208 



THE GARDENEBS' CHRONICLE. 



[August 25, 1888. 



of the atomic weight of all the atoms in it. Thus 

 carbon dioxide molecule has twice 16 for 0, that is 

 32, and one 12 for C. That makes 44. 



Gay-Lussac and Berzelius. 



It is to Gav-Lussac, already mentioned, that we 

 have to turn for the earliest successful attempts to 

 bring chemistry to bear on elucidating the composi- 

 tion of plants. In conjunction with Thenard, on 

 January 15, 1810, he communicated a paper* to the 

 Institute on the analysis of fixed organic compounds. 

 Their method was to get the carbon to unite with 

 oxygen in the form of carbonic acid ; the hydrogen 

 to unite with oxygen to form water. Their difficulty 

 was to find a means of collecting the results and to 

 find a suitable agent to supply the oxygen. They 

 collected over a mercury trough, and for a supply of 

 oxygen they employed " muriate suroxygene de 

 potasse," which we now call potassium chlorate (some 

 call it chlorate of potass). All the chlorates readily 

 give up oxygen on heating, and potassium chlorate 

 is a very convenient form. They had to devise their 

 apparatus, of which they appear not a little proud, as 

 they speak of the especial merit of the tap they in- 

 vented. With this they analysed sugar, gum, starch, 

 &c. The paper is one of interest, for to the present 

 day the carbon in analyses is estimated as carbonic 

 acid and the hydrogen as water.t The object is to 

 ascertain the weight of carbonic acid and of water 

 obtained. As the relative proportion of carbon to 

 oxygen in carbonic acid and of hydrogen to oxygen 

 in water is known, the actual weight of carbon and 

 hydrogen given off is obtained by calculation. Now, 

 though the same principle is followed, a totally 

 different apparatus is used ; either the " combustion 

 tube " of Liebig or some modification of it. Their 

 results are given in percentages. 



It was a question at that time whether the 

 laws of multiple proportion held good with 

 regard to the composition of animal and vege- 

 table bodies. Berzelius energetically took this 

 subject up. Plants and animals were called or- 

 ganised bodies, and the study of their chemistry 

 came to be called organic chemistry. Berzelius in 

 1814 much improved the methods for its study. He 

 was the first to give, among other things, the com- 

 position of starch, not as Gay-Lussac, and Thenard, 

 and others had done in percentages, but in 

 a formula. His earliest published result was 

 Cjj, H ls , 12 , figures which, however, were modified. 

 W. 8. M. 



(To be continued.) 



VEGETABLE PKODUCTS IN 

 VERA CRUZ. 



The growth of Tobacco in the State of Vera Cruz 

 is said to he increasing considerably, the present 

 production amounting to nearly 6,000,000 lb. per 

 annum, and the average cost being about 5^d. per 

 pound. About 23 per cent, is exported to foreign 

 countries, and of this export somewhat less than 

 half is of manufactured tobacco, and comes chiefly 

 to England, the remainder is consumed in the 

 Republic. For the highest quality of Tobacco as 

 much as 10s. &d. per 100 leaves has been obtained, 

 but this quality is very scarce. Notwithstanding its 

 primitive method of cultivation, Vera Cruz Tobacco 



* Journal de Physique, 1810, vol. lxx., pp. 257—266, re- 

 printed in An. de Chemie. lxxiv., pp. 47 — 64. 



t The following very simple experiment, that can be made 

 ■without special apparatus, is instructive for those who have 

 not had a chemical training. It needs only a clean plate and a 

 damp cloth with a candle, lamp, or gas-jet. Leaving impuri- 

 ties out of consideration, the gas supplied toour houses is hydro- 

 gen and hydrogen in combination with carbon. Paraffins and 

 oils for lamps are liquid combinations of carbon and hydrogen. 

