292 THE 
GARDENERS 
CHRONICLE. 
SEPTEMBER 25, 1875, 
species as ee allied to them as 
maybe. Not that 
this will be a certain and infallible guide, for I have 
by-and-bye show, that in some 
unequally suited to the sam 
icularly the case with the Conifere on the 
Still it is some guide, 
rh on a e, bold, атыу аа 
Be vi open valleys, all 
intheir Eier 
of 
Here Аа 
arge massive undulations jut out upon 
the plateau of a lower formation in the 
escarpm to the storm is com- 
plete, and where the action of the wind upon vege- 
tation is without mitiga peer The soil ш. these chalk 
s and downs is very uniform, a p 
loam immediately ойуу the pur 
and there on the highest hills and moet evite flats 
c 
o 
las] 
sd at one spot and 2 or 3 feet at aie 
E consists ping de^ ide. carbonate of lime 
E some silic: ina. It, there». 
fore, very im жере че: posco the mineral elements 
necessary for vegetable 
growth. 
The loam on chalk consists of carbonate of lime, 
country 
series of years, 
supply both of калыл, and phosphates. ] „НА 
uj bee is, therefore, a fair supporter of 
to trees in blocks or masses, it 
Ai es. о trench the land, and this hs pon 
s4 es 
o 
as 
T peram ing ic that trees reguire a deep 
soil for et то pine t this is an entire fallacy as 
regards the 
deep poor one th 
n be made in trenching land 
ар, 1 is to throw up a barren sub- 
soil, m the better elements beneath it, "This 
is particularly th ds. 
"That trees of very large size will p upon the ve 
thin soil may rendered eviden F > Mos 
travels through the chalk cuttings _ че southern rail- 
ways. In t places the soil 6 inches deep 
above the 
is no 
and yet splendid trees, especially 
Beeches, are seen clothing the 
But the most remarkable demonstration of the 
occurrence of large tree growth upon the thinnest top 
soil is shown by geological par Any one who 
will | ip, the les рар 
Baa 
cy as On à hap, Y are seen 
Bag tage icd “Dirt Вей”) not more 
rd IO or 12 acd 
Та the winter of 1870-71 I planted some chalk land 
varied collection of trees and shrubs, I took every- 
thing that came to hand that was pene 
endrons Lice dodi 
+ 
their allies, 
mi As to all the rest, it was а on eran speculation 
In the autumn of 1870 I had the land, ums was 
to be planted. horoughly trenched : then subse- 
quently I karak an important lesson in tli dealing 
with this kind of soil. 
Trenching. э trenching chalk land, such as I 
am ref: о, the trench should be carried to the 
bottom of the his, but no further, 
doge vi JE: 
a at 
bottom of the trench; but there it 
of 
airea e - 
rst trenching on wy groeid wi Dey. belt of 
and shrubs.  Irrespectively of the soil at the 
price locality, the foreman m sn 
feet deep, the top-soil being only 8 or 10 inches 
A" at that part. When I first inspected progress, 
my dismay I found 60 yards of the belt of land as 
hol 
pte snow ; the e of e oam had been 
buried and covered over with more than a foot of 
fine powdered chalk! I ыйкы itk my man, 
b ad a ready answer—‘‘ Oh, sir, it is just as it 
hould be: the roots will go down and find the soil 
$ his is the comm lacy—that roots 
inevitably go down for their food. So wedded was 
he man to his sub- that he t, for 
s and bos tay hot owe thin 
y. of s 
land has been a region of vegetable yrei E death 
and barrenness ; while the € of th 
pees has been a complete su 
If any of my editions are going to Te plant upon € 
land = uring be coming winter, let me advise them 
trench the land at once, so as to expose the soil to ne 
weather till planting time, but remember — Don’t 
throw up the chalk 
re communications I intend to enumerate— 
that have best succeeded on 
snakes may a pendent to the interesting 
chapter y the nature ot these re iced ЭГЕ" has lately 
appear he Заа eners EA ee may be 
doubted clie 
with so Meng pei x 
акк is regarded 
dislike. as “that of the reptiles in 
g snakes in particular. con 
tempt, ità may be doubted whether any ex Kad 
more forcible Aes that of '* reptile, ora **most 
