Septembek 22, 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHBONICLE. 



335 



which it is attributed, or is there any means of 

 lessening the loss '! W. T. B. 



DEATH OF TREES.— All round this neighbourhood, 

 and in my own garden, there has been a curious 

 fatality among Mountain Ash trees of from five to 

 twenty years planting ; the trees after setting the 

 berries have in a few days withered up entirely, while 

 like neighbouring trees are in full health. This fatality 

 has extended to the Silver Birches, also causing 

 serious gaps in rows of trees. Have you any similar 

 complaints from any other quarters [yes], and what 

 can account for it in any way ? 11" T. B. [We shall 

 be glad of further information. Ed.] 



LONG-LIVED CUCUMBERS.— Whilst at Belton 

 Park, Grantham, recently, I was somewhat surprised 

 to see a fine house of Cucumbers planted last August 

 bearing fruit as freely as any spring-planted one 

 could do. This is by no means a common occurrence ; 



allowed to become stagnant by overwatering, failure 

 is inevitable, while if kept too dry the result is 

 equally bad. C. Collins. 



TEA ROSE HOMER. — There are few Tree Roses 

 so hardy and enduring as this, for, without the 

 slightest protection, it stands year after year, and 

 does not suffer from frost except that, now and 

 then, during severe winters, a few of the soft 

 shoots killed get back at the tips. We have a 

 plant here in the school garden that has stood 

 out for over ten years, and which is a large bush, 

 standing from G to 7 feet high, and as much 

 through. This plant never has any other pruning 

 than what it gets from having some of its flowers 

 cut, and the quantity of these it annually bears is 

 surprising. Many of the blooms were deformed. 

 This is characteristic of Homer, but as every one 

 knows, who is acquainted with this useful old Rose, 

 the half-expanded blooms, when they are perfect, 



Fig. 4.3. — pextapeka Sicdla : flowers pale pink, (see p. 334.) 



in fact, gardeners often find a difficulty in keeping 

 Cucumber plants in healthy condition throughout 

 the winter. The plants referred to grew in a border 

 3 feet wide, 12 or 15 feet long, and about 2 feet deep ; 

 thus it is obvious that winter Cucumbers are not 

 always best when their roots are cramped for room — 

 notwithstanding that such is the method usually 

 adopted. They were, I was informed, raised from 

 seed sown in the usual manner about the end of July 

 last year, and planted in the borders, which were well 

 drained, towards the end of August. No extra 

 attention has been bestowed on them beyond an 

 occasional top-dressing with good loam and manure, 

 and a good soaking with liquid manure when making 

 growth and in full bearing. Undoubtedly the secret 

 of such an achievement as this is in keeping the 

 plant healthy, and this can only be done by a free 

 use of the syringe and judicious use of the watering- 

 pot. During the winter the greatest attention must 

 be paid to the latter point, for if the growth be 



are most charming. It is, I think, a great mistake, 

 where numbers of flowers are required, to prune in 

 the way many do, and especially so with Teas, as 

 when plants are left to themselves they soon form 

 fine heads and a rich harvest of bloom. J. S. 



ASPARAGUS TENUISSIMUS — I noticed that Mr. 

 Smee has sent you a spray with flowers, and you add 

 that you do not remember to have seen it in flower 

 before. I should like to state that I have a plant 

 which has bloomed two or three times a year for 

 several seasons past, and is now in bloom. It has 

 produced seed, and I have been successful in rearing 

 plants from it which are now about 1 foot high, 

 very bushy, and make nice plants for the table. 

 The parent plant is growing on a trellis, 3 feet wide 

 by 4 feet high ; in habit it is very thick, and sends 

 out young shoots, some of which are now about 

 8 feet long, although it is in a cool conservatory. 

 E. Cha&wick, Hanger Hill House, Ealing, W. 



A LARGE IRISH YEW TRANSPLANTED.— I have 

 succeeded in removing at Little Kimble, Bucking- 

 hamshire, a specimen of the above species about 50 

 feet in height, and 24 paces in circumference. The 

 diameter of the stem at the ground level is 2 feet 9 

 inches. Another tree which I have also transplanted 

 is an Arbor-vita? whose stem is 2 feet in diameter. 

 The Yew it is calculated is about 300 years old. J. 