 Candles are also combinations in solid form of carbon and 

 hydrogen. The phenomenon of combustion in each case is 

 similar. The carbon unites with the oxygen of the air and 

 forms carbonic acid. The hydrogen unites with the oxygen 

 and forms water which passes away as invisible vapour, the 

 temperature being high from combustion. But if a plate kept 

 cool with a damp cloth on it be held close over the flame the 

 water becomes visible in di ops. The fact of carbon (freed from 

 its combination with hydrogen) being present can be seen by 

 holding the plate near the top of the blue part of the flame. 



is obtaining— -and deservedly — a rapidly increasing 

 reputation, and the tobacco manufacturers of this 

 part are increasing the size of their factories and the 

 number of their operatives, and paying greater atten- 

 tion to the selection and the sorting of the leaves, 

 and are, in fact, producing a very superior article 

 to the Vera Cruz cigar of two years ago, or evenoflast 

 year. This improvement in the manufacture will, of 

 course, increase the market, and also give great 

 encouragement to the planter ; bat what is chiefly 

 wanted is capital, combined with the better cultiva- 

 tion which is so necessary, but so difficult to obtain, 

 in the present financial condition of the majority of 

 planters. 



Vanilla. 



The Vanilla bean grows wild in the cantons of 

 Misantla and Papantla, and it is also cultivated 

 there in a primitive manner by the Indians. It is 

 prepared for market by the cultivators and collectors, 

 and often before it is quite ripe. This is espe- 

 cially the case with the wild Vanilla, one family 

 taking it early lest another family should get it 

 when quite ripe for harvest. The systematic and 

 rational cultivation of Vanilla in the cantons just 

 mentioned would certainly be a remunerative busi- 

 ness. At present the quantity produced is about 

 8000 mils (i.e., 1000 pods), worth about £3 to £3 10s. 

 per mil. 



Fruits. 



The fruits of the State of Vera Cruz are of great 

 variety, and grow in such abundance as to be 

 exceedingly cheap. The production of Pine-apples 

 is about 500,000 per annum ; they are grown in 

 fields, and their local value is about Id. to l^d. 

 apiece. Plantains are a fruit universally consumed, 

 and over 10,000 per annum are actually harvested ; 

 their local value is less than Id. per 10 lb. 



Pita Fibre. 

 This fibrous plant grows wild in Vera Cruz, and 

 can be cultivated with very little care. Its fibre 

 sometimes measures 3 yards long, and is very silky 

 in appearance ; but unfortunately its preparation for 

 market is at present difficult and expensive. The 

 State Government is, however, about to offer a large 

 reward for a machine to reduce Pita to a marketable 

 state without injuring its beautiful fibre, and without 

 making its cost of production too high, having regard 

 to its market value. It is most probable that such a 

 machine will be produced, and if so, Pita will 

 become, undoubtedly, the first article of produce and 

 export of this State. 



Trees and Shrubs. 



ABIES MAGNIFICA (PICE A OF GARDENS). 

 We have received from Sir John Walrond a cone 

 of this species with the following interesting 

 details : — "Two plants were bought twenty-seven years 

 ago, both under the name of Picea nobilis, but they 

 differed so greatly one from the other in habit that 

 it was suspected that one of them might prove to 

 be magnifica. The difference in habit consisted in 

 this — 1st. That all^the lower branches of the possible 

 magnifica died back, leaving a bare trunk for about 

 one-third of its height, the leader remaining healthy, 

 while all the nobilis remain feathered to the 

 ground. [Whether this is a specific or merely an 

 individual character remains to be seen.] 2nd. The 

 possible magnifica never produced a cone, while 

 much younger plants of nobilis cone freely. The 

 supposed magnifica has coned at Bradfield for the 

 first time this year." The cone obligingly sent by 

 Sir John Walrond is undoubtedly that of A. mag- 

 nifica ; it is a thick, oblong, blunt cone, golden- 

 brown in colour, and with the bracts concealed 

 within the scale, as shown in Gardeners' Chronicle, 

 June 12, 1875. The young bark is covered with a 

 rufous pubescence. The upturned leaves are four- 

 sided, and not grooved. The leaves of magnifica, 

 seen from the under surface of the shoot, are much 

 curved, with the convexity downwards. 



