THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



725 



f* 



raised 



As we wish 



"battel'! It is that 2 ropy?) of which we have 

 ■^ * __an instinct of so overpowering, so engrossing 

 k 4 tliat every creature possessed of it must act 

 **!?it3 influence. To make use of a homely but 

 f^fj^ expression, used on all occasions by a friend of 

 ' , vZL is an unflinching advocate for the doctrine of 

 JjSi^ophical necessity," — "they cannot help what they 

 '^farewell, then, under such circumstances, to the 



fLc?te of " reason." 



p^vioos to going more fully into the marrow of our 



57L I am anxious to reply to some few cavilling but 

 *j! m eaning individuals, who imagine that thev have 

 tJia» task which we shall fail in accomplishing, 

 irtuments that we cannot overthrow. We are glad 



*e opportunity to prove how easily truth can triumph 

 error . All we want is, patience and good temper, 

 {tapily for ourselves, we possess a little of each. 



iKare asked, how we dare attempt to prove that 



«t*9on do€S not rei S n su P reme in the ma SP ie > tne 

 j^riing, the parrot, and the mocking bird, who give 



2i ample evidence that they understan 1 - 11 ♦*»-* : - ™ :A 

 to them, and reply to certain questions \ 

 to be generous, let us voluntarily include in our list the 

 •Ulkm* canary," exhibited some years since at the 

 Camorama Rooms, Regent-street. We might " throw 

 fc*the f ringing mouse ' (!) exhibited at the same place ; 

 tat as he sang " very small," we will pass him by. 



Let us class the magpie and starling together. What 

 ire their powers ! They are imitative birds, truly ; but 

 itither the one nor the other of them can be taught to 

 liter more than one, two, or three words. These form 

 fair " stock in trade." Vain is it to try and teach them 

 lomethin* new, — you get the same chattering answer to 

 titty question. Then, as for their " intelligence," it just 

 extends to this. They observe that whenever they utter 

 their monotonous ditty, — it is nothing better, — you are 



Sensed and reward them with some favourite morceau. 

 ence/the old story over again. Surely we demolish 

 die supposed fact of any intelligence reigning here. 

 Their brain is so constructed, its organisation so 

 imperfect, that it cannot possibly be otherwise than it is. 

 At best, their intelligence is but * cunning," One 

 moment's reflection will bear us out in this. 



Now for the parrot and the mocking bird. I ought 

 to be able to talk oracularly about the former ; inas- 

 much as a neighbour of mine, only three doors removed, 

 has one of the tribe that ranks among the very first of 

 iii u order. , n To prove the H reasoning" powers of this 

 bird, I need only remark that he is recognised as a public 

 nuisance. His time is fairly divided between shrieking, 

 sereaming, imitating cats and dogs, and dolorously ejacu- 

 lating throughout the livelong day, — " P-o-o-r Polly ! " 

 He utters, it is true, occasionally, a few unconnected 

 words ; but no person accustomed as 1 am, or rather 

 •doomed * as I am, to listen to him whenever I am in 

 ay garden, could, even from the excess of an affection for 

 kim (if such be possible), dare assert that he knows what 

 ke says. His brain is somewhat more fully developed 

 thin that of the magpie, and just in that ratio are his 

 powers of mimicry increased. In the agony of my 

 sifferings, I have occasionally taken up his refrain 

 (with emphatic * variations"). Alas ! it was only to be 

 punished on the morrow, and thenceforward, with 

 ul Italicised addition to my sufferings. My tortured 

 feelings had expressed themselvesin song (deprofundis); 

 ind now I am a martyr to my own folly ! So much for 

 jonr « reasoning * parrots. Requiescant in pace ! 



It has become evident, that we cannot, this week, do 

 adequate justice to the mocking bird ; and as his pre- 

 tensions to notice far exceed those of the silly parrot- 

 tribe, we purpose speaking of him, at some length, in 

 °w next « Suum cuique / * is our favourite motto. 



Should we find no more difficulties in our way than 

 ■** beset us in this our present investigation, with the 



reasoning" parrot, &c, it needs not the gift of 



«mnation to foretell who will have the best of the 



argument hereafter, 

 bain is npppacoi*;i,, «*. 







