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COLEUS BLUMEI, Bnth. 


THE 


AND 


moh IOUT URAL JOU RNa. 


A MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF 


HORTICULTURE, AGRICULTURE, BOTANY, 


AGRICUTURAL CHEMISTRY, ENTOMOLOGY, &o. 


a 
EDITED BY 


H.C, BRANSON. 


VOLUME IIT. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

CRISSY & MARKLEY, PRINTERS, GOLDSMITHS HALL, LIBRARK. STREET. 
Be ee Pris 

1854. es 


a le 


INDEX. 


Page. 
Acanthaceous Plants, = - - 258 
Agricultural Rociety, Sugoi) 235,239 
Ailanthus, = - - 123 


American Pomological Society, 7, 122,875 
Anemone, the - "129 


Apples, - - - - - 25 
Break bala 210) “ou mec tonite 
Aphelandra Leopoldi, = - - 257 
“ Culture, - - 258 
Aralia Papyrifera, - - - 161 
Arbutus Menziesii, - - - 42 
Artificial fecundation of flowers, 65 
Asparagus, - - - . 376 
Achimenes picta,  - - - 22:7 
fiigilops, transformation into wheat, 233 
Aeration and Ventilation, - 250 
oe Fair, State, - - 239 
rs as Penna., 236 

Gs Education, - - 78 
American Pomological Society, 375 
American Vinegrowers’ Association, 240 


Akebia quinata, - tis iSO 


Balsamina latifolia alba, - : 61 
Barking Apple Tree, - - 13 
Berberis Darwinil, - - . 328 
Belt’s Hybrid Walnut, - - 25 
Begonia xanthina, - - . 183 
«< Prestoniensis, - : 33 
=~ Odorata, - - - 43 
«¢ Lapeyrousei, - - 326 
Beurre Clairgeau Pear, - - 26 
Bignonia venusta, - - - 46 
Birds around dwellings, - - 110 
Blackberries, - - - . 27 
Botanical glossary, - - . jig! 
Botanical thoughts on the Strawberry 
question, - : - - 264 
Bourbon Rose, a new, - - 176 
Bouvardia leiantha, - - 7 
Buel’s favorite, apple, - - 25 
Buchanan’s Grape culture, - 127 
Cassin’s Illustrations, - - 239 
Calendar of operations, 15, 49, 85, 116 
Castanea ehryeopiy ss - - 42 
Cattle Show, - - - 239 
Calyptraria Lnoniadiiet - - 828 
Cestrum aurantiacum, - - 
“«  Regeli, - - - 363 
Cereus giganteus, - - - 156 
= ‘Thurberi, - - - 159 


“  Macdonaldiae,_ - - 327 


Page. 

Ceratostema grandiflorum, - O89 
Cincinnati Hort. Society, - 243 
Cider apple trees, - - - 18 
Cissus discolor, : - 97, 182, 347 
Cleanliness in gardening, - - 139 
Clianthus puniceus variegatus, - 327 
Climate of the Crimea, - - 372 
Coleus Blumei, - - - 1, 183, 847 
Coniferce of California & Oregon, 41 
Cowslips, the - - - - 71 
Cuphea platycentra, - - 76 
Crystal Palace at Sydenham, - 4 
Cypress deciduous, - - - 32 
Cypripedium insigne, — - - 91 
ao venustum, - - Od 
Darlingtonia californica, - - 38 
Delphiniums, perennial, - - 232 
Dendrobium Sanguinolentum, - 43 
Dianthus, the genus, — - . 33 
Dioscorea japonica, . - 201 
Distribution of food planes, - 216 
Dipladenia crassinoda, = - ° 183 
Draining, - - - - 15 
Dwarf Pears, - - - - 244 
Epacris Carmtoniensis, - - 43 
Eriocnema aenea, - - 183, 528 
Erythrina magna rosea, - - 43 
Effect of frost on plants, - oO7 
Flax, new variety of, - - 156 
Foreign patronage, - = - 137, 176 
Franciscea, the genus, - - 124 
Fuchsia Souvenir de la Reine, 327 
Frost on plants, - ~ - - oo7 
Garrya elliptica,  - - - 42 
General Taylor Pear, - - 22 
Gesnera Donckelaariana, - - 327 
Gerardiana, - - 292 

& Zebrina,  - - - 298 
Glazed flowerpots, - - - 292 
Grape culture, - - - 16 
u as Buchanan’s,_— - 127 
Graperies, mildew in - - 290 
“> ela - - - O14 
Habrothamnus aurantiacus = - 358 
Hand book of ornamental trees, dL 
Healthiness of roots, - - Oot 
Hoo sung, - - - 248 
= enon us| Society, in sola 243 


Ki Mass., 151, 317 


uf sh Pittsburgh, 


284 


iV 


Page. 

Horticultural Society of Maryland, 348 
nC ae Penna., 21, 62 92, 
120, 145, 185, 22.1, 390 


Hoya bella, - - - 228 
Horticultural reveiw, Westerns 95 
Hydrangea japonica variegata, - 328 
Job which don’t pay,a_ - 47 


Journal of the U. 8. Avante 
Society,  - - - - 48 
[ndigenous plants, - - - 108 


Leidy’s, Dr., Flora and Fauna within 


living animals, - - - 371 
Lasiandra splendens, - - 325 
Libocedrus decurrens, — - - 4] 
Luculia gratissima, - - d47 


Massachussetts Hort. Society, 151, 517 
Magnolia propagation & cultivation of 198 


Maryland Hort. Society, - - 348 
Medinilla magnifica, . 1538, 160 
Mildew in graperies, - - 192 
af vine, - - - 212 
Motion of sap in plants, - - 237 
Paulownia imperialis, = - - 132 
oa General Taylor, = - - 22 
Niles, - - - 23 


ef Beurre Clairgeau, - 26 
RE Dwarf, - - - 244 
c Reading, : - - 65 
i pruning & winter dressing, 11 
ee The time to gather, - 3389 
Peach tree, cultivation of, - 321 
Pelargonium, the - - - 260 
i culture of - - 325 
Petunia, the - - - - 98 
Perennial Delphiniums, - 232 
Philesia buxifoha, - - O27 
Philadelphia Society for pearing 
Agriculture, —- - 121, 142, 315 
Pine apples, culture of  - - 44 
Pink, culture of the - - 33 
Planting trees and shrubs, - 334 
Pleroma Kunthianum,— - - 324 
“ elegans, - - 43, 356 
Plectranthus concolor pictus, iL 
Polyanthus, - - - - (el 
Polygala, the genus, - - 230 
Pomological Society, 112, 272, 375 
Potato, has it degenerated: ? =! 18 (6S 
ae nt, the - - - 183 
: substitute fr - 201 
Primrose, the - - - - 71 
Propagation of trees, - - 179 


INDEX, 


Page. 

Pruning pear trees, - - - 11 
ce grape vines, = - - 368 
Prof. Haldeman’s lecture, - 78 
Portulacca alba striata,  - - 363 
Queries for Botanists, = - - 231 
Reading pear, - 65 


Reflections on the simile oe Boe 102 


Re-production of plants by seeds, 28 
Relation of soils and plants, — - 300 
Rhododendron Ctsse. F. Visart, 321 
Rondeletia speciosa, - - - 183 
Rosedale, a visit to - - - 152 
Rose, the - - - - 253 
Roses from cuttings, - - 155 
Rose, Beauty of Greenmount, - 348 
Salmon berry, the - - - 62 
Sale of Mrs. Lawrence’s plants, 141 
Sap in plants, motion of - - 237 

Of «freezing of - - 35 
Siphocampylos coccineus, - 188 
Solanum verrucosum, = - . 188 
State Fair, Penna., - - - 503 

Ke (New Yorks - 348 


LEN a8) question, 96, 28, 53, 126, 186 
« botanical thoughts on 264 


66 culture, - - 17, 49, 843 
Symmetry of vegetation, - - 206 
Sulphate of copper in wood, - 331 
Stephanotis floribundus, - - 364 
Transplanting, - - 47, 177 
Tropaecolums, - - - - 70 
Tulip, - - - - - 198 


Thoughts on the cultivation of fruits 


and flowers, - - - 365 
Tree violets, - - - - 304 
Ventilation, - - 250 


Verbena Souvenir oe dy C. Hanson, 225 


«© = pot culture of = - - 225 
Vegetable physiology, 266, 294, 328 
Vernal grass, sweet scented, - 209 


Vitality of seeds, - = 8 


Vine mildew, - - - - 212 

is dissease, - - - - 259 
Violets, Tree, - - - - BISE 3 
Walnut, Belt’s hybrid, - 25 
Water apple, - - - - 62 
Watering by trenching, - - 248 
Wheat, the origin of - - 134 

“from Adgilops, - 169, 233 
Will farming pay? - - - 82 
Wood, duration of - 2 2 ae 
Wellingtonia gigantea, - - 361 


THE FLORIST 
AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 


COLEUS BLUMETI. 
Labiate § Ocimoidee, Benru. — Didynamia—Gymnospermia., 
CHARACT. GENER.—*“ Calyx ovato-campanulatus, fructifer declinatus v. 


reflexus, rarius suberectus, fawce intus nuda v. hispida, 5-dentatus v. bilabiatus, 
dente supremo ovato, membranaceo, marginibus rarius decurrentibus, inferioribus 
angustioribus, omnibus acutis v. lateralibus ovato-truncatis, 2 infimis sepe inter 
se connatis. Corod/a tubo exserto declinato, decurvo v. sepius defracto, fauce 
inflata v. equali, /imo bilabiato, labio superiore abbreviato obtuse 5-4-fido, infer- 
lore integro, elongato, concavo, sepius cymbiformi genitalia involvente. Scamina 
4, Filamenta edentula basi in tuoum stylum vaginantum connexa. Stylus apice 
subulatus, equaliter bifidus. JVwcule subrotundo-compresse.”’ 

“Herbe annucé v. basi perennantes, rarius frutices verticillastra sexflora v. 
sepius multiflora, nunc densissima, nunc laxa, cymbiformia, pedunculo communi 
utriusque cyme ramisve utringue binis plus minus elongatis. Folia floralia 
bracteeformia, ante anthesin ad apicem recemorum plusminus comosa, per anthesin 
decidua v. rarius subpersistentia reflexa. — Species plereque asiatice, perpauce 
africane,’’ leves 

“© Coleus, Louretr. Fl. Cochinch. 

“© Ocimi sp. L. et aucrt. 

“© Plectranthi sp. Br. et auct. 

“ Solenostemon, Scuumacu. Pl. Guin. — Bentu. in DC. Prod. XI. 70. 

CHARACT. SPECIF. —*C. foliis ovatis acuminatis grosse obtuse serratis basis 
acutis et integerrimis utringue puberulis, verticillastris distinctis, pedicellis race- 
mosis secundis, calycis hirsuti labio irferiore trifido lacinia intermedia longiore 
semibifida.”? Benrua. | 

Coleus Blumei, Benth. Lab. p. 56. et in DC. Prodr. XI, 73. 

Plectranthus scutellarioides, Buume Bijdr. p. 857 non Br. Vulgo: Djawer kot- 
tok burrum, fide.... 

Djewer kottok mirha, fide Blume. 


Variegated plants are now “the fashion” in Europe. We have them this 
year by the dozen, Begonias, Hoyas, Niphceas, the Cissus discolor and the 
subject of our present plate the Coleus Blumei, known in English gardens 
as Plectranthus concolor pictus. 

" 


It is a native of Java and was introduced from that Island to Tolland in 
1851 by Mr. Willink, an amateur of Amsterdam. Our plate was drawn 
] JANUARY. 


* 


PAS Re. 
te 


2 : THE FLORIST AND 


from nature in the establishment of M. Van Houtte of Ghent. Dr. Plan- 
chon, the editor of the Flore des Serres, remarks in his notice of it that 
*‘ natural variation and especially the mixture of reddish tints with the ver- 
dure of the foliage is a common thing among the genera of the Labiatz 
having large and thick leaves, of which different Lamiwm, Mints, Gilechoma, 
the Perilla of China and other kindred plants are instances.” A glance at 
the plate will satisfy every one that this is a valuable introduction, and one 
which will prove an ornament to our houses whether in bloom or not. 


HISTORY AND CULTIVATION. 


I have heard that in some parts of Germany it is not of unfrequent oc- 
currence that when a man is convicted of “treason against his sovéreign lord 
the King,” those over loyal subjects of ‘his majesty,’’ who may chance to 
bear the same name as the blighted patriot petition for a change’ of name. 
This spurning of the unfortunate seems to obtain under the rule of even 
‘“‘Plora.’” Certain it is, that when a new candidate with substantial claims 
to beauty or interest, is brought to our notice, it often comes with a new 
name entirely, and a few of some adjoining genera—too good to be left in 
doubtful company, are invited as associates with it. The present genus 
Coleus affords us a good illustration of this. Few would expect to find our 
old friend and acquaintance Plectranthus fruticosus—the “nettle geranium,” 
the favored tenant of the cracked teapots and bottomless jugs of the 
frugal “gudewives” of European laborers, in such a respectable connection, 
yet so it is; “such is the fate of ’’—botany. 


The only valuable variety in cultivation amongst a score, after forty years 
classification with them it was removed by Loudon to his new genus Coleus; 
and now that such a respectable representative of the family has been ob- 
tained, it may probably bear out the usual rule of family relationship, and 
emerge with it from the obscurity in which the last few years have placed it. 
It will afford us, probably some practical observations on the culture of our 
present subject, in the absence of positive acquaintance with it. The C 
FSruticosus is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and loves a warm and arid 
situation ; as a window plant it is fitted with great powers of endurance., [ 
have seen it in the most crowded alleys of smoke dried cities, healthy, where 
nothing else would grow without a Wardian Case. It might do well with us 
as a border flower. It blooms from June to' October, and is readily raised 
from cuttings, requiring the protection of a greenhouse in winter. 


A PHILADELPHIA GARDENER. 


’ 
HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. ! 3 


CESTRUM AURANTIACUM. 


This is one of the most valuable winter flowering plants we have, coming 
into bloom at a season when flowers are scarce, and lasting in perfection for 
a considerable time if judiciously managed. But a great many people are 
under the impression that the Cestrum is a hot house plant, and treat it ae- 
cordingly ; which is an error, it being truly a green house plant, and if treat- 
ed as such will give far more satisfaction, at least in flower three times as 
long, and retain its lower leaves much better, which adds greatly to the 
beauty of the plant. When in flower it should be kept in as dry an atmos- 
phere as possible, as the flowers are very impatient of moisture; when any 
‘of the flowers show signs of decay they should be taken off at once, or they 
will spoil those next to them, and ultimately the whole truss is destroyed, 
thus shortening the flowering season considerably. This is one of those plants 
which looks well when elevated on the stage a little above its. compan- 
ions; I do not know of any position which suits it better than when set 
up on the stage of a green house, with its pendulous trusses of orange 
coloured flowers looking down on a choiee collection of Liliputian Chrysan- 
themums. 

There are many fine collections of green house plants which do not con- 
tain this winter flowering beauty; the want of it may be attributed in many 
cases to the owners believing that such a plant would not flourish in a green 
house, but 1 can say that they should lose no time in adding it to their col- 
lection, should it be ever so choice, and they will not be disappointed. 


It is of very easy culture, growing freely in a composition of turfy loam, 
well rotted cow manure and sand well mixed togethcr ; it strikes root very 
easily from cuttings of either old or young wood; but this is not often ne- 
cessary, after a few plants at the first start. In this respect it differs great- 
ly from other plants which have to be raised yearly from cuttings, for the — 
older the plant gets the better specimen it makes, and every shoot will have 
a truss of flowers; at least that is the way with mine. When growing from 
a cutting it is best to give plenty of pot room in the early stage of its 
growth; first shift it into a six inch pot and as soon as the roots touch the 
side of the pot, shift at once into a twelve inch, which is large enough for 
the first season and capable of growing a very nice plant if well attended to. 
In summer plunge in some open airy situation where it will have the full rays 
of the sun, at the same time taking care that the roots be well supplied with 
water,—using the syringe freely night and morning during dry weather to 
keep up a fresh and luxuriant growth. Attention must be paid to topping 
the young shoots as they grow, to make them branch out and likewise to 
keep the plant in shape, as there is no use of props, for every branch sup- 


4 THE FLORIST AND 


ports itself. After the pot is well filled with roots and the flowering shootg 
appear, the application of liquid manure once or twice a week is of great ser 


YUY 


vice. When housed particular care must be taken not to let the roots geg 


too dry, or the flower buds are sure to drop off. The only insect which ape - 


pears to attack this plant is the greenfly, but this is easily destroyed by fu- 
migating with tobacco: When done flowering set the plant underneath the 
_ stage, or in any out of the way place ; all that it wants while lying dormant 
is to be kept from frost and as much water only as will keep the wood from 
drying up. When all danger of frost is past, prepare for growing again ; 
cutting the branches well in according to their strength; shake the soil from 


the roots and cut them well in with a sharp knife; pot in fresh soil and | 


plunge out at once in a bed of sand or coal ashes, using the same treatment 
as before, and by so doing you will make a specimen plant clothed with fresh 


foliage from the mouth of the pot upwards and crowned with a profusion of 
flowers. 3 ETNA. 


o— —=—eD > a ae 


THE NEW CRYSTAL PALACE AT SYDENHAM. 


It is generally acknowledged that England possesses no example of pub- 
lic gardens worthy of her intelligence and limitless resources, and that in 
this respect she has hitherto been greatly outstripped by her neighbor 
France. Of recent years the Royal Gardens at Kew have been greatly en- 
larged and vastly improved, and now certainly occupy the first place in 
Europe as botanical gardens. But although these are tastefully laid out, 
their artificial decorations hardly deserve the name when compared with such 
as are to be seen in France. ‘The reason of this inferiority on the part of 
England is no doubt to be found in the fact, that while the government of 
France has been in the habit of undertaking the execution of great public 
works for the people, the English government leaves all such works to be 
executed by the people, or by private companies; and until Sir Joseph 
Paxton’s happy idea of combining gardens with the Crystal Palace, no com- 
pany seems to have ventured upon the formation of highly artistic gardens 
for the people. Now, however, the Crystal Palace Company, aided by 
the genius of Sir Joseph Paxton, bids fair to produce such a work as. will 
place England as much in advance in this respect as she has hitherto been 
behind. | | } | | 

The Crystal Palace itself occupies a commanding position on the top of 
elevated ground some two-hundred feet above the Brighton Railway, which 
passes near the southern boundary of the park. The central portion of the 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 5 


building, rising to the airy height of some two-hundred and twenty feet, 

ill be a striking object for a vast distance around ; and from the palace 

doubtless be one of the most extensive and certainly the richest views 

| « England ; for, besides looking down upon the gardens, rich in all kinds 
of decorations, the eye will sweep over some forty miles of country. 

The gardens occupy the south front of the Palace, sloping down a gentle 


declivity towards the railway above alluded to, and although a great portion 
is still in an unfinished state, sufficient progress has been made to enable 
visitors to form some idea of what the effect will be when the whole of the 
works connected with those matchless gardens shall have been completed. 
The narrow slope between the basement of the palace and the level of the 
first terrace is covered with a close verdant turf, and the terrace itself is 
in a very forward state. This terrace is supported by a handsome wall, 
running its whole length, or seventeen-hundred feet, faced with Bath stone, 
and crowned by a massive and elegant balustrade. Several flights of broad 
steps lead from this down to the second terrace, which is to be laid out in 
flower beds in grass, intersected in various directions, by gravel walks. The 
basins for the numerous fountains with which it is to be ornamented are 
excavated, and will soon be completed. Two conspicuous looking objects, 
in connection with the palace, are the towers for affording a fall for work- 
ing the fountains. These are placed one at each end of the building, and 
will, we believe, be carried some two-hundred and eighty feet in height. 

The main central walk, leading from the principal transept through the 
two terraces, has been put intoshape as far as where the first great fountain 
in the park is to play ; and the balustrading along the top of the lower ter- 
race wall has been continued down the sides of this walk as far as it is raised, 
and round the fountain, till it terminates in two neat piers a little below 
the latter. The slopes from the base of the stone work down to the level of 
the surrounding ground have been turfed, which has the effect of setting off 
the white stone with which the terrace walls are formed to great advantage. 
All along the terrace walls the little piers, which are twenty-four feet apart, 
are to be surrounded by vases filled with flowering plants; and we under- 
stand that beds of sweet smelling flowers are to be scattered plentifully along 
the grassy bank below the first terrace, so as to yield an agreeable perfume 
to visitors looking over the wall on the magnificent gardens below, with their 
delightful groups of ornamental shrubs, flowers and fountains. A large 
tract of ground lying between a natural knoll, or little hill, on the west side 
of the first great fountain in the park, and the front of the terrace gardens, 
has been laid down in turf, or sown with grass seeds, and completed; and 
the walks in this part of the grounds have been made and rough gravelled. 


6 THE FLORIST AND 


Various well arranged clumps have also been formed and planted; and al- 
together this side of the park, with its finely undulating surface and broad 

glades of grass, begins to assume an interesting and finished ae | 
We observed that, in the planting, advantage had been taken to place the 
clumps around trees which had previously been growing upon the ground, 
thus giving the whole a more established appearance than it could otherwise 
have had. On the top of the eminence, or little knoll, just mentioned, we 
understand that it is purposed to erect some kind of ornamental conserva- 
tory; but its shape or construction, we believe, is not yet determined upon. 
' A number of various shaped flower beds have also been formed along the 
sides of the walks in the finished part of the ground; and we are informed 
that the whole of the margins of the walks are to be ornamented in this 
manner, which, when they shall have been completed, and covered with bright 
flowering plants, cannot fail to produce a charming effect. Before leaving 
this part of the grounds, we may mention that the palace station, into which 
the railway from London Bridge is to run, is being formed close on the 
western boundary of the park, at a little distance from the palace, between 
which and the station there is to be a glass covered way, so that the con- 
tents of the building may be inspected without inconvenience, during all 
kinds of weather. The railway itself is in a very forward state. 


If we pass down the line of the great centr: al walk which is to lead to th 
bottom of the park, decorated, as it is intended to be, on the other side, with 
flowers and shrubs, and alive with fountains and waterfalls, we find great 
operations going on; but little here is at present finished. ‘True, broad 
gravel walks and green sloping banks are beginning to make their appear- 
ance, and the basins for the great lakes and fountains, on either side of the 
main walk, are in a comparatively advanced state; but nevertheless, upon 
the whole, it is as yet difficult to form a correct idea of the grandeur and 
magnificence which it is intended that this portion of the grounds, when 

finished, shall display. Of the kinds of fountains with which the lake are 
to be furnished, we may mention that the centre column of water will rise 
two-hundred a thirty feet in height ; around that will be four fountains, 
each one-hundred and twenty feet in height, and these, again, will be sur- 
rounded by sixteen others, each seventy-two feet in height. Nor is this all; 
there are other groups as grand, besides multitudes of smaller jets of a sim- 
ilar character, which in themselves will Apabelers be worthy of Sir Joseph 
Paxton’s experience in such matters. 


On the shores and islands of the lake, at the end of the main central 
walk, are to be dispersed ‘‘models of the extinct and singular monsters of 
the wealden and neighbouring periods. Huge Chelonians are to bask upon 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. ' 


the banks; the Plesiosaur, with its reptile form and bird-like neck, is to re- 
pose in dhe mud; the Megalosaur, the most gigantic of lizards, is to rear its 
portentous Sim among the rushes; and the enormous Tguanodon, half 
elephant, half crocodile, measuring one-hundred feet from his snout to his. 
tail, is to exhibit himself as the true protctype of the dragons of antiquity. 
We have seen these models, and we are glad to bear witness to the admira- 
ble skill with which Mr. Hawkins is investigating Portland cement with the 
similitude of these hideous giants of a former world.” 


It will be gathered from the above hasty glance at this great garden, that 
much—very much—has yet to be done before all that is contemplated shall 
have been completed ; and notwithstanding the immense number of labour-— 
ers employed, we doubt whether the Company will be able to fulfil its promise 
to have every thing finished by May next. Surface work is soon forwarded ; 
but here the great bulk of the labour lies in moving immense quantities of 
soil, and carrying it from one part of the grounds to another, in order to 
raise mounds and carry out the levels. ‘This, therefore, is a work of time; 
and unless the winter should be favourable, it cannot be conducted with ad- 
vantage during that season of the year. We will, however, from time to 
time, furnish our readers with such accounts of its progress as we shall here- 
after think may prove interesting to them. | 


ee | | 
ON THE BOUVARDIA LEIANTHA. 

Of the vast number of new plants annually brought into notice, how few 
retain a lasting hold on popular affection; yet, once in a while that event 
does happen, and this plant is destined to be one of them. When the intro- 
ducer offered me a plant, not having seen the flower, and warned by pre- 
vious experience in the’ matter of B. flava and B. venusta, I shook my 
head dubiously, fearful that my employers money might again be thrown 


away; now, after two yéars experience with it, I feel that I should be proud 
of the honor of introducing such a plant. 


If I were asked what to recommend as a first rate specimen plant for 
greenhouse culture, I would say at once, Bouvardia leiantha. Late in the 
fall or early in the spring, cuttings strike freely, in a few weeks, in light 
sandy soil in a slight bottom heat; as soon as well rooted, pot off into two or 
three inch pots. When established in these, take the one desired to form into 

@ specimen plant, and pot it at once into a six or eight inch pot. These 
should be well drained, a thin layer of moss placed over the drainage to keep 
the soil from choking it, and the soil itself composed of green, or but slightly 
decayed turf from a pasture; mixed with a little sand, and coarse half dried 


8 THE FLORIST AND 


decayed stable manure. Such a soil will allow the plant to receive an abun: 
dance of moisture without injury. As the plant grows pinch back the shoots 
an eye, and tie them out to the desired form and shape; continue this 
pinching and tieing for twelve months, before it is suffered to flower, when 
let it go a head, and it will then produce a mass of scarlet flowers that for 
graceful elegance cannot be surpassed. 


Am I asked for a good winter flowering plant of the easiest possible cul- 
ture, again I have to recommend Bouvardia leiantha. Take cuttings early 
in the spring, strike them in the manner aforementioned and as soon as the 
plants dre well rooted, pot them into four inch pots, in any coarse, rich, 
‘loam. Encourage them to grow as much as possible; and, during the sum- 
mer keep them out of doors exposed to the sun, but the pots in which they 
are growing preserved from its influence. At the approach of fall, shift 
them into pots a size larger, water them well and remove to the greenhouse, 
they will continue to bloom from that time forward throughout the winter ; 
and the more their handsome blossoms are cut for bouquets, the more freely 
will it strive to produce others. Ifa little heat can be commanded, it will 
give greater satisfaction. 


And now were I asked for a good scarlet border flower, of a good-habit, 
free blooming, and adapted to full exposure, I should still say Bowvardia 
letantha. Cuttings struck in the fall, grown in three inch pots, and kept 
through the winter in a light place secure from frost, may be planted out 
early in spring when danger of frost is over. They will prefer a warm sit- 
uation provided the soil is not: too dry or too wet; and fora short time after 
they commence growing. will require to have their shoots peg’d down over 
the beds, and an occasional pinching off. THomMas MEEHAN. : 


en 


"A FEW WORDS ON THE VITALITY OF SEEDS. 
TRANSLATED FROM THE Revue HorrIcoLe. 


We lately entertained our readers with facts tending to establish that 
seeds, when they are placed in certain conditions, are capable of preserving 
their vitality longer than.we would be inclined to believe, if we judged only 
by the duration of those which are kept in our granaries and laboratories 
for daily use. Two of our subscribers, whose attention to this subject was ex- 
cited by our articles, have communicated to us new facts drawn from their 
-own experience, and which tend still to confirm what’we have said of the in- 
fluence of the medium in which they placed on the preservation PE 1 
which are subjected to it. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 9 


One of them, M. Sarrail, at l’Ecluse de la Chaux (department of the 
Aude,) had in 1817 made a garden which bordered on one side the river 
Fresquel. The ground was sloping; he levelled it, arranging it in horizon- 
tal beds and staged like a terrace. The lowest bed, which ran parallel to 
the river and nearly at its level, was frequently submerged by its freshets. 
Not knowing how to occupy the space he sowed, for want of better, some 
Persicaria ( Polygonum Persicaria), and thought no more about it. 


The following year, in 1818, he thought he could make better use of this 
portion of his garden by planting in it Provence reeds ( Arundo donax) 
which he cbtained from Perpignan. This strong growing grass made rapid 
development, and in less than three years formed a continual barrier, in the 
thickness of which the river during its overflows deposited a large quantity 
of mud, which gradually raised the level of the bed. The reeds, each year 
deeper buried by these deposits, followed the ascent of the soil, by prolong- 
ing little by little their rhizomes by the upper part. In the month of Feb- 
ruary last, M. Sarrail had this plantation destroyed ; the rhizomes of the 
Arundo, which then formed three superposed beds, the. lowest being nearly 
reduced to mould, were dug out of the soil, and the underlying earth transfer- 
ed for compost to the bed immediately above. What was his astonishment, 
when, two or three months afterwards, he saw this bed as well as the ex- 
cavyation whence the earth had been taken, cover itself with an abundant 
crop of Persicarias! He then recollected the seeds which he had sown 
35 years before, and as at the same time he read from our journal, the 
analogous observation of M. Trochu, he could not doubt but that these plants 
came from the seeds sown by him at that time and which were preserved 
unhurt under the thick bed of mud which the reeds had stopped on the way 
and which had solidified in the net work of their root stocks. 


Here, as well as in the instance reported by M. Trochu, it is to their 
burial in the soil, at such a depth that the atmospheric influence could not 
reach them, that the seeds owed the preservation of their germinative power 
during so long a period of years. ‘The result would have been very differ- 
ent if, in place of being covered, they had been kept in an apartment as 
seeds which we destine for sowing generally are, because then the alterna- 
tions of cold and heat of dryness and humidity, and especially the pro- 
jonged contact with the air, would: have developed in them a fermentation 
incompatible with their vitality. This is a fact of daily experience and one 
which gardeners have but too much occasion to observe; every cne knows 
that seeds have less chance to grow the older they are; there’ is, however, 
a marked difference in this respect in different species. 


2 


r) 


10 - THE FLORIST AND 


The other observation of which we have to speak, and which is due to M. 
Micheli, is a new proof of the rapidity with which seeds, not sheltered from 
atmospheric influences, are deprived of life: faving read the notice of M. 
Trochu, he conceived the idea of experimenting on old seeds whose age he 
knew exactly, and of a great number of species. He made a sowing in the 
open ground, during last. spring; but a very few plants came up; these 
were Cynoglossum linifolium, Chrysanthemum carmnatum, Coreopsis dever- 
sifolia, Escholtzia californica, of which the seeds were gathered in 1846; 
Convolvulus tricolor, Hibiscus trionum and Ipomea purpurea, which were 
two years older; in the case of a single species, the Malope grandiflora, the 
date went back to 1840, that is, they were twelve years old. 


These results conform entirely to those which have been obtained in 
Eugland; a liberal society which is instituted in that country for the progress 
of science, and which is called the British Association for the advancement 
of science, has appointed a commission to study specially this interesting 
question of the longevity of seeds. In one of its latest sittings, it received 
from Dr. Lankester, the chairman of this committee, the report of the 
twelfth experiment on this subject. This experiment was tried with seeds 
gathered in i844, a part of which were sownin 1850 and 1851. The re- 
sult has’ been the rapid diminution of the number of germinating seeds, as 
they became older, a result which must be expected after all that we know 
on the subject; the question, therefore can be considered as settled, at least 
in a general manner. , 

At this same meeting of the scientific society just mentioned, there 
Was again mention made of those famous seeds of Raspberries found in a 
celtic sarcophagus, which have been sown with success, and of which we in- 
formed our readers. In England, as in France, this extraordmary fact has 
found many disbelievers ; but new investigations have been made, with much ~ 
care, during last year, and they have tended to confirm it. Among other 
witnesses still living, we may mention Dr. Royle, the celebrated botanist, . 
who had for a long time the direction of the garden of acclimation at Cal- 
cutta; he has asserted that he was present when the brown matter contain- 
ing the seeds, and which had been collected in the remains of the skeleton, 
was presented to Dr. Lindley, and has further declared that he had no 
doubt of the truth of what has been said of the germination of seeds preserved 
under the ground for ages. 


The deep burial of seeds therefore, we repeat is the true and probably the 
only means of preserving their vitality for an indefinite length of time. We 
should have been happy, at this time, if our ancestors of some centuries ago 
had thought of keeping in reserve for us, in this manner, some seeds on 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 11 
which we could experiment. They did not do it, nor could they, because 
the minds of that day were not turned towards that kind of observations. 
But why de not we, whom scientific questions interest to so high a degree, 
- prepare this experiment for our descendants? This will be an act of fore- 
sight fer which they will thank us, and who knows? perhaps which will be 
a means of transmitting our names to the most distant generations. But 
the age is so selfish, so strongly preoccupied with the enjoyment of the pre- 
sent, that we scarcely hope to see it seize upon our idea to put it in execution. 

NavpDIn. 


On PRUNING AND WINTER DRESSING OF PEAR TREES. 


I again intrude upon your pages to call the attention of amateur fruit- 
growers to the absolute necessity of winter pruning of fruit trees. I do not 
mean by this to direct them, executioner-like, with saw and axe to amputate 
and decapitate right and left, without heed or hindrance; no, sir, I do not 
eall that pruning—lI cali it murder in the first degree. 


If you wish to renovate old trees and graft or bud them again with finer or 
newer fruits, begin on the trunk and scrape off the old rough bark, with a 
scraper, draw knife, or even a piece of an old scythe to which two wooden 
handles have been adapted—that can readily be done on the spot. Llaving 
cleaned the trunk, thin out nearly all the thin spray or small wood and clean 
the main branches with a large knife. After this dressing the tree will look 
very much denuded indeed, but the result will compensate for the labor, and 
in a more rapid degree, if the soil has been stirred up by the plough, spade, 
or fork, and the whole thoroughly incorporated with three or four inches of 
good barn-yard manure, or two bushels of leached ashes to each tree. The 
following season the bark of the tree will be smooth and green, the young 
shoots from one to four feet long, and the whole tree entirely covered witha 
luxuriant verdure. During the month of July, the weakest of these shoots 
must be thinned out, the strongest left for fruiting, budding or grafting upon, 
to produce finer fruits. To some minds this may appear a tedious process, 
but to those who have tried it, and now reap the fruits thereof, it is a joyous 
one. Let the sceptic try one tree only, and you may predict the result. 


Having in a former number directed your attention to the summer pruning 
of dwarf pear trees, you. will permit me to suggest the equal propriety to 
their winter management. It is my usual practice to give my dwarf pear 
trees a good dressing with short manure every winter, and fork it in amongst 
their roots early in spring; and where I do not wish to crop amongst the 


De Es * 
ABN fy th 


12 THE FLORIST AND 


trees, I allow it to remain on the surface, not afraid of all the ammonia es- 
caping to the clouds. In pruning my pear trees, on which I pride myself, 
after having heard the opinion of one of the best pomologists as to their be- 
ing the finest looking pear trees he had ever seen for so short a period, (six - 
years,) many being ten feet high and eight feet diameter in the head, ané 
have produced from half to one-and-a-half bushels per tree. During the win-’ 
ter months I shorten every shoot, leaving only from three to six inches of 
the previous summer’s growth; on some of the young shoots left previous to 
the June dressing, I find fruit buds; had these shoots not been nipped in 
June they would not have had fruit buds upon them. Wherever the old 
spurs or wood has a tendency to crowd the centre of the tree, I cut it out— 
always leaving it thin and free for circulation of air and the maturing of fruit. 
The only implement used is a good pruning knife, the tree is jleft with the 
head either conical or rounded, to suit the fancy of the operator, or the dis- 
position of the tree; not one branch, bud or twig touches another, all is free 
and open. This practice applies only to pears on the quince stock. The 
roots of the quince are always near the surface, and require great nourish- 
ment where they are planted so close as ten or twelve feet. Trees on the 
pear stock have a great tendency to wood in their first ten years’ growth, 
which has caused the prevalence of the idea that pear trees have to be acer+ 
tain age before they produce fruit. This arises from the disposition of the 
roots in nearly all soils to go downwards, and produce what is technically call- 
ed tap roots. ‘To cause such trees to become fruitful and regular bearers, 
dig a hole eighteen inches or two feet deep, and about as far from the bole or 
stem of the tree; have a good sharp steel spade, and cut through all. those 
perpendicular roots, which has an electrical effect on the fruitfulness of the 
tree. When the roots are thus cut give the head a thinning out, and shorten 
all the long straggling shoots, give the ground a good top dressing of com- 
post, old manure, coal ashes, leached ashes, or any enriching material, to 
draw the roots to the surface and induce them to fibre. The downward ten- 
dency of pear roots into the cold soil predisposes the trees to summer blight 
and exuberance of unfruitful wood. It will not be-many years before the 
Pear, when grown on its own stock, will have a triennial root-pruning, or in 
other words, digging a trench round the roots of the tree and filling it up 
with good rich compost; this trench extending its circumference every three 
years. Purchasers will also be convinced that it will be to their interest. to 
select from nurseries trees that have been removed two years ,.revious, even 
at amuch enhanced price. Under the present system of nursery culture, 
we purchase trees with long, raw sapling shoots and short, carroty roots, re- 
quiring two years’ careful culture before they recover the shock to their sys- 


tem by strangulation; and even if the careful vender search to the extremity 
“ : 


- 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. i 13 


of the roots, they are only a bundle of prongs, without a solitary fibre; hence 
the great success of transplanting pears on the quincestock. I know a friend 
near Bristol, Pa., who transplanted over three hundred pear trees all on the 
quince, obtained from a Philadelphia nursery, and lost only two or three 
trees, not more, and many of them produced fruit that was exhibited in Phi- 
ladelphia, fully ripe and of large size, within six months of the day of plant- 
ing. Ihave obtained similar results, but not on so large a scale ; and any 
of your readers who will follow the same course will arrive at and may easily. 
surpass all that is herein expressed. q. T. 
Chester, Pa., Dec. 1853. 


——3 +e 
e 


MANAGEMENT OF CIDER APPLE TREES. 


Utility of taking off the old bark of trees, and the best way of per- 
forming that operation.—This extremely useful practice appears to be of 
Norman origin. Its introduction is due to the Abbe Adrien Le Gendre, 
cure of Henouville, near Rouen, about the time of Louis XIII., therefore 
this practice must have been in use nearly two centuries. Nothing is more 
injurious to the trees than the old dead and cracked bark on the stem and 
thick branches, as it affords a soil and footing for mosses and lichens. Pro- 
tected by these cryptogamic plants, and hidden in the crevices of the bark, 
great quantities of eggs are hatched; and here also numerous larve wait 
for the return of vegetation, in order that they may mount into the top of 
the tree, and devour the buds, leaves, and flowers as they come out. The © 
removal of the old bark is doubly advantageous, inasmuch as the living bark 
is brought in contact with the air, and myriads of insects, prejudicial to 
trees, are destroyed. But, in performing this operation, we must be care- 
ful not to take off the live bark, and lay bare the alburnum, for in that case 
almost as much harm as good would be done. ‘he best time for the opera- 
tion is after heavy rain, as the dead bark is detached much more easily when 
it is moist. When there are no scrapers for the purpose, old spades, Dutch 
hoes, &c., may be used, but the edge of the instrument should not be too 
sharp, lest it should go to the quick. As soon as the trees have been scraped, 
all the bark, moss, &c., should be collected and burnt; for unless that is 
immediately done, the larvee will not be long in taking shelter in the ground, 
or in the grass round the bottom of the tree. After this, and especially if. 
the trees have been scraped too near the quick, it is well to apply, with a 
paint brush, or with a soft broom, a sort of wash made of fresh cow-dung, to 
which is added a little clay ; this is diluted with urine, in which some lumps 


7 


~ 


14 THE FLORIST AND 


of quick-lime have been slacked. The soft mud at the bottom of puddles 
may be used as a substitute for this preparation. 


Gathering and Preserving the Frutt.—The fruit should if possible be 
gathered in fine weather, in order that it may be dry when brought in. The 
time of gathering varies from the end of August to the end of November, 
according to the varieties and the locality. Before gathering, the fruit 
should have arrived at a proper degree of maturity. This may be known, 
especially in early varieties, by the smell, by the coloring of the seeds, and 
also when the weather is calm by finding fallen fruit which is neither wormy 
nor in any way inperfect. The fruit is detached by shaking the branches, 
either by getting up in the tree or by means of a hook. Poles should be 
employed as little as possible, and withegreat care, because they break and 
destroy the fruit spurs. It is advantageous to keep each sort of Apple sep- 
arate, in order to be able to mix them, so as to produce the best quality of 
cider. It is of the greatest importance to shelter the Apples; for if left 
out of deors, the rain or melted snow carries away part of their juices, and, 
in consequence, cider of only middling quality can be obtained. We know 
that in years of abundance there are, in many instances, insufficiency of 
buildings to shelter the whole of the fruit; but it is neither difficult nor ex- 
pensive to erect temporary sheds by means of straw mats, from two to two 
and a half inches thick, and made of long straw squeezed between two pieces 
of wood, which are fastened with osier or wire. ‘Two of these mats leaning 
against each other like a roof form a sufficient protection against rain. 
Apples should be protected from frost, for it deteriorates them as much as 
rain does. ‘This is so much the easier, as at the time of the hard frosts 
nearly all the Apples are crushed, except those that are not ripe, and we 
can therefore put them in the regular buildings. If these buildings are ac- 
cessible to frost, the best way to preserve the fruit isto cover it with straw 
and damp cloths, as previously recommended. ‘The manufacture of cider 
requires more attention and cleanliness than it generally receives. Not only 
should all the instruments and vessels used in crushing be clean and free 
from smell, but the straw also on which the pomace is laid should be fresh, 
clean, and, above, all, free from mildew. It is said that the English in 
Herefordshire, Somersetshire, and other counties, give and preserve an 
agreeable taste to the cider by mixing large Turnips with it. We may with 
propriety mix bitter with sweet Apples; and provided the former are not 
present in too great proportion the cider is sometimes improved by the mix- 
ture; but when we wish to obtain cider that will keep long, we should re- 
ject the sour Apples, as the liquor they produce is very pale, and soon turns 
acid. Gard. Chron. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 15 


CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS—JANUARY. 


FRUIT. 


In our progress through life, it is often instructive to pause “‘and cast a 
few short, rapid glances to the past,’ so that we may benefit by former ex- 
perience in shaping our future course. This is imperatively necessary in 
connection with the study of our present subject. Vegetable Physiology isa 
subject of vast extent; and so far as it is rendered applicable to practical 
purposes, is only in its infancy. Our progress in this respect is slow; this 
is desirable rather than otherwise, since it is expedient that we should not 
depart from the path that experience has proved to be safe, until the pro- 
posed improved substitute has also been rigorously subjected to impartial and 
decidedly effective trials. The cultivation of the soil and its vegetable pro- 
ductions has always been a fruitful theme for discussion. Dogmatic asser- 
tions founded on isolated facts on the one hand, and theoretical dogmas based 
on superficial observation on the other, have been the bane of practical pro- 
gress. ‘Those who have given much studied attention to the subject are pre- 
pared to encounter those conflicting opinions, aware that a science subject 
to so many varied influences cannot be read alike by all. It behoves us, 
therefore, to bear with each other, and not ridicule honest investigations, 
however much at variance with our own pre-conceived ideas. Such ridicule 
can proceed only from illiterate and shallow-minded individuals who are ever 
ready to give the bold negative to everything that exceeds their own limited 
knowledge. We would refer all such to the reply of Agassiz, when Hugh 
Miller told him that some of his opinions relating to his discoveries in fossil 
remains seemed to himself so extraordinary, that he was afraid to communi- 
cate them. Agassiz replied, ‘‘ Do not be deterred, if you have examined 
minutely, by any dread of being deemed extravagant; the possibilities of ex- 
istence run so deeply into the extravagant, that there is scarcely any con- 
ception too extraordinary for nature to realize.” 

As a fundamental principle in good culture, draining is now attaining that: 
paramount attention it undoubtedly deserves. ‘There are certain soils where 
no necessity exists for under-ground drains so far as the removal of water is: 
concerned, such as are on gravelly or sandy subsoils. But the removal of 
water is not the only good effected by draining; the increased facilities for 
a renewal of the atmospheric gases to the roots of plants, and increased tem- 
perature of the soil are also worthy of notice. Where land is the least in- 
clined to wet, draining is of far more importance than manure ; the presence 
of air is necessary to decompose and disintegrate manures, and when soil is 
saturated with water, air is to a corresponding degree excluded. Instances 


16 THE FLORIST AND 


are on record where decaying orchards have been revigorated by draining 
alone. We think chemists are somewhat to blame in this matter, in direct- 
Ing attention too exclusively to the chemical constituents of the soil, regard- 


less of its physical condition, which every practically experienced man knows 
to be, to say the least, of equal importance. 


Grape culture is fast becoming a feature in American horticulture, and 
their management is also well understood—at least so far as they are grown 
for the manufacture of wine. The management of foreign kinds under glass 
is also being placed on a definite basis. Much discursive matter has ap- 
peared relative to the composition of soil most suitable to them. A liberal 
application of animal matter is considered by many to form a valuable com- 
post for this plant. Others again consider such matter unnecessary, and » 
sometimes injurious. That the roots of plants in contact with decomposing 
animal substances will also partake of its decaying properties has often been 
proved. That dead carcases may be applied with advantage when properly 
decomposed, does not admit of a doubt ; but that better fruit or heavier crops 
have ever been produced by its use than have been secured without it, re- 
mains to be shown. Itis the opinion of many that the grape plant is a 
gross feeder. The exact meaning of this expression is soméwhat obscure.— 
It may be doubted whether those who use it have a clear idea of what'is to 
be understood by it. If it means anything else than that the grape, like 
most other plants, will grow better on a rich than ona poor soil, the fact 
should be communicated. Instead of enriching the soil so excessively at 
first, which is well known to be injurious to’ all fruit-bearing plants, we"pro- 
pose a system of feeding troughs, whereby the plant can be stimulated: at 
certain periods when it stands in need of such assistance. These feeders 
would be in the form of drains filled with charcoal, so arranged that at cer- 
tain times they could be filled with water, and drained off when“required. 
The facility of applying liquid manures by this method is obvious. That 
some such system will ultimately be adopted, instead of the present very ex- 
pensive one that many have of forming borders, there is little reason to 
doubt. 

In undertaking to give a monthly course of ‘hints’ for vegetable and floral 
management, | have again to remind the reader that they are not intended 
to point out all that should be done—such an object can be reached by no- 
thing short of a complete treatise on gardening, and scarcely then. Still I 
hope to bring monthly before the reader afew hints and observations sea- 
sonable and practicable; and indeed in the major part describing courses of 
culture in which the writer is actually engaged. Detailing rather the prin- 
ciples of these operations than the modes, each will be better able to modify 


HORTICULTURAL soem Al A *' 3 = 


4 


? 


mex Se 


. ey 20 6: > ae ir sla 
merely.’ 


“ Steswbeley ‘thie 006" of late been on the ee ike icatig’ of Re 
many, ‘superior ‘Varieties has given a corresponding stimulus’ to superior cul- 


tivation, - The pobiape pane, to be attended to in made is shy loos- 


AS ae 


asp be set ap arial saa eee hipaa et ulated bay eos 


iene necessary; and if care is taken in liftin ng ‘them they will have. a & \" 
3 ey. of Toots for imuiediate growth, and will amply repay the ‘sligh t ad- : 


Se 


: al trouble. This method allows timne for the) prep: aration of the ground, 


oh te of dig ing, ~manuring,- “hes, being conducted with!) more ad- : 


a ee 
Mees a winter season than at, sak other time. Pate ace rin, 


a ; 


; a this brome have: no prfirens so 0 far as hat Bes, to yar 1 | 


, 
5 a) 


Sew Si 


, very ante Orr 
a inias detiek « open Geuther, in. forking, du ania. over the soil. in “the 


t 
".4 


gy : 
neighborhood of fruit trees ; “frost i is a valuable atueliorator of soil, “disinte- ae 


tin its particles and favoring the: decomposition of inorganic ingredients. 
| The ¢ exposure, of the soil to- the ‘atmosphere at this: ‘season ig aldo" a) ready me- 
‘thod of: destroying eggs and larved ‘of injurious® insects that lurk in the’ vie 
cinity of fruit trees, | Phe plum weevil may beheld in check by” this ‘means, 
. miore particularly ae a sprinkling of silt is’ “seattered,’ over the’ srownid after 
| each ‘operation. - The: preparation of ground for planting should i ive proceeded 
with draining where requisite, and trenching: and subsoiling in. all cases 5 jo. 
after-treatment will: ‘compensate: for superficial preparation: in the first in- 
; Stance ;-parsimonious gale in’ this oe will bea pepenn souree: of 
| equines and regret. Pama cand 28s Cit ai au 2” 
Frown: kalo abd’ are ‘few ibis. which h ad mare ‘to. che beauty ie: 
is wes tdi than a fine gti or grass pists, but how few realise this 


1’ 
a! 
a 


bias 


mf | _ THE FLORIST AND 4 
who attempt’ it. . In the majority of cases the “lawn”? ‘is for the most part. 
made up of coarse, unsightly weeds, or perhaps beconies brown and parched 
in appearance half the season. Frequently this arises from the work being | 
only half done in the beginning, and future neglect makes,up the rest. . The 
best mode of obtaining a good lawn surface is to turf it: over, choosing the 
“sods” from some old pasture. Thisis the cheapest. mode too, in the. end, if , 
performed by those who understand it well. The other and most common 
way is to sow the seed, which, so far as my experience goes, seldom gives sa- 
tisfaction, and is in many cases a_source of continual annoyance: and vexa- - 
tion, by the crop.of weeds which springs up, frequently occupying the 
ground entirely to the exclusion of the grass. In some cases, where the 
lawn is of very great extent, and not immediately under the eye, ‘seeding 
may be judicious; but in that case every care should be taken to have the 
ground thoroughly clean previously. It would be no ultimate loss if the. 
ground were left unoccupied for a whole season, and kept. constantly har- 
rowed to keep out the weeds; and if any should after this come up amongst 
the grass, to have them pulled out thoroughly by hand. A little care and. 
cost of this kind. bestowed on the ground for the first few years, ‘will ‘be am- 
ply repaid. Whether the ground is to be turfed or seeded, it should be loos- : 
ened up deeply. If by the plough, the subsoil plough should be. employed; bes 
much of its green appearance in the ‘summer season will depend on this 
course. It is not necessary that the ground should be particularly rich to 
produce a good surface, but it must, on no account be poor. A deep, cool, 
‘sandy loam is a good bed to operate upon. — It should not either incline to 
moisture, or coarse, rough herbage will be the consequence. Constant: mow- 
ing, rolling, and sweeping of the surface, and occasional top dressings of 
light manure, are then all that is sufficient to preserve it in winter. 


What flowers are to fill each of the flower beds. where’ they are grown in 
masses have probably been determined on in the fall, and preparation made 
accordingly. An eye should still be kept on the stock to see that it is suffi- - 
cient, and where deficiencies are expected, a few additionals struck off to 
meet the occasion. Hyacinths, tulips, and other bulbs planted in the tall for 
spring flowering, are frequently drawn near the surface by the frost.. It is 
well to place acovering of a few inches of half-rotten leaves or similar pro- 
tection over them. The frost will not hurt them beneath the surface ; but 
frequent freezings-and thawings soon destroy them. Half hardy trees and. 
shrubs also, that may seem to stand out well even to the present time of the _ 
season, are often benefitted by being protected a little from the sun towards 


spring. Plants will endure some considerable amount more. of wold at thie he 


season than thoy will at the spring of the year. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL, ‘( =. 0.0 99 


- GresxHouse.—Airing, watering, and keeping the tenants of this depart-— 
ment clear of insects is, of course, a constant object of attention; but each of | 
these require more tact and prudence than at any otherseason. I generally 
keep my house cooler than many ; and so my plants, not growing fast at this ~ 
season, do not require or receive much air, Those who have no stove, must 
have flowers in their greenhouses, in which case the temperature will have to ~ 
be kept to 45° at least, and air will be required in proportion. Greater care. 
“is, however, necessary in its admission, or mildew will be encouraged. ‘One 
of the best preventives against mildew is.to accustom the plants to repeat- 
ed syringings of cold water, which will render them less liable to checks from 
sudden changes of temperature caused by the admission of air. In water- 

g, 1 have never been able to see much difference between the morning or 
evening for that purpose. I water at this season mainly i in the morning ; ik 
find much advantage from keeping the atmosphere moderately moist by the 
syringe whenever the femperatare is moderately low, avoiding at all times 
the ancient practice of “‘ steaming,” by pouring water on the pipes. or flues. 
In regard to insects, ‘the best security against: these savages is constant. 
whiaifakhons for their commencement ; a “‘stitch in time,’ is the maxim here. 
. The syringe against the plant laid on its side, will be generally effective ; : 
_ when they have escaped observation till they become established, the receipts 
for their destruction given in former Calendars must be resorted to, Many 
plants destined to form specimens may be potted this month; “those with 
small fibrous roots are better deferred a month later. In preparing soil for 
composts two errors are frequently made—it is rendered too fine, and con-— 
tains too much vegetable matter. The first renders it liable to become. hard 
in the pots and impervious to moisture; the other gives it a tendency. to. be- 
‘come sodden and sour. The loam for potting should be turfy, the manure 
half fermented and half dried, the sand rather sharp, and the vegetable mat~ 
ter well decayed, and never more than one-sixth in proportion to the rest, ex-. 
cept in a few instances, as Ferns, Lycopodiums, the Chinese Primrose, &c. 
It is a very common recommendation to ‘mix composts” at this season; I 
prefer to make up a soil at the time I want to use it, ie to have it under 
_ cover, dry, and convenient to hand. © 


Specimens cannot be formed without judicious | training and staking out, 
and that must be began at once, if fine plants are required for next season. 
A few things well grown are ‘preferable to a whole “houseful” of weak, 
crowded things. It i is a good time to pot verbenas and petunias, intended 
as specimens for fall exhibitions; but they must be kept near the glass, and . 
in the coolest part of the house, pinched in as they grow, and trained out as 
above described—other soft-wooded greenhouse plants come under the same 


i , .  \-PHE PLORIST AND 


suggestions. Chrysanthemums are often retained too long in the green- 


louse, often to their irreparable injury. My plan isto cut them down imme~ 
diately after their flowers begin to fade, and, turning them out-of their pots, 
plant them out in some place protected from severe frost. Camellias, as they 
‘flower, are benefitted by occasional weak doses of liquid manure ; if any are: 
desired to flower particularly early next year, encourage them now to make. 

| grow th as early as they can—success will depend on this. Wherever a slight . 


heat can be commanded they may bevery successfully. grafted now. Daphnes E 


before they go quite out of flower, ought to be repotted, if the soil seems 
any way sour. A coarse, open, loamy yeuiee ery essential for this. 


tribe. 


Hort Hovsi—Those who'possess one will, at this séagon, he amply repaid 


. the additional expense of fire heat by the superior floral attractions it em-~_ 
braces. Kuphorbias, Habrothamnuses, Plumbagos and acanthaceous plants 


are peculiarly rich at this season. - The same general renfarks will apply as 


are referred to the last. section. A heat of 55° to 65 will have to be main-" | : 
tained. Roses, and other things from the greenhouse, can be occasionally 
introduced through the coolest end, and give additional interest. In foreing, . 
the principle is to “walk before you run,” or come on slowly at first. Or-_ 


chidez need not be kept much over 55°, and kept just moist as a general 


rule, exceptions only to be noted where the plants seem inclined to make vi- 


gorous growth. A friend kept a Dendrobium nobile well over the last win- 


ter where the temperature was sometimes down to 35°, ‘Such instances are _ 


useful, as it is the dread of their tenderness which makes so many fear to 


commence the cultivation of this most: interesting tribe of plants. 


VEGETABLE GARDEN, —Little i is to be done here besides “preparing. ‘pes, 
sticks, bean poles, manure composts, and so on; but these things i in reality 


_ comprise a good deal, tending considerably to forward spring work. Those. 
who can command a litile heat, either by dung or fire, are etter situated. — 
Karly radishes, salads, asparngys. and seakale can be had ‘wherever a tem- 
perature not exceeding 55°, with abundance of light and air can be command- 


ed. Seakale and rhubarb are best obtained early by placing long, pots or boxes | 


over the plants, and then enclosing dung or leaves some feet thick over them. 


Cucumbers and tomatos will require more heat and more attention; they eee 
will not do well in a lower temperature than 65°, and the latter especially ) 
will not set its fruit well without an abundance of light and air; the tomato — 


also sets its fruit best i in a rather dry atmosphere, thal the encumber loves 
a moist heat. _ i ir iy i alata aaa Td: rs 


Li 


™ 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. | ee 4 et 


PENNSYLVANIA HOTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 


| The stated meeting of this Society was held on the 2ist of December, 
Gen. Patterson, President, in the chair. Owing to the severity of the 
weather the display was meagre, yet interesting. Mr. Cope’s. gardener 
brought a collection of twelve plants, a specimen plant, a beautiful basket of | 
eut flowers, bearing in its centre the 152d flower of the Victoria from the 
~ original plant, a bouquet and a display of Vegetables: | 


Peter Mackenzie exhibited his most beautiful seedling Caines” in Hee. Ay 


, “Jenny Lind,” the finest ever shown.before the Society. — . , 

n. W. S. Cleveland, four bunches of Grapes, the Black “Piast and ; 

Muscat of Alexandria, 1 in a fine state of preservation, uit had. been hang- 
ing on the vines since the first of September. fl 

Hac B. Baxter presented Pears—20 of Passe Colmar, 10, St. opie 
and 4 Beurre d’Aremberg varieties. Thomas Meghran, gardener to tas 3 
Stewart, Torresdale, had a fine table of Vegetables. . 

Premiums were awarded as follows: ee 

By the Committee on Plants and Flowers collection of phinitg' in Wot for ie 
the best ; specimen plant, for the best; design of cut flowers for the best; 
basket of cut flowers, for the best, to Thomas Meehan, gardener to CO. Cope. | 
The Committee call particular attention to a beautiful seedling Camellia of 
Mr. Mackenzie, not shown for the first time, but exhibited as one of the best : 
American seedlings ever presented. DRO : | 

By the Committee on Fruits—for the best'ten specirens of. Pears, puaks ; 
Colmar, and for the second best, St. Germain, to Isaac B. Baxter. ‘The. 
Committee notice some fine Muscat of Alexandria, and Black Hamburg 
Grapes, in a fine state of preservation, which had been hanging on the vines ‘ 
since the first of September, and were grown by H. W.'S. Cleveland. 

By the Committee on Vegetables—for the best display by an amateur 
gardener, to Thomas Meghran, gardener to Mr. Stewart, ‘Torresdale; fot the. 
second best, jo Thomas Meehan, gardener to Caleb Cope. ia 

The Committee on Fruits submitted a very interesting ad, interim report 
upon the objects brought to their notice since the last pager 


ay INTERIM FRUIT REPORT. 
Philadelphia, Dec. 3g) 1853. 
To the President of the Penna. Hort. Society. 
‘The fruit committee respectfully report, that since the November meeting 
of the society, the following fruits have been received by them. 
From Mrs. J. R. Latimer—Pears for their name, grown by Dr. Charles 
Kuhn, of this ony, ‘These were unusually fine b acamin 2 of the Echasseri¢. 


\ 
“4 


, 


22 | Ky PTE sis onal cia 


From Lloyd N. Rivas, Baltimore —Fifteon varieties of Pigoae 
1.. The Dix. — Although the specimen,received was not 80 hares, as some 
we have seen, yet it was in quality “best.” a 
2. Bez de la Motte.—This variety is ‘excoedingly productive ; the: fait 3 is 
fair, of fine texture, and battery, but, so utterly destitute of flavor as to be» 

worthless. a Shue 

3. Urbaniste.—Specimens very fine. ‘This Flemish’ Baka) is one of the 
best of the foreign pears. In the N ovember number of Hovey’s Magazine, 
we are told that “the Beurre. Soule has long been familiar to Boston pomo- 
logists as the Urbaniste.”’ In regarding the Buerre Soule and the Urbaniste 
identical, the Boston pomologists are, we think, in error. The specimens of _ 
the former exhibited in 1848, as was remarked at the time by one of their 
oldest pomologists, bore some resemblance to the Hanners (Cushing, ) much 
more so indeed than to the Urbaniste, though we do not gousidey it’ synony- 
‘mous with either of them. 

4. Gen. Taylor.—Size under medium, oh inches long by same panels Forth 
turbinate, obscurely pyriform, broad at the crown, color. cinnamon russet, 
‘becoming fawn on the exposed side; stem ? of an inch long and th thick, in- 
serted into avery small cavity; calyx partially closed, set in a. broad, not er 
deep, furrowed basin ; core medium; seed dark brown, ovate, no angle at the 
obtuse end; flesh yellowish white, granular, becoming buttery and melting, 
but somewhat gritty at the core; flavor as high as the Seckel, aroma deli- 
cious; quality ‘best;’ maturity November. The Gen. Taylor is believed to be 
a native of Maryland. The tree supposed to be the original one grows near 
Baltimore, and is about 25 or 30 years old. It presents no evidence of ha- 
_ ving been worked; and Mr. Rogers assures us that scions, taken from suckers — 
which sprung up from its root, have born fruit: similar in: all respects to that 
of the parent tree. We epmeerd the variety to the attention of pomolo- 
‘gists. | 

‘The following eleven kinds were not in a condition for eatin Blosohat 8 
Meadow, Downton, Figue, Fortunee de Paris, Ickworth, iste Ne 
Plus Meuris, Sabine d’ Hiver, pane Longue, Winter ere and one un-_ 
known. 

From Isaac B. Baxter.—Very tite and exceedingly fine specimens of the 
Duchesse d Angouleme and Passe’ Colmar. fae 

From Charles Kessler, Bicatiahaer eae varieties of Pesan five varie- 
ties of Apples. . 

1. The Reading Pear—A desirable winter variety, which has more than 
once been favorably noticed by us. Not yet mature. | 


2. Winter Pear—Medium size, roundish, fair yellow; for the stable scarcer sy 
a abet in quality. | 3 “; 


+ 


 aiaicabiidiacncs SORRIAL. ‘ 23 


3. Avie grown by Wm. Young, of Bending: Size. large, 3th spilt long. 
by 33th broad; form ‘conical; color beautifully striped and mottled with red on | 
a yellow ground; stem 2 of an inch long and 1-12th thick, inserted inva mo- 
derately wide, deep, acuminate cavity ;, calyx. small, closed, set in’ a narrow, 
very superficial wrinkled basin ; seed. medium, plump, OV al; core large ; , an 


not very juicy; flavor pleasant; quality “good.”’. a 


4, Apple grown by Jacob Kurr, Middleberg, Bethel Taiiellins' inhi 60. 


Size above medium, 23th inches long by 3 5-16ths broad; form round-oblate, 


obscurely conical; color fair yellow-white,. with crimson blush, containing one 


or more distinct white spaces or streaks on the blush; stem gths ofan inch 


long and 1-12th thick, inserted in a wide, deep cavity; calyx small, closed, 
set in a small, shallow, slightly furrowed basin; seed dark brown, plump, ‘ 


_ ovate; flesh tender, rather dry; favor. pleasant; quality “good.’ eS 


5. Apple grown near Reading. Size below medium, 2% inches long by. 


23ths broad; form roundish; color greenish-yellow, with a brown blush ; stem. 


variable, from 5-16ths to 5-8ths of an inch long and 1-12th thick, inserted: 


in a deep, narrow, acuminate cayity; calyx large, closed, set in a deep, rather — 


wide, obscurely plaited basin; seed light brown, broad, flat; flesh fine p sanfares 

flavor delicately aromatic; quality “very good.” og | 
9. Apple grown by Samuel Zeiber, Reading. ‘Sine below sien tae 22 j ins. 

long by 2$ths broad; form round oblate; color red, in stripes of different hues, 


_ russeted about the base; stem 3ths to 1 inch long, and 1-12th thick, inserted 


in a moderately wide, not very deep, russeted cavity; calyx small, closed, set 
in @ very small plaited basin, sometimes almost obsolete ; flesh crisp, ssub- 
acid; quality “good.” : : 

7. The Yost—A fine apple, which has pane noticed in spverak of our re- 
ports. 

From, Wm. v. Pettit, of Colonnade’ gee very large. specimen’ of the 
Niles Pear. Size 4 inches long by B3ths broad, and weighing 14 lbs.; form 
roundish, oblong; color yellow at. maturity, with many russet dots; stem: 1; 
inches long and 1-5th thick, inserted in a narrow, rather deep, furrowed ca- 
vity ; calyx small, closed, set in a deep, narrow, regular basin; seed light 
brown, large, plump, long, acuminate; flesh somewhat. granular, becoming 
buttery; flavor not high, but saccharine and pleasant; quality“ very. good;’’. 
maturity December; an abundant bearer of fair and large fruit. This is a 


foreign variety, imported from France, by the Hon. John M. Niles,-of Hart- 


ford, Conn. The imported tree was sent’ by him; some years ago, to his 


friend Wm. V. Pettit, of this city. Our attention was first directed-to it by 


Mrs. Catharine Stanley, of ast Hartford—an honorary and corresponding 
member of our society, and distinguished as. well for her moral, social and 
intellectual accomplishments, as for-her zealous and maining aarosion to 


ee, 


24 a ms Li aa 8 Lome As. 


‘ aig): 


eiliincliniet: Beta unable to recognie the vein sina its. ‘tue niin jhe 

ing been lost, we. designated it the Niles: Some of the Boston’ pomologists. 
who are more familiar with. the Easter. Beurre ‘than, owe'are; consider it that, 
? variety; while others unhesitatingly’ say, it is not the: Easter Beurre... With be 
out giving.a decided opinion on ‘this point, we: will merely remark that it ie 
fers from the specimens we: have been: ‘in. the habit ofseeing ofthe: latter, an - 
pee more Meee in eau a a more ne elton sole “ponies epee oo 


; Bitter fe and eecorablés the Batis, ihe silted Laon dove sie ‘ or 2 
us to form any. opinion ‘of-its i Seek ‘The tie eat for ‘their’ name; 
are the Hchasserie.” (0) 8 ACEP MAIHS Pen AS RIO: 
From Dy. J, Ky Eshleman, Dowhigeowi-~tleara for. sss cl [’ es 
‘Specimens: sent “were. not in eating order; but “in. ‘their configuration and. 
generat appearance they resembled the St. Germain. B.A RG edt > 
“From Mrs. John R. Latimer—The Cushing Raspberry, rein: by ‘Hai ie 
man Kuhn, Jr, of this’ city. Specimens remarkably fine. The autumnal fruit. 
of this twice- -bearing variety is even sn baie that which foam in’ sume 
bres at the usual raspberry season. | aa ea ae : 
“From ‘BL B. ‘Lindley, Athens, Ohio, bode ‘Caleb: isd ‘speci- 
ah of an “Apple for its name.” Size, | large, three: and “five- eighths: inches 
long, by three and five-eighths broad ; “form, oblong: -trundate’s color, red in. 
‘stripes, with, oecasionally, russet tarkiige stem, half an Se long, some- 
times very. thick and fleshy, often rather slenider with a fleshy. appendage on: 
one side, inserted in a narrow, not very: deep “cavity ; : calyx, medium, “parti- 
ally. reflexed, set in a ‘rather’ shallow, plaited basin’; ‘seed, small; dark 
brown, ovate ; core, darge ; fleshy, rather dry and mealy, perhaps. from 
being over-ripe 5 flavor,. pleasant “quality, good.” a Ris variety * is un- 
‘known to. us. "Whether i it is of Western origin, or al ‘Eastern’ kind $0. alter: 
ed 1 by the soil’ and climate of the West as ‘not to be ‘recognized by: us, we are 
unable to say. “The forthcoming pomological work ‘of FL" Re ‘Elliott, which 
we are anxiously looking for, will -no doubt’ furnish us with ‘much, valuable 
info ormation respecting the fruits of the West, and Spas us of 0, Tile ‘of, 
the e uncertainty. and. perplexity. that: now embarrass us. — ae 
~ From Dr, James 8. Rumsey, Fishkill beuarer Dutchess county, wy York 
: A Pear and two varieties of Apples. © NIE LAE og tae 
a The’ “Pear resembles the Martin. See, ane is: ‘Gudbaihy that. “variety. 
“Formerly tt the Martin: See was much esteomned eh pone! and other ‘ulin ary 


ee . bD Pa 

, Mr? ‘ eS : gt tha & Pat ay . < a ess ele Ff 

* “# . 4 Carey P hiee Sn 5 LS eee ES, Lite acd 45 st, 

bie: ‘ weak 8 Men’ CS ae Rk i ye Pe * Rs; so rs EF be aay, LR SO Ret se Ae) Aa. ale Nantes 

ah ’ - ‘ y4 . UN, , ose, re es 

. , es > a+ J . + eh ae -f ‘ i's ame . 

baa Tobe: s! Ue “4 od Oe EG etet mel Ea,” Bath ie PAR A OR, EN ee se. 
. Ce Z *. 8 3 *. “a . PS ae ’ ‘ Se sy ' 


’ 


ee oe 4 


Soke esa ech ORE: TEE EES OE OURO 2 a ain 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 25 


2. Buel’s Favorite, sometime called Spotted or Grey Pippin, grown by 
Dr. Rumsey from a scion obtained at Albany. Size, full medium, two and 
a half inches long by three and one-eighth broad; form, roundish ; color, 
greenish yellow, with a faint fawn cheek; stem, three-fourths of an inch 
long, and slender, inserted in a deep, acuminate, russeted cavity ; calyx, 
medium, set in a deep, moderately wide, furrowed basin; flesh, a little tough, 
owing probably to the specimen being a little shriveled; flavor, partakes 
somewhat ef that of the Newtown Pippin, though in an inferior degree ; 
quality, “good.” The shriveled condition of the fruit may have caused us 
to give to this variety less merit than it deserves. 


