164 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ August 31, 1871. 



garden, formed by the present proprietor in a branch of this 

 " happy valley." Among a collection of other trees and shrubs 

 it includes the Sikkim Ehododendrons received from Kew 

 through the kindness of the late Sir William Hooker. Many 

 of them are doing well. The strongest and most floriferons 

 are Thomsoni, niveum, and BlandfordJEeflorum ; the latter pro- 

 duces its gay and peculiar blossoms in the greatest profusion, 

 and the bushes of Thomsoni are gorgeous with their wax-like 

 liells of the richest crimson. Being seedling plants they vary 

 much, and several cannot be identified when compared with 

 Er. Hooker's exquisite drawings, or rather the plates from his 

 drawings. This year the beautiful yellow Ebododendron Wightii 

 flowered for the first time, but the blossoms were pure white ; 

 its foliage, however, is unmistakeable. Some of the more 

 tender sorts — Dalhousias.Edgworthii, Aucklandii.Falconevi, and 

 one or two others, will not endure the winter even at Combe 

 Eoyal. The Japanese Rhododendron Metternichii has borne 

 the severity of the two last winters well, as have five plants of 

 the Himalayan E. einnamomeum. The preceding winters have 

 proved fatal to many large specimens of the true E. arboreum, 

 two only having survived. The trunk of one of the defunct 

 •trees was measured recently, and found to be, a short distance 

 above the earth, 3 feet 1 inch in circumference. 



The recent proprietors of Combe Eoyal have been gardeners 

 as well. As far back as 1812 a practice of J. L. Luscombe, Esq., 

 Jor successfully raising cuttings of the Citrus genus was made 

 &nown to the Eoyal Hortienltural Society and approved by the 

 then President, T. A. Knight, Esq. The same Society awarded 

 him a Banksian medal for Oranges, Lemons, and Citrons 

 exhibited in the April of 1827. 



CHEMICAL POWERS OF THE SUNLIGHT. 



The facts stated in an article under this heading, quoted in 

 last week's Jouknal of Hoeticultuee, if correct, must be 

 erroneously attributed to the cause assigned. The author is 

 obviously very imperfectly acquainted with the results of 

 lecent research into the constitution and effects of light, the 

 influence of which upon vegetation has been the subject of 

 many experiments, and the particular action of the different 

 rays is now pretty well known. The various-coloured rays which 

 •compose white sunlight, as shown on analysis by the prism, 

 are generally classed as the red (including the ultra red), the 

 yellow, and the blue (including the violet and ultra violet) rays. 

 The principal effect of the last, or blue rays, is chemical, 

 actinic as it is termed, and chiefly influences the germination 

 of seed ; their iUuminating and heating powers are smallest, in- 

 stead of, as erroneously stated, their giving "the largest quantity 

 of solar heat." The yellow rays, which have the greatest illu- 

 minating power, influence the growth of the plant, the decom- 

 position of carbonic acid, and the formation of colouring matter. 

 The red rays, the heating power of which is the greatest, in- 

 fluence fruetiflcation mainly. 



As a ray of ordinary sunlight consists of rays of all the 

 colours of the spectrum, the effect of blue glass is in reality to 

 intercept the complementary rays — i.e., the yellow, red, and 

 ultra red, and it would consequently be more correct to say 

 that the sun cast a diminished portion of yellow and red rays 

 on every leaf in the grapery, instead of " east a beam of violet 

 light," as if the violet were an addition to instead of a com- 

 ponent of the ordinary ray. If, therefore, the effect of violet - 

 coloured glass shotild be to augment the growth of plants in 

 the extraordinary manner stated, it necessarily follows that 

 the influence of the other rays which are intercepted by the 

 glass— i.e., the yellow and red rays — is to diminish vegetation, 

 which is quite inconsistent with all experiment. 



These facts are perfectly well known to physicists and those 

 conversant with vegetable physiology. The chief practical 

 result in this direction of scientific investigation is the intro- 

 duction for conservatories of a glass coloured greenish by the 

 oxide of copper, which intercepts the excess of the red or heat- 

 ing rays. — Speoieoscopisi. 



The Oldest Eose Teee. — The oldest of all Eose bushes is 

 said to be one which is trained upon one side of the Cathedral 

 of Hildesheim, in Germany. The root is buried under the 

 orypt, below the choir. The stem is a foot thick, and half a 

 dozen branches nearly cover the eastern side of the church, 

 bearing countless flowers in summer. Its age is unknown, but 

 dooumenis exist which prove that the Bishop Hezilo, nearly a 



thousand years ago, protected it by a stone roof, which is still 

 extant. 