 Robinson, St. Mary's Square, Aylesbury. [Will our 

 correspondent kindly say where these trees are to be 

 seen ? Ed.] 



THE "WEATHER PLANT."— When scanning the 

 columns of a daily paper lately, my eye chanced 

 to alight on the following interesting paragraph : — 



" The Weathek Plant. — That remarkable speci- 

 men of the vegetable world, the ' weather plant,' 

 continues, says a Vienna correspondent, to excite 

 considerable interest there. Men of science who, on 

 its first discovery, were unwilling to express an 

 opinion on its prognosticating virtues, now agree, 

 after extensive experiments, that the shrub is, in 

 truth prophetic. Thirty-two thousand trials made 

 during the last three years tend to prove its infalli- 

 bility. The plant itself is a Legume, commonly 

 called the ' Paternoster Pea,' but known in botany as 

 the ' Abrus peruginus.' It is a native of Corsica 

 and Tunis. Its leaf and twig strongly resemble 

 those of the Acacia. The more delicate leaves of its 

 upper branches foretell the state of the weather 

 forty-eight hours in advance, while its lower and 

 hardier leaves indicate all atmospheric changes three 

 days beforehand. The indications consist in a change 

 in the position of the leaves and in the rise and fall 

 of the twigs and branchlets." 



This paragraph seems to have created a desire on 

 the part of some people to possess such a wonderful 

 plant, as numerous applications ior seeds of Abrus 

 peregrinus have been made to Kew. There can be no 

 doubt but that the correspondent of the paper mis- 

 took the word " precatorius " for " peregrinus," and 

 adopted the latter word on the probability of its 

 being the correct one. In the Gartenflora for Sep- 

 tember 1, 18S8, there is an article bearing on this 

 subject, entitled, " Abrus precatorius, eine Wetter- 

 pflanze," of which I have made the following transla- 

 tion : — "In the spring catalogue of a firm now 

 established at Prague is the figure of a plant of the 

 Mimosa tribe, known as the ' weather plant,' and 

 offered at a high price. This plant not only fore- 

 tells the state of the weather two days beforehand in 

 its immediate vicinity, but also for some miles round, 

 and is even able to predict the approach of earth- 

 quakes. A young man named J. Novak, in a country 

 nursery in Bohemia, received the seeds, he said, 

 from a sailor. In the summer he took a plant 

 to Vienna, but not being able to find a place 

 where he might leave it for observation, took 

 it back with him. At the last meeting of the 

 Imperial Horticultural Society, he exhibited it, when 

 the Emperor saw it, and purchased two plants. 

 Later on, it was shown at a trades' exhibition, when 

 its properties and peculiarities, confirmed by some 

 burgomasters and similar officials, were commended 

 to the public. A good plant, capable of indicating 

 all kinds of weather and temperature, was priced at 

 140 marks (nearly £7), including the case in which it 

 was grown, and a pamphlet containing instructions 

 worth about 10 kreuzer (about ljA), at 1 gulden 

 (about Is. 8d.). No one there knew what the plant 

 was. And what was it after all ? Simply nothing 

 but an old aquaintance in the form of Abrus preca- 

 torius, the movements of whose leaves at morning, 

 noon, and night, have been known for a century, 

 and whose seeds scarcely cost a farthing, but are 

 sold by the firm for 5 florins each. We do not at 

 all doubt that the heat of the atmosphere and 

 moisture may exercise an influence on the leaf move- 

 ments of this plant, but to try and interpret such 

 minute changes into weather predictions is probably 

 only on a level with the slight botanical knowledge 

 with which the discoverer of this little deception is 

 endowed. Gardeners here can obtain a plant for 

 about 50 kreuzern (less than Is.), but will consider it a 

 treasure scarcely worth possessing, as it requires great 

 heat for its cultivation. Besides, the plant has 

 become remarkable quite recently, as it increases the 

 number of poisonous Leguminosa; already known. 

 Its brilliant shining scarlet seeds with black spots, 

 which are used for necklaces and rosaries, contain a 

 virulent poison, which one understands is used for 

 killing in India." J. Weathers, Royal Gardens, Kcw. 



WRINKLED PEAS. — It seems very probable that 

 the cold wet weather in addition to materially in- 

 ducing much of the later bloom on wrinkled Marrow 