3. An exceedingly beautiful Apple, grown by H. W. Sargent, Woden- 
ethe, Fishkill Landing. Size, large, three inches long by three and a half 
in width; form, broadly conical, obscurely ribbed; color, waxen yellow, 
with a brilliant vermilion cheek; stem, three-fourths of an inch long, and 
slender, inserted in a wide, deep cavity; calyx, closed, set in a narrow, 
rather deep, furrowed basin; core, large; seed, light brown, very small, 
roundish, terminating abruptly in an acute point; flesh, pale yellow, tex- 
ture, tender, moderately juicy ; flavor, mild and pleasant; quality, “‘ very 
good.” The tree which bore this fruit is small, has just come into bearing, 
and is supposed to be some known kind. It is not the White Calville. The 
fruit bears a considerable resemblance to the Belmont, which, however, 18 
rarely so conical. If some friend would have the kindness to send us speci- 
mens of the Belmont, we might, possibly, be able to decide whether it is iden- 
tical with the kind just described. The seed of the latter are peculiar ; few 
Apples of its size have so small aseed, and still fewer of its form possess seed, 
so short and roundish. Be it what variety it may, its ‘“‘ very good” quality, 
fine size, handsome form, and brilliant coloring, appropriately adapt it to the 
table, and render it eminently worthy of extensive cultivation, if it should 
succeed as well in other localities as at Wodenethe. Scions, we trust, will 
be freely disseminated by Mr. Sargent and Dr. Rumsey. 


Belt’s Hybrid.—In noticing this interesting nut in our last report, we 
stated, from information we had received, that Joshua Peirce, a skillful nur- 
seryman of Washington, had “succeeded in two instances, in grafting this 
variety on the English Walnut. Mr. Peirce has since informed us that this 
statement is partially incorrect. It is true, he succeeded in two instances, 
in grafting the Hybrid, not, however, on the English Walnut, but on the 
Butternut. Scions were inserted, in various ways, by him, on about a dozen 
stocks of the English Walnut without union taking place in a single instance. 
These stocks having been transplanted only a month previously, may, as he 


4 


26 | THE FLORIST AND 


intimates, in some measure account for the failure of the operation. In the 
two cases in which he was successful in working the Hybrid on the Butter- 
nut, his mode of grafting differed from any of those in ordinary use, and re- 
quires special notice. In our preceding report we alluded to the great want 
of success experienced by horticulturists in grafting the Walnut, and re- 
commended two ways of obviating the difficulty. Mr. Peirce deserves our 
cordial thanks for communicating to us a third one, which in his hands has 
been attended by promising results. And that we might clearly compre- 
hend it, he very kindly sent to a member of the Committee one of the two 
trees he had successfully worked. His mode, which is a species of inarch- 
ing or grafting by approach, is performed in the following manner :—A por- 
tion of the scion, at a point about two-thirds of the distance from its lower 
end, is pared away, well down into the alburnum, two inches in length; a 
corresponding portion of the stock, near its crown, is also removed. ‘The 
scion and the stock, after being both tongued, are to be aecurately adjusted, 
so that the inner bark of the two shall be in exact opposition. He then 
binds them firmly together, with a strip of bass matting, and applies a cover- 
ing of grafting clay; after which the earth is heaped up around it. Be- 
fore proceeding to the operation, it 1s of course necessary to remove the 
earth from about the root of the stock sufficiently for to enable the heel of 
the scion to penetrate some distance below the surface. Mr. Peirce thinks 
he removed the top of the stock at the time the graft was inserted, but sug- 
gests the propriety of allowing it to remain until complete union between 
the scion and the stock is fully established, and then cutting it off close 
down to the connection. The theoretical advantages of the mode of graft- 
ing now described, in cases of unusal difficulty, are obvious; and its practi- 
eal utility is strikingly exemplified in the worked specimen very kindly for- 
warded to us by Mr. Peirce. Although not entirely novel, the plan‘ had 
probably never before been resorted to in the case of the Walnut. A pro- 
ceeding somewhat analogous has been employed in propagating the Camellia, 
in which case, however, the heel of the scion isimmersed in a vessel of water, 
instead of being inserted im the earth. 


Beurre Clairgeau.—This large and valuable new foreign pear, received 
from Hon. B. V. French, was noticed, and an exterior description given of it 
in our October ad interim report. The specimen, not being sufficiently ma- 
ture at that time for testing, was laid aside, and was not cut till the 9th of 
December, when it was somewhat shriveled. We now complete the deserip- 
tion commenced in October. Core under medium; seed dark brown, small 
for the size of the fruit, elongated, narrow, plump, with a prominent angle 
at the obtuse end ; flesh yellowish-white, buttery, melting; flavor, perfumed, 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 27 


and delicious; quality “best.” The Beurre Clairgeau has been described 
and figured both in the Horticulturist and in Hovey’s Magazine; and its pe- 
riod of maturity is represented to be October and November. The advanced 
season of the year (December 9th,) when our specimen was eaten, may have 
enabled it to develop more completely its fine qualities. To this, or to some 
other auspicious circumstance, may perhaps be attributed the somewhat 
higher estimate expressed by us of its quality, than that entertained by some 
other pomologists quite as competent as ourselves to judge of its merits. At 
any rate we are fully persuaded that the specimen examined by us was, in 
all respects, justly entitled to the highest grade of excellence. 

From the Hon. George W. Woodward, Wilkesbarre, Pa. 

Blackberries.—Having learned from various sources that the blackberry 
grown in the valley of the Wyoming was of unusal size, we were anxious to 
see specimens of the fruit. This the kind attention of Judge Woodward en- 
’ abled us todo, about sixteen months ago. The specimens then forwarded to 
us, though in a dried state, were remarkably large; and we hoped, by plant- 
ing the seed, to obtain varieties still finer; but unfortunately none of the seed 
vegetated. The specimens now received were gathered during the summer 
of the present year at their usual time of ripening, and put into a bottle of 
alcohol. The bottle having been placed on its side, the cork came out and 
the alcohol escaped. ‘The berries, therefore, did not retain their full size, 
and yet some of them measured one and one-eighth inches in length. ‘The 
number of pips contained in each is unusually great; in one berry we counted 
113, in another 146. In form the fruit resembles that of the cultivated high 
bush variety of Boston. 

The Blackberry is, no doubt, capable of considerable improvement in size 
and quality. With a view of ascertaining to what extent this can be accom- 
plished by cultivation, by crossing, and by raising seedlings, we are desirous 
of obtaining some of the most remarkable kinds from different sections of the 
country. Judge Woodward has very kindly promised us plants of the one 
grown in the vicinity of Wilkesbarre. To C.M. Hovey we are already in- 
debted for the Boston improved High Bush variety; and to Wm. R. Prince 
for the White, and the Parsley-leaved. The New Rochelle, from Westches- 
ter county, New York, we have not received; will Mr. Lawton send us by 
express a good sized plant of this variety? The blackberry, like the rasp- 
berry, may be propagated with great ease, and with almost magic rapidity 
by division of the root into small sections. 

The Library Committee presented their annual report upon its condition, 
showing that thirty-one volumes had been added thereto, that ten dollars had 
been received from members for fines, and that one-hundred and seventy- 
five dollars were expended. 


SDR | _ THE FLORIST AND 


‘The Treasurer submitted his semi-annual statement. 

The Committee establishing premiums presented a schedule for the year 
1854; which being slightly amended, was adopted. 

The Secretary reported that Ellis Yarnall, ofthis city, had presented a 
parcel of horticultural objects, which had been given to him, for distribution 
in this country, when in London, at the closing of the World’s Fair, by Dre 
J. Forbes Royle, of Calcutta Royal Botanic Gardens, whence those products 
had been sent to that exhibition. 

Ordered, That the thanks of the Society be tendered to Mr. Yarnall 
and Dr. Royle for the gifts, and the articles referred to the appropriate 
committee. 

Twelve new members were elected. 


——=9 + a 


A GLANCE AT REPRODUCTION OF PLANTS BY SEEDS. 


By Watter Exper. 
For the Florist and Horticultural Journal. | 

How inconceivably great does the Omniscience of God appear in his 
wonderful works of creation. In the study of botany we see that he has 
furnished every species of plants with the powers and faculties of reprodu- 
cing their like by seeds, in one class, to which the majority of species be- 
Jong ; every individual plant is a perfect whole of itself in this respect; 
which perfection lies in each and every blossom, whereas the perfection of 
another class lies in two differently furnished blossoms on the same plant, 
while in a third class it requires two plants with differently furnished blos- 
soms to make a whole; and these arrangements are so fixed and immuta- 
ble that botanists class them as the ‘‘ eternal laws of nature,” and there is 
as little invariability in varieties as in species. In this respect, it is not m 
the blossom but in the sexual organs where stability rests—if it were other- 
wise, on what would animal life depend for subsistence? Suppose that all 
vegetation were to change sex and become abortive for one year only; 
what an awful desolation would ensue—it was only the wise foresight 
of our Maker which renders these laws unchangeable. 

All cultivators of the soil should study botany, at least, so far as reproduction 
is concerned; as it would enlighten their paths many times when they grope 
in the dark without it. If agricultural periodicals, as well as horticultural, 
had departments of botany, and publishers enlist the assistance of scientific 
botanists, they would be doubly remunerated for their extra expense by in- 
creased circulation and the additional price their journal would command, 
the knowledge conveyed through such papers, would be tenfold more bene- 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 29 


ficial than whole books on the subject, as no more information would be 
given in any one number than an intelligent cultivator could study and com- 
prehend in a month—and by such instructions he could at once discover the 
causes of success and failures, and would be on the alert to avert any 
calamity and guard himself against loss. What, let me ask, would the subscrip- 
tion of such journals be, when compared with the benefit of the knowledge 
acquired therefrom? But on the other hand, editors would be required to 
have no favorites, nor tolerate such childish folly in the botanical depart- 
ments as has been published in the late “‘ strawberry question’’—three very 
intelligent and enterprising young men, having discovered of late, that their 
callings were too contracted for their talents, commenced a very sweeping 
revolution in botany ; one asserts that he changes the “ eternal laws of na- 
ture’ by simple culture; another regenerates all varieties back to their ori- 
ginal species with his pen, and makes the sexual organs keep tally with all 
changes and developments in other parts of plants. <A third outstrips both 
the other two, for his plants change sex every year without any assistance at. 
all; so this “‘trio’”’. have pitched into the “‘old fogies,”’ “forced them to believe 
against their will,’’ and driven them to the wall for “being of the same mind 
still.”’ ’ 
When men do think within themselves 
Omniscience is concentrated, 


They sneer at those who stand by truth 
That ’s by Nature’s laws authenticated. 


Now, as every body does not understand all scientific technicalities, I will 
ask our “young revolutionists” a few plain questions. Can they regenerate 
the double stock gillyflower back to its original species? or in other words, 
raise it to a state of hermaphroditism and produce plants from its seed. It 
is propagated by cuttings. If the roses Prince Albert and Rose de la Reine 
were left to nature, would they become alike if their originals are not alike? 
Louis Phillippe and White Daily Roses have the same original—would they 
become alike in color and habit if left to themselves? They say change in 
one part changes all parts. 


Let us now look into some of the many cases of abortion in reproduction. 
If there is much rain or humndity in the atmosphere while the plants are in 
bloom, the pollen gets clogged in the anthers and fails to impregnate the pis- 
tils, which proves abortion; high winds at the time the pollen is matured, 
carries it off, and causes a failure ; frost may blight the pollen, and the sun 
may scald it, and prevent reproduction.. If a plant is in an over-luxuriant 
state of growth, its succulency either destroys the albumen or carries off to- 
wards the enlargement of the plant, and prevent the formation of pollen. 
Want of sufficient light and air has a like effect. 


30 THE FLORIST AND 


The above are accidental causes; the following are natural eauses. An im- 
perfection in the sexual organs often prove abortive; and where there is a re- 
gular deficiency of either stamens or pistils there cannot be a reproduction. 
It matters not the outward appearance of the blossom, if any of the organs 
are deficient. When this is the case naturally, then no power on earth can 
amend what nature has withheld; every plant takes its character in this re- 
spect at its birth, and remains so during its existence. Plants with very 
double flowers seldom bear seeds, although their sexual character is perfect. 
Pistils and stamens are as numerous in a double flower as they are in a sin- 
gle blossom of the same species; but then they are not so fully developed; 
owing to the crowded state of the petals, the pollen is not always properly 
matured—or if it is, the petals prevent its proper diffusion, and cut off the 
proximity of pistils and stamens, and prevents impregnation. But yet the 
sexual character of these plants is unchanged, as they sometimes produce 
seeds from their fullest flowers. All plants belong to one of three classes, 
according to their sexual characters—hermaphrodite, pistillate and stamin- 
ate. Hermaphrodites have all the faculties of reproduction; pistillates are 
strictly female; staminates are males. Staminates are generally leaner, 
more erect and less spreading, and of a drier nature, and have smaller and 
stiffer leaves than the pistillates ; the leaves of the pistillates are larger, softer 
and more glossy than staminates; they can never bear seeds unless they get 
impregnated with the pollen of staminates; when that is the case they are 
doubly -prolific—they sometimes enlarge their fleshy receptacles called fruit, 
without being impregnated; but then they are without seeds, generally de- 
formed, and very apt to mould-or damp off. 


We really flattered ourselves that the strawberry question was settled. 
Facts and science are so entirely against the Cincinnati theory, that we 
thought that its advocates could have nothing more to say, but here we are 
again delighted with the information that certain intelligent and enterprising 
young men have not room for their extraordinary talents, and have com- 
menced a revolution in botany. If authority would have any effect with 
Messrs. Longworth, Elder & Co., we could bring forward the opinion of men 
as old as any of them, men who are celebrated botanists, directly denying 
the truth of their theory. But thus far they have done nothing but talk of 
their experience which is so very great, that they have not had room left 
for observation. ‘The study of a few books would be of great benefit to them. 
We respectfully suggest that they should invest $1,75 in the purchase of Gray’s 
Elements of Botany; after they have studied that carefully for a few years, 
they might advance to Lindley’s Introduction, or Schleiden’s Principles of 
Botany, but by the time they had gotten half through Gray, they will be 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. ST 


heartily ashamed of ever having believed any such theory. We would like 
to hear Mr. Elder’s opinion of a very frequent variation which he must 
have seen, which is, the fact of petals taking the place of the anther of the 
stamen in some varieties of the Fuchsia. ‘This is the same difference of de- 
velopment which takes place when stamens are changed into pistils. Accord- 
ing to his theory this should be constant, but it is not.—Kp. 


( 
\ 


= 


We are now entering upon the third volume of the FLonist, thé success of 
which, wished for by some and doubted by many, is nolonger a problem. It 
is now established upon a firm basis, with an already sufficient and rapidly 
increasing circulation: The favor which it has met with in nearly all quar- 
ters, is very gratifying. Except in one or two immaterial instances, the 
hand of fellowship has been extended to us by our fellow-laborers in the field 
of agriculture and horticulture; and we hope to further merit their approval 
and that of our subscribers in the years which are to follow. We hope to be 
more punctual in future, but we must plead in excuse for the past year that 
the causes of delay were entirely beyond our power to remedy. We have a 
start now, and intend, if possible to keep it. If those of our friends who 
willtake the trouble, will endeavor to increase our subscription list, they will 
do us a lasting favor. 


_—s 


The American Handbook of Ornamental Trees ; by Thomas Meehan, gar- 
dener. Philadelphia, Lippincott, Granbo & Co. 

To the amateur desirous of improving his grounds, the choice and dispo- 
sition of trees is of the very first importance. A country or suburban resi- 
dence without trees is not only tasteless, but absolutely ridiculous. This lit- 
tle book, which gives a description of the deciduous and evergreen trees, na- 
tive of and introduced to America, will enable any one to select such trees 
as may best suit his purpose. It is accompanied by a short account of the 
best modes of transplanting and cultivating ornamental trees, which, from 
the known practical skill of the author, may be deemed reliable. 

The author’s “ original design was to bring out a small volume for the nu- 
merous admirers of the indefatigable botanist, BanrRaM, describing the trees 
now growing in his far-famed old botanic garden. After the notes were pre- 
pared for this object, he was induced, by the kind encouragement of his 
friends, and in the face of a great public want, to throw them into their pre- 
sent form. In order to make the book of standard accuracy, nothing has 
been admitted into the body of the work that has not been the result of the 
personal experience of the author. No tree is described as being in cultiva- 


32 . THE FLORIST AND 


tion which the author has not himself seen; and in most cases the reader is 
referred to the tree, with its height and dimensions, from which the descrip- 


tion is taken.” We can cordially recommend it to our readers as a useful 
manual. | ne . 


ee 


LARGE DECIDUOUS CYPRESS. 


We find.in the English Gardener’s Chronicle, the following as dimensions 
of what is quoted as an enormous Cypress tree, quite a lusus nature there. 
It is growing in the vicarage of Boxley, Kent: height sixty feet, the spread 
of the lower branches, which feather quite to the ground about forty-five 
feet, girth nine feet four inches at two feet from the ground, and seven feet 
three inches at six feet. It stands on the edge of a small pond, in which its 
roots luxuriate, being natural to swampy ground. The thought occurred to 
us what is the girth of that magnificent specimen growing in the Bartram 
Garden, Philadelphia, and in a similar situation, near a small pond, if we 
recollect rightly. Perhaps our friend T. Meehan can. inform us. In Bux- 
ton’s Mexico, a cypress is alluded to, which would girth seventeen yards, 
over fifty feet, and there were many others of equal size on the Chapultepec 
heights, near Mexico, some of which were sadly battered by the American 
cannon at the time of the storming of the fort. That our English cousins 
should consider a tree of nine feet girth, worthy of a newspaper paragraph, 
shows at least that they have not been to America, and reminds us of the 
Englishman, who was relating with great gusto to his American visitor the 
natural wonders of their Island, and among other things, as a fact, whether 
he believed it or not, that their great river, the Thames, was really one- 
hundred and fifty miles long. He had never heard of that small stream, the 
Mississippi, over two thousand miles in length.— farm Journal. 


In page one-hundred and seventeen of last year’s volume, the dimensions 


of the Bartram cypress is given as one-hundred and thirty-seven feet high 
and twenty feet in circumference. 


Subscribers are particularly requested to send in their subscriptions as 
early as possible. And we again, ask the many who still owe their: last 
year’s subscription to forward the same by mail. We cannot pay a collector 

to travel in every direction in pursuit of such small sums. 


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THE FLORIST 
AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 


BEGONIA PRESTONIENSIS. 


The beautiful plant which we figure this month is the first hybrid 
which has been raised in the now very popular genus Begonia. It 
was obtained by Mr. T. Frost, gardener to Mr. Brerrs, at Preston 
Hall, in the county of Kent, in En oland, from seeds of B. cinnabarizia, 
fertilized by B. nitida. It has the foliage and flowers of the first, 
with the shrubby habit and disposition to flower abundantly of the 
latter. It has not yet flowered in this country, but has lately heen 
introduced to this city. 


€ 
eo a 


For the Florist and Horticultural Journals — 


THE GENUS DIANTHUS AND THE CULTURE OF THE PINK. 


The genus Dianthus, as its name imports, is truly divine, and numbers 
amongst its numerous species a collection of the greatest gems ‘of Flora, 
many of them being not only lovely to view but possessing the desirable 
accompaniment of the most delicious perfume ; indeed, so exquisite is this 
latter quality in some kinds that we may seek through the whole vegetable 
kingdom and not find it surpassed. Who that has snuffed the dehghtfully 
aromatic, and pungent swectnessof the Garden Pink will deny this asser- _ 
tion? and even the remaining few that have not experienced the gratifying 
sensation in reality from the material body, know well of the fact from the 
frequent allusions made to it about the time when Cupid roams amongst the 
valentines. We are here reminded how frequently we culled, as we thought, 
the sweetest flower in the garden, and that flower a Pink, to accompany us 
on that errand of love, which most persons are prone fo in their youthful 
days, and with what satisfaction as a duplicate of sweetness has this little 
token been presented. 

Somehow or other, Mr. Editor, whenever I begin to write about flowers, I 
cannot help associating them with the more tender feelings and higher sen- 
timents of human nature, so you must excuse this lengthy preface. 


5) 


34 | THE FLORIST AND 


Dianthus belongs to the class Decandria, and order Monogynia of Lin- 
nan, and the order Caryophyllez of the natural system of botany. The 
geographical range of this interesting family is, with two or three excep- 
tions confined to the European continent and adjacent islands, being mostly 
Alpine in character, the greater part are found in mountainous regions. 
But although the Old World is its fatherland, most of the species do equally 
well in the New, the pure dry atmosphere of which is conducive to its well 
doing. Hence we find the cultivation to be most easy when suitable cir- 
cumstances are provided; and these circumstances are very simple. 

Amongst the most desirable are D. plumosus, superbus, caesius, deltoides 
Caryophyllus, (the Carnation) Armeria, (the Catchfly) barbatus, (Sweet 
William) atrorubens, chinensis, capitatus and hortensis. It is the last, viz, 
hortensis that I would at present treat of. Having become a recognised 
“Florist’s Flower” more attention has been paid to it than to any of the 
others with the exception of the Carnation, and it is now generally known 
(though not very charaeteristic) as the Pink. There have been different 
opinions respecting the originality, as being a species distinct im itself. 
Some have considered it as a sub-species of D. Caryophyllus, while others 
think it has proceeded from D. deltoides, but there is a3 much probability 
from external habit and appearance, and likewise in the peculiarity of its 
adaptedness in cultivation and propagation that, D. plumosus is the original 
parent, if it has emanated from any one of them. D. Caryophyllus is very 
changeable from seed, which I have often proved, but these changes always 
run into a different style of inflorescence to that of the Pink. The D. del- 
toides may have contributed somewhat by a cross with D. plumosus, but the 
latter contains initself every element in structure, habit, and general ap- 
pearance to show to any one at all acquainted with hybridization, that a 
class of flowers similar to the present common kinds might soon be obtained, 
and if so, certainly through them up to the present best prize varieties. 
Another proof is, that, from seed D. plumosus, though subject to change int 
the flower, still retains the general character, while the habit of the plant, 
which is very like the pink, is mostly the same. Now it is just as likely that 
our present subject is as original as are the others, if there is any originality 
about the matter, but if we are to have an affiliation, let us have the most 
likely parent. The factis, the whole genus sofar as I have had the oppor- 
tunity of observing will fertilize with each other so. readily, that if two or 
more are growing in near proximity, and blooming at the same time, there 
will be in the next generation from seed a whole host of differences; there- 
fore when itis intended to keep the Pink from being contaminated with 
others, be careful to keep it from their influence. Some of the species when 
judiciously crossed produce the most beautiful hybrids, not only in color, 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 85 


but in habit of plant and abundance of flower, and this family offers to 
the lovers of flowers a fine opportunity for producing many splendid exam- 
ples of the willingness of nature to bend to our wishes, so long as we do 
not interfere with her unchangeable and primitive laws. . 

As the Pink in its best character is an established Florist’s Flower, like 
all other families of the same designation, there are acknowledged criteria 
of excellence to judgeits qualities by. It is also divided into. four classes 
as follows, Purple Laced, Red Laced, Dark Eyed, and Red Hyed. The 
laced classes have besides the dark centre, a neat lacing or belt, surrounding 
the outer edge of each petal, while the eyed varieties do not possess it. 

The following is the criterion of a good Pink. The stem should be elas- 
tic, and strong ee to support the flower without drooping, not less than 
ten to twelve inches high, which will elevate it above the foliage. The ca- 
lyx or pod ought to be proportionately long, straight, and not too narrow, 
but correspond with the size of the flower, the base nicely rounded off 
towards the stem, the upper divisions equal in size, not incurved but rather 
turned outwards, so that the flower may expand freely and without bursting 
out atthe side. The flower should be not less than two inches in diameter. 
The petals should be broad, flat, and substantial, the nearer they approach 
the form of a rose leaf the better. There are few varieties that are per- 
fectiy free from indentation on the edges, but it is highly desirable that 
they should be. It is not desirable for the flower to be too double, but 
there ought to be a sufficient number of rows of petals to show symmetry 
without being crowded, each row being smaller in size than the next below, 
lying over each other in a regular imbricated form. The eye or central 
dark portion may form about one fourth of the diameter of the flower, and 
if a laced kind, the belting should be even, and equal in breadth, surround- 
ing the outer edge of each petal, and uniting with the eye. Whatever the 
color, it ought to be uniform, rich and solid. In the Purple, a rich purplish 
maroon, and in the Red, the nearer approach to scarlet, the better. In an 
Eyed variety, the color should be confined entirely to the eye, the outer 
edges of which must form a circle well defined. In all the class the white 
ought to be clear and distinct, without blemish. 

Propagation is most readily accomplished in this climate by layering in 
in the same way as the Carnation, and about the middle of July is the most 
suitable time. If the base of the shoots be merely covered with earth, 
roots will be emitted after a time, but if a little extra trouble is used with 
each individual layer, and the slit made longitudinally on the under side, 
commencing at the bark, and cutting up the third of an inch through the 
middle, a better plant is obtained. If it is desired to have the flowers in 


36 | THE FLORIST AND 


the best character, they ought to be grown from strong single crowns, and 
not have any long straggling portion beneath ; without this precaution, the 
colors are apt to run or be undecided in marking. The British Florists 
propagate mostly by pipings, (which are simply the tops of the shoots) and 
struck under hand glasses, but here the heat is generally too great for this 
method at the most suitable time, and if put in without glass, even in a 
shaded spot, they are apt to die off. After trying different methods I have 
found layering the best and most expeditious. 

Our present little pet has escaped more than sioner any other class from 
the quack notions and nostrums which are so generally prescribed, for too 
rich a compost only injures it and makes the colors run. The most suitable 
soil is a fresh loam only ordinarily fertile, the top spit of a pasture with a 
fourth part cow dung, and both thoroughly rotted together, isas good a base 
as can be desired. Care should be used that there are no wire worms (the 
larves of Elytra) in the soil, as they are very destructive, not only to the 
Pink, but also to the Carnation, | 

Where perfection is studied it is best to have nothing else in the same 
bed, which may be twelve inches deep of the above named material. Plant 
the middle of September, about eight inches apart, and make the soil some- 
what solid around the neck of the plants, but do not bury too deep. If dry 
weather should occur give a good soaking of water, but keep as dry as pos- 
sible through the winter. At the approach of severe weather cover over 
the bed with cedar or other like branches, which will prevent the plants from 
being lifted by alternate frost and thaw, Towards the middle of March is a 
good time to uncover, when a top dressing of an inch deep and the same 
compost will greatly invigorate the plants and assist the bloom. As the 
flower stems approach towards blooming, have in readiness a quantity of 
slender twigs, fix one to each plant and tie loosely with soft thread. When 
the flowers begin to expand if it is desired to have them quite perfect, ex- 
amine the pods and if they appear to be opening more on one side than the 
other, take a pen knife and slit the closed divisions equally, but not so far 
as tolet the petals fall down and out of place; at the same time tie a small 
thread round immediately under where slit, this will prevent “bursting” and 
keep the flower uniformly in shape. If there be during blooming a thin 
covering of muslin fixed over the bed and raised sufficiently high above the 
flowers so as not torub them, the flowering will he considerably prolonged, 
and the colors much more distinct and clear. 

Where it is desirable to save seed, and keep the progeny in class charac- 
ter, each class ought to be kept separate, and the flowers assisted by artifi- 
cial impregnation, choosing those of the same class with good markings ta 
hybridize with. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 87 


The Pink is easily forced, and is a most desirable acquisition .amongst 
early spring flowers. The only care requisite to accomplish this object is 
very little. In the beginning of September, place as many plants as may 
be desired into suitable sized pots, and plunge in sand, ashes, or any dry 
part of the garden until the first of January, when they may be taken up 
and placed near the glass, in any house where a temperature of 50° to 55° 
is kept in the night. A rose house is a very suitable place, but mind to keep 
them freely exposed to the sun, for in this 1s the main secret of success. 
Thus treated they may be had in bloom from the latter part of February, 
and I know of no flower that will give more satisfaction, or better repay the 
little extra trouble bestowed. 

There are some persons who may think that these practical details take 
up much time and expense, and as the commoner sorts of Pink will grow and 
bloom without any attention, that it is useless to bestow labor on so useless 
ahobby, The same would think it an absurdity to be praising the beauti- 
fully circular, and even outline of a flower, while they would look with en- 
thusiastic greediness upon the outer surface of a dollar; and the Florist may 
with the same propriety say, that it is just as useful to ride in a comfortable 
covered donkey cart, as to be seatedin the most elaborately constructed and 
handsome carriage. Apart from these differences, surely the human intel- 
lect has been given for other purposes besides the acquisition of money, or 
the luxuries of man’s invention. May we not then with reason advocate 
the cultivation of the mind, by studying the more noble and expansive in- 
genuity of the Great Architect of the Universe—nay, arguing from the 
same source, have not these little delicate beauties, the flowers, some demand 
upon our attention, and are they not placed so much under our control, and 
so immediately within our reach by an all wise Creator, for the purpose of 
leading the mind from those more sordid pursuits, and an unerring testimony 
of the kindness of a God, that we may not amongst our multitudinous cares 
and distractions forget Him. Do not they lead the mind to contemplation, 
and force us to approach Him with reverence and gratitude for the many 
blessings which he has bestowed upon us. Grudge not then the time as 
lost that is devoted to the cultivation of flowers, but rather appreciate the 
advantages offered through them, by the repose of mind, and the good feel- 
ing which is produced thereby to each individually, and to society generally. 

Respectfully yours, 
Wm. CHoRLTON, 
Gardener to J. C. Green, Esq., New Brighton, §, I, 


cmenaietend seemed 


38 THE FLORIST AND 


For the Florist and Horticultural Journal. 


DARLINGTONIA CALIFORNICA. 


It has been hinted to me, in a very modest manner, by a talented lady 
contributor to your journal, that a few short remarks from me, on the local- 
ity and habit of the Darlingtonia californica, (Torrey) new California Pitcher 
plant, might prove acceptable to the readers of the Fiorist. But I find, 
after reading the full and very lucid description of this very interesting plant, 
by my friend Dr. Torrey, that little is left for me to say in reference to it, 
save to relate the circumstance of its detection; to which I may add a few 
observations on some interesting trees and shrubs of Oregon and California, 
which came under my notice, and of which little is known by the lovers of 
beautiful trees on this side of the Rocky Mountains. 

In the autumn of 1841, a party belonging to the United States South Sea 
Exploring Expedition, of which I was a member, started from the Columbia 
river to cross overland to San Francisco; and as the country through which 
we had to pass was rugged, and in many places mountainous, and the route 
which the party pursued, led among Indians, hostile to the white man, this, 
together with the fact that the time to perform the journey was limited, 
caused us to make long marches—sometimes as much as forty miles per day. 
The season being far advanced, most of the plants of the country were out 
of flower, which made the excursion less interesting to the botanist than it 
otherwise would have been a few months earlier. 


On the fourth of October, while crossing the Shaste Mountains, about 41° 
N. lat., and a few miles south-by-west of Mt. Shaste, and only a short dis- 
tance from Destruction River, (a tributary of the Sacramento ;) the country 
here was dry, and the valleys and tops of the minor ranges of mountains 
covered by a forest of large trees, composed principally of Pinus Lamberti- 
ana. In this forest there were numerous openings; I had here fallen a con- 
siderable distance behind my companions, and in one of these openings, on 
the margin of a small stream that I could step across, I detected the Dar- 
lingtonia, (then out of flower,) growing in bunches, in company with a species 
of Epipactis and a Parnassia; there was no swamp or morass, but only a 
few narrow wet creeks bordering the streams, which I am inclined to believe 
takes its rise in low swamp land at the base of the mount. 


The appearance of this Sarracenioid, pitcher-plant, in the distance, re- 
minded me much of some species of Jris, particularly the L. pseud-acorus. 
The notes in my possession, taken on the spot at the time, are brief; and the 
specimens of the plant being in the hands of Dr. Torrey, I therefore take the 
liberty of transcribing for the benefit of your readers, his very excellent de- 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 


39 


40 - ‘THE FLORIST AND 


scription—which is better than any thing I could say in regard to the plant, 
even were the specimens before me. 

The plant is perennial. “ Root-stock short and thick, producing numer- 
ous stout, dark-brown, fibrous roots. Leaves all radical ; the adult ones from 
eighteen inches to two feet or more in length; the petiole or pitcher tubular, 
gradually tapering downward, and singularly twisted on its axis about half 
a turn, marked with strong parallel and longitudinal veins, which are con- 
nected by very slender veinlets. The summit is vaulted, and formed into a 
sac about the size of a hen’s egg, on the under side of which is an oval ori- 
fice about half-an-inch in diameter, opening into the cavity of the pitcher. 
The areolze of the sac, and also of the back of the tube, on the upper part, 
are discolored (of a dull orange-color, in the dried specimens,) as m Sarra- 
cenia variolaris and S. Drummondii. Along the inside of the petiole is a 
narrow wing, which is single, except at the base, where it separates into two 
plates that clasp the scope and the base of the superior leaves. The lamina 
is narrow at the base, and deeply divided tnto two somewhat unequal widely- 
spreading lobes, which are oblong-lanceolate, rather acute, bent downwards, 
and often also backwards, the inner (or properly upper) surface very minute- 
ly pubescent. The pitcher inside the hood is retrorsely hirsute, with short, 
conical hairs; from thence downward it is glabrous, but towards the base it 
is lined with long, slender hairs, also pointing downwards; at the bottom re- 
mains of insects were found. Neither these hairs, nor those of the lamina, 
appeared to be of a secreting character. The scape is from one to four feet 
long, flexuous, angular, glabrous, and furnished with sessile clasping straw- 
colored scales. ‘These scales are foliaceous and alternate, the lower ones 
distant and lanceolate, the upper more and more approximated and broader, 
while those near the flower are oblong-ovate andimbricate. They are marked 
ed with longitudinal veins, which are forked above; the upper surface is paler 
than the lower, and under a lens shews minute conical papillz. The flower, 
when fully expanded, is nearly two inches in diameter. The calyx consists 
of five oblong, rather acute sepals, which are of a pale straw-color, and are 
quincuncially imbricated. ‘There are no calyculate bractlets at their base. 
The corolla is five-petalled, about the length of the calyx, and its estivation 
is likewise quincuncial. The petals are oblong, pale purple, marked with 
deeper reticulated veins, and are apparently not connivent over the pistil. 
They are furnished with a small ovate, concave lamina, and a very broad, 
obovate claw, which is two or three times larger than the lamina. Stamens 
from twelve to fifteen, hypogynous, inserted in a single series, and partly 
concealed by the dilated summit of the ovary; filaments short and rather 
stout ; anthers oblong, with the cells very unequal and opening longitudinal- 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 4] 


ly, turned by the twisting of the filament, so that the cells are anterior and 
posterior, the smaller cell lying against the ovary. Pollen simple and spheri- 
eal. The ovary is turbinate, five-celled and somewhat five-lobed, concave 
and dilated at the summit, so as to exhibit a sort of margin which projects 
over the stamens; the columnar style is short, and five-cleft at the summit; 
the narrow segments diverging and stigmatose at the extremity on the inside. 
Ovules very numerous, anatr Spe; covering the large placenta, weet pro- 
jects into the cells of the ovary. 


Dr. Torrey is not quite convinced that the hairs in the pitcher, nor those 
of the lamina, are of a secreting character ; yet I am satisfied that the pitch- 
er, when collected by me, contained water; but as rain water, or even dew, 
cannot enter the orifice of the pitcher, owing to its vaulted summit, it neces- 
sarily follows then, that the water found by mein the pitchers must lave 
been secreted by some internal organ. I have not had the satisfaetion of 
seeing the flower in a recent or dry state, but Dr. G. W. Hulse, of New Or- 
leans, in May, 1851, detected the plant in bloom in the same region,-and, 
as Dr. Torrey says, ‘‘ perhaps in the same spot where it was diseovered’”’ by 
me nearly ten years before ; and there is no farther evidence that I am aware 
of, that it has been found there or elsewhere by any other collector; so that 
the plant appears to be very rare—and so far, it is the only representative 
of the order west of the Rocky Mountains. In your November number for 
1853, in a short notice of Darlingtonia, the difference between it and Sarra- 
cenia, as quoted from Dr. Torrey, is there stated; and the Doctor concludes 
his remarks on his new genus by offering some considerations in regard to 
the opinion of M. Planchon, respecting the close affinity of Sarraceniacee 
and Pyrolacee ; and although such an affinity may at first view appear re- 
mote, yet any one who will take the trouble to examine the nature of the 
floral envelopes, the tendency of the stamensto be definite, together with the 
structure of the ovary and radiating stigmas, must discover a striking rela- 
tionship exists between the two. 


In individuals composing the order of Coniferee, Oregon and California are 
rich in examples—some of them of great beauty, and many of gigantic di- 
mensions. In the Smithsonian contributions to knowledge, for April, 1853, 
we find a figure and description of Libocedrus decurrens, Torrey. This tree 
was first detected by the botanists of the United States’ Exploring Expedi- 
tion in 1841, between 40 and 42° N. lat., growing in solitary specimens on 
the tops of the Shaste mountains; and found also, but we believe a little far- 
ther south, by Dr. G. W. Hulse. It is really a noble evergreen tree, with 
a trunk often six feet in diameter, and attains a height of one hundred and 
twenty feet and upwards; its branches are numerous, assurgent and twiggy, 


6 


42, THE FLORIST AND 


forming a dense dark-green, rather conical head; the leaves are smal land 
closely imbricated. The next evergreen tree of importance, as a subject for 
ornamental purposes, is the Thuja gigantea, Nuttall. This wefound inhabit- 
ing the rich and gloomy valleys of the coast range of mountains north of the 
Columbia river, and is not excelled for beauty by any species of the tribe from 
any country with which we are acquainted ; and it was not an unusual thing 
to fall in with trees of it one hundred and fifty feet in height, with a trunk 
from six to eight feet in diameter, which divides into branches that are bold 
and spreading in their direction, forming an irregular deep-green top. To 
get possession of a stock of seed of this, and the Zibocedrus, would cover the 
expense of a trip to the north-west coast for that purpose alone, where also 
so many fine species of the genus Abies and Pinus could also be obtained, 
very few of which are at the present time in our collections. 


Arbutus Menziesiz, Pursh; Menzies’ Strawberry Tree, is another ever- 
green tree, well worthy of our consideration, attaining to a height of thirty 
to forty feet, having a smooth trunk, and branching, broad head, with large, 
smooth, entire leaves. But still more important as an ornamental evergreen 
tree to be yet introduced, is the Castanea Chrysophylla, (Douglass) Golden- 
leaved Chestnut. ‘This is found inhabiting high lands from the Columbia ri- 
ver, as far south as the Keamet river. The tree is pyramidical in form, from 
thirty to fifty feet high, bearing broad-lanceolate, acuminate, entire, smooth 
leaves, from four to six inches in length, of a dark green above, anda rich 
golden.yellow below. In company with this last tree, but more frequently 
found on low rich lands, and about the same size and habit, we found the 
Cornus Nuttallii, a deciduous tree, the flowers of which are white, and much 
larger than the C. florida of our woods. 


The Garrya elliptica, (Douglass,) is a very interesting evergreen shrub, 
from eight to twelve feet in height, inhabiting rocky situations on the coast 
range of mountains from the Columbia river to the upper waters of the Sac- 
ramento river. 

A great many more trees and shrubs peculiar to these regions, that would 
prove an acquisition to the arboriculturist, might be mentioned, such as spe- 
cies of Quercus, Acer, and Pyrus ; but we fear that more has already been 
enumerated than will find place in your journal. 

W. D. BRACKENRIDGE. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 43 


NEW OR RARE PLANTS, 


FLOWERED FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS SEASON, AT SPRINGBROOK. 


PLEROMA ELEGANS. A melastomaceous plant, witha free habit of growth 
yet small shining leaves, and large purple flowers from two to three inches 
across. The flowers appear in threes, at the ends of last year’s shoots, and 
are very handsome. It is a fine species for making a showy spring flower- 
ing specimen. It thrives well ina warm, moist temperature, taking more 
light than most melastomacez, and growing well in turfy loam mixed with 
broken pots. It was imported by Mr. Cope, from Lee & Co., London. 


ERYTHRINA MAGNA ROSEA. ‘The value of this plant consists in its destinet- 
ness from other kinds in cultivation. Its color is of a delicate light purple 
rose, but the size of the flower is not equal to the well-known #. eristagalle. 
This may be owing to my plant being very young, a cutting justrooted hav- 
ing been received from Mr. Buist less than twelve months ago. It will thrive 
in any ordinary culture usually given to greenhouse plants. 


DENDROBIUM SANGUINOLENTUM. An orchidaceous plant originally re- 
ceived by Mr. Cope from Messrs. Loddiges, of London. It is not so hand- 
some as many of this tribe, but still very ornamental. The shoots and leaves 
have a reddish tinge; the flowers which appear on the matured shoots, are 
about one inch across, of a pale orange color, but with an edging of purple 
at the extremity of the petals. It thrives well on a block of wood, with an 
abundance of loose moss tied around it, in a moist atmosphere kept at about 
60°. 

BEGONIA ODORATA. Throughout the summer I deemed this plant too coarse 
and leafy to be of great value; but the sheet of pinkish-white flowers it has 
presented fully counterbalances other faults. Its leaves are large, in the way 
of B. nitida; the flowers also come out in similar trusses, are each about the 
same size, andare slightly odorous. Itisa strong grower, readily propagat- 
ed in the spring by cuttings, grows well in the greenhouse in summer, and 
the stove in winter, in soil composed of coarse leaf mould and turfy loam. It 
was imported by Mr. Buist. 


EPACRIS CARMTONIENSIS. New varieties of this charming tribe appear 
yearly; our present kind does not differ greatly from others in cultivation. 
It is in the way of #. impressa, but the scarlet in that is vermelion in this 
It does well in fresh turfy loam not “ well-rotted,” and is kept in the green- 
house the whole season. Also imported by Mr. Buist. T.M. 


A4 THE FLORIST AND 


CULTURE OF PINEAPPLES. 


The culture of Pineapples under glass does not seem ever to have attract- 
ed much attention with us. I see uo reason why a small house might not 
be devoted for this purpose. It is true, that at certain seasons Pineapples 
are hawked about the streets and can be bought for a mere trifle; butesuch 
fruit is no more like what can be produced artificially than a fox grape is like 
a Muscat. All American travellers in Kurope agree in their opinion that 
no fruit in Europe excels in flavor the same productions here, except the 
Pineapple. Why should they have better Pineapples than we? ‘The fruit 
brought here and sold by the ton is very far from being what it really is 
when allowed to mature properly on the plants, as they are cut while yet 
green, in order to insure their transportation. I propose drawing attention 
to the subject, feeling confident that if any one tries to cultivate them, they 
will soon raise them to greater perfection than can be done in any part of 
Kurope. 

Lengthened treatises have been written on the culture of this fruit, descri- 
bing the various systems of propagating, potting, plunging in hot beds of tan 
bark, manure and leaves, removing from propagating to succession, from 
that to the fruiting house, &c., giving ample directions for maintaining heat 
to the roots, watering overhead, and so on, bringing forward such an array 
of trouble and expense that it might well be concluded as ‘‘ paying too dear 
for the whistle.” Of late years much improvement has attended their cul- 
ture ; prepared beds of soil, heated by means of hot water pipes, have taken 
the place of pots, plunged in fermenting substances; and altogether their 
management is so simplified that any one devoting a little attention to the 
matter cannot fail in the production of this “king of fruits.” 


The following rough sketch will convey a general idea of the arrangements 
necessary for their growth : 


A. Boiler, £, Rough gravel about 6 in. in thick- 
B. Flow pipe for top heat, ness over pipes, 
C. Return do do F. Bed soil for plants, 
D. Bottom heat pipes, G. do for young do 
H. Pathway.’ 


The bed F is devoted to fruiting plants; bed G, which has no bottom heat, 
is for raising young plants, so that whenever a vacancy occurs in F, the best 
plant in G is carefully removed and set in its place. What is not occupied 
with young suckers will be available for growing tomatoes, beans, rhubarb, 
&c., in the winter season, A winter vegetable house constructed on this 
plan, should form a prominent feature in every extensive garden. Straw- 
berries in pots could also be raised in great perfection in such a house. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. AS 


The soil for Pineapples should consist of a free loam, half-rotted sods, mix- 
ed with small charcoal to let in air to the roots, will suit them well. A depth 
of soil from 14 to 16 inches will be quite sufficient. With regard to temper- 
ature, a minimum of 50° in winter, and a maximum of 100° in summer may 
berated. Itis not desirable to allow the temperature to fall much below 50° 
during winter nights; the bottom heat will regulate itself, fluctuating from 


———— 


Yidddtddddddéddbdbdddddddddddddtit 

oe A / , ————— iz 
Tas 

7 | 


WA 
ZA 
A 


| 


= 


SS SSS SSS 


MAA AAAS SSS 


(oe = 
= AI 


i ee 
SCALE OF FEET 


65 to 85 or 90°, according to the state of atmospheric temperature. Water- 
ing must be carefully attended to; a liberal supply will be requisite during 
active growth in summer, but more sparingly applied in winter. Slight shad- 
ing over the glass may also be found necessary during hot sunshine, to coun- 
teract the drying effects of the sun on the glass. My present object is simp- 
ly to draw the attention of amateurs in fruit culture to the subject, as it is as- 
tonishing that a fruit of such rare excellence and highly interesting and easy 


46 THE FLORIST AND 


cultivation should remain so long neglected. A house of Pineapples would 
require less care and no more cost than a greenhouse; in their utility there 
is no comparison. Young plants would require to be imported, as there are 
none kept for sale in any nursery here. Their importation would be attended 
with no risk, as they will keep for months. The best sorts are Black Jamai- 
ea, Enville, Cayenne and Queen. Ww. 


ee 


ON THE BIGNONIA VENUSTA. 
BY JAMES SIMPSON, OF RUFFORD-HOUSE, NEAR NEWPORT. 


BIGNONIA VENUSTA.—This very beautiful flowering hot-house climber well 
merits a place in every stove; scarcely any flower can equal its beauty and 
comeliness when in bloom; and those of the readers hereof who have not 
seen it growing, but have beheld its clusters of flowers in the shops of the 
central avenue of Covent-garden during autumn, winter, and spring, can 
confirm this testimony of its merits. 


It is easy of cultivation, and if allowed to extend its roots in a bark pit, 
or ina border that derives warmth from some source, it grows vigorously, 
and will bloom in profusion, its charming, long, tube-shaped blossoms, borne 
in pendant clusters of from six to a dozen in each, are strikingly handsome. 
I have a plant growing in the corner of a bark pit, in a wooden case, with 
holes at the sides, out of which the roots push, and the branches are trained 
to a wire framework which is upon the front wall of the pit, the entire length 
of the house, and from October to April it blooms beautifully. I find it 
blooms better when trained crossways of the house than when up the rafters. 
I cut in the shoots after they have done blooming, so as to leave each about 
six inches long, give the plant rest by withholding an over supply of water, 
and remove the bark from the side of the case, about two-thirds its | depth, 
sliding down another piece of wood in front of the case, which leaves a 
space of an inch, and keeps the roots from being heated by the bark; but 
early in August I remove it, water freely, and push the bark to the case} 
the plant soon pushes, and giving it manure water every fourth watering of 
the soil causes it to grow vigorously and bloom in profusion. The flowers 
are of a handsome yellow-buff color. . | 


It is easily increased by cuttings of the young shoots when about five 
inches long, inserting them in equal parts of silver sand and loam, and 
plunging the pot where it will have a gentle heat. 

Thave seen plants flourish admirably when grown in a bed of soil in the 
stove, where the roots had a small degree of warmth. Also grown in a 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. AT 


large pot, and trained rownd a pyramidal-shaped wire frame, the’ pot being 
placed upon a wooden trellis which was on a warm flue. One plant I re- 
cently saw that had been planted in a border in a stove but three years, 
which, being regularly trained, covered a space of 600 superficial feet 
against the trellis of a back wall, and was literally laden with its clusters of 
flowers. It ought to be grown in every stove, warm conservatory, or green- 
house. It can be procured, too, at a trifling cost.—Lon. Flor. Cabsnet. 


—_ > ——— 


A JOB WHICH DON’T PAY. 


Moving large trees from the woods on the frozen-ball system in the winter 
season is very prevalent in this part of the country, and I believe in- many 
other places; for I have often read long stories about the successful opera- 
tions of this kind, but we seldom hear anything of their future success. _ 

A great many people have not patience to wait until a tree grows, but 
must have full grown ones planted at once to produce immediate effect. 
This mode speaks for itself, as can be seen wherever it has been tried. 

I think that unsuccessful operations are about as mstructive as successful 
ones, the one tells what will do and the other what won't. With regard to 
the frozen ball system of moving large trees from the woods, I have had 
some experience, and like many others found no difficulty in planting, but 
the rub was to make them grow. 

Three years ago Il brought from the woods a great number of trees of va- 
rious sorts, and for one that has flourished nine have died; at the same time 
I procured from a nursery a few small Elm trees hardly strong enough for 
walking sticks, which were planted in the same situation; to be sure they 
were not such conspicuous objects at the first start, but now they are nice, 
handsome trees, while those from the woods have nearly all disappeared. 

Having so many failures I thought I must have mismanaged the job in 
some way, but in paying my neighbors a visit, I found some five or six of 
them in the same predicament; their gounds were excellent examples of the 
impropriety of planting large trees. ‘There appeared to be considerable di- 
versity in the way of planting, but as far as success was concerned all seemed 
to be abouton a par. Some are planted just as they came from the woods 
with the head entire; to save them from being blown down by high winds, 
three pegs are driven into the ground in a triangular position to each of 
which is attached a rope the other end of which is tied around the stem of 
the tree about half way up. ‘These ropes are often made of straw, which is 
rather a picturesque feature in a pleasure ground. Another mode is to 


48 THE FLORIST AND 


shorten in all the branches one-half, and a few stones are laid over the roots 
‘to keep the tree from being blown down, but are never used in sufficient 
quantity to be of any service; and others again to make a fancy job of it, 
cut the whole head off, leaving twelve or fifteen feet. of bare stem, which 
renders them more like poles for training running roses on than like orna- 
mental trees. 


Forest trees always extend their roots to a great distance, and the fibres 
are at the extremities; when they are dug up these roots are generally cut 
off three or four feet from the stem, leaving the best part in the ground — 
how then could it be expected that such trees would grow? ‘The roots of 
hard-wooded trees are not so ready to throw out young fibres when cut as 
the roots of apple trees.. This mode of planting large trees for immediate 
effect is worse than useless—it is nothing but killing time and spending mo- 
ney for neither end nor purpose. The only thing which will give real satis- 
faction and produce the desired effect, is to plant young trees with fresh fi- 
brous roots, and they will very soon grow to be large. There are few nur- 
series of any note which do not contam almost every variety of tree, so that 
it is a very easy matter to obtain them. | 


I am glad to say that at least one of my neighbors has had his eyes open- 
ed among the big trees. Last winter he moved from the woods a great num- 
ber, and some at a great expense; the situation was a very dry one, and the 
early part of last summer being hot and dry in this section of the country, 
they turned out a total failure. Now he is planting trees of small dimensions 
and of nursery growth, which will in a very few years produce the result 
aimed at; besides which it is always more pleasing to look on a small healthy 
tree, than on a large one in a languishing condition. 


I do not wish to be understood to include all kinds of trees, and under every 
circumstance and situation ; what I have been condemning is the inexpedien- 
cy of employing large trees from the woods. Erna. 

Near Pittsburg Pa., Jany. 1854. 


ee 


We have received from the editor, Wm. S. King, Esq., of Boston, Mass., 
the third and fourth numbers of the Journal of the United States Agricul- 
tural Society. It contains various and valuable articles, original and select- 
ed, on agriculture, cattle raising, horse breeding, fruit growing, and other 
subjects of interest to the farmer. Among the original contributors we no- 
tice the names of Messrs. Vail, Haldeman, Brinckle, T. W. Harris, Kenni- 
cott, B. Munn, and others. It has also a list of the agricultural and Horti- 
cultural papers in the United States. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 49 


= 


CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS. 


FRUIT: 


Pruning, should be brought to conclusion at the earliest convenience. It 
is still a common practice to defer this operation until early spring, although 
it is generally conceded that the sooner after the fall of the leaves it is done, 
the better; various reasons might be given for this opinion. The principal 
one is that the sap accumulated in the tree during winter is economised. 
Late spring pruning is sometimes resorted to, as a means of weakening 
trees of very strong growths, but summer pruning will have a more decided 
effect where this object is in view. Many old peach trees flower profusely 
and set a heavy crop of fruit which drops before coming to maturity, and is 
quickly followed by the death of the tree itself. This might be prevented 
by thining the old branches, and pruning the strongest last year’s wood 
rather close down, diminishing the finest buds, and favoring wood growth. 
Old trees of any description that have become crowded in the centre, will-be 
much improved by judicious thinning, and all moss and loose bark should be 
cleared off the stem. If infected by scall, they should be washed over with 
a weak solution of potash in wate. It isa good practice to wash the bark 
of trees with whale oil, or even common soap and water, destroying insects 
and their eggs, and cleaning off all extraneous matter. | 


Ground intended for planting should be undergoing thorough preparation 
as soon as practicable. Next to trenching with the spade, the subsoil 
plough is the most efficient implement that can be used. Hither the one or 
the other is indispensable in most soils. It is no use to dig holes in the sub- 
soil, unless it is loosened all over as deep as the bottom of the holes, other- 
wise they will become receptacles for water. It is cheapest in the end to 
give every care and attention both in the preparation of the ground and 
planting the trees. A compost of leaf mould from the woods, rotted sod, 
and decayed manure in equal quantities, should be got in readiness for 
planting. This will give the young roots a good start, and establish the 
plant at once, instead of lingering on a miserable existence for two or three 
years as often occurs with trees stuck down in a careless manner. 


STRAWBERRIES, in pots will require more water and a situation near the 
light. They should receive frequent waterings overhead, in order to keep 
clear of red spider, an insiduous enemy, difficult to exterminate when once 
in possession. Beware of too high temperature, especially at night; 45° 
will not be too low, and from 65° to 70° in bright weather. When the 
flowers expand, see that a sufficient number of staminates are placed at 


7 


50 THE FLORIST AND 


regular distances among the pistillate plants, and endeavor to have a 
gentle breeze blow over them occasionally, the better to disperse the pollen. 
Stuminate varieties are considered most suitable for forcing. | 


PEACHES, CHERRIES, &c., in pots should now be gently excited. A vinery 
started about this time is avery suitable place for bringing forward the 
above fruits in pots. A small house devoted to this purpose, with graper- 
ies up the rafters. Peaches, Nectarines, Plums, Cherries, &c., in pots and 
boxes on the floor, with a shelf on the back wall near the glass for Straw- 
berries, would form a very appropriate winter amusement for the fruit ama- 
teur. ‘There is less difficulty in managing a house of this kind than is gen- 
erally supposed. The greatest error is being in too great a hurry, keeping 
up too much heat at the topsand too much water at the roots, causing all 
flower buds to be abortive. Syringe occasionally with warm water, and keep 
the floor and paths damp. There is great loss of moisture where much fire- 
heat is applied, and its extraction from the air occasions many failures in 
the culture of exotics. 

GRAPEVINE Borpers, to be planted in April, should be in course of pre- 
paration; so much has already been said on this subject, that further allusion 
to it seems superlative, but it requires to be “ kept before the people,” that 
ordinary soil, well trenched, drained, and manured with common yard ma- 
nure, will grow them to great perfection, so that any one that can command 
these conditions need not be deterred from erecting graperies because they 
cannot procure bone dust, oyster shells, leather parings, woolen rags, &c. &c., 
which, although useful when properly applied, are by no means. to be con- 
sidered indispensable in the permanent formation of a soil, capable of pro- 
ducing grapes in the greatest perfection. In the many instances on record 
of long-lived, healthy, fruitful vines, no such ingredients have ever been ap- 
plied to the well drained, comparatively poor soil in which they are growing. 


=, De 


FLowrr GARDEN.—In our State this month is usually rather open, and 
will afford many opportunities for getting our spring work ahead—sometimes 
Hyacinths and Tulips come to hand too late to be planted out in the fall. 
The earliest opportunity should be taken to attend to them, as well as to 
Crocus, narcissus, and other hardy bulbs. Those planted in the fall will 
begin to appear at the surface, and should be slightly protected by a thin 
layer of ashes or half rotten leaves. The planting of Trees, Shrubs, Roses, 
&e., should be forwarded whenever the ground becomes somewhat dried— 
no advantage is gained by operating in wet, clammy soil; whatever pruning 
remains unfinished should be deferred, and all things tied up and got in 
readiness for the spring’s return. Towards the end of the month, when all 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 51 


danger of hard frost is over, the lawn will be greatly benefitted, by the ap- 
plication of a heavy roller over it; it makes the soil firm after the upheaving 
it received from the frost; and sets the loosened roots of the grass firmly in 
the soil. Moles are apt to be extremely troublesome to lawns at this period, 
and a little labor bestowed on trapping them is well spent. There are many 
kinds of traps of recent invention. For lawns the old clasping spring trap 
is as goodasany. ‘The ground disturbed by moles, should be rolled over 
every morning, whioh will afford an opportunity of noticing where they are 
engaged at work. Herbaceous plants, if they have stood several years in 
one spot, will do better if taken up, divided, and replanted; and Annuals, 
of the hardy kinds, if desired to be very fine, should be sown as early in the 
season as possible. The Pansy, and Belgian Daisy thrive much better by 
being planted out early in the spring, than when grown in houses, the latter 
most beautiful tribe, nearly failed in cultivation the past year, solely through 
being too much petted, in pots and houses. Where they are grown in pots, 
I would recommend them to be kept in the coolest possible situation; and 
when the warm weather sets in, shade them from hot suns, and preserve 
them in frames from excessive drought. Hedges around flower gardens as 
enclosures, are rapidly taking the place of fences. ‘This is a desirable ‘im- 
provement. Where strength and protection are required, Osage Orange has 
the pre-eminence; where ornament, or appearance of division lines is more an 
object, the Buckthorn. Beech, Hornbeam, or Privet may be employed; for 
Evergreen Hedges the Chinese arbor vite, is the handsomest; though the 
American is lastingly so—the Hemlock Spruce makes a very graceful look- 
ing hedge, and sometimes the vuniper is employed, but in the last branches so 
frequently die out as to render it very objectionable under any but the most - 
favorable circumstances. In all cases much of the value and beauty of a 
hedge will depend on the way it is managed in infancy. They ought in all 
cases to get a good winter’s pruning, and for the first few years kept pruned 
‘pretty well down,” in order to render the plants bushy from the ground. 


GREENHOUSE.—The Camellia will be the chief attraction here just now, 
as they are going out of flower, and previously to starting for growth, those | 
that require it should be repotted. This operation should not be effected un- 
less the plant makes small, meagre looking wood. Too much ‘ pottering”’ 
is as bad as neglect. ‘The best soil—or as there are many opinions—a good 
one is composed of coarse, turfy loam, with perhaps a fourth of well decayed 
leaf mould, and the same quantity of coarse sand; of course the “ pots to be 
well drained.”” When Camellias start into growth, they require a large sup- 
ply of moisture, both to the atmosphere and the roots. Pelargoniums, Cin- 
erarias, Fuchsias, Calceolarias, &c., should have their last shift before bloom- 


52 THE FLORIST AND 


ing by the end of the month—though some of these do better in special 
kinds of soil, they will all do pretty well ina coarse loam, with perhaps a 
third of half dried, half decayed stable manure, and the same proportion of 
sharp sand, The day is gone by for the apothecary like prescriptions form- 
erly given for the soils of various plants. In the management of the Pelar- 
goniums I have found it of advantage not to stop the shoots too often, 
If we let them grow a length of several leaves first, and apply the knife 
instead of the ‘finger and thumb,” the young shoots which follow are more 
vigorous, and generally branch out themselves afterwards beautifully, with- 
out further aid. The Dahlia will require attention by the end of the month 
—where but afew choice varieties are kept on hand, a good way to start 
them is to pot them each in separate pots, previously cutting off the extrem- 
ities of the tubers. In a temperature of 55° they will soon sprout. .The 
lovers of Tuberoses, may have them in flower two months before they can be 
had out of doors, by potting a few at this time separately in six pots, keep- 
ing them in the warmest part of the greenhouse. Before the attention is 
much occupied out of doors, the striking off of cuttings of winter flowering 
plants may be forwarded, Cuttings of young shoots at this season of the 
year strike very readily, and many things which in the fall can be made to 
root but with difficulty, ;can now be struck with ease—a loose, sandy 
soil, a close atmosphere to prevent great evaporation from the cuttings, and 
a temperature equal to, or slightly above what the cuttings have been ac- 
customed to, is all that is required. 


Tue Hot-Hovusr, or Stove; should now be gay with Adschynanthus, 
Centradenias, Pentas, Begonias, Brunfelsias, and so on, constituting this 
department the most interesting feature of a first rate garden at this season 
of the year. As any of them go out of flower, place them in the driest, and 
lighest part of the house to get their wood ripened as well as possible, when 
they may be shortened in, and pruned so as to make them push out shoots 
where they are required to constitute a handsome specimen; a few weeks 
after which they will require dis-rooting a little, placing in smaller pots, and 
thus be in readiness to go ahead again for another season, in reasonable bounds. 
A few Achimenes, and Gloxinias, may be repotted and kept slightly moist 
sq as to get them in flower by May or June; but as the main stock of these 
are expected to be in flower about July or August, the greatest portion must 
be held over yet awhile. . 

VEGETABLE GARDEN.—Peas and potatoes are the two first crops I attend 
ta; the latter can seldom be entrusted to the open ground any time this 
month, but the former often can. Whenever I can get the ground dry 
enough, | find great advantage from planting peas early. Where a frame or 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 58 


slight hotbed can be commanded, the potato may be planted as soon in the 
month as convenient; a few radishes may be thinly sown over them, they 
will be ‘off’ before they interfere with the potatoes. J also sow a few early 
Horn carrot under the protection of a frame at this time. Tomatoes, egg 
plants, peppers, and so on, may be sown about the end of the month, in a 
moderately warm place, so as to have them advanced a little for planting out 
in May. If the weather is fine I open at the end of the month; a great deal 
may be done by way of preparing the ground for spring work, and in some 
cases, the hardier kinds of vegetables, as parsnips, onions, salsify, spinach, 
parsley and cabbage, may be sown or planted. BL Bile 


—_———=3 + Gee 


THE STRAWBERRY QUESTION. 


New Bricguton, Staten IsLanp, )- 
January 24, 1854. \ 
Mr. Hanson—As I do not wish to occupy your valuable pages with any- 
thing but what is of service, allow me briefly to refer your correspondent, 
Walter Elder, to Lindley’s Theory of Horticulture; and likewise, if he can 
get at them, to read over the experiments of Mr. Knight, which are to be 
found published in the London Horticultural Society’s transactions. He will 
there find all that we have advanced fully corroborated by the highest autho- 
rity, and ‘‘ learn something to his advantage.’’ He is quite mistaken about 
his so named “‘trio”’ of ‘‘young revolutionists’” being all young men. ‘There 
is one at least, over whose head has shone the sun of more than forty sum- 
mers, and who has made more use of his observing faculties than Mr. Elder 
appears to have done, if we are to judge by his batch of absurdities. He is 
perhaps aware that there is only one step between the sublime and the ridi- 
culous; and I am sorry for his own credit, that in attempting the former he 
has overstept the narrow boundary, and only produced the latter. 
Respectfully yours, Wm. CHORLTON. 


For the Florist and Horticultural Journal. 
FiusHine, JAN’y 25, 1854. 
After perusing, in your January number, the commentary on sexual im- 
mutability, by Walter Elder, which is one of the most lucid and comprehen- 
sive ever penned by man, I was most forcibly struck by the first sentence of 
your response, when you say “ We really flattered ourselves that the Straw- 
berry question was settled.’’ Indeed! And we on our part say, that we 


DA THE FLORIST AND 


really had hoped that those who attempt to outrage the laws of nature, would, 
ere this, have favored us with a few facts. But as facts are so scanty on 
that side of the question, and as books are being recommended, we would 
suggest the study of the ‘‘ Book of Nature,” as the safest guide to truth. So 
much by way of passing remark. It is not my object to enter into any dis- 
cussion now, but only to ask for the right of such discussion. I have noticed 
that the views of Mr. Meehan, and of every other writer favorable to sexual 
mutation, have been anxiously inserted in the Fiorist, whether original or 
extracted from other sources; and I regret to say that my complete refuta- 
tion of every position taken by Mr. Meehan, published in the October num- 
ber of the Farm Journal, has not, in whole or in part, been allowed to see the 
light on the pages of the FLorist. You have, it is true, at p. 327 of your 
November number, referred to it as written “‘in very bad taste ;”’ further re- 
marking that ‘‘those who are in the wrong always make the noise;”’ and that 
‘‘there has not been anything in the way of argument on the side of the un- 
changeable Cincinnati theorists—all is assertion, denial, and on the part of 
Mr. Prince, abuse of Mr. Meehan.” 

Now, sir, I take issue on your own words; and since you have thought pro- 
per to attack my article, I claim a hearing, and deny your assumed right to 
condemn me unheard to your readers. I ask, therefore, the insertion of my 
response to Mr. Meehan in your paper as an act of plain justice ; and at the 
same time I take it for granted, that under your tuition your readers have be- 
come sufficiently intelligent to form correct opinions for themselves, without 
any forestalled promptings. And in order that you may not be taxed with 
expense, I will, immediately on its insertion, transmit you $5 (or more) to 
pay the compositor. 

When you shall have done me this act of civility and justice, I sole:t asa 
favor, that you, and every one who agrees with you in opinion, will attack 
every position I have taken, and bring forward all facts that can be proved. 
Sound the tocsin throughout the Union, calling on all your believers to rally 
their forces in the attack; and IJ especially urge you to solicit the aid of that 
strong band you speak of at p. 80 of your January number, where you say 
you can command “ the opinions of men as old as any of them’’—(referring 
to Longworth, Elder, & Co.) “men who are celebrated botanists, directly de- 
nying the truth of their theory.’’ I will agree to remain silent for three 
months, or long enough for all fictions, as well as facts, to be brought forth 
on your side of the question; and all I ask afterwards is the privilege of a 
final reply to each and every position that may be advanced. ‘Then let the 
public decide between us. 