The organisation of an animal's 



lM 



fjjkd) than we have to " fly." The supreme intelligence, 

 **? wise to err, has decided that ' Equality' cannot 

 ^ in this our lower world. Happy is it for us that it 

 *» ordained. William. Kidd. 



FOREIGN GARDEN GLEANINGS. 



Stettin, Pomerania.— This important town, unlike 

 nmt others in the north of Europe, has no botanic 

 Wen. The royal residence has not one, but there are 



Although 



I 



of which we saw more than 30 varieties in flower in the 

 open ground. Iu addition to these, we w re shown 

 Chrysanthemums, Fuchsias, Roses, Verbenas, and 18 

 varieties of Pelargonium. We ought not to omit to 

 mention 35 or 40 varieties of species of Canna. 



hothouse plants are not abundant in this 

 establishment, it contains a rich collection of perennials ; 

 amongst others, 100 varieties or Phlox, 40 of BeUis,&c. 

 The above gentlemen carry on a large trade in flower 

 and vegetable seeds. 



Royal Gardens at Potsdam. — These gardens, four 

 in number, are about 12 miles from Berlin. The most 

 remarkable is Sans-Souci, so intimately associated with 

 the name of Frederick the Great. I tis difficult to describe 

 the magnificent effect of the hill side on which the palace 

 is built. Eight'rows of fine houses upon a single slop* 

 nearly 1200 yards in length, form a sort of amphi- 

 theatre ; in them are fruit trees — Vines, Peaches, 

 Apricots, and Figs ; these crystal galleries are divided 

 into two sets by a flight of steps leading to the different 

 levels upon which they are placed. The Orangery con- 

 tains 500 fine Orange trees, many of which are 45 feet 

 injheight, and 1 foot in diameter. Oth r houses equal 

 to the first in size, and turned towards the palace, enclose 

 trees inferior to those last mentioned. 



A large garden, completely surrounded by walls, is 

 also set apart for forcing the same plants ; they are 

 placed in the open ground, or in pots, or under houses, 

 extending altogether for a distance of a mile and a 

 quarter at least. When we were there, about the 20th 

 of May, the Cherry-trees had already furnished a supply 

 of fruit ; and the Plums were ripe. In this garden 

 early Melons, Cucumbers, and Potatoes, are also forced. 

 The head-gardener drew our especial attention to eight 

 varieties of early, yellow, oblong Potatoes, and the Roman 

 Emperor Cucumber, some seeds of which we brought 

 away ; this variety appeared to him to be better than 

 any other, inasmuch as it can be easily kept for six or 

 seven weeks under glass without change of air ; nearly 

 an acre of frames is filled with these early plants. 



Pine-apples and Strawberries are attended to by M . 

 Seilo exclusively, and he produces some wonderful 

 specimens from his hothouses. The flower department, 

 under the care of a young man, is worthy of the highest 

 praise. 



Although the residence at Potsdam is really composed 

 of four palaces and four gardens, yet the latter are so 

 near the one to the other, that they may easily be taken 

 to be but one large garden. Potsdam we need not 

 describe at any length ; it is Versailles, on a smaller 



scale. 



The two rows of old white Mulberry trees planted 

 by Frederick, cannot, however, be passed over in 

 silence. Some have been killed by cold, but those which 

 remain are remarkably strong and vigorous. 



At the gate of Potsdam we saw the Prussian colony 

 which has been established there for many years, and 

 was, with its rustic houses and national costume, given 

 to the King of Prussia, by the Emperor himself ; we 

 paid a visit, too, to Pfau Island, where there is a collection 

 of Roses, which is as celebrated in Prussia as that at 

 the Luxembourg is in France. Masson 9 s Report. 



those ..w... *™« 6 



I 



Germany 



astead magnificent pleasure 



2®% met with in the tow 



-^ gardens are used for proi 

 "j^trees and beautiful flowers tastefully grouped, and 

 T*k a feeling of surprise and admiration in the mind 

 J every stranger. There are other gardens, those 

 T^ned to the cafes and eating-houses, which contain 

 rf e fi ne and rare plants ; those a little out of the town 



» much frequented on Sundays. 



