July 28, 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



89 



WEBBS' SEEDS 



From Mr. F. Harrison, Gar- 

 dener to the Right Hon. the Earl 

 of Derby: — "Webbs' Emperor 

 Cabbage was grown side by side 

 with four other kinds, and was 

 considered to be the best of the 

 lot. It is a grand Cabbage." 



WEBBS' EMPEROR CABBAGE, 



6d. aud Is. per packet ; 18. 6d- per ounce. 



EARLY NONPAREIL CABBAGE 8d. per ounce. 



ENFIELD MARKET CABBAGE 6d. ,, 



EARLY RAINHAM CABBAGE 8d. ,. 



RED DUTCH or PICKLING CABBAGE ... 8d 



ONION. PerpkU P T3: 



WEBBS' RED GLOBE TRIPOLI 6d. 1 



LARGE FLAT RED TRIPOLI 6d. 9 



GIANT ROCCA 6d. 1 



WHITE LISBON 6 



Free by Post or Rail. 



Seedsmen by Royal Warrants to ELM, the Queen 

 and H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, 



WORDSLEY, STOURBRIDGE. 



SEEDLING PLANTS 



OF CHOICE 



FLORISTS' FLOWERS. 



WE HAVE MUCH PLEASURE 

 in offering the following in strong, healthy, trans- 

 planted young stuff, from our superb strains of Choice Florists' 



Flowers. Free and Safe by Post at Prices quoted. 



Per dozen. — s. d. 

 AURICULAS, Alpine, very choice, strong young plants, 



for blooming next season 2 6 



CALCEOLARIAS, herbaceous, splendid strain of beauti- 

 fully spotted and tingi'd flowers 2 6 



CARNATIONS and PICOTEES, from choice named 



flowers per 100, 10s. 6d. 1 6 



CARNATIONS, vellow ground varieties 3 6 



CINERARIA hvbrida, from a grand strain, per 100. 10s. 6rf. 1 6 



„ large flowered, dwarf, very fine, per 100, 17s. Gd. 2 6 



HOLLYHOCKS. Chater's superb double, per 100, 16s. 2 fi 



,. Chater's superb double, extra strong plants ... 3 6 



PRIMULA sinensis, choicest red or white. per 100, 10s. 6rf. 1 6 



s, splendid mixed, including nearly 20 superb 



rieties per 100, 10s. Gd. 1 6 



H9, splendid mixed, extra strong plants. 



per 100, 16s. 2 6 



>i-> alba magnifies, splendid pure white ... 3 6 



,, sinensis, Crimson King, magnificent colour ... 3 6 



,, sinensis. Fern-leaved, chou'« j mixed, per 100, 10s. Gd. 1 6 

 ,, sinensis, double- flowered, mixed, limited quantity, 



6 for 2s. 3 6 



PRIMULAS, double, pur.- white, splendid for furnishing an 



abundance of cut bloom throughout, the autumn ami 



winter. Well rooted strong young plants from 3-inch 



pots, per 100, 45s. ; per dozen, 6s. ; 3 for 1*. 9tf. 



DANIELS BROS. 



TOWN CLOSE NURSERIES, 



NORWICH. 



ROSES IN POTS; 



mil the best New and Old English and Foreign 



sorts, from 18s. to 36s. per dozen. 



Descriptive List free on application. 



RICHARD SMITH & CO, 



Nurserymen and Seed Merchants, 



WORCESTER. 



EAST LOTHIAN INTERMEDIATE STOCKS. 



THOMAS METHVEN and SONS 

 offer their choice strain of the above, in five varieties, 

 viz.. Scarlet, Purple, White, Crimson, and White Wall-leaved, 

 at Is., 2s. Gd., and 5*. each colour. Price to the Trade on 

 application. 



By Royal Warrant, Nurserymen and Seedsmen to the Queen, 

 Edinburgh. 



QA f){)(\ CLEMATIS, in Pots, of all the 



OV/}\/V/V/ finest Double and Single Varieties (some 

 of the flowers of which become 10 inches across, and are of 

 every shade, from pure white to the darkest purple), for 

 climbing and bedding, from 12s. to 24s. per dozen, strong 

 plants; extra strong plants, repotted into 5^-inch pots, 2s. 6a. 

 each ; Beauty of Worcester, a magnificent purple, excellent for 

 bedding, recently sent out by us, reduced price 2s. Gd. each. 