Mr. Hanson failed to notice the impertinent and vulgar language used 7 
Mr. Meehan in some parts of his articles. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 55 


My statement about Meehan’s using information that he obtained from Dr. 
Darlington in conversation, §c., from which he composed his article to Bos- 
ton, I can show to be the fact—and all wriggling about that I will put an end 
to. Yours, truly, Wma. R. Prince. 


CINCINNATI, Jan. 20, 1854. 


Mr. Hanson :—Mr. Meehan’s first declaration that he could by a change 
of heat and exposure make a pistillate plant bring out some of the stamens, 
I was not prepared to say was impossible, for I have never seen a pistillate 
blossom that had not defective stamens. But I did believe he erred, for I 
believed he had a mixture of hermaphrodite plants with his pistillates. But 
when from the runners of a pure pistillate he produced an equal portion of 
staminate and pistillate plants, I deemed it an impossibility. For twenty 
years I kept abed of pure pistillate Hudsons, to make new beds from, se- 
parate from all others, and never had a single fruit, or a runner to change 
itscharacter. But, Mr. Meehan is now left in the back ground, so far, that 
he will not venture to sustain those who come to the rescue. A brother 
editor of yours, had all his beds of Hovey’s pistillate change their sexual 
character. A correspondent of your journal has his beds change their sex- 
ual character daily, from greater or less heat in the weather, and greater or 
less moisture. Your doctrine is that a “pistillate plant is a monstrosity, 
and will labor in heat and cold, wet and dry weather to produce perfect 
blossoms.”’ My doctrine is, for I know it from a life of experience, that in 
their natural state, in our fields and prairies. pure staminates and pistillates 
abound ; and that hermaphrodites are scarce. That when I have raised 
thousands of plants from seed, nearly all were pure pistillates or stami- 
nates. I prefer facts and years of experience, vouched for by an illiterate 
market woman, to the opinions of the botanists that you recommend me 
read. You might have included the great Linnzeus in your list. It is 
true that Mr. Elder is down on you rough-shod in your present number. 
He is I presume a Quaker, and bound to speak plain. I regret that your 
Christian feelings did not enable you to bear his strong arguments with pa- 
tience. That in the moment of excitement you should even have pounced 
down rough-shod on me, I bear with patience, for I know that the hour 
of your destiny is at hand, when you will change your opinions, and ac- 
knowledge your error. Till then all that I ask of you is, that you will 
publish an article which you will find in Buchanan’s Treatise on the grape, 
on the strawberry, from as able a botanist as any of those you refer to, and 
who has for years not only read these authors of yours, but devoted his at- 
tention to the cultivation of the plant, and its sexual character, whether 


56 THE FLORIST AND 


cultivation will change its character, and also whether the runners will vary 
from the parent. The person to whom J allude is Professor Huntsman of 
Flushing, L. I. Yours, with regard. N. Lonawortu. 


(From Downing’s Horticulturist.) 


TWO EXPERIMENTS MADE TO TEST MR. LONGWORTH’S STRAWBERRY THEORY. 


Taking Hovey’s Seedling as a subject, I procured a bell-glass, and placed 
it over an entire plant which had not bloomed. The flowers expanded well 
under the glass, but did not produce one berry. The plant was frequently - 
agitated to put the pollen in motion, if there was any. 

IT also introduced under a glass some blossom buds before they had blown. 
These, as they successively expanded, showed no signs of swelling. Limpreg- 
nated, at different times, two of the blossoms by hand, applying the pollen 
from another plant with a camel’s hair pencil. These two set their fruit per- 
fectly. The pistils of the other blossoms soon turned to a dark color. These 
experiments were made at the north side of a picket fence, where the plants 
were screened from the full effects of the sun, otherwise the heat under the 
glasses would have been too great. 

These experiments prove to my mind very conclusively, that Hovey’s Seed- 
ling will not bear any fruit unless impregnated by some staminate variety. 
And the same may be said of other varieties in which the stamens are obso- 
lete. I have had some plants of the Hudson Bay for three years, in a posi- 
tion where they cannot very easily be impregnated by other kinds, during 
which time they have not borne one berry, while other plants of the same 
variety, exposed, have been productive. <A difference in the formation of the 
flowers on different plants is not confined to cultivated kinds, but may be seen 
in those growing wild in the fields, the pestzdlate plants of which I have often 
examined with a magnifying glass, to see if I could discover any pollen, but 
have never been able to find it; I am forced, therefore, to believe that pistzl- 
late plants, both wild and cultivated, are absolutely devoid of pollen, and can- 
not, therefore, produce any fruit except when impregnated by others. 

I am also convinced, from observation and theory, that one kind will never 
change to the other by off-sets. The runner bearing the same relation to 
the plant producing it as a tree grown from a bud does to the tree from which 
it was taken. It may, then, be asked, how does it happen that there are 
pistillate and staminate plants of the same variety? J answer, 2 is not the 
fact, unless they have sprung from seed, or the plants have been taken from 
the filds in a wild state. 

That pistillate plants are surer and better bearers than staminate plants, 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 57 
is, I think, generally true (provided, of course, that they are impregnated.) 
And it would seem reasonable to infer that when but one of the sexual or- 
gans is complete, the other will have more strength. Plants, therefore, that 
are perfect in both organs, require a higher state of cultivation. There is, 
however, a wide difference in the productiveness of different kinds, that are 
perfect in both organs, some being much more liable to ddast than others. 

G. W. HUNTSMAN. 

Flushing, L. I., July 14, 1846. 


Mr. Eprror:—You say that you “would like to hear my opinion of a 
very frequent variation of petals taking the place of the anthers of the 
stamens in some varieties of Fuchsias.”” The variations to which I presume 
you allude are, a peculiarity in some varieties of different genera, the sta- 
mens form the footstalk of forced petals with the anthers imbedded in the 
centre. Or, in other words, these forced petals form a garnishment or 
mantle to the stamens and anthers. Swch is the case with some varieties of 
Fuchsia; and the double red Althzea has the same peculiarity, but yet its 
sex is unchanged, as it bears seeds with such malformations of its organs ; 
but the Fuchsias do not, for the reason that they are produced by excessive 
culture, kept up by excessive culture, and areso succulent by excessive cul- 
ture and the confined and humid atmosphere of a greenhouse, that one 
would more readily take them for herbaceous than ligneous plants, if he did 
not know the genus to which they belonged; and in this state they cannot 
bear seeds, but are monsters or mules with respect to reproduction. And 
does any body assert that they have changed sex, because they are rendered 
abortive by such treatment, and having a tendency to such peculiarities. It 
is in the sex that I say stability rests, and although man can destroy, he has 
not the power to amend the laws of nature in this particular. You advise 
me to study certain authors, I used to consult Smith and Lee when I was a 
lad; they were then considered good authority, but now I suppose you class 
them among the “old Fogies.”. When the great Patrick Henry was in the 
prime of life, some friend of his suggested to him the propriety of studying 
certain authors, to which he made answer, ‘‘ books are very useful for in- 
g, and I have been much benefitted by them, but now I 
must gather knowledge from experience, and read men and things—the 
world is my book.”” ‘To which I add, Amen. Respectfully. 

Philada., Jan. 16, 1854. WALTER ELDER. 


structing the youn 


First, for Mr. Prince. He pronounces Mr. Elder’s “commentary on sex- 
ual immutability,’ “‘ one of the most lucid and comprehensive ever penned 


58 THE FLORIST AND 


by man.” We have no doubt that all our readers considered it quite as clear 
as the “quality of mercy’ mentioned by Shakspeare. Mr. Prince also states 
that facts are scarce on our side. The facts we have shown are, Mr. Mee- 
han’s plants shown at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, of Hovey’s 
Seedlings with staminate flowers. No one dare deny this, for the plants were 
staged there, and one of the two or three (perhaps not so many) members of 
that society, who believe Mr. Longworth’s theory, Imean Dr. Brinckle, said 
that he did not examine the plants, as he was fully satisfied that Mr. Meehan 
was mistaken. 


In the next place, Mr. Prince has noticed that the views of Mr. Meehan, 
and of every other writer favorable to mutation, have been anxiously inserted 
ia the FioristT, whether original or extracted from other sources; and he re- 
grets to say that his complete refutation of every position taken by Mr. Mee- 
han, published in the October number of the Farm Journal, has not been 
allowed to see the ight on the pages of the FLorist. It is false—not true 
in fact, that every thing favoring Mr. Mcehan’s views has been published to 
the exclusion of the Cincinnati side of the question ; for Mr. Longworth and 
Mr. Elder have been heard as largely as any other. As to Mr. Prince’s long 
eommunication in the Farm Journal, I have no doubt that the editors were 
very sorry to encumber pages with it which might have been occupied with 
much more valuable matter: and I submit to any one whether everything 
Mr. Prince has written be not in bad taste; and also, whether anything 
worthy of the attention of either side of the question. As to reprinting the 
article in question, it shall not be done in the FLorist, for it is not worth the 
room; but if Mr. Prince chooses to print it, a copy shall be sent to every 
subscriber of the FLorist. As to fact or fictions, we have the fact shown by 
Mr. Meehan, mentioned above; the fact of Mr. Downing’s staminate Ho- 
vey 's; of Mr. Wm. Saunders’ pistillate’s bearing fruit, in Baltimore ; the fact 
of the changing beds of Mr. Wight, of the Prairie Farmer; that of Mr. Chorl- 
ton’s, in his beds at New Brighton—and the fact of Nature redeeming her- 
self from abortion, which strawberry plants with but one sexual organ are. 


Further: Mr. Prince’s statement about Meehan’s using informrtion ob- 
tained from Dr. Darlington in conversation, &c., “‘ which he can show to be 
the fact,” is almost astounding. ‘That Mr. Prince is willing to have printed 
such an assertion, in the teeth of the denial of Mr. Meehan and of the editor 
of the Farm Journal, tells very little for the regard he has for public opinion; 
but, as he says of his arguments, let the public decide between his truthful- 
ness and that of Messrs. Darlington and Meehan. We are sorry to have to 
be so pointed in our remarks, but we consider that Mr. Prince’s remarks call 
for decided language. We shall have nothing more of the kind appearing 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 59 


in our pages if we can help it; and we doubt if he can obtain admission for 
his articles to any other horticultural paper. 

In answer to what Mr. Longworth has to urge, we think that we have said 
before that the size of the crop is increased by planting staminates among 
the pistillates; this is admitted on all hands. But that it is impossible for 
pistillates to have some of their flowers hermaphrodite, has been contradicted 
by the facts mentioned above, and moreover is contrary to the known laws 
efnature. We alt know that perfect fruit, that is the seed, cannot be pro- 
duced in any plant without the fertilizing influence of pollen; but will any 
éne persist in saying that pollen is necessary to cause the swelling of the 
flower stalks of the strawberry which forms what we generally call the fruit? * 
We are not such Millerites as to believe yet that the time of our opinions has 
come, for we have not yet seen anything to make us retract anything we 
have advanced. It is unfortunate, certainly, for any one to be obliged to 
change his opinion on any subject, but one cannot always be right; (aud It is - 
therefore best to be ready to take a different tack when the wind of know- 
ledge shifts to a different quarter ;) and to those who find themselves wrong, 
we recommend the advice of Emerson — “‘ A foolish consistency is the hob- 
goblin of little minds; if you have ought to say, speak what to-day thinks in 
words as cannon balls, and to-morrow speak what the morrow thinks, in hard _ 
words again, even if it contradicts what had been said before.’’ ‘‘Consis- 
tency is ajewel,”’ is 2 musty proverb, which most persons quote when asked 
to acknowledge themselves in error. 


Mr. Elder evidently did not find much about the development of the parts 
in those worthies of the earlier days of science, Smith and Lee, whom he has 
studied to such advantage. It is always a bad sign when a person considers 
his education completed. We see a great many persons in the world who do 
not know enough to know how much there is to know. Patrick Henry was 
certainly a very good natural orator, but I don’t think that he has increased 
his fame rnuch by making such a speech as that. The monstrosity of the pe- 
tal taking the place of the stigma in the Fuchsia has nothing to do with the 
change of sex, but is only an incompleteness of development from the leaf to 
the stigma. Any one who has read anything later than the works of Smith 
and Lee, knows that the sepal, petals, stamens and pistils are only modifica- 
tions of the leaf ; and in the case of the fuchsia mentioned, the change only 
got as far as the petal. 


What Mr. Huntsman has to say, is all very true as to the crops; but no- 
thing more can be said about pistillates not sctting fruit, for it has been tried 


_“Schleiden. Poetry of the Vegetable World; translated by Arthur Henfrey: American edi- 
tion, edited by Alphonso Wood, M.D,, Cin,O. Moore, Anderson & Co., Cin. O, 


60 THE FLORIST AND 


and proven. Te also says that it is not the fact that there can be pistillate. 
and staminate plants of the same variety—which was disproved by Mr. Mee- 
han’s plants of McAvoy’s Strawberry having two scapes from one root—one 
bearing pistillate and the other staminate blossoms. That fact can’t be de- 
nied, for a plant was seen by the editor of the Farm Journal. Moreover, 
they were of the true kind, for the committee of which Dr. Brinckle is chair- 
man, awarded a premium for fruit grown on these plants. The pistillates 
and staminates among the wild strawberries are no doubt frequent, but that 
is but an exception to the real character of the genus, which is monecious. It 
is so considered by all botanists from Linnzeus down, among whom are some 


perhaps equal to Prof. Huntsman. 


But we must not occupy any more space; the Muses have come to the aid 


of the Cincinnatians. 


Lend them your ears! 


A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE STRAWBERRY QUESTION. 


When you ¢ hoped your friends,” Mr. Editor, 
Would “6 communicate the observations 
That they had made on strawberry blooms,” 
You got mine with discretions. 

Since then, dear sir, you’ve talked of me, 
As if I’d joined the strife ; 

] never intended such a thing, 
As true as |’m in life. 


What was the cause of such great stir— 
Or what the strife ahout ? 
One exclaimed, discovery ! 
Others expressed their doubt. 
Now, what was that to you or me, 
If they should quarrel and fight ? 
It seem’d to me, you wished to know, 
- Which side your friends thought right, 


Was it knowledge for the cultivator ? 
Did it teach him the better way 

How to raise a greater crop, 
Or was it to lead him astray ? 

A MareEsnestT in a strawberry bloom 
Has caused the whole dispute, 

As skilful men of practical knowledge 
Could not all keep mute. 


William R. Prince, in Farm Journal, 
With devouring demolition, 

Came down upon discovery, 
Causing repentance and contrition. 

Next, thro’ our well-conducted Florist, 
A champion sallied forth, 

The friend of all good cultivators, 
Great Nicholas P. Longworth! 


The late lamented A. J. Downing, 
Made the ‘assertion’ once before; 

Then confessed his error to a friend, 
And did repent it sore. 


Who, then, cried out, «* Great light was hid, 
Or buried under a bushel!?’ 

Who, then, brought Botany to test, 
Or created such a bustle ? 


Now, on what does botany rest? 
Has it any foundations ? 
Or is it onlya flirting dream— 
A fancy of variations ? 
ls it opposed to valid truths, 
By the laws of nature proved? 
Them, down the gulf of Oblivion, 
lngloriously it’s moved. 


Whenever Cohesion turns about 
And ‘* pulls Newton’s apple off the tree,’’ 
Then stamens may become pistils, 
Or pistils the contrary. 
Then what would be the use of science, 
With such variations botanical ? 
As changes would as frequently happen 
In theory philosophical. . 


I’ve seen s*prominence”’ in a strawberry bloom, 
The same in hawthorn blossom ; 
l’ve seen the like in all fruit trees, 
And pondered it in my bosom. 
When the case was new to me, 
It was not so to all; 
Why should l’ve made a great ado 
Abvut such trifles small ? 


Such prominence, I am positive. 
In what | here recite, 
Can never make a pistillate bloorn 
A full hermaphrodite. 
Let all your plants prove themselves, 
(Keep them free of weeds,) 
And those will be hermaphrodites 
Of themselves, that bear good seeds. 
WALTER ELDER, 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 61 


The “prominence ”’ here alluded to, lies in the fact that all plants have 
some blooms larger than others; and as the sexual organs are large in equal 
proportions with calyx, corolla and pericarp, they are called prominent—but 
the sex still remains unchanged. W. E. 


— 4+ a 


BALSAMINA LATIFOLIA ALBA. 


If it cannot be said of this Balsam that it is one of the most beautiful 
plants which we possess, it certainly is one of the most useful, for it 1s per- 
petually in bloom, forms specimens of good size in a short time, and is so 
easily managed that even the most inexperienced grower could scarcely fail 
in its cultivation. , 

If afforded a gentle bottom heat, cuttings made of firm pieces of the 
wood emit roots freely ; they should be planted in sandy soil, covered with a 
glass, placed in a shady situation, and not allowed to droop. When suffi- 
ciently rooted to bear handling, pot them singly in small pots, and replace 
them in aclose moist warm situation, shading them from direct sunshine till 
they get established in their pots; then give air more freely.and pinch out 
the tops in order to obtain a bushy plant. Shift into 6-inch pots, and get 
them strong well established plants in these before winter. To effect this 
the cuttings need not be put in earlier than June. The young plants should 
be placed near the glass in a house where the temperature may average 
about 50°, giving no more water to the soil than will keep the foliage in 
health. ‘Towards March, or earlier if required, remove them to a warm 
house, placing them where they will receive all the light possible; and give 
a liberal shift, using good, rich, turfy loam, leaf-soil, and thoroughly decay- 
ed cow manure, in about equal proportions, well intermixed, adding suffi- 
cient sharp sand and lumpy pieces of charcoal to keep the compost open and 
porous, in order to ensure the free percolation of air and water through the 
mass. Peg down the shoots, and as they advance in growth stop the stronger 
ones, keeping the leading shoot tied up to a stake and regulating the others 
so as to obtain nice well-furnished pyramidal specimens. Give a free supply 
of water tothe soil, and keep the atmosphere moist; syringe the plants 
over-head morning and evening, andif green-fly makes its appearance fumi- 
gate with tobacco. As the plants advance in growth, more pot room will 
soon be wanted, and the second shift should be into the flowering-pots, the 
size of which must be regulated by the size which it may be desired to shave 
the specimens. Witha light, warm, airy position the plants will make very 
rapid growth, and soon form large handsome specimens. Discontinue stop- 
ping a few weeks—say three—before the time you may wish to have your 
plant in bloom; and except pinching out the point of any shoot which may 
incline to so far outgrow the others as to spoil the form of the specimen, 
stopping should not be practised after the plants are considered large enough 
for flowering. By keeping them in a light, sufficiently airy position while 
in bloom, they will grow slowly, forming short-jointed wood, and retaining a 
compact bushy habit; and as a constant succession of blossom depends upon 
securing a regular development of healthy young wood, it is of importance 


62 THE FLORIST AND 


to provide for this, which will be best done by placing the specimens while 
in bloom where it will be convenient to regulate the admission of air, &c., 
according as the state af the plant may indicate. | 

With attention to the above remarks, a somewhat close part of the green- 
house will be found a very suitable position for those blooming during sum- 
mer; but if it should be desirable to prolong their flowering into autumn 
they must be removed into an intermediate house, when cold damp weather 
occurs. Give a liberal supply of water at the root, and clear weak manure 
water may be given once or twice a week with advantage to such as are at 
all pot-bound. 

I may add that it is useless to occupy space in winter with large plants of 
this Balsam, therefore attend to keeping up a stock of young ones, and 
throw old specimens to the rubbish heap after blooming.—Alpha, in Gard. 
Chron. 


PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 


The stated meeting of the Society was held January 17th, the President in 
the chair. The following awards were made: 

Collection of twelve plants—for the best to Robert Buist; for second best 
to Thomas Meehan, gar. to C. Cope. Specimen plant—for the best to R, 
Buist; for second best to Thomas Meehan. ‘Table design—for the best; Basket 
of cut flowers—for the best and second best to Thomas Meehan. 

A special premium of one dollar was awarded to Isaac B. Baxter for fine 
specimens of Passe Colmar Pears. 

Vegetables—for the best display by an amateur, to Thomas Meghran, gr. 
to W. H. Stewart, Torresdale; and special premiums of one dollar each for 
a dish of Mushrooms, and Cucumbers, Godfrey’s Surprise, to do; and for Im- 
perial Sion-house Cucumber to Wm. Thompson, gr. to John Tucker, 


~AD INTERIM FRUIT REPORT, 


The Fruit Committee respectfully report that they have received, since 
the December ad interim report, specimens of the following varieties : 

From Charles b. Ott, Pleasant Valley, Bucks county, Pa.—The Water — 
Apple—represented to be a very productive variety. Size medium, 23 in- 
ches long by 23 broad; form oblong, inclining to conical ; color red on the 
greater part of the surface, interspersed with one or more white spaces, and 
a number of green blotches, greenish-yellow about the crown and on the un- 
exposed portion; stem } an inch long and 1-12th thick, inserted into a ra- 
ther narrow, deep, acuminate cavity; calyx medium, closed, set in a moder- 
ately wide, plaited, sometimes shallow, occasionally deep basin; seed medi- 
um, brown, ovate, flesh greenish-white, fine texture, remarkably tender, juicy; 
flavor sprightly, with an agreeable aroma; quality “‘ very good.” 

From Persifer F. Frazer, of this city, through J. J. Vanderkemp, Esq.—. 
Seed of the Salmon Berry, from Bodega, California; and dried Raspberries 
from Sitka, in Russian America, near the 57th degree north latiude. More 
than a year ago we learned from a reliable quarter that araspberry of a very 
large size and fine flavor had been found growing in California, Repeated 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 63 


attempts were made by us to obtain the variety, without, however, succeed- 
ing in accomplishing our object. We were, therefore, highly gratified at the 
unexpected receipt, through Mr. Vanderkemp, not only of the seed of the 
California Raspberry, but also the dried berries of a variety from the island 
of Sitka, high up on the Pacific coast, and upwards of nine hundred miles 
north-west of the mouth of the Columbia river. 

In an interesting letter to one of the committee, Mr. Frazer gives us the 
following information in regard to them:—“‘ The dried Raspberries in the 
package marked ‘Sitka,’ were brought from the Russian colony of that name 
on the north-west coast of America, by my friend Mr. James C. Ward, of San 
Francisco. He procured them while on a visit there this last summer, and 
sent them to me with the hope that the plants might possibly be raised from 
them. I know nothing of them except that they are the raspberry of the 
place. The seeds in the other package are those of a large buff-colored 
Raspberry, known in the country as the Salmon Berry. 1 found it growing 
apparently wild, among nettles, at Bodega, a small seaport about fifty miles 
north-west from San Francisco. Bodega is the port. of a tract of country 
which was (for a length of time previous to the taking possession of the coun- 
try by the U. S.) in the occupation of the Russians, who leased it for the’ 
purpose of supplying their colonies with grain. .The Raspberries were found 
on the shore of the harbor, under the projection of high cliffs, which shelter- 
ed them from the north-west winds. As they were in the immediate vicinity 
of the company’s warehouses, it is very possible that they had been planted 
there by the Russians, though I could not perceive any traces of cultivation. 
They grow, if I recollect aright, on the talus of the cliffs, and so completely 
mixed in with high nettles that I found it very difficult to procure them. The 
plants were from five to six feet in height, and the berries of at least twice 
the volume cf the Antwerp, and between a buff and a salmon color, with a - 
very delicate flavor, which reminded me of that of our carnation cherries.— 
An attempt was made by Gen. Persifer F. Smith to send the cuttings home, 
but they died on the passage across the Isthmus of Panama. On speaking 
on the subject to Mrs. Dr. Rhea Barton, she gave me directions for having 
the seeds prepared, and requested that I wouid procure some for her. These 
directions were forwarded to my friend, Mr. Ward, and a few days since I 
received the packages which Mr. Vanderkemp placed in your hands... *: * 
In case of success, I ask for some of the plants for Mrs. Barton, Gen. Smith, 
and Mr. Vanderkemp—the two former are absent from the city, and both de- 
sired me to procure the seed for them.”’ 

The berries from Sitka, though thoroughly dried, were quite large; we 
counted the seeds in two of them, and found sixty-eight in one, and seventy~ 
two in the other. 


F The library committee reported the name of one member delinquent for 
nes. 

The committee of finance reported that having examined the treasurer’s 
statement, they found it correct, and that the investments were good and in- 
terest punctually paid. 

A circular, addressed to the society by a committee of the Allegheny Co. 
Agricultural Society, was read, desiring the co-operation of the society in 
procuring the passage of an act by the legislature declaring the stealing of 


growing fruit, vegetables, grain, &c., larceny. 


64 THE FLORIST AND 


On motion, the subject was referred to a seleet committee of. three with 
power to act. 

The President announced that he had received from Commodore Perry, 

of the Japan Expedition, a small package of seeds and a letter, which was 
read purporting that the seeds were a present to the Society,. and requesting 
that a portion of the products of each kind might be preserved, and if new 
and interesting the credit be given to the Expedition. 

On motion, ordered that the thanks of the Society be tendered to Com- 
modore Perry for the gift, and the seeds be referred to the Committee for 
the distribution of Seeds, &c 

aMembers Hlected.—Dr. Morton Stille, Edmund Grundy, Robert Tyler, 
Edward Shippen, Edward P. Eastwick, and George Lazenby. 


Objects Hxhibited. 


Plants.—By Robert Buist :—Ixora crocata, Camellia Mrs. Cope, Primu- 
la sinensis alb. plen,, Daphne indica rubra, Corraea turgida, C. speciosa, 
Tillandsia bractea rubra, Epacris Wattonu, E. miniata, EH. Copei, Clivia no- 
bilis, Erica rubra, Corrzea speciosa, and a Seedling Primula. 

By Thomas Meehan, gardener to C. Cope :—Centradenia floribunda, 
Primula sinensis purp. plen., Hranthemum semperflorens, E. pulchellum, 
Ixora incarnata, Camellia Margaret Grillon, C. Reine des Fleurs, Aloe va- 
riegata, Euphorbia jacquinizflora, Brunsfelsia latifolia, Jasminum revolutum, 
Epidendrun ciliatum, and Cypripedium venustum. Also, a Table design 
and two baskets of cut flowers. 

Fruit.—By Isaac B. Baxter :—Pears—Passe Colmar, B. D’Aremberg, 
and 8. Germain. 

Vegetables.—By Thomas Meghran, gardener to W. H. Stewart, Torres- 
dale -—A display, among which were Cucumbers, the Godfrey’s Surprise, 
Mushrooms, Asparagus, and varieties of Lettuce. 

By W. Thompson, gardener to John Tucker ;—Sion house Cucumbers. 

By Thomas Meehan :—<Asparagus. 


ANNUAL MEETING. 


The annual meeting of the Society was held on Tuesday, January 17th, 
1854. Caleb Cope was called to the chair, and Nathaniel Knowles appoint- 
ed secretary. 

The object being stated by the chairman to be the election of officers, 
Thomas Clark and Charles Harmar were appointed tellers, who, after the 
balloting, reported that the following gentlemen had received the highest 
number of votes—whereupon the chairman announced that they were elected 
officers for the ensuing year: 


President—General Robert Patterson. 
Vice Presidents—James Dundas, Richard Price, W. D. Brinckle, M. Du 
Robert Cornelius. 
Treasurer—John Thomas. 
Corresponding Secretary—Thomas C. Percival. 
Recording Secretary—Thomas P. James. 
. Professor of Entomology—Samuel 8. Haldeman, A. M. 
Professor of Botany—William Darlington, M. D. 
Professor of Horticultural Chemistr y—Robert Hare, M. D. 


lee dn 


THE READING PEAR. 


mb ae 24) ee i 
a9° Singiairs lith. : st 


THE FLORIST 
AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL, 


THE READING PEAR. 

Our plate this month is a drawing of a Pear, for which we are 
indebted to the kindness of Dr. Wm. D. Brinckle of this city, who 
received it from Mr. Chas. Kessler of Reading. It isa winter pear, 
just now in eating order. It has been described in the ad interim re- 
ports of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society ; and we have no 
doubt will prove a desirable acquisition. — . | 


ARTIFICIAL FECUNDATION OF FLOWERS. 
BY PROF. CHARLES G, PAGE, M.D. 


In the course of many thousand experiments in cross-fertilization, I have 
noticed some interesting phenomena which seemed to open up anew field of 
investigation and practice. In our rapid progress in the production of new 
varieties of flowers and fruits we see no terminus, and our enthusiasm kindles 
at the ever-widening circles pushing the limits farther and farther out, 
upon each new acquisition. But in our race for novelties let us have a care 
to the perfection of that which is eld, and the advantages will proclaim them- 


selves sooner or later in the production of that which is new. Certain it.is, 


that there is at this time rather a tendency to innovate than to improve, and 
perhaps too much rivalry in the former and too little in the latter. These 
remarks are not intended to apply to the production of new flowers, nor are 
they intended to discourage the production of new fruits, but are designed 
chiefly to direct attention to the improvement of our established fruits, prw- 
ning, dishbudding, thinning out, ringing, girdling, bending down, cutting the 
roots, acupuncturation, caprification, seasonable waterings and manurings, 
and good culture in any way, will give us large fruits and prize specimens ; 
but Lam led to believe from certain observations that the importance of fecunda- 
tion in this connection has been overlooked, and that this may yet, (although 
at present very difficult,) become a studied branch of horticulture. To a 


certain extent the importance of feeundation has not been overlooked, and — 


the economy of sexual distinctions has been as clearly recognized in the vege- 
table as in the animal kingdom, and between the two ordeys of organized life, 


y 


' 


66 THE FLORIST AND 


interesting Rralorigs tare been traced in respect to the reproductive functions. 
But there is something beyond the reproductive functions to be considered 
in regard to fruits, in order to be clearly understood as to the meaning of 
the term fruit. Imean broadly the pericarp, and by the pericarp, in reference 
to esculent fruits, I mean the part which is eaten with or without seeds. It 
is the part which envelopes, sustains, or is surrounded by the seeds; it 1s the 
edible pulp ; in fine it is sarcocarp of the pericarp, and if botanical distinetions 
fail, we willleave it to the sense of taste to decide what fruit is.. The laws 
of reproduction in the animaland vegitable kingdoms present some interest- 
ing analogies which I do not purpose now to trace out to the full extent. 
Oviparous animals will deposit their eggs without fecundation, but eggs not 
fecundated will not hatch. ‘There is no exception to this law for animals ; in 
the lower orders, such as polypus and taenia, a piece of the animal will pro- 
duce anew animal, as a cutting ofa plant will produce a new plant. The 
seeds of plants correspond to the eggs of animals and are governed by the 
same general law of reproduction, viz, that fecundation is essential to repro- 
duction. ‘This law is relaxed, however, for some plants, such as the common 
fig, and others which bear fruit and ripen produetive seed without fecundation, 
(at least Ly any recognized male organ) although for the most part fecunda- 
tion is essential to productive seeds. It plays also another important part 
which my experiments serve to elucidate. For the sake of illustration I will 
select a particular flower upon which my observations have been most exten- 
sive; that flower is the Petunia, which offers great facilities for observations 
upon the sexual character and functions. It is well understood that in artifi- 
cial cross-fertilization, in order to prevent self-fecundation we emasculate the 
flower from which we wish to obtain the seeds for new varieties ; that is, we 
remove the anthers from that flower and at the proper time apply to the stigma 
the pollen from some other distinct flower. Nowit happens that with many 
flowers the self-fecundation takes place before the flower opens, in conse- 
quence of the early formation of pollen. Such flowers planted together in 
beds will never naturally cross-fertilize, or produce new varieties and hence it 
is that nature seldom produces new varieties.* -I have observed that with a 


* ‘There are several other reasons however why natural crosses are rare. 
By natural I mean plants in their native condition unassisted by culture. 
The provisions for self fecundation are so ample and perfect that there is but 
little opportunity left for natural or rather accidental crossing, even where 
interchangeable varieties or species exist together. ‘The anthers in most 
flowers have position according to the position of the flower. In pendulous 
flowers the stamens are shorter than the pistil, so as to drop their pollenupon 
the stigma upon the slightest agitation; and in erect flowers the stamens are 
usually longer than the pistil for the same reason. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 67 


given variety of the Petunia the corolla will be more apt to expandbe fore the 
perfection of pollen when the plant receives the highest culture, so that the 
farther we digress from the normal condition of the plant the greater the 
facility of accidental production of new varieties. This we see proved in 
many instancesy where after the production ,of one or two new varieties a 
whole flood of changes is poured in upon us inashort time. Innearly every 
class of the multiplying varieties of florist’s flowers of the present day, no 
credit attaches to the originators of new varieties, except that of industry, 
patience and opportunity. Verbenas, geraniums, etc., are planted in patches, 
and seeds are collected and sown at a venture and the few out of hundreds 
are saved as the result of chance fertilization. The facility of self-produc- 
tion of new varieties after one digression Ihave seen beautifully exemplified 
in the Portulacca. We had for many years the crimson, the scarlet, the yel- 
low and the white, all well pronounced varieties, which for several years 
stubbornly resisted the efforts to cross by artificial means. 

Four years since I obtained across between the crimson and yellow, and 
got but one such plant from experiments upon several hundred flowers. It 
was a beautifully marked variety, bearing a yellow flower with crimson bands 
and stripes, and no sooner was this variety bedded with the normal kinds than 
varieties began to multiply without help. The barrier was broken down and 
nature ran wild, and without the interference of art, [now count from twenty 
to thirty varieties of Portulacca. The Petunia is less accomodating; pro- 
miscuous planting and hap-hazard collecting and sowing at a venture, has 
produced probably some hundreds of varieties, but not sufficiently pronounced 
to demand separate names. One reason is, that with the Petunia the poilen 
will often shed before the corolla opens and self impregnation excludes super- 
foetation from other flowers. In this case w2 must force open the flower and 
take off the anthers before the pollen sheds, and apply other pollen immedi- 
ately, or wait until the germ is in the conceiving condition.* Petunias out 
of doors or in the open ground shed the pollen earlier than those under cover. 
Fortunately however I have several good varieties which expand the corolla 
long before the pollen opens, and the whole operation of fertilizing is reduced 
to the utmostsimplicity. The anthers, five in number, are removed with smal! 
forceps and the pollen of other flowers applied to the stigma by means of a 
fine camel’s hair brush, either immediately or whenever the pollen will adhere. 
With these prefatory remarks we come now to the chief point of this com- 
munication. When cross-fecundation has been effected, as soon as the corolla 
and style wither, the seed vessel is observed to swell more or less according 


*It needs tobe mentioned that experiments upon cross-fecundation should 
always if possible be conducted under cover. 


68 THE FLORIST AND 


to circumstances. Sometimes itis much larger and sometimes smaller than 
the seed vessel from self-impregnation. 

From repeated observations and trials | have found that for a given kind 
of Petunia there are particular varieties that (if I may use the term) har- 
monize with it. After applying the pollen from different varieties to sepa- 
rate flowers of one plant, I have found great differences in the size and de- 
velopment of the seed vessels. Some swell to a very great size, and others 
do not attain the normal size, that is, the size which would be produced by 
self-fecundation. The very large seed vessels are generally constant re- 
sults from the union of certain varieties. In fine, it seems that for a given 
variety, the size of its seed vessels is governed principally by the nature of 
the variety whence the fertilizing pollen is derived. It must be born in 
mind that the possibility of obtaining very large seed vessels at all depends 
upon the character of the seed bearing plant; for with some, especially the 
mogt improved: varieties,such as Hnchantress and Prince of Wales, the 
seed vessels rarely fill out and are generally very small. The Petunia very 
often bears double flowers, not double in the ordinary sense, but flowers of 
double size, containing two sets of organs, viz, two pistils, two germs, ten 
stamens, and ten lobes of the corolla to correspond. On fertilizing, these 
two flowers form separate sources, there is frequently a marked differenee 
in the size of the two seed vessels. We should naturally expect the best 
results from planting the seeds of the largest seed vessels, and in some 
respects it is so, but asa general rule the best new varieties are produced 
from the smaller sizes. It is well known that the higher cultivated flowers 
aud fruits are not good seed bearers, and that their seeds are apt to produce 
degenerate kinds, Take the peach for instance. Seeds from the largest 
and best kinds, with the exception of some few kinds which are always in 
this region propagated from seed, rarely produce good peaches. When 
General Jackson was President of the United States, some friend presented 
him with a large basket of peaches, of extraordinary size and quality, pro- 
bably the cream of some large orchard. Commodore Ap Catesby Jones, 
an enthusiast in horticulture, bespoke the seeds of those peaches for the 
purpose of planting them, and they were accordingly saved. He planted 
them, reared all the trees carefully, and when he came to test the fruit, it 
was all worthless and the trees were all ordered to be destroyed. I have 
had some similar experience, although on one occasion I raised fine fruit 
from the seed of a very large peach. JI purchased the peach at a confec- 
tioney’s in New York, for 18? cents, in the year 1840, and from it raised a 
fine large peach, which | call the three-fip peach. The tree is now in its 
prime, But to recur to the Petunia. If the largest seed vessels are not 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 69 


the most productive of distinct varieties of flowers, what advantage shall 
we take of the fact? In flowers we seek varieties, and the more distinct the 
better. In fruits we seek just the condition we have noticed in the large 
size seed vessels, and although I have recited above a variety of modes of 
swelling fruits, [ am induced to believe there is one mode beyond any other 
for this purpose, and that-is, by proper cross-fertilizing. The swelling of 
the Petunia seed vessels is precisely similar to the swelling of the fruits, 
such as the strawberry, peach, melon, etc. Take a peach tree of good sized 
fruit and watch its development. We shall find a very marked difference in 
the fruit, as to size and flavor. Some very large, some very small, and the 
greater part intermediate. | 


The circumstances of culture, air, light, etc., seem to be the same for all, 
but what occasions here and there a monstrous fruit? I am inclined to at- 
tribute it to accidental cross-fertilization, and one of the harmonizing class 
or character just referred to. It seems to be the case with all our fruits, 
and where no artificial means have been resorted to for the purpose of 
swelling the fruit, among all the speculations as to the cause of it, crossing 
is never thought of. Take the strawberry patch. With apparently equal 
soil and culture here and there is a monstrous fruit, and often the plant 
bearing such fruit is set apart as a breeder, when behold! the progeny is no 
better than those of the original stock. Culture in this and every case will 
do much, but proper fecundation :may do as much more. ‘Take the melon 
patch! You notice somewhere a large melon, and on tasting it you are dis- 
appointed to find the mixed flavor of a cucumber with a nutmeg, cantelope 
or musk melon; again, you see a round, smooth looking watermelon with a 
nipple or a half formed neck, you taste it and it is as bitter as a gourd. 
The case of the melons supports the views I have put forth. The change 
in the character of the fruit, both as to size and flavor was not last years’ 
doings; it was not the production of a new variety by cross-fertilization 
shewing itself in the seeds. It was the immediate effect of fecundation 
upon the fruit, for the same vine which bore the fruit with the gourd taste, 
will bear also a good watermelon. Every skilful gardener knows the neces- 
sity of keeping his vines remote from different kinds, but all the while is 
looking more to the effect upon his seeds than upon his fruit. If you have 
a superior kind of melon, self-impregnation is the safest course for obtain- 
ing identical and good fruits; but there is a field open before us for the 
study of what kinds are the best adapted to plant together in order to get 
aize and desirable mixed qualities, not in the produce from the seed, but in 
the fruit itself as the immediate result from crossing, 


70. | THE FLORIST AND 


Is there not some one strawberry which when mixed with the Hovey 


seedling will produce larger fruits than others? Ihave never yet raised a 


large Hovey seedling, though they have had the best of culture for three 
years. Tor two years they were kept by themselves, and the third year 
were beside a large patch of Slater’s Alice Maud. My desire has been to 
procure a strawberry which did not require the trouble of “ mixing in” 
staminate plants. Is it not the case that certain trees, such as peach, pear, 
and apple modify the fruits to some extent upon the neighboring trees? I 
will close these remarks by citing a case which seems to me to be explicable 
upon this supposition. Joshua Pierce, an experienced horticulturist of this 
city, has a genuine Seckel pear on his place, which is generally so large as 
to be disputed, being frequently twice and three times the standard size. 
He is unable to account for it, but may it not be the amours of some neigh- 
boring pear tree, as he cultivates pears largely ? 


Wasuineton, D. C., Jan. 20, 1825. 
— 


ON TROPAZOLUMS. 


These are an interesting class of plants, as indeed all climbing plants are ; 
but in addition to their elegance of foilage and habit of growth, they flower 
so profusely, and the color and form of their blooms are so rich and curious, 
that the smallest collection of greenhouse plants should embrace a few of this 
genus, more especially as they display their greatest beauty during winter 
and early spring. . 

The species are numerous, the kinds more commonly to be met with are 
T. tricolorum, Brachyceras, pentaphyllum, azuruem and Lobbianum, their 
native country is South America, and if, as many cultivators suppose, a high 
temperature is necessary for all plants native of that country, the present 
subjects must form an exception, as they attain greatest perfection when 
grown in a corner of a cool, airy greenhouse. The corner, however, must be 
a light one, they cannot have too much of that if you wish them to flower 
well. The care they require may be briefly summed up. Early in autumn 
the young shoots will proceed from the tubers, they should then be potted 
in a friable, somewhat sandy soil. Perfect drainage of the pots is indispen- 
sable. But as every one seems to have their own ideas of a perfectly drained 
pot, I may state that an eight inch pot requires to have at least one and a 
half or two inches of drainage material in it, to suit my notion on that point. 
The pots should be large enough for them to flower in, and trellis fixed at 
once, to which they shonld be regularly trained as they progress in growth. 


‘| 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 71 


For a few weeks after being potted, no water should be given, the soil will 
afford sufficient nourishment until rooting. Much water is injurious at all 
times, but this is the most particular stage of their growth. The tuber will 
not send out roots at all ifthe surrounding soil is kept constantly wet. I 
have been informed by those who have gathered them from their native 
habitats, that they are found frequently in marshy situations, inferring from 
this that a bountiful supply of water would be necessary in their artificial 
treatment. Such however, isnot the fact. It is possible, indeed probable, 
that at particular seasons they would exist in such a situation, but if the 
same locality were visited when the plants are dormant, these conditions would 
be found reversed, at least, under artificial treatment, they will certainly 
perish if treated as sub-aquatics. 


When they are past flowering and give evidence of maturity, they should 
be set out in the sun, and after the foliage is withered and cut down, the 
tubers should be carefully removed and kept dry until they again show symp- 
toms of growth. Ofcourse, this treatment applies more particularly to those 
that form tubers. Those that do not, as Lobbianum, should be increased 
from cuttings and a young stock kept on hand ; young plants of this variety 
set out in the flower beds in May will flower all summer, and form a fine 
object trained on a large trellis; cuttings set down in August and potted in 
October will flower early in spring in the greenhouse. Many beautiful 
hybrids have been raised by crossing this with the common Nasturtium. 
Cuttings strike root freely under careful treatment, but the simplest method 
of increase is by seeds, which ripen readily on most kinds, and if attention 
is given to hybridizing the various colors, much improvement might be made 
both in regard to color and size of flower, and there is no reason why they 


might not be produced as beautifully spotted and in as great variety as 
Calceolarias. Gas. 


— 
For the Florist and Horticultural Journal. 


THE PRIMROSE, COWSLIP AND POLYANTHUS. 


Dear Sir: 


I presume that yourself and your numerous and intelligent 
readers will begin to think me a very monotonous and single class writer ; 
but at the risk of being thought somewhat of a ‘curiosity man,’’ I will ven- 
ture once more to introduce to notice yet another of my idolized darlings— 
or rather, three of them under one subject—the Primrose, Cowslip and Poly- 
anthus. The same culture answers for the trio, and they are otherwise so 
closely related in ‘‘kith and kin”’ that it would be superfluous to divide them. 

In a natural state they are almost exclusively confined to Britain and the 


72 THE! FLORIST AND 7017 CM 
adjacent isles, and are most commonly found growing in damp woods, moist 
meadows, or along the bottoms of hedge rows; notwithstanding which, they 
will prosper in the hot and dry climate of America, if properly cared for. 
There are many such spots as these plants delight in on most estates of any 
size, where the little emigrants would flourish and make themselves at home, 
become acceptable and agreeable companions to the many beauties with which 
our woods abound, would gladden our tastes of sight and smell, the more 
particularly so as they flower about the same time that many of the most 
handsome natives do. 


The three subjects to which we have reference, generally rank in botani- 
cal works as so many distinct species of the genus Primula, and are known 
as P. vulgaris (Primrose ;) the simple stemmed, P. veris, (Cowslip;) the com- 
pound stem with incurved limb, P. elatior, (Oxlip;) the compound stem with 
flatted limb, and from which the Polyanthus has emanated. It has been a 
much disputed point whether or no they are all from one origin; if so, P. vul- 
garis has been evidently the origina] type. Some botanists have founded 
their belief in this respect upon the fact, that they have seen the simple form 
become compound when under cultivation. Others, again, assert that the 
latter is always existing, only so close to the base as not to be discernable, 
excepting by dividing down to the centre. I have seen, in astate of nature, 
examples where the compound stem was not at all to be discovered, and 
likewise both forms on the same plant; but such examples are very rare.— 
Asa general thing, the three forms of Primrose, Cowslip and Oxlipare very 
permanent in the individual variety, give them ever so much culture ; and f 
know from experiment that no cultivation will change the character, except- 
ing in very few cases; yet even this is sufficient to demonstrate the proba- 
bility of one origin, and it likewise shows the reason why the different vari- 
eties from seed keep so true to structural character. It has been contended 
that the Cowslip is distinct from the others, on account of the stronger smell 
of Anise which its roots possess, the incurved form of the limb of the flower, 
the more inflated calyx, and the smaller and more wrinkled leaves; but this 
argument falls to the ground, when, as is true, we find these characters 
slightly change occasionally amongst a lot of seedlings, and approximate 
somewhat towards the Oxlip. Now, if.the sportiveness inclines towards any 
particularly desired point in a natural way, we can mould after generations 
to our will—and so in this case. The prevailing color in a wild state 1s yel- 
low, but all the forms are sometimes found diverging more or less into light, 
tawny crimson, or faint purple, so that this feature is no criterion; and Isee 
no reason why an acknowledged specific difference should exist. This divi- 
sion isnot an example of recent origin, but allow me to observe here, that 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. "3 


our modern genus and species makers are far too numerous, and often jump 
at conclusions which more practical experience would make them ashamed of. 
If some of them were to take a full course of lessons in experimental hybri- 
dization, and see the results, before beginning to divide and sub-divide the 
beautiful harmony which exists in nature's links, into such an heterogeneous 
jumble of confusion as nomenclatural botany is fast becoming to, the science 
would be much benefitted. 


The Primrose and Cowslip not having come into such exclusive notice with 
the florist as the Polyanthus has done, the standard of perfection has not 
beenso particularly defined. The Cowslip, although possessing much merit 
as a beautiful flower, is overlooked for the greater perfectness of the Polyan- 
thus, but over the latter his stringent laws claim dominion, and whieh are as 
follows: The stem should be strong and erect, high enough to raise the truss 
well above the foliage. The footstalks of the flowers should also be strong, 
so asto support the pips well, and of a length sufficient to prevent crowding. 
There ought to be not less than seven pips, which will form a compact and 
well rounded bunch. The calyx should not be too much inflated, nor yet too 
narrow, but in proportion to other parts. The tube not longer than just to 
allow the limb or upper part to clear the calyx, being well filled with anthers, 
which should be regularly adjusted around the @pper surface of the interior, 
not projecting too high above, but even with the plane of the limb. When 
the anthers project above the stigma the flower is technically known amongst 
the old veteran florists as ““Thrum Eye ;’’ without this peculiarity they 
would invariably discard any flower, however good all other properties might 
be. Ifthe stigma isabove the anthers it is called the Pine Eye. Many 
will no doubt (and with some propriety) think that florist’s rules are very 
rigid, but it must be taken into consideration that perfection in symmetry, 
and general beauty is their only argument in the language of flowers. The 
eye should be of a bright and clear yellow, quite circular, and distinct from 
the ground colour, which may be either a bright scarlet maroon, or rich black- 
ish and velvety crimson; in the centre of each division from the outer edge, 
a narrow stripe of the same colour ought to traverse down to the eye, and 
with this exception, a narrow but perfectly even band of bright yellow, of a 
near approach to that of the eye ought to encircle the flower, proceeding 
down to the eye between each division. The limb or upper part ofthe flower 
should be flat, without any serrature, each segment being equal in size; and 
not cut in so deep as to appear at all starry, the whole exterior outline 
forming a true circle, and the ten divisions equal portions of so many smaller 
ones. 


16 


74 THE FLORIST AND 


The Primrose in all its more immediate varieties delights in a rich, retentive 
moist soil, being somewhat shaded from the summer sun, consequently there 
Is no more suitable situation than damp woods ; but there is no real obligation 
to place it here and no where else, for it will grow and flourish well in any 
place that commands shade, and is not too dry, if the soil be fertile and not 
over light. There are many of our city yards where these circumstances are 
under control, and in all such it may be cultivated. As to hardiness, it stood 
uninjured at this place totally unprotected on a north west slope, exposed 
to the most cutting winds of the severe winter two years ago, when the 
thermometer sunk several times below zero, and this is surely a sufficient test. 
One of the greatest drawbacks to success, is the attacks of Red Spider 
(Acarus) to which these plants are, in the summer time, very subject. When 
thus infested, the leaves assume a brown or russetty colour and appear burnt, 
the healthy action of the plant is interfered with, and if there is not a timely 
stop put tothe insect, it will most assuredly destroy the subject. In this 
case sometimes the drenching rains are sufficient to aceomplish the purpose, 
but in continued dry weather we must have recourse to artifice, and there is 
perhaps nothing better than a few oft-repeated syringings with a solution of 
whale oil soap in which a little sulphur has been mixed, say one pound of soap, 
and a half pound of sulphure to twenty gallons of water. This is a sure 
remedy, but common suds from the wash tub will often answer the same 
purpose, only more inefficiently. It is only when growing im over dry or ex- 
posed situations that there is any danger from this enemy, and when it does 
appear the remedy is very little trouble or expense. Propagation 1s accom- 
plished by division of the stools and by seeds. The best time to divide is 
immediately after blooming or early in September, when the plant may be 
cut into as many parts as there are crowns, at the base of each of which is a 
portion of roots. When propagation from seed is attended to, care ought to 
be used that none is saved but what is from the best varieties and if artificial 
impregnation is attended to with an eye to the best properties, some very 
pleasing anticipations may be in part or often fully realized. The seeds is 
best sowed as soon as ripe in a shaded situation, choosing a somewhat loose 
soil; a portion of well rotted leaves is very good mixed up with the base; cover 
with glass or oiled canvass, but if glass be used, shade from the sun, and in 
any case leave the sides open to prevent damping, to which the young 
plants are very subject if deprived of a free circulation. When they have 
grown three or four leaves plant-out about six inches apart, still choosing a 
shaded situation, and unless the weather be damp give liberal supplies of 
water. In the fall they will be large enough to be treated as is recommended 
for the general stock and will bloom in the following spring. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 75 


The most suitable soil is a good strong loam, to whieh may be added one 
fourth thoroughly rotted cow manure, and an equal portion of leaf mould, the 
whole of which have lain together for a season. Success will attend the 
cultivation in any ordinary fertile soil, but the above compost is all that ihe 
Primrose can desire. 


Where there is the accommodation of a greenhouse or cold frames the flowers 
become considerably more attractive and beautiful, as they can be protected 
from storms and wet, which assists the blossoms in brilliancy of colour, and 
considerably forwards them. Under these circumstances they will bloom in 
the greenhouse from the middle of February, andin frames through March 
and April, after which time those in the open’ground will continue on until 
the middle of May, so that with a little attention and convenience the flower- 
ing may be kept on for a long time. 


When it is intended to have a supply in the greenhouse, the plants should 
be taken up and potted in six inch pots, about the beginning of September. 
Divide into single crowns, and choose the strongest, trim off any decayed 
roots and place one inthe centre of each pot, previous to which, throw in 
the bottom an inch of crocks, or what is still better, an equal quantity of 
small lumps of charcoal, fill half up with the rougher part of the compost, 
over this a little of that which is finer; next place the plant with the roots 
spread out horizontally, fill up to the surface and around the collar, press 
the soil somewhat solid around the crown, but do not cover too deep, after- 
wards, give a good watering and plunge the pots to the rim in ashes or sand 
in a shady part of the garden; here let them remain until the approach of 
frost, when all decayed leaves or weeds should be cleared off, the pots 
washed and removed into the greenhouse, and placed close to the glass freely 
exposed to the sun and air. ‘Too much heat, particularly in the night time, 
renders the flowers abortive. The back shelf of a Camellia or Geranium 
house is very suitable. | 


‘If they are to be grown in cold frames, fill in the compost to within 
eight or ten inches of the top, plant six inches apart, divide as before re- 
commended for pots, and at the same time, keep off the glasses till bad 
weather sets in, and afterwards give air at all favorable opportunities; cover 
in the night through the winter with straw or other kind of matts, line 
around the sides with litter or earth, water rather sparingly until there is 
some movement of growth, when the soil should be maintained in a damp 
but not saturated state; for although these plants delight in a moist situa- 
tion, they ‘are soon rotted where the superabundant water cannot drain off; 
if any warm showers occur take advantage of them by sliding down the 


76 THE FLORIST AND 


sashes, but do not water overhead when the flowers are expanded, as the 
colors are thereby injured, 

To succeed in the open ground, choose a shaded part, where the soil is 
not subject to drought during the summer months. If access cannot be 
had in this particular, mulch with rotten manure, and take care to give lib- 
eral supplies of water in long continued dry weather, and if red spider or 
green fly should make their appearance, syringe as above recommended. In 
damp woods, these little flowers are quite at home, and where there is 
this advantage a fine display may be had without more trouble than occa- 
sionally dividing the roots. 


After blooming is over, if in pots or planted in frames, they should be re- 
moved toa shaded situation, and kept somewhat damp through the summer. 
Previous to planting, let the ground be well and deeply dug over, which will 
greatly assist the roots in penetrating downwards, and enable the plants to 
resist the drought much better. 

If it be desirable to save seed, and raise improved varieties, some care 
should be taken. If first class Polyanthus be required, never use a “pin 
eye’’ variety for either parent, and choose two kinds of good properties, al- 
ways recollecting that a good and free grower is the most likely to produce 
a hardy offspring, and should be made into the maternal parent. I would 
not advise in all cases that we should so strictly confine ourselves to the 
florist’s absolutism, for there are many beautiful features in the various 
classes he claims, which his close discriminating eye would consider as 
worthless, but which nevertheless are very desirable, and when there is seen 
a tendency towards any pleasing form or color, take advantage of it, save 
seed, and retain that part of the progeny which isa further advance towards 
the desired object. Persevere onwards, and in time the anticipation will most 
assuredly be realized. Most respectfully yours, 

Wm. CHORLTON. 


CUPHEA PLATYCENTRA, 


The appearance of this perpetual blooming little plant is greatly enhanced 
when treated after the following manner. Although its natural habit be low 
growing, yet when only a single stem is allowed to grow it will attain a con- 
siderable height in a short time. 

Select a cutting from the top of a vigorous, growing ‘shoot, stick it into 
sand, cover it with a bell glass and plunge into bottom heat, and it will emit 
roots ina few days, As soon as it is wanted, pot it off into a 8-inch pot 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. To 


using rich, light, porous soil; keep shifting as the roots fill the pot, never let 
them get matted, which will check the growth, which should not happen un- 
til the requisite height is reached; the more luxuriant the growth the less 
trouble there is in pinching off the flowers, which ought to be done for the 
first four months at least, in order to let the plant get large and well estab- 
lished. When once well started, insert a stake of the desired height near 
the middle of the pot, and as the leader grows tie it to.this, and pinch out 
the points of the lateral shoots until the height wanted is attained, when they 
may all be allowed to grow. If too thick, which is often the case when 
stopped so much, cut out the weakest and most irregular. 


All that is necessary now in the way of training, is to regulate the side 
branches in order to obtain a nice pyramidal specimen. No more sticks are 
to be used than the one in the centre — the main stem will support all its 
branches. In the early stage of its growth it should have the temperature 
of a hot house, and alight, airy position. Give a free supply of water to the 
soil, syringing over head morning andevening. They may be turned out of 
doors about the first of June, in some shady situation for awhile until it gets 
hardened, so that it will stand the sun; after which it should be set in an open 
situation where it will have the full influence of light andair. With the pot 
plunged to the brim, less water will be required. Very soon after its remo- 
val its beautiful little pendant flowers will begin to show themselves in great 
profusion, making a very striking ornament either for the greenhouse or 
flower bed ; but if allowed to remain outside until the end of September, or 
as long as thereis no danger of frost, it will enliven the greenhouse through- 
out the dreary months of winter with its profusion of blossoms. Care must 
be taken that the roots be not allowed to get dry, or all the inside leaves will 
drop off, which spoils the look of the plant, 


When a large specimen is wanted a large pot is required; but in a 10-inch 
pot a plant may easily be grown five feet high and three feet in diameter at 
thebase. As a bedding-out plant in the summer it has few equals as regards 
flowering properties, flowering in profusion from the day it is planted until 
cut down by frost—of which it will not bear much. It does better in an ex- 
posed situation than in a shady, and in a light rich soil than on a stiff clayey 
one. 


A short time before planting it is best to remove the sash for that purpose 
from the greenhouse into a frame where thesash can be taken off by degrees, 
80 as to harden them before setting out. ETNA. 


cen email 


78 THE FLORIST AND 


FROM THE (UNPUBLISHED) INTRODUCTORY LECTURE AT 
NEWARK COLLEGE. 


BY PROF. & S. HALDEMAN. 


As long as the processes of labor were simple, that is, until a compara- 
tively recent period, they were easily acquired, so that there was no neces- 
sity to teach them in the seminaries of learning. But as soon as a taste 
was developed for anything which required more than ordinary skill, special 
schools arose, as those of medicine and the fine arts; and some system of 
apprenticeship (which is a kind of manual labor school) probably arose when 
certain indispensable articles were required to be better or neater than those 
designated by the term home-made. 


The construction and application of machinery has greatly enlarged the 
constructive faculty of the mind, demanding a modification of education in 
localities where the wants of it are greatest; and schools of applied art 
arise when taste becomes a necessary adjunct in manufactured articles. The 
bounds of chemistry have been extended from medicine, toa wide range of 
manufacturing processes ; and in our own day, its profoundest generaliza- 
tions have various practical applications in the animal and vegetable econo- 
my; so that as a study in abstract, as well as applied science, it has acquired 
a permanent place in the higher institutions devoted to general educa- 
tion, instead of the equivocal position once assigned to it, when it was fre- 
quently made a mere book recitation, with perhaps the exhibition of a few 
ordinary phenomena, dignified by calling them ‘‘experiments.”’ 


Until the necessity arose for the modern extended generalization of sci- © 


entific principles, to adapt them to operative pursuits on a large scale, the 
practical in education was, as we have seen, of minor importance. More 
recently, the connected interests both of industry and learning have suffer- 
ed, not from any disposition to do the former injustice, but because it has 
developed itself so rapidly in new directions, as to have temporarily ob- 
scured the mutual relation of the two, like that of gold and silver in a cur- 
rency, when the production of one exceeds that of the other in some great 
and sudden, but unknown degree. 

Although obscured for a time, the mutual relations of the different de- 
partments of knowledge are getting to be appreciated, but not equally in 
different localities. The colleges of Harvard, and of Yale, have a depart- 
ment of practical science. Princeton is about organizing a chair of apphed 
science ; and in the University of Pennsylvania arrangements of a similar 
kind are in progress. The result of this movement will be a recognised 
class representing instructed labor, as definite as the professions, arts, and 
trades. 


\ 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 79 


By a natural law, the great mass of the human race is found cultivating 
the soil, or using it for pastoral purposes; so that the interests of agricul- 
ture are indirectly those of the entire community. This fact, which is 
loosely admitted amongst us in this country, is appreciated to such an ex- 
tent in Europe, that numerous special schools have been established under. 
government patronage, for education in practical and theoretical agricul- 
ture, including the theories involved in the conversion of inorganic to or- 
ganic matter, the action of manures, the nature of soils, the causes of their 
deterioration, and the means of renovating them, rotation of erops, man- 
agement of live stock, natural history of domestic animals, of useful and 
hurtful plants and insects; and the various interests concerned in culti- 
vation. 


A knowledge of the principles upon which the processes of active life de- 
pend, with the extensive employment of machinery, causes fewer failures in 
the results; and consequently, less labor has to be repeated on account of 
such failures; whilst improved modes of cultivation yield a better reward 
for a given amount of labor. Hence, such improvements afford leisure. 
This may be employed in moral and mental improvement, or in farther in- 
dustry, which yields a clear gain, and thus becomes wealth. Some with 
Solomon, will prefer the former, and some the latter. | 

It is stated in the published journal of one Lorenzo Dow, that from the 
natural fertility of the soil of Ohio, which gave a large return for compara- 
tively ‘little labor, the farmers of that flourishing State had acquired lazy 
habits; and although willing to take the remark with allowances in this case, 
I cite it for the purpose of directing attention to the fact, that such a de- 
plorable result is not to be regarded as impossible, when moral and mental 
cultivation, and industrious and temperate habits do not accompany prosper- 
ity, and the misfortune of having unemployedtime. In the extensive exist- 
ence of unemployed time, a careful historian might find sufficient cause to 
account for the downfall of nations. 

A question now arises as to the mode in which spare time should be em- 
ployed. I answer, in mental improvement—in becoming acquainted with 
the principles of our pursuits, raising them in general estimation, and in the 
case of agriculture, giving it the dignity of a profession. The average 
compensation of clergymen, physicians, and advocates is much lower than is 
generally supposed; and there is probably little to choose between their in- 
come and the rewards of manual labor, especially if the first outlay for the 
necessary knowledge is taken into account. But the calling of each of the 
former is a profession, that of the latter an art or trade—and in many 
cases it does notrank so high. The difference far from being arbitrary, is 


80 THE FLORIST AND 


founded upon the broad principle that the grade of the mind establishes the 
precedence; and it is an instructive fact, that in. the dim distance of anti- 
quity, perhaps 1500 years before our era, the words man and mind were 
drawn from the same root, it having been observed at that early day that 
man alone in the visible creation is distinguished by the possession of 
reason. 

The professional man then, thinks and judges, whilst the routine man 
plods along with little more expenditure of thought than is necessary to 
preserve him in his routine habits. The dignity of the former is even ex- 
tended to his compensation, which is termed a salary or an income, whilst 
in the other case it is wages. In extension of the same principle, although 
the human population of a country are counted as so many souls, laborers 
in the aggregate are called hands. 

From the moment that the implement of a handcraftsman is guided by 
taste, he becomes an artist; and when the farmer understands the principles 
of his operations. and acts in accordance with them, even to pursue a rou- 
tine understandingly, he enters a new sphere, and his business becomes a 
profession. This view is not to be controverted by the fact that there are 
jugglers who assume the title of professor, practitioners who would be better 
employed in breaking stone for a turnpike, if the morals of this industrial 
interest would not be thereby endangered ; pretended doctors who require 
the aid of a physician in surgical cases, and compounders of cherry-pecto- 
rals who should be in the penitentiary for forgery. 

The education even of professional men requires modification; a taste, 
if not for science, at least for scientific inquiry, being spread through eyv- 
ery condition of society ; so that those who are supposed to be educated, 
are continually liable to be asked to explain some fact in mechanics, meteor~ 
ology, geology, natural history, or chemistry. 

The lawyer has his patent-right cases involving questions in the con- 
struction of machinery, where misconception may make him ridiculous be- 
fore an intelligent juryman, whose occupation perhaps as a smith, may have 
aided in making him a good mechanician. 

Clergymen are called upon to combat the plausible absurdities of the 
enemies of revelation; and physicians are’universally deemed the proper 
recipients of curious narratives, which are closed with the undeviating for- 
mula—‘‘ How do you account for it, doctor ?”’ ws 

Next to the professional man, the teacher of the nearest school is sup- 
posed to be able to furnish solutions to difficult questions, although he is 
seldom able to go beyond the strict line of his pursuit. Teachers frequently 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. Sl 


complain that their calling is not properly appreciated, a complaint which 
will diminish to the extent that every grade of teaching is adapted to the 
public wants. School teachers must therefore partake of the general im- 
provement in education, and those who wish to qualify themselves by a 
full or partial college course, should be supplied with a kind of normal 
school instruction adapted to their wants. 


Farther our colleges must be able to supply to a greater extent than 
formerly, the demand for civil and mining engineers, surveyors, architects, 
draughtsmen, chemists, and observers in meteorology and magnetism, in ad- 
dition to the necessary preliminary education required in the professions. 
The great body of medical students have not had a proper preliminary ed- 
ucation, although there is a great demand for properly educated physicians 
in the army and navy. 

The United States government exhibits a strong disposition to encourage 
the development of the natural history of its distant domain, and applica- 
tions are made from time to time for competent investigators in geology, 
zoology, and botany, to accompany the various exploring expeditions—and. 
it is a matter of difficulty to supply these places properly. 


Young mer anxious to ertploy their leisure in extending the bounds of 
knowlege, have ample opportunities to do so by investigating the history of 
insects in their economical relations, with a view to counteract their depre- 
dations ; and the success of such attempts must depend greatly upon having 
a number of competent advisers distributed in various localities, to take 
advantage of fitting opportunities as they occur. 

If I am asked the use of such studies, I answer, that living in am age of 
less bodily but more mental activity than formerly, an activity, as I have 
already remarked, which brings leisure, and admits of a choice among phy- 
sical and mental occupations, whether they involve utility, taste; amuse- 
ufent; or caprice. Although the chief ends of labor are food, clothing, and 
a dwelling place, with the health which arises incidentally from bodily ex- 
ercise, the food which to speak figuratively is “ruminated,” is as important 
if not as essential to a reasoning creature, as that which is masticated. 

The athlete does not develope his powers by fighting continually, but by 
exercising his muscles in suck a manner as to enable him to develope their 
nascent powers that they may be used to the best advantage when required. 
So natural science cultivates the observing faculties, fosters cautious habits, 
and improves the judgment. As the detection of minute differences in 
nearly allied objects is an essential part of natural science, the mind ac- 

3) 


82 THE FLORIST AND 


quires the useful habit of examining minutely, instead of the vicious one, 
of getting crude, partial ideas by a mere glance. Swainson remarks that, 
“as no science requires more observation, or greater nicety of discrimina- 
tion than natural history, so upon this account only, it is the very best pur- 
suit that can engage the youthful mind, since it will be qualified to apply 
that acuteness and judgment upon greater things in after life, which may 
call for the exercise of sound reason and just discrimination.” 

It is necessary that young men who wish to be educated should eB made 
acquainted with these things, that they may be on their guard against the 
multitude of speculations which rise, run their course, and make way for 
others equally worthless or pernicious. 

In conclusion, I have only to say that although the student may He some- 
times inclined to allow himself to be dazzled by the plausible sophistry of 
the class which makes such formidable displays of the fragments of science ; 
unless he has been previously contaminated, he can have no real difficulty 
in determining the class which, under Providence, has constructed the stu- 
pendous temple of science, which is open for the benefit of all who enter 
with the determination of profiting by it. 


——————_—— 


WILL FARMING PAY? 
(From an Address at Northampton, Mass., by Wm. S. King, Esq., of Boston.) 


Farming may be made profitable, Mr. President and Gentlemen: but,.if 
my view of the subject is correct, only by those who farm well. Let me ask 
your continued attention, then, while I state how, in the absence of Agri- 
cultural schools, good farmers may be multiplied. 

Prominent among the means of instruction are the Show and Reports of 
the County or State Society. Here are to be found, for comparison and 
competition, what the best farmers of the district consider their best stock ; 
here contend for precedence the most thorough plowmen, giving specimens 
of their work, by which all may judge of their claims, and many may learn 
for the first time, what is pronounced to be good ploughing ; here congregate 
the inquiring minds, and the men of experience,—at this farmers’ exchange ; 
some one, supposed to possess ideas worth the hearing, has been selected to 
address the:assembled multitude; the Transactions of the Society, when 
published, give forth the doings and the opinions of the most successful far- 
mers, whereby others may profit. All these things go to form a school, 
whereat those who crave knowledge of their craft may obtain it. 