In A. nobilis the leaves are broader, flatter, dis- 

 tinctly grooved on the upper surface, and not so 

 strongly curved as in magnifica. The cones also are 

 more tapering and glorious in their golden-bronze 

 bracts reflected over the purple scales. 



A. magnifica is later before starting into growth 

 in spring than is A. nobilis. 



The very beautiful but puzzling cone sent to 

 us from the Cranston Nursery some year or two 

 ago, must not be overlooked. Its leaves are more 

 like those of magnifica, being either not grooved at 

 all or only grooved at the base. The projecting 

 bracts are like those of nobilis, but not reflected, 

 while the general shape of the cone is that of 

 magnifica. 



Measurements of Conifers — Bradfield, 1887. 





Planted. 



Height. 







Ft. In. 



Sequoia gigantea (Wellmgtouia) ... 



1855 



54 



Abies lasiocarpa (Lowii) 



About 1857 



63 1 



„ Nordmanniana 



About 1857 



50 



, , cephalonica 



About 1857 



52 9 



,, grandis 



1876 



45 



„ nobilis 



About 1857 

 About 1855 



49 



,, magnifica 



About 1860 



43 3 



„ grandis 



About 1858 



53 9 



Picea Menziesii 



About 1857 



57 3 



,, orientalis 



(?) 



43 10 



Cupressus Lawsoniana 



About 1860 



36 9 



Thuia gigantea (Lobbii) 



About 1859 



45 10 



J. w. 













PLAGIANTHUS LYALLI. 



This is a Malvaceous shrub, or low tree, occurring 

 on the mountains of New Zealand, deciduous above 

 3000 feet, but evergreen below that level. The leaves 

 are shortly stalked, from 2 — 4 inches long, ovate, 

 cordate, acuminate, deeply crenate, glabrous above, 

 covered with white stellate down beneath. The 

 flowers are placed at the ends of short axillary 

 stalks, are white in colour, and each about three- 

 quarters of an inch across. The botanical history of 

 the species is given in Sir Joseph Hooker's Hand- 

 book of the Hew Zealand Flora (1867), p. 30, a 

 coloured illustration being also given in the Flora of 

 New Zealand, i., 31, t. 11. For garden purposes, the 

 illustration at fig. 24, p. 209, will suffice to show what 

 a beautiful shrub it is. The specimen from which 

 our figure was taken waB obligingly supplied by W. 

 E. Gumbleton, Esq., of Belgrove, Queenstown, near 

 Cork. It is hardy in Southern Ireland, but is worth 

 shelter in colder spots. 



HAKDY FLO WEEING PLANTS. 



Arum dracunculus. — A very showy and attrac- 

 tive hardy Arad is this species, said to have been 

 introduced to our gardens from Southern Europe 

 more than 300 years ago, and yet how strange it 

 seems that we do not meet with it more frequently 

 in private collections than we do, considering its 

 hardy character, freedom in flowering, and easy cul- 

 ture, which facts must be taken as my excuse for 

 drawing attention to it in your columns at the pre- 

 sent time. To those of your readers who are 

 interested in the cultivation of hardy perennial 

 plants, and who have not as yet made its acquaint- 

 ance, a brief description may be acceptable, and may 

 approximately be stated thus : — Rootstock tuberous, 

 stems erect, leafy, densely spotted or blotched with 

 green and grey — hence the popular name, 

 Dragon plant — 2 to 3 feet high. Leaves palmately 

 or pedately divided on long stalks, divided into seven 

 to ten linear-lanceolate, undulate segments, 3 — 6 

 inches long, with dark green shining surface. The 

 greatest point of attraction, however, will be found to 

 centre in the spathe or coloured bract, the inner sur- 

 face of which is of a deep chocolate or brownish- 

 purple, from 8 to 12 inches long, 6 inches wide at its 

 broadest part, obliquely campanulate in shape, tapering 



