~ 
524. IR 
GARDENERS' 
CHRONICLE. 
[OCTOBER 23, 1875, 
HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS, 1875. 
NOVEMBER. 
ro, — Royal Horticultural Society, South Kensington, Meeting 
of Fruit, pinay, te 
то and rr.— Bris m Show. 
15 and 16. -Loughborough аа. and Fruit Show. 
Sec., William Pallett, 55, Baxter m$ Lo н ны ugh. 
16 and 17. —— Borough of ue am pe © toke Newington) Chry- 
anthe epah seca i s Show A sf Viae Hall, Hackney. 
‘Sec Rainbow ; Lo don d, Clapton 
25. Royal Horticultural ] сну of ph Private Winter 
Exhibiti Sec., A. Balfe, 28, MET Row, Dublin, 
27. ныя. Hill р анат ural Soc annual exhibition 
of Chrysanthemums, Miscellànsbus Plants, and Fruit, 
THE 
Gardeners’ Chronicle, 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1875. 
APPOINTMENTS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK. 
MONDAY, Oct. 25 — Sale of Dutch Bulbs, at Stevens’ Roo 
Show of Fruit, &c., of the Hull, көе 
TUESDAY. Oct 25 and ы incolnshire Pomological Society 
+ 3 
(two days). 
Sale of Orchid, at Stevens’ Room: 
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 27 — Sale vi река le guest ra Stevens' Roo 
‘THURSDAY, Oct. 28 Mme of at Stevens' а. 
АҮ, Oct. 29 — Sale A Likums, at Stevens’ Rooms. 
SATURDAY, Oct. ae ot Dutch Bulbs, at Stevens’ Rooms. 
R the present day therè i isa à laudable бала 
os 
of our large towns, to make up in some measure 
for the hitherto se Hs caa of the 
CULTIVATION OF D SH in the 
available OPEN SP "un a бына vicinity 
of towns. That this is not alone essential to mere 
appearance but is also conduci 
is equally evident. So fa 
living, generally under praem of positive 
neglect, in the very heart of London and other 
places, where, if not surrounded by so many miles 
of buildings, eee are yet under more baneful 
influences. That soot alone, although decidedly 
injurious when We leaves become coated with 
gene 
it, and the capacity of these breathing organs | 
Take, for instance, the trees 
and shrubs in the squares of the metropolis. 
Their present state, compared with what might 
be accomplished were they better cared for, is 
a subject that has been so often urged in these 
columns that it possesses anything but the 
charm of novelty. True, within the last year 
or two there have been some few signs of a dis- 
position to shake off the lethargic indifference, 
that, if persist ted in, must ere long result in the 
inevitable destruction of such trees as still re- 
main, but which, if ed according to their 
requirements, might yet flourish. 
Londoners who visit Continental cities are 
loud in their praises of the condition in which 
they find the trees growing in every available 
space in these towns, and they console themselves 
as being superior to ours ; but, if this question 
is carefully studied in all its bearings, it will be 
seen that the climate of the large Continental 
towns, so far as regards the matter under con- 
sideration, is not so much more favourable than 
our own, as to account for the difference in the 
condition of the trees growing immediately 
within _ Undoubtedly i in. Southern climes 
need brighter sun, with an atmo- 
sphere much lees charged, with soot but 2 
adum pe eui aei вара 
ап айтама effect .their etas 
were 
noth idee t to assist Nature in the shape of 
volue s Watexiugo--inóre than is ever attempted 
| pied by beds, grass, and gravel 
op the trees growing in similar situations with 
s, Again, if with us they are subject to greater 
кет е ар of SN the much more frequent 
showers we get, even in our driest summers, 
directly tend to ddp the evil by washing 
off. 
There are three elements essential to the 
existence of vegetable life—suitable soil, light, 
and water ; if all or any of these are non- -existent 
nature of the soil in which they grow, provided 
t is not from the first exceptionally poor, or 
allowed afterwards to become exhausted. If 
light is deficient the leaves and sap can never 
attain the condition requisite to healthy exist- 
ence. Ifthe roots are short of water, the whole 
energies of the plant are at once paralysed, 
through the expenditure ba адра being in 
excess of the supply, causing premature decay 
and falling-off of the aver: before they have had 
time to fulfil their allotted functions. This 
latter is the principal cause of disease in town 
trees, at portion of the roots are situated 
under paved or hard-surfaced gravel walks, all 
but impervious to water; deep arterial and 
surface drains are ever at work drawing off the 
limited quantity of rain that is able to reach 
any portion of the soil, and next to nothing is 
done in the shape of artificial waterings to 
supply the deficiency. It is owing to this cause 
—insufficient moisture at the roots—more than 
to all others put together that trees in the 
London squares languish. 