But it too often happens that preparation for the Annual Exhibition is 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. ' 83 


put off until within a few weeks—and, frequently, a few days—of the Show. 
The full value of the fair will not be realized by Exhibitors and Competitors, 
nor wiil the greatest benefit accrue to spectators and students, until the 
show, in the stead of being a scramble for premiums on chance-grown crops 
and haply-excellent animals, shall be an exposition, in the case of every ex- 
hibitor, of the result of a twelve month’s study, careand diligence. To effect 
this so desirable end, no instrumentality can excel the Farmers’ CLuB. 
And of these, there should be one in every town,—every village,—every 
neighbourhood; alive and at work throughout the year; drilling and instruct- 
ing its members against the day of Annual parade. 

The value of a club is not generally appreciated, orno town would long con- 
sentto be deprived of its influence. In the first place, at these conversational 
meetings, held once a week, or twice a month, members become accustomed 
to speak in public, and to express their views with ease. Most men, without 
practice, are frightened at the sound of their voices. When they rise upon 
their feet to address an audience, the thoughts that filled their minds desert 
them. Almost every speaker will confess to a like experience. But, by 
degrees, one acquires a self-confidence, which enables him to feel as much at 
home on the floor and before an audience, as when seated in his own chimney- 
corner, detailing the events of the day to the good wife and children. 

In the next place, these occasional meetings strengthen neighborly feeling. 
Farmers live an entirely too secluded life; they visit little among each other, 
and seldom stray far from home, except to the store for groceries, or to the 
town-house to vote. Consequently, they lose much of that enjoyment which 
society affords, and unsocial (not misanthropic) habits grow upon them. . To 
go out to spend an evening with a neighour is a matter for a month’s 
discussion. News travels slowly through an agricultural district : so does in- 
formation. Farmers get behind the times. Now, for all these evils the Club 
offers a radical cure. 

Thirdly, no American farmer can attend to the meeting of a Club of his 
fellows, without receiving instruction. There is no one so well posted up in 
all that pertains to his profession, that his neighbors cannot enlighten him 
on some points, by the narration of their successes, or their failures ;—for a 
failure conveys as good a lesson, as the most complete success. Failures 
warn us from following example, as successes incite us to imitation. Then, 
again, one farmer may be an oracle on stock raising, another excels in til- 
lage-crops, a third—(perhaps this third mau may be a mechanic or a clergy- 
man, who has joined the Club for the benefit of his garden-patch or glebe)— 
he is wise in horticultural lore. These three Yankees cannot long occupy 
the same room without a barter of their intellectual commodities. The par- 


84 PHE FLORIST AND 


son has swapped away a remedy against peach-borers, for an idea about rais- 
ing carrots ; the stock-breeder has given his friends a cure for garget, or ° 
taught them how to pop-out ‘‘ warbles;” in return for which he carries home 
a new wrinkle about orchard-management, or the most economical way. of 
draining his low lands, &c., &c. 

Fourthly, the Club induces men to study and to observe with nicety, that 
they may have something to add to the common fund, in return for what 
they have received therefrom. This is human nature,—that is, the human 
nature of honorable men. We are not more willing that our comrades should 
teach us without return, than that they should feed or clothe us without pay. 
Then our pride spurs us on to show that, we too, have a contribution for the 
common stock, and if it does not happen to be on hand, we bestir ourselves 
to acquire it. 

Fifthly, few enterprising men thus brought aco eil once a week, or more 
or less often, to discuss a subject of common interest, will not long be con- 
tented with the narration of what they have done: they will cast about for 
new fields of exploration, or seek to enlarge the bounds of the old. Thus 
experiments will be suggested and agreed upon for a coming year ; or a county 
fair will be proposed ; or the foundations of other good works be firmly laid. 

Sixthly, farmers, seeing the results of combined effort, will be gradually 
Jed to value it, and to employ it in all matters interesting to them as a class. 
One, and the only reason why the farmers of America are without power, is 
because they have never learned to act inconcert. ‘Touch the tariff, and the 
whole manufacturing interest is in a ferment; meddle with the slavery ques- 
tion, and North and South buzz like bees and hornets; impose upon artisans, 
and every city swarms with remonstrating mechanics. But the farmers, 
though numerous, are divided, and beaten in detail. 

Seventhly, frequent meetings of farmers will have a tendency to wear 
away prejudices; which now, as a class, they rather hug, He must be an 
unusually obstinate individual, who long resists evidence addressed to his 
ears and eyes, and arguments that appeal to his pocket. 

Last to be mentioned, but not the least to be preferred among the means 
of improvement, is the reading of agricultural books and journals. To little 
purposes have I talked, or have you listened, to-day, my fellow farmers, if 
you are yet convinced that Agriculture is not only an Art, to be acquired by 
practice and observation, but as well a Science, to be mastered only by 
study and thonght. Books and papers are the silent instructors for the fire- 
side, oy the neighborly gathering. They contain the rich treasures of others’ 
experience, collected in small compass from many and distant places,—the 
tale of long years toil, told on asingle page, The farmer, who undervalues 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 85 


this cheap and easy mode of instruction, is no. Solomon: and he who over- 
looks and neglects it, is far from being a sage. Show me the men, who 
sweep your premiums; and nine out of ten of them, I venture to assert, are 
the reading and thinking farmers. Show me the farmer, whose purse has 
grown weighty with coin,—whose pocket-book is plethoric,—to whom the 
rustling of bank notes is familiar music; and, ten to one, he is a reader and 
a thinker. 


CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS, 
FRUIT. 


Grapes in houses will start into growth towards the end of the month ; 
keep them in a horizontal position until the bottom buds burst, and rub out 
all extra buds, so that the best is retained at each eye. When they are spur- 
pruned close, a congeries of buds will make their appearance, and it is impor- 
tant that all superfluous ones should be taken off before leaves are formed; if 
they are allowed to grow until five or six inches in length, and then reduced, 
if causes an injurious check to the plant’s growth. If not done in autumn, 
a slight top dressing may be given. If the soil is well drained, as it ought 
to be, and the roots spreading near the surface, a mixture of fresh loam, 
horse droppings and small charcoal may be spread to a depth of two inches 
over the border. This applies to hardy grapes as well as to the tender sorts, 
The house should be kept as open and well ventilated as possible, and shut 
close up only on the appearance of frost; we have seen the temperature re- 
duced to 38° on two successive nights, while the vines were in flower, with- 
out any apparent injury. There is less danger from a low night tempera- 
ture than is generally supposed, provided the day temperature is kept to a 
proper standard. There is undoubtedly much yet to be learned in the fore- 
ing of fruits and flowers during winter. From observations recently made, 
we are convinced that low (comparatively speaking) night temperature is 
beneficial. Physiologists tell us that low temperature is favorable to the al- 
tered functions of vegetation in the absence of light; and if we look to na- 
ture, we find that even in tropical climates absence of light 1s also followed 
by diminutiom of temperature, The purity of the atmosphere consequent 
upon a low night temperature is also conducive to health. It is considered a 
good sign of health to see the “pearly dew” on the edges of leaves in the 
morning ; this is never seen after a hard night’s firing, the heated air carry- 
ing off the moisture in the air which is condensed in contact with the cold 


86 THE FLORIST AND 


roof. External coverings should be more generally employed ; as a matter 
of economy they would effect considerable saving in fuel, and if.a stratum of 
air was retained between the roof and the covering, the former would re- 
tain a more equal temperature, and the disadvantages of high artificial beat 
considerably lessened. 


Gooseberries and Currants—the pruning of these should not be delayed ; 
the bushes should be thinned out in the centre ; they are generally too thick, 
which injures the quality and size of the fruit. In pruning the former, leave 
young wood for bearing, and do not top the point of every shoot unless your 
object be to produce plenty of wood. Give a heavy dressing of manure, and 
fork it about the roots; currants will repay all extra attention, and in some 
situations gooseberries also succeed well, if properly attended to. 

Raspberries should be staked out and thinned out, securing them properly 
to the stakes, so that the fruit will not be destroyed by the plants breaking 
down ina gale. ‘They require rich soil, and deep, gravelly subsoil suits them 
well, provided the surface is well enriched, and the plants allowed sufficient 
space for their proper development. | . 

Planting.—The season for spring planting is now at hand. Be careful, 
in moving trees, to preserve the roots from getting dry, and when setting 
them, cut all bruised and ragged roots smoothly off; do not plant deep, with 
the idea of saving trouble in staking ; rather form a small mound of soil about 
the roots and stem, which will serve a double purpose—steadying the plant 
and throwing off heavy rains; the soil can be levelled down when all danger 
from either of the above causes is past. | 

Strawberries, in strong soils, are frequently thrown out of the ground with 
frosts; a top dressing of good compost will be of much service when this has 
occurred. When the soil is dry and friable it should be slightly forked up, 
taking care that roots are not injured; and planting new beds may also be 
proceeded with, and due attention should be given to the mixing a few sta- 
minates with the more productive pistillate varieties; by this means the 
heaviest crops are secured. Amateurs, who prefer quality to quantity, will 
plant more of the finest staminate kinds, of which there are now many very 
superior sorts in cultivation. 

As soon as the surface will admit, the soil should be stirred so as to admit 
heat to the roots, and break up the soddened surface after the storms and 


snows of winter; the late snows will render this operation a very necessary ~ 


one. Spring warmth will rapidly come on us, the air warm and the roots 
cold and wet—conditions which hurt the fruit prospects much more than is 
generally supposed, more especially when accompanied with slight frosts to- 
wards the end of the month. 7 Suds 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 87 


Fiowrer GaRrDEN.—The importance of draining has been frequently 
urged in this department of “the Florist;’’ but the state in which we still 
frequently find the walks, lawns, and flower gardens of our friends, teaches 
us that it cannot be too often pressed on their attention. Passing recently 
over the grounds of an acquaintance in his company, we were compelled to 
abandon the walks, and take to the turf; 1t had been rapidly thawing for a 
day or so, and our feet went into the gravel up to the ankles. I remarked 
that the walks had been badly constructed originally, but was corrected by 
my friend’s observation that ‘‘the frost had not got out of the gravel at the 
bottom to let the water at the surface through.”” This looks like a good rea- 
son for bad walks, but it will not bear examination. Walks should be so 
constructed, that little or no water can lay on, or get into the material to 
freeze, so that when a thaw comes, there is nothing to make a walk wet. 
This is to be effected by forming a walk of bending material, rounding it 
slightly in the centre so as to throw the water completely off it, and in the 
first place constructing a good underdrain in the centre of the walk, so as 
to draw in the water as rapidly as any may percolate through the material. 
These underdrains should have no connection with the surface, as they will 
in that case be easily choked by the sand and gravel of summer thunder 
storms. Hard frosts succeed so rapidly to rain storms in this country, that 
the best constructed walks will occasionally be bad; but this ought not to 
render them as we so generally find them, useless for a third of the year. 
The theory of draining is still ill understood. very one of experience in 
the matter, knows that land underdrained, is drier in winter and moister in 
summer than it otherwise would be; but very few see clearly why it is so. 
It depends on the principle that air is a better non-conductor. than water ; 
and non-conductors do not get rapidly hot or rapidly cold, consequently are 
not so liable to become extremely dry or wet. When we underdrain wet 
Jand, a channel is opened through which the water in the soil is drawn, and 
as air will always follow where water escapes, the worst non-conductor is 
taken out of the soil and a better substituted. A well-drained soil is, in 
other words, a soil well-supplied with air; and is thus capable of letting a 
superabundance of water escape through it, and of offering the best resist- 
ance to excessive evaporation. ‘The season has now arrived for putting eve- 
rything in this department in order: walks cleaned, shrubs finished pruning, 
lawns cleaned, and any improvements, or alterations proceeded with. ‘Pro- 
crastination is the thief of time,” and on no one does his peculations fall 
more heavily than on the gardener. As soon as danger from frost is past, 
the best time to plant box edgings has arrived. To amateurs who cannot 
command the services of professional gardeners, the operation comes “un- 


88 THE FLORIST AND 


handy.” ‘The soil where the edgings are to go, should be first dug up, then 
trodden and beaten firm, carefully levelled or eraded oh the surface, a face 
cut with the spade on the proposed line; small, well-rooted plants of box 
employed and placed level with each other against the face, and the soil 
carefully filled in. Hvery one can lay a box edging, but few can do it well. 
Now is the time to get in a good stock of perennial herbaceous plants for 
the borders. The ‘‘massing” system of growing one kindof plant in sepa- 
rate beds for gorgeousness of display, has caused this tribe to be less culti- 
vated now than they formerly were; and annuals are mainly depended on 
for a supply of blossom for the summer. But few things can compare with 
the grandeur and beauty of the many improved varieties of Hollyhock, Co- 
lumbine, Phlox, or Campanula, or even of that “‘old fogy,” the Fraxinella 
or similar plants. Of the half hardy plants used for bedding out, the ama- 
teur will see in time that he has a good stock of all desired things on hand, 
and especially of Petunias, which he will find amongst the very best plants 
to keep his flower garden gay from May to November. Any Chrysanthe- 
mums that have been under protection during winter should be planted out 
in the richest part of the borders; they will produce strong shoots there for 
affording cuttings next month. If they be desired to flower finely in the 
open ground, a moderately dry situation should be selected for them, a 
damp one will give you fine foliage but few flowers. Carnations, Pinks, 
Polyanthuses, Antirrhinums, and other hardy things kept slightly protected 
through the winter, should also be planted out as soon as the hard frosts are 
pretty wellgone. The earlier they are out the finer they will flower. A 
very beautiful tribe of plants, the Hepatica has become very scarce the 
last few years, principally through being kept in the full sun. Their beau- 
tiful single and double flowers, of nearly all colors, are amongst the first to 
cheer us after the winter’s departure. ‘The double and single varieties of 
the Primrose are also in the same category. ‘They thrive best a little ne- 
glected, in some dry, cool, and shaded part of the garden, with a very little 
leaf soil occasionally, as the only manure they receive. I should also like 
to see the hardy kinds of Azalea and Rhododendron far more generally cul- 
tivated. They are certainly at the head of ornaments for the shrubbery. 
Now is the time to see to these things. If the convenience of a frame can 
be had, a few tender annuals may be sown by the end of the month; such 
as globe Amaranthuses, Thunbergias, Balsams, and so on; but although 
these flower earlier, they will not without much care do so well as those 
sown in the open ground in May. 


GREENHOUSE.—If Azaleas have been kept under the most favorable cir- 
~ cumstances—that is, in a house with a western aspect, kept but just above 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 89 


freezing point—they will be but just coming into flower. Great care is-re- 
quisite at this period, and it will be as well in this place to recommend to the 
novice the reperusal of an excellent paper on their management, in a recent 
number of this journal. The Rhododendron will require pretty much the 
same treatment. If some of these are required to flower early next season, 
they should be taken now, their flower buds-thinned, placed in a higher tem- 
perature, in a light place, and every encouragement given them to grow and 
ripen their shoots early; on this will depend much of the success of forcing 
Azaleas and Rhododendrons. ‘The Camellia is very apt to be infested with 
the red spider at this season ; its ravages are soon seen in the whitish-brown 
lines it marks on the leaves. While the plants are growing, a vigorous use 
of the syringe will be of much service, and help to keep down their enemies. 
iy As soon as the young growth shows signs of maturing, a syringing of com- 

mon soapsuds will destroy the spider and not injure the plant. Cactuses 
should also be watched for the same pests, and the same remedy applied.— 
The fine old kinds, C. speciosissimus, C. Jenkinsonii, &c., seem to have been 
given up pretty generally into the hands of cottagers and window gardeners ; 
but there were few more beautiful ornaments of our greenhouses when “we 
were boys.” 


Next month will be the Cineraria season. The improvements of the last 
few years have deservedly placed this tribe in the lead of spring beauties ;— 
those who wish to excel in their culture must keep them carefully staked out 
and placed as near the glass as possible to keep them dwarf and stocky ;— 
they should also have two weekly doses of manure water, carefully guarding 
it from being too strong. All plants, in fact, destined as specimens, must be 
constantly kept staked out; and the soft-wooded kinds receive occasional 
doses of liquid manure. Verbenas, to be grown in pots, should never be al- 
lowed to become “pot-bound;” to get good specimens of these requires pretty 
large pots. In potting all soft-wooded things, above all aim at keeping the 
soil open—turfy loam is essential to good pot culture; where loam not turfy 
has to be used, I would add a portion of chopped hay or straw with it as a 
substitute. Dahlias that have been lately “started’’ will require “striking 
off” as soon as the shoots are a few inches high. If a large number of plants 
are desired, and a slight bottom heat can be commanded, these shoots may 
be merely slipped off, put into small pots singly, and thus struck; butif only 
a few of each are wanted, the best plan is to turn out the whole root as soon 
as a good number of shoots have pushed, and divide them so that a portion 
of the root remains with each shoot. 


12 


90 THE FLORIST AND 


Hor Hovsr.—I have before observed in these “hints,”’ that there are few 
tribes so useful for summer, fail and winter decoration of the houses as the 
Begonia. Now is the season to propagate young plants; as well, indeed, as 
of Pentas carnea, Vincas, and other desirable autumn-blooming plants.— 
Young shoots a few inches long of most things strike more readily now than 
at any other season. Euphorbia jacquiniflora, and Poinsetta pulcherrima, 
after they have done flowering, do well kept rather dry till May, when, if 
they be turned out of their pots into a rich border in a warm spot, and pinched 
in as they grow, will make splendid specimens, to be lifted again and potted 
early in September. <A few Achimenes and Gloxinias, as stated last month, 
may still be started by being kept a little moist and in a warm temperature. 
As soon as they begin to push, pick out the tubers, place them three or four 
in 6-inch pots, in coarse turfy loam mixed with charcoal, broken about the 
size of marbles, or half-decayed sticks. They will take an abundance of wa- 
ter as soon as they start fairly into growth. 


Every opportunity should be taken to give an abundance of fresh air 
avoiding cold currents and keeping the temperature about 55° by night and 
65° by day, and using the syringe frequently morning and evening. These 
last remarks especially apply to orchidez in a growing state. They require 
less air and light than any other stove plants; but even these are advanta- 
geous to them, when they can be afforded without too much loss of moisture. 


VEGETABLE GARDEN.—As soon as possible the earliest crops of Potatoes 
should be planted. After numerous trials with early varieties, I still adhere: 
to the old walnut-leaved, and find none of them much earlier than the 
“Mercer,” In Peas also, the Prince Albert and Extra Early still keep 
good characters. ‘lhe remarks in last month’s journal still require attention; 
and the earliest opportunities seized to get in the crops of Onions, Beets, 
Radishes, Lettuce, Cabbage, Parsley, Spinage, Salsify, and Early Horn 
Carrot. Where beds of Asparagus, Rhubarb, Horse Radish or any of these 
more permanent crops are to be made, they will be better for being put in 
as early in the season as possible. Where Asparagus is taken up for forcing, 
a quantity of seed should be sown every year to supply their place, if there 
be abundance of ground and time to attend to them. In other cases it is best - 
to procure a quantity of three year old plants from the nurseriesas wanted, to 
supply deficiencies. Towards the end of the month a little of Seymour’s 
Solid Celery may be sown on aslight hotbed for an early supply, though the 
main crop had better be deferred a few weeks. 4 ae 


ae 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 9] 


OYPRIPEDIUM INSIGNE AND VENUSTUM. 


ALTHOUGH it is not my intention tomeddle too much with Orchids, yet 
these two Lady’s Slippers are plants, comparatively speaking, of such a hardy 
character and easy culture, and withal so interesting when in bloom, that I 
cannot help introducing them to the notice of your readers, more especially 
such as have only limited accomodation for growing plants. The soil in which 
I have found them to succeed best has been three parts good peat and one 
part good turfy loam, broken up roughly, and mixed liberally with silver 
sand; potsherds broken small and charcoal dust may also be intermixed 
with advantage, in order to keep the materials open. In potting, caremust 
be taken to secure good drainage, by means of plenty of potsherds in the 
bottoms of the pots, covering them with a layer of dry moss. 


Propagation is effected by division, z. e., by parting the plant into as many 
pieces as have roots attached to them. Pot in the first instance in 54-inch 
pots, and plunge the plants in a pit, where a gentle bottom-heat and a warm 
moist atmosphere can be kept up; the temperature may rise to 70° or even 
°80 with advantage. Shade in bright sunshine, and the plants will soon 
establish themselves and make rapid progress. Give a shift into 6-inch pots, 
as soon as it is found that the roots have penetrated through the ball of the 
ear:h. Remove the plants into their former position fora short time, after 
which they may be removed to some warm part of the greenhouse. Give 
water as it may be found necessary until the approach of winter, when it 
should be gradually witheld, in order to induce a state of rest. Soon after 
they have begun to grow again, flowers will begin to make their appearance. 
The plants may then be moved to the conservatory or show-house, where, if 
the atmosphere is congenial as regards heat and moisture, they will bloom in 
perfection over a period of at least two months. 


Should large specimens be wanted, the plants after flowering may be re_ 
potted into larger pots, using the same materials for the compost as before, 
Place them again in a gentle bottom-heat, and secure a moderately high at- 
mospheric temperature. In bright weather, shade whenever necessary, and 
syringe daily to secure a moist growing medium. When growth is again com- 
pleted, remove them to the greenhouse, and rest them ; fine large plants will 
now be formed, which will bloom profusely the following season. Pursue 
this treatment until you have got plants enough, when the use of pits and 
bottom-heat may be altogether dispensed with, as C. venustum, with its black 
blotched leaves, and C. insigne are, as I have said, very hardy, and will 
succeed and bloom freely ina common greenhouse.—Alpha, in Gard. Chron: 


99 THE FLORIST AND 


PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 


The Stated Meeting of the Society washeld February 21st, 1854. Dr. 
Wm. D. Brinckle, Vice President, in the chair. ~ 

The chairman of the special committee appointed at the last stated meet- 
ing on the subject of petitioning the Legislature for a law declaring the 
stealing of Fruits, etc, a larceny, made a verbal report, that they had per- 
formed the duty assigned them, by preparing a petition, which, being signed 
by the officers, was sent to the Legislature ; and requested to be discharged, 
which was granted. 

The following premiums were awarded: 

Camellias—Twelve cut flowers, six varieties, for the best, to Robert Buist ; 
for the second best to the same. Collection of twelve plants,—for the best, 
to Henry Chitty, gardener to J. F. Knorr; for the second best, to Robert 
Buist. Specimen plant—for the best, to Henry Chitty. New plants, shown 
for the first time, a premium of three ‘dollars, to Henry Chitty for Azalea 
vittata, A. punctata, A. amoena, and one of two dollarsto Robert Buist, for 
Berberris nepalensis, Boronia trifoliata, Hriostemon pulchellum, Azalea 
ameena, A. vittata, A. Iveryana. Anda special premium of three dollars 
for afine display of Hyacinths, designs of Primroses, &c., &c., to Peter 
Raabe. 

Vegetables—A special premium of one dollar to Thomas Meghran, garden- 
er to W. H. Stewart, Torresdale, for a display. 

The Fruit Committee made their Ad Interim Report, a portion of which, 
relating to the Strawberry question, was objected to by Mr. Cope, and upon 
his motion referred-back to the committee with instructions to reconsider the 
subject thereof, and report after the next Strawberry season. 

Some remarks were made by Mr. Hanson, and on his motion it was rrsolved, 
that the subject of the changeableness or otherwise of the sexual organs of 
the Strawberry be referred to the Committee of Botany. 


AD INTERIM FRUIT REPORT. 


The Fruit Committee respectfully present their usual monthly Ad Interim 
Report, in relation to the Pomological objects submitted to their examination 
since the last stated meeting of the Society. 

Wortley Hall Seedling—tr om J. Fisk Allen, of Salem, Mass.—Mr. Allen 
considers} this Grape far before all others for the retarding house. The 
Wortley Hall Seedling has some resemblance to the West’s St. Peter’s. The 
berry of the former, however, is more oval in form, and has thick skin. 
Bunch, seven and half inches long by three and a Hare broad ; shouldered ; 
berries loose on the bunch; berry, seven-eights of an inch long, two-thirds . 
wide ; form, oval ; colour, blush black ; skin, thick ; flesh solid; flavonr sweet, 
and somewhat vinous ; quality, taking into consideration its long- -keeping 
property, “ very good.” | 

Newton Pippin Apple—from Dr. HE. 8. Hull, President of the Alton 
Horticultural Society, Illinois. These were the largest and most beautiful 
specimens of this variety that we have seen for many years. They were 
more conical in form than those we ordinarily meet with. Quality “best.” — 

Gullett Apple—from Dr. H. 8. Hull, Alton Ilinois.—Specimens variable . 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. | §3 


in form and external appearance; one specimen resembling Pryor’s Red. 
Size, large, from three and one-eighth inches long by three and seven-eighths 
broad, to two and seven eighths by three and three-eighths ; form, oblate in- 
clining to conical, sometimes oblong; colour, brown in stripes, on a greenish 
yellow ground, with numerous grey dots, and occasionally a few green russet 
blotches; stem, five-eighths of an inch long, and slender, oftenshort and thick, 
inserted in a deep, narrow, sometimes open cavity; calyx, medium, set in 
a small, often rather wide, shallow-basin; core, small; seed, small, dark 
brown, acute-ovate; flesh, fine texture, jucy, flavour, pleasant; quality, 
“S very good.” 3 | 
The Gilpin, or Carthouse Apple—from Dr. E.S. Hull, Alton, [lhnois,— 
Specimens not true to name. ‘he variety being unknown to us, we annex 
the following description of it; Size, under medium, two and three-sixteenths 
of an inch long by two and five-eighths of anjinch broad; form, conical, broad~ 
est at the base; colour, mottled and striped with red, and interspersed with 
many grey dots: stem, half inch long by one-ninth thick, inserted in an open, 
acuminate cavity, slightly russeted; calyx, medium, set in a wide, rather 
deep basin ; flesh, crisp, jucy ; flavour, pleasant ; quality, “‘good.” | 
Rawle’s Janet—from Dr. HE. 8. Hull, Alton, Illinois.—Size, medium, two 
and seven-eighths inches long by three broad ; form, roundish ; colour, mottled 
and striped, with pale red on a greenish yellow ground, stem, slender, three- 
fourths of an inch long by one-tenth thick, inserted in a narrow, acuminate 
cavity ; calyx, medium, set in a wide shallow basin; flesh, greenish white, 
fine texture, tender, jucy; flavour, excellent; quality, “very good.” 
Reading Pear—from Nicholas Lott, Reading.—This fine native winter 
pear we have repeatedly noticed in our Ad Interim Reports. Specimens 
not as large as usual. | 
Pears for their name—from Nicholas Lott, Reading.—These were large 


specimens of Uvedale’s St Germain, familiarly known in this country as the 
Pound Pear. 


Orange Pippin and Dumpling Apples—from Nicholas Lott, Reading.— 
In former Reports we have noticed both of these varieties. 
Keim—from Mrs. Kessler, Reading.—This late-keeping native apple has 


been noticed in several of our previous AdInterim Reports. Specimens from 
Mrs. Kessler very fine. | 


In concluding our Ad Interim Report, we take great pleasure in stating, 
that several of cur Rail Road Companies have given practical and substan- 
tial evidence of their interest in the cause of Horticulture, by extending to 
us important facilities in the prosecution of our pomological investigations. 
The facilities to which we allude are free tickets, kindly presented to. one of 
the Committee, and to be used by him as often as required, during the entire 
year 1854. For these privileges we are especially indebted to John Tucker, 
President of the Philadelphia, Reading and Pottsville R. R. Company; to 
Edgar, Thompson, President of the Pennsylvania R. R. Company ; to Joseph 
Yeager, President of the Harrisburg and Lancaster R. R. Company; toS. M. 
Felton, President of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore R. -R. 
Company, and to Wm. H. Gatzmer of the Camden and Amboy R. R. Com- 
pany. Such liberality on the part of the Presidents and Managers of these 
Comnanies, in aiding Horticultural explorations and researches, and diminish- 


94 THE FLORIST AND- 


ing the taxes levied from ideale: m their disinterested labors to promote 
a great national interest, merits our cordial thanks and public acknowledge- 
ments. 


The following are the appointments by the Pr esident of the Committees for 
the ensuing year: ; 


Of Finance—Caleb Cope, Newberry A. Smith, Henry A. Dreer. 

Of Publication—Wm. F. Jones, Wm. 8. Vaux, Thos. P. James. 

For Establishing Premiums—James D. Fulton, Thomas Hancock, J. F. 
Knorr, J. E. Mitchell, Thomas Meehan. 


for Establishing the Names of Fruits—Dr. Wm. D. Brinckle, Thomas 
Hancock, James D. Fulton, EH. W. Keyser, R. Buist. 


Lnbrary—h. Buist, T. P. James, Wm. Sinton, James Bisset, Sr., R. Kil- 
~ -vington. 
Lor the Distribution of Seeds, §e.—C. P. Hays, E. Randolph, W. Sinton. 


FOR AWARDING PREMIUMS. 
On Plants and Flowers—Peter Mackenzie, J. E. Mitchell, Thomas Clark, 


a. #.-Knore, G. W. North: 

On Fruits—K. W. Keyser, Dr. W. D. Brinckle, Dr. Gavin Watson, J. 
D. Fulton, Thomas Hancock. 

On Vegetables—Charles P. Hayes, John Horton, Benj. Gullis, ED Meehan, 
Joseph Ewen. 

On Entomology—s. 8. Haldeman, Dr. Brinckle, John Cassin, Wm. Hob- 
son, James Ridings. 

On Botany—Dr. Wm. Darlington, T. P. James, R. Kilvington, Dr. A.L. 
Kennedy, Tl. Meehan. 

On Agricultural Chemistry—Dr. Robert Hare, James C. Booth, Charles 
Ellis, Ambrose Smith, Edmund A. Crenshaw. 


To Superintend he ee Bisset, Sr., James Bisset, Jr., John 
R. Brinckle, Dr. W. D. Brinckle, R. Buist, W. D. en Themes Clark, H. 
W.S. Cleveland, Henry A. Dreer, George W. Earle, Joseph Ewen, Geo. W. 
Fahnestock, James D. Fulton, B. Gulliss, C. V. Hagner, '’. Hancock, H.C. 
Hanson, Chas. P. Hayes, John Horton, E. W. Keyser, R. Kilvington, J. F. 
Knorr, N. Knowles, Oliver Landreth, P. Mackenzie, Thos. Meehan, Edwin 
Meredith, Joseph W. Miller, George W. North, Wm. Sinton, George Vaux, 
Wm. S. Vaux, Dr. Gavin Watson, Gavin H. Woodward. 


Members Hlected—J. Engle Negus, Thomas T. Lea, H. H. Goddard, Hy. 
Sargeant, Alfred Nesmith, Henry Hay, Marmaduke Moore, Samuel Alte- 
mus, J. H. Dunn, Augustus Heaton, William Bright, W. Thompson Martin, 
Ernst Winther, Dr. Owen Osler, and Pliny H. Chase. 


OpJECTS EXHIBITED. 


Plants—By Henry Chitty, gardener to J.F. Knorr—New Plants—Azalea 
vittata, A. punctata, A. ameena, specimen plant—Begonia manicata; Maher- 
‘nia odorata, Lasiandra splendens, Franciscea latifolia, Primula sinensis, fl. 
plen. Azalea Georgina, A. Trotteriana, A. indica alba, Begonia manicata, 
Chorozema varium, Eranthemum pulchellum, Centradenia floribunda, Azalea 
exquisita var. rubra. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 95 


By R. Buist—New Plants—Eriostemon pulchellum, Berberis nepalensis, 
Boronia trifoliata, Azalea amoena, A. Iveryana, Chorozema cordata, Centra- 
denia rosea, C. floribunda, Gorrcea speciosa ventricosa, Franciscea latifolia, 
F. eximia, Rhipsalis parasiticus, Erica rubra calyx, Azalea Hibbertii, Spircea 
Reevesii, Kennedya Marryattz ; also, twenty-four cut flowers of choice Ca- 
mellias. 


By Peter Raabe.—Two Azaleas, Pots of Hyacinths, Primulas, Crocus, &e. 


By Thomas Meghran, gardener to W. H. Stewart.—A brace of Cucum- 
bers, Mushrooms, ‘'omatoes, Asparagus, and eight kinds of Radishes. 


— 


The Horticultural Review and Botanical Magazine, conducted by John 
A. Warder, M. D., and J. W. Ward, Esq., Cincinnati, 0., $3 a year. Un- 
der this title, our friend, Dr. Warder, and his assistant, Mr. Ward, have re- 
established the Western Horticultural Review, a work which had become 
widely known and everywhere praised. We congratulate the Doctor on his 
restoration to health—and his subscribers on again having such instruction 
as he can give them. Asan authority in matters pertaining to Grape cul- | 
ture, and the management of the Vine generally, and wine making, it 1s pe- 
culiarly excellent. Emanating from the centre of the wine district of Ame- 
rica, and having such able aids in this department as Messrs. Longworth, 
Rehfuss, Buchanan, and other growers of that locality, it must necessarily 
be read by all interested in that branch of industry. And here we must ex- 
press our conviction that the only way to promote temperance in this coun- 
try, is the home-manufacture of wines, such wines as the banks of the Ohio 
produce, similar to those of the Rhine—light, agreeable, and not productive 

“of drunkenness. When our people have something better than whiskey and 
brandy to drink, there will be no need of Maine liquor laws, which increase 
hypocrisy without diminishing inebriety. We need not repeat the fact of 
the well-known temperate habits of the inhabitants of the wine-producing 
countries of Europe. Inthe other departments of horticulture the contribu- 
tions and selections are able and judicious. We are especially pleased to 
see the botanical portion of this journal. ‘Too little attention is paid to this 
useful science ; and from ignorance in this has arisen some very grave errors. 
We hope that Mr. Ward’s labors will be properly appreciated; and from 
what we have seen in the two numbers already issued, we think that Dr. 
Warder will have reason to congratulate himself on the acquisition of such 
assistance. When we add that the Review contains fifty pages of reading 
matter, and that each number is embellished with a colored plate, it will be 
evident that it is very well worth the price of subscription. 


96 : THE FLORIST AND ~ 


New Fiowers.—We have received from Mr. Buist a flower of a seedling 
Camellia, raised in Pittsburg by C.J. Spang, Esq. It is a large flower, 
double, and well imbricated, with-petals of good shape and substance. The 
color is a pink, resembling that of Landrethii, the outer petals rather darker, 
the inner ones striped with white. 

Mr. Peter Mackenzie’s Camellia “Jenny Lind,” has been sold to Messrs. 
E.G. Henderson & Co., St. John’s Wood, London, for £200. It is cer- 
tainly the finest of its class, and the price paid was not too high. 


Mr. Epiror—i have no intention of “‘mixing’”’ in the Strawberry contro- 
4 y 


versy, having neither the information nor the time requisite for a proper ex- 


amination and the necessary observation and experiments, before an in‘elli- 
gent and reliable judgment on the subject can be rendered. But a single 
fact has come under my observation which I think may possibly contribute, 


in a slight degree, to the collection of facts, which must, in the end, definite- 


ly settle the matter one way er the other. Asa “mite” in the controversy, 
to be cast to the side of the balance to which it may properly belong, I send 
it. A few seasons since, I found a.single strawberry plant in my garden; 
how it came there I do not know, probably from seed’ dropped on the spot 


by accident. This plant was suffered to grow, and in due time blossomed » 


and bore fruit. Now whether the blossoms were staminate or pistillate, or 
whether stamens and pistils were contained in the same blossom; I do not 
know, having never thought of examining them; but that a single plantina 
garden within the quadrangle of an extensive public building, did bear fruit, 


Ido know. My attention was called to it from the fact, that I had always 


understood that strawberry plants would not produce fruit, unless distinct 
plants of the two sexes were together or in proximity. It was not only no- 
ticed by myself, but was also regarded by others as a singular circumstance, 
as a sort of dusus nature. I communicate the fact just for what it is worth, 
no more. : J. Foster. 


Phila. Feb’y, 1854. 


We neglected to acknowledge the receipt last month of the “‘ Transactions 
of the North-Western Fruit Growers’ Association,’ which we found full of 
very interesting matter. : 

We are also indebted to W. S. King, Esq., for acopy of his address, from 
which we have made an extract this month. 


Catalogue received from J. S. Downer, Elkton, Ky. 


— 


—— a Z— —_ 22- 
299mm 


pe% ry 


\pD , \ 
Qros * 


CISSUS DISCOLOR Blume 


THE FLORIST 


AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 


CISSUS DISCOLOR. 
Ampelidez § Vitex, Enp1.—Tetrandria (v. Pentandria)—Monogynia. 
CHARACT. GENER.—* Calyx liber, brevissimus, obsolete quadri—y. raris* 


sime quinquelobus, Corolle petala 4, rarissime 5, disco hypogyno extus inserta, 

equalia, concava, apice cucullata, estivatione induplicatim valvata, sub anthesi 
patentia, oe, Feet Stamina 4, v. Paice 5, cum petalis inserta, eden opposita 5 
juamenta brevia, anthere biloculares, incumbentes, longitudinaliter dehiscentes. 
Ovarium liberum, disco plus minus immersum; biloculare. Ovu/a in loculisgemina, 
collateralia, e basi dissepimenti adscendentia, anatropa. Stylus brevis ; st?gma capi- 
tatum. Bacca uni-bilocluaris, abortu mono-disperma. Semina erdcta, testa ossea, 
épidermide membranacea Lmdryo in axi albuminis dense carnosi minimus, or- 
thotropus ; radicula infera.— 

“ Frutices sarmentost, scandentes, rarissime re ak es, anter tropicos totius orbis, 
imprimis tamen Asie crescentes, in subtropicis multo rariores ; foliis alternis, sti- 
pulatis, simplicibus v. composttis, pedatis v. rarius pinnatis bipinnatisve, sepe pel- 
lucido punctatis, petiolatis, petiolo basi articulato, ramis floriferis oppositifolits 
®. rarissime avillaribus, sterilibus in cirrhos conversis, floribus cymosis, sepissime 
ad apicem ramulorum umbellatis, umbellis involucratis, pedicillis bast articulates 

CHARACT. SPECIF.—C. scandens; ramis angulatis ; foliis petiolatis ovato- 
oblongis basi plus minus subhastato-cordatis, apice acuminatis acutis, margine re- 
mote exserteque (nunc subadpresse ) denticulatis (1), 3-5 plinerviis ; stipulis corda- 
to-ovatis, obtusis ; cymis terminalibus et oppositifoltis, pauci-et laxifloris, breviter 
pedunculatis ; floribus........ post anthesim longtuscule pedicellatis ; baccis magnitu- 
dine gram Piperis nigri, oblique subrotundis, monospermis, glaberrimis, semine 
crasso, superficie rugoso. (Charact. e specim. authentico’ Blumeano in herb. Mus 
Paris. ‘elicitum.) 

a glabrescens, Nob.—Totvs glabriusculus, nervis foliorum hine inde pilosulis: 

Cissus discolor, Biume. Bijdrag. 181. 

g mollis, Nob. Tatas tomento brevi molliter velutinus. 


(1) In icone nostra dentes nimis conferti et, quam'in’ speciminibus horti botanici penetenae 
multo minus exserti. 


The charming climber which we figure this month is a native of 
Java, whence it was lately introduced into England by Messrs: Rol- 
linson, the nurserymen. The flowers, like most of the viné family, 
are small and of no beauty, but with such foliage it is beautiful with- 
out flowers. A plant was exhibited at the last annual show of the 
Pennsylvania Horticultural Seciety, held last September, itv the’ col- 

13 


98 THE FLORIST AND 


lection of J. F. Knorr, Esq., of West Philadelphia, and was universal- 
ly admired. Dr. Planchon, in the Flore des Serres, states that there 
is a variableness in the botanical character of some specimens ; some 
are nearly smooth, and others are covered with a thick, short down, 
which variation seems owing to differences in the atmosphere where 
they grow. There are, however, sufficient intermediate forms occur- | 
ring between the two extremes to prevent their being described as 
different species. 


THE PETUNIA. 


BY PROF. CHAS. G. PAGE, M. D. 


Flowers of easy culture are not so apt to be prized by the amateur or flor- 
ist as those whose culture is attended with difficulty. The florist is imflu- 
enced chiefly by pecuniary considerations, while the appreciation by the 
amateur is determined by circumstances which appeal to his taste, love of 
novelties, and excitement and emulation. ‘The Petunia has been a neglee- 
ted flower, and it has seemed to me to be true of this, as well of others, that 
because it had no enemies, it had but few special friends. It however has 
some faults, and these are first,* that the foliage when bruised has an un- 
pleasant odor to some persons. Second, the stems and foliage are sticky to 
the touch and adhere together frequently. Third, it has a rambling growth, 
requiring considerable attention to keep it in shape and within bounds, 
With these premises it is but fair to enumerate its advantages. It grows 
readily from seeds, blooming at a very early period, it may be propagated 
from cuttings at any season of the year, with the utmost ease and certainty ; 
it will bear drought or excess of moisture, it is very hardy, not injured by 
light frosts, enduring here in the open ground frequently until the first of 
December ; it is always in bloom and will thrive in the parlor window, the 
greenhouse, or the hothouse, the flowers have an agreeable odor like that of 
the common pink; neither aphides nor red spider trouble it, and from its ex- 
uberant growth it may be pruned severely and soon worked into any desired 
shape. Added to these are the colors which are not surpassed in intensity 
and I had almost said in variety, by any other flower. I do not hesitate to 
assert my belief that in a few years the Petunia will excel every flower in 
cultivation for intensity, variety and combination of colors, and variety and 
beauty of markings. Six years ago I commenced its cultivation and at that 


© The foliage of some new varieties obtained by myself has a pleasant fruit-like odor. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 99 


time there were not more than six named varieties, at least so far as I could 
learn from florists’ catalogues and diligent inquiry.’ These where mostly 
selfs, or at least not entitled to be called variegated. The veined petunias, 
of which Hebe is an extravagant example, ought not be considered as varie- 
gated. They are neither striped, spotted nor mottled. The first really 
variegated petunias like Nobilis, Harlequin, Marbre, Variabilis, Mirabilis, 
Cleopatra, Fickle, ete, etc., 1 believe were first obtained by myself, and 
these by a persevering systematic and extensive work of hybridizing. The 
first approximation to this condition of the flower I ever saw from other cul- 
tivators was the fine variety, j Yorkville Beauty, from Mr. Hogg, of New 
York. When I first commenced my experiments I found in aseed bed, some 
thirty at least whick might have been considered varieties, in as much as 
they all differed, but the differences were so slight as to be ofno value. At 
this time a good sized seed bed may contain a thousand of such varieties. I 
have now over fifty well marked, named varieties, forty of which are of my 
own raising- The varieties Harlequin and Nobilis each embrace several - 
sub-varieties, the results of sporting, and are very beautiful and a great stride 
from the selfs. Harlequin is sometimes a light blue ground with pink and 
white patches, and sometimes a pink ground with blue, pink, and white pat- 
ches. Nobilis is a noble flower with «a rosy ground and broad white patches 
and spots, and changing principally in the depth and extent of color in the 
ground. Some varieties of Nobilis are edged with carmine, and within are 
variegated with white and carmine. Some other varieties are of a deep- 
bronzed purple, some quite blue, and a yellow petunia is not far distinct. 
Lutescens has a centre of deep yellow, and it seems probable that this may 
be extended to the whole flower. Scarlet seems also probable, and that at- 
tained for bedding out, the petunia will have no rival. There is no flower 
offering greater facilities to the amateur for multiplication and novelties than 
this. It has one style, five stamens, a simple corolla, and the anthers are 
very accessible and easily detached, all favorable conditions for crossing. 
Many of the best varieties when well grownand under cover open the corolla 
before the pollen perfects, and it is not therefore necessary to mutilate the 
flower to prevent self-fecundation. If the anthers are inclined to burst be- 
fore or immediately with the opening of the flower, open the flower upon the 
under side with the point of a knife, marking a longitudinal incision clear out 
to the end of the corolla, and remove the anthers. It is a waste of time and 
ground to sow the seed gathered from a patch in which crossing has not 
been performed for the purpose of obtaining new varieties, especially when 
we have a flower so susceptible of change by artificial means, and so easily 
managed in pots as the petunia. In a recent communication in your jour- 


100 THE FLORIST AND 


nal I remarked that plants out of doors were not apt to cross and were most- 
ly subject to self-fecundation. The pollen of flowers it is true is often trans- 
ported by the winds and by insects for miles, but the economy of these pro- 
visions is not for the production of crosses or new varieties, but chiefly for 
the intercourse of male and female flowers when borne upon separate plants 
or upon separate parts of the same plant (as for instance inthe common 
Indian corn) or for self-fecundation in perfect, or as they are now called her; 
maphrodite flowers. Self-fecundatiqn seems to be the first law with flowers, 
and the economy of winds and insects for erossing has been generally mis- 
apprehended, ‘The agitation of a perfect flower by the wind or other cause 
throws its pollen immediately upon the stigma, and self-fecundation takes 
place at once and excludes super-foetation. When a bee enters a flower, if 
the pollen is perfect, the insect hy its movements brings about self-fecunda- 
tion, if it h@s not already taken place. Jt is curious to watch the movements 
of the humbie hee in entering the varieties of antirrhinum or gnap-dragon. 
It pushes open the lips of the nectary which close behind him, and after riot- 
ing a while, ont of sight, upon honey and pollen, he emerges from his co: 
vert retreat, having accomplished the twofold purpose of supplying his own 
wants and fertilizing the flower. The snap-dragon crosses and multiplies 
without limit, and it is all done by the bee, and happens in this way. The 
bee enterg a flower with perfect pollen, collects it upon his thighs, he then en- 
ters a flower in which the pollen is not ripe, and so covers the anthers and 
stigma that the cross is effected before self-fecundation. 

It is worthy of mention here that self-fecundation does not take place so 
readily in-doors as out; and this reminds me of a remark [have often heard, 
that plants will not seed well in the greenhouse. Thisis true as a matter of 
fact, but plants will fruit and seed as well in the greenhouse as anywhere else 
if properly fertilized. There are several reasons why they will not, if left to 
themselves. In the first place they are not subject to the requisite agitation 
to disturb the pollen at the right time ; secondly, the pollen is apt to be damp 
and heavy, and finally the flowers take unnatural positions, preventing the 
pollen from falling upon the stigma. In pendulous flowers naturally the 
anthers are above the stigma; that is, the stamens are shorter than the styles, 
and in erect flowers the reverse is the case. The final cause of this obvious- 
ly is that the pollen upon any agitation may fall upon the stigma. But in the 
greenhouse, many flowers naturally inclining downwards, will turn upwards 
to the light, in which case sometimes the anthers arg so far below the stigma 
as to fail of reaching it except by special help. I have seen this beautifully 
exemplified in the common China primrose. Finding some plants were 
not seeding, I resorted to the camel’s hair brush to apply the pollen to the 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 101 


stigma, and the result was, that fine large seed vessels were rapidly formed. 
From this we deduced the importance of fertilization by agitation or other- 
wise, allin-door fruits and plants designated for seed bearers. 

But to recur to the Petunia. My plan of operationhas been to preserve 
some strong flowers, regardless of the flower, and to use the pollen from these 
upon the new varieties as they come on. It is generally the case with the 
Petunia, that as the flowers advance in variety, the habit of the plant becomes 
weak ; hence the importance of this plan, it being understood that in hybrids - 
the character and constitution of the foliage descends from the male, and 
those of the flower from the female. The King of Crimsons, known for 
several yearsin the florist’s collections, hada fine Crimson flower witha black 
throat, and was a very desirable variety. The habit of the plant however 
was very weak, so much so that I have lost it entirely this winter, but in its _, 
place I have another King of Crimsons with a robust habit and foliage hav- 
ing a pleasant fruit-like odor. This was simply the result of crossing it with 
a common crimson having a robust habit. 


The following list embraces my own varieties, and some of those best 
known. | 


Nobilis, _ Crystal Palace, 
Black Prince, *North London, 
Asterisk, *Minerva, 

Peach Blossom, *King of Crimsons, 
Cleopatra, *Yorkville Beauty, 
Nymph, *Kclipse, 

Mt Ida, Narrows, 
Cinderella, *S mithei, 

Mirabilis, Gracilis, 

Variabilis, Pagel, 

Marbre, (Hillet Flammand, 
Harlequin, Maxima Alba, 
Fragrans, *Prince of Wales, 
Fickle, *Enchantress, 
Mutabilis, Sanguinea, 

Queen of Stars, Cerulea, 

Lutescens, * Alice Peel, 
Hermit, | *New Haven Beauty, 
*Hebe, Green Border. | 
Punctata, 


*Those marked with an asterisk are not original with me and known to flortsts. 


102 THE FLORIST AND 


Concerning the culture of the Petunia no one will ever be at loss. Most 
any tolerably good soil will answer for it. Though I have found it to bloom 
best in soils moderately stiff, one thing must always be observed, that to have » 
good plants and good flowers they must be cut in closely, to check their ram- 
bling habit. The strong kinds may be trained to a wall and will attain the 
height of six, eight, or ten feet. It is not desirable to keep a plant over two 
years. In conclusion I will remark that there is a strong probability of arri- 
ving at.a double petunia. I have had one perfectly double; that is, one in 
which the five stamens were each converted into petals, which was witnessed 
by Mr. Brackenridge and others in this city, but the plant which bore it was 
weak and the stalk failed to take root. It is reasonable to expect that this 
condition may be reproduced. 

Washington, D. C., March, 18654. 


SS SE 


REFLECTIONS ON THE STUDY OF BOTANY. 


And Details of the mode of Reproduction of Zoosporic Algw. Discourse pronounced before the 
public sitting of the Soc. Nat. His. of Cherbourg, Oct. 29, 1852. 


BY M. AUGUSTE LE JOLIS. 


Of all the sciences which have for their object the study of created beings, 
Botany is perhaps the most attractive by the nature of the objects on which 
its researches are carried. Thus, plants have always attracted the attention 
of observers whether by their brillant flowers, their: graceful and varied 
forms, or on account of the immense resources which they afford to man; 
and now especially, since the study of vegetables has become a true science 
having its theories and its facts, its hypotheses and its laws, the number of 
those who devote themselves to it has increased considerably. But although 
the elementary ideas of Botany are generally extended throughout the world, 
it must be acknowledged however, that these notions are often very vague, 
and even of a nature to give false idea of this science. Thence it happens 
that many persons who expect to find a relaxation in this study, soon re- 
nounce it, from fatigue and weariness, repelled as they are by technical and 
barbarous terms with which the pages ofelementary works are bristling ; that 
others for whom these difficulties have not been an obstacle, see nothing in 
botany but a useless mnemotechny of names and words, and regard it as un- 
worthy of fixing the attention of a serious mind. It seems to me easy to 
show that these prejudices are ill-founded; but wishing to keep these reflec- 
tions within narrow limits, I will content myself with indicating in a few 
words the real end which the botanist should propose to himself, and the 
means which he should employ to attain it. | 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 103 


The study of Botany does not consist, as is sometimes thought, in gather- 
ing more or less of plants, in giving themnames more or less odd, in labelling 
and arranging them in an herbarium. Although the only occupation of a 
goodly number of persons who call and perhaps think themselves botanists, it 
is but a work purely material and preparatory, and which conducts to no re- 
sult, if the mind of the observer does not know howto elevate itself to higher 
philosophic conceptions,—if, aided by the exact knowledge of facts, he does 
not seek to recognize the mode of action of the two fundamental Jaws of har- 
mony and variety which rule all the others; the comparative study of these 
laws, the intelligent contemplation of the mysteries of creation—such is the 
real end of Botany, as of the other natural sciences. | 

“Tf Botany,’ says an author* ‘“ consisted only in the minute deseription of 
different parts of a plant, it would be but a cold and dry science, a barren 
anatomy which spoke only to the eyes and occupied but the memory. The 
principal object of natural history is not to know the infinitely varied form 
with which the creator has clothed animals and plants, nor the innumerable 
denominations which it has pleased men to give to these forms and to the be- 
ings which present them; true science, the only one capable of enlarging 
ideas, is that which tends constantly to compare with each other the most 
dissimilar beings, to seize not only their differences, but also their analogies, 
to simplify by thought the apparent complication of their structure, to bring 
towards a small number of primitive types the forms so multiplied and so odd 
which we meet in living bocies—a valuable reduction which gives the power 
to embrace in a rapid glance the appearance of an entire kingdom. ‘True 
Botany is the philosophic and patient observation of the admirable precau- 
tions accumulated by the creator to furnish to the vegetable the means of ac- 
complishing its destiny from the moment that the seed, soft and weak, sur- 
rounded by destructive causes, feebly pushes its two first leaves to the top 
of the soil, to the time when, become a giant tree, it braves its enemies of 
every kind and produces by thousands beings hike itself.”’ | 

But to be able to observe with advantage the marvellous functions execu- 
ted by the organs of the plant, one must know before all things the structure 
of these organs; to be able to read readily in this great book of nature, it is 
necessary to possess the alphabet, and that alphabet is Anatomy. 

The history of plants is a science so complex that it is indispensable to 
facilitate the study of it, to divide it into different branches, according to the 
different relations under which we must consider it. But it must not be lost 
sight of that these distinctions, necessary to the bounded intellect of man, 
have no reality in nature; that each one of these divisions does not form a 


*Emm Le Maout, Elementary Lessons in Botany. 


104 THE FLORIST AND 


separate and complete science, and that they must all be compassed in order 
to form an elevated and just idea of Botany. These branches have received 
different names ; I will enumerate them rapidly, indicating the objé¢t which 
they propose. 

Uader the term Organography is included that part of Botany which 
studies the form and the symmetry of the organs, that is, of the nimberless 
modifications which are presented by the roots, the stalks, the leaves, thé 
flowers, and the fruits; Organogeny sliows in what manner these organs de- 
velope themselves; Anatomy treats of their internal structure ; Physiology’ 
explains to us their functions, unveils the mechanism of their life and thé’ 
mysteries of nutrition and fecundation ; it gives us an account of the moveé- 
ments of the leaves and flowers, their respiration, the sleep and awaking of 
plants. Embryology makes us study it the seed the rudimentary state of 
thie vegetable which it stiould produce. Teratology gives us the ! key to the 
monstrosities, fanciful exceptions which are as often met with in the vege 
table as in the animal kingdom, and of which the profound and reasoning 
study has thrown the strongest light on the functions andthe naturé of or- 
fans in the normal state. Finally Glossology or Lerminology, teaches us 
the technical language employed in designating the or gans and their modifi- 
tations. 

With the help of these sciences we cannot study the plant but in itself and 
in an isolated manner ; if we wish to compare with each other appearancé’ of 
vegetables, we employ Taxonomy, which classes them by families, by tribes 
as to describe species, and Nomenclature which makes us know the names 
which have been assigned to them. | 

To complete these studies, the knowledge of Botanical geography must be 
joined to them, which designates the stations and habitats of plants and the 
laws according to which they are distributed in different regions of our globe. 
Further it is necessary to seek out the influence exer¢iséd upon plants by 
different exterior causes, such as the chemical composition of soils, the ac- 
éion of light, of temperature and of air on the development and life of or- 
gans ; this is the object of Epirreology, a’ study important as the means. 
whereby they can, for instance, calculate the quantity of heat necéssary un- 
der each latitude to ripen corn and fruits, and consequently judge before 
hand and with certainty what are the proper cultures for each climate. In 
fine, a large number of plants have disappeared from the globe on aecount of 
differént convulsions which have overturned it ; the botanist calling geology 
to his aid, refinds in the bowels of the earth’ fmprints of their forms, con- 
trives to recognize and reconstruct their’ characters, aid replaces them 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 105 


among the living vegetables in the place which they ought to occupy among 
the living beings. ‘This is the end of /ossil botany. 

The different parts of the science which I have just enumerated constitute 
Botany proper. Considered in its useful relation with man, applied Botany 
comprehends Agriculture, Horticulture, Arboriculture, Medical and Indus- 
trial Botany ; and I must remark that it is owing to the discoveries of pure 
science, that the old routines of cultivators have been enabled to be replaced 
by more rational methods, raised upon the physiological observations of facts; 
at the same time, in industry, the exact determination of species can render 
great service, in enabling us to avoid confusions and errors, as has been 
proven in many examples, and as I have had occasion myself to show in the 
employment of the fibres of two species of Phormium or Flax of New Zea- 
land. : fy 

If I did not fear becoming tedious, I would have selected in different bran- 
ches of Botany, some facts recently brought to light and worthy of all your 
attention, whether by the utility they present, or by the philosophical reflec- 
tions to which they give place, and you would have perceived that all these 
studies are equally prolific in interesting observations. I will confine myself 
to citing one only of these facts, and I will select in precisely that. part of 
the science which at the first view seems the driest; I will not take for a 
subject of study, one of those flowers attractive by their brilliant colours 
their sweet perfumes, or the elegance of their forms; I will entertain you 
with a vegetable production which is generally regarded with contempt, often 
indeed with disgust—in a word, I will speak of that green slime which at- 
taches itself to sunken wood, which floats on the surface of still water, grows 
at the bottom of streams or in the crevices of our maritime rocks ; and per- 
haps you will be convinced that the study of an humble plant can serve as 
the theme of the highest considerations of natural philosophy. 

Under the common name of:slime, we are generally accustomed to desig- 
nate and to confounda great number of plants of very different structures 
but which all belong to the class called Alge. Let us take a little tuft of a. 
certain species; we see at the first glance that it is composed of a compact 
mass of threads very*much bound together, of which each one constitutes a 
complete plant. Let us submit one of these threads to the magnifying influ- 
ence of a microscope ; we will see that it consists of atube, hollow, trans- 
parent and filled with a green matter to which the plant owes its colour. 
When it has arrived at that period of its life when, conformably to the gene- 
ral laws of nature, it ought to reproduce and multiply itself, the green mat- 
ter agglomerates in the interior of the tube, and there organizes itself under 

14 


106 THE FLORIST AND 


the form of little grains which become more and more distinct, and among 
which an extraordinary activity soon manifests itself. Soon the tube breaks 
to make a passage for the granules; these escape with impetuosity and all 
at once, except some which wander along the sides until they find an orifice 
by which they can get out. The mass of the granules is spread out like a 
cloud in the surrounding water where they whirl about with such a rapidity 
(liveliness) that an ant hill or a swarm of bees can give but a feeble idea of it: 
and on account of the promptitude of these movements, it would be very dif- 
ficult to recognise their forms, if they wer2 not rendered immovable by being 
killed by a drop of acid or of water of iodine: the iodine colouring them 
brown, has the advantage of making their organs more visible, and as the 
action of the poison arrests them suddenly in the different attitudes which 
they have taken, we can now examine them under every aspect and make for 
ourselves an exact idea of their form. 


We see then, that these diminutive bodies have the form of an egg or of 
atop,the larger partis occupied by the green matter; the anterior ex- 
tremity is colorless, terminated by a kind of beak, near which is seena reddish 
point analogous to the eyes of the infusorize: this beak is furnished besides 
with several vibrating hairs, which perform the offices of feet or fins, and by 
means of which they move with that rapidity which astonishes lookers-on. 


These little beings then furnished with an apparatus of locomotion, can be 
classed in the animal kingdom, as this character has generally been regarded 
as sufficient to distinguish animals from plants. 

Let us now examine some of these bodies which we have not killed by io- 
dine. Weshall see that after a certain time their movements become less and 
less rapid; by and by we see them fix themselves by their beak to the side 
of the vase in which we have observed them; their swimming hairs become 
useless, detach themselves and disappear ; their anterior extremity developes 
and prolongs itself into a tube, and, in a few moments, the animal is trans- 
formed into a plant like that which gave it birth, a plant which passes 
through the same phases of vegetation and which does not omit in its turn to 
push forth its myriads of reproductive animals. 


These beings to which they have given the name of Zoospores, that is, ani- 
mal seeds, have been noticed, sometime since, but in a very imperfect man- 
ner, in some conferve of fresh water. Recent observations have shown that 
the greater part of the Algex, even the great Laminarie of our coasts, re- 
produce themselves by means of Zoospores, and this discovery, as well as the 
deep study of these reproductive bodies is due to the deep study of one of 
our colleagues, M. G. Thuret, whose magnificent works on the Zoospores 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. | 107 


and the Antherides of the Algze, have been worthily recompensed by the 
great prize of natural sciences at the Institute of France. 

My learned friend having been kind enough to initiate me into some of his 
studies, I can offer myself as a witness of the phenomena which I have just 
noticed. I should add that’ to see well the Zoospores, whose dimensions 
scarcely attain the length of a 200th part of a milimetre, it is necsssary to 
employ very powerful microscopes, furnished with lenses of 5 to6and even 
800 diameters, which consequently produce an enlargement in volume of 512 
millions of times. 

Besides the Zoospores, we still find in certain Algze as well as in the moss- 
es, ferns and other cryptogamia, animalcule ofa different nature, whose 
presence seems necessary to reproduction, and which they have named An- 
therozoids or Spermatozoids, on account of their analogy with the spermato- 
zoa of animals. These spermatozoids are also furnished with vibratory 
threads and move with rapidity, but they die at the end of a certain time 
without developing themselves into a new plant as the Zoospores do. The 
faculty of germination is therefore the most proper character to distinguish 
these last from the infusiorial animalcule, with which they have otherwise a 
great resemblance. 

The Zoospores swim generally beak forward, sometimes they return sud- 
denly backwards or pirouette upon themselves. They are most very sensitive 
to the action of the light; when we bring towards a window a vase full of 
water and containing Zoospores, we see them direct themselves rapidly to 
the lighter side: at other times on the contrary they seem to fly the light 
and hide themselves the darkest place. Their vibratory movements last for 
several hours, often even many days, before germination commences. We 
can, as I have said, stop them instantly by means of acid, alcohol, ammonia 
or iodine ; opium having a less prompt action, quietstheir movements gradu- 
ally and permits us to distinguish the play of the threads. 

Besides the faculty of moving, the Zoospores have besides that of contrac- 
ting ; thus we see that being stopped by the middle of their bodies during 
their exit from the tube, they curve their anterior extremity from one side to 
the other and contract violently in every direction, until they have over- 
come the obstacle which stops them. But, lately, after vainly sought a char- 
acter which could serve to distinguish definitely plants from animals, we have 
thought that we should regard contractibily as the exclusive apanage of the 
latter. The Zoospores which by their germination faculty evidently belong 
to the vegetable kingdom by properties which are even more evident in them 
than in many infusorial animalcule. ‘* The extreme analogy of lower ani- 
mals and vegetables does not then permit us to trace a precise line of. demar 


108 THE FLORIST AND 


cation between the two branches of the organic kingdom. As we descend 
the scale of beings the distinctive characters of animals and vegetables tend 
to efface themselves, and we arrive at last at those ambiguous productions 
which the observer hesitates to class in one or the other; for to whatever 
kingdom we wish to refer them they will always have the narrowest connec- 
tion with the neighbouring one.’’ The pretended destinctive characters 
which are true as long as we only apply them to perfect animals and vege- 
tables, cease to be so when the organization lowers and simplifies itself. Is 
not this transformation from animal into plant and from plant into animal 
reciprocal passage from one kingdom to another, a magnificent subject of 
study and worthy of profound meditation for the naturalist; isit not a new 
proof of the principle developed by the powerful genius of Liune, when he 
wrote these words, prophetic then and since become an axiom, Natura non 
agit per saltum: 

Everything connects itself; everything from man the most perfect animal, 
to the being placed lowest in the scale of creation ; all are linked by transi- 
tions which in most cases escape the feebleness of our understanding; and 
the discoveries which modern science ought with just title to be proud of, 
these discoveries can all be expressed ina single law; Infinite variety of 
forms, incessant transformation of organs, but, Absolute Unity in the work 
of the Creator God. 


—E——EE_ 


INDIGENOUS PLANTS. 


The perennial section of these plants is not so generally cultivated as it 
deserves. Many of them demand a place in the flower garden, if for nothing 
else than the beauty of their florescence, laying aside several adaptabilities 
which they possess for such a place: but very seldom do many of them find a 
place there. Perhaps the principal reason for this is, that there are few, if 
any commercial establishments where a regular assortment is kept for sale, 
therefore the lover of wild things has very limited opportunities to procure 
them, except what he can procure in his own locality. He must take to the 
woods and dales and gather them from their native habitation, which is not 
always convenient to those who are pinched for time. A small collection 
will give a succession of flowers for eight months in the year, some flower 
very early and others very late in the season, and many wili flourish in pla- 
ces where but few other plants will; exposed and shady, dry and wet situations 
may be planted with the sorts best suited for them. But it is not my inten- 
tion at present to enter upon the subject in a large way, as circumstances 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 109 


have never permitted me to take a regular botanical tour in this section of 
the country, so that I cannot speak with accuracy of its riches further than 
of what relates to my own immediate neighbourhood; so as you are a 
lover of wild plants, I will, to give you some idea of what grows here, annex 
a list of a few which I have found growing along the banks of Pine creek, in 
less than a mile; there are a great many more to be found in the samespace, 
but these I consider most worthy of cultivation. 

Apocynum androsmeefolium, flowers rose colored. 

Aquilegia canadensis, flowers scarlet and yellow, beautiful in ee 

Cassia marilandica, yellow flowering. 

Campanula americana, flowers blue. 

Dicentra cucullaria, a delicate little plant with cream colored flowers. 

Erythronium americanum, yellow flowers. 

Geranium maculatum, flowers purple. 

Hepatica triloba, flowers purpleish, among the first of spring flowers. 

Hedyotis cerulea, very delicate little plant, producing in spring a profusion 
of bright blue blossoms; beautiful growing among the grass on the lawn. 

Lobelia cardinalis, flowers red, very showy. 

Lilium Philadelphicum, orange color. 

Mertensia Virginica, flowers purplish blue, very showy in cultivation. 

Oxalis violacea, flowers violet color. 

Penstemon pubescens, light blue flowers. 

Polemonium reptans, bule flowering. 

Phlox divaricata, pale lilac flowers. 

Saponaria officinalis, flowers flesh color. 

Silene virginica, crimson flowered. 

Spigelia marilandica, a very showy plant with scarlet flowers. 

Thalictrum anemonoides, pretty littie plant, flowers white. 

Vicia cracca, flowers blue and purple. 

Sanguinaria canadensis, flowers white. 

Saxifragra virginiensis, a low growing plant, flowers hie, 

Sisyrinchium anceps, flowers blue. | 

ETNA. | 


We are glad to receive the above communication from our correspondent 
in Alleghany County, and hope that he will imitated by the others of our 
friends who live in the different parts of the country. 

We shall also be glad to exchange plants with any one, as we wish to col- 
lect all the most desirable natives—especially the orchidaceous plants : these 
are more easily cultivated than is generally supposed. We have five species 


110 THE FLORIST AND 


of American Cypripedia, two Spiranthes, Malaxis liliifolia, which we find 
no difficulty in keeping ; the latter the writer found in bloom last summer, 
carried it nearly two days in his botany box, took it home and planted it and 
it is now coming into bloom ina greenhouse. There are many herbaceous 
perennials which would ornament our grounds, some of the best of which are 
mentioned above; and all can be easily obtained. 


On THE MEANS OF MULTIPLYING THE SMALLER Brrps AROUND OUR DWEL- 
Lines. By WIitson Fiagae. 


The presence of birds as companions of a country residence is considered 
by all a desirable circumstance, second only to woods, flowers, green fields, 
and the general advantages of prospect. Without birds the landscape, if not 
wanting in beauty, would lack something which is necessary to the happi- 
ness of all men who are elevated above a state of grosssensualism. It is in- 
deed highly probable that nature owes more to the lively motions, songs and 
chattering of birds, for the influence of her charms, than to any other single 
accompaniment of terrestrialscenery. They are so intimately associated with 
all that is delightful in field and forest, with ourearly walks in the morning, 
our rest at noonday, and our meditations at sunset, with the trees that spread - 
their branches over our heads, and the vines and delicate mosses at our feet, 
that it is difficult to think of the one apart from the others. Through the 
voices of birds nature may be said to speak to us, and without them she 
would be but a dumb companion, whose beauty could hardly be felt. 