 Descriptive LIST on application.— RICHARD SMITH AND CO., 

 Nurserymen and Seed Merchants, Worcester. 



NOTICE 



TO THE 



HORTICULTURAL TRADE. 



TTAVING for some years past, owing to the 

 particular nature of my business as a 

 Horticultural Agent, recognised to the fullest 

 extent the absolute importance of securing speedy 

 transit and quick delivery, in the case of all 

 plants sent from the Continent to England and 

 vice versa : and having myself suffered great in- 

 convenience, annoyance, and loss from causes 

 which could easily have been avoided, had the 

 shippers entrusted with plants possessed any 

 practical knowledge of their nature and require- 

 ments, I beg to inform you that, my business 

 with the Continent having become so extensive, 

 I am now obliged, in self defence, to take up the 

 business of a 



SHIPPING AND FORWARDING AGENT. 



• I am so well aware of the serious consequences 

 of a few hours frost in the case of plants left on 

 the wharf for a night — as frequently happens — 

 and which by a little care in warehousing can be 

 easily avoided, to the great benefit of sender and 

 buyer, that I have determined in future to give 

 all such details my closest personal attention, and 

 beg you to recognise the advantages which will 

 thus be gained by your shipping all your con- 

 signments to this country through me. 



I have secured admirable premises for this 

 branch of my business at 12, Cooper's Row, 

 Crutched Friars, London, E.G., and with the 

 available accommodation at the various wharves 

 for the proper and prompt warehousing of the 

 most tender plants, am in a position to assure you 

 that I possess every facility for conducting the 

 business in a manner that I am sure will give 

 satisfaction to those who may favour me with 

 their patronage and support. 



WILLIAM DENMAN, 



7, Catherine Street, Covent Garden, 

 London, W.C. 



The Business will be carried on under the style of 



DENMAN & CO., 



HORTICULTURAL, SHIPPING, AND 

 FORWARDING AGENTS, 



12, COOPER'S ROW, CRUTCHED FRIARS, 



LONDON, E.C. 

 TELEQRAMS-OLEKMA, LONDON. 



Now ready. In cloth, lis. 6d. 

 PHE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE, 



I Vol. lit.. Third Series, JAN. to JUNE, 1888. 



W. RICHARDS. 41. Wellington Street. Strand. W.O. 



NEW EDITION, 

 Corrected up to Date, 



THE COTTAGER'S CALENDAR 



of 



GARDEN OPERATIONS. 



Price 3d., Post-free %J. 



W. RICHARDS, 41, Wellington Street, Strand, 



London, W.C. 



SATURDAY, JULY 28, 1888. 



THE CHEMISTRY OF VEGETA- 

 TION, IN REFERENCE TO THE 

 GROWTH OF THE POTATO. 



A N old writer on the art of violin playing 

 -*-*- commences his treatise with the remark 

 that all men may be divided into two classes — 

 those who play the violin and those who do not. 

 His mind was for the time concentrated on one 

 subject. I have for some while past been think- 

 ing so much about the process of the formation 

 of tubers and their management by cultivators, 

 that for the time I have come almost to re- 

 garding men as divisible into two classes — Potato 

 cultivators aud Potato consumers. A cultivator 

 may or may not be also a consumer, but he 

 mainly cultivates for others. For myself, I come 

 in the division " consumer." 



Composition ok the Tubers ; — Starch, &c. 

 Potatos are eaten and cultivated for table 

 because they contain starch. Such, at least, is 

 the accepted view of their value in a dietary. 

 Most people know that tubers are said to " con- 

 sist of " starch granules, and nearly every one is 

 familiar with the pictures of granules from 

 Potatos, from Wheat, &c, magnified so many 

 diameters. We know that Potato granules are 

 shown as 0'185 mm. in diameter, Wheat 

 0.050 mm., Sago 0'070 mm., and so on. Also 

 that they are very pretty objects for the polari- 

 scope — that at 160° C. starch is converted into 

 dextrine — that the granules are insoluble in cold 

 water, alcohol, and ether, but that when heated 

 in water to between 70° and 72° C. they split 

 and form a paste, from which, after boiling and 

 the addition of alcohol, there is precipitated a 

 white amorphous powder of soluble starch. 



All this is very interesting information, but 

 it does not much help to answer the question, 

 How is a tuber formed ? — still less the practical 

 question, To what extent has the cultivator any 

 control over the formation of tubers in relation to 

 the amount of starch they contain? Even the state- 

 ment that Potato tubers consist of starch granules. 