The question might be asked of those who 
are the most directly interested in this matter, 
Is it not worth while to take means to remedy 
the evil? Surely no one will deny that hand- 
some trees in a flourishing state enhance the 
appearance of even the finest examples of 
architecture, and their presence is infinitely 
more in when the buildings that surround 
them e plainest possible character, to 
say vim. of the individual beauty of the trees 
themselves—the grateful shade and relief they 
b RT the miles of ge bricks and 
ment. Is the richest city in world so 
deficient in spirit on the part of dios most 
concerned as to allow the continuance of such a 
state of things? Were London an arid desert, 
where it was necessary to economise every drop 
of water to sustain ani life, the case would 
be different. What is required is, that through 
the dry periods of summer the soil everywhere, 
where it can be got at, including the space occu- 
walks, be regu- 
larly soaked, so as to keep it in a healthy, moist 
condition down as deep as the roots go. This 
is not an operation difficult to perform ; were it 
carried out it would not only Mer the ‘state of 
the trees, but it would make the cultivation of 
the shrubs and ordinary flowering plants that 
are now attempted to be grown amongst them 
something more ds a mere burlesque upon 
legitimate garden 
Another source e weakness to tree life in such 
ituations is the loss of Nature's recuperative 
process ; she returns to the earth what has been 
taken from it, by the medium of the decomposed 
leaves, which are allowed to remain where they 
fall, and ultimately to become incorporated with 
the soil, For appearance sake we remove these 
leaves, but the liberal dressings of several inches 
of manure which should in their stead be applied 
every winter are not always forthcoming, though 
d easily be supplied without using any 
that would be objectionable to the senses. What 
we have said applies more particularly to such 
trees and shrubs as already exist, Whatever is 
1 be 
me 
carried out with judgment, вд а атлант selec- 
tion of plants adapted to 
not by planting banks of КГ гаете packed 
together as closely as if ina railway truck for 
trans sit, a: instance, was do 
consider. 
able variety. There is no ты he a liberal 
use of Rhododendrons, if there is the means to 
replace them when needed with fresh plants, 
That ordinary flowering plants can be ian only 
induced to grow so as to make them a ractive, 
things in the Temple Gardens, and the beddiag 
plants on the Thames Embankment, which have 
this summer been little inferior to those grown 
in more favoured spots, though the surround- 
ings have not been so well kept. If nothing more 
were done in country places, in the preparation 
of the soil and subsequent attention to the 
trees and plants grown, than is usually to be 
seen in towns, where everything possible to _ 
insure success should be done, the result in the | 
former would be vastly behind what it is, 
To again revert to what is accomplished in 
Continental towns: it is the thorough prepara- - 
tion of the soil, proper selection of the subjects - 
as regards gardening of any rope | 
How soon will the squares follow suit? Perhaps | 
when those responsible are shamed into it by - 
the productions forthcoming from the occupants - 
о Ъа "e slums, who exhibit at the j 
City flower shows г 
If we Mir the Intertet of London and come 
to the outskirts—to the parks, here, so far as 
the ERR of the trees go, they are not by - 
v are often commented | upon. 
writers | 
their present condition, but: to any one possessing. 3 
a reasonable amount of practical knowledge on _ 
arboricultural matters, accompanied with ordi- - 
nary powers of observation, the principal cause _ 
ver attaining one-four 
proportions, or existing half ch length of time - d 
natural to their eme From the time ec 4 
these trees had bee 
years in the. positions My ЭВ, 
an a life and death nuts pese А: Fa a 
room, intensified year by year as time has a 
on, until now the whole have all but succumbed | | 
to the slow but certain effects of starvation | 
are amongst the worst examples we have ever 
met with of the fatal эы produced by à? r 
in room, as over the whole space 
y 
i 
us * 
fifty years been at least four times too 7 
admit of full individual development » 
the capacity of the ground they stan inge 
ct 
o 
one who take the жзне 45 
had more space for both roots and 
the trees are comparatively healthy, 
plenty of imme and have e 
e girth and of those that 
crowded on all dier in the interior se of the ares j 