It is customary, when speaking of the advantages of birds, to treat of them 
as they have relation to the agricultural interest. Admitting the value of 
almost every species as destroyers of insects, I am disposed to consider their 
importance in this respect as only secondary to that which regards their 
pleasant companionship with man. Hence it is a matter of no small conse- 
quence to use the best means that have been discovered, to preserve the 
birds from destruction, and to multiply them about our dwellings. Very lit- 
tle attention has been paid to this subject. A few laws have been made for 
their preservation ; but these have seldom been enforced. Occasionally a 
paragraph in the newspapers has pleaded for their protection ; but as yet no 
full and elaborate essay, devoted to this object, has made its appearance. 
I believe the farmer would promote his own thrift by extending a watchfnl 
care over the lives of every species of birds; but the smaller tribes are con- 
sidered the most useful. And it would seem as if nature had given ‘them 
their beauty of plumage, and endowed them with song, on purpose to ren- 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 111 


der them attractive, that man might thereby be induced to preserve a race 
of creatures so necessary to his pleasures, and so valuable to his interest. 

There are two methods of preserving the birds; the first consists in omit- 
ting to destroy them ; the second in promoting the growth of certain trees, 
shrubs and other plants on which they depend for shelter and subsistence. 
The birds considered in relation to trees and shubbery, may be divided into 
two classes. First, the familiar birds that live in our orchards and gardens, 
and increase in numbers in proportion as the woods are cleared, and the 
lands devoted to tillage. To this class belong several of our sparrows, the 
wren, the blue-bird, the American robin, the bobolink, the linnet, the yellow- 
bird, and some others. ‘The second are less familiar birds that frequent 
the woods and wild pastures, and which would probably be exterminated by 
reducing the whole forest to park or tillage. Among these may be named 
the little wood-sparrow, one of the sweetest American songsters, nearly all the 
thrushes, the towee finch, and many of the sylvzas, and woodpeckers. 

To preserve the first of these species little is necessary to be done except 
to avoid destroying them: but to insure the multiplication of the second, we 
must study their haunts, the substances provided by nature for their food, 
the plants that afford them shelter, and to a certain extent labor to preserve 
all these for their use. The little brown sparrow is never heard in the heart 
of our villages, unless they are closely surrounded by woods. Yet this bird 
does not live in the woods. He frequents the pastures which are overgrown 
with wild shrubs, and their undergrowth of vines, mosses and ferns that unite 
them imperceptibly with the green sward by which they are surrounded. He 
is always found in the whortleberry pastures, and probably makes his repast 
on these simple fruits in their season. He builds his nest on the ground, in 
a mossy knoll, under the protection of a thicket. Every bird is more or less 
attached to a particular character of grounds and shrubbery; and if we de- 
stroy this character, we drive this particular species from our neighbourhood, 
to seek in other places its natural habitats. Hence we may account for the 
comparative silence that pervades the grounds of some of our most admired 
country seats; for with respect to the wants of our most familiar birds, it is 
possible that cultivation may be carried too far. 3 

There is no danger that, for many years to come, our lands will be so en- 
tirely stripped of their native growth of herbs, trees and shrubs, as to leave 
the birds without their natural shelter. But thereis danger that they may 
be wholly driven out of particular localities, and that the inhabitants may 
thereby be deprived of the presence of many delightful warblers. In these 
densely populated districts, the want of them would be the more painfully 
felt, because they contain a greater number of cultivated people who can ap- 


112 | THE FLORIST AND 


preciate the blessings of nature. Let us then proceed in our inquiry con- 
cerning the means by which we may multiply the birds around our habita- 
tions. | 

In every locality in which all the native species of birds are abundant, we 
find the following conditions :—First, there is a large proportion of cultiva- 
ted land, numerous and thrifty orchards, extensive fields of grass and grain, 
all well provided with water-courses. When these conditions are present, 
the familiar birds already named will be numerous. If these cultivated lands 
are well intermingled with pastures abounding in the thickets and wild shrub- 
berry, and all the indigenous undergrowth belonging to the same, we may 
then hear the, voices of the less familiar birds, which are in many respects 
superior in song to the tenants of our orchards and gardens. Wild shrubbery 
and its carpet of grasses, vines, and mosses, and other cryptogamous plants, 
form the condition that 1s necessary to the preservation of the half-familiar 
tribes. If, with all these circumstances, the land has a good proportion of 
wood in its primitive state, or in one resembling it, not divested of its un- 
dergrowth, containing a very large variety of oaks, maples, pines, junipers, 
sumachs and cornels, we may find the wood-thrush, the hermit-thrush, the 
red-start, the oven-bird, the creeper, the jay, and woodpeckers of various 
species whose habitats are the wild-woods. 

Among the shrubs that are most useful to the birds may be named in 
general all that produce a wholesome seed or fruit. The viburnums, the 
cornels, all the species of the whortleberry tribe, the elder, Celastrus scandens 
and the common sumachs are always abundant where there are goodly num- 
bers of the less familiar birds. Among the herbs and smaller plants that 
are useful to them are the Solomon’s seal, the partridge berry, the Michella 
repens, the dew-berry, or ever-green blackberry, and all the indigenous 
grasses. If we clear our woods of their undergrowth, and convert them into 
parks, we do in the same proportion diminish the numbers of certain species 
of birds. A partial clearing is undoubtedly beneficial even to the most soli- 
tary tribes, by promoting a greater variety of vegetation. But the removal 
of all this miscellaneous undergrowth would serve as effectually to banish the 
red-thrush, the cat-bird, the wood and hermit thrush, and many species of 
sylvias, as we should extirpate the squirrels by destroying all the oaks, bee- 
ches, hazles, hickories and chestnuts. ) 

One of the principal ornaments of a country seat is lawn. A smooth 
shaven green is delightful to the eye, at all times, especially when just 
emerging from the city, or after one has been for some hours rambling 
among the rude scenes of nature. But lawn is a luxury that is obtained at 
‘the expense of all birds that nestle in the ground and the low shrubbery. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 113 


The scythe may be as great an exterminator of such birds, as the gun of the 
fowler. The song-sparrows build their nest upon the ground, in the most 
familiar places, where they can feel secure from disturbance. Not a rod 
from our dwellings these little birds may have their nests, if the right con- 
ditions are there. They are-commonly built on the side of a mound, where 
the grasses and mosses are overrun with blackberry vines aud wild rose 
bushes. Familiar as they are, they do not nestle among exotics. He. who 
would entice them to breed in his enclosures must not be too particular in 
preserving that kind of neatness in his grounds, which consists in eradicating 
every native shrub and wild briar, as a useless weed. 

Hedge-rows, though often ignorantly supposed to be the nurseries. of birds, 
are really great checks to their ar aa ae A hedge-row cannot be well 
maintained without care in keeping its roots clear of grass and other her- 
bage, which are important to their wants; and the habit of clipping it ren- 
ders it almost barren of fruit. I am inclined to think that, for picturesque 
effects, no less than for the benefit of the birds, the most desirable fence is 
one made of rough small timber passed through upright posts. I would then 
encourage the growth ofall kinds of native shrubbery, on each side of 1t, form- 
ing a miscellaneous hedge, the more agreeable because unshorn by art. It 
is this spontaneous growth of shrubbery and other wild plants that consti-° 
tutes one of the picturesque charms of the old New England stonewall. We 
seldom see one that is not covered on each side, more or less, with roses, 
brambles, spirzea, viburnums and other native vines and shrubs, so that in 
some of our open fietds, the stone-walls, with their accompaniment of vines, 
flowers and shrubbery are the most attractive “objects in the landscape. 
Along the base of these walls, where the plough does not reach, nature calls 
out the rue-leaved anemone, the violet, the cranesbill, the bell-wort, the deli- 
cate pink convolvulus, and many other native flowers of exceeding beauty,, 
while the rest of the field is devoted to tillage. 

An ignorant agricultural boor, whose mind was never anabi to stray be- 
yond the barn-yard or potato patch, might grudge nature this narrow strip 
on each side of his fences, though she never fails to crowd it with beauty. 
I have seen indeed intelligent farmers who seemed to consider it an offence 
against neatness and order to allow nature these little privileges, and who 
employed their hired men to keep down every plant that dared to peep out 
from underneath the fence, without a license from the cultivator. By en- 
couraging this miscellaneous growth of:woody and herbaceous plants on each 
side of every rustic fence, we provide an important means of security for the 
birds, and supply them, in the close vicinity of our dwellings, with an abun- 


dance of those seeds and berries which are necessary for their subsistence. 
15 


114 THE FLORIST AND 


Such a miscellaneous hedge-row would constitutue a perfect aviary for 
certain species of birds; and the advantages they would confer upon the far- 
mer, by ridding his land of noxious insects, would amply compensate for the 
space thus left unimproved. ‘The farmer seldom raises any crops in this nar- 
row space ; but like the dog in the manger, he neither uses it himself nor will 
he leave it to nature and the birds. Once in two or three years, he lets a 
fire run over it; or at any expense which is entirely useless to himself, he 
wantonly cuts down every beautiful thing that springs up there to remind 
him, while employed in the labors of the field, of the primitive charms of na- 
ture. mt 

A common hedge-row would employ as much space as this rustic fence, 
including the plants on each side of it; and no clipped hedge-row could be 
made half so beautiful as one formed by this wild thicket of vines and bushes, 
growing at liberty, and wreathing an endless variety of blossoms and foliage 
around and over the fence. Then might we hear the notes of the woodsparrow ~ 
and the yellow throat in the very centre of our villages, and hundreds of 
little birds of different species would cheer us by their warbling, where at 
present only an occasional solitary one is seen. From the windows of our 
dwelling-houses we might also observe the habits of many rare birds that 
would soon acquire an unwonted familiarity, by having their abodes in the 
busy neighbourhood of man. 

By thus extending our protection to the birds we make no sacrifice of 
land, and we lay the foundation for certain contrasts, that must effect every 
beholder with a pleasing emotion. A happy contrast is one of the most stri- 
king circumstances either in a landscape or a work of art. Hence rugged 
hills, rising suddenly out of a level and fertile plain, are more effective than 
general undulations of surface: and how much soever we may admire a tract 
of land in a high state of improvement, it is delightful while rambling over it 
to find a little minature wilderness, or a plat of ground covered with the spon- 
taneous productions of nature. It is equally pleasing, on the other hand, 
when we are roaming a forest, where the only birds we hear are the shy and 
timid thrushes and sylvias, to encounter a little farm in a perfect state of 
cultivation, and a neat little cottage, surrounded by these familiar birds of 
our orchards and gardens. These strips of wild vegetation bordering the 
fences would form a pleasant contrast with the cultivated lands, and the con- 
trast would be beautiful in proportion to the entire primitive character of the 
one and the high state of improvement of the other. 


From the earliest period of our history, it has been customary among our 
people to encourage the multiplication of swallows, by the erection of a bird- 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 115 


houses in their gardens and enclosures. This custom was probably derived 
from the aborigines, who were in the habit of furnishing a hospitable retreat 
for the purple martin, by fixing hollow gourds or calabashes upon the bran- 
ches of trees near their cabins. It is generally believed that these active 
little birds serve, by their unceasing annoyances, to drive away the hawks 
and crows from their vicinity, performing thereby an essential service to the 
farmer. This pleasing and useful custom has of late years grown unaccount- 
ably into disuse. The chattering of swallows is one of the delightful accom- 
paniments of a vernal morning; and that of the martin, in particular, is the 
most enlivening of all sounds from animated nature. As the birds of the 
swallow-tribe subsist upon insects that inhabit the atmosphere, it is not in 
our power to increase their means of subsistence. Hence the only means 
we can use for increasing their numbers is to supply them with a shelter and 
retreat. By such appliances it would be easy to keep their numbers up to 
a level with the quantities of insects that constitute their prey. 

The wren and the blue-bird are encouraged by similar accommodations. 
Bat as these birds are not social in their habits, a separate box must be sup- 
plied for each pair of birds. The wren is an indefatigable destroyer of in- 
sects, and one of the most interesting of our familiar songsters, singing like 
the riser, during the heat of the day, when most other birds are silent. The 
blue-bird, which is hardly less familiar, delights in the hollow branch of an 
old tree in the orchard, but would be equally satisfied with an artificial imi- 
tation of the rude conveniences supplied him by nature. 


If we observe all these requirements, when employed in tilling a farm or 
in laying out a country-seat, we do but avoid the destruction of those beauti- 
ful relations which nature has established through the earth. The plough 
and the scythe may do their work for man, without interfering with the 
wants of those creatures whom nature has appointed as the enliveners of his 
toil. Every estate might be made to represent the whole country, in its till- 
ed fields and cultivated lawn, with their proper admixture of forest, thicket 
and primitive herbage. Then, while sitting at our windows, the eye would 
be delighted by the sight of little coppices of wild shrubbery, with their un- 
dergrowth of mosses, ferns and Christmas evergreens, rising in the midst of 
the smooth lawn, and in charming opposition to the flower-beds, that are dis- 
tributed in other parts of the ground. Inthese miniature wilds, the small 
birds would find a shelter, suited to all their wants and instincts, and in re- 
turn for our hospitality, would act as the sentinels of our orchards and gar- 
dens, and the musicians to attend us in our daily labor and recreations. 


Beverly, March, 1854.—Hovey’s Magazine. 


116 VUE. FLORIST AND 


CALENDAR OF- OPERATIONS. 
FRUIT. 

Grarres.— Among the various systems of training and pruning grapes it 
seems there are scarcely two authorities alike. This is much to be regret- 
ted, and arises chiefly from the fact that the grape wdll produce more or less 
under any system of management, consequently those who make a first essay, 
if they can procure even a miserable crop, are so overjoyed with their sue- 
cess that they extol it to the skies, and chronicle their great success as pro- 
ceeding from some trifling circumstance or other, which is henceforth con- 
sidered indispensable. ‘‘ These grape vines will never do any good, because 
they are planted inside the house,” was a remark made in our hearing by 
one who wished to be considered an authority jn these matters, having plant- 
ed a few acres of vineyard. ‘‘ You leave your young wood too long for the 
first year,’ says another, who reads in the books that vines should not be 
allowed to fruit until the third year after planting, overlooking the fact that 
a well managed plant will be in better condition for fruiting in its second 
year than a neglected one in its fourth. We have heard remarks similar to 
the above made in cases reminding one of the commissioned officer of six 
months’ standing, instructing the private veteran of many battles how to 
handle his musket. We propose to offer a few remarks upon the various sys- 
tems of pruning ; and before proceeding to details a few preliminary remarks 
will be necessary. 

When a seed germinates, its first effort is to lengthen downwards into the 
soil and upwards into the air; the starch contained in the seed affords suffi- 
cient nourishment for this process. The plant being now formed will hence- 
forth derive its food from the air and soil, the young roots immediately be- 
gin to absorb nutriment from the earth, which passes into the stem and 
leaves, where it undergoes decomposition, is then returned downwards to the 
roots, extending their formation. The carbonic acid and other matters that 
enter the system of the plant through the roots, are of no value until decom- 
posed by the leaves. This relative action continues during the growth of 
the plant, the increase in size, the quantity of its secretions and extension 
of roots are the result either of immediate or previous elaborating functions 
of foliage. 

Such is the generally recognised process of vegetable growth. Leaves are 
the principal agents; any system of pruning, therefore, that involves their 
removal must exercise a corresponding check of root growth; and if these 
principles are kept in view, we shall be better able to discuss the merits of 
pruning in all its modifications. | 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 117 


The spur system of pruning is advocated and practiced by many at the 
present time. This may arise from its simplicity, certainly not from any 
physiological superiority it possesses. According to this method, a single 
shoot is encouraged until it reaches the desired length, the bearing shoots 
proceeding at intervals in its length, these shoots being annually pruned 
down to one eye or bud from which the shoot bearing the future crop pro- 
ceeds. During growth the points of these shoots are pinched out at one or 
two leaves beyond the fruit, and all future efforts at growth are watchfully 
removed. This is done in order to concentrate the sap and fill up the lower 
eyes, with a view also of benefitting the present crops; for the same reason 
the leading shoot is likewise prevented from extending. The whole system 
involves a continual suppression of growth, and as a natural consequence the 
roots are also checked, they cease to extend, become more woody at the ex- 
tremities and lose their power of absorption. A young plant strongly esta- 
blished in a well prepared border, will continue in health and productiveness 
for several years under this treatment, but they are gradually weakened and 
fail to burst into growth with that vigor which they did in their early days. 
We think this statement will be endorsed by all experienced Bie growers 
who have practised the system. 

STRAWBERRIES.—In preparing ground for a plantation, deep working and 
mauuring is the first consideration; no plant repays extra care more certainly 
than the Strawberry, and perhaps there is none les satisfactory under poor 
treatment. It has proved that the finest Pine Strawberries of Europe can 
be raised in equal perfection in this climate, if properly cultivated ; deep rich 
soil, and mulching in dry weather is all that is required. Notwithstanding 
that much has been said about their sexual character, many good cultivators 
pay no attention to the matter. ‘The young plants will strike root readily at 
this season, and if the soil is stirred frequently and mulched when dry wea- 
ther comes on, they will establish themselves well, and produce a heavy crop 
the following season. 

Pears-—Those grafted on the quince require a deep, rich soil to attain 
their greatest perfection. There isno more pleasing occupation for the ama- 
teur in fruits than attending to a collection of dwarf Pear trees. Having in 
his eye the symmetrical proportions of a pyramidal-formed tree clothed with 
foliage from the ground upwards, he will now be bending down strong shoots 
and elevating weak ones, to equalize their conditions; and as growth ad- 
vances vie shoots likely to take a lead and disarrange the equality of 
growth, will have their extremities pinched out. S. B. 


Flower Garden.—In our Monthly chats with the readers of the Florist, it 


118 THE FLORIST AND 


has been our aim rather to encourage them to think of what should be done 
in the future, than to point out at the moment the precise operations to be 
performed. Those therefore, who have all along followed us will be prepared 
now to act. This month and nextis essentially the month for action with the 
florist, so that it will be to the advantage of both writer and peadeny that what 
has to be said, should be said in the fewest words. 

We are often asked whether plants and flowers should be pruned and 
watered when transplanted at this season. In some cases these are beneficial, 
in others injurious. Ifa tree or shrub have good roots, and the weather is 
not very hot, itis injurious either to water or prune, but if it have few roots 
in proportion to its size, then we may both prune and water. Pruning and 
watering, are like medicines to a man; necessities it were well to avoid, but 
when used, used with caution. The best conditions for a transplanted tree 
or shrub, is when the ground is moist and warm,—moist, to supply the 
evaporation of the shoots and leaves—warm, to encourage a speedy forma- 
tion of roots. But watering cools the soil, and by its gravity —presess out 
the air from the soil, making it lable to become more easily dry again than 
if it had not been watered—keeping the moisture in the soil by shading or 
mulching while it is moist, is therefore preferable to watering in all cases; 
the object being to prevent the escape of moisture, rather than to supply it 
after it is once gone. ‘The only time to prune, then, is when the proportion 
of roots to branches is so small, that no amount of moisture would be suffi- 
cient to keep the wood from shrivelling, and the only time to water 1s when 
with good roots, the tree or shrub seems likely-to wither away. This may 
be kept in view while planting out flowers—not to plant them too thick with 
the view of shading the gronnd, for the greater number of roots in the same 
space to seck for moisture will defeat the object, but rather to intermix ¢raz- 
lers with erect growing kinds; and where masses of one kind are planted, 
peg the shoots over the beds till the whole ground is covered. In sowing 
annuals also, beware of putting too much seed in one spot; and after they 
come up, five or six plants are enough to leave to grow; two or three to tie 
up neatly to neat stakes, the rest to peg on the ground around the others— 
not only does this prove of advantage to the plants, but the conical appear- 
ance given when in flower is pretty. We have seen Dahlias grown in very 
dry soil in this way, they would do at all inno other. There are fewthings 
so pretty as pyramidal forms in gardens, and the pyramidal asters so popu- 


lar just now in France and England, will no doubt be much sought after this 
season. In our own grounds last season they were the most beautiful ob- 
jects we possessed, and we are convinced that few gardens, except the wet- 
test or very driest, will bear to be in competition with its neighbour, adorned 
with a few of these new ‘ Queen Margarets.” 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. ~ 119 


Very beautiful pyramidal objects can be formed of climbing annuals. The 
Cypress Vine is scarcely excelled. There is 4 white as well as a crimson 
variety, and the two sown together make a good contrast. The Tropeolum 
canariense, or canary bird flower, also does well as a yellow; but'the trellis 
should be made of fine copper wire, or of twiggy branches, or it will not be 
able to go up unassisted as it climbs by its leaves. The white Thunbergia 
is another fine object; the orange and buff varieties are not far behind in 
beauty. These things can all be sown about the first week in May, along 
with globe amaranths, Balsams, and so on. 

Green House.—As soon as all danger of frost is over, we must turn some 
things out into the borders; whether the change for them is too sudden or 
not. Physiologists and philosophers may tell us about the pores and stom- 
ates, and checks to perspiration and so on, which may be all true, but out 
they must go—John Jones’ house was gay all last season with fine specimens 
of half tender soft wooded things, which in the cool of the mornings and 
evenings afforded immense gratification to all who sawit, while ours “wasn’t 
nothing.” We cant grow specimens with things crowded this way. We’ll 
put out the hardiest first; and as we get room pot some Pentas Carnea, 
Begonias, Cestrums, Habrothamnus, Vincas, Balsamina, Torenias, something 
in short, that will not do quite so well out of doors, and at the same time 
make a little show. If we resolve to do this, it is well to get some climbers 
to run up the rafters to make a little shade. We have a fine catalogue to 
select from if we are not too much struck with the mania fornovelties. The 
old Solanum jasminoides | class A. No 1. No manner of treatment short 
of total neglect affects it—no vugs, nor, I believe red spider, care about it, 
and when it has root room, grows prodigiously. 

’ The different kinds of Passion flowers are good for this purpose, but for 
the army of bugs which prey upon them. Bignonia jasminoides does pretty 
well, and indeed most of the tribe, if the house is not too cold in winter. 

Vegetable Garden.—March and the early part of April, does not call for 
more attention here than the next month. Lima Beans, Corn, Egg Plants, 
Melons, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Peppers, Okra, all must be in by the middle 
of May. If not in already, lose no time with every other kind of spring 
sown vegetable—choosing the richest ground for Potatoes, Peas, Radish, Let- 
tuce, Cabbage, and Tomatoes; the next best for Bush Beans, Peppers, Corn, 
Cucumbers, and Melons, and the lightest for Lima Beans, Egg Plants, Car- 
rots, Beets, and Okra. The Onion does best on soils rather poor, in the ordi- 
nary sense of the word, but rich in mineral manures, as lime or wood ashes. 
The Parsnep does best in a strong stony soil. Day. 


120 THE FLORIST AND 


PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 


The stated meeting of this Society was held on Tuesday evening March 
21, 1854—Robert Cornelius, Vice President, in the chair. 

The following premiums were awarded by the Committee on plants, and 
flowers—Azalea, Specimen plant, for the best to John Pollock, gardener to 
James Dundas: Azaleas, dwarf yarieties three plants, for the best, to 
Robert Buist. Collection of +2 plants for the best, to R. Buist. Specimen 
Plant for the best, the Begonia manicata, to R. Buist ; for the second best, 
Allamanda nereifolia, to Jerome Graff, gardener to Caleb Cope. A special 
premium of $2 ,00 to R. Buist for a beautifully bloomed plant of Conochnum 
tanthinum. New Plant shown for the first time a premium of $3,00 for 
Dendrobium aggregatum to J. Graff; Bouquets, pair, for the hand for the 
best to the same. The attention of thie society was called to the Camellia ja- 
ponica var: ‘Ellen,’ a prize seedling of Peter Mackenzie, it is still con- 
sidered a very superior flower. 

By the Committee on Fruits a special premium of two dollars for a dish 
of Strawberries, to J. Graff. 

By the Committee on Vegetables.—Zettuce, six heads, for the best, to 
Thos. Meghran, gardener to Wm. S. Stewart, Torresdale. Vegetables.— 
Display by an amateur, for the best to the same. The Committee called the 
attention of the Society to a dish of Tomatoes shown by Wm. Johns. 

Letters addressed to Dr. W. D. Brinekle were read, from J. Vick, Jr., of 
Rochester N. Y., presenting to the Society the sala aot the Hor ticulturist 
for 1853: from Chas. Downing, Newburg, N. Y. presenting Elliot’s Fruit 
Book; from Mrs. Catharine St: anley, Hast Hartford Conn. prosensie “‘ Cours 
Elementaire d’ Arboriculture, by M. A. DuBreuil,” in 2 volumes, and the 
‘Flora of Pennsylvania” was received as the gift of the author, IL. RB. Noll, 
Lewistown, Pa., when, on motion, ordered, that the thanks of the Society 
be tendered each of the donors respectively for their acceptable gifts, and the 
books be placed in a Library. 

Members Elected—Henry L. Tripler. To Honorary and Corresponding 
membership—Louis Edward Berkmans, (late of Belgium) Plainfield, N. Jer- 
se 

“Objects Exhibited.—Plants by R Buist—New Conoclinum ianthinum, 
Azalea var. Triumphant, nova blanche, Ebutii; Specimen plants—Begonia 
manicata, Geranium symmetry; Bletia Tankervillez, Franciscea eximia, 
Geranium Royalist, Chorozema varium, Kennedya monophylla, Deutzia 
gracilis, Mimulus Jupiter, Epacris miniata, Cineraria Mary Anhe, C. Duke 
of Wellington, Cytisus hybrida; Azalea Speciosa. 

By Jobn Pollock, gardener to Jas. Dundas, a fine Azalea variegata. 

By verome Graff, gardener to C. Cope, New Dendrobium ageregatum 
Chysis bractescens; specimen plant, Allamanda nereifolia. . 

By Peter Mackenzie, Camellia jap var. ‘“ Ellen,”’ his seedling. 

Fruit By J. Graff. —A dish of Strawberries. 

Vegetables By Thos. Meghran, gardener to W. Stewart, Torresdaley—A 
large and fine display. | 

By Wm Johns—A dish of ripe Tomatoes. NR 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 121 


PHILADELPHIA SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING AGRICULTURE. 


Stated Meeting at Room Masonic Hall, South Third Street, Wednesday 
April 5, 1854. | 

President Elwyn in the chair. 

Minutes of preceding meeting read and approved. 

The following gentlemen proposed at previous meeting, were elected 
resident members: Job. R. Tyson, Yearman Gillingham, John Clark, An- 
drew Coates, Chas. F. Hupfeldt, Redman Abbott, and David 8. Brown of 
Philadelphia; Harndon Corson of Germantown; George Oldmixon, of West 
Caln Township, Chester Co., Pa. j 

Five propositions for membership were received. 

Mr. C. D. Harrison, from the Executive Committee, presented an elabo- 
rate report on the finances of the society, from December 3j, 1850, to the 
present time, including the following items: 

At the last exhibition the society offered premiums 


amounting to SD Wye - 4 oe $1101 00 
Premiums awarded~ - = 2 - $7389 00 
Of the expenses of exhibition — = - 364 00 
Rent, periodicals, and other expenses for the year 3868 00 

| $1471 00 

Receipts from all sources for last year - - 1681 00 

Excess of receipts for last year - - - $210 00 


On motion the report was accepted. 

The Committee appointed at preceding meeting to inquire as to what 
Agricultural Society the late Elliot Cresson, Esq., had left the legacy of 
$5000, reported through their chairman, Harry Ingersoll Esq., that they 
had attended to that duty and asked to be discharged, which request, on mo- 
tion, was granted. 

Sidney G. Fisher, Esq., Cor. Secretary, to whom was referred the motion 
of the late Elliot Cresson, Esq.,—that a memorial on the importance of the 
flax culture be prepared and sent to the federal and the State executives and 
Legislators, and to agriculturists generally—reported that all apprehensions 
lest government should lower the duty on linen fabrics were groundless; to 
do so had at fiast been seriously intended, and hence the motion for a memo- 
rial, but those interested in the growth of flax had made such strong repre- 
sentations to the proper authorities at Washington, that the disposition there 
now was to raise rather than to reduce the duty. There being no existing 
necessity for the preparation of a memorial, the Cor. Secretary was, on mo- 
tion, excused from the further consideration of the subject. 

The President presented a number of blanks, from the Smithsonian In- 
stitute, to be filled with notes of observations on the occurrence of certain 
natural phenomena, the budding and flowering of plants, the return of | 
birds, &. The blanks were distributed among the members with a request 
that notes should be made throughout the season and sent to the Institution 
at Washington. 

16 


122 THE FLORIST AND 


Mr. David Landreth, introduced to the society, Mr. Myron Finch, editor 
of the “ Plough, Loom and Anvil,”’ who addressed the society in support of 
@ proposition to erect a suitable monument to the memory of the late John 
S. Skinner, Esq., and to provide a fund for his widow. 

A letter was read from Mr. P. B. Savery, a member, urging the necessity 
of life memberships being purchased in the Pennsylvania State Agricultural 
Society, if that society is to carry out the objects of its organization. 

Dr. Kennedy, submitted the following resolution, which after some debate 
was unanimously adopted, 

Resolved, That the action had ata meeting of the society, held Dec., 
1852, appointing a committee on the subject of Guenon’s method of de- 
termining the value of milch cows, was perfectly regular, and that the report 
of said committee at the following meeting was regularly made, read and 
approved. On motion, adjourned. 


AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 


The Fifth Session of this National Association, will be held at Horticultu- 
ral Hall, in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, the thirteenth 
day of September next, at ten o'clock A. M. 

It is intended to make this assemblage one of the most interesting® that 
has ever been held in this country, on the subject of Pomology. All Horti- 
cultural, Agricultural, and other kindred Associations, of North America, 
are therefore requested to send such a number of Delegates to this Conven- 
tion, as they may deem expedient. 

Pomologists, Nurserymen, and all others interested in the cultivation of 
good Fruit, are also invited to attend the coming session. 

Among the objects of this Society, are the following. To ascertain, from 
particular experience, the relative value of varieties in different parts of our 
widely extended country. To hear the Reports of the various State Fruit 
Committees, and from a comparison of results, to learn what Fruits are ad- 
apted to general cultivation ; what varieties are suitable for particular locali- 
ties ; what new varieties give promise of being worthy of dissemination ; and 
especially, what varieties are generally inferior or worthless, in all parts of 
the Union. 

In order to facilitate these objects, and to collect and aie a knowledge 
of researches and discoveries in the science of Pomology, members and dele- 
gates are requested to contribute specimens of Fruits of their respective dis- 
tricts ; also papers descriptive of their art of cultivation ; of diseases and in- 
sects injurious to vegetation; of remedies for the same, and whatever may 
add to the interest and utility of the Association. 

The Massachusetts Horticultural Society has generously offered to provide 
accomodations for the Society, and also to publish its proceedings free of ex- 

ense. 
‘ All packages of Fruit intended for exhibition, may therefore be addressed 
as follows :—‘‘For the American Pomological Society, Horticultural Hall, 
School Street, Boston Mass.,” where a Committee will be in attendance to take 
charge of the same. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 123 


All Societies to be represented, will please forward Certificates of their 
several Delegations, to the President of the American Pomological Society, 
at Boston. ; 
MARSHALL P. WILDER, PresipEnt. 
H. W. S. CLEVELAND, Secretary. 


ete 


UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 


The second annual meeting of this society was held at Washington, D. C., | 
on the 22d, 23d, and 24th days of February last. Notwithstanding the 
fearful snow-storm which delayed many members on their route, and deterred 
many others from an attempt to attend, twenty-one States were represented 
at this meeting by an aggregate of over one hundred delegates. 

Addresses were delivered by the President, (the Hon. M. P. Wilder), and 
others—several valuable papers were read, especially one by Prof. Fox, of 
the Farmer’s Companion, on the means of extending and improving the 
agricultural population of the United States. 

The following gentlemen were elected officers of the United States Agri- 
eultural Society for 1854. 

Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, of Mass., President. 

( Vice Presidents, for each State.) | 

C. B..Calvert, John A. King, A. L. Elwyn, J. D. Weston, B. P. Poore, 
A. Watts, John Wines, Wa: King, Executive Committee. 

W. 8. King, of Boston, Corresponding and Recording Secretary. 

William Selden, of W ashington, Treasurer. 


Officers of the ‘‘ Chester County Horticultural Society,” elected for the 
present year. 

President—John Rutter, Esq. 

Vice Presidents—J. H. Bull, Esq., and Dr. George Thomas. 

Recording Secretary—Josiah Hoopes. 

Corresponding Secretary—J. P. Wilson, Esq. 

Treasurer—John Marshall. 


For the Florist and Horticultural Journal, 
THE AILANTHUS TREE. 


At the period of the introduction of this tree into general use in our City,. 
about twenty years ago, the advantages urged in its favour were, rapid 
growth, freedom from insects, and an almost simultaneous fall of the leaves, 
or more properly leaflets, late in the Autumn, thereby securing great clean- 
liness of walks throughout the summer season. All the advantages claimed 
have been fully realized, and its dark, rich foliage, and southern habit, ren- 
dered it a general favorite. The vigorous growth of its long horizontal roots 

and thelr tendency to sucker may prove inconvenient in lawns and public 
Squares, but its power or disposition to upheave our pavements is believed to 


124 THE FLORIST AND 


be no greater than that of other shade trees of equallyrapid growth. There 
would indeed appear to be no valid objection to the extension of this tree, 
were it not for the odor of the blossoms, which in the month of June fills the 
air in the neighborhood of the trees, is exceedingly offensive to many per- 
sons, and hence probably has been deemed prejudical to the public health. 
The objection cannot however obtain against all Ailanthus trees, for the plant, 
being in the language of Botanists diczcious, bears its seed upon one tree, 
and its barren pollen-yielding flowers upon another. The seed-producing 
tree is not in the least offensive, and had it been exclusively planted, the ob- 
jection now being considered, could not have beenurged. Examples of these 
seed-bearing trees may be found in many of our streets, Seventh St. and 
Eighth St., west side, immediately above Walnut, are familiar localities. Un- 
fortunately, and probably from circumstances purely accidental, the pollen- 
iferous tree has been generally planted, and to the volatile oil contained in 
its flying pollen may the odor be ascribed. 

We have in vain sought proof that this pollen is detrimental to publie 
health. Plausible causes have been stated, but these when sifted out have 
been found destitute of foundation. They appear to have gained credence 
from the common error of mistaking events merely contemporaneous, for 
cause and effect. The College of Physicians of this city, a Society composed 
of the most sugacious and observant members of the faculty, and at the 
meetings of which, the causes, phases, and march of disease within our bor- 
ders, are closely discussed, has not in its “ Transactions,” the record of any 
case aggravated or otherwise influenced by the tree in question. 

We admit that such evidence is but negative, yet we contend that as far 
as observation has gone it is conclusive, that the Ailanthus is not injurious 
to health, That the odor is offensive to many cannot be questioned, yet the 
dislike is by no means universal: and it might not be improper to suggest 
that there exist in various parts of the City, filthy sources of undoubtedl y 
insalubrious odors, which ought to be abated. 

We believe that a public statement of the entire inoffensiveness of the 
seed-bearing tree, especially if made by the high [authority of the City 
Councils, would eventually lead to its general introduction in place of its bar- 
ren consort. Ae 


eet ee 


THE GENUS FRANCISCEA. 
Amonast the species constituting this genus of tropical shrubs are includ- 
ed some of the best hothouse plants in cultivation. Indeed few pre better 
deserving of assiduous attention, or produce a more pleasing effect, when well 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 135 


managed, than some of the many kinds of Franciscea. They are all hard- 
wooded evergreen shrubs, producing a great profusion of sweet-scented flow- 
ers, which, by means of a little judicious management, may be had in beauty 
most of the year. About sixteen species are known as belonging to the 
genus, all of which are natives of Brazil. Since the introduction of the well- 
known F. Hopeana, nearly thirty years ago, various others far surpassing it 
both in foliage and flowers have emerged into cultivation, and which undoubt- 
edly are indispensable to all collections where choice kinds are a requisition. 

As regards cultivation, Francisceas luxuriate in plenty of heat and mois- 
ture while growing ; but when established, and the wood is properly ripened, 
they will do with a very moderate temperature, and a very reduced or rather 
dry atmosphere. The flowers are produced on the apices of the young 
shoots ; therefore previous to starting them, cut them well back ; and if they 
are old plants, shake them out a little or reduce their balls, and pot them in 
a fresh compost of leaf-mould, turfy peat, and sandy loam, in about equal 
proportions; with good drainage, and not in over-large pots; keep them in a 
close atmosphere with a brisk heat, syringing over head every day while 
growing ; stop the young shoots as they progress, and train them into shape, 
so as to form a good specimen. ‘The following species of this great genus 
are in cultivation at Kew. | 

F. catycina. This is one of the best, forming a compact bush two feet 
high, and flowering freely on very small plants; the leaves are oblong, rather 
elliptical, three or four inches long, glabrous, of a good substance, and green 
on both sides. ‘The flowers are from two to eight in acyme, of a violet blue, 
becoming light with age; each flower is nearly two inches across, and re- 


mains in perfection for a considerable time. ‘This plant is known as F. con- 
fertiflora. 


F, EXIMIA is one of the most beautiful species in cultivation; itis ofa 
rather robust habit, two to three feet high; the leaves are oblong-lanceolate, 
four to seven inches long, undulated, darkish green above and whitish beneath, 
and covered throughout with small hairs, which render them soft to the 
touch. ‘The flowers are large, very showy, two to five in a cyme; each flow- 
er two and a half inches across, deep lilac, ultimately becoming nearly white. 

F. Hopzana. This grows about two or three feet high, has smooth leaves 
two or three inches long, undulated, green on bothsides, flowers usually soli- 
tary, very fragrant, near an inch and a half across, of a deep violet, fading 
to white. 

F. HYDRANGEZFORMIS is a robust grower, attaining the height of three to 
four feet, branching mostly towards the apex ; the leaves are smooth, oblong- 
obovate, six to nine inches long, tapering to a short thick foot-stalk; the 
flowers are in a dense compact raceme or cyme, forming a rather large com- 
pact head, somewhat resembling Hydrangea hortensis; they are of a fine 
rich blue purple, becoming almost white in age. 

F. HYDRANGEZFORMIS ALBA, This variety has white flowers, otherwise 
not different from the original, 


126 ; ' THE FLORIST AND 


F', HYDRANGEZFORMIS ELEGANS. In this variety the flowers are larger 
and finer than the original, and it is likewise of a better habit. 

F’. LATIFOLIA. This species has smooth ovate leaves three to four inches 
long, rather thin, and of a light-green on both sides; the flowers are two to 
together, violet, but soon become paler with age. | 

F. vintosa. This very much resembles F. latifolia; is of a larger and 
more robust habit, with smaller flowers; the leaves are three to five inches 
long, oblong-ovate, and hairy onthe margin. 

F. acuMINATA. ‘This is a very neat-looking plant, and will form a com- ~ 
pact bush one to two feet high: the leaves are ‘oblong-acuminate, minutely 
hairy, two inches long, green on both sides, and the young branches are of 
dark colour; the flowers are from two to six in a corymb, of a deep purple, 
soon fading to pale. 

F. AneustTa. This species much resembles F. acuminata, but is of a more 
robust habit ; the leaves are two to five inches long, and minutely covered 
with very small hairs, which give them aroughness, especially beneath. The 
plant grows two feet high, has violet flowers, which soon become light. 

Royal Botanie Gardens, Kew. J. Houusron, in Turner's Florist. 


Mr. Longworth has written a letter to Mr. Ward, the botanical editor of 
the Horticultural Review, in which he is very compassionate towards the 
editor of this Journal, the ground of his kind feeling being that we are in 
great trouble on account of the decision of the fruit committee of our society 
on the strawberry question. Now Mr. Longworth knew that in place of be- 
ing a trouble to me, the reception of that report was one rather gratifying to 
Mr. Meehan’s friends ; he knew that the report was rejected without a dissent- 
ing voice. The unfairness with which Mr. Meehan was treated by the com- 
mittee, or the minority of the committee who made the report, was sufficient 
to damn the report, even if the opinion of the majority of the society were 
not against the Cincinnati theory. 

This rejected report got out before it was submitted to the society, and 
against the rules of the society, and has been published in several of the 
horticultural periodicals ; we hope that for the credit of the society they will 
mention thisin their nextnumber. Mr. Hovey, in his last issue, has a very 
amusing page onthe subject. It is well known that he is the very greatest 
individual in the pomological and horticultural line; what Mr. Hovey says 
upon any subject is conclusive, and as he winds up his article with the grand 
‘we dismiss the subject,”’ of course nothing further should be said upon it ; HE 
has arrived at the conclusion that pistillate varieties NEVER CHANGE, and in 
the face of the fact of even his pistillate seedling having changed he re-asserts 
it. A gentleman wrote to us not long ago that Mr. Hovey made nineteen 
guesses at the sexual character of his strawberry, until enlightened by Rev. 
H. W. Beecher. All that botanists want is the fact of a change being possi- 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 127 


ble; these unchangeabilities fight for their side as if they were afraid that 
if they admitted this possibility, all their plants would do nothing but change. 
Mr. Hovey announces the fact that as the committee ‘most emphatically 
&e.” pronounced that plant was not his seedling, therefore, all that has been 
written by our side “has been deduced from aseries of gross and unwarrant- 
able errors.’ We undertake to say in an equally emphatical, unreserved and 
unequivocal manner, that if not Hovey’s seedling, the committee did not 
know what it was. They pronounced it the Cushing, which Mr. Cope stated 
he had turned out of his place as worthless several years before. But this 
discussion is useless; we see no remedy for the people’ who will not believe 
the assertions of others as honest as themselves, but what we before recom- 
mended, namely, the study of botany. 


The Culture of the Grape, and Wine Making. By Robert Buchanan. 
Moore, Anderson & Co., Cincinnati, O. 1854, 12mo. el. 63ers. 

We have received from the publishers the fifth edition of this valuable | 
manual, which contains a great deal of useful information on laying out a 
vineyard, choice of position and soil, pruning and diseases of the Vine, and 
other things pertaining to grape growing. 

Also the processes used in making and fining wines, and statistical accounts 
of the cost and product of vineyards in this and other countries. 

The author, Mr. Buchanan, has a merited reputation as a wine grower, and 
a record of his observations cannot but be useful to those who cultivate grapes 
for wine making. 


There is an appendix containing articles on the same subject by Messrs 
Longworth, Rehfuss, and Mosher, and others. We hope to see the manufac- 
ture of wine become in this country a large and profitable business. 

Anessay on Strawberry culture follows, by Mr. Longworth, which is an 
exposition of the peculiar views entertained by that gentleman. 


The Journal of Agriculture, W. S. King, Editor, is published at Boston, 
at one dollar a year. The reputation and known abilities of Mr. King, the 
Secretary of the United States Agricultural Society, are sufficient guarantees 
of the usefulness of the work. 

The Working Farmer, New York, J. J. Mapes, Rages With the March 
number commenced the sixth volume of this very useful and interesting pa- 
per. Each monthly issue contains twenty folio pages of original and select- 


ed matter. It is published at 148 Fulton street, N. Y., at one dollar per 
annum. 


128 THE FLORIST AND 


~The American Polytechnic Journal, published at Washington, is edited 
by Prof. OC. G. Page, Messrs. Greenough, Fleischmann, and Stetson. It 
contains in addition to the description and figures of patents, many interest- 
ing and well written articles on Agriculture, Grape culture, &. The sub- 
scription is three dollars a year in advance. 


We have pleasure in informing our friends in Baltimore, that Mr. James 
Pentland, has kindly consented to act as our agent in Baltimore. Hee will 
receive all outstanding subscriptions in that city. To Mr. Wm. Saunders, 
late Cor. Secretary of the Maryland Horticultural Society, we are indebted 
for the large circulation we have in that city: which we hope will go on in- 
creasing in the same ratio. 


We owe an apology to our subscribers for delaying the issue of our April 
number until this time; but the press of business to which we were subject- 
ed in the early part of the month, entirely prevented our attention to it. 
By publishing the May number immediately we hope to gain time to be 
ahead in future. We have been working very hard to please our subscribers, 
and with the exception of the irregularity of which we plead guilty, we think 
that we have succeeded. All we ask at present is for the large majority of 
our readers to do that duty by us which they have thus far omitted, namely, 
to pay their subscriptions. Gentle reader, think of these things. 


We have ready and in preparation for future issues of the Florist, sever- 
al very beautiful illustrations; among which are Aralia papyrifera, the rice 
paper plant of China,a new Petunia, raised in New York, a handsome col- 
oured figure of the Darlingtonia californica, a new Aphelandra, one of Mr. 
Croft’s Verbenas, &c,—some will be executed in Europe, others here. In 
this department we have not yet been equalled in this country. 


We have received a large descriptive catalogue of Green and Hot-house 
Plants, Fruit and ornamental trees, Strawberry, &c., from Messrs Kennedy 
& Negley, Baywood Nurseries, near Pittsburg, Pa. 


We received from Messrs T. F. Croft & Co., several specimens of their 
seedling Verbenas, which were remarkable for beautiful colour and markings. 


THE FLORIST 
AND HORTICULTURAL J OURNATL, 


THE ANEMONE. 


The genus Anemone contains some of the most lovely and beautiful of 
flowers. All the species, without exception, are worthy of cultivation, and 
some of them claim our most earnest attention, yet somehow or other we 
seldom see even a single type of the family in any garden. Why this 
should be the case, I am at a loss to divine, considering the ease with which 
most kinds may be cultivated. One reason, perhaps, is that we are so 
familiar with the feature, from the abundance of native species which are to 
be seen as some of our earliest spring flowers in the woods. Would. that 
we could remove such prejudice from the human mind, and introduce more 
general enthusiasm for our own beautiful floral riches. Why should we 
despise Nature’s embellishments merely because they are indigenous, or 
found growing in an immediate locality? Let us examine, then, the loveli- 
ness of this genus and its allies now, when it is clothed in all its best attire 
around our very thresholds. Who can, with the feelings of love for flowers, 
pass neglectfully by while the Wind Flower (Anemone nemorosa), the Rue 
Anemone (formerly Anemone thalictroides, now Thalictrum anemonoides), 
or the Liver Leaf (once Anemone Hepatica, but now Hepatica triloba), 
dispute our path, or rather form a carpet of Dame Nature’s exquisite 
weaving, traced by the most delicate embroidery of her daughter Flora? 
Let us see beauty in its pristine splendor, without regard to country—or 
if there is to be a precedence, then let us feel the most interested in what is 
our own, when equal in quality. | 

The geographical range of this genus is very extensive, although confined 
to the northern hemisphere; there are examples in Japan, and others dis- 
seminated over the continent of Europe, from Portugal even to where the 
imperious Czar sends the objects of his despotic wrath; yes, even the 
inhospitable regions of the dreary Siberia furnish a few species to cheer the 
desponding, drooping and hopeless spirits of the forlorn exile, and, as if 

17 


130 | THE FLORIST AND 


anticipating the prestige of liberty which rolls westward, we find our own ~ 
continent rich in the same family of plants. , 
Botanists arrange the genus Anemone in the order Ranunculacez of the 
Natural, and in the class Polyandria, and order Polygynia, of the Linnzan 
system. It is composed of an aggregate of low herbaceous plants, mostly 
quite hardy, and all perennial, some being fibrous and others tuberous roots. 
Amongst the handsomest species are A. Pulsatilla, apennina, japonica, 
viteefolia, sylvestris, nemorosa (with the double variety), caroliniana and 
vernalis; but the two most commonly known amongst cultivators as the 
Anemone are, A. hortensis and A. coronaria, thelatter of which (a native of 
the Levant) has been so much cared for as to be considered worthy of 
coming under the cognomen “ Florist’s Flower.” This species in a natural 
state is single, but the double varieties are considered to be the handsomest. 
The colors are of every shade, from nearly pure white down to almost blue- 
black, embracing the various grades of scarlet, purple and striped. It is 
tuberous rooted, and not sufficiently hardy to withstand our most rigorous 
winters. As this is the most beautiful and esteemed, a few remarks on the 
cultivation and standard excellence may be of use. elit 
Criterion of a good Anemone.—The stem should be erect, strong and 
pliable, not less than nine inches high. The flower should be about two 
and a half inches across, composed of an even, well rounded row of outer 
petals, substantial in substance, slightly incurved on the edges, but lying 
flat in the base, forming a shallow saucer-like shape. The centre of the 
blossom ought to be filled up with a compact mass of strap-formed petals 
(petaloid stamens), regularly imbricated, lying evenly over each other and 
slightly reflexed; occasionally the abortive pistils form another series ‘of 
smaller petals in the extreme centre, and make the flower still handsomer. 
Sometimes the guard leaves are of a different color to the inner petals, 
other examples are striped, while some are entirely selfs; in all cases, the 
eolors should be distinctly defined and bright; all gradations are equally 
admired, provided they be pure. In England, and similar mild climates, 
the Anemone is cultivated in the open ground, without more protection 
than a slight covering in winter, and a screen for the flowers during bloom- 
ing time; but in our climate it is better to treat it as a cold frame plant, 
for although it may be protected in the open ground in winter sufficiently 
to keep the roots from perishing, and likewise covered when in flower, the 
fierce rays of the sun during its most active growth are too intense, and are 
apt to scorch the leaves, causing the flowers to be few and small. If planted 
in a frame, and treated as we do Neapolitan violets, and other plants of 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 131 


like character, using suitable soil, the Anemone can be had as fine as in 
any part of Europe. The Anemone delights in a due share of leaf mould, 
or the loose black vegetable matter which is often found in woods; add one- 
third of either of these materials to two parts of good strong pasture loam, 
and a very good compost is obtained. Let the frame be placed facing the - 
sun on a well drained bottom, fill in a foot in depth of the above material, 
plant six inches apart about the beginning of October, and cover one and a 
half inches. Through the winter season, cover, give air, water, and line 
around the outside of the frame, as recommended in former articles in 
frame culture. 

This kind of culture will cause them to bloom earlier than they would if 
planted in the open ground; the growth will be vigorous and not so subject 
to be injured by the drying winds and hot suns of early summer; conse- 
quently, the roots will swell, ripen off well, and increase accordingly.. When 
in flower, if a light canvas be thrown over the glass, on very bright days, 
the colors will be more brilliant; but there is no real occasion for it if plenty 
of air be given, for in the middle of March, when they ought to be “ arrayed 
in all their glory,” the sun will not do much harm. After blooming is 
fairly over, the foliage will soon begin to turn yellow and the roots ripen ; 
when the top growth becomes withered, the roots may be carefully lifted 
and spread out in a dry but cool room for a few days, after which they 
should be cleaned from the rough soil and stowed away in paper bags, still 
keeping them dry and cool, until next planting time. The only methods of 
propagation are by division of the roots and from seed. , 

Dividing of the Roots.—It is best not to break or divide the tubers until 
immediately before they are to be planted; for if done sooner, unless kept 
very dry and separate from each other, they are subject to become mouldy 
where injured, which sometimes goes so far as to destroy the root; every 
portion to which there is a crown will grow, under favorable circumstances; 
but it is best not to be too greedy, and only break the tuber into so many 
parts as will readily come asunder without exposing too great a severed 
surface. The irregularity of form will enable any one to judge accurately 
of what is here meant. | 

Propagation from Seed.—Some of the more double kinds do not produce 
any seed, as both stamens and pistils are metamorphosed into bundles of 
central petals, but occasionally even these will produce a few stamens 
underneath the small petals, and the pistils are also sometimes sufficiently 
developed to be able to perfect seed if impregnated; other double sorts 
produce both perfect, only not in so great a quantity and with the same 


132 THE FLORIST AND 


regularity as the single ones; so that it is necessary to have a few semi- 
double or single varieties in the bed to insure success; but it must be borne 
in mind that the strictly single kinds will very seldom produce double 
flowered offspring, as they are almost invariably fertilized by their own 
more abundant pollen. If care be taken to keep the various colors separate, 
the progeny will most generally partake of the parent; but there is little 
use in being thus exact, as nearly all will be beautiful, and a mixture often 
gives most pleasing results. Soon after the petals have fallen the seed will 
begin to ripen, and should be picked off as each head comes to maturity, 
which may be known by the outer surface becoming detached at the lower 
base from the receptacle; if not gathered soon as ripe, it flies off and is 
lost. Keep in a dry place until the middle of September, and sow in a 
frame well exposed to the sun, using the above-mentioned compost, made 
fine on the surface, level very smooth, and scatter the seeds thickly over 
the whole area; afterwards, sift through a fine sieve a little more equally 
over the seeds, just enough to cover, but not more. It is well to give a 
good watering before sowing, and cover afterwards, which leaves the surface 
loose and prevents baking. Jeep shaded on bright days, or darken the 
glass till the young plants have advanced into the first ‘“‘rough leaf,” and 
regulate the air so as to prevent scalding, but still keep a humid atmosphere. 
When they are all well started, the shading may be discontinued by degrees, 
and through the winter give all the sun and air possible, but avoid cold. 
winds and keep well covered from frost. When the warm days of early 
summer begin to advance, the seedling plants will ripen off; they may then 
be taken carefully up, and packed in very dry earth in a box, and kept in a 
dry and cool room till the regular time of planting. The next season they 
will bloom, and can be treated as the regular stock. 

If the above directions be attended to, this too much neglected flower will 
bloom as fine, increase as fast and give as general satisfaction as it does in 
many parts of Europe, and will give gratification and pleasure to all who 


will take the little trouble required. | 
Wm. CHoruton. 


—>——_ 


THE PAULOWNIA IMPERIALIS. 


When this tree was first introduced ‘into this country, a few years ago, it 
rapidly rose to a wide popularity. The demand for it was so great, that 
few nurserymen ran the risk of an overstock, and the prices obtained were 
in consequence high. Latterly, inquiries for it became less frequent, and 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 133 


it might be bought for ttle more than an Ailanthus. J am much mistaken 
if it remains long in this undignified state. With some indifferent qualities, 
it has many superior ones. It has coarse foliage, but offers a grateful shade. 
Tis stiff, formal shoots are unsightly and, ungraceful, but its rapidity of . 
growth more than covers these faults. But in searching for a defect as a 
set-off to the gorgeousness of its blossoms, we encounter considerable diffi- 
culty. Those who have not been favored with a sight of their rare beauties, 
can scarcely form a correct idea of them. They may fancy to themselves a 
very vigorous Catalpa tree, which by some magical stroke of floral power has 
been made to produce in magnificent profusion, large racemes of Gloxinia 
flowers, of afine purple color. So great, indeed, is the resemblance, that 
with but little stretching, our fancy might be real. We might believe that 
the presiding genius of open air culture had entered the lists against her of 
the exotic department, and by seizing on one of her most treasured. and 
delicate of hot-house forms, throwing them on one of her sturdiest subjects 
in the very teeth of winter, before at least sweet smiling May has well 
unfolded her all-longed-for lap, and there by bidding them bloom unscathed, 
unhurt, had claimed a triumph over her defeated rival. But fancies, however 
vivid, are but a poor substitute for facts; those who planted Paulownias a 
few years ago, will now have them in flower, and those who would rather 
see than imagine one of the most beautiful flowering trees in cultivation, 
would do well to call on their friends who have them. Those who live in 
the northern part of the city of Philadelphia, may find a beatiful show of 
them at the residence of Mr. McCullough, corner of Germantown avenue 
and Carpenter street, but there are single flowering specimens in many 
other locahties. 

In addition to the rapid growth of the Paulownia, and the beauty and 
earliness of its blossoms, there is yet another point in which it will be 
favorably viewed by the many: it is not a difficult tree to transplant. 
Though, in another place, I have shown that there are in reality no trees 
difficult to transplant, when the true principles of the operation are under- 
stood; yet the neglect and ill treatment some trees will endeavor to submit 
to, are so generally understood by the term “easy to grow,” that we may 
perhaps correctly employ it here. The roots are so fleshy, and the wood so 
spongy, that the tree has almost a Cactus-like power of maintaining its 
vitality; and even in the matter of soil, I do not think I have met with a 
single instance of its failing to do well in the most varied. 

Tomas MEEHAN. 


134 THE FLORIST AND 


IS THERE POSITIVE PROOF OF THE ORIGIN OF WHEAT FROM 
A GRASS BELONGING TO A DIFFERENT GENUS? 


BY L. JC. TREVIRANUS. 


The question where those objects of cultivation originated which are so 
indispensable to man in a state of civilization does not, when taken by 
itself, admit of any general answer; but considered in a wider extent, can 
only be answered conditionally. For either the answer is inseparable from 
the general question as to the development of the human race, and so far 
lies out of the range of experience, or we must assume that these objects 
were found by man in a state of nature, and in the condition in which they 
were found, applied to his uses; or, finally, that they at first existed in a 
certain form which has been modified by the agency of man, so that the 
original state is no longer extant, or if so, in such a condition as not to 
exhibit the transition from the cultivated plant to the parent from which it 
was derived. The first method of reply holds the question as in itself un- 
answerable, and in some measure coincides with those views which regard 
the objects of cultivation, such as the Laurel, the Myrtle, the Vine, the 
different kinds of corn, &c., as the gifts of the gods, that is, of beings who 
introduced cultivation into the earth from their unknown habitations. The 
second answer to the question must have been received unconditionally as 
the right one, were it clear that our cultivated forms have ever been found 
wild, or still are found so; that is, whether they have ever lived or still live 
in any specific locality independently of the agency of man. But the 
necessary proofs are altogether wanting. 

When Dureau de la Malle would make it probable from historic dates, 
that the part of Palestine and Syria which borders on Arabia is the parent 
country of corn, namely, wheat and barley (Ann. de Sc. Nat. ix. 61); when 
Heinzelmann would consider wheat as growing wild in the country of the 
Baschkirs, and A. Michaux Spelt in the mountains in the north of Hamadan, 
in Persia (Lamarck, Encyc. Bot. ii. 458), we must bear in mind that, as 
regards the first, we can place very little reliance upon the accounts of the 
occurrence of species by persons who were little acquainted with objects of 
natural history, or upon their description or pictorial illustrations ; and that, 
in respect of the other instances, a far longer residence than falls to the lot 
of travelers in general in the countries where they are supposed to have 
taken their origin is requisite, in order to distinguish the wild state of a 
plant from such as have merely escaped from cultivation. There remains, 
then, only in answer of the question, that a typical form of these plants 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 135 


origiually existed, which has been so modified by art and human skill, in 
conformity with man’s necessities or uses, that it is no longer capable of 
being recognized as such, though existing in its wild state, or together with 
the form produced by culture. That such alterations of plants have been 
effected by cultivation, and are now become permanent, is beyond question. 
Our biennial cultivated carrots, with their succulent well-flavored roots, may 
be produced in perfection after some generations, by the art of the gardener, 
from the annual wild form, whose root is dry and of an acrid taste (Lond. 
Hortic. Soc. Trans. ii. 348). We cannot, however, prove the origin of 
other cultivated plants by experiment; we are ignorant, for instance, how 
the cauliflower originated from the normal form of our coleworts.. The wild 
form of our potatoes is far from being perfectly known. Of many forms 
found apparently wild in the lower mountains of South America and Mexico, 
which have been introduced into systematic natural history under the names 
of Solanum Commersoni, maglia, etuberosum, immite, verrucosum, utile, 
stoloniferum, &c., (D. C. Prod. Syst. Veg. xiii. s. 1, 82, 677; J. D. Hooker, 
Bot. Antarct. Voy. 32), sometimes one, sometimes another is brought for- 
- ward in proof that. an alteration of the original form has been effected 
by culture, which by repeated reproduction has become permanent, 
but whose derivation from that particular species has not been observed. 
A similar origin has been assumed for our species of corn, especially for the 
most important of them, viz: wheat, but no one had succeeded in indicating 
the original form, and the alterations which had taken place. That this, 
however, has been effected, we are assured by M. Esprit Fabre, an intelli- 
gent gardener at Agde, near Montpellier, to whom we are indebted for some 
excellent observations on the plants of his rich neighborhood (Ann. des Sc. 
Nat. 2, Ser. vi. 378, 3 Ser. xiii, 122). The observations on which this 
result is grounded, have been published by the author himself very briefly 
in a small pamphlet entitled ‘“‘ Des Algilops du midi de la France et de leur 
Transformation,” 20 s. in 4to., with three lithographic plates; and Prof. 
Felix Dunal, of Montpellier, has added a short preface and appendix, and I 
have myself, when at Montpellier in the autumn of 1851, had an opportu- 
nity of examining some dried specimens of the plants resulting from the 
experiments of M. Fabre, which had been communicated by him to his 
friends in that neighborhood. M. Fabre considers Adgilops ovata and Zi. 
triaristata, of which the first especially abounds everywhere on the coasts of 
the Mediterranean, as the parent plants of our wheat, an opinion by no 
maeans new, but one which had never before been supported by such weighty 
arguments. The genera Adgilops and Triticum, it is well known, though 


136 THE FLORIST AND 


they agree in inflorescence, in the multitude of flowers, and in the general 
form and texture of the parts of fructification, differ in this respect, that 
the glumes in Algilops are more swollen, that the upper spikelets are abor- 
tive, containing no ovaries but only stamens, and that the fruit, instead of 
being convex on either side, as in wheat, is concave. The presence and 
number of the awns is inconstant in either genus, and in a species or form of 
AHgilops which Requien found in Provence, and named Al. triticoides, but 
which occurs in Sicily, at Palermo, as appears from specimens now before 
me, and, if as I believe, Link’s Crithodium Adgilopoides (Linnea ix. 132, 
t. 3) be the same thing, in Greece also, the glumes are gradually flatter, so 
that their form, especially as at the same time there is but one awn instead 
of several, approaches very closely to that in the genus Triticum. Fabre, 
whose attention was attracted by this phenomenon, undertook in conse- 
quence, a series of experiments with Al. ovata, which he cultivated with the 
greatest care for 12 years, from 1838 to 1850, and at first in a plot of 
ground inclosed by walls, in which no other species of grass existed, and 
afterwards in the open field, surrounded however by vineyards. The result 
of this experiment was that the plant acquired longer ears, whose rachis 
was not brittle as before when ripe, and in which, step by step, fewer 
blossoms were abortive ; the glumes, meanwhile, were less broad and flatter ; 
instead of a number of awns, in general one only remained; and the ripe 
grain, which in consequence of its concave’ form, remained inclosed in the 
hollowed glume, burst out by reason of its increased thickness. In brief, 
the species Agilops ovata had acquired a form, represented in the figures, 
which every one must recognize as that of a Triticum, and which in con- 
tinued cultivation was retained without any tendency to return to its original 
condition. - M..Fabre observed also, that AN. triaristata, Willd. was subject 
to the same metamorphoses, only he became acquainted with this species too 
late to make the same experiments with it which he had made with Al. 
ovata, so as to be able to prove its transition into Triticum. His treatise 
closes with these words: “‘ We had here also (instead of Adgilops ovata with 
which the experiment was commenced) a Triticum, a true species of wheat, 
which cultivated in the open field for four successive years, retained in its 
form and yielded harvest like other corn of this kind ;” and M. Dunal adds, 
“We are in consequence necessitated to allow, that certain of our cultivated 
kinds of wheat, if not all, are nothing more than peculiar forms of certain 
species of Aigilops, and that they can be regarded as none other than races 
of these species, so that to M. Esprit Fabre belongs the honor of having 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 137 


demonstrated the true origin of cultivated wheat, which others before him 
only imagined and have indicated doubtfully.” 7 

Whatever consideration, however, may be due to this expression of so 
acute and practical an observer, who not only from personal acquaintance 
with a near neighbor, but from an immediate inspection of the result 
obtained by these experiments, was in a condition to judge of the correct- 
ness of the observations, and the justice of the inferences, the subject is too 
important not to make one wish for a repetition of the experiments by a 
combination of many persons of different views—experiments which are 
easy of repetition, and have no other difficulty than the length of time 
requisite before the necessary result can be attained. We have before 
us the coincidence of two genera so different in apparently essential 
characters as Triticum and A¢gilops, and the question arises, if a transition 
between these is established, must not other genera of Graminez in a similar 
way fall to the ground? But more especially, inasmuch as the normal con- 
dition of the several species of Adgilops is maintained in their native 
localities, it is requisite to know more perfectly than we have learned from 
M. Fabre, what are the conditions and influences under which the observed 
changes have taken place, before we can regard the results which have been 
obtained as perfect verities in the annals of science and agriculture. — 
Gardeners’ Chronicle. 


ee 


FOREIGN PATRONAGE. 


Under this caption we would beg leave to draw attention to a review 
contained in the Gardener’s Chronicle of April 8th of the present year 
(p. 218). 

The subject of the review is an essay by Dr. Joseph Leidy, on a Fauna 
and Flora within living animals, published by the Smithsonian Institution, 
April, 1853. 

After the introductory sentence, it is stated of the essay in question, that 
“it may be true that it does not contain much which may not be found in 
Robin’s second edition of his admirable work on the fungals which grow 
upon animals;” a short distance afterwards, ‘‘we would point out more 
especially the plates which represent the curious parasites which infest the 
intestines of different species of Iulus, and the several entozoa which live in 
their company; for though the principal of them are not overlooked by 
Robin, there is nothing in his plates as regards these particular productions 


138 _ THE FLORIST AND 


which can for a moment be. compared with Dr. Leidy’s copious and excellent 
figures ;”’ and in conclusion, it is kindly admitted that the author “is 
evidently an original observer, though not perhaps completely au courant 
in European publications.” 

No fault can properly be found with the concluding compliment, as, to be 
an ‘original observer ’’ is doubtless, from the absence of rivalry, a position 
which deserves the highest regard and consideration from those whose 
principal labors are in the copious and well explored field of compilation, 
and who may be thus supposed to be “‘au courant” not only in European 
but also in American publications. | 

Our present purpose is with the remarkable errors contained in the two 
extracts first given. : 

It is a singular fact, but one worthy of attention by all compilers, that 
among “original observers,” the date at which observations are made known 
is frequently of importance in tracing the history of investigations, and that 
a reviewer (who is perhaps to be looked upon as a higher development of 
compiler, in so far as his compilations must be very judiciously condensed 
to avoid tedium) is not justified in simply casting his eye over illustrations 
of a work, and becoming familiar with the names of the draughtsman and 
engraver. : 

As a consequence of the neglect of looking at the text of either Dr. Leidy 
or Mr. Robin on these entophyta, Professor Lindley has,'in his haste to be 
“au courant,” neglected to observe that Mr. Robin’s book was published 
several years later (1853) than the first descriptions of the species contained 
in the memoir reviewed by him,* and that the account given by Mr. Robin 
is taken entirely from the American ‘original observer,” and finally, 
that Mr. Robin has added to the Hnterobryus, one of the five genera made 
known in the American memoir, a single new European species. 

We have assumed that Professor Lindley is responsible for these perver- 
sions; the magazine in which the review appeared is edited by him, and 
unless some authorship is indicated, the editor must be held accountable for 
what is issued under the sanction of his name. 

In placing these facts without comment before the readers of the Florist, 
we are acting merely from a sense of justice, and are far from supposing 
that any effect will result. The “horizon of brass about the size of an 
umbrella,” to borrow an expression of Mr. Emerson’s, which limits the 
vision of ‘many of our transatlantic neighbors, may reflect tolerable images 


* Vide Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. 4, 1849. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 139 


of objects near at hand, but before it can make its possessor “‘aw courant” 
in general science, a radical change is required, not only in the mental, but 
in the visual organs which receive its reflections. | 10. 


————— 


CLEANLINESS IN GARDENING. 


Cleanliness, the proverb tells us, is next to godliness, and one reason why 
it is placed so high as a moral duty is, because it is essential to health. 
And it is quite as essential to the health of plants as to that of animals. 
Passing through the houses of a friend some time. since, who considers 
himself, and I suppose is considered by others, a good gardener, I was much 
struck to observe that the leaves of his hard-wooded plants were entirely 
covered with the parasite denominated the soot fungus, which gives such an 
unsightly appearance to the orange trees in the winter, and which, together 
with the accumulation of dust and veritable soot from the heating apparatus, 
had so metamorphosed them, that, instead of being green, they were black. 
And I suppose my readers have not unfrequently seen the same thing. 
Perhaps it is not too much to say, that it is just possible, if they look into 
their own frames and greenhouses, they may see it at this moment; for the 
dull and dark days of January are very likely to bring it about. Well, this 
arises from a want of cleanliness, and it is also certain that it is very . 
injurious to plants; for the leaves are the lungs of the plants, and if you 
choke up these vital organs, the plant cannot breathe; and if it does not 
breathe, it cannot live. Just as you cannot live yourself if your lungs are 
choked up with dust, as they would be if you were a mason, or a bricklayer, 
or a needlemaker, unless you made use of the remedy just now prescribed 
in a leading journal for such cases, and wore a moustache. The remedy 
for plants, to save them from going into consumption, is a free use of soap 
and water. ‘There is plenty of time during the snow and rain of winter to 
get such work as this done; and really, if the plants are intended to be 
healthy, it must be done. When the men are frozen out or washed out, set 
them to work at cleaning the dirty leaves, only let them take care they are 
not bruised in the operation. 

