804 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



last thecause^Tthe heating apparatus having been 



n fully weignea, a veraici is given m «« 

 d iome other cause of mischief has to 



fairly 1 



having 

 favour; an 



be sought. 



Then comes the grand discovery that the Vines 

 must be poisoned. It must be something in the 

 soil, or in the water ; and as the analysis of soil and 

 water is a mystery which passes ordinary compre- 

 hension, or as the water that is blamed can no 

 longer be brought up for trial, suspicion rests upon 

 it, and the soil is pronounced to have been the 



criminal. 

 It seems never to have occurred to those who have 



the misfortune to suffer from these accidents, 



that more things exist in nature than are dreamt of 



in their philosophy ; or that a tertium quid remains 



un inquired about. Least of all seems dryness likely 



to afford a solution of the puzzle. What ! dryness in 



a house, the floors of which are watered, and the 



walls syringed, and which reeks like a vapour bath 



whenever a cold draught finds its way in. Dryness ! 



when a man in spectacles can't see an inch beyond 



his nose ! Such a suggestion seems to be the most 



absurd of absurdities. Nevertheless we believe that 



in the majority of the cases to which these remarks 



apply, dryness, and nothing else, is at the bottom of 



the mischief. 



If we were to remind a gardener that it 



_ .. is 



of little use to pour water into a tub with a hole in 

 the bottom, for that in a few minutes the tub willl 

 be as dry as if it had received no water at all, he 

 would probably admit the truth of the observation, 

 although he might not have much respect for its 

 profundity. But if we say that the more you heat 

 and damp a Vinery the drier it will become, he will 

 lend a less ready acquiescence ; and yet, under cer- 

 tain circumstances, the one assertion is as true as 

 the other. 



In the late Professor Daniell's excellent memoir 

 on climate, in the " Transactions of the Horticultural 

 Society," the danger to plants in a damp heated 

 atmosphere of a sudden depression of the external 

 temperature, was first pointed out to gardeners. We 

 allknowthatifa piece of cold glass is introduced 

 into a warm damp room, moisture, in the form of 

 dew, is immediately formed upon the glass. Now 

 this moisture previously existed in the form of elastic 

 vapour; and the dew that forms on the glass is 

 at the expense of the vapour surrounding it ; so 

 that if a cubic body of such vapour be represented 

 by 1000, and 250 parts of it be P abstracted b^l '* 

 cipitation or condensation, upon the cold glass it 

 is clear that there will be only 750 parts left /in 

 other words, the air will be one-quarter drier after 

 the introduction of the cold glass than it was 

 before Now, if we suppose that this abstrac- 

 t on of vapour were carried to its utmost limits 

 it is evident that the end will be the total diW f 

 the air, in consequence of the condensation of all its 

 vapour on the surface of cold glass. 



The Vine leaf, when young, will not bear *n 

 atmosphere the degree of saturation of which k 



wm\ b t^ 80a f i the saturation foils to 500, 



Jill be dried up and perish. Now, observe what 

 Prof. Daniel, says, « The heat of the glass of a hot ' 

 house at night cannot exceed the mean of the external 

 internal air and taking these at 8V>Td \7i 



that time they were nice bushy plants. As soon 

 as the weather permitted, I then turned them into 

 the open borders, where the soil was not over rich, 

 choosing as dry a place as possible, and I took no 

 further notice of them till the end of September, when 

 they began to show their flower buds. I then prepared 

 the same soil for them as before, and carefully lifted 

 them into suitable pots, according to their size, keeping 

 them in a close pit for a few days, and syringing them 

 every evening till they recovered from the check they 

 had received, giving air by degrees, till they could be 

 fully exposed. I then placed them in a shady situation 

 until they were housed, which was when the other green- 

 house plants were taken in-doors. I cut back two-year- 

 old plants as soon as they have done flowering, reducing 

 the ball when they commence growing ; I afterwards 

 shift them as they require it, .subjecting them exactly 

 to the same treatment as young plants. I find that two- 

 year-old plants bloom more freely than young plants, 

 but the flowers are not so large. 



Under the above treatment this is found to be a most 

 desirable plant, and it amply repays the trouble expended 

 on it, blooming freely from November till February. I 

 have many times treated Salvia splendens in the same 

 way, and it has continued gay in the conservatory 

 through the winter months. W. J. Ward, Prospect-hill, 

 Reading. 



to replace those destroyed. 



i 



20 



cannot 



ejjfc, 



garden situated in the centre?* ^ K°« £? ; 

 the design. Now y OU are t£Z£? : an <l CS 





planted in them. There 



exceeding 5 2 n 8° r ' T 'J**** ° f sat ^°n no? 

 exceeding 528. To this, in a nl^r „j„m .__ 



this, 



of saturation 

 clear 



*nich the glass is particularly exposed wWb 

 221 2*2? l he «£»*» to 7 434! P a nd d ihiI hlCh 



— * Whei 

 at night of 20' 



must 



is a 

 ver 



FOREIGN GARDEN GLEANINGS. 



(Lisbon.) 