un ” which, wi 
unmitigated ы 
remember 88, was опе of the inating а 
heaped by the editor of the Zatanswill Gazet 
the manager of the ,Eatanswill Independent ; hs a 
“snake in the grass ” is a familiar of a treacherous 
fi It is from sees hat the Jesuits have learnt 
that dreadful habit of ‘* gliding” which they possess 
so frequently—in books, if nee ien ae and readers 
of Lothair will remember nt-like mode 
is 
x dese ly shown 
when he attributes 
T M by" whose name is so 
ioca А, in the one атая of that 
, ingratitude is typified not 
oily 35 pom ‘but i in popular mne by the viper 
cherished in the bosom which turns upon i e- 
factor. Nor is this e aeria of the serpent 
when we consider how e 
it has exercised upon the destinies of mankind—tha 
if we may take the book of as an authority 
At any та 
be willing to admit that the biblical narrative of 
the ‘fold serpent” and the curse pronounced upon 
him accounts in a measure for the natural 
This first came under my notice in 
Se pre when a mine who had a 
be careful, - а-нда ат not die 
етт ойм no, not if you was to cut it in стаи 
Since then I have found that the same asi 
current in OS 
Mdhampenshire, and other counties ; but in Corn- 
wall it is said tha: this rule is. broken if the serpent 
be Merck with an jw pu as it then dies imme- 
- ee Аа nS the Ash tree is 
ies б ing. iny says at a serpent 
rather leap into the fire than rest under its shadow, 
t of my | 
| set in cups, dishes, knife-handles 
for the table. » They were also jason he “tongues | 
aul." 
time yon не leavi 
and that if a circle be drawn round it with an 
rod the reptile cannot escape; a Me Dotion is 
current is Devonshire and Cornwa а. 
their holes before nightfa and hence may haye 
arisen the mh s hanging their dead bodies upon 
the branches o 
nother akas "belief regarding serpents 18 that 
they cannot live in certain localities. Ireland wil] at 
one as an instance of a 
there, is to 
however, that that part of the legend which sibus 
their absence to the good offices o 
t 
i 
sents the dispersion 
of evil by the Christianity preached by the saint, | 
That ‘‘there ar sn in Ireland” has almost | 
passed into a proverb, but it may not be so generally | 
known M is equally destitute of them, and 
that fo: ason similar t t which accounts for 
and ; wi 
have been brought from Sicily have died almost | 
immediately upon their arrival. The fossil common 
known asa ''shark's toot - gomme referred to in |. 
old MSS. as //ngua serpenti In inventory of | 
goods belonging to Robert Holgate; à Archbishop of | 
York, we find, *' Item, a —— tongue set ina | 
standard of silver, gilt a ven. !>>44in 
days,” says a co a aT of Notes and 
** few pilgrims returned from the East without ч | 
ing at least per of these — stones. Being prin 
cip found in Mal was said they were t1 | 
of St. 
The — in the absence of snakes from parti 
пень 
ales n v Y 
E ee both undoubtedly occur in that coun T | 
es = doubt fene: in some of the localities thus | 
ated w „Тһе Isle of Thane (on 
NA very od authority), D ester in Oxfordshire, Bad f 
n Glouce an Irchinfield in Н Н 
shire, sey Bletchington in nee may be met - 
tioned as places in whic are said to be | 
unknown. = in his bate History ef poi 
has the following e in reference to the. - 
1 y :—'' At Blechington je 
amed 
believed that a snake brought from Ee other pl x 
tantl «Вы Іш 
my snake in the court ind. 
pte the Lord emm * 
ing the андарт 
who. found E indeed, after three 
weeks’ p dead, without sensible c 
varie 
general characte: 
ет cold m кр ipi as see, xb 
No ould pass by me." zi 
While in ЕЕ it runs :— | 
H s ld h 1 slows [2 Pj ore 
UN the man nor beast would ever be free.” 
In both of these couplets we may trace a coincidence - 
or connection with = in the book of Pales 
! " 
In dep pep 
you see it isa sign t you iumph Over г 
enemies. ma нара dir у ыты 
is regarded 
unty as a preserve. | 
pite ; and if hung over "e manic 