So much for personal cleanliness among plants. But we all know that 
this is a virtue not to be maintained without cleanliness in our dwellings 
also, and it is just the same with plants. Under the very best management 
leaves will become dirty in the winter; but a good deal may be done to 
prevent it, and here, as well as in other instances, prevention is better than 


140 _ ‘THE FLORIST AND 


cure. Just glance at the lights in the house in which you find the: leaves 
all black and foul—not very transparent, are they? And here is one reason, 
no doubt, why the plants are in the state they are. The laps are all filled 
with a gelatinous vegetable production, which is sure to make its appearance 
along with damp and dirt. And the outside surface of the glass is covered 
with all the various matters which, floating about in the atmosphere, are 
from time to time deposited upon it, And so light is shut out. Light is 
life; be that never forgotten. Everybody believes it, and yet hardly anybody 
acts upon his belief. The glass of the greenhouse is allowed to get dirty, 
and to continue dirty ; and the plants being shut out from the vivifying and 
purifying influence of the light, become drooping and diseased. The remedy 
is at hand—soap and water still, and not in homeepathic doses either. When 
the plants are housed in autumn, or before they are housed rather, let every 
bit of glass, whether in the roof or side-lights, and every inch of the building 
besides, have a thorough out-and-out cleansing; and if necessary, as it 
undoubtedly will be, clean the glass again during the winter. It is not the 
cold that we have to fear. That is easily kept out; and where one plant 
perishes from cold, a. dozen perish from the damp and dirty and mouldy 
condition they get in through the want of light. 

But we must come down a little, and look at the state of the surface-soil 
in the pots. Why, that is completely covered with a growth of conferva, 
and looks a good deal greener than the leaves ; and I should be disposed to ~ 
say, if a gardener thinks to grow plants this way, he must be greener than 

either. For how can you see whether a plant requires water or not? and of 
all the causes that render winter cultivation of plants a failure, none is 
more effective than negligent watering. And then how can the air penetrate 
to the roots? You have hermetically sealed the soil, and yet you expect 
the plant to grow. Get all this mass of green scraped off, and throw a little 
fresh soil on the top: that will be something like; and the improvement in 
appearance will be fully equalled by the improvement in reality. 

In fine, it is impossible to say too much about cleanliness in everything 
that relates to the management of plants. Without it, ali effort and expense | 
will be thrown away; with it, a great deal which is commonly deemed 
essential may be dispensed with. 


F. W. JovNES. 


In Turner's Florist. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 4141 


The famous collection of plants belonging to Mrs. Lawrence, of Ealing 
Park, London, has lately been sold. There were in it some of the finest 
specimen plants in England. To give an idea of the size of some of them, 
and the prices they brought, we quote from the Gardeners’ Chronicle : 


“We observed that the enormous Epacris grandiflora, which for many 
years formed the crown head of the Ealing Park collection at the Chiswick 
fétes, was bought by Mr. Eyles for the Crystal Palace Company, for 121. 
10s; this fine plant was quite 6 feet high, and as much through, and covered 
with bloom. A Polygala acuminata of similar size, and also in flower, was 
put up, and fetched 10/. 15s.; this was purchased by Mr. Upton, who also 
became the fortunate possessor of a magnificent Azalea exquisita, for which 
he paid the handsome sum of 17/. 17s.; this plant was in all respects in ex- 
cellent condition, and measured about 5 feet in height and 6 feet in width. 
The same buyer likewise purchased a beautiful Azalea variegata, 4 feet by 
© feet, for which 15/. 15s. were paid. An extremely good plant of Azalea’ 
Gledstanesi fetched 10/. 10s.; this was purchased by — Johnstone, Esq., of 
Oak House, Feltham. Azalea Lawrenceana (which did not appear to be 
different from Minerva,) fetched the great price of 241. 3s.; this was bought 
by Mr. Upton; it was certainly a splendidly grown plant, measuring 4 feet 
in height and 6 feet in width. Azalea Apollo, 5 feet by 4 feet, fetched 87. 
10s.; and A. Gledstanesi, 77. 5s. Azaleas, altogether, fetched good prices, 
as did greenhouse plants generally; although some Heaths, Hriostemons, 
Podolobiums, Indigofera decora, and a few other things, sold for prices con- 
siderably below their value. Stove plants seemed less in demand than green- 
house plants, and therefore realized less money. JBeautiful bushes of Lxora 
javanica, 43 feet in height, and 33 feet in width, only fetched 27. 10s.; Di- 
pladenia crassinoda, 4 feet high and 3 feet through, 10s.; Allamanda cathar- 
tica, 5 feet high and 4 feet wide, 2/. 15s.; and other plants of this descrip- 
tion fetched similar prices. The number of lots sold to-day was 161; the 
principal purchasers, in addition to those already named, were Mr. Colyer, 
Mr. Ambrose Basset, of Stamford Hill; The Earl of Stamford and War- 
rington; Mr. Dods, gr. to Sir John Cathcart, Bt.; Mr. Walker, of Acton ; 
Mr. James Veitch, of Chelsea; and Messrs. Fraser, of Lea-bridge. Yes- 
terday about the same number of buyers assembled, and a similar number 
of lots sold, but they did not fetch near such high prices as they did on 
Thursday. The plants were, however, generally smaller. A Pimelea spec- 
tabilis, 5 feet in height and 6 feet in width, was bought by Mr. Colyer, for. 
6]. 15s.; a Dillwynia, 24 feet high, and as much through, was knocked down 
to Messrs. Fraser for 5/. 5s.; Boronia serrulata, 2 feet in height, and a little 
more in width, was purchased by Mr. Veitch for 5/. 15s.; Mrs. Treadwell 
had a Chorozema Henchmanni, 3} feet in height, and 4 feet in width, for 
31. 15s.; Erica metuleflora bicolor, one of the handsomest of the genus, 
mneasuring 34 feet in height, and as much through, was purchased by Mr. 
Turner, of Slough, for 2/. 10s.; Franciscea latifolia, 2 feet high, and as 
much through, was bought by Dr. Daubeny, of Oxford, for 17s.; the same 
gentleman also purchased an Adamia versicolor, of similar dimensions, for 
1/. 2s.; Boronia pinnata, 3 feet in height, and more in width, was knocked 


142 THE FLORIST AND 


down to Mr. Speed, of Edmonton, for 27. 12s. 6d. Coleonema rubrum, a 
beautiful plant, 6 feet high, and as much in diameter, was bought by Mr. 


Kyles for the Crystal Palace Company, for 3/.; other lots fetched from 10s. 
to 4/. each.” 


PHILADELPHIA SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING AGRICULTURE. 


STATED MONTHLY MEETING, 


Stated Meeting at Masonic Hall, South Third street, Wednesday morn- 
ing, May 3d, 1854. 3 

Dr. Elwyn, President, in the chair. 

Minutes of preceding meeting read and approved. 

The following gentlemen, proposed at previous meeting, were elected resi- 
dent members: Mr. W. H. Gatzmer, of Tacony, and Dr. Charles Willing, 
and Messrs. M. A. Kellogg, T. T. Lea, and W. R. Morris, of Philadelphia. 

A proposition for resident membership was received. , 

The committee appointed to secure, by subscriptions from citizens gene- 
rally, the holding of the next State Agricultural Fair at Philadelphia, re- 
ported subscriptions amounting to $2,835, which amount would be increased 
several hundred dollars when full returns were received. The committee 
had not yet waited on retail dealers. It was so obviously the interest of 
that class, that the State Fair should be added to the business attractions 
of Philadelphia, that any deficiency in the required amount would doubtless 
be speedily supplied. | 

The President stated that little or no doubt existed that Philadelphia 
would be selected by the Executive Committee of the State Society, for 
the next grand autumnal display. He inquired if the committee had visited 
the grounds liberally offered for the purpose by the Pennsylvania Railroad 
Company. 

Mr. A. T. Newbold had visted the grounds in company with Mr. A. S. 
Roberts, and examined their suitableness for the State Fair. It has been 
objected that the locality was too near the city, and not well watered. Were 
such found to be the case, no difficulty could arise, as Mr. O. Jones’ grounds, 
eligibly situated, one and a half miles from the bridge, were also at the dis- 
posal of the Executive Committee. 

The President requested Mr. Cook, an English farmer present, to inform 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 143 


the Society of the estimation in which the Italian Rye grass was held in 
England. The grass had been. sown on Mr. Reybold’s farm, in Delaware, 
and was much approved there. 

Mr. Cook had sown the Italian grass alone, two bushels to the acre—or 
better with eight lbs. Red clover—late in the season. He had mowed four 
times a season, others five times, when used for soiling purposes. He knew 
no grass preferable to the Italian Rye grass. 

Dr. Emerson called attention to the preference of the English farmer for 
imported seed, and thought that the American would do well to imitate his 
example. 

Mr. Cook gave as a reason, that seed raised at home was genarally mixed 
with that of other grass seeds. The yield of Rye grass was three tons per 
acre at first cutting, and one and a half tons at second. The best hay was 
worth £5 per ton, ordinary £4 per ton. The Rye grass sprang early. He 
had seen it one and a half yards high in April. It was eaten by cattle at all 
seasons, and did not purge. For soiling purposes in England, he had seen 
it mowed on Ist April. The Orchard grass, extensively sown in America, 
was not approved of in England. A few pounds were sometimes sown at 
seeding time. 

Mr. A. Clement did not regard the Italian Rye grass as affording good 
pasture. He acknowledged that it had an early start. He had seen it this 
season a foot high in patches in the city. 

Mr. H. Ingersoll reminded the Society that the aie of hay differed in 
the two countries. Our Timothy had not met with much favor at the Lon- 
don stables. Here it brought the highest price. When it sold at $20 a ton 
alone, mixed with half clover it was rated at $15. 

Mr. C. W. Harrison inquired if cattle fed on Rye grass hay, second cut- 
ting, slobbered or were salivated; other grasses caused the affection in this 
country. 

Mr. Cook stated that such salivation was unknown in England. 

Dr. Emerson remarked that the disease, if so it might be called, was 
ascribed, not to the grass, but to certain milky weeds. He felt more dis- 
posed to attribute it to the clover seed, which produced salivation in the hu- 
man subject, when given in decoction. 

Dr. King had not observed cows salivated by the after-grass. 

Mr. I. Ne ewton’s observations so far from agreeing with those of Dr. King, 
had taught him that cows were so affected. 

Mr. Newbold mentioned that the Rye grass on Mr. Reybold’s farm, had 
been first brought from England about fifteen years ago, by a Mr. Blandon. 


144 THE FLORIST AND 


Mr. Cook thought that the plant had been unknown i in England until 
about that time. ! 

Dr. A. L. Kennedy, in reply to a question from the Chair, mentioned 
that there were three species of Lolium growing in this country. The Ital- 
ian Rye or Ray grass was the Lolium multiflorum. : 

The President said there was no doubt that the Italian Rye grass shims 
in this climate. It furnished pasture several weeks earlier than the Poa 
family. It was less exhausting than Timothy. - He invited an expression 
of opinion on the subject of subsoiling. He believed that in England the 
practice was not regarded with as much favor as formerly. | 

Mr. Cook said that with shallow draining, say one to two feet deep, sub- 
soiling possessed value; but the present method of draining, three to four 
feet in depth, superseded the necessity for subsoiling. He had abandoned 
the practice entirely since he began to drain deeply. 

Mr. Gustavus Engle had a neighbor who subsoiled for corn, with great 
success. The surface soil was light, the subsoil a yellowish loam, not tena- 
cious. The first plowing was four inches deep, the second nine. Mr. EH. 
had never seen finer corn. 

Dr. King had experimented in subsoiling land previously drained. He did 
not think that draining superseded the necessity for subsoiling. Land which, — 
with drains two feet deep had yielded in 1852, but ten bushels of corn per 
acre, Was sown with oats the following year, after a portion had been sub- 
Soiled. On this, although the whole was otherwise similarly treated, both 
head and straw were much fuller. The present season the wheat on the 
part subsoiled, looks far better than that on the portion which had been 
merely drained. His subsoil is a stratum of clay four feet thick. 

The President admitted that root crops required a loose soil, but ques- 
tioned if herbaceous plants sought food very far beneath the surface. 

Dr. Emerson had seen the roots of wheat three feet long. He would in- 
quire what root crops were preferred in England. 

Mr. Cook.—The purple-top Swedish turnip, which on land impoverished 
by continuous grain cropping, will, with three to four ewt. of guano per acre, 
yield thirty to forty tons of roots, tops off. These turnips are fed whole to 
stock. A large ox will fatten on a weekly ration of ten to fifteen ewt. of 
Swedish turnips and barley straw. The white turnip is seldom used.. The 
average weekly allowance of a bullock may be twelve cwt. turnips and sixty 
Ibs. straw, equal to two cwt. hay and three bushels corn. ‘The corn being 
taken at seventy lbs. the bushel. 

Mr. Newton preferred a mixture of turnip and Indian meal. Bullocks 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 145 


would fatten half as fast again, on a mixture, say half and half, than on 
either alone. ; 

Mr. Ingersoll insisted that we forgot differences in climate. Our 
turnips, as food, are not equal to the English. Our cattle would not fatten 
on them alone, although cows might be kept in condition. _ 

Mr. Harrison thought that root crops were overrated in America. Grain 
was certainly cheaper in the end. 

Mr. Cook hoped that members would not lose sight of the fact that grain 
impoverished the soil, while roots enriched it and left it in fine order. 

Mr. Newton specified two bushels of corn and one and a half bushels 
turnips per week for a bullock of a thousand weight. Sheep fed on roots 
alone yielded mutton of inferior quality, by no means oe iprene in flavor 
to that from sheep fed on a mixed diet. 

On motion of Mr. Ingersoll, that the further discussion of the ae be 
postponed until next meeting; which was so ordered. 

A communication was received from Marshall P. Wilder, President of 
the American Pomological Society, inviting the election of delegates to the 
next annual meeting of the Pomological Society, to be held in Boston. 

Dr. Kennedy submitted for action at next meeting, a resolution, provi- 
ding that new members, on the payment of one dollar, be furnished with a 
framed certificate of membership. ! 

On motion, adjourned. 


—_—.3@-———- 


PENNSYLVANIA HORTICUTURAL SOCIETY. 


April 18, 1854.—The stated meeting was held as usual this evening. 

The President in the chair. 

The following premiums were awarded by the Committee on Plants and 
Flowers: Azaleas, six plants, for the best to Robert Buist; Hyacinths, six 
varieties, for the second best to John Pollock, gardener to James Dundas; 
Cinerarias, six varieties, for the best to Robert Buist; for the second best 
to Henry A. Dreer; Pansies, ten plants, for the best to Chas. Miller; col- 
lection of twelve plants, for the best to Robert Buist; for the second best to 
Jerome Graff, gardener to Caleb Cope; specimen plant, for the best to 
Robert Buist ; for the second best to John Pollock; New Plants, a premium 
of $3 to Robert Buist for a general Collection; and $2 to Jerome Graff 
for two Orchids; basket, for the best to the same; Bouquets, one pair, for 
the best to the same. Special premiums, $2 for a fine display’of plants to 

18 


146 THE FLORIST AND 


_ Peter Raabe; $1 for a specimen of Diclytra spectabilis, to the same; $3 for 
fine Calceolarias and Auriculas, to Charles Miller; $2 for a collection of 
Cinerarias to John Pollock; $1 for a collection of Calceolarias to Henry A. 
Dreer ; $5 to John Sherwood for a fine seedling Camellia of large size and. 
distinct color. The committee called special attention to several cut 
Camellias, sent by Miss Percival, taken from an American seedling which 
had grown out for several years in a northern exposure of a garden wall; 
she has only succeeded in flowering American seedlings. 

By the Committee on Vegetables—Sea Kale, six heads, for the best to’ 
James Logan, gardener to Owen Jones ; Rhubarb, twelve stalks, for the best 
to Thomas Croft. And a special premium of $2 to Jerome Graff for a dish 
of Tomatoes. The committee noticed a fine bunch of Asparagus from I. B. 
Baxter. | 

The Special Committee appointed to solicit from Dr. W. D. Brincklé; a 
reconsideration and withdrawal of his resignation, report that he had con- 
sented to its withdrawal. 

A communication from Peter B. Mead, Recording Secretary of the New 
York Horticultural Society, was read: purporting that their society had 
appointed a committee to take measures in connection with other Horticul- 
tural Societies, for procuring the seeds of shrubs, trees, &c. (especially the 
Conifere), indigenous to Oregon and Upper California, and desiving a 
co-operation on the part of our society; the subject was on motion referred 
for consideration to the Committee for the Distribution of Seeds, &c. 

A preamble and resolutions in relation to a publication of an excepted 
portion of the last Ad Interim Report of the Fruit Committee, were referred 
to a special committee. 

On motion, Ordered, That the Ad Interim Reports for the future be 
submitted to the society in manuscript before being printed. 

On motion, Ordered, That a special committee be appointed to consider 
and recommend some means to establish a flower market. / 

Members Elected.—Morris Hacker, Thomas Robertson and John B. 
Roudet. 

Objects Shown. 


Plants—By Robert Buist—New and shown for the first time: Burling- 
tonia rigida, Eriostemon intermedium, Leschenaultia biloba, Rhododendron 
ciliatum, Begonia semperflorens, Cantua dependens, Deutzia crenata, Epacris 
densiflora, Tropceolum minus ; also fancy Geraniums—Captivation, Caliban, 
Wintonia, punctata and odorata. Geraniums—National, Eleanor, ocellatum 
and Hendersonii; twelve plants—Polygala dalmatiana, Cytisus fragrans, C. 
hybrida, Kehnedya monophylla, Mahernia odorata, Erica ovata, HE. cylin: 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 147 


drica, Epiphyllum, Azalea lateritia, A. speciosissima, Rhododendron javani- 
cum, Begonia hydrocotylifolia ; Azaleas—Prince Albert, variegata, Mait- 
landii, Smithii coccinea, alba maculata, and lateritia; six Cinerarias, Mary 
Ann, carminita, Madame Sontag, Lady Rush, David Copperfield and 
Catharine Hayes. 

By Jerome Graff, gardener to C. Cope—New Plants: Oncidium species 
and Brassia lanceana:; twelve plants—Azalea Copei, Cuphea platycentra, 
Oncidium altissimum, Allamanda nereifolia, Rhincospermum jasminoides, 
Cineraria King, Indigofera decora, Centradenia floribunda, Hypocytra 
strigilosa, Petunia Hebe, and two Cmernn Seedlings. 

By Peter Raabe: Diclytra spectabilis, and a number of small plants. 

By John Pollock, gardener to James Dundas: Allamanda nereifolia, six 
Hyacinaths and six Cinerarias. 

By Charles Miller : Seedling Calceolarias, Auriculas, Pansies, Nemophilas, 
Mimuli, Fuchsia and Camellia. 

By H. A. Dreer: Six Calceolarias and six Cinerarias. 

Bouquets, ete—By Jerome Graff: A Basket and two hand Bouquets. 

Vegetables—By Jerome Graff: A dish of Tomatoes. 

By Isaac B. Baxter: Asparagus and Rhubarb. 

By Thomas Croft: Several kinds of Rhubarb. 

By James Logan, gardener to Owen Jones: Sea Kale. 


May 16, 1854.—The stated meeting was held as usual this evening. 

The President in the chair. 

Premiums were awarded as follows, by the Committee on Plants and 
Flowers: 

Pelargoniums, eight plants, for the best, and for the best specimen Pelar- 
gonium, to Robert Buist; Cinerarias, eight plants, for the best to Thomas 
Richardson, New York; Roses, twelve plants, for the best and for the 
second best to Frederick Allgeier; Tulips, cut flowers, for the best to Geo. 
W. Earl; collections of plants, for the best to John Pollock, gardener to 
James Dundas; for the second best to Robert Buist; for the third best to. 
Thomas Robertson, gardener to B. A. Fahnestock ; Specimen Plant, for the 
best to John Pollock; for the second best to James Kent; New Plants, 
shown for the first time, a premium of $4 to Robert Buist for Orchids, 
Geraniums and Begonia Xanthina, a premium of $1 to John Pollock for 
Orchids ; Table Design, for the best to Jerome Graff, gardener to C. Cope; 
Basket, for the best to the same; for the second best to A. Burnett, gardener 
to H. P. McKean; of indigenous flowers, for the best to Meehan & Saunders; 
Bouquets, pair, for the best to Jerome Graff; for the second best to James 
Kent. Special premiums, to Charles Miller $3 for a general collection of 
plants; to John Pollock $2 for Gloxinia and other plants; to Thomas 
Richardson, New York, $2 for beautiful Calceolarias; to John Sherwood $2 


148 THE FLORIST AND 


for a collection of Roses; to Wm. Sinton, gardener to Dr. Rush, $5 for'a 
beautiful collection of miscellaneous plants; to Isaac Collins, gardener to 
Gen. Patterson, $3 for two very fine specimens of Strelitzia regina; the 
attention of the society was called to a good collection of cut flowers from 
Mrs. Holbrook, New York, David Scott, gardener. 

By the Fruit Committee—Special premiums, to Albinus L. Felten $3 for 
a fine collection of Strawberries in pots with ripe fruit; to Jerome Graff, 
gardener to C. Cope, $2 for four bunches of Black Hamburg Grapes - and 
to H. N. Johnson $1 for seven very fine Lemons. The committee noticed 
a dish of very fine Apples for Dr. KE. S. Hull, of Alton, Ill. 

By the Committee on Vegetables—Rhubarb, for the best twelve stalks, to 
Samuel Cooper; Asparagus, for the best twenty-four stalks, to James M. 
Tage, Burlington, N. J., and for the second best to Jerome Graff; display 
by a market gardener, for the best to A. L. Felten; and a special premium 
of $1 to Jerome Graff, for three dishes of very fine Tomatoes. 

The Committee for the distribution of Seeds, &c., reported, that they 
considered it inexpedient for our society to join in the proposed plan of the 
New York Horticultural Society in procuring the seeds of trees, shrubs, &e., 
indigenous to Oregon and Upper California; which report was accepted. 

The Special Committee on the Flower Market reported that they deemed 
it inexpedient for the society to take action at this time. 

The chairman of the special committee, to whom the preamble and reso- 
lutions submitted at the last stated meeting in relation to the publication of 
the excepted portion of the Ad Interim Report of the Fruit Committee were 
referred, reported verbally that there were no instructions accompanying 
the reference; and after various motions and considerable discussion, the 
committee was discharged from further consideration of the subject. 

Member Elected—William Thompson. 


Objects Exhibited. 


Plants—By Robert Buist—Shown for the first time: Dendrobium 
Cambridgeanum, D. Boothii, Tropzeolum speciosum, Begonia Xanthina, 
Fancy Pelargonia—Argus, Gipsy Queen and magnum bonum; Cattleya 
labiata, Maxillaria lutescens, Azalea Maitlandii, A. variegata, A. lateritia, 
Cineraria, Adelia Villars, Tropzeolum tricolorum, Ixora coccinea, Sollya 
heterophylla, Allamanda nereifolia, Tremandra verticillata, Erica ovata, 
Epacris levigata, Pelargonium Royalist; Specimen, Cuphea platycentra— 
Pelargonia, Virgin Queen, Mary, Ninon de L. Enclos, Ondine, Sir Henry 
Smith, Admiration, Fancy, Parodi, and Specimen Ytolmskii. 

By John Pollock, gardener to James Dundas—Shown for the first time: 
Shomburgkia lilicina, Stigmaphyllon ciliatum, Cuphea platycentra, Alla- 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 149 


mandra nereifolia, Nierembergia, Fuchsia expartera, F. Voltigeur, F. Snow 
drop, Gloxinia caulescens, four Calceolarias and Dendrobium nobile; and a 
collection of Gloxinias. 

By Wm. Sinton, gardener to Dr. James Rush: A large and fine col- 
lection. 

From Thomas Richardson, New York: A fine display of Cinerarias and 
Calceolarias. 

By Thomas Robertson, gardener to B. A. Pahnebibek Cuphea platy- 
centra, Fuchsia alba, F. Pearl of England, Gloxinia Fyfiana, G. Scottii, 
G. Albo—sanguinea, Torenia asiatica, Ceropegia elegans, Leschenaultia 
formosa, Hydrangea hortensis, Justicia carnea, Pelargonium— Mazeppa 
superba, Azalea Verschafeltii, Mahernia Diana and M. Hector. 

By Isaac Collins, gardener to Gen. Patterson: Two fine specimens of 
Strelitzia regina, with a lar ge collection of choice plants. 

By Frederick "Allgieir : A large table of fine Roses. 

By John Sherwood: Roses—Reine des Fleurs, Dr. Arnot, perpetual 
Proudhomme, Coronet, Antigone, Compte Robinsky, Mrs. Elliott, Jaques 
Lafitte, Gloire de Paris, Princess Helen, Pius IX, Baron Prevost, Geant 
de Battailles, Reine, Mathyld, Delphine gay, lilacea and Amanda Patte- 
notte. 

By Jerome Graff, gardener to C. Cope: A large specimen of a yellow 
Banksia Rose. 

By Charles Miller: An extensive table of Calceolarias, Senecios, Mimu- 
luses, Xe. 

-By Messrs. Gray: A beautiful dwarf Azalea. 

By Alex. Parker: A collection of small plants. 

By G. W. Earl: Cut Tulips and Anemones. 

By David Scott, gardener to Mrs. Holbrook, N. Y.: Cut Calceolarias. 

By R. Robinson Scott: Cut indigenous flowers. 

By Meehan & Saunders: Castilleja, species with yellow oben 

Designs, Bouquets, ete.—By Jerome Graff, gardener to C. Cope: A table 
design, a basket of cut flowers, and a pair of hand Bouquets. 

By Alexander Burnett, gardener to H. Pratt McKean: A fine basket. 

By James Kent: A pair of hand Bouquets. 

By Meehan & Saunders, Germantown: A basket of indigenous flowers. . 

Fruit—By Albinus L. Felten: Strawberries in fruit, growing in pots, 
Princess, Alice Maud, Hovey, Moyamensing, Burr’s New Pine, Hudson, 
M’ Avoy’ s Superior, Washington, Early May, &c. 

By Jerome Graff: Four fine bunches Black Hamburg Grapes. 

By H. N. Johnson, Germantown: Seven Lemons, one of which weighed 
1 pound 2 ounces. 

From Dr. E. 8. Hull, Alton, Ill.: Newtown Pippin Apples. 

Vegetables—By Albinus L. Felten: A large table of excellently grown 
vegetables. 

By Samuel Cooper: Rhubarb, very fine and large. 

By James M. Tage, Burlington, N. J.: Superior Asparagus. 

By Jerome Graff: Three plates of Tomatoes and Asparagus. 


150 THE FLORIST AND 


MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Sarurpay, May 27, 1854. 


The Society met pursuant to adjournment. The President presented a 
report from the Executive Committee, and, on his motion, the matter was 
recommitted. " 

The following gentlemen were appointed a Special Committee to consider 
the policy of a sale of the Society’s property in School Street, and of 
purchasing another site fora Hall: The President, and Messrs. Wilder, 
Walker, French and Stickney. 

W.S. King, Chairman of a Special Committee appointed for the purpose, 
offered the following 


REPORT. 


The Select Committee appointed by this Society to examine into all the 
circumstances attending the award to Messrs. Hovey & Co. of a Gold Medal 
for a seedling cherry, and a gratuity of $20 for a seedling pear, report the 
following facts : ° 

That at the last meeting of the Society (in 1853), previous to the incoming 
of the newly-elected Officers and Committees, the Chairman of the Fruit 
Committee presented a draft of his report, which was recommitted to him 
for completion. That in the draft of report so submitted, no mention was 
made of any award of medal or gratuity to Hovey and Co.; nor up to that 
time—the last day of their existence—had the question of such awards 
been discussed in committee. | 

That after the adjournment of the Society on the day above-mentioned, 
and after the departure of the Chairman of the Fruit Committee, C. M. 
Hovey called together three members of the committee (which consists of 
seven members) and urged upon them, very strenuously, the merits of the 
seedling cherry, which he claims to have originated, and of the pear, which. 
he claims to have introduced. That two of the three members were of 
opinion that the cherry had not been exhibited for five years, as required 
by the rules of the Society. This position was controverted by Mr. Hovey, 
who also contended that his seedling was conceded to be the best that had 
been exhibited. 

Your Committee understand that, when the matter was pressed to a vote, © 
one member (of those present) declined to vote, one other voted for the 
award of a medal with the proviso that it should be proved to have been 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 151 


exhibited for five years, and the other member voted for the award without 
conditions. The vote upon the pear was about the same. 

The Committee are further informed, that the first intimation received 
by some members of the Fruit Committee that such awards were even con- 
templated, was obtained from the printed Transactions of the Society. 

In the opinion of your Committee, this conduct on the part of a com- 
petitor for the highest premiums of the Society ought not to pass unre- 
buked. Not only is it subversive of all order and good government that 
committees should be called together without proper authority, but the 
offence is magnified when the person usurping the powers of the chairman 
is himself the claimant before the committee—a party to a suit, before 
judges whom he may select for himself, and the ex-parte advocate of his 
own interests. The Society is wronged, because their rules are trampled 
upon; the Committee is wronged, because they are deprived of the benefit 
of a full discussion and of time for consultation; the unnotified members 
are wronged, because they are allowed no voice in the decision; the mem- 
bers present are wronged, because they are subjected to the personal 
solicitations and persistive pleadings of the applicant; other competitors 
for the premiums are wronged, for their claims are pushed aside; the public 
is wronged, because it accepts as the well-considered action of the Society 
what is, in truth, but the opinions of one or two members, hastily convened 
and hurried to a decision by the party most interested. 

If this instance of irregularity which has been brought to the notice of 
the Society is suffered to pass without censure, your Committee believe that 
the public will regard with diminished confidence the decisions of the 
Society ; for they will, with reason, suspect that our medals and gratuities 
for new varieties of fruit, flowers and vegetables are indices rather of ‘the 
adroit management of the applicants than of merit in the articles. The 
number of exhibitors at our shows and of competitors for premiums will be 
sensibly diminished; for modest merit will have no chance against unscru- 
pulous assurance. Already complaints, ‘not loud, but deep,” have been 
heard, that rules, which are stringently enforced against some members, are 
broken with impunity by others. | 

In view of the facts above stated, your Committee present the following 
resolutions for your adoption: 

Flesolved, That the conduct of C. M. Hovey, a member of this Society, 
in procuring the award to Hovey & Co. of a gold medal for a Seedling 
Cherry, and of a gratuity of $20 for a Seedling Pear, was reas and 
improper, and is censured by this Society. 


152 THE FLORIST AND : 


Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed, by nomination, to 
examine and report what, if any, alterations are needed in our Constitution 
or By-Laws to prevent a repetition of such a transaction. | 

Signed, Wititam 8. Kine, 
Sam’L WALKER. 


This report, with the annexed resolutions, after an interesting argument — 
of more than two hours’ duration was adopted, at an unusually full meeting, 
with but one dissentient voice. 

R. Morris Copeland, of Roxbury, then nore to a reconsideration ; which 
motion was lost. 

The following Committee was then appointed to act under the second 
resolution: Messrs. B. V. French, Samuel Walker and R. Morris 
Copeland. 


Adjourned to June 3d, at 11 o’clock, A. M.—Practical Farmer. 
——<——— 


A VISIT TO ROSEDALE. 


Kvery one who has a taste for gardening, and a very great number who 
have not, have heard of the horticultural establishments, in this city, of Mr. 
Robert Buist. Our recollection of his place in South Twelfth street, where 
his green-houses were, and of another a few squares below, where the Roses 
and Dahlias were raised, dates back, perhaps, eighteen years, a period which 
may be considered a long time in the writer’s case, as it embraces two-thirds 
of his life. We recollect the immense double white Camellia, and the first 
Butterfly flower (Onciduim papilio,) which astonished us. But that was 
some years ago, as we have said. Since then, this Nursery, driven out of 
town by want of room, has been removed to a distant (comparatively) part 
of the county. 

On the Darby road, within four or five miles of the Market street bridge, 
we come to a relic of Pennsylvania antiquity, the old Swedes’ church of 
Kingsessing, which is situated at the corner of the road and a lane which 
leads to the Rosedale Nurseries. Turning down this lane, we come, in a 
short time, to the place we set out for. <A tasteful cottage and an immense 
quantity of glass houses are before us. More than 20,000 feet of glass; 
larger than any other place in the United States. Looking around, you 
catch a gardener and press him into service; or, if you are lucky, the pro- 
prietor himself. We say, if you are lucky, for the director of such a busi- 
ness as is carried on here, has but little time to spare. Under such guidance 


HORICULTURAL JOURNAL. 153 


you can walk through the houses and grounds. The show-house stands on 
the northern side. In it are arranged a great variety of plants in flower 
and specimens. In another section are magnificent plants of Acacias of 
many species, which, whether in bloom or not, are a treat to look at. Going 
further, we see a fine collection of Heaths, Epacrises, and miscellaneous 
plants. Two large houses contain the stock of Camellias, perhaps one of 
the largest here. You can find every variety, from the oldest favorites to 
the latest introduction from England or the Continent. 

In the other houses (of which there eight or ten,) is found everything i in 
the plant way, from the Oxalis to the Victoria regia. 

One house, or section of a house, is devoted to Orchids. This is very 
tastefully arranged; it is lined with rough bark, and on knots and stumps 
projecting from the sides and staging, are planted some of the rarest and 
most beautiful of that singularly beautiful order, mixed with Ferns and Ly- 
copodia. Among the Orchids are beautiful specimens of the much-varied. 
Cattleza Mossize, which we have seen frequently in bloom there—Maxillaria, 
Epidendrum, Dendrobrium, Vanda, Catasetum, Cypripedium and other genera 
are represented. The most striking Lycopodium is the L. ccesium arbo-. 
reum, a running species, with intensely metallic blue lustre on the fronds. 

The grounds attached to this Nursery cover about one hundred acres. A 
large lot immediately around the houses is devoted to the erowth of herba- 
ceous plants and shrubs. On the other side are the fruit and ornamental. 
trees. The lawn around the house is planted with the newest evergreens, 
where their hardiness has been tried for several winters. 

At another time we shall specify some of the rare and fine plants in the 
collection. 


MEDINILLA MAGNIFICA. 


The noble foliage and immense drooping racemes of gay-colored flowers 
belonging to this plant, render it both striking and attractive; and bloom- 
ing, as it does, in early spring, and very freely, it is well deserving of a 
place in every collection. It is, however, of a strong, robust habit, and re- 
quires a warm moist atmosphere to grow it successfully, so that it is hardly 
suitable for persons of very limited accommodation; but, where it can be 
afforded sufficient space, it forms a truly magnificent object, and its flowers 


remain long in perfection. . 


154 THE FLORIST AND 


zB 


Cuttings selected of rather firm bits of the young wood root freely if 
planted in sandy peat, afforded a brisk bottom heat, and covered with a bell- 
glass, to prevent their being injured by excessive evaporation. When fairly 
rooted they must be potted singly, in small pots, placing them in gentle bot- 
tom heat, in a warm moist situation, and shading them from bright sunshine 
till well established in their pots. But beginners will probably prefer pro- 
curing young plants from the nursery to propagating for themselves, and 
this cannot be done at a more favorable season of the year than the present. 
Supposing plants to be obtained in this way, on receiving them examine the 
state of the roots, clearing away all sour or unkind soil, and repotting in 
convenient sized pots, according to the state of the roots, &. Use good, 
strong fibry peat, carefully broken up, and intermixed with a liberal quan- 
tity of sharp silver sand, to ensure perfect drainage. Place the plants in a 
close, moist, warm temperature, shading them from bright sunshine, and giv- 
ing water at the roots very carefully until they become well established, but 
syringe lightly morning and evening, shutting up the house early in the 
afternoon—and if convenient to afford the plants a gentle bottom-heat du- 
ring the growing season, this will greatly assist in securing a vigorous root 
action and rapid growth. If all goes on well the roots will soon be found to 
have filled the pots, and shifting should be attended to before the growth is 
checked, regulating the size of the shift by the time that the plants will 
have for making growth before winter. Use the same compost as recom- 
mended above, with the addition of a small portion of sandy turfy loam. It 
is not desirable to force this plant into a low bushy habit, at least I consider 
that its large racemes of flowers are seen to more advantage when some- 
what elevated, and this is more conveniently done by allowing the plant to 
assume rather an erect habit, than by keeping it tied out in the form of a 
dwarf bush, and having to keep the pot on a pedestal while the plant is in 
bloom. Ifthe plant is kept in vigorous health it will throw out side shoots 
freely with very little attention to stopping or training. Every care must 
be exercised to preserve the foliage in perfect health, as upon this the beauty | 
of the specimen largely depends. The matured leaves are hable to be dis- 
figured by black thrips, and green-fly seems to have an especial liking for 
the buds and young leaves, and will soon do irreparable damage, unless de- 
stroyed by the prompt application of tobacco smoke. ‘The plants must be 
prepared for winter by gradually lessening the amount of moisture in the 
atmosphere, affording a freer circulation of air, &c., to ripen the young 
wood. In winter they should be placed in a house where the night tempe- 
rature may average about 55°, giving water sparingly to the soil, and taking 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 155 


every care to protect the foliage from being injured by damp or insects. To 
secure large specimens it will doubtless be necessary to afford the plants 
another season’s growth before blooming them, and in this case they may be 
treated as recommended above, taking care to get the growth completed 
early in autumn, in order to get the wood well matured before winter, for 
unless this is attended to there will be little chance of the plants blooming 
freely. If it is desirable to have a plant in flower early in spring, it must 
be plunged in bottom-heat, and should not be too freely supplied with water 
until the flower buds are perceptible. Keep the plants well supplied with 
water at the root while in bloom, and shade them from bright sunshine. In 
this stage they may be removed to a close part of the conservatory, or show 
house, provided a rather dry atmosphere, and a temperature of from 45° to 
do° can be maintained. After blooming, the plants should be removed toa 
growing temperature, slightly cut back if necessary, repotted, and encour- 
aged to make active growth. ALpHA.— Gardeners’ Chronicle. 


ee 


H. C. Hanson, Esq.—Provided you should deem the following inquiries 
matter of general interest to your readers, and that the claims of the pro- 
fession will so far allow you to divulge the mysteries of the propagation 
house, you would greatly oblige and aid an amateur in his first efforts, by 
giving in your second or third proximate number, some simple directions for 
the propagation of Roses by Cuttings—such as Season—Choice of Slips— 
Soil—whether plant out or in pots—in the open air or in rooms—whether 
use Bell glasses, and how manage them—watering—signs of success—how 
soon cuttings will strike—what families succeed best—how far Bourbons and 
Remontants will succeed—or any physiological cause for their failure. 

Respectfully yours, New SvusBscriBeEr. 


There are two periods of the season, June and September, in which this 
mode can be adopted extensively and successfully, with the families of Ben- 
al, Tea, Noisette, Bourbon and Remontants Roses. (Perpetual succeed 
best by budding.) In May or June, as soon as the young shoots have shed 
their first flowers, they will be in a proper state for use. The cuttings may 
be made from two to four inches long, having at least three joints or buds, 
from the lower end of which cut off the leaf, and smooth the bottom end 
with a sharp knife, directly under an eye, leaving the other leaves untouched ; 
the cuttings may then be inserted about one and a half or two inches into 
very sandy soil, either in pots or in the ground; if in a frame, so much the 
better. Shade them from the sun during the day, and give them gentle 
sprinklings of water. They must also be protected from heavy drying winds, 


156 _ THE FLORIST AND 


and fully exposed to the dews of the night, which are very genial to them. 
In about three or four weeks they will be rooted, and may either remain 
where planted till autumn, or be at once transplanted into pots, and placed 
in the shade till they have taken fresh root. - These cuttings will make fine 
plants for the next season, and by extra culture may be made fine plants for, 
blooming in the green house during the winter. Cuttings taken off in Sep- 
tember, and planted in a very shady situation, will be well rooted in the fol- 
lowing spring, and may then be transplanted into any part of the garden. 
The latter period will be the best for all the Southern States, and the former 
for the Eastern States. Indeed, cuttings can be taken off, and may be pro- 
pagated successfully, at any period of the season, when the plant has just 
ceased to bloom, which is the grand criterion for propagating the rose. In 
some soils, of a close sandy nature, all that is required is merely to put in a 
small piece of a shoot, in moist, cloudy weather, where it is shaded from the 
direct rays of the sun, and it will root in a few weeks without any other care. 

Where there is the convenience of a forcing house, or hot bed of manure, 
there is another period of the season when the rose may be extensively pro- 
pagated, which is practised to a very great extent by nurserymen who com- 
mence forcing roses in February. As soon as they show bloom, the shoots 
are cut into cuttings of two eyes each,-and planted into very small pots, of 
very sandy soil; these are placed into a close, warm hot-house or hot-bed, 
in a moist temper ature of 70° to 80°, where they will root in from two to 
three weeks, and are frequently sold within six weeks from the time they 
were planted. 


The above is taken from “ Buist on the Rose,” the fourth edition of which 
has just been published. To the amateur or other person, who needs a de- 
scription of the best varieties, and instructions in Brows and propagating 
the different kinds, this book is indispensable. 


ne 


FURTHER NOTES ON CEREUS GIGANTEUS OF SOUTHEAST- 
ERN CALIFORNIA, WITH A SHORT ACCOUNT OF ANOTHER 
ALLIED SPECIES IN SONORA. 


BY DR. GEORGE ENGELMANN, ST. LOUIS, MO. 


Specimens of flowers and fruit, together with interesting notes and 
drawings communicated by Mr. George Thurber, and specimens of ribs of 
the plant with spines presented by Dr. Parry, enable me to perfect the 
history -of this giant Cactus. Mr. Thurber traveled through the Gila 
country and Sonora, as one of Mr. Commissioner Bartlett’s party, in the 
summer of 1851, and is believed to be the only scientific gentleman who 
has seen the plant in question in flower. These materials enable me to 
furnish the following detailed character : | | 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. | 157 


CEREUS GIGANTEUS, Engelm.: erectus, elatus, simplex, s. ramis paucis 
erectis caule cylindrico versus apicem sensim attenuato brevioribus candela- 
briformis; vertice applanto tomentoso; costis ad basin caulis sub-12 versus 
apicem 18-20 rectis obtusis (vetustioribus ad caulis basin obtusissimis) 
subrepandis; sinubus ad basin caulis latissimis versus apicem profundis 
angustioribus angustissimisque; areolis prominentibus ovato-orbiculatus 
junioribus albido-tomentosis; aculeis rectis basi valde bulbosis tenuiter 
sulcatis angulatisque albidis demum cinereis, radialibus 12-16 imo summisque 
brevioribus, lateralibus (przecipue inferioribus) longioribus robustioribus 
subinde cum aculeis adventitiis paucis setaceis summo areole margini adjec- 
tis; aculeis centralibus 6 robustis albidis basi nigris apice rubellis:demum 
totis cinereis, 4 inferioribus decussatis quorum infimus longissimus robustis- 
simus deflexus, 2 superioribus lateralibus brevioribus ; floribus versus apicem 
caulis ramorumque sparsis, tubo ampliato breviusculo petalisque patulis; 
ovario ovata sepalis 25-30. squamiformibus triangulatis acutis in axilla 
fulvo-villosis stipato; sepalis tubi sub-30 orbiculatosubtriangularibus mucro- 
natis, inferioribus in axilla lanigeris, superioribus nudis, sepalis intimis 
10-15 spathulatis obtusis carnosis (pallide viridibus albescentibus); petalis 
sub-25 obovato-spathulatis obtusis integris crispatis corlaceo-carnosis crassis 
(flavescentialbidis) ; staminibus numerosissimis, filamentis superiori tubi parti 
adnatis (inferiore nudo); stylo stamina paulo superante ; stigmate multifido ; 
bacea obovata squamis sepaloideis triangularibus carnosis minutis ad axillam 
fulvo-lanatis stipata, pericarpio duriusculo carnoso, demum valvis 3-4 
patentibus reflexisve dehiscente ; seminibus numerosissimis in pulpa saccha- 
rina nidulantibus oblique obovatis leevibus lucidus exalbuminosis; embryone 
cotyledonibus foliaceis incumbentibus hamato. 

This species ranges from north of the Gila river southwardly into Sonora, 
to within twenty miles of Guaymas on the California Gulf. It doubtless 
also occurs on the Peninsula of California; where, according to Vanegas in 
his history, published about a hundred years ago, the fruit of a great Cactus 
forms an important article of food to the natives of the eastern coast, the 
harvest time of which was a season of great festivity. The flowers are 
produced in May and June, and the fruit ripens in July and August. Mr. 
Thurber collected the last flowers and the first ripe fruit in the beginning 
of July. He has collected abundance of seed, and will be pleased to com- 
municate it to those who take an interest in the cultivation of Cacti. The 
youngest plants, Mr. Thurber noticed, were three or four feet high, with 
narrow furrows and long spines; the smallest flowering plants were about 


158 THE FLORIST AND 


~ twelve feet high, and the tallest specimens observed. appeared to reach the 
elevation of forty-five or fifty feet. 

The ligneous fascicles correspond with the intervals helgeen the ribs, and 
not with the ribs themselves; of which Dr. Parry has fully satisfied himself, 
and which indeed is the case in all ribbed Cacti. From between these 
bundles ligneous fibres radiate horpatelnc ara the ribs, and especially 
to the areole. | 3 

At the base of the stem the ribs are broad and obtuse, with wide and 
shallow intervals; upwards the ribs are somewhat triangular, rounded or 
obtuse, with deep and acutish grooves between them; towards the top of the 
plant the ribs are equally obtuse, but quite compressed, and the grooves are 
deep and narrow. 

The elevated areolz are seven lines long, nearly six lines in diameter, 
about an inch distant from one another, sometimes more closely approxi- 
mated. 

Lowest and upper radial spines 6 to 12 lines nas sometimes the upper 
ones with a few additional, shorter, flexuous, setaceous spines: lateral ones 
12-18 lines long, the lower ones longest; the four lower central spines 
straight or very slightly curved downwards, 20-80 lines long; the two upper 
central spines 15 to 18 lines long. The stoutest spines are one line in 
diameter, their bulbous base being fully twice as thick. The old spines 
together with the whole areola readily come off in one bunch, but generally 
the six central spines fall off first, leaving the radiating ones appressed to 
the stem, till finally they also fall away. 

The flowers are produced near the summit of the plant, but not on it, and 
the fruit is usually 6-12 inches from. it. 

The dried flower communicated by Mr. Thurber is 8 inches long; but the 
drawing represents the flowers as fully 4 inches in length and diameter. 
The ovary in the dried specimen is ?ths of an inch long; the lower naked 
part of the tube 1 inch, the upper staminiferous much widened part 3ths of 
an inch long. Upper sepals fleshy, greenish white, ?ths of an-inch long, 
below 2, above 4 lines wide. Petals of a light cream color, an inch long, 
6-7 lines wides above, very thick and fleshy, and very much curled. Fila- 
ments light yellow, adnate to the upper half of the tube: anthers 0-8 to 0-9 
of a line long, Jinear, emarginate at the base and apex. Style not seen: 
the drawing represents the numerous (15-20?) stigmata as half an inch 
long, suberect, of a green color. The flowers appear to be open night and 
day, and probably for several days in succession. 

The fruit sent by Mr. Thurber (in alcohol) is obovate 2% inches long, by 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 159 


14 in diameter, beset with about thirty scales, having short’ brownish wool 
in their axils, but entirely destitute of spines. Mr. Thurber informs me 
that this specimen is unusually long; the fruit, he says, is usually 2 or 8 
inches long by 14 to 2 in diameter; the color is green, reddish towards the 
summit; the remains of the flower fall off, leaving a broad and convex scar. 
The pericarp has the hardness of a green cucumber, somewhat softer 
towards the apex, and is about two lines thick: it bursts open on the plant 
with three or mostly four irregular, interiorly red valves, which spread 
horizontally, and appear like a red flower when seen at a distance, which 
accounts for the report of this species having red flowers. The crimson- 
colored and rather insipid pulp has the consistency of .a fresh fig; it com- 
pletely separates from the rind, and drying up from the heat of the sun, 
falls to the ground, or is beaten down, when it is collected by the natives 
and rolled into balls, which keep several months, or is pressed for the thick 
molasses-like sacharine juice which it contains. The innumerable seeds are 
0-7 to 0°8 lines long. 

Another, apparently nearly allied species, was collected in Northern 
Sonora. From the half of a flower before-me, together with Mr. Thurber’s 
meagre notes, (otner specimens unfortunately having been lost) I have 
ventured to make out the following description : 

CEREUS THURBERI n. sp.): erectus, elatior, e basi ramosus sub-14-costatus, 
sulcis parum profundis, aculeis brevibus nigricantibus; floribus tubuloso- 
campanulatis virescenti-albidis; ovario globoso sepalis 80-100 carnosis 
squamiformibus triangularibus acutis imbricatis ad axillam villosis stipato ; 
sepalis tubi inferioribus 24 lanceolatis acutiusculis axilla nudis, superioribus 
20-25 orbiculato-obovatis obtusis ; petalis 16-20 obovato-spathulatis obtusis 
crassis. 

Collected in June, 1851, in a rocky canon near the mountain pass of 
Bacuachi, a small town on the road to Arispe, in Sonora; afterwards found . 
with Cereus giganteus, near Santa Cruz: it abounds also near Magdalena 
and Ures. Santa Cruz appears to be the northern limit of this species, 
which does not extend to the Gila river. Stems four to twelve feet high, 
many from the same base, six to ten inches in diameter, sometimes articu- 
lated, occasionally branching above, with about fourteen ribs and shallow - 
grooves. Flowers greenish white, borne about a foot below the summit of 
the stem. Dried flowers two and three-fourths inches long; the tube nar- 
rower, and more elongated than in C. giganteus; the globose ovary and the 
naked and staminiferous part of the tube each about three-fourths of an inch 
long; free part of petals of the same length, and four lines wide. Anthers 


aa THE FLORIST AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 


: much larger than in 1 the foregoing species, 1°3 to 1:4 ines eae Style not 
seen. 

I have dedicated this to the collector, Mr: Chae Thurber, of Rhode 
Island, an excellent botanist, who has ay furnished me with the materials 
for this article. 

Cereus Thurbert and C. giganteus appear to be closely allied species. 
They have high and erect stems, flowers With a short tube, half of which is 
naked, the filaments occupying only the upper half of the tube; both have 
short and fleshy sepals on the ovary, with short wool in their axitl unaccom- 
panied by any bristles or spines; in both the petals are whitish, obtuse and 
fleshy. 

Both, and especially OC. giganteus, stand very near the Pilocered on 
account of the great height of the-stem, the short ventricose tube of the 
flower, and the thick petals; but they have not the least indication of a 
cephaliwm (or woolly head) nor of any particular development of wool; their 
flowers spring from the axils of the ordinary and unaltered areole; and the 
seed is quite different, at least from that of Pilocereus senilis, the only 
species of that genus, I believe, which has been well examined; these seeds 
are said to be obliquely thimble shaped, densely dotted, and to have an 
embryo with thick globose cotyledons. It is also said that the filaments 
cover the whole inside of the tube of the flower, and even the free upper 
part of the ovary. In all the Cerec and Echinocactt examined by me, I 
find the lowest part of the tube free, the filaments being adnate to some 
distance above the ovary. It is not improbable that the Chilian velvety 
Ceret (Velutini, Pr. Salm.) are to be classed near our species. The flower 
of what appears to be Cereus Chilensis, Pfr., obtained near Valparaiso, and 
figured by the artist of the U. 8. Exploring Expedition, greatly resembles 
that of OC. Thurberi: it is a little larger, but has the same shape, and the 
same closely imbricated sepals on the ovary; the tube has about a hundred 
sepals, and the white petals are acute; whether fleshy or not is uncertain. 


ee 


An excellent specimen of Medinilla magnifica has been in bloom at Mr. 
Robt. Buist’s nursery, in the last two weeks. The plant was about three 
feet high, and had on it five spikes of flowers—some of which were twelve 
or fifteen inches long; the greatest beauty of these, is in the whorl of flesh- 
colored bracts which accompany each spike. The plant was exhibited at 
the exhibition of the Horticultural Society, but the ey of the bloom 
had passed. 


ARALIA ? PAPYRIFERA, Hook. 


‘YOOH ‘WH34INAdVd ¢ VITVEY 


THE FLORIST 
AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL 


ARALIA (?) PAPYRIFERA. 


About twenty years ago, in the course of his botanical and horticultural 
researches in China, Mr. John Reeves procured a living specimen of the rice. 
paper plant, and sent it to the garden of the Horticultural Society at Chis- 
wick. Unfortunately, it died soon after without having flowered, and all 
which remained of this first discovery was the drawing of a sterile branch of 
the species, which was made in China from a specimen cultivated in Mr. 
Reeves’ garden. It is this which we figure here under the name of Aralia (?) 
papyrifera. | ) 

Resting on a document not very clear, the knowledge of the paper plant 
of China was far from being precise. The small number of botanists who 
had an opportunity of seeing the drawing, hazarded nothing on the relations 
of a plant deprived of flowers and fruit, except doubtful and often contradic- 
tory conjectures. The opinions were especially divided between the Mal-. - 
vaceze and Araliacex, and it is towards this latter family (joining with it, 
for greater latitude, the Umbelliferze) that, according to Sir Wm. Hooker, 
Dr. Lindley inclined. 

In the meanwhile, there arrived in the hands of Sir William H ooker the 
materials of the work already quoted, on the origin and the manufacture of 
the Chinese paper. Very much advanced, almost to completion, by the 
intelligent researches of Mr. Layton, the question was unfortunately obscured 
as to the botanical determination of the paper-bearing species, by too great 
a faith in the Chinese drawing, which gave for this plant a form shapeless 
and fantastic, different from any known object. This gross imposition of @ 
malicious mystifier threw an unmerited suspicion upon the drawing of Mr. 
Reeves. But the evil was not great; rather these doubts served to give a 
lively and unforeseen attraction to questions, which, but for that, would | 
have remained uninvestigated. 


Renewing, with a meritorious zeal, the researches which bad’ been inter- 
19 


162 THE FLORIST AND 


rupted by the death of her husband, Mrs. Layton has been able to procure 
authentic specimens of the disputed plant. These specimens, shipped alive, 
have unluckily. died on the voyage, but their remains have been enough to 
establish their identity with the drawing of Mr. Reeves, and it is also from 
these specimens, without flowers or fruit, that Sir Wm. Hooker has ventured 
to determine generically the species under the name of Aralia(?) papyrifera.* 
The author admits, however, how much this conjecture has need of confirm- 
ation, and prudent botanists will not adopt it without a reservation. In 
any case, they will hardly fail to recognize an araliacious plant in one with 
soft wood, abundant and spongy pith, alternate leaves, fasciculate towards 
the top of the branches, long petioled, heart-shaped, lobed and palminerved, 
covered with a starry pubescence, and furnished with large stipules more or 
less adnate to the petiole. The doubt then is in the genus, and this can 
only, in a family so polymorphous in, the vegetable organs, find its solution 
in the study of the characters of the flowers and fruits. Waiting this desired 
result, we will give some notes on the habitat, the dimensions of the plant, 
and the characters of its branches. 

It appears that it is in the marshy forests of the northern part of the 
island of Formosa that this species is actually confined; nevertheless, adds 
Mrs. Layton, certain books (Chinese ?) indicate at this time a second habitat, 
and more anciently in many localities in China. Although the specimen 
received at Kew had, from the crown of the root, a stalk of but 18 inches, 
and a diameter of but 14 inches, the dimensions of the grown plant are ap- 
parently those of a tree. At least the Chinese, sent to seek a plant, spoke 
always of the difficulty of transporting an entire “tree.” On the other 
hand, a dried specimen, collected by Mrs. Layton for Captain Wm. Loring, 
who has generously given it to the Museum of Natural History at Kew, 
consists of a stalk (or rather branch) three feet three inches long, and which 
moreover does not represent an entire plant. ‘The pith occupies in these 
branches or stalks comparatively greater space than in our Huropean elder. 
The root is thick, fusiform, as woody as the stalks. The large stalk is striate 
or channeled, marked circularly with the annular scars made by the falling 
leaves ; it presents on the transverse section a moderately thick zone of bark, 
then a larger one of pale wood, and last a thick disk of white medullary 
tissue. This pith in the thick stalks separates easily from the wood, but 


* A. (2) papyrifera: caule inermo erecto striato annulato intus copiose albissimo medulloso, | 
foliis terminalibus longe petiolatis amplis palmatim 5 lobis subtus precipue junioribus stellato _ 
sub-ferrugineo tomentosis lobis lateralibus bilobis terminali trilobo, omnibus acutis serratis, 
petiole vasi stipulis 2 magnis sublatis (aucto).” —Hoox. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 168 


retaining a kind of reddish case, marked with longitudinal ridges, which fill. 
up as many in relief on the woody tissue. Deprived of this rust-colored 
envelope, the medullary cylinders do not, by any means, offer equally a solid 
and continuous tissue; many of them present cavities, divided into compart- 
ments by partitions sometimes entire and sometimes more or less torn, of 
which one is represented in fig. 2 on the transverse section, and several in 
fiz. 3 on a longitudinal section. Figs. 4 and 5, both enlarged, represent a 
transverse, the second, a longitudinal section of the delicate medullary sub- 
stance. We have said that the figure was copied from the drawing of Mr. 
Reeves, after collation made of this drawing with the dried specimens. 

The longitudinal and transverse section of the root, fig. 1, is taken from 
the lower portion of the plant, which arrived dead at the Kew Garden. 

J. E. P., in Flore des Serres. 


J = 


THE POTATO—HAS IT DEGHNERATED ? 


DzraR Str—The hackneyed subject of the Potato disease, is just now 
taking a round through the agricultural press. The discovery now made, 
is, that Potatoes from seed are free from the disease, and that to raise them 
from the tubers is an unnatural method of propagation, serving at the best 
but to continue the individual, which like individuals of the animal kind, 
must have its periods of youth, maturity, and old age. But unfortunately 
for the discovery or discoverer, others have tried years ago the same mode, 
and met with failures in their seedlings, equal to those which befel their 
tubers. It is equally unfortunate for the deduction that individual varieties 
wear out through a natural period of duration, that the Potato itself is 
opposed to this theory, together with many principles of Vegetable Physi- 
ology. v 

Those who wish to trace for themselves the history of the failures to keep 
seedling potatoes free from the disease, can look through the few back 
volumes of the ‘“‘ Gardeners’ Chronicle,” or ‘Gardeners’ and Farmers’ Jour- 
nal.” And why should they not fail? It is true that a weakness, or 
indeed, any peculiarity can be perpetuated by cuttings, and so it can be by 
seed; and very often by this process such weakness or peculiarity is ren- 
dered more fixed and unchangeable. Grafts from old and worn-out fruit 
trees afford but a weak and degenerate progeny. Seeds from the same 
trees bring forth a race equally enfeebled. These are well-known facts, 
and the maxim is universal, that “thrifty grafts make thrifty trees,” and 


164. 7 THE FLORIST AND 


that the “finest fruits produce the finest seedlings.” There is, in fact, a 
close connection between cuttings or buds, and seeds; and very nearly the 
same powers and capabilities are possessed by each. Seed has the advan- 
tage over the former, in its capacity to unite several forms through admix- 
ture of pollen into itself, as well as by the possession of a harder coat or 
exterior shell, by which it can be preserved to a much longer period. Their 
essential difference is structural, not physiological, consequently, no physi- 
ological differences can arise through either means being preferred for 
propagation. ‘The Double Flowered\Cherry, which has been continued by 
grafting for generations, is just as healthy and vigorous as the Triumph of 
Cumberland, or any of the newer kinds. The Double White Camellia, one 
of the oldest of the tribe, is also as vigorous as A. J. Downing, or Jenny 
Lind. <A bud is so essentially a seed, and a seed a bud, that we frequently 
see plants producing buds, or young living plants in the place of seeds. 
The field garlic, the garden lilies, and many grasses are familiar examples, 
The sweet vernal grass in a damp, moist soil, produces small living plants, 
frequently in the position and place of flowers and seeds; and the garlic 
has the same phenomena in a dry one. ‘These viviparous plants are good 
illustrations of the unity of the essence of seeds and buds; and being so 
nearly allied, why should one mode of propagation be so superior to the 
other? There is no good and sufficient reason theoretically, and practically 


r 


all experience is opposed to it. 


As before remarked, double varieties of fruits or flowers continued for: 


years by buds or grafts, show no tendency to decay ; and the same may be 
sald of trees and plants raised by suckers, cuttings, offsets or tubers—all 
modified forms of buds. The Currant and Gooseberry have probably been 
thus continued for many an age, and the Strawberry and Raspberry, by 
runners and suckers. 

Coming nearer in its structure to the Potato, the Jerusalem Artichoke 
has been propagated and raised for ages by its tubers, in countries where it 
is seldom able to produce a flower, much less a seed; and yet it is probably 
as hardy, healthy and productive at this day as it ever was. 


But laying aside all theories of the identity of nature between seeds and | 


buds, and all experience of the duration of other plants continued by other 
modes than seeds, and returning for the present to the Potato, we find that 
it in itself affords evidence that it has not degenerated from being raised by 
tubers, and that there is no reason why it should not still go on in the same 
way it has done for an infinite number of years. My position is, that 
the Potato disease of 1846 no longer exists; and that the Potato has been 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 165 


for the last few years getting as strong and as vigorous as it was before that 
period. The Potato disease of 1846 when it attacked a crop, made a whole 
field of their haulms or “vines” black and rotten, in three days from the 
period of attack, and the Potato tubers wholly rotten in a week from that 
date. The next season the “vines” were weaker, and the potatoes smaller, 
and some of them rotted in the ground; but nothing like what they did the 
year previous. The year succeeding this, the vines were scarcely affected 
anywhere, and the “‘rot’”’ in the tubers was confined to a few localities. So 
it has continued improving, till at the present time the ‘vines’ are as 
strong, the potatoes on the average as large, and where care is bestowed on 
their culture, the crops are as heavy as in any other period of the plant’s 
history. Still we have the same kinds in general culture as we had previ- 
ously to 1846, and continued by the same mode of propagation. The fact 
is, the Potato has been subject to numerous diseases ever since its introduc- 
tion to cultivation. These have one after another disappeared, succeeded 
by new forms. 

Five and twenty years ago, the “curl” was the great disease of the day. 
As soon as the shoot was fairly above ground, it became curled and bushy, 
and was familiarly called “‘ nose headed.’’ When it had reached this state, 
there was an end of the crop for that season. Strange enough, the theory 
of the degeneracy of varieties was then started to account for it; and old 
Marshall (not our Humphrey Marshall) advocated this view of the Potato 
disease, or ‘‘ curl,” with great energy. But the same mode of propagation 
was generally continued notwithstanding ; and yet in time the “ curl” went 
its way as the first great epidemic has pare 

Well, what are the causes of the Potato diseases, many and numerous ? 
Atmospheric influences are continually affecting injuriously both plants and 
animals—exotics readily, but indigenous objects less easily. Some few 
years ago the Gaillardia was carried off entirely through France. In 
1842, according to “Flora Cestrica,” the common St. Johnswort disap- 
peared throughout the whole of Pennsylvania. For several years past, the 
American White Ash has had its leaves blistered and apparently scorched 
off, regularly the second or third week in June, for miles around Philadel- 
phia; and the American Buttonwood, not only its leaves, but young shoots 
also. 

Foreign Grapes and Gooseberries so readily mildew, that they are prover- 
bial on that account; and many other cultivated plants are as well known 
liable to many disorders. The Potato is no exception. Like all other 
plants its structure is adapted to certain atmospheric conditions, in the 


| 


166 . THE FLORIST AND 


absence of which its processes are unhealthy. If a plant be adapted to a 
warm and dry climate, an atmosphere that is cold and damp will affect it 
injuriously , and, on the other hand, one adapted to a cold, moist country, 
is but indifferently situated in one of opposite conditions. Hence, a plant 
not in the exact conditions of growth which its constitution requires, is 
always more or less liable to diseases and disorders; but while these from 
their varied nature, can probably never be exactly pointed out, we can so 
far guard against them, by conducting our operations with as much regard 
to the peculiar constitutions of the individual plants as possible. So long 
as a variety or form of vegetable remains under the exact circumstances 
under which it originated, it will remain the same, let its mode of propaga- 
tion be what it will; when these change, mutability and disease follow; and 
these altered circumstances being so ill understood, has led to the belief in 
an innate degeneracy or fixed period to the duration of varieties. 

I have always felt an interest in this subject, and as you were kind enough 
to insert a communication from me before, I offer a few further notes, 
though I fear they are too hastily thrown together to be as easily understood 
as I could wish. J ULIUS. 


ON A NEW VARIETY OF CULTIVATED FLAX. 


Linum usitatissum var. regale, Scherdw. 
BY M. M. SCHEIDWEILER ; 


With some Remarks on the distinction of the two species, from which are derived the usual 
| varieties of Flax, 


BY J. E. PLANCHON. 


The perfection of plants which are useful to man, is an object which 
should interest every one who looks with pleasure on the prosperity of his 
country. 

Since a long time, there have been obtained from most of our cultivated 
plants, by the help of different processes, numerous varieties, deviating more 
or less from their original by their superior qualities. Fruit trees, cabbage, 
lettuce, peas, beans, &c., are evidences of it. Flax and some other 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 167 


plants, and especially rye, are exceptions to thisrule. Of this last but three 
or four varieties are known, and they are liable to degenerate; and as to 
flax, besides the two species described below, but one variety is known, that 
with white flowers, a character which has no importance in the use which is 
made of the plant. Our curiosity was much excited therefore, when shown, 
about twelve years ago, a small quantity of seed, under the name of royal 
flax. This seed presented nothing im particular, unless that it was smaller 
and paler in color than the ordinary flax. . 

Spring having arrived, I hastened to sow this seed in clayey soil rather 
strong. The young plants offered nothing remarkable; but, at the end of 
some weeks, their growth manifested an uncommon vigor, and the stalks 
rose by degrees to the height of four feet four inches. The strength of the 
stalks was in proportion to their height. ; 

As I wished to gather from this flax as many seeds as possible, the plants 
were thinned out with care, in order to give them sufficient space to spread ; 
for the same reason, the seeds were not gathered until entirely ripe. Not 
having an opportunity to sow these seeds, we have preserved what we had 
left until this year, when we had them sown in a part of the garden of the 
horticultural establishment at Gendbrugge, in a turfy soil, mixed with a 
portion of clay. These plants have vegetated in this soil with great vigor, 
nearly all of them having attained a height of four feet four inches. This 
will then be a great acquisition to our growers, if the fibre of this variety 
should prove to be superior, or even equal in quality, to that of the ordinary 
flax. A flax, whose stalk grows a half foot longer, will give an immense 
advantage to our cultivators. We conclude this article with some observa- 
tions on the preservation of the seed of the flax. Those which we sowed 
this year were ten years old. They retained their germinative faculty in all 
this time, because we took care to keep them in a dry and warm place. 
They might also be dried in a furnace or a stove, the temperature of which 
should not be above 50°. Seeds thus dried, and preserved in a dry place, 
on a bread oven for instance, give always the most vigorous plants. 
ScHEIDW. 


To the preceding details, the value of which agriculturists will appreciate, 
I will add some words on the specific distinction of the two plants, con- 
founded under the usual name Linum usitatissimum. This will be an 
abridgment of observations, published in my Monographie Review of the 


168 THE FLORIST AND 


Hlaxes, in Hooker’s Journal of Botany, vol. vii. 1848, an article which I 
can only quote from memory, not having it at present before me. 