Two years ago I sent you a few observations on the 

 Lisbon and Cintra gardens (see Vol. for 1849, page 405). 

 The following is a letter I have received, giving 

 some account of the appearance of these gardens in the 

 early spring of this year. Dodman. 



^ " March 24.— I have not forgotten my promise cf 

 giving you some account of Lisbon gardens and flowers. 

 I have only delayed doing so because this has been a 

 most disappointing winter to me, who saw Lisbon from 

 October, 1848, to February, 1849, during which time 

 its gardens were never without flowers, and I cannot 

 remember riding out without seeing scarlet and pink 

 Geraniums and Heliotropes fringing and hanging down 

 from the tops of tall walls that enclosed terraced gardens, 

 and occasionally the great bells of the Datura waving' 

 above them. In January, large Barbadoes Aloes thrust 

 their crooked flower stems in all directions from among 

 these ; and great bunches of the golden tree Sedum, 

 with its bright green tabular-shaped masses of leaves^ 

 relieved the monotony of the red and green line. In 

 the gardens of the British embassy the dense foliage of 

 the Belleassombre, the waving graceful Bamboo, the 

 shining leavesof the Azorian Jessamine and Alegrocampi 

 in the bright sunshine, cheated you into the belief that 

 summer was hardly at an end. The warmth was sufficient 

 in Lisbon, though not in Buenos Ayres, to enable you to 



h V lT vL re - 5 Ti i UriDg the seven months I Vnt 

 there so little ram fell that, in the spring, the flocks were 



dying for want of water. Four seasons "of drought have 

 sadly changed the beauty of these gardens ; during the 

 last summer scarcely any rain fell at all, and so cold a 

 winter as this last has scarcely ever been felt. Mvimnres- 

 sions on returning here are very different from those 



visited between Belem and the mouth of the river had 



tn^i ed + r Ch fr rJ r ° St ' and more *»» 50 had been 

 killed ; these probably were unhealthy trees or in too 



forward a state ; the situation being in a mo S £jW 

 « Th7nuW erent f f° m J'" Wa ?" er ^ imate neaf LiS 



ttp£& ami 6 g^men £!*„! S 

 mmble-fingered gentry exercise their professTon /n the 



Zt • ^^ ^^ iS nearl >- desola *> especklh nee 

 been' S^ 8 ? * " e&ch end > those * the Asides Kg 

 H?™ il -f , S 1° P Up an agreeable thoroughfare half 

 through its length. When I first came herl/on each 





plants; and at the rapid rate , iw and « 

 grow here, it may be hoped their ochrM ■'" Si 

 overcome. The parterres are JornS ^^ 



er yesterday \ £ 8 *J 



although fresh green leaves^ werfalT £ " >S 

 lyptus, Mimosas, Poinsettia, and th TiT* : E 2 

 Fuchsias are planted here- the ll g6 '*«** 

 with different kinds of edgings • Thrift ** ?"** 

 tiny Pinks also in flower, I^ff* B S 

 der with a serrated leaf, Polvanftii, i^f' r Ul * 

 this last forms the most beautiM SfS; 

 There were thousands of flowers open V A ** 

 when they were closed even the dark *-**"?>'* 

 leaves, and its close habit of growW £?• ^ '* 

 plan t for the purpose. S g ' Kake ]t a P«tty 



" The whole of the beds were gav »M Pntn 

 Ranunculus, scarlet and yellow colour Til ?* 

 some Gladiolus, Stocks, Verbenas of SrZf % 

 Toad Flax, Larkspur, di fferent varieties of C&S2 

 Anemones, white Petunias ; white and vm> \> t ™**> 

 Calla, with other plants, fringed ftewateSS 

 work The beauty, however, of the garden at the mom^' 



I -i7 . 'r, the ^ er T g r f n <> f Acacias mixed .ithtS 

 br.ll.ant lilac of the Judas tree ; this latter is atw 



that flourishes especially in this country ; it grows' I 

 fast as the Elm, and seems to attain almost the sum 

 size : the Elm is not, however, a very large tree in this 

 country. It appears to grow in any situation, as vow 

 ones have been planted among and under the rows i 

 trees in this garden ; and though all are planted thicker 

 than I think right for avenues of trees, they seem to 

 flourish well. I have also seen trees sheltered «d 

 shaded of the Judas cut down to about 7 feet from the 

 ground, when of a large size, throw up a single shoot 

 from the top of the ring of bark, and soon form a good 

 head. The tendency here to flower is so great that 

 some of the trees in one of the public walks haTe the 

 branches, and even part of the stem, covered with 

 masses of bloom. This garden, though not carefuBj 

 cultivated, employs several people, on account of the 

 labour required, even atthis season, in watering, whea 

 the sun is so strong that one is glad to retire once more 

 under the trees. Then you observe that these side 

 alleys are in part separated from the main walk became, 

 between every two trees, there is a thick tall Box hedge; 

 and you are astonished, by finding, that not only trees 

 are easily reared under other trees, but that rouad 

 great Elms, Poplars, Acacias, rings of brilliant Virginian 

 Stock are in flower, and that the white Florentine Iris. 