Jl( *t of the horticultural establishments of Stettin 

 **** some distance from the town. We were most 

 JJ* with that at Grabow, belonging to MM. Gross 

 «*a i* ayer> Th d t hoo2li small, furnish a large 



Dahlias 



M 



Mti. 



a most curious fact, that tome few hour§ after penning 

 •see, I f 0Un( i recorded in the daily paper* a case of 



would-be-suicide told the magis- 



mp f to prevent him from ■ (Joint* ' 



**£* *? uW ' do ' it— he could'nt help it ! ■ Faeilis descejisus 



WL-£ et * 11 advocates for the doctrine of ••philosophical 



•SS*! retd th * remark of this fatalist, and pause 'ere their 



^8 Principles become » fired." Nulla vestigia retrortum l 



Home Correspondence. 



Samnles of Seeds (Onions).— It is somewhat remark- 

 able that the anxiety for multiplying names of m Peas, 

 Lettuce, Cabbage," &c, should have extended itself so 

 little to Onions ; perhaps the paucity of names in this 

 case may be owing to so many of the large growers 

 raising their own seed, and the apathy of ordinary 

 buyers to new names for this important vegetable ; 

 for if we except the "White Spanish" appearing 

 under the names of " Reading and Portugal," and 

 the Strasburg and Deptford being sold as different, 

 I believe that little has really been done as respects 

 Onions that can be complained of. The Brown and 

 White Globe are evidently different from the above, 

 but the James's Keeping very much reseraWes the Stras- 

 burg ; while the Silver-skinned and Tripoli differ 

 too much from any other to be ranked in the same 

 family. But I suppose some will be asking which is the 

 best of the kinds mentioned. I unhesitatingly assert that 

 they are all good, when true ; and if 1 had to buy the 

 seed from an unknown party I would have a little 

 of each, and mix all together before sowing, 

 have so often seen a blank in a plot of Onions, 

 from one or more kinds not coming up rightly, 

 that I invariably mix all uncertain seed, the Silver- 

 skinned and Tripoli excepted. The latter I have 

 ceased to grow for some years, and I only gro 

 the former for pickling, and occasionally to stand th. 

 winter. Onion seed does not keep well longer than 

 one season, and old seed ought to be rejected if possible. 

 The best crops of Onions I have ever had were from 

 home grown seed. But I was once deceived in some I 

 had from a neighbour, which had been ripened on an 

 elevated situation and on very dry ground. This when 

 sown on rich garden soil, on a lower level prodaori 

 such an abundance of ■ thick necks that I could not 

 have believed the seed to have been genuine had I not 

 been an eye-witness to its being gathered and so*n 

 mention this as an instance in which an ar tide not 

 bearing out all that may be said about it, may be 

 excusable under certain circumstances ; *e ^tion, 

 in this case, being evidently caused by the opposite 

 kinds of soil on which the seed was sown to that on 

 which it was raised, and to show that home-grown seed 

 is not always the most successful, although it is usually 

 regarded as being so. One thing most people agree in, 



% .-. that Onions from home saved see J beep better than 



t seed. This opinion 1 can neither 

 confirm nor contradict, as it so often happens that long 

 before they can be fair! tested the kinds-- : nrv Vhm 

 Globes are said to keep worst, -hough they possess some 

 good points, and generally yield well ; the Blood -red 

 remarkable for its colour, but it is seldom productive. 

 Useful Onions might be classed into u large kinds,* 

 " late keepers" and " mild flavoured the first of these 

 includes the White and Brown Portugal, Spanish and 

 Reading the second, the Strasburg, James's Keeping,and 

 Old Deptford; and the Globes are said to be mild and 

 pleasant, and for all culinary purposes they furnish less 

 waste than any other kind. The very small space 

 to which the rootlets are attached is so much the less to 

 cut away ; and that hard useless substance, which in 

 some Onions extends to near the centre, is much smaller 

 in a <4 Globe" than in any other variety ; some of the 

 flat shaped sorts are notorious for the latter evil, and in 

 cutting it away a considerable part of what is useful is 

 of necessity removed with it Now this is an important 

 matter, and one which gives a globular or deep formed 

 Onion a decided advantage over a flat or compressed 

 one; if the admirers of the large Tripoli would only 

 consider the waste that attends cutting it up, they would 

 find it much less productive than they are aware of. 

 The Silver skinned is rarely grown for any purj>ose 

 except for pickling, so that if ssedsoMSI would reduce 

 the kinds of Onions to the three families as above, they 

 would save us the trouble of mixing them aft« Is. 