The most remarkable difference between the two types of the common 
flax is in the capsules; in one, these organs do not open themselves with 
elasticity, whence the common names Sehiiesslein (closed flax), or Dresch- 
lein (beaten flax), which the German cultivators give them; the other, on 
the contrary, is crackling, that is, opening with noise by a spring for the 
dissemination of the seed, they receive, in the vernacular tongue of the 
Germans, the names Springlein (leaping flax) and Klinglein (cracking flax). 
Distinguished in the first place as different species by the celebrated Miller, 
these types were called by the English author, the first, Linwm usitatiss¢- 
mum, the second, Linwm humile, names for which I wish I could substitute, 
as Juster and less subject to confusion, those of Linwm vulgare and erepi- 
tans, which these plants received. later from Schubler and De Martius. 
Unfortunately the characters on which the authors mentioned founded the 
distinctions of these plants, are in the habit, the comparative shape, the 
thickness of the capsules, and their mode of dehiscence, the size of the 
flowers, in fact, on points generally so variable in cultivated species, that 
we cannot, without dispute, admit as certain signs of specific difference. <A 
distinction remarkable for its constancy, and which, easy to establish even 
with unripe capsules, will permit us always to distinguish these two types, 
is that which I have discovered in the five half partitions which divide each 
cell of the capsules. In the Linum usitatissimum, these partitions: are 
always glabrous on their free side, while, in the Linum humile, this same 
side is covered with long crisped hairs. It is on the consideration of this 
character, that it seems to me the certain diagnosis of these two plants 
should be founded, especially in the absence of capsules, whose mode of 
dehiscence offers to practical men a mode of distinction much less exact and 
perhaps as true. 

The Linum usitatissimum of Miller (Lenum vulgare, Scuusi. & Mart.), 
is the species most commonly cultivated; it is the only one which I have 
seen in Flanders. In general, it is a little higher than the other species, 
which it resembles fn the leaves, the inflorescence, and the Ave The 
flowers, however, are generally smaller. . 

The Linum humile, Mtnuer (Linum erepitans Scuusy. & Marz.), is not 
rare, as Prof. Scheidweiler, in the culture of the Rhenish provinces; it 
suckers more than the Z. vulgare ; its flowers are larger. ‘The same species 
exist in some gardens as an ornamental plant, under the erroneous name of 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 169 


L. grandiflorum, which is that of a flax with red flowers, a native of Algiers, 
and perfectly distinct from the cultivated species. 

These two common plants, whose diagnostic characters I have just 
sketched, have been observed in the farms of the department of the Upper 
Garonne, by Mr. Dunal, who has had both figured in the admirable collection 
of drawings of the Faculty of Sciences at Montpellier. ? 

J. KE. P. 


Translated from the Flore des Serres. 


For the Florist. 

Mr. Epiror.—The article in the Florist, (Vol. 8, No. 5,) by L. C. Tre- 
VIRANUS,* on the question, whether our cultivated Wheat originated from 
a certain grass, indigenous on the coasts of the Mediterranean, and known 
to botanists by the name of ¥gilops ovata, is highly interesting ; and has 
revived in me a strong desire (heretofore expressed in another Journal,) to 
see and examine specimens of the plant, which, it is alleged M. Fasre has 
succeeded in changing into wheat, by twelve years of careful cultivation. 
Although I confess myself rather incredulous on that point, I am still open 
to conviction ; while the seeming countenance given to the statement by so 
eminent a botanist as M. DUNAL, is well calculated to make one wish to 
know more about the matter, and to inspect the evidences of so remarkable 
a transformation. Could you not devise measures to procure some speci- 
mens of this new wheat, in the several stages of its progress from Agilops 
to Triticum, so that we might have a chance in this country, to see and 
judge for our ourselves? I presume M. Fapre would cheerfully furnish 
samples of the intermediate forms, between the perfect wheat and its wild 
original, (both of these last mentioned also, would be truly acceptable); and 
if you could obtain a supply by means of your correspondents in France, or 
otherwise, you would much gratify some of your readers, and might more- 

-over be expanding our views of the economy of vegetation. | 

Considering the well-known influence of culture, soil and climate, in 
modifying the size, texture, color, flavor and other subordinate characteristics 
of vegetable organs and products, I can readily apprehend that a great 
change may be effected by such agencies, in all those features and qualities 
alluded to, even among the Grasses; but I am not quite prepared to expect 
under any management, or circumstances, a transmutation of the essential 


* Taken from the Gardeners’ Chronicle. 


170 THE FLORIST AND 


characters on which genera and species are founded. -Agilops is undoubt- 
edly allied to the genus 7riticum ; but it stands still nearer to Hordeum in 
the natural arrangement; yet I have never heard of its taking on the form 
of Barley, though I have read of barley itself being converted into Loliwm 
or Ray Grass, and am quite familar with the old story of Wheat changing 
into Bromus or Cheat. Let us then endeavor to obtain the means of set- 
tling this curious question about the conversion of gilops, and see whether 
or not it belongs to the same category as the traditional transformation of 
Triticum to Bromus, Linum to Camelina, and other relics of ancient 
credulity. | 

While on this subject I may remark, that M. Faprn’s statement, if con- 
firmed, will have an interesting bearing on the famous “ Strawberry ques- 
tion,’ which has raised such a commotion in the camp of American 
gardeners. It appears that the result of M. Fasru’s experiment with 
igilops was, ‘that the plant acquired longer ears, whose rachis was not 
brittle as before, when ripe, and in which, step by step, fewer blossoms were 
abortive ; the glumes meanwhile, were less broad and flatter, &c.” He does 
not say, which is to be regretted, whether the glumes remained collateral, 
in front, or became sub-opposite; but several of the changes which he does 
mention, are just such as culture, soil, &c., are known to produce, without 
subverting the generic character. The gradual conversion of sterile 
florets into fertile ones, or, as he expresses it, the result of his experi- 
ment, “in which, step by step fewer blossoms were abortive,’ presents a 
striking analogy, and seems remarkably a propos to Mr. Meehan’s idea 
respecting the influence of culture, &c., rendering fewer strawberry stamens 
abortive. If a judicious culture of twelve years can render the sterile florets 
of Agilops fertile, it will suggest a highly interesting problem in reference 
to other plants. It may, for instance, become a curious exercise for young 
gardeners, in the Horticultural arithmetic of the future, to cipher out the 
Strawberry question; as thus—if twelve years of culture will change abortive 
florets of gzlops into fertile ones, how long will it take to convert abortive _ 
stamens of Fragraria into perfect ones? It will moreover, be a. very plea- 
sant circumstance, if M. Faprn’s experiments shall excite us all to a closer 
and more careful investigation of facts, and thus lead to a better under- 
standing of the laws and phenomena of the vegetable economy. ‘In that 
event, we may hope that as the students of Nature advance, step by step in 
the pathway of knowledge, their disputes like the abortive florets of the 
Aigilops, will become fewer and fewer, and the researches of all parties 
result in entire harmony and satisfaction. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. Ti? 


Trusting implicitly to your disposition to aid in promoting this laudable 
object, by procuring, if practicable, the desired specimens from M. FABRE, 
I am, very respectfully, your most obedient, 
. . We, 

West Chester, Pa., July 17, 1854. 


BOTANICAL GLOSSARY. 
TERMS APPLIED TO THE ELEMENTARY PARTS AND ORGANS OF PLANTS. 


Aculei. Prickles, as the spines of Cacti. | 
Air cell. A sort of cavity, or opening, existing in the interior of plants, 
among the tissues of which they are composed; they communicate mare the 

stomates, or breathing pores of plants. 

Arborescent. Having a tendency to become a tree. 

Arbuscula. Intermediate in size between a shrub and a tree. 

Arbustum. Having perennial branches, but without any supporting 
trunk. 

Barbs. Forked hairs occurring on some plants. 

Bract. A small leaf situated on the peduncle, from the axil of which 
proceeds a flower; or those leaves situated betwen the true leaves and calyx. 
In some plants they are colored, and showy as the Poinsettia. 

Cambium. Elaborated sap; a layer of mucous viscid matter between the 
bark and the wood, which is converted into woody fibre for the further 
development of the plant. 

Caudex. The trunk of a tree—divided into the caudex ascendens 
answering to the stem, and caudex descendens answering to the root. 

Caulescent. Acquiring a stem. 

Cellular tissue. Soft, pulpy mass composing the succulent parts of 
plants, made up of cells or cavities. 

Cilie. <A fringe of hairs. 

Cryptogamous. A term applied to plants that have stamens and pistils 
concealed, as mosses, ferns, Xc. 

Epidermis. Cuticle or outer skin. 

Epiphytes. Plants that grow upon other plants, without drawing any 
nutriment from them. 

Hrutescent. Of a shrub-like nature or habit. 


172 THE FLORIST AND 


Frutex. A shrub with perennial branches, but no main stem. 

Glands. Portions of firm cellular tissue situated on the leaves and stems 
of plants, for the purposes of exhalation and secretion. 

Membrane. Thin substance which forms the walls and sides of the 
cellular tissue. 

Nectary. The part of a flower that secretes honey. 

Parasite. Applied to plants that grow upon other plants and abstract 
nourishment from them, as the dodder. 

Phenogamous. Applied to plants which bear visible flowers. 

Ramenta. Scales sometimes found on young shoots. 

Stipules. Small leaf-like appendages, situated at the base of the true 
leaves of many plants. 

Stomates. Minute passages through the skin. 

Tendrils. Thread-like appendages by which some climbing plants sup- 
port themselves twining around objects. 

Thorns. Indurated abortive buds, with sharp points, connected with the 
woody tissue. 

Tissue. Substances of which plants are composed. There are distinct 
kinds, cellular, vascular, and woody tissue. 

Vascular tissue, Are simple membranous tubes which are the vessels.of 
plants. 

Verucce. Warts or sessile glands produced on the surface of some plants, 
giving it a peculiar kind of roughness, which condition is called scabrous. 

Woody tissue (lignin). The solid parts of plants, consisting of membran- 
ous tubes lying in bundles, more or less compactly. It is the part which 
gives durability and stiffness to the vegetable fabric. 


TERMS PRINCIPALLY APPLIED TO THE ROOTS OF PLANTS. - 


Bulbous. A term often erroneously applied. A bulb is a bud of a pecu- 
liar kind, the fibres that issue from the under side of bulbs are the true 
roots; bulbs sometimes grow on stems. | 

Fibres. The small thread-like parts or minute subdivisions of the roots, 
The term fibrous is applied to roots when divided into a number of these 
thread-like filaments, or fibres; as examples, the Kalmia, Rhododendron, 
and Azalea are familiar. 

Fusiform. Spindle-shaped, thick at top, and tapering downward as in 
the carrot. 

Fasciculated. Applied to tubercular roots when they grow in clusters. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. Iivs 


Globose. Applied to roots that become dilated immediately below the 
base of the stem, as in the turnip. 

Granulose. Having small fleshy grains or particles intermixed with the 
fibres, or divided into little knobs or knots. 

Nodulose. Applied to fibrous roots having occasional dilitations, similar 
to the preceding. | 

Premorse. Applied to roots having an abrupt termination as if broken 
across. 

Radicle. The root of an embryo or seed. 

ftamose. Branching; applied when the root is divided into a oe of 
branches or fibres. 

Rhizina. Applied to the young roots of mosses and lichens. 

Spongiole. Extreme points or apex of the fibres, by whose absorbing 
agency the plant abstracts from the soil and air. 

Tubercules. Fleshy roots composed of distinct lobes, accompanying the 
fibrils of some plants, as in the roots of the Orchis. 

Tuberous. This term is frequently applied to what is called a root; but 
the tuber is a kind of stem. The potato is a tuber. 

Tap-rooted. Spindle-shaped, or fusiform rooted. 


TERMS APPLIED TO THE PARTS OF THE STEM. 


Acaulis. Stemless. Strictly speaking, all plants have a stem more or 
less developed; but in some, as in the common gentianella, it 1s ae short ; 
and such plants are said to be stemless. 

Adventitious. Applied to buds which appear accidentally, or out of 
place ; that is, in a position where buds are not usually produced in the 
particular kind of plant. 

Adnascens. Applied to small bulbs developed in axils of the scales which 
form the original bulb, sometimes called cloves. 

Aiguillons. Stalked glands formed on the rose and other plants, in the 
form of rigid hairs. : 

Alburnum. Latest formed layer of wood, situated immediately beneath 
the back. | 

Articulated. Jointed; falling in pieces, or separating readily at certain 
points; which are called joints or articulations, as the stems of grasses. 

Azil. Angle between a leaf and stem on the upper side, or the point 
between two diverging branches. 


174 THE FLORIST AND 


Bark. The external covering which envelopes the stem, separable from 
the wood. | , 

Brachiate. When opposite branches diverge at right angles from the 
stem, crossing each other alternately, they are said to be brachiate ;-four 
ranked, spreading in four directions. 

Branches. Primary ramifications of the stem. 

Branchlets. Subdivisions and small ramifications of branches. 

Brindilles. Same as the preceding. | 

Bulbili. Small bulbs borne on the stems of some plants, as Lilies. _ 

Bulbs. Distinguished by Linneeus, as leaf buds of the roots; they con- 
tain the embryo of a stem, surrounded by imbricatcd scales, the outer of 
which are membranous, and cohere into a covering, as in the onion; or con- 
sist of distinct and separate pieces, as in the lily. 


SS eS eee 


Calumus. A term applied to fistulous, simple stems, without articulation, 


such as those of rushes. 

Cambium. Elaborated sap; a mucous viscid secretion found between the 
bark and the wood. 

Caudex. Principal stem; applied to the trunk of trees. 

Cauliculi. Small stems produced from buds at the neck of a plant, with- 
out the production of leaves. 

Climbing stem. A stem which elevates itself by clinging to surronnding 
bodies, by means of roots or tendrils which it produces. 

OCoarcture, Collet, Collum. The line of division between root and stem; 
the collar or neck. 

Coma. Assemblage of branches forming the head of a tree. 

Corms. Solid, fleshy, depressed, subterranean stems. 

Corticate. Harder externally than internally ; like bark. 

Creeping stem. Slender under-ground stem, which spreads horizontally, 
emitting roots and plants at intervals. 

Culm, Stem of grasses and similar plants. 

Decorticate, Excoriate. 'To divest of bark or skin. 

Dichotomous. Divided in pairs; forked with two prongs. 

Dumose. Low, and much branched. : 

Duramen. The heart wood of trees, which becomes harder and deeper 
colored than the rest of the wood. 

Endogenous. Growing by additions to the interior. Endogenous stems 
have neither the pithy bark, or medullary rays, nor wood distinguishable ; 
but all are irregularly arranged. Monocotyledonous plants produce endo- 
genous stems; the stems of palms afford an illustration. 


> 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 175 


Epidermis. Exterior coating of cellular substance, cuticle or outer skin. 

Enodis. Applied to stems which are altogether without joints. 

Exogenous. Growing by additions to the exterior. An exogenous stem 
consists of bark, pith, and medullary rays, all more or less obvious and dis- 
tinguishable. All our timber trees are of this mode of growth. Dicotyle- 
donous plants. 

Geniculum. Applied to the joints or nodes of the stem. 

Hami. Hairs curved back at the points, so as to form hooks. 

Hybernaculum. The shell of a bud, formed by the young leaves, like 
scales, overlying one another. | 

Internode. Space between the joints. The node is the point of the 
stem where the leaves appear; the internode is the space between them. 
Perithallus. | | 

Liber. The innermost layer of bark or interior lining of woody tissue; 
it is often used as that of the lace bark tree; and garden mats are made 
from the liber of the linden. 

Ligneous. Partaking of wood; woodlike. 

Medulla. Pith of vegetables; centre or heart. 

Medullary rays. Lines radiating through the wood from the centre to 
the circumference. 

Peridroma. A term applied to the stipes of ferns. 

Pilulifera. Bearing little balls or globe-shaped bodies. 

Propaculum. A term applied to an offset. 

Runner. A prostrate filiform stem, forming roots, and a young plant at 
the extremity, as in the strawberry. 

Sarmentose. Producing runners. 

Sarmentum. <A runner. 

Scandent, Seandens. Waving a climbing habit. 

Scion. A young shoot of a ligneous plant. 

Scoberia. . A term applied to the rachis in the spikelets of grasses, which 
has a toothed flexuose appearance. 

Sobole. Slender, creeping stem, growing below the surface. 

Spines. Thorns; indurated and pointed projections from the branches. 

Stipes. The stem of a fungus or fern. 

Sucker. A shoot from the root from which the plant may be propagated. 

Suffruticose. Sub-shrubby; having branches of a woody texture, which 
perish annually. | 

Tegmenta. The scales of the bud. 

Tunicate. Coated with layers, as the onion. 


176 THE FLORIST AND 


Turion. A stem partly developed; covered with scales, as the young 
stem of asparagus. 

Vimineus. Slender, flexible. 

Virgate. Slender, but less flexible than the preceding. 

Viticulose. Producing vines or trailing stems. 

Viviparous. Increasing by buds falling from the stem. 

Volubilis. Twining; having the property of twisting around another 
body. W.S. 


8 © Otero 


NEW BOURBON ROSE. 


At the weekly meetings of the Horticultural Association at Washingtoh, 
Professor Charles G. Page has exhibited a new Bourbon Rose of his own 
production. It is from one of four seeds, and of the progeny of the 
common Chinese daily upon the Pourpre de Tyre, Florists, Fanciers and 
Critics pronounce warmly in its favor as a first rate rose. 

The color is a fine crimson, form perfect, very double, size large, habit 
strong and healthy, bloom perpetual and abundant, and deliciously fragrant, 
a quality generally wanting in the best Bourbon Roses. It has been tested 
for only one year, out of doors and in, the bush being but two years old 
from the seed; but its only change is for the better. 


—_—<——_—. 


FOREIGN PATRONAGE, No. 2. 


Under the head of Foreign Patronage, a correspondent has exposed the 
prejudiced ignorance of a critique of Dr. Leidy’s Fanna and Flora within 
living animals, in the Gardeners’ Chronicle. It is very much in the style 
of a certain class of Englishmen when speaking of anything American. 

We have another cause of complaint against the Gardeners’ Chronicle; 
which is this ; in a late issue under the head of Floriculture, is copied almost 
entire, an aes from this Magazine by Mr. Wm. Chorlton, on the Pink 
(p. 243), without credit, merely signed with the initials W. C. Now we 
object decidedly to such theft, and it is done with bad grace by persons who 
are continually harping upon the reprinting of articles in our pion! 
magazines. : 

The Gardeners’ Chronicle is a mosi valuable paper, and the articles we 


’ 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. gM 


copy from its pages, are the most valuable we present to our readers: but 
we have never yet refused credit to the proper source. 


——— ee 


The 25th, 26th and 27th days of October next, have been fixed upon by 
the United States Agricultural Society, for holding its Cattle Convention, 
in the city of Springfield, Clark Co., Ohio. 

Six thousand dollars will be a eee in premiums for the best stock of 
the various breeds of cattle, subject to competition without territorial limit. 


SS 


TRANSPLANTING. 


For briefness sake I will confine myself to the transplanting of ligneous 
plants only. The first consideration of importance is to examine the soil 
upon which the tree, shrub, or vine is growing, and also that in which it is to 
be planted, as a great variation in this respect is fr sda the only cause 
of failure. 

Plants grown in sandy soils have generally long, naked roots, shallow in 
the soil, which causes them to suffer much from the first summer’s drought. 
after being transplanted, and although they generally succeed after being 
planted in light soils, many failures occur when they are planted in heavy 
loamy lands; they are, however, earlier matured in the fall, larger for their 
age, and cheaper for their size, than those raised in loamy lands; on the 
other hand, these latter are heavier, contain more sap and woody fibre, are 
more branchy, their roots are more numerous and more fibrous, and run 
deeper into the earth than those grown in sandy soil, and are attended with 
more success in transplanting, as they suffer less in the first year on account 
of the fibres and depth of their roots; failures rarely occur with them when 
planted in any soil except sharp sand, that is, when the soil is properly pre- 
pared, and the trees properly planted. But when trees are raised on culti- 
vated ground, and transplanted to lawns, failures will often happen, as the 
grass reflects the heat, and throws it up around the tree, and scalds it. 
This cannot always be prevented; the best thing to do in this case is to stir 
the soil frequently around the stem with a hoe. Where plants have been 
raised on stony lands, I have witnessed good results from mixing stones 
with the soil about their roots. | 

Plants raised in the nurseries generally succeed, unless there is a very 
great difference between the soils; the very cause of success in this case is, 


because they have been once or twice transplanted. ‘Transplanting trees 
20 


4 


178 THE FLORIST AND 


from the woods is a very different affair. I have had less success with tulip 
and hickory trees than with any others, because they depend so much on 
their tap roots. In transplanting large trees their roots should be kept as 
entire as possible, by following them carefully out for a great distance from 
the stems. 

I consider moist weather in midwinter the best time for transplanting all 
kinds of large trees, both evergreen and deciduous. It is well to drive 
stakes in the ground a short distance from the roots, and to fasten the 
trunks by wires, as a support in windy weather; the wires should be 
fastened to a small hoop placed around the trunk. I have witnessed very 
few failures by this practice, but have seen many by the “frozen ball” sys- 
tem. Of all the follies in transplanting trees this appears to me the greatest. 
T have practised it to a great extent, much against my will, but always con- 
demned it in my mind. I do not say that trees will not grow by this sys- 
tem, for I have been very successful, but they could never be compared to 
those planted with entire roots. All deciduous trees should have their 
branches shortened when transplanted, and all large ones should have them 
thinned out, and two-thirds of the previous season’s growth of those which 
are left should be cut in; this will retard vegetation, and prevent too great 
a draught of sap from the roots, before they have had time to form new 
fibres. The branches will make lateral shoots, which will shade the stem, 
which is very essential the first year. Hvergreen trees are seldom ever 
pruned when transplanted; indeed, I have never seen any necessity for it, 
but evergreen shrubs had better be clipped around with hedge shears. 

The next consideration is to have the plants properly matured before 
removal; vines, shrubbery, and young trees in nurseries, are almost imme- 
diately matured after the fall of the leaf. All kinds of woody plants are 
safely transplanted from the first of November to the middle of April, and 
sometimes earlier and later. Some years ago, 1 got three maple trees on 
the third of May, and planted them on the sidewalk of a house in the upper 
part of this city, where they are still growing; another year I got a great 
number of deciduous trees of large size in the middle of October, and planted 
them at Tacony, where they now flourish. I mention these circumstances 
to show what can be done, but would not advise the practice. 

Evergreens may be transplanted from the middle of September to the 
middle of May. I prefer fall planting for all hardy plants where the land 
is sloping, but where it is springy or retentive of moisture, or is apt to be 
inundated in winter or spring, then I would prefer spring planting. The 
digging of large holes, spreading out their roots in their natural positions, — 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 179 


&c., have been so often repeated, that a recapitulation of such directions is 
not needed here. 

Transplanting should not be performed during hard frosts, as the air is 
injurious to the fibres. It is good to mix very well rotted manure, or small 
charcoal, with the soil to put about the roots. It is a good plan to put long 
manure or straw over the surface, around trees planted in the fall, but it 
should be removed by the first of April at latest, and the soil forked up so 
that the genial warmth of the sun and air may heat the soil, and excite the 
roots to make new fibres, before the leaves begin to make too great a draught 
upon them. Some persons think that if a plant has moisture at its roots it 
must thrive, never considering that it requires a combination of heat and 
moisture to grow plants. I could say more on this subject, and also on con- 
tinual watering of plants in hot weather, but I fear I have already trans- 
gressed too far on your pages, and on the patience of your readers. 

WALTER ELDER. 


PROPAGATION OF TREES BY CUTTINGS IN SUMMER. 
BY A PRACTITIONER. 


When a cutting of any deciduous tree is planted in autumn, winter, or 
spring, it contains within it a portion of the true, as it has been called, or 
vital sap of the tree of which it once formed a part. This fluid, relatively 
to plants, is very closely analagous to the arterial blood in animals; and I 
shall, therefore, to distinguish it from the watery fluid which rises abun- 
dantly through the alburnum, call it the arterial sap of the tree. Cuttings 
of some species of trees very freely emit roots and leaves, whilst others 
usually produce a few leaves only, and then die, and others scarcely exhibit 
any signs of life; but no cutting ever possesses the power of regenerating 
and adding to itself vitally a single particle of matter, tillit has acquired 
mature aud efficient foliage. A part of the arterial sap previously in the 
cutting assumes an organic solid form, and the cutting, in consequence, 
necessarily becomes, to some extent, exhausted. 

Summer cuttings possess the advantage of having mature and efficient 
foliage; but such foliage is easily injured or destroyed, and if it be not 
carefully and skilfully managed, it dies. These cuttings, such as I have 
usually seen employed, have some mature and efficient foliage, and other 


180 THE FLORIST AND 


foliage which is young and growing, and, consequently, two distinct pro- 
cesses are going on at the same time within them, which operate in opposi- 


tion to each other. By the mature leaves, carbon, under the influence of 


light, is taken up from the surrounding atmosphere, and arterial sap is 
generated. The young and immature leaves, on the contrary, vitiate the 
air in which they grow by throwing off carbon; and they expend, in adding 
to their own bulk, that which ought to be expended in the creation of shoots. 
This circumstance respecting the different operations of immature and 
mature leaves upon the surrounding air, presented itself to the early labor- 
ers in pneumatic chemistry. Dr. Priestley noticed the discharge of oxygen 
gas, or dephlogisticated air (as it was then called), from mature leaves. 
Scheele, making, as he supposed, a similar experiment upon the young 
leaves of germinating beans, found these to vitiate air in which they grew. 
These results were then supposed to be widely at variance with each other, 
but subsequent experience has proved both philosophers to have been equally 
correct. 

I possess many seedling young trees of the Ulmus campestris, or suberosa, 
or glabra; for the widely varying characters of my seedling trees satisfy 
me, that these three supposed species are varieties only of a single species. 
One of these seedling plants presented a form of growth which induced me 
to wish to propagate from it. It shows a strong disposition to aspire to a 
very great height, with a single straight stem, and with only very small 
lateral branches, and to be, therefore, calculated to afford sound timber of 
great length and bulk, which is peculiarly valuable, and difficult to be 
obtained, for the keels of large ships; and the original tree is growing with 
great rapidity in a poor soil and cold climate. 

The stem of this tree, near the ground, presented, in July, many very 
slender shoots, about three inches long. These were then pulled off and 
reduced to about an inch in length, with a single mature leaf upon the upper 
end of each, and the cuttings were then planted deeply in the soil. The 
cuttings were then covered with bell glasses in pots, and put upon the flue 
of a hot-house, and subjected to a temperature of about 80 degrees. Water 
was very abundantly given, but the under surfaces of the leaves were not 
wetted. These were in the slightest degree faded, though they were fully 
exposed to the sun; and roots were emitted in about fifteen days. I sub- 
jected a few cuttings taken from the bearing branches of a mulberry tree to 
the same mode of management, and with the same result; and I think it 
extremely probable, that the different varieties of Camellia, and trees of 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 181 


almost every species, exclusive of the Fir tribe, might be propagated with 
perfect success and facility by the same means. 

Evergreen trees, of some species, possess the power of ripening their fruit 
during winter. The common Ivy and the Loquat are well-known examples 
of this; and this circumstance, combined with many others, led me to infer 
that the leaves of such trees possess in a second year the same, or at least, 
nearly the same power as they possessed in the first. J therefore planted 
about a month ago some cuttings of the old double-blossomed white and 
Warrahtah Camellia, having reduced the wood to little more than half an 
inch in length, and cut it off obliquely, so as to present a long surface of it; 
and I reduced it further by paring it very thin and near to its lower ex- 
tremities. The leaves continue to look perfectly fresh, and the buds in 
more than one instance have produced shoots of more than an inch in length, 
and apparently possessing perfect health and much vigor. Water has been 
very abundantly given; because I conceived that the flow of the arterial 
sap from the leaf would be so great, comparatively with the quantity of the 
bark and alburnum of the cuttings, as to preclude the possibility of the 
rotting of these. 

The cuttings above described, presented in the organization a considerable 
resemblance to seedling trees of different periods of the growth of the 
latter. The bud very closely resembles the plumule, and the leaf, the 
cotyledon, extended into a seed leaf; and the organ which has been, and is 
called a radicle, is certainly a ander. and not a root. It is capable of being 
made to extend in some cases, to more than two hundred times its first 
length, between two articulations, a power which is not possessed in any 
degree by the roots of trees. Whether the caudex of the cuttings of 
Camellias above mentioned have emitted, or will, or will not, emit roots, I 
am not yet prepared to decide, but I entertain very confident hopes of 
success.—-Flor. Cab. 


—rr® ® Ou 


Tue Rev. Charles Fox, of Grosse Isle, near Detroit, Michigan, died of 
cholera on the 24th inst. He was English by birth, had for many years 
officiated worthily and acceptably as an Kpiscopal clergyman, but bought an 
islet in Detroit River and turned farmer some four years ago, and has since 
devoted himself to agriculture and its improvement with enthusiasm and 
success. He established The Farmer's Companion some eighteen months 
ago, and last winter published “The American Text-Book of Agriculture,” 
which has been received with marked favor. 


182 THE FLORIST AND 


Our readers will observe that the report of the Fruit Committee, which 
was referred back to them, is now published. It went by default, on 
account of the destruction of the plant which was submitted to their exa- 
mination. It now becomes the duty of the Committee on Botany of the 
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to present their report, under Mr. 
Hanson’s motion, on the subject of the change in the sexual organs of the 
Strawberry, so that we may have the real opinion of the Society given to 
the public. The real question, as to the possibility and reasonableness of 
the change from a form apparently pistillate or staminate, to the natural 
one of a perfect flower, depends so little on a knowledge of Hovey’s or any 
other seedling, that any one having a moderate knowledge of botany will 
disregard altogether the identity of any plant in which a change may take 
place. The fact of a change having taken place in one variety is sufficient 
proof of the possibility of its happening in any variety of a plant, the natural 
condition of which is to have perfect flowers. That the advocates of the 
Cincinnati theory will be influenced by the report of the Committee on 
Botany is not expected, even though it may have for its head one justly 
entitled by age and experience (so highly claimed in their own case) to con- 
fidence; but we have seen that experience in their view of the case means 
their own very narrow observation, which can hardly be dignified with the 
name of observation, as, we have no doubt, if they saw anything which may 
have controverted their ideas, it was regarded as a mistake, made by the 
plant, not by themselves, and so they passed it over. We must patiently 
wait for the march of intellect, or until a few persons who control the 
American Horticultural world have lost their influence; for we venture to 
predict that in ten years or less the advocates of this theory will be regarded 
as among the most unmitigated old fogies of the present time. 


8 © Ctra 


NOTICES OF NEW OR RARE PLANTS. 


CIssUS DISCOLOR.—This beautifully variegated climber, shown by Mr. J. 
fF. Knorr, at the Annual Exhibition of the Pennsylvania Horticultural 
Society in September last, continues to be the best novelty of its class yet 
introduced. ‘The velvety softness of the colors developed in its growth, 
cannot be surpassed. It is beginning to be widely distributed, being a plant 
of rapid growth and easy propagation. The figure in the fourth number of 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 183 


the Florist really falls short, beautiful as it is, of the real excellence of the 
plant. It is for, sale by several of our Philadelphia nurserymen. 

Coteus Brumet.—Another variegated plant, figured in the January 
number of this year. It has not yet bloomed here, to our knowledge, but 
the foliage is in itself very attractive. The purple marking which occupies 
the central portion of the leaves sparkles in the sunlight like what the ladies 
and dry goods people call a changeable silk. 

BrGONIA XANTHINA.—This is decidedly the most beautiful species of this 
very variable genus yet introduced. The foliage is large, pubescent and 
deep green above, reddish purple underneath. ‘The flowers on long pedun- 
cules are of a beautiful golden yellow. We see a notice of a variety raised 
from this with marbled leaves, which must be an improvement. 

DIPLADENIA CRASSINODA.—This beautiful plant, which, although for some 
time introduced to this country, is not often seen in collections. <A plant 
of it in bloom at Mr. Knorr’s shows a fine bloom of its peach-colored blos- 
soms, blotched with a deeper shade, and with a yellow throat. 

ROUDELELIA SPECIOSA.—A cinchonaceous shrub, a native of. Cuba, with 
handsome Lantana-like terminal umbels of scarlet flowers, with yellow eye 
and throat. A well-grown specimen in bloom would be a very handsome 
plant. 

SIPHOCAMPYLOS CoccINEUS.—A species with handsome foliage, and long, 
upright scarlet flowers. Rather showy, but not so much so as several other 
‘ species in cultivation. 

ERIOCNEMA AENEA.—A handsome melastomaceous plant, with aril 
leaves, coppery above, bright red underneath, with umbels of inconspicuous 
flowers. ‘This promises to be an addition to the stock of plants with showy 
foliage. 


Tue Potato question seems likely to assume a new form. Raising from 
seed has failed to preserve the plant from disease, and so has the importa- 
tion of sets from Peru, as well as a selection of varieties. No one can say 
that a cure has been found among the many nostrums which have had their 
admirers; artificial manures, pickles, and steeps are exploded; even pecu- 
liar modes of preparing the tubers have been more or less unsuccessful, and 
such improvement as has taken place in the health of the plant is either due 
to better cultivation or to a gradual wearing out of the affection. We now 
find, in the “ Revue Horticole,” an account of another kind of Solanum, 


184 THE FLORIST AND 


called verrucosum, which may possibly be destined to perform an important 
part in the regeneration of the Potato. 

It has long been known that in the west of Mexico there exist certain 
Potato-like plants, producing tubers, and approaching very near to the cul- 
tivated species. Some account of them was given in 1848 in the third 
volume of the Journal of the Horticultural Society. Among the species 
there mentioned, allusion was made to a Solanum verrucosum, which pro-— 
duced very small tubers, not exceeding 14 inches in length, and which was 
regarded as of no value in cultivation, although, even in the bad year 1847, 
it exhibited no trace of disease. It appears, however, as if, m the hands of 
the French, it were destined to acquire some importance. 

A Monsieur Pargues states that, at Vesoul, in the Haute-Sadne, he re- 
ceived, in May, 1853, from the Horticultural Society of Ain, a dozen tubers 
of this sort, about the size of walnuts. They were perfectly sound, the 
skin was a clear rose color, modified by a slight yellowness appearing 
through it. In quality they were mild and pleasant, and as good as the 
very best varieties of the common Potato. They were the result of three 
years’ culture in the neighborhood of Ain, where they had been grown in 
good, rich, well-worked land, without any material increase in size. 

It, however, proved far otherwise with M. Pargues. He states that his 
tubers were planted early in May in common garden soil, which was cleaned 
twice during the season. On the 6th of September he took up the produce 
of ten of these tubers, and found they had each yielded from twenty-three 
to twenty-five ounces; some of the new Potatoes weighed as much as six 
ounces; but others were not larger than walnuts. It thus appeared that 
while in the rich well-worked soil of Ain the Potatoes were too small to be 
of any use, in the common garden ground at Vesoul they acquired a fair 
size, and justified the expectation that by raising this Potato from seeds the 
size would be gradually increased. What renders this a very important 

cons) Pe is, that the plants of Solanwm verrucosum were quite free 
from disease, although common Potatoes planted by their side were attacked - 
as early as the end of July; and we have the evidence of Prof. Decaisne, 
that in the Garden of Plants, at Paris, the same power of resisting disease 
was remarked. 

Under these circumstances it seems desirable to procure sets of the Sola- 
nun verrucosum, which could be easily done by any of the English corres- 
pondents of Messrs. Vilvorin, of Paris. Attempts might then be made to 
improve the new kind, either directly by sowing its seeds, or indirectly by 
crossing it with such sorts as the Fluke. Should this be practicable, it is 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 185 


to be anticipated that we may at once come into possession of a good large 
Potato with a perfectly sound constitution—a result which we need not say 
would be cheaply purchased with any amount of trouble or expense.— Gar- 
deners’ Chronicle. 


i 


PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 


June 20, 1854.—The stated meeting was held as usual this evening: the 
President in the chair. | 

The premiums were awarded as follows: 

Gloxinias—ten plants, for the best, to Thomas Robertson, gardener to 
B. A. Fahnestock; for the second best, to Alexander Burnett, gardener to 
H. Pratt McKean. Fuchsias—eight plants, for the best, to Thomas Robert- 
son ; for the second best, to Alexander Burnett; for the third best, to John 
Pollock, gardener to James Dundas. Collection of twelve plants—for the 
best, to Robert Buist; for the second best, to Thomas Robertson; for the 
third best, to-John Pollock. Specimen plant—for the best, to Robert Bust ; 
for the second best, to John Pollock. New plants shown for the first 
time—a premium of three dollars to Robert Buist, for Orchids, and a fine 
plant of Kalosanthes Phenix; and one of two dollars to James Kent, for 
Green and Hothouse Plants. Baskets—for the best, to Jerome Graff, 
gardener to C. Cope; for the second best, to Robert Kilvington ; of indige- 
nous flowers, for the best, to Meehan & Saunders. Bouguets—one pair, for 
the best, to Jerome Graff; for the second best, to James Kent. And ° 
special premiums—two dollars to John Pollock, gardener to James Dundas; 
three dollars to the same, for a general display of plants; two dollars to 
James Kent, for a display of plants; two dollars to H. A. Dreer, for fine 
seedling Verbenas and Chinese Pinks. The Committee called particular 
attention to a very fine seedling Petunia and a good Pelargonium, grown by 
John Gray. . 

Grapes—three bunches, for the best, of a black variety, to John Pollock, 
gardener to James Dundas; for the second best, to Jerome Graff, gardener 
to C. Cope; for the best of a white variety, to the same; for the second best, 
to John Pollock. Strawberrics—two quarts, for the best, to James M. Tage ; 
for the second best, to A. L. Felten. Cherries—three pounds, for the best, 
to Isaac B. Baxter. Currants—two quarts, for the best red, to A. L. Fel- 
ten; for the best white, to Isaac B. Baxter. Special Premiums—one dol- 
lar to A. L. Felten, for a dish of fine Black Mulberries, and of two dollars 


186 THE FLORIST AND 


each for a display of Peaches and Nectarines, to Jerome Graff, gardener to 
C. Cope. | 

The Committee reported having examined ad interim, the Pennsylvania 
Strawberry, from Gerhard Schmitz, specimens unusually fine, measuring 
five inches in circumference and weighing 160 grains troy. 

Vegetables—display by a market gardener, for the best, to A. L. Felten. 
Special premium of one dollar to Alexander Burnett, gardener to H. Pratt 
McKean, for a dish of fine Mushrooms. 

At the recommendation of the Committees—Ordered, that all the pre- 
miums awarded for objects shown at the meetings in May or June, be paid, 
notwithstanding they were staged after the time specified in the schedule, as 
the change of hour was not generally known. 

The Fruit Committee to whom was recommitted that portion of their ad 
interim report, read at the stated meeting in February last, relating to the 
Strawberry question for reconsideration—reported that the plant on which 
the facts and opinions were therein embraced and founded being destroyed, 
no examination of the identical plant was practicable ; therefore, they report 
the same back to the Society without alteration, viz: 


AD INTERIM FRUIT REPORT. 


February 21, 1854. 

A Strawberry Plant in pot—from Thomas Meehan.—This plant con- 
tained one ripe, perfect berry; size, large, nearly three and three-fourths 
inches in its horizontal circumference; form, roundish; color, brick-dust red, 
with brownish seed set in superficial indentations. Besides this ripe berry, 
it had on it four deformed and defective unripe ones, and eight abortive 
flowers. The anthers, that were still visible, showed it to be a staminate 
variety; and by some of the Committee it was considered the Cushing.— 
With this plant the following letter to the Committee was received on the 
9th instant: 


To the Fruit Committee of the Pennsglvania Horticultural Society: 
GENTLEMEN :—In seeking the name of the Strawberry sent herewith, I 
beg to make a few remarks in connection. Last spring I exhibited before 
the Society three plants, as I believed of the same variety as this. One 
plant having all the flowers pistillate; another all hermaphrodite. By direc- 
tion of the Society my remarks sent with the plants were printed. Friends 
at a distance subsequently came forward, who expressed an opinion that my 
plants could not be ‘Hovey’s Seedling,’ but must be some variety in which 
the power to vary in its sexual character was a ‘characteristic’ feature. I 
mav be allowed to observe that if this variety be not Hovey’s—a strawberry 


HORTICULTURAL SOURNAL. 187 


that bears abundantly, will produce fruit averaging from three to three and 
a half inches in circumference—not only in its natural season, but the first 
week in February, and hermaphrodite in its sexual character, is at least 
equal to Hovey’s. The history of this kind, so far as my knowledge is con- 
cerned, is as follows: When I took charge of this establishment, in 1852, a 
large plantation of strawberries had been made the preceding fall, and 
which were given up to me as a new bed of Hovey’s Seedlings. The plants 
being set eighteen inches apart, afforded good opportunity for observation. 
On their first flowering every one that flowered up to a certain date, com- 
prising nearly the whole of them, bore pistillate blossoms. There being no 
others on the place, and being at that time myself a firm believer in the 
‘unchanging’ theory, I mentioned to my esteemed employer the ‘fiz’ we 
were in, and suggested the propriety of procuring some staminate varieties. 
A week or so afterwards he being at Springbrook, we examined the bed 
together, when little else but hermaphrodites were to be found. ‘This sug- 
gested to me the experiments you are already advised of. The plant from 
which this fruit was obtained was from a plant marked while in flower last 
spring. It is a very weak plant, as you will perceive by its inability to 
bring to perfection, at this early season of the year, the other very few 
flowers that opened, and that it was hermaphrodite you will readily perceive 
by the dead stamens at the base of the fruit. In its natural season of fruit- 
ing the color is deep crimson. 
Very respectfully, 
THOMAS MEEHAN. 


Mr. Meehan is well known as one of our most estimable, intelligent, and 
scientific cultivators. His honesty and integrity, we are fully convinced, 
would not suffer him to advance an opinion the soundness of which he did 
not most conscientiously believe. And by all who knew him it is freely ad- 
mitted that his views on horticultural subjects are remarkably correct. 
Entertaining, as we do, these opinions of Mr. Meehan, we regretted the 
appearance of his communication to the Society, on the 17th March, 1853, — 
respecting the changeable sexual character of Hovey’s Seedling Strawberry. 
Being persuaded that he had been led, unintentionally, into error, we were 
unwilling to take any action, officially or individually, in regard to his come 
munication, under a conviction that his acknowledged discernment, honesty, 
and intelligence would eventually enable him to discover the unsoundness 
of his experiments, and cause him unhesitatingly to repudiate them.—His 
letter has, however, now brought the matter fully before us, in such a way 


188 THE FLORIST AND 


that we are no longer at liberty to decline its investigation. In the paper 
read before the Society, and referred to in his letter to the Committee, he broad- 
ly asserts that Hovey’s Seedling may be staminate or pistillate, at pleasure, 
by cultivation. In proof of this assertion, he exhibited three plants, each 
in a separate pot—one having none but pistillate blossoms; the second none 
but hermaphrodite blossoms; the third containing blossoms some of which 
were pistillate and the others hermaphrodite; and these several sexual dif- 
ferences he attributed entirely to cultivation. Now, if each one of these 
three plants was a genuine Hovey’s Seedling, Mr Meehan has most unques- 
tionably and conclusively established the truth of the doctrine for which he 
contends. The vital question, then, to be solved is, was each of these plants 
a genuine Hovey’s Seedling? This point we will now examine. In the 
communication to the Society no evidence of their genuineness is presented, 
apart from the simple statement that they were Hovey’s Seedling. On this 
point, however, the letter to the Committee does not leave us so much in 
the dark. So far, however, from establishing their genuineness, it furnishes 
strong grounds for a contrary belief. For in it Mr. Meehan gives us their 
history in the following words: ‘When I took charge of this establishment, 
(Springbrook,) in 1852, a large plantation of strawberries had been made 
the preceding fall, and which were given up to me as a new bed of Hovey’s 
Seedling.” Subsequently, in speaking of the plants in this bed, he emphati- 
cally assures us “there were no others on the place.” This bed then was 
the source whence Mr. Meehan obtained the plants with which he experi- 
mented. And the only evidence he had that they were Hovey’s Seedling 
was that they were given up to him as such. In this stage of the investiga- 
tion it is of some consequence to know whether this bed was made by a per- 
son in whose honesty and accuracy implicit confidence could be reposed. 
It is known that Thomas Ryan’s successor, and Mr. Meehan’s immediate 
predecessor, was gardener to Mr. Cope in the fall of 1851, when the above 

mentioned bed was set out; but we question whether Mr Cope or Mr. Mee- 
han will say that he was entitled to such confidence. It is a matter of re- 
cord that there were a number of varieties at Springbrook the year before. 
On referring to the proceedings of our Society for March, 1850, it will be 
seen that Ben Daniels exhibited a “bed” containing the following six vari- 
eties of strawberries, viz: Hovey’s Seedling, British Queen, Buist’s Karly 
May, Keen’s Seedling, Sciota, and Cushing. At that meeting the proceed- » 
ings also show that the Fruit Committee awarded ‘a special premium of ten 
dollars to Ben Daniels, gardener to C. Cope, for the magnificent display of 
strawberries, embracing several foreign and native varieties.” It is barely 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 189 


possible that all these plants, embracing six varieties, were in some way or 
other lost: but it is probable that such was the case? Is it not far more 
probable, as they formed so attractive a feature at the March meeting, and 
excited at the time such universal admiration, that they were not only re- ~ 
tained, but that they had increased in numbers: and that some of them were 
used in making the “new bed of Hovey’s Seedling” in the fall of 1851. For 
we have the positive assurance of Mr. Meehan that there were no strawber- 
ries at Springbrook when he took charge of it in 1852, except those con- 
tained in the bed whence he tock the plants with which his experiments were 
conducted. But even admitting that this bed was made entirely from a 
plantation which originally were undoubted Hovey’s Seedling, it by no means 
follows that the bed contained none but genuine plants of this kind. For 
no bed, of any variety, can exist for two or three consecutive years in a 
bearing state without having its purity more or less impaired by accidental 
Seedlings. Many of the seed, that necessarily fall to the ground, vegetate 
and produce plants—some of which will differ from their maternal parent in 
sexual organization, time of inflorescence, period of maturity, and in various 
other particulars. We have seen strawberry seed, that were planted in mid- 
summer, produce plants that bore fruit the very next year. There is no 
certainty, therefore that all the plants in a bed are of one kind, unless they 
are all produced by runners of a single plant. In regard to the plants in 
the bed at Springbrook, Mr. Meehan says in his letter to the Committee,— 
‘on their first flowering every one that flowered up to a certain date, com- 
prising nearly the whole of them bore pistillate blossoms.”” * * * * * 
‘“‘ A week or so afterwards, he (Mr. Cope) being at Springbrook, we examined 
the bed together, when little else but hermaphrodites were to be found.” 
The question here arises,—how can this difference in the sexual character 
of the blossoms, at these two periods of time, separated by an interval of 
“<a week or so,” be accounted for, if it were not owing to the presence of 
more than one variety in the bed? It is certainly not explained by the 
adoption of Mr. Meehan’s views; for if those views be correct, no such sex. 
ual diversity ought to have existed,—all the blossoms should have been pistil- 
late or all staminate, as all were subjected to the same cultivation. Again, 
in allusion to the plant we received from him, he says in his letter to the 
Committee: “Jt is a very weak plant as you will perceive,” &e. Then ac- 
cording to the doctrine developed in his communication to the Society, it 
ought to have produced all pistillate blossoms; but it did not, they were all 
either hermaphrodite or staminate. The remarks now made, we think are 
sufficient to invalidate any inferences drawn from Mr. Meehan’s experiments, 


190 THE FLORIST AND 


since it has been shown there is no certainty that the plants employed in 
those experiments were genuine Hovey’s Seedling. We regret that our re- 
gard for Mr. Meehan prevented us from examining the three plants when 
they were exhibited by him at the March meeting of the Society. Had that 
been done, the prfitless discussion that has subsequently arisen, and which 
has resulted in no little unkind feeling, might perhaps have been obviated. 
But as we have new engaged in the investigation, we have subjected ‘the 
plant sent to us by Mr. Meehan, to a careful and rigid examination to ascer- 
tain its genuineness. And, after having made this examination, we are pre- 
pared to say most emphatically, unreservedly, and unequivocally, 7t 7s not a 
Hovey’s Seedling. Should Mr. Meehan still be unconvinced that his exper- 
iments were based on uncertain data, and consequently that any conclusions 
from them, however legitmately drawn, are illogical and unreliable, we trust 
he will repeat them in such a way as to avoid the sources of error to which 
his former ones are amenable. Let the plants, with which he may experi- 
ment, by all means, be runners taken from one and the same plant; we shall 
then have conclusive evidence that they are, at least all of one kind. And 
should he determine to continue his experiments in this direction, we would 
also advise him to obtain, if possible, runners from each of the three plants 
exhibited by him in March last, and subject some of the runners of each to 
his several modes of cultivation. The result will either substantiate his doc- 
trine, or satisfactorily prove that these three plants were three separate and 
distinct varieties, possessing invariable, unchangeable and immutable sexuaj 
characteristics, unalterable by cultivation, however diversified by human 
sagacity. After the above was written, one of the Committee received a 
communication from Mr. Meehan, in which he informs us that the three plants 
exhibited by him at the Meeting of the Society in March, 1853, “ were 
thrown away soon after the exhibition I having no idea that there wovld 
ever be occasion to refer to them again.” This loss we regret. We, learn, 
however, from Mr. Cope, that he has three or four hundred pots of plants, 
(taken it is to be hoped from the same “‘ new bed of Hovey’s Seedling,”’) in 
his forcing house at this time, “‘and,’”’ he remarks, in a letter to a member 
of the Committee, “‘ however little dependence the Committee may feel dis- 
posed to place in the statements concerning the experiments in progress, yet 
the result will nevertheless be placed beforethem for thew judgment.’ Should 
Mr. Meehan, in this large collection, be so fortunate as to find, (and if his 
theory be true he undoubtedly will,) three plants possessing the several dis- 
tinctive sexual characteristics of the three he exhibited on the former occasion, 
we trust they will not be “thrown away,” but experimented with, by him, 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 191 


in the manner already suggested, or else placed in the hands of some other 
reliable person, for this purpose. In his communication to one of the Com- 
mittee, Mr. Meehan also states explicitly, that the plant sent to us is not one 
of the three exhibited before the Society, but was from a plant that had 
borne hermaphrodite flowers. It apppears, then, that it, at any rate, has 
not changed its sexual character, the blossoms having been hermaphrodite 
before, and are hermaphrodite now notwithstanding its present feebleness. 

It is probably within the recollection of many of the members of the Soci- 
ety, that views somewhat analogous to those of Mr. Meehan were, at one 
time, maintained by the late Mr. Downing. He contended that the natural 
condition of Hovey’s Seedling was staminate; but by permitting the old 
plants to bear for several successive years, their luxuriance was impaired, and 
their sexual character altered—in other words they became pistillate. And 
to prove the correctness of his position, he announced his intention of send- 
ing to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society several of his plants in pots. 
After that announcement, as nothing more is found in the Horticulturist on 
the subject, it is probable that he abandoned the doctrine. Be this, how- 
ever, as it may, we have been credibly informed that he did send the plants 
to Boston, and that the Fruit Committee of the Massachusetts Horticultural 
Society decided they were not Hovey’s Seedling. 


The Treasurer sumitted his semi-annual statement of accounts. 

Members Elected.—Dr. A. L. Ellwyn, Lloyd Chamberlain, J. L. Moss, 
John P. Aertsen, Thomas White, George H. Burns, A. Tourtelot, John Ja- 
ceb Habermehl, Robert T. Conrad, Dr. Robert P. Thomas. 


Objects Exhibited. 


Piants.—By Robert Buist:—Kalosanthes Phoenix, new, Geranium Kings- 
bury pet, Gloxinia grandis, G. Victoria regina: Specimen plant, Medinilla 
magnifica—12 plants—Tremandra verticillata, Vinca alba, Begonia semper- 
florens, Boronia viminea, Sollya gracilis, Cuphea platycentra, Allamanda 
nereifolia, i<alosanthes, Beauty de Charonne, Kx. Phoenix, Hydrangea hor- 
tensis, Oldenilandia Deppiana, Gesneria lutea. Orchidee—Cattleya Forbesii, 
Dendrobium Pierrardi, Oncidium Harrisonii, O. pulvinatum, O. sp.—10 
Gloxinias—F rederick Lennig, rubra; rosea, canlescens, Maria Van Houtte, 
Caleb Cope, cartonil, atro- rubra, candida and Hand leyana. 

By Thomas Robertson, gardener to B. A. Fahnestock:—eight Fuchsias— 
Psyche, Parson, Hebe, Sir John Falstaff, Palma, Expansion, Beauty of Deal, 
Madam Sontag ae Ajax. —ten CloximacMontreh, Napoleon, rubra, rubra 
grandiflora, Professor de Caisne, Princess de Lamballe, William Griffith, 
Cartonii, Countess de Bocarmé, Godfrey de Bouillon and Victoria regina: 
12 plants—Allamanda nereifolia, Geranium Tom Thumb, Rondeletia speci- 
osa, Hydrangea hortensis, 2 Achimenes longiflora, A. Escheneria, 3 Gloxiniag 
and 3 Fuchsias. - 


192 THE FLORIST AND 


By John Pollock, gardener to James Dundas:—Orchtds—Saccalobium 
guttatum, Catleya Mossiae : —Spccimen plants—Stigmaphyllon ciliatum, 
Fuchsias flaveseens—2 Voltigeur, 2 Snowdrop, Exoniensis and Ajax: 12 
plants—Allamanda nereifolia, Nierembergia major, N, minor, Cuphea platy- 
centra, Adamia versicolor, Begonia nitida, Clerodendron fallax, Geranium 
Hebe, G. Compte de Paris, G. Albo sanguinea, G. Seedling, and a collection 
of 40 plants. 

By Alexander Burnett, gardener to H. Pratt McKean:—Fuchstas—2 
Psyche, Dodd’s Magnificent, Parson, 3 Corallina, Beauty of Dean and Ajax: 
—Gloxinias Scotii, maculata, Garton Godfreya, rubro-grandiflora, rubro- 
candida, Fyfiana, carnea, speciosa and albo-sanguinea:—Specimen plant— 
Pentas carnea. nee 

By James Kent: Fuchsias— Honey Bell, Pet; Musszenda frondosa, 
Cryptolepis longiflora and a large collection in display. 

By Jerome Graff, gardener C. Cope:—Broughtonia sanguinea, new. 

By John Gray :—line Seedling Petunia and Pelargonium. 

By Meehan & Saunders:—Cut flowers of Verbena Mazeppa. 

By Henry A. Dreer:—Seedling Verbenas and Pinks. 

Basket ¢ Bouquets—By Jerome Graff—a handsome Basket with 199th 
flower of the Victoria regia from the same plant, and a pair of hand Bouquets. 

By James Kent:—A pair of hand Bouquets. 

By Robert Kilvington:—A fine Bouquet. 

By Meehan & Saunders :—A Bouquet of Indigenous flowers. 

Fruii.—By Jerome Graff, gardener to C. Cope :— Grapes—Black Ham- 
burg and Muscat of Alexant dria. -—Peaches—Hariy York, Kliza, Druid Hill, 
George 4th late Admirable and Royal George.—Wectar ines—Ely uge, Early 
Newington Pitmaston, Orange and Downton. 

By John Pollock, gardet er to James Dundas: —Grapes—Black Hamburg 
and White Frontignac. 

By Isaac B. Baxter:—Cherries—Red and White Currants—Gooseber- 
ries and Orange Haspberries. 

By James M. Tage:—Fine specimens of Moyamensing Strawberries. 

Albinus L. Felten :—Ten dishes, Strawberries, White Pine, Pine and 
other kinds, Red Currants, Cherries, Black Mulberries and Gooseberries. 

By Robert Kilvington :——Gooseberries. 

Vegetables.—By A. L. Felten:—A fine display. 

By William Grassie, gardener to C. P. Fox:—A few kinds. 

By Alexander Burnett, gardener to H. P. McKean: Mushrooms. 

By Jerome Graff, gardener to C. Cope:—'T'wo kinds forced Potatoes. 


THE FLORIST 
AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 


THE TULIP. 


In drawing the attention of your readers to this class of flowers, I would 
not wish, in this utilitarian age, to advocate the extravagant ‘‘'Tulipomania,”’ 
which raged with such epidemic force in Europe some two centuries ago, 
neither do I expect to establish so much enthusiasm, as is practised at the 
present day amongst the florists of Britain, but we may indulge more freely 
in the cultivation of this gorgeous flower, without intrenching upon the 
more needful necessities of existing society. Take it in all its variety, or 
the different modes of culture, and we have an acceptable subject, one wor- 
thy of our most careful attention. As a prize flower, it excels most others 
in its nobleness, beautiful texture, and feathery stripes, besides which there 
are several other species and varieties, that are equally interesting in a 
general sense. 

The word Tulip is derived from THoULYBUN, its Persian name, in which 
country it is abundant, and where it is considered an emblem of perfect love. 
CHARDIN says, “When a young man presents one to his mistress, he gives 
her to understand, by the general color of the flower, that his body is on 
fire with her beauty, and by the black base of it, that his heart is burned to 
a coal,” and this reminds me of a witty anecdote relating to our present 
subject. A lady and gentleman being in company in the garden, she asked 
him which flower he preferred, roses or tulips. Why, madam, he replied, if 
I may choose, I should prefer your “two lips” to all the roses in the 
world. 

Our present genus forms the type of the natural order Tulipacese, and 
belongs to the class Hexandria, and order Monagynia of Linnzus. Its 
geographical range is confined to the continent of Europe, and adjacent 
isles. The Tulipa Gesneriana, which is the one from which all the prize 
varieties have emanated, is a native of the Levant, but is found plentiful in 
Persia and common in Syria. The 7. suaveolens is a native of Southern 


21 


194 THE FLORIST AND 


Europe, and is the one most commonly used in pot culture, under the names 
Duc van Thol (single and double) and Tournsol, which last is the most 
handsome, being much larger and finer in color than Van Thol. All the 
genus is worthy of notice, but, besides the above mentioned, the species 
Oculis Solis, sylvestris, cornuta and proecox, may be particularly mentioned. 
There are also some very handsome and singular varieties, which have been 
produced from a mixture of the different species, designated Perroquets, 
producing large flowers with jagged or deeply-torn edges, and also others 
that are double, as Sweet scented yellow, La Belle Alliance, Extremité 
d’Or, La Candeur, Rex Rubrorum, Marriage de ma Fille, Grand For- 
midable, &c. All, with the exception of T. gesneriana, T. cornuta, and T. 
sylvestris, are early blowers, and may be used in pot culture, or the open 
ground. 

Tulips were formerly divided into so many classes, that it was often arbi- 
trary with the judges where they were placed, but there are at the present 
day only two principal divisions, viz.: Byblomens, those haying a white 
ground, with purple or rose markings, and Bizarres, those with yellow and 
brown colors. ‘These two are subdivided into Flamed, having the usual 
feathering on the margin, and a heavy stripe of the same color passing down 
the centre of each petal, and Feathered, having simply the feathering with- 
out the stripe. The criteria of a good tulip areas follows. 

The stem should be strong, elastic, and not less than twenty-four inches 
high ; the flower ought to be large, and contain six petals, which collectively 
form a handsome cup, the base being horizontal, and gradually rising into 
perpendicular, so as to compose a little more than the lower half of a globe, 
the edges ought to be entire, free from notch or serrature, and both the 
bottom and top of each petal well rounded and broad. The ground color 
at the bottom should be a clear white, if a Byblomen, or pure yellow in a 
Bizarre, and the markings ought to form a distinct feathering over the top, 
descending a portion of the way down the sides, without any break of the 
ground color on the edges. In a Flamed tulip, there ought to be a heavy 
stripe down the centre of each petal, the sides of which, towards the top, 
may expand from the main into distinct stripes, widening out as they ap- 
proach the margin, so as to unite as it were in the segment of a circle, and 
finally becoming a portion of the upper feathering. In the Meathered, the 
marking may end in a fine point in the centre of each petal, without the 
continuation of the stripe, and generally the feathering is more nearly con- 
fined to the edges of the petal. : — 

As reference has been made above to the *‘ Tulipomania,”’ as it has been 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 195 


justly termed, we may mention, for the sake of showing how far enthusiasm 
ean go, that in Holland, about the year 1635, when this madness was at the 
greatest. height, one root, called the Viceroy, was sold for 2,500 florins, 
another, the Semper Augustus, for 2,000 florins. One person agreed to 
give 4,000 florins, with a new carriage, two horses, and complete harness 
and yet another to give twelve acres of land for a single root. Think of 
this, ladies ; how would you like papa to become so ridiculously singular ? 

Thanks to our more sober senses, we can now admire the beauties of na- 
ture, and safely recommend the cultivation of this noble flower in its most 
perfeet and beautiful forms, without the risk of setting the world on fire, 
depriving our belles of their handsome equipages, or prevent them from re- 
ceiving their dowrys. The cultivation of the Tulip, like all other things, 
is simple when rightly understood. It may be planted in the open ground, 
grown in pots, or in glasses filled with water like the Hyacinth. 

Culture in the open ground.—If the early blooming and fancy varieties 
only are intended to be grown, the most suitable soil is a tolerably fertile 
one, with a well drained bottom, the bulbs being planted im October, and 
the surface covered through the winter with litter, which, however, should 
not be left on too long after the leaves appear above ground, or they will 
be injured, and the blooms destroyed; but to grow the fine prize sorts, 
some care is to be used in the compost and management all through. There 
is perhaps no flower deteriorates more than the finer tulips by neglect, but 
fortunately the requisite care is not very expensive or over tedious. The 
following practice has succeeded satisfactorily with the writer, and no doubt 
will do so with others, if attended to. About the beginning of’ October, 
choose an open and airy situation, mark out the size of the requisite bed, and 
excavate to the depth of twenty inches. If the bottom is not well drained it 
must be made so artificially, so that all the superfluous water may pass 
away, throw in twelve inches of a mixture composed of two-thirds sound 
friable earth of rather light substance, and one-third thoroughly rotted cow 
or horse manure, be sure that the dung is well decomposed or the colors 
will be liable to run; above this fill in to three inches higher than the 
surrounding surface, to allow for sinking afterwards. As the work pro- 
ceeds, throw in a little caustic air-slaked lime amongst the upper base, 
which will assist in destroying any insects that may be secreted, besides 
adding to the suitableness of the material for the intended purpose. The 
middle of November is the best time to plant. Choose well formed and 
solid bulbs, and after loosening the upper stratum up well, plant eight 
inches apart and four inches deep, smooth all over and when severe weather 


196 THE FLORIST AND 


sets in, cover the bed with litter or straw, or what is still better a coping of 
boards closed at the ends, which will more effectually keep off the wet and 
prevent the frost from penetrating. As soon as the plants appear above 
ground, the covering must be taken off, and here is again the advantage of 
a wooden covering, which can be removed at pleasure, the object being to 
give all the light and air possible, without the frost acting upon the foliage, 
for if once seriously injured, you may bid good bye to first class flowers for 
the season. Accept all genial rains, but reject sleety rain and snow, and 
when the flower buds begin to show colour, fix over an awning of light 
and thin canvas, which will prevent the blooms from losing their greatest 
beauty, and keep them much longer in flower. This covering should be 
raised sufficiently high to allow for walking under, and should be so con- 
structed as to roll up, in order to let in genial showers or the free air on all 
mild evenings. | 

Culture in pots.—This method is only resorted to for furnishing the window 
or greenhouse. The best kinds for this purpose are the early bloomers 
mentioned above. If a very early bloom be required, the bulbs should be 
potted not later than the middle of September, indeed it is best to pot early 
in all cases, which insures a healthy stock of roots before the tops are ad- 
vanced, and gives greater certainty of fine bloom. The neglect of this is 
the main cause of failure in most instances; bulbs if left to themselves in 
the open ground throw out a considerable quantity of roots before the growth 
proceeds upwards, and all the care and skill that may be employed, will not 
make up for a deficiency in this respect, consequently it behoves us to follow 
nature, as near as circumstances will allow. The most suitable soil is equal 
portions of fresh loam, and ‘thoroughly rotted cow manure. ‘To produce 
the best effect on the stage or in the window, it is best to place a single root 
in each small pot of a pint measure, which will admit of greater convenience 
for removing about at pleasure, or mixing the colors to better advantage. 
Place the bulbs so that they be just covered, and after fixing allin a dry and 
cool place, cover the whole with six inches of sand, rotten leaves, or spent 
tan bark; here let them remain until winter sets in, when they may be put 
into a cool cellar or other like place. If a succession of bloom be required 
the first lot may be removed about the middle of December into a tempera- 
ture of 45°, and when the tops have advanced a little, again into a warmer 
situation; a house where roses are being forced is very suitable at this stage. 
The remainder may be introduced at intervals of two weeks and treated in 
the same way. Keep near the glass and let the plants be freely exposed to 


. HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 197 


the sun, water freely when in active growth, and give once a week a little 
diluted guano, at the rate of one ounce to a gallon of water. 

Culture in glasses.—The time recommended for pot culture will also 
apply to this, choose the strongest bulbs, and after filling each glass with 
rain water, place a root on the top of each, so that it may just tuuch the 
water but not more, place in a cool dark cellar, and remove for succession 
as advised above. When the plants are in active growth, the water will 
require to be changed occasionally, and if a few drops of clear diluted guano 
be dropped into each fresh supply, the flowers will be finer, and the foliage 
much darker colored. 

Propagation.—The Tulip is only propagated from offsets, and by seed. 
Generally, there is one or more offsets to each root after blooming, but when 
it is desirable to increase faster, the bulb before being planted should have 
two or three incisions cut up perpendicularly from and through the root end, 
about one-fourth the length of the bulb, and be allowed to dry for two or 
three days. This is only advisable in extreme cases, and ought not to be 
resorted to in very choice sorts, unless from duplicate stock, as it destroys 
the bloom for the season, and there may be danger of loosing the root 
altogether, if not carefully done. To propagate from seed: When the 
seed vessel turns brown, the seeds are ripe. To have the least shadow of a 
chance for superior prize flowers from seed, it is requisite to choose from 
none but what are first rate, and generally it is best to save from the.most 
promising breeders, as they produce the most healthy and best marked off- 
spring. The seed may be sowed as soon as ripe, or kept in the pod till the 
following March, sow in a cold frame and cover lightly, using a light base 
mixed with a portion of vegetable mould. During growth, shade in bright 
sunshine and admit air freely at all times after the plants are well started. 
When ripened off, take up the small bulbs in the same way as blooming stock, 
and keep in a very dry cool room, mixed with a small portion of dry earth. 
In fature seasons use the same treatment as for flowering bulbs, with the ex- 
ception of shading at blooming time. It takes from four to five years before 
these seedling bulbs will bloom, and after this they will be only what are 
called “‘ breeders,” that is, having one color with an indistinct feathery 
marking ; however, in this state the forms “bottom,” and other good pro- 
perties may be seen, so that the spurious ones can be destroyed. Various 
methods are practised to “break”’ the colors, such as planting in other kinds 
of soil, mixing a quantity of lime rubbish with the earth, and growing at a 
distance from where raised, sometimes one and at other times another, has 
the desired effect, but whoever wishes to raise fine seedling tulips must have 


198 THE FLORIST AND 


patience, and none but an enthusiast will try it. There is one consolation, 
however, which is, when once brolseny the after progeny remains cae 
true to character. 
Wm. CHOoLTon, 
New Brighton, Staten Island. 


es THE PROPAGATION AND CULTIVATION OF THE 
MAGNOLIA. 


BY J. P. KIRTLAND, M. D. 


Several horticultural journals have recently directed public attention to 
the Magnolia, as a valuable ornamental tree. Too much cannot be said in 
its praise; but in all of the articles which have appeared upon it, there is 
discoverable an omission of the practical details necessary to be understood 
and followed, to insure success in any attempts at introducing it into our 
grounds. Ifthe amateur cultivator should rely on those grounds as guides, 
he would find his efforts, with most of the species and varieties of this 
interesting genus, to result in loss and disappointment. 

Meehan, in his very valuable work on ornamental trees, has in part 
supplied those omissions. Perhaps the following suggestions may afford 
some additional aid: 


Suacestion First.—Magnolias of much size and maturity cannot be 
transplanted with any great prospect of success. 


