy, of Covent-garden, sent a narrow- 

 leaved variety of Scolooendrinm nffinm.u f- — v._i. 

 shire. 



and 



pendrium officinale from York 



imJtL h^ ^.iburgh, sent a new purple 

 na If ' IaC - fl 1 °: vere , d Linar f> called arabida, which looked 

 as if it would make a good rock plant. It was raised from 

 Portuguese seeds collected by Dr. Welwitzsch in 1«49 

 Messrs. Jackson, of Kingston, sent half-a-dozen nicely- 

 blossomed plants of Odontoglossum grande, which had 

 been flowered in a cool house. It was mentioned that 

 his is one of the hardiest of exotic Orchids, ancUhat £ 



uTderX Tl bl T 6d T ° Ut r f , d °° r8 dHrin * «™2 

 under the shade of a Laurel bush.— Mr. M ac ir *h 



CeSr n f u ai tr aK Ed «— >ad. SS 



sole ni P J , Cnt ^r Vei ' lar « e an ' 1 fi »« **>*>? 



IT" t e° mrao ? M, g»onetto. This was a single 

 plant, pricked out m a small state ' 



autumn, and shifted on till it 



meeting. 



bunch in a vessel of cieau »a>™ »- -j -.^ 

 on all sides in a downward direcwnlJJ 

 a fine-rosed syringe. The garden alwj^J 

 a large yellow Gourd weighing 136i bs. _; F^~ 

 a yellow-striped Mushroom shaped Sfiaa. 

 French "sulphurator." The great merit 

 is its simplicity and cheapness, it ^-- ^ 

 box for holding the sulphur, placed | On the «gr 

 the pipe of a pair of common bellows . fc 



gets^into the pipe through smaU hole r& 

 purpose in the bottom of the box, and, J o* 

 s P top P page may take place,a small tajgjj* + 

 the end of a slight steel spnng *™^** 

 side of the bellows, a gentle tap JW«b w * 

 then, keeps up [a continuous fall of JJ P ^ |, 

 pipe. These appliances, , which may & 



pair of bellows for Bttto more ha. M, ^ 

 purpose for which they are intended, eo 



a more expensive machine. 





1 



fionft* 



flotitt* of 



cal Observer. 



U6 ; with ni 

 We scarcely need say tliaJ^ f \^» 

 and successful living inTcstigatoia^^ 4 



The Geoloqkal Observer: By Sir **»L fJl \ 



- - ' \ numerous 1 



that one of 



\e < logical Observer, liy w"™^ U 

 8vo, pp. 846 ; with numerous- oodci 1^ ^ 



is 



the 





us. 



into a pot last 



had attained 



its 



nomena 



geological survey 



of the work before t 



speculation, and a prion 



I ieche has passed his hf© 



|) ir ector.GeBe^ 



present ^^ ^ 

 of the Unitea K«n, 



Stanchng & m - - 



hypotheses 



in 



Ihem 



Sir He^ 



the m «££• 



lassifyiBg facts, and comp^ 

 safe conclusions can he 1^ 

 Observer" may therefore ^ 



taken 



The 

 to rep 



an 



►server" may therefore 1* _ . cip ; w^ 

 thor hin^self, expounding the 1^ fl g + 



experience has led h.m to i adop^ 

 a vast collection of evidence, v 

 his principles are founded. 



Ulldff 