Onion seed, on the whole, is however tolerably true to 

 name ;" but I cannot praise much its freshness and 

 vitality, yet in that respect it is not worse than some 

 other things. An Old Qwrdener. 



Plant Tree Timber. — Have any of your readers had 

 experience in the use of Plane tr timber ! I am now 

 cutting some large trees of that kind, some of which 

 measure 14 feet in circumference. The wood appears 

 as hard as that of Oak. I am anxious to know what it 

 is most fit for; w heather durable in wet or dry places ; 

 whether, if used for flooring, insects are likely t o prey 

 upon it ; and whether it is a timber likely to ear or 

 warp. //. /J., Llandih. 



Vines in Pots.— I am surprised that Grape v e« are 

 not more extensively grown in pots than th* y are, for 

 they are easily managed, and bear abundantly ; they 

 can be trained round sticks or hoops, so as to o?cupy a 

 very small space ; and they could be grown by the 

 cottager as well as by the gentleman's gardener. They 

 would present a very ornamental appearance set about a 

 garden or lawn. Some might be removed early into the 

 house, to accelerate their "ripening, and others left out 

 till the last moment ; in this way successional crops of 

 this very beautiful and useful fruit might be obtained 

 during a great part of the year. J. R. 



Ivy on Exterior Walls. — The " Paper- b an irers' and 

 Upholsterers' Guide," may be right in considering Ivr 

 to be a protector from damp ; but a cireunietancewhieh 

 I shall mention, leads me to think otherwise, and rather 

 than select it "as, contrary to all trained fruit-bearing 

 trees for eradicating damp," it is the last thing that I 

 would employ for that purpose. There can be no doubt 

 that the close, overhanging, pendant leaves may carry off 

 rain, and while the plants are young no danger need be 

 apprehended ; but as they get old the roots penetrate the 

 walls, the lime becomes an entire mass of them, and 

 loses its action. The roots then become conductors of 





damp into the masonry, and the thick exterior cohering 

 of leaves keeping the sun from the walls prevents the 

 latter from ever becoming thoroughly dry. Being 

 employed some three years ago in making extensive 

 alterations in the ground-work here, more particularly 

 in levelling the kitchen garden, it became necessary to 

 remove an old tool-house, the whole of which was covered 

 with Ivy ; it stood on gravel in the highest part of the 

 grounds, the walls were built of stones, and about two 

 feet thick, the whole of the roof was in good condition 

 and perfectly dry, fires were lighted in rainy weather, 

 or when doing inside jobs in winter ; but, for sometime 

 previous to its removal, the walls were constantly damp 

 —so much so, that during frosty weather the ice was of 

 such thickness inside, that it could be removed in pieces, 

 and the only reason I could assign for this was -that 

 in demolishing it, I found the roots of the Ivy reaching 

 nearly through the wall in many places, and ramifying 

 in all directions. R. P., Fyvie, Aberdeen. 



Peas— Sly favourites are Prince Albert, Ulenam- 

 ning's Hero, Champion of England, and British Queen. 

 Scimetars are sown for house and common purposes. In 

 sowing Peas I first sow Prince Albert ; 2d Prince 

 Albert and Glendinning's Hero; 3d, Glendinnings 

 Hero and Champion of England ; 4th Champion of 

 England and British Queen; 5th, British Queen, a dish 

 of which 1 gathered on Sunday last. George Fry, **** 

 House Garde*, Lee, Kent, ^3 —The following are 

 the kinds I like best ; Prince Albert, Warwick, \\ ood- 

 &?M«ow (very fine), Knight's ; Tall i ^ I Dwarf 

 Marrows, and Glory of England. Alexander Matthew, 

 Moore Abbey, Monasterevan, Nov. 5th. 



Thr Weather.— On the night of Tuesday, the 4th inst., 

 this part of the country (Warrington), was visited by a 

 fall of snow, a fact in itself remarkable, as being an un- 

 usually early sign of the approach of winter ; but its 

 effects are the most extraordinary part of the matter. 

 When morning came it was found that that fall of snow, 

 though in some places barely sufficient to cover the 

 rrround, had done more damage than will easily be 

 conceived. Many a " brave old Oak," that had withstood 

 all the storms and raging elements of the last century, 

 han at length been shattered by the simplest of means. 