 the scarlet Geranium, Oxalis Braziliensis (?), and other 

 plants, flower and flourish, there being in fact plenty of 

 light. Near the end of the shaded walks, on each side, 

 are tall hedges of Box, arranged so as to form an oval 

 space, with four openings ; against each Box segment 

 of the oval a handsome stone seat is placed. The centre 

 walk terminates in a large fountain placed in three 

 arches against a wall ; in the middle one is some ngly 

 black rockwork, more covered with weeds than plants; 



hkh 



ic „„ * """' a temperature 



is no very unfrequent occurrence in 



the atmosphere S n rr oundin?v V° ^ ln8tead of 

 to 7 or 8 parts in in ^K-f ? m l kaves amounting 



may not SSiS to' mor^haf^ ttt - *** ? 

 fatal to them And Zi" 9 ln 1( V w ™ch is 



and moisture the Vine fe« ^ atmos P her e °* heat 

 drought. And that thln-^i 30 . 11131 ^ die of 



is a frequent thoth ^J^^f 7 ha p nS ' and 

 tender foliage near IT P r CaUSe of ln J ul T to 



manner of doubt a gla§S roof ' we Certain" no 



the onlv one worth noticing, and belonging to the siti 

 tion, being Adiantum Capillus- Veneris, with whi 

 formerly every fountain, or dropping well, or waer- 

 course in the environs of Lisbon abounded, but ot iw 

 it has been so much gathered for the manufacture ■ 

 capilaire for the coffee-houses, that it threatens » 

 become extinct. You know how it grows near unn». 

 formerly there were more Box hedges bet^ 

 side the gate, as vou ent'ererf thZ™'" c ,ll ' re ' cn each I the trees in these walks, and it is a pity hey «e 

 garden, divided hi the pl/nl 71* prett ^ 8ma11 destroyed : a garden full of these hedges is the dgj 

 (not edgings) of Box from Te S "^^V hedges teristic of the Portuguese style of gardening. B«Mg 

 thick sLll EC ^r fo taTtl a l!i b i^ e . d ., b ? ^escribed them well ; befng in this case ^ 



in the space between two trees, and tnen a > -t te 

 between the two next, thev did not interrupt W F * & 

 from alley to alley. 



Tnr jr. FUCHSIA SERRATIFOLIA 

 ahis hems a favourite nf «»• t 



Bend yon mj method o^ cultS, T f^** *° 

 J«ary seaso,? (when anyth S*T2 om '• V*S* 

 1 find it one of the savest «m. * ' S des,ra tle), 

 ?e^tory. At the preset i\Z i IT ° f the Con - 

 >n 11-mch pots, a complete mats iff 6 man y P la "ts 

 f ;out six 1.,,; l^S^Tr ? >!r r ' .« « h ?°ts 



after 



. -&- «ci-e struck earlv 



being potted off, they were ^e 



with ,l, TO te and U , ;■ ,h.™ e ^Te7o„ y„„ „„ 

 however, I never saw nlav R,,^ i„* i . n wn,c «j 



SrnhS, h,5 M b «° P^'ed mth tees, and for two 



garden was in October, 1348 P y 1S httle 



"The whoje garden site is a parallelogram of which vo„ 

 may judge the size from Knizht's Man of Ttd J ?" 

 some distance, but round £ Tcircukr bal I tL At 

 four seats segments of circles, backed by Box hT"' 



and before th^ i«f rt \~ six other walks. 



garden, when onYe fh/i ■ e " d t0 the othe ^ of «he 

 of these tree" Ba^J^LT ****** " Udor shelte r 

 -es have been 2?^ ftj Z^J^^ 





ween 





Home Correspondence. 



New Strawberries.— When I ventured to eH ^ 

 opinion upon the merits of Mr. Cutlnllso 13 ■ 

 and Kitley's Goliath Strawberries, I W.rTji 

 encounter some little opposition to my vie t0 jg 

 merits. But I confess that I did not exp ^ 

 honoured with a challenge from Mr. lvltleJ ' er tf I 

 ceiving that so large and excellent a .§1 f or this 

 believe him to be (in a locality so pre-emm en ^ 

 fruit), would select a person who only grows r,* 

 consumption (and who consequently hf bl £ % {^i 

 tively limited space of ground to select ^j^ii 

 antagonist. Truth is oiten unpalateable, a ^ ^. 

 may be so on this occasion ; but still I l»» ve ^jjtd 

 tion in saying that neither of these k, " ds „ h 5U bjectw 

 the expectation I had formed of them, al f ou = Option I 

 to the most liberal culture. Mr. K. takes e r ^ 

 my expression "insipid;" and he is ng« »> hat v0 ti, 

 that it was indefinite ; but I "ill substituted ^ 1 



that it did not prove high flavoured ™ th ^j (1 j it ; 

 to say that it is not a fine large kind, 1 siio ^^ 

 justice ; but every one who tasted them ^ r 

 preferred the British Queen. Mr. Kitle} ^ g t 



testimonials ; I refer him to the Journal « 

 cultural Society of London, where, at p. & * 



he 