AUTUMNAL-FLO'WERING CEOCUSES. 

 Seeing the remarks of Mr. G. Abbey on these beautiful 

 autumnal plants, I was surprised at the small list he gives of 

 them. Among autumnal species I possess in addition to those 

 named by him, C. Borjii, white, September and October; 

 Pallasii, lilac, September and October ; medius, violet, October ; 

 cancellatus, vai: mazziaricns, white, October ; pnlchellus, pale 

 blue, October and November ; Scharajani, yellow, October and 

 November. This last-named beautiful and scarce species is 

 from Western Eussia, and will be some years before it become 

 plentiful. It is equal in beauty to the common large Dutch 

 yellow. I possess about twenty-seven true species of Crocus. — 

 Eeoe. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



We have received from Messrs. Carter & Co. eleven sorts 

 of Afkicaji and Fbench Maeigolds grown at their seed farms 

 in Essex. The Lemon and Orange African are remarkably fine 

 both in size and colour, and their names are truly descriptive 

 of their colours. Of the French Marigolds, Dunnett's Tall 

 Orange is rich-coloured, and very double. The Double Gold- 

 striped and Double Dark are also excellent varieties. 



Feoii a catalogue which wo have received we find that 



the extensive horticultural collection of H. Laueentius, of 

 Leipzig, is to come under the hammer. The sale is to com- 

 mence on Monday, September 11th, and will be continued to 

 October 1st. Herr Laurentius states that the cause of his part- 

 ing with his plants is a seemingly incurable aiSiction which 

 renders movement impossible, and after disposing of his new 

 importations he intends to give up his business. There are 

 4125 lots, consisting of stove and greenhouse plants of all kinds, 

 Ferns and other fine-foliaged plants, hardy ornamental trees 

 and shrubs (including numerous Conifers), fruit trees, &c. 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



kitchen gaeden. 

 Thanks to Mr. Mechi for proving on a large scale the advan- 

 tages which vegetables derive from the application of manure 

 in a liquid state. When once the sewage water of towns can 

 be brought economically to the surrounding lands and market 

 gardens, a great improvement both in the quantity and quality 

 of vegetables will be insured. In the meantime I wish to point 

 out that individual houses, however small, as well as towns, 

 have a sewage which, if conveyed to a tank, or to a similar 

 contrivance where a tank would be too costly, and into which 

 the dung of poultry and the smaller animals, soot, &c., which 

 can nearly always be obtained, could be thrown, a valuable 

 liquid compound would be obtained from a substance usua'ly 

 thrown away, and which when applied (diluted, of course, when 

 too strong) to growing crops in the kitchen garden, will produce 

 a marked effect on the produce. As a matter of course, when 

 the dung of pigs and other animals is added, the tank must be 

 on a corresponding scale, but the first object should be to con- 

 vert to a profitable end matters usually lost, leaving the bulkier 

 manures to be used when the liquid substitute cannot be so 

 well applied. I have noticed that liberal waterings of the above 

 are the best preventive of mildew in Peas and some other crops, 

 which at this season usually suffer from it, acting, as I pre- 

 sume, by inducing a vigorous and healthy growth, and thus 

 enabling the plants successfully to resist the attacks of disease. 

 Attend to seedling and newly planted crops with water, and 

 look over former directions as to bringing up any arrears which, 

 more or less, generally occur in busy seasons. Keep a sharp 

 eye on the larva or grub of a species of cockchafer, which at 

 this season does considerable injury to newly planted crops by 

 eating off their roots. Slices of Carrots may be stuck in the 

 ground, where the insects will attack them, and may be de- 

 stroyed. Take advantage of a dry day to earth-up Celery, which 

 operation must at all times be performed with care, holding the 

 leaves well together with the hand, so as to prevent the earth 

 getting into the centre of the plant. Sow the principal crop 

 of Cauliflowers for keeping over the winter. Sow also largely 

 the most approved sorts of Cabbage for standing over the winter 

 in nursery beds. Tie up both Endive and Lettuces to blanch. 

 Pay due attention to the crops of Onions. Let them be removed 

 from the soil as soon as they have ceased to grow, if left longer 