With the best of management, in favorable seasons, a small per centage, 
especially of the more shrubby or dwarfish kinds, may survive a removal ; 
yet they will usually linger in an unhealthy condition, between life and 
death, for a number of years. It then necessarily follows, that the stocks 
on which the more valuable kinds are to be propagated, should be either 
raised primarily on the location where they are destined to remain, or be 
transplanted there, while young and of small size. 

If the former plan be decided on, the ground must be prepared by. 
digging a hole from two to three feet deep, and four feet in diameter. This 
must then be filled with a compost, consisting of vegetable mould from the 
forest one part, and well decayed sods cut from a sandy soil, and containing 
little or no lime, two parts. When this compost is firmly settled, a dozen 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 199 


or more seeds of the Macanorra Acuminata should be deposited two 
inches from each other on the surface, and be covered one inch deep by 
riddling over them vegetable mould through a coarse sifter. On the surface 
may then be deposited a piece of board, a flat stone or a few bricks, in 
order to furnish shade and temporary protection. They must, however, be 
removed as early as the first of March, of the ensuing season. 

The best time for sowing the seeds, is soon as possible after they are 
liberated by the opening of their capsules, in the month of August. They 
may, however, be preserved a long time, and conveyed to great distances, 
if mixed with rotten-wood or moist loam, in a covered box. If permitted, 
under any circumstances, to become quite dry, their vitality will be 
destroyed. 

They may be successfully sown in a cold-frame, in the manner above 
recommended; and the yearling seedlings may subsequently be transplanted 
to their permanent locations. In the western States, where this species is 
indigenous, small seedlings of one season’s growth may be found in autumn 
in the yicinity of large trees, and can be easily detected by the form, color 
and flavor of their two large radical leaves; but in the spring, they will 
have disappeared, from the depredations of rabbits. 

Yearling seedlings can be safely removed, if a ball of earth be taken up 
with their roots; and if carefully invested with moist moss, and matting, 
they may be transported to any distance. 

When permanently located, they should be surrounded with a temporary 
erib of boards, say twenty inches square and eight high, which should 
contain a few inches of brush and old leaves, sufficient to shelter slightly 
the young tree. If rabbits resort to the ground, a lattice-work protection 
will be required. After two or three years, they will attain a size suffi- 
ciently large to receive grafts or buds of other species.. 


SUGGESTION SECOND.— To insure a vigorous and hardy growth of wood, 
and a profuse production of large and well-developed flowers, the stock 
must be of a kind adapted to the soil and climate, and, at the same time, 
one which will furnish the most abundant supplies of nutrition to the graft 
or scion 


The cultivator of the rose is aware how much better many of the delicate 
Bourbons and several of the Remontants will grow on a vigorous Manetti, 
Boursault, or Michigan stock, than on their own roots. A strong growing 
and hardy stock exerts a similar influence over many of the delicate and 
dwarfish species of the Magnolia. 


200 THE FLORIST AND 


Our indigenous MM. acuminata possesses all the requisites for this 
purpose. Of itself, it is a most beautiful tree. As a stock, it improves 
every variety and species budded or engrafted on it—at least so far as my 
acquaintance extends. 

The M. tripetala, propagated on its own roots, will grow very luxuri- 
antly for a few years in this vicinity, when the main stock will suddenly die, 
without any apparent cause. A number of less healthy sprouts will appear 
in its place the ensuing year, and after a short duration will in turn die, 
and their places will be filled with a succession of weakly growths, till at 
length the crown and roots will likewise perish. If propagated on the M. 
acuminata, I have no doubt this would be obviated, and the tripetala would 
become one of our most lofty and enduring species. 

The M. grandiflora is only half hardy at Philadelphia; yet I am inclined 
to hope, that if p-opagated on the acuminata, and slight protection afforded 
it dur'ng winter, it may be made to live both at New York and Cleveland. 
It is worthy of trial. 

In the vicinity of the latter city, the M. glauca, conspicua, soulangeana, 
purpurea, and Thompsonii, reared on their own roots, assume a shrubby or 
dwarfish habit; but the first three named, I have propagated on the stock 
of the acuminata, and they are all attaining the size and habits of middling 
sized trees. The latter two I have no doubt will pursue a similar course, 
under the same mode of propagation which I am about to extend to them. 

There are several species and varieties which I have not been able to 
obtain, that would succeed equally well in this locality, if treated in this 
manner. Among them are the Macrophylla, cordata, and auriculata. 

The acuminata, or “the cucumber tree,’ as it is termed at the west, will 
doubtless take the place of all other kinds for stocks. Seeds in any 
quantity can be procured in some parts of the western States. They should 
be procured at the time the capsules begin to open; and without permitting 
them to dry, they should be mixed with rotten-wood or moist earth, in which 
condition they may be shipped to any part of the globe. The seedlings 
may be fit to engraft or inoculate, when two or three years old. 

A week or two before they form their terminal buds, say about the 12th 
of July at Cleveland, buds inserted after the mode of inoculating the 
cherry, will frequently take. They should be tied in with coarse woolen 
yarn, in preference to bass-bark. The better method to propagate the 
kinds on this stock is by side grafting. 

For this purpose, the scions should be cut in February, and preserved in 
the usual method. Early in April, in this vicinity, they should be inserted. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 201 


The process is akin to whip-grafting, only the stock is left in its entire 
length. A slope two inches long is taken off from one side of the base of 
the scion. On this, a tongue is raised. A strip of bark and wood is next 
eut from one side of the stock, in length and size exactly adapted to the 
slope on the graft; and on it is also raised a tongue to coincide with that 
raised on the side of the graft. These cut surfaces of the scion and stock 
are then brought together, and their tongues adjusted, when they are to be 
secured by wrapping them with strips of cloth dipped in melted grafting 
wax. During the month of May or June, the buds of the graft will begin 
to expand, but not till long after those of the stock have fully opened. 

The circulation being preserved and kept up by leaving the stock entire, 
enables the surfaces of the graft and stock to unite; but if the’stock be 
shortened anterior to the occurrence of that union, the graft will rapidly 
perish. As soon as the union has apparently formed, and is manifested by 
the growth of the scion, the stock must be gradually cut in, but in so 
gradual a manner as not to give the tree too severe a shock. In five years 
time from planting the seed of the stock, I have had a fine bloom of an 
engrafted limb of a M. soulangeana; and at this date, though vegetation is 
suffering from a severe drought, this graft is so abundantly supplied with 
nutrition from the luxuriant cucumber stock, that it has formed a growth of 
three feet in length, and is now developing a second crop of flowers. 


Cleveland, Ohio, July 31, 1854. 


aor B® & Sneas 


& 


Amoné the valuable drawings of Chinese plants in the library of the 
Horticultural Society, is one of a dark rugged root, some ten inches long, 
and six inches wide at the broadest end, of which nothing more is known 
than that it was obtained from the public vegetable market. There can, 
however, be no doubt that it represents a Yam of some kind. | 

According to M. Stanislas Julien, as quoted lately by M. Decaisne, a 
Yam, called Chou-Ya, or Tchou-Yu, Tou-Tchou, Chau-Tchou, Chau-Yo, &c., 
is universally grown in China. That of Nankin is the largest, and of excel- 
lent quality ; another from the Chou country is still better. Its stems trail 
on the ground, the leaves are three-lobed; and in the autumn what are 
called fruits, but no doubt small tubers, appear among the leaves, and even- 
tually drop off. This is perhaps the root represented in the place referred 
to. There are, however, many other sorts. 


202 THE FLORIST AND | 


But the Chinese Yams have attracted no attention in Europe. It is pro- 
bable that they have been considered too tender, our notions of a Yam being 
formed from East and West Indian reports. It seems, however, that one 
at least of the Chinese Yams is as hardy as a Potato, and likely to become 
a formidable competitor with the Potato itself. 

M. Decaisne tells us that the French experiments with a Yam ‘nid 
from Shanghae, and called erroneously Dioscorea japonica, justify the ex- 
pectation that it will become a plant of real importance in cultivation. 
“Tf,” says M. Decaisne, “a new plant is to have a chance of becoming 
useful in rural economy, it must fulfil certain conditions, in the absence of 
which its cultivation cannot be profitable. In the first place, it must have 
been domesticated in some measure, and must suit the climate; moreover, 
it must, in a few months, go through all the stages of development, so as 
not to interfere with the ordinary and regular course of cropping; and 
finally, its produce must have a market value in one form or another. If 
the plant is intended for the food of man, it is also indispensable that 1t 
shall not offend the taste or the culinary habits of the persons among whom 
it is introduced. To this may be added that almost all the old perennial 
plants of the kitchen-garden have been abandoned in favor of annuals, wher- 
ever the latter could be found with similar properties; thus Lathyrus 
tuberosus, Sedum Telephium, and Cirsium oleraceum have given way before 
Potatoes, Spinage, and the like. Now, the Chinese Yam satisfies every one 
of these conditions. It has been domesticated from time immemorial; it is 
perfectly hardy in this climate (Paris); its root is bulky, rich in nutritive 
matter, eatable when raw, easily cooked either by boiling or roasting, and 
then having no other taste than that of flour (fécule.). It is as much a 
ready-made bread as the Potato, and it is better than the Batatas or Sweet 
Potato. Gardeners should therefore provide themselves with the new arri- 
val, and try experiments with it in the different climates and soils of France. 
If they bring to their task, which is of great public importance, the requi- 
site amount of perseverance and intelligence, I have a firm belief that the 
Potato Yam (Igname-Batatas) will, like its predecessor the Potato, make 
many a fortune, and more especially alleviate the distress of the lower 
classes of the people.” 

Testimony of this kind appears too important to be regarded lightly, and 
we are glad to second the recommendation of so judicious an experimentalist 
as M. Decaisne. When we consider how nearly our common Black Bryony 
(Tamus communis) is related to the Yams, the probability of the new plant 
becoming naturalized among us receives further support. We would also 


. HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 203 


suggest that all owners of ships trading with Shanghae, or other northern 
Chinese ports, should direct their captains to bring home a quantity of the 
Yams exposed for sale in the markets. We know that there are many 
varieties, possibly belonging to more species than one, and it is deserving 
of inquiry whether one may not suit the climate of Europe better than 
another. ; ; 

The species described by M. Decaisne is called by him Dioscorea Batatas, 
or Icname-Batate, and is described as having much the appearance of the 
common Tamus. Its stems are annual, but its roots, or more properly 
speaking rhizomes, are perennial, and directed downwards perpendicularly, 
sometimes to the depth of a yard, if the svil is loose enough to admit them. 
The haulm is about as thick as a goose quill, cylindrical, turning from right 
to left, and about two yards long, violet, with small whitish specks. When 
left to themselves the stems lie flat on the ground, and strike root very 
readily. The leaves are opposite, heart-shaped, and triangular, upon pur- 
ple stalks. The “roots” vary in length and thickness with the soil in 
which they grow. They may usually be compared to clubs, the blunt end 
of which is as big as the fist, but which tapers downwards till it is no bigger 
than the finger. Their skin resembles in color the well-known beverage 
coffee and milk, and is covered with numerous fibrous rootlets. | Under the 
skin is a white, opaline, very friable, slightly milky cellular mass, filled with 
flour, which softens and dries in cooking, till it acquires the taste and qual- 
ity of a potato, for which it might be mistaken. Each plant may produce 
several of these roots, though in general there are only two or three. 

M. Decaisne and his friends who have tasted this Yam think that no 
serious objection will be taken to the employment of it as food. The only 
question is whether a root which buries itself so deep in the ground will suit 
the habits of cultivators. It is not, however, easy to understand why, in 
Europe, the trifling mechanical difficulty of getting up such roots should be 
a hindrance, when the Chinese with their rude tools find the operation easy 
enough. In that country the Yam is grown on a great scale. M. Montigny, 
who sent it to France from Shanghae, calls it Sain-In, and says it is highly 
productive, the country people consuming it as largely as the Potato in Ku- 
rope. For propagation the smallest roots are set apart and pitted, to keep 
them from frost. In the spring the roots are taken out and planted in fur- 
rows pretty near each other in well prepared ground. ‘They soon sprout 
and form prostrate stems, which are made into cuttings as soon as as they 
are 6 feet long. As soon as the cuttings are ready a field is worked into 
ridges, along each of which is formed a small furrow, in which the pieces 


204 THE FLORIST AND ‘ 


of the stem are laid down and covered with a little earth, except the leaves. 
If the weather is rainy the cuttings strike immediately; if dry they must 
be watered till they do strike. In 15 or 20 days the roots begin to form, 
and at the same time lateral branches appear, which must be carefully re- 
moved from time to time, or the roots will not grow to the proper size. 

These directions are simple and easy enough to follow; so that we see no 
reason why, as M. Decaisne remarks, the plant should not be perfectly 
suited to field cultivation. The crop would hardly be more troublesome 
than a crop of Turnips.—G'ard. Chron. 


Se 
ORCHIDS. 


Orchidaceous plants, whether regarded for the beauty of their colors, the 
singularity of their organization, the grotesque forms which they assume, 
or the delicious fragrance of their blossoms, must be admitted to be among 
the most extraordinary vegetable productions of the globe. It is somewhat 
singular, that notwithstanding the abundance in which they are found, par- 
ticularly in the tropics, they should have escaped the observation of collect- 
ors so long, and equally so, that of those few which were brought into Hu- 
rope, so few of them were preserved for any length of time. 

In the early editions of the Hortus Kewensis, only fifteen species are 
recognized, and up to the beginning of the present century, only fifty-one 
species of exotic Orchidez are enumerated in our best plant catalogues. 
Nor was it till within the last ten or fifteen years, that the great influx of 
Orchidez has taken place, and that chiefly owing to a few spirited individu- 
als, who, struck with their extraordinary habits and beauty, made them their 
study, and encouraged their introduction. Amongst the most conspicuous 
of these is the Duke of Devonshire, who has been most liberal in his en- 
couragement, not only by sending out collectors to discover new sorts, but 
also by patronizing the cultivation of them at home, on a very extensive 
scale. 

Every year is adding to the number of new species imported, and also to 
the number of admirers of this grotesque group of plants, so that it has 
now become as fashionable to possess a collection of Orchidez as it was at 
the beginning of this century to possess one of heaths. 

The geographical distribution of Orchideous plants is not so very equally 
divided as that of some other natural orders. For in Europe, and other 
- temperate regions of the globe, they are less abundantly found, and toward 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 205 


the arctic regions disappear, while in and toward the tropics they abound in 
surprising numbers. In the temperate regions they are, for the most part, 
terrestrial, growing in meadows and pastures, while within the tropics they | 
are chiefly parasitical, or rather epiphytal, growing upon the trunks and 
branches of living trees and shrubs, and also upon the trunks of those that 
have falien. Some can hardly be said to have any fixed place of abode, 
and are found forming large tufts, firmly knit together by their numerous 
and tortuous roots, and suffering little from being thrown about as the pas- 
sing kick of the traveler may send them. 

A great number of tropical Orchideous plants are found adhering to the 
branches of trees in the most dense forests in an epiphytal manner, not 
fixed paratisically by their roots to the bark of the trees that support them. 
In such situations they are consequently shaded from direct light by the 
leaves and branches which surround them: they are also placed in a moist 
atmosphere and high temperature, ventilation and evaporation being almost 
precluded. 

To the fructification of Orchideous plants it may be necessary to make 
some allusion, inasmuch as it is still but imperfectly known; and although 
Mr. R. Brown, and a few others, seem to have the production of plants of 
this order from seeds at their command, still the generality of cultivators 
have failed in producing similar results, and not a few, otherwise intelligent 
and accurate in their botanical researches, deem the theory altogether 
visionary. . 

The singular plants which constitute this class are distinguished from al 
others by the anomalous structure of their flowers. These do not, as is 
usually the case, contain a certain number of stamens, surrounding a cen- 
tral ovarium or style, but on the contrary, are furnished with a solitary, 
fleshy, undivided process, round which the sepals radiate, and which supplies 
the place of stamens and style. The nature of this process has been va- 
riously explained; the modern opinion is, that it is formed by the accretion 
of the stamens and style into a single mass, and this opinion seems to be 
confirmed by analysis and analogy. Omitting, therefore, a notice of such 
theories respecting its nature as are opposed to that which is now received 
as the most correct, it will suffice to explain a little in detail the opinion 
which is adopted in this work. The central process, called the columna or 
column, is understood to be formed by the filaments of three stamens sur- 
rounding a style, and by mutual accretion firmly united with it, and with 
each other, into a solid mass. Of these three stamens, it most frequently 
happens that the two lateral are sterile, and not furnished with even the 


206 - THE FLORIST AND 


vestige of an anthera, and that their presence is not indicated by more than 
two irregular excrescences, as in Orchis, or by the same number of small 
appendages, as in Satyrium, or by two horn-like or tooth-like processes, 
present in several of the genera, with waxy pollen masses; it even happens, 
and not unfrequently, that no vestige of them remains. But in Cypripe- 
dium, both are fertile, and bear perfect anthers, while the central stamen iS 
barren and foliaceous. ne 

When the lateral stamens are, as above stated, abortive, which is the most 
common form of the column, the central stamen bears at its upper extremity 
an anther, which is either movable or fixed firmly in its place. The pollen 
which this contains, assumes three very distinct appearances in different 
tribes. It is either granular, dividing into many separable small pieces, as 
in Orchis ; or powdery, consisting of an infinite number of granules, as in 
Spiranthes ; or waxy, when it consists of a few large concrete masses, as in 
Epidendrum. The stigma is most frequently concave, and placed nearly 
under the anther, but in such a manner that there is no contact between it 
and the pollen. In what way, therefore, fecundation can take place among 
truly gynandrous plants, is one of those mysterious contrivances of nature 
which have not as yet been explained. It is generally believed to take place 
by absorption in some undiscovered manner, before the flowers expand ; but 
it is extremely difficult to understand how this can occur-in many genera.— 
Hort. Review. 


—— 


THE SYMMETRY OF VEGETATION. 


The same principles are manifest among flowers. A flower is a body in 
which that system of equipoise, of which symmetry is the great result, is as 
clearly traceable as in branches or leaves, or in the veins of leaves. Hither 
one-half of a flower balances the other, or one series of organs alternates 
with another, or any deviation from symmetry that occurs in one part, is 
immediately conpensated for by some peculiar development specially pro- 
vided in another part. Take a blossom of the common Goose-foot (Cheno- 
podium). It consists of five slender arms or stamens, which are exactly 
alike, and opposite which are five other external parts, forming a star with 
five rays, the two series corresponding precisely the one with the other. This 
is one of the simplest of known forms; should a flower be reduced much 
lower, there is scarcely room for the manifestation of special symmetry. 
The most complicated structures are merely different in degree. In the 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 207 


Rose, in the Crowfoot, in the Magnolia, or in the Water-lily itself, the 
same class of facts pervades the organization. Among those plants in which 
augmented number produces a very complex condition is the Verticord. In 
this flower we have five fringed bodies on the outside of the whole; those 
bodies consist each of five arms, of which the left and right external arms 
correspond with each other, and the second inner left corresponds with the 
second inner right arm; so that we begin with a structure of five parts, 
each of which is subdivided into five others. In the next place five more 
parts are placed within and between the first, as if to insure the requisite 
balance. Then come 10 (twice five) other bodies (scales), which stand, five 
opposite and five between the second series of five. Finally, we have 10 
other parts (twice five again), completing the symmetry of the whole struc- 
ture, and alternating with the 10 scales which preceded them; the whole 
presenting a striking example of the way in which, in a complicated struc- 
ture, the principles of equipoise and symmetry are maintained. Were it 
possible to weigh the corresponding parts we should, no doubt, find their 
weights the same, as well as their magnitude form. The numerical propor- 
tions of such a flower are (6x5) +54(5x2) + (5x2). The red Brug- 
mansia offers an instance of a more simple arrangement. In this flower 
we do not at first perceive any symmetry except that the end of the long 
tubular corolla is divided into five equal lobes, which, if they had been 
formed by rule and compass, could not be more exactly alike. On the out- 
side of this corolla, upon each of its five lobes, are three ribs, in all fifteen 
or 5x 3; and this plant never produces any other number. Upon opening 
it we find the same number, five, still prevalent in the stamens; and the 
external cup or calyx is also in reality divided into five triangular teeth, 
although, owing to the way in which the teeth adhere, this is not at first 
sight apparent. The fundamental number still being five, this structure is 
represented by 54+(5x3) 45. All these remarkable examples of floral 
symmetry seem to show that there is a centrifugal force operating in the 
formation of flowers, which, being equal in all directions, can scarcely fail 
to produce such a result. In the ripe fruit of the Apple, no symmetrical 
arrangement of parts is at first apparent; but it once had a perfectly regu- 
lar structure, in which all the parts were exactly balanced, and even when 
ripe its symmetry is visible to the eye of intelligence. At its end will be 
found five points, which represent the five external divisions that originally 
belonged to it. If the fruit is cut across, the five-pointed star in the 
centre indicates the symmetrical number of the Apple to be five. If we 


count the parts in the Apple blossom, we find five outer divisions in its 


208 THE FLORIST AND 


calyx; five thin delicate plates next succeed as the corolla; then 20 threads 
for the stamens; and, finally, five other central points or arms complete the 
structure ; all equal and alike in each series, all placed in a certain fixed 
relation to each other around a common centre, which itself corresponds 
with the surrounding organs. This structure is 5+5+(5x4) +5. Inan 
ear of corn the same kind of symmetry exists, although more difficult to 
discover. Each grain stands in perfectly symmetrical relation to the 
others; one right, one left; each a little higher than the preceding. Even 
the small scales of chaff which enclose the grains are placed in an equally 
symmetrical position with respect to each other. The demonstration of 
this, however, involves minute details, which need not be entered upon at 
present. When properly understood it assists in further proving that sym- 
metry is a fundamental law in plants, and that the most dissimilar forms of 
vegetation obey that law.—Professor Lindley’s Symmetry of Vegetation. 


GROWING ORCHIDS FROM SEEDS. 


At the present time there are few subjects connected with plant growing 
on which there is less recorded information, than that of growing Orchids 
from seeds. I am not aware that there is any case on record of hybridisa- 
tion having been affected among Orchids, though there seems no doubt that 
such could be accomplished by careful manipulation, an inference I draw 
from reasoning analogically on experiments, made here to get seed. Many 
of our indigenous Orchids appear to seed freely, whilst comparatively few 
exotic species among our cultivated collections produce seed, circumstances 
suggestive of the idea that the latter require artificial assistance, which can 
be readily afforded, by carefully applying the pollen masses to the viscid 
face of the column and rostellum. But whether the seeds of hardy Orchids 
be generally imperfect, or the necessary circumstances for vegetation, and 
the subsequent growth of the young plants wanting, we certainly do not 
find crops of young orchids growing spontaneously in various stages of 
growth, as occurs with most other endogens, though, when orchid seed does 
vegetate under favourable circumstances, a very large number of the 
myriads of extremely minute seeds contained in the ovaries are perfect, 
whether artificially impregnated or not. Within the last five years, seed- 
lings of the following species have been raised in the Orchid-house, at 
Glassnevin, namely, Epidendrum elongatum, and crassifolium, Cattleya 
Forbesii, and Phaius albus, the seeds of which all vegetate freely. The 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 209 


manner of sowing the seeds, and treating the young seedlings, has been to 
allow the fine dust-like seed to fall from the ovaries as soon as they show 
symptoms of ripeness, which is readily known by the ovaries bursting open 
on one side. When this takes place, they are either taken from the plant 
and shaken gently over the surface of the other Orchid-pots, on the loose 
material used for growing them in, or on the pots prepared for the purpose, 
after which, constant shade, a steady high temperature, with abundance of 
moisture, are all requisites which are absolutely necessary to insure success. 
In the course of eight or nine days after sowing, the seeds, which, at first 
had the appearance of a fine white powder, begin to assume a darker  co- 
lor to the naked eye, and, if looked at with a Codrington, or even a sim- 
ple lens, evident signs of vegetation may be perceived, which increase until 
the protrusion of the young radicle and cotyledon takes place, which varies 
from a fortnight to three weeks. From this period of their growth, the 
young plants grow rapidly, and the rootlets lay hold of whatever material 
is supplied tothem. If the seeds happen, either accidently or intentionally, 
to be made to vegetate on bare wood, as in some instances has been the case, 
the young roots extend themselves in different directions, adhering closely 
to the bark, and making great progress compared with the growth of the stems, 
thus affording beautful examples of the manner in which epiphytical plants 
fix themselves so firmly on the highest boughs of lofty trees in tropical 
forests, as well as accounting for the isolated positions they frequently oc- 
cupy in their natural state. The principal difficulty to contend with in 
rearing the young seedlings has been found to consist in their treatment 
during the first year, particularly the winter months, when they are very 
liable to perish, if anything approaching to extremes of moisture, draught, 
cold, or even heat be permitted; though a steady medium of all those re- 
quisites is necessary. The second year’s growth has been one during which ~ 
the plants made much progress, and the only two kinds which have been 
brought to a flowering state have bloomed the third season. These are 
Epidendrum crassifolium and Phaius albus. D. M. Gtlasnevin Botante 
Garden, Dublin, in Flor. Cabinet. | 


—_<——— 
SWEET SCENTED VERNAL GRASS. 


We have been furnished by Dr. Emerson with a copy of the following. 
communication, addressed by him to the editors of the Boston Cultivator, 
where it was published in the number for the 22d of April. It relates to a 
subject particularly interesting to those living in the vicinity of Philadel- 

22 


¥ 


910 THE FLORIST AND 


phia, where opportunities exist for testing the accuracy of the author’s obser- 
vations, and the present time is the very best in all the year for doing so. 
Reference is made to communications upon the subject published elsewhere, 
but those who possess the Farmer’s Encyclopedia—and no intelligent 
farmer should be without a copy of this excellent work, for constant refer- 
ence upon practical matters connected with agriculture—may find in it a 
good deal of information relative to the grass in question, under the heads 
of Anthoxanthum odoratum and grasses. 

Messrs. Eprtors:—One of the late numbers of the Boston Cutivator 
contains a pargraph which runs as follows: ‘‘Several papers are recom- 
mending the sweet-scented vernal grass, (Anthoxanthum Odoratum,) as a 
good pasture grass for cows. We hope no one will be induced ‘to try it, as 
there are many better kinds. It is a mistake that the excellence of the 
Philadelphia butter is owing to the grass. The idea never could have pro- 
ceeded from an observing farmer. Cows are not fond of it, and only eat 
it when better cannot be had. The June grass, (poa pratensis,) abounds in 
many pastures around Philadelphia. It is one of the sweetest and most 
nutritive grasses, and is well known to be one of best for —— dairy and 
fattening cattle.” 

These summary conclusions I regard as hastily drawn, and trust they will 
not generally be received without further examination of the subject, which 
is one, I conceive, not a little interesting to those especially devoted to agri- 
culture, but also to the community at large, everybody being more or less 
concerned in the improvement of dairy products. Laying claim, as I do, 
to be the first who pointed out the sweet-scented vernal grass as furnishing 
the proximate cause of that delightful flavor for which the butter in the 
Philadelphia and many European markets is distinguished, I do not feel 
content to remain silent under the taunt thrown out against ‘my capacities 
for observation. My opinions upon the subject were not made up in a flash, 
but the results of years of close inquiry, examination of pasture-fields and 
meadows where the cows fed, which produced the highest flavored butter 
brought to our market, and finally to chemical analysis, and crucial experi- 
ments, as I regard them, made under my direction by many persons in 
many places. The late Mr. Skinner, whose agricultural writings and pub- 
lications have done so much good in extending useful information throughout 
our country, asked me several years ago what it was that made Phila- 
-delphia spring butter so much better than any other to be found else- 
where in his extensive travels in the United States? Excellent butter he 
had met with in several places, but none that possessed the exquisite flavor 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. OA 


of Philadelphia butter. Having spent some time in the investigation of the 
subject, I communicated to him my views, and these may be found by any 
one who will take the trouble to refer to the Farmer’s Library, for April, 
1845, or the Patent office Report for 1849-50: After several years addi- 
tional attention and observation, since my first publication, I find no reason 
to change any of the opinions formerly expressed. These have been exten- 
sively published in newspapers and agricultural periodicals, but, so far as I 
know, have never been assailed or treated so ungraciously as in the para- 
graph quoted from the Boston Cultivator. The person who furnished the 
article assumes to know something about the grasses in the pastures of this 
Vicinity, and speaks of the “June grass,” (poa pratensis,) as abounding in 
them. This he describes as one of the sweetest and most nutritive of 
grasses, and would seem to infer that it may possibly furnish the proximate 
principle which confers on Philadelphia butter its peculiarly fine flavor. Not 
having myself ever heard of a grass in this locality designated as the 
‘“‘ June grass,” I have asked others whose residence in the country ought to 
have made them acquainted with a grass described as abounding. But no 
one appears to know anything of June grass. Poa pratensis, or common 
green grass, that which constitutes the almost universal herbage of every 
other portion of our country, exists around Philadelphia, though here its 
quantity is limited by its rival in the sward. Like all the poa family, the 
common green grass, or poa pratensis, 1s destitute of any fragrant or aro- 
matic principle, though it certainly gives out a grateful odor when newly 
mown. The sweet-scented vernal grass, however, possesses a distinct aro- 
matic principle, which can be readily distilled from it, and the basis of which 
is the well known benzoic acid, familiarly known to apothecaries as the 
Flowers of Benzoin. Within a circle of many miles diameter around Phi- 
ladelphia, every field left out of culture a few years, becomes coated with 
its sweet verdure—the soil being filled with latent seed. The longer the 
meadows or upland pastures are left unbroken by the plough, the greater 
the predominance of this fragrant herbage. It is precisely these old pas- 
ture grounds, of twenty or thirty years standing, that furnish the highest 
flavored butter, and that, in the latter part of May, when the grass is in 
bloom, fills the surrounding country with a rich, vanilla-like fragrance. 

In the communications published by me relative to this grass, I have ex- 
pressly stated that it was not to be regarded as a first-rate hay grass, or cul- 
tivated separately as such. But as a pasture grass, | deem it valuable for 
many reasons, among which are the following: 1. It furnishes the first 
spring bite, so grateful to the stock of all kinds. Cows are very fond of it 


212 THE FLORIST AND 


until its culms or stems become dry, when these are pushed aside for fresher 
grass. 2. It possesses an aromatic principle capable of communicating a 
delightful flavor to the milky products of the cow, as well as to the meat of 
sheep and other stock grazed upon it. It furnishes a fine aftermath and 
rich autumnal pasturage in moist seasons. These, I think, are sufficient — 
reasons for regarding the sweet-scented vernal grass, making, as it does, an 
important portion of all the best pasture lands of Europe, worthy the atten- 
tion of the American farmer. As the seed sells readily here for seventy-five 
cents to one dollar per pound, a bushel weighing six pounds, being sufficient 
to sow two or three acres, some might think this alone a sufficient induce- 
ment to enter into its culture. Hoping that those who may read this, and 
have the opportunity, will refer to my former communications relative to 
this grass, I remain, 


Respectfully, : 
G. Emerson, Philadelphia. 
[ Farm Journal. 


VINE MILDEW. 


The mildew known by the name of Oidium Tuckeri, which proves so de- 
structive to Grapes, consists of a net work (spawn, thallus, mycelium) of 
white and very fine filaments, which cover the green and healthy parts of 
the Vine, and occasion the formation of brown or black blotches. From 
these filaments, which are all on the surface of the epidermis of the vegeta- 
ble nourishing them, arises a forest of small, simple, erect, cellular stems, 
of which the last articulation quickly becomes a large oval cell, capable of 
propagating the Oidium like a seed. 

Independent of these reproductive bodies, the Oidium Tuckeri possesses 
brown fruits, usually pedicellate, the coatings of which are membranes com- 
posed of cells, and containing an immense number of very small seeds, 
which likewise readily germinate. These fruits are usually larger than the 
terminal seeds just spoken of; but their size does not often exceed that of 
the latter ; resembling them in form, they are frequently borne on the same 
footstalk, so that one might imagine they resulted from the transformation 
of the primitive seeds. M. Cesati was the first that I know of who recog- 
nized the existence of these fruits, but he did not suspect that they be- 
longed to the Oidium, and he took them for the reproductive organs of a 
distinct sort of mildew, which he called Ampelomyces quisqualis. M. Amici 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. | 213 


has since attributed them to the Oidium Tuckeri, of which he thinks they 
are the most perfect organs of generation. I have myself seen the organs 
in question on diseased Vines in the neighborhood of Paris. I have not 
only seen them as other observers have, sometimes elongated, sometimes 
globular, but I also perceived that among the globular there were some large 
ones which were perfectly spherical and sessile on the byssus which produces 
them. These observations have led me to conceive quite another idea of 
the Oidium Tuckeri than that admitted by those authors, who, up to the 
present time, have been considered as authorities on the subject. 

There is a sort of mildew common in our country which, in its first stage, 
is not in any way different from the fungus nourished by the diseased Vine. 
The Erysiphes, as they are now called, present, for the most part, ovoid ter- 
minal seeds, and also brown many-seeded conceptacles similar to those above 
mentioned. By means of numerous observations, made principally on the 
E. pannosa, Knautiz, guttata, adunca, holosericea, Berberidis, Prunastri, 
lamprocarpa, and Marti, I ascertained that the fruits in question assume 
various forms in the same species of Erysiphe; that they are cylindrical, 
elongated, simple or two-celled, naked, or surmounted with beaded cells, 
which are ovoid, roundish, or even perfectly spherical; that among the lat- 
ter some are without any filiform appendages, whilst others are furnished 
with the same distinctive hairs as the thecigerous fruits, and resemble them 
so much as not to be distinguishable by their external characters only. 

Many mycologists still doubt whether the ovoid seeds which cover with a 
white dust the thread-like thallus, on which, at a later period, the ascopho- 
rous conceptacles of the Erysiphe appear, do really belong to these fungi. 
They believe that these seeds, and the white byssus which produces them, 
constitute together a distinct and complete plant, a fertile Oidium, of which 
the Erysiphe is only a parasite, or a subsequent. companion. They main- 
tain that fungi have only one set of reproductive organs; but this opinion 
is every day losing credit. 

Several very strong reasons are now opposed to Erysiphes being consid- 
ered as parasites, or the usual companion of various kinds of Oidium. 

In the first place, the association of existence observed in the case of 
Erysiphe and the so-called Oidium—for instance, between EH. pannosa and 
Q. leuconium, and between E. graminis and O. monilioides, &c.—is so con- 
stant that it would imply a necessary relation between these minute plants; 
so that if the Oidium is a different plant from Erysiphe, the latter must 
certainly be a parasite on the former. Besides one cannot distinguish in 


214 THE FLORIST AND 


the mycelium which bears at the same time the necklace beads of the Oidi- 
um, and the fruits of the Erysiphe, filaments peculiar to either; for, by 
careful examination , it will be perceived that the conceptacles of the Erysi- 
phe actually proceed from the same threads which elsewhere give rise to the 
generating pedicels of the naked spores. 

In the second place, in order to be certain that there is no real parasitism 
in the case, and that there are not two distinct plants associated together, 
but only one endowed with several organs of generation, it is sufficient to 
consider the many-seeded fruits before spoken of, which vary so much in 
their form that they present every possible intermediate stage between the 
spores of the so-called Oidium and the ascophorous conceptacles of Hrysi- 
phe, the most perfect reproductive organs which nature has given to these 
fungi. yi 

These many-seeded fruits being thus present in the Oidium in the shape 
of the separate articulations of the necklaces of spores, and on fertile Erysi- 
phe as concepticles exteriorly identical with their perithecia, evidently unite 
Oidium to Erysiphe, and furnish the best proof that that they are one and 
the same genus. In other words, the organs in question do not, as M. Am- 
ici would induce us to believe, solely constitute the reproductive apparatus 
of Oidium, supposed to be a peculiar genus, but they really belong to Erysi- 
phe as much as the naked spores of Oidium, and represent a mode of prop- 
agation intermediate between that by spores and that by thecigerous con- 
ceptacles. 

From this fact it may be concluded that Erysiphes, like many other fungi, 
possess at least three distinct modes of propagation, and three special sets 
of organs for that purpose. In the order of their successive development, 
the first and most simple is that which consists in naked spores, disposed in 
necklace-like rows, which I call conrp1a ; then come conceptacles of various 
forms, full of innumerable and very fine seeds, and.to which I have given 
the name of pycnrpra; and finally, the more perfect globular, black spo- 
RANGIA are produced, in which one or more few-seeded thecz are engen- 
dered. 

This being admitted, it is evident that the Oidium Tuckeri, with its naked 
terminal spores and its many-seeded fruits, represents an Erysiphe reduced 
to its two secondary modes of propagation; so that the most important 
blank remaining to be filled up in the history of this enemy of the Vine 
consists in determining to what species of Erysiphe it belongs. Now, until 
its ascophorous fruits shall have been observed, the determination of its spe- 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 215 


cies cannot be made in a satisfactory manner, for its two other organs of 
reproduction are insufficient to distinguish it from a great many other con- 
generous plants, possessing identical organs.* 

If the fungus on the Vine is an Erysiphe, we need not be eed at 
the damage which it does. Erysiphes are all true parasites; + and they 
always cause diseases more or less serious in the plants which nourish them. 

No one is ignorant of the injurious effects produced by Erysiphe Humuli 
on the Hop, or how prejudicial E. bicornis is to the Maple, as well as E. 
clandestina to the common Hawthorn, and E. Pisi to late Peas, &c. 

The disease usually called the mildew, so formidable to the Peach tree, 
is apparently caused by nothing else than Erysiphe pannosa, a species which 
is also prejudicial to the Rose tree; this mildew is likewise richin conidia, 
pycnidia, and sporangia. There has never been any hesitation, so far as I 
know, in attributing to these various Erysiphes the atropry, the organic 
malformation, and the sterility with which their victims have been afflicted; 
wherefore, then, should the Erysiphe which attacks the Vines be less capa- 
ble of inflicting injury than its fellows, and why should we seek to explain 
otherwise wel by its action the disorganization of the Vines thus attacked? 
If the Vines were supposed to be diseased before the appearance of the 
parasite, the same supposition, notwithstanding its improbability, must be 
made not only in the case of all the other plants, wild,or cultivated, which 
nourish Erysiphes, but also as regards those at whose expense Uredo, Usti- 
lago, Rhytisma, and a host of other parasites live. 

It may undoubtedly be admitted that these do not attack indiscriminately 
all the individuals of the species on which they live, and that the physiolo- 
gical condition of the individuals, varying with age, situation, seasons, and 
other circumstances, exercises some influence in the development of fungi; 
but this general proposition, which would in several repects be justified by 


* To whatever species of Erysiphe the one which lives on the Vine be referred, its barren- 
ness in ascophorous fruits cannot be a special character; for several are known, such as H. 
Martii, E. communis, E. lamprocarpa, &c., which are frequently the same in this respect, 
either owing to the plants which bear them, or the situations where these plants are gr owing, 
or to other circumstances which have escaped our observation. 


+It will be readily understood that, among several species, the filaments of the mycelium 
are provided with small rounded appendages, which are probably organs of suction. We have 
more especially observed them in Erysiphe Martii, and in E. communis. M. Gasparini, and 
afterwards M. Mohl, have seen several such in the Vine mildew, where, in fact, they can be 
readily found. 


216 THE FLORIST AND 


the mode of life proper to many of these fungi, appears no longer to hold 
good when their enormous increase assumes the character of an universal 
plague, which constitutes a phenomenon as far beyond our explanation, as it 
is above our comprehension.—JZ. Tulasne, in Comptes fas ape October 
17th, 1858. 


SKETCH OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE MOST IMPORTANT 
OF THE PLANTS YIELDING FOOD. 


There is not one region among the foregoing which has not been com- 
pelled to deliver up some of its. inhabitants for the decoration of our plea- 
sure grounds, or to the service of Science in our Botanic Gardens; and 
although we are obliged to afford artificial warmth in winter to those from 
the proper tropical kingdoms of Martius, Jacquin, Adanson, Reinwardt, 
and Roxburgh, and even to protect them from the unpropitious climate in 
summer, yet there remains a great number of plants from all parts of the 
earth, and the mountain plants, at least, from the tropics, which when culti- 
vated by us in the open air, seem to corroborate the proposition, that Man 
is, in this respect, lord of Creation, and that howsoever Nature may have 
arranged the vegetable carpet of the eatth, he has the power to alter this 
arrangement according to his liking, and, above all, for his service. But it 
is not so; and the facts on which the statement is founded are but illusory 
when we look, not at a little spot of earth like a Botanical Garden, but at 
cultivation on a large scale, which alone is really of importance. 

Here, Man again reassumes his character of a helpless creature; his ac- 
tivity in plowing and manuring is but an insignificant aid to the prosperity 
of cultivated plants, to which climatal variations prescribe as distinct ranges 
of distribution as to the wild Flora, and which the favorable or unfavorable 
influence of a season brings to luxuriant development or destroys. All over 
the globe has man, for the supply of necessary food, selected most solely 
summer plants, that is, such plants as complete their whole vegetative pro- 
cesses, or at all events, the development of all the parts containing nutrient. 
matter, within the course of a few months. By this means he has rendered 
himself independent, in the half tropical regions of the evil action of the. 
dry season, and in the higher latitudes of the destructive influence of cold, 
and thus insured the possibility of cultivating plants, which there must be 
killed by the drought of summer, here by the cold of winter. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. Q17 


Setting aside the cultivation of fruits which serve rather pleasure than 
necessity, there remain but three aborescent vegetables in the whole world 
which can be included among the true food-plants, namely, the Bread-fruit, 
the Cocoa-nut and the Date, which actually furnish the chief proportion of 
the food of great bodies of men, and over widely-extended areas, and thence 
have become objects of culture; the Cycadacew and Sago-palms, on account 
of their starchy parenchyma, can at most perhaps be taken into our reckon- 
ing only in a very limited circle in the East Indies. 

All the rest of the food-plants are either such as possess a subterraneous, 
usually tuberous stem, which’ sends up shoots above the soil, persisting but 
a few months, on which develope flowers and fruit, while during the remain- 
ing time, sleeping, as it were, beneath the protecting coverlet of earth, it 
sets the disfavor of the climate at defiance, or such as die at the end of a 
short period of vegetation, and insure the future reproduction, in the slumber- 
ing germ of the seed. To the former belong, for instance, the Potato, derived 
from the Cordilleras of Chili, Peru, and Mexico; to the latter, almost all 
our corn-plants. 

One plant alone distinguishes itself among the cultivated plants by a 
peculiar mode of vegetation, a plant which was perhaps the earliest gift of 
Nature to Man awakening to life, and thus the object of the earliest cul- 
ture, | mean the Banana.* -And this plant was not merely the first, but 
the most valuable gift of Nature; its slightly aromatic, sweet, and nutritive 
fruits are the sole, or at least the chief food of the major part of the inhabi- 
tants of the hotter regions. A creeping subterraneous root-stalk sends out 
on high, from lateral buds, a shaft fifteen to twenty feet long, which con- 
sists merely of the rolled-up, sheath-like leaf-stalks, bearing the velvet-like 
glancing leaves, often ten feet long and two feet broad; the midrib of the 
leaf alone is firm and thick, but the blade of the leaf on either side so deli- 
cate, that it is readily torn by the wind, whence the leaf acquires a peculiar 
feathery aspect. Among the leaves presses up the rich cluster of flowers, 
which, within three months after the shoot has risen, forms from 150 to 180 
ripe fruits, about the size and form of a Cucumber. The fruits weigh, alto- 
gether, about 70 or 80lbs., and the same space which will bear 1000lbs. of 
Potatoes, brings forth, in a much shorter time, 44,000lbs. of Bananas; and 
if we take account of the nutritious matter which this fruit contains, a sur- 
face which, sown with Wheat, feeds one man, planted with Bananas affords 
sustenance for five and twenty. Nothing strikes the European, landing in 


Se a SS SS 


*Musa sapientum. 


218 THE FLORIST AND 


a tropical country, so much as the little spot of cultivated land round a hut, 
which shelters a very numerous Indian family. 

Not till long after did Man learn to know and cultivate he gifts of Ceres, 
It must, in fact, surprise us, at present, to see that but a few species of a 
single family of plants furnish the principal food of the greater proportion 
of mankind, namely, the so-called Corn-plants or Cerealia, of the family of 
Grasses. This family includes nearly 4,000 species, and yet not twenty of 
them are cultivated for the food of Man. In their real nature, these culti- 
vated Grasses are all summer plants, but varieties have been obtained from 
some of the most important of them, which, in the proper chmate, sown in 
autumn, germinate and pass the winter under the warm covering of snow, 
so that they are in a condition to shoot out strongly in the spring, while the 
soil is being prepared for the other summer plants. Bearing in mind these 
exceptions, it may be said, that the prosperity of all the Cerealia is depend- 
ent upon the temperature of the summer, or period of vegetation; and if 
we lay down their distribution on a map of the earth, it exhibits a girdle 
which does not deviate so much from the course of the Isotheral lines as 
many other conditions of vegetation. 

But the conditions of temperature under which the Corn-plants vegetate, 
may perhaps be more accurately unfolded than is possible through a plan of 
the Isotheral lines. In Egypt, on the banks of the Nile, Barley is sown 
at the end of November, and harvested at the end of February, the period 
of vegetation therefore amounts to about ninety days, and the mean tempe- 
rature of this season is about 69°48’, In Tuqueres, near to Cumbal, under 
the equator, the time of sowing in the mountains, for Barley, is about the 
Ist of June, the time of harvest, the middle of November; the mean tem- 
perature of this vegetating season of 168 days, is 50°12’. At Santa Fe 
de Bogota they number 122 days between seed-time and harvest, with a 
mean temperature of 57° 24’. If now the number of days 1s multiplied by 
the figures of the mean temperature, we obtain 6282 for Egypt, 843326 for 
Tuqueres, for Santa Fe 648948, therefore, as nearly the same number as 
the uncertainty in the estimate of the days, the accurate mean temperature 
and the want of knowledge whether or not the same kind of Barley is cultiva- 
ted in all the places, will allow us to expect. Similar results are obtained 
for Wheat, Maize, the Potato, and other cultivated plants., We may express 
these results thus: Every cultivated plant requires a certain quantity of 
heat for its development, but it is the same thing whether this heat is dis- 
tributed over a shorter or longer space of time, so that certain limits are 
not exceeded; for where the mean temperature sinks below 36° 24’, or 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 219 


where it rises above 71° 36’ Barley will no longer ripen. Consequently, to 
@fine accurately the conditions of temperature which a plant requires to 
maintain it in a flourishing condition, we must state within what limits its 
period of vegetation may vary, and what quantity of heat it requires. This 
most remarkable circumstance was first observed by Boussingault, but unfor- 
tunately, we as yet possess not nearly sufficiently accurate accounts of the 
conditions of culture, in the various regions of the earth, to enable us to 
follow out this ingenious view in all its details. 

I have chosen the Barley as an example in the preceding remarks, be- 
cause it has the widest range of distribution of all the Cerealia, and is culti- 
vated from the extreme limits of culture in Lapland, to the heights imme- 
diately beneath the equator. But it has by no means the same importance 
everywhere that it has in the northern region, where, in a little narrow 
zone, it appears as the sole bread-corn; and in the following observations 
on the distribution of the more important Cerealia, it will be considered 
only in reference to this last point. In Lapland and northern Asia, Rye 
soon appears beside it, but by the inclemency of the climate confined to fa- 
vorable years, and therefore not properly to be regarded as the principal 
food. First in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, does the Rye be- 
come the peculiar bread-corn; and Wheat takes its place beside it in the 
north of Great Britain and Germany, as the Rye before joined Barley. 
In the centre of Germany, in the south of Great Britain, in France, and 
in a wide range toward the Hast, including the whole of the Caspian Sea, 
Wheat is the prevailing cultivated plant, which, in the basin of the Medi- 
terranean and throughout North America, is associated with Maize. Rice 
takes the place of the latter in Egypt and in northern India, and holds 
undisputed rule in the peninsulas of India, in China, Japan, and the East 
Indian Islands, shares it in the west coast of Africa with Maize, which, on 
the other hand, is the exclusively cultivated corn-plant of the greatest part 
of tropical America, with only some unimportant exceptions. In southern 
America, Africa and Australia, Wheat again enters the field, with the de- 
creasing temperature. The culture of Zef* and Tocusso,} in Abyssinia, 
of Millet{ in western Africa and Arabia, as well as of Hleusine,§ and Millet|| 
in the East Indies, are quite of subordinate importance. 

Some other plants bear afar more important share in the nutrition of 
mankind than the Grasses last named. Even in the most northern zone of 


* Poa Abyssinica. 7 Eleusine Tocusso. 
{ Sorghum vulgare, and others. 7 Eleusine coracana and stricta. 
|| Panicum frumentaceum, 


920 THE FLORIST AND 


the Barley and Rye, the Buckwheat is an object of tolerably extensive 

culture. With the already named Banana, the Yams,* the Mandioc,+ arid 
the Batatast contribute largely to the daily food of the inhabitants of the 
tropics, of the Old as of the New World, added to which, upon the Andes 

presents itself a peculiar vegetable, the Quinoa,§ a plant which simulta- 

neously produces edible tubers and abundance of seeds, comparable to those 
of Buckwheat. Lastly, we may not pass over the bread-fruzt, in the proper 

sense of the word, which is the principal food of the inhabitants of the large 

islands which extend from the East Indies through the whole tropical 

ocean, to the west coast of America, the gift of a large and beautiftl tree 

of the family of the Nettle Plants, which, from the use it is turned to, is 

called the Bread-fruit tree.|| For the sake of variety, some also cultivate 

with it the Tarroo-root,** the Zacca tubers,{} or some Ferns,{} the fari- 

naceous leaf-stalks of which afford a dainty meal. 

Last of all, I will mention the Potato, which has spread over the whole 
earth with such rapidity, from the mountains of the New World, that in 
many places it threatens, not exactly to the advantage of mankind, to sup- 
plant every other culture. Only a portion of its native land itself, Mexico, 
remains exempt, and but in recent times has cultivated a few poor tubers, at 
points on the coast, to set before the spoiled European guests what, with a 
strange perversion of the conception, one may call their native dish. A 
land, indeed, which perhaps thousands of years’ culture of Maize has so 
little exhausted, that after a very little labor a bad Maize harvest yields 
two hundred-fold profit, which in good years amounts to six hundred-fold, 
does not want the Potato. 

And we, who flatter ourselves that we are great agriculturists, who plow, 
manure, and sow with ingenious machines, imagine that we have done great 
things when we reap a twelve-fold harvest. Even this we do not owe to our 
art, to which we might so readily ascribe it. The worst-tilled soil produces 
a better harvest in a favorable year, than we can extort from the best soil 
with all all our industry in an unfavorable season. Truly, only he who looks 
no further than the clod which his plow has thrown up, can preserve the 
feeling of the importance of human activity in his bosom. He who lets 
his free glance rove over the earth’s ball, and looks at large over the play 
of active forces, laughs at the digging, dragging, bustling, panting ant-hill, 


* Dioscorea sativa. + Manihot utilissima. 
{ Batatis edulis. 2 Chenopodium Quinoa. 
|| Artocarpus incisa. ** Arum esculentum. 


+7 Tacca pinnatifida. 
{{ Acrostichum furcatum, Pteris esculenta, etc. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 991 


which we call Humanity, and which, with all its imagined wisdom, is not 
able to alter the slightest working of the laws which the tyrant giantess, 
Nature, has prescribed to her slaves. —Schleiden. 


WE have been trying the patience of our subscribers rather severely in 
the last few months; but we cannot blame ourselves for the delay which 
has taken place. The neglect of the majority of our subscribers to perform 
their honest duty by us was the first cause of delay; and lately, the impos- 
sibility of getting paper made in time for us, has kept us back a month. 
We are now well supplied, and shall issue number after number, until 
we are in advance of time, instead of being behind. If our dear friends, 
who don’t think it worth while to pay until near the end of the year, will 
please send us their subscriptions at the time they contracted to when they 
sent their names, we will be much obliged to them. We know that there 
are many persons who are not in the habit of paying for magazines or 
papers; but, as far as possible, we wish to get rid of such. There is no 
doubt that, in the majority of cases, it is the result of carelessness, but it 
is a carelessness very troublesome to publishers. 

Our subscription list is a very satisfactory one, though we > would: not 
object to having it larger. 

Our friends would greatly facilitate the speedy getting out of the suc- 
ceeding numbers, if they would send us contributions on such subjects as 
they may have experience in. Any one can write his experience on such 
matters, and he will generally know or observe something which will prove 
instructive to others. 


PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 


The stated meeting of this Association was held Friday evening, July 
18th, in the Sansom street Hall, the Museum Building having been recently 
destroyed by fire. The President in the chair. The display exceeded an- 
ticipations for midsummer, where little from conservatories could -hg ex- 
pected. There were six large collections of greenhouse plants, among 
which were many of much beauty and interest. The new plants from Mr. 
Cope’s were objects of attraction, especially so the Nepenthes levis, a new 
species of the pitcher plant in bloom. The finely flowering plants from Mr. 
Fahnestock’s were admired; the choice varieties of Mr. Knorr commanded 


222 THE FLORIST AND . 


aad 


attention; the flourishing specimens of Mr. Buist were noticed, and the 
well grown, large plants of Gen. Patterson and Dr. Rush merited ‘praise. 
The fruits comprised delicious grapes from three greenhouses—the Black 
Hamburgh; White Sweet Water, from Eden Hall; the Black Hamburgh, 
White Frontignan, from the Insane Asylum, and the White Frontignan, 

from Mr. Cope’s, were specimens seldom surpassed at this season of the 
year. The peaches from the latter were very handsome; the gooseberries, 
from Mr. Baxter, were large; a fig, weighing six ounces, was brought by 
Dr. Rush’s gardener. Apricots, pears, raspberries, gooseberries, &e., from 
various sources, served to complete the exhibition of fruits. Vegetables of 
the best quality came from A. L. Felten’s and Alfred ORS, s grounds. 

Premiums were awarded as follows: 

Collection of 12 plants, for the best, to Thomas Rabertsiae for the sco 
best, to James Kent; for the third best, to Isaac Collins; and a special 
premium for a collection, to Robt. Buist. Specimen plant, for the best, to 
Thomas Robertson ; for the second best, to Wm. Sinton, gardener to Dr. 
Rush. New plants, shown for the first time, a premium of five dollars was 
awarded to Jerome Graff, for Nepenthes levies, &c.; and one of a dollar to 
Meehan & Saunders, for a fine petunia. Basket of cut flowers—For the 
best, to Jerome Graff; for the second best, to James Kent ;-of indigenous 
flowers, to Meehan & Saunders. Bouquets—Pair, for the best, to Jerome 
Graff; for the second best, to James Kent; and a special premium of two 
dollars, for seedling hollyhocks, very fine, to Paschall Morris & Co., West 
Chester. The Committee noticed a fine spicimen of Crinum amable, from 
Dr. Rush’s houses. 

By the Fruit Committee—Grapes, black variety, for the best, (Black 
Hamburgh)-to John Riley; for second best (same kind) to A. Smith; white 
variety, for the best, (the White Frontignan) to John Riley; for the second 
best, (the White Muscat) to Anthony Smith. Apricots—For the best, to 
Wm. Johns; for the second best, to A. Parker. Plums—for the best, to 
Isaac B. Baxter. Figs—for the the best, to Jerome Graff. Gooseberries 
—for the best, to J. B. Baxter; for the second best, to the same. Anda 
special premium of two dollars for a dish of peaches, to Jerome Graff. 

By the Committee on Vegetables.—Tomatoes—for the best, to William 
Barry ; for the second best, to James Jones. For the best display by a 
market gardener, to A. L. Felten, and for the best display by a private 
gardener, to William Barry. 

The Secretary was ordered to report the amount of loss sustained by the 
Society, at the late fire at the Chinese Museum. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 923 


The subject of holding the Autumnal Exhibition, the place where, and 
time when, and of providing a hall for stated ea ai were eee to the 
Committee to superintend Exhibitions. 

Six gentlemen were elected members. 


The monthly stated meeting was held on Tuesday evening, August 15th 
inst. in Sansom Street Hall. The President in the chair. . The display was 
far better than usual for the month of August, especially so in Greenhouse 
Plants. A fine specimen of the Buonapartea serratifolia from Mr. Cope’s 
collection, was an object of much attraction; it is the first time that a plant 
of this species, has bloomed in this country; it was full ten feet in height, 
its flower-stem bearing innumerable greenish flowers, was more than half 
that altitude. Among Mr. Buist’s handsome plants, was a beautiful speci- 
men of the Clerodendron Kempferi, for the first. time~shown ; also, the 
Lobelia St. Clair, not before seen on the Society’s table. Mr. Fahnestock’s 
gardener did himself much credit with his profusely flowering plants of the 
_choicest varieties. Mr. Knorr’s gardener brought a collection of select 
kinds, all well grown. From Mr. Dundas’ grounds were large and fine 
specimens of established kinds. A table of richly flowering Balsams, ~ 
Asters, Coxcombs and other annuals, was shown by John Lambert’s gar- 
dener. The baskets of cut flowers and Bouquets were most tastefully ar- 
ranged. In the fruit department, were very fine grapes, shown by John 
Riley, gardener at the Insane Asylum; by William Grassie, gardener to 
C. P. Fox; by A. J. Smith, gardener at Eden Hall; Alex. Burnett, gar- 
dener to H. P. McKean and Wm. Johns. Fine Peaches, Plums and Pears, 
came from Isaac B. Baxter’s garden. The delicious Stanwick Nectarine, 
from Mr. Cope’s, was the first time tested before the Society. Pears were 
exhibited by Mrs. Markau’s gardener and Geo. W. Earl. 

Vegetables, a very extensive display was made by A. L. Felten. 

The following are the premiums awarded: 

By the Committee on Plants and Flowers.—Collection of 12 Plants in 
pots; for the best, to Thomas. Robertson, gardener to B. A. Fahnestock ; 
for the second best, to Robert Buist; for the third best, to James Kent. 
Specimen Plant, for the best, to the same; for the second best, to John 
Pollock, gardener to James Dundas. New Plants, a premium of five dol- 
lars, to Jerome Graff, gardener to C. Cope, for a flowering specimen of 
Buonapartea serratifolia ; and two dollars to Robert Buist, for the Clero- 
dendron Kempferit. Basket, for the best, to James Kent; for the second 


994 THE FLORIST AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 


best, to Charles Miller. Of indigenous flowers: for the best, to Meehan & © 
Saunders. Bouquets—one pair—for the best, to Charles Miller; for the 
second best, to Jerome Graff. Special premiums—one dollar, to John 
Pollock, gardener to James Dundas, or orchids, &; one dollar, to Jerome 
Graff, for a design of cut-flowers, and two dollars to John Lambert’s gar- 
dener, for a collection of annuals, balsams, coxcombs and asters. | 

By the Committee on Fruits—Grapes—3 bunches of a black variety, to 
John Riley, gardener to Insane Asylum, for Black Hamburg; for the se- 
cond best, to William Grassie, gardener to C. P. Fox, for the same variety. 
Of a White variety—for the best, to Anthony J. Smith, Eden Hall, for 
White Syrian, and for second best, to the same for Frontignac. Plums— 
for the best, the Reine Claude, and for the second best, the Abricotte, to 
Isaac Baxter. Peaches—for the best, the Jane, to the same. ‘Pears—for 
the best, to the same. 

Special Premiums.—One dollar vive to Jerome Graff, gardener to C. 
Cope, for the Stanwick Nectarine; to John Riley, for West’s St. Peters’s 
Grape; to William Johns, for very fine Tokay Grapes, and to Mrs. Mar- 
kau’s gardener, for the Moyamensing Pear. | 

The Committee allude to a fine specimen of the Lawton Blackberry, re- 
ceived from the original propagator, William Lawton, of New Rochelle, N. 
Y.; some of them weighing 86 grains with the stem. | 

By the Committee on Vegetables—Display for the best, by a market 
gardener, to A. L. Felten. 

The Committee on Finance reported, that the Treasurer’s semi-annual 
statement was correct. | : 

“The Recording Secretary: reported the estimated losses, sustained by the 
Society, by the fire at Philadelphia Museum building, on the oth of July. 

The Committee, to whom was referred, the subject of an autumnal Hx- 
hibition, reported a recommendation, after mature deliberation, to intermit, 
for this season, the usual grand exhibition, and solicit all contributors to 
send their Horticultural products to the great State Fair, to be held at 
Powelton, on the 26th of September, which was approved of by the So- 
ciety ; and a Committee of 12 members were ordered to be appointed to 
assist a similar Committee from the State Agricultural] Society, in coxa 
ing the Horticultural department. 

On motion, ordered that fifteen delegates be appointed to attend the ses- 
sion of the American Ranivinge Society, to meet at Boston, on the 13th 
of September next. 

Two gentlemen were elected resident members of the Society. 


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VERBENA 
SOUVENIR DE JANE HANSON 


Grott. 


“THE FLORIST 
AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL 


VERBENA SOUVENIR OF JANE C. HANSON. 


This variety was obtained by Mr.4homas F. Croft of this city. It is 
for size, form and color, perhaps the best white variety now grown. Mr, 
Croft has been unusually successful in raising varieties of this favorite 
bedding plant; several of which we have noticed in former numbers. A 
drawing and some of the plants having been sent to M. Van Houtte, of 
Ghent, he has furnished us with the plates, and has given it the name 
which it bears. 


——<——— 


POT CULTURE OF THE VERBENA. 


As the Verbena merits a place, and most justly, among popular florists’ 
flowers, perhaps a few hints on its cultivation in pots may be acceptable to 
those who have not hitherto adopted that mode of culture. I know of no 
plant more useful or ornamental as a pot-plant, for decorating the greenhouse 
during the summer season, when the proper inmates of that structure are en- 
joying the open air. If we take into consideration its graceful habit, the 
variety and brilliancy of its colors, which offer hues for every taste, and 
above all, the lengthened period it continues to produce its lovely blossoms, it 
is unrivaled and ought to be more generally grown in pots as specimens, more 
especially now that the numerous varieties are so much improved, both in 
form and color. The present season has been productive of some gems of 
the first class; and if the Verbena continues to be improved as it has been 
during these few years past, I have no doubt that the time is not far distant 
when it will form one of the leading features at our floral exhibitions. I do 
not know if my system of propagating this favorite be new; but as it is sim- 
ple, certain, and expeditious, it may be as well to state how I proceed from 


the commencement. I fill shallow pans (such as are used for placing under 
23 


226 THE FLORIST AND 


flower-pots) to within a quarter of an inch of the top with silver-sand, and 
pour in water sufficient to cover the sand. I then make the cuttings in the 
usual way, and push them into the wet sand; put the labels to them, and 
place them in a hot-bed frame where the heat ranges from 65 to 70 degrees, al- 
ways keeping the sand wet. The advantages to be realized by propagating 
the Verbena in this way are, that the cuttings never require to be shaded 
in the brightest sunshine, consequently the young plants are not drawn up 
long and lanky; the cuttings never stop growing from the time they are put 
in until they are ready to pot off, which is in about six or seven days, when 
they may be drawn out of the wet sand, with a bunch of roots, without injur- 
ing a single fibre. The best time to commence operations for growing speci- 
men Verbenas in pots is February, or as soon as vegetation commences for 
the season. It is desirable to pot a few of the best autumn-struck plants for 
the sake of early bloom; but they never make such handsome specimens, nor 
continue so long in good health, as the plants raised from the cuttings in the 
spring. As soon as the cuttings are well rooted, they should be potted into 
38-inch pots, and placed in a géntle heat for a few days, until they are estab- 
lished in the pots; then top them, and harden them by degrees; never allow 
them to remain long in heat after they begin to grow, or they will form long 
naked stems. As soon as the pots are filled with roots, shift into 6-inch ones, 
and from these into 11-inch pots. During the growth of the plant, all shoots 
must be stopped in order to cause the plants to grow bushy; and never allow 
them to flower until the plant is properly formed and has as many leading 
shoots as are wanted. ‘The compost in which I grow the Verbena, is equal 
parts turfy loam, leaf-mould and peat, with alittle silver-sand added to keep 
the soil open. I water twice a-week with liquid manure, and occasionally 
syringe over head with clean water to cleanse the foliage. IPf the saving of 
the seed is no object, all flowers ought to be cut off as soon as they decay. 
I need scarcely add, that the grand secret in the successful culture of this, 
as well as of all plants is efficient drainage; without this no plant will con- 
tinue long in good health. If green-fly should attack your plants, fumigate 
with tobacco; for if the fly once gets a-head, the plants will never recover 
sufficiently to give satisfaction. Mildew is another enemy which must- be 
looked after. As soon as it is perceived, dust the plants with a little sul- 
phur, which will stop it from doing much mischief. Y.—Gard. Chron. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 24 


ACHIMENES PICTA AS-A HOTHOUSE PLANT. 


One of the most remarkable features, of by far the largest portion of what 
are termed stove plants, or natives of tropical climates, is their beautiful 
foliage. They are while growing, beautiful even without flowers, which 
latter are often of the richest and most dazzling color. 

In culture, however, this presupposes skill, for it is not uncommon to meet 
with plants with anything but the foliage, which under good treatment they 
are capable of producing. This frequently arises from the want of moisture 
in the atmosphere, especially in a country like this, where the sweeping winds 
and hot sun are proverbial for their effect in ridding the air of vapor. 

To cultivate a collection of tropical plants to the greatest perfection, (two 
houses are required,) the one dry, the other moist; the former for plants in 
a state of rest, the latter for those in a growing state, corr paponding to the 
climate they are adapted for by an all-wise Providence. 

But, Mr. Editor, we are digressing from our subject and running headlong 
into the philosophy of plant growing, mstead of speaking of the beautiful 
plant at the head of the chapter. .Achimenes Picta, is a native of New Gre- 
nada, where in the wooded heights on the east of Guaduas, Mr. Hartweg 
found it growing in a forest of Wax Palms (Ceroxylon andicola); there it 
prefers rocky ground, seldom growing more than five inches in height or 
producing more than two flowers on a stem. In cultivation it is very differ- 
ent, growing from one to three or four feet high, with frequently six flowers 
from the axil of a single leaf. | 

One important feature in this plant is, that it may be had in flower the 
year round, if a stove is given it; and increases readily by the tubers—each 
scale of which is capable of forming a plant—by cuttings or offsets, and by 
the leaves. The first two we generally adopt'in the following manner: 
About the end of February the tubers are placed thickly in shallow pots or 
pans, and treated with a little bottom heat if obtainable, as soon as they are 
sufficiently advanced say into three or four leaves, they are potted into their 
flowering pots inserting the plant pretty deep in the pot, as they readily 
strike root all up the stem, placing from five to tenin a pot according to 
size and stock on hand, or if very scarce three will do, by finishing off they 
will ultimately fill the pot, taking a little longer time to do it in. Shallow 
pots are the best for this tribe of plants if obtainable, and may be from six 
to twelve inches over. , 

When they are potted, which will be early in April, no better place can 
be given them than a hot bed for a month or two. As the plants progress, 


228 THE FLORIST AND 


they may be stopped once with advantage, and as the growth proceeds, kept 
from crowding each other. By this time their foliage is getting good and 
they may be transferred to the stove, previously staking them out very thinly, 
as they are sure to fill up the entire space. These, with proper treatment, 
will flower from the middle to the end of summer one mass of their showy 
orange and scarlet flowers, which with the velvety black-green leaves, mot- 
tledand reticulated with pale whitish blue, in distinct broad bands, branch- 
ing outwards from the centre, render it one of the most superb objects con- 
ceivable. All that is necessary to get a succession, is, to strip off enough of 
the small shoots plentifully produced, every few weeks, placing them at once 
in the pots they are to flower in, and a little thicker than recommended 
above. This operation may be repeated till the time comes round for insert- 
ing the tubers again. As the old plants begin to look sickly they should 
be gradually dried off, and kept during winter either in the pots, or in dry 
sand, and where the thermometer does not fall below 50°. The soil should 
be very porous, and ‘one-fourth of the pot filled with drainage, beginning 
with large pieces of crocks, ending with small, on which place some rough 
materials to keep it perfect. The following is a good proportion, fibry peat 
and decayed leaves each one-third, the remainder white sand, pulverized 
charcoal and potsherds. : 
Ep@ar SANDERS, 
Gardener to John F. Rathbone, Esq., 
Albany Aug. 21st 1854. : 


aa 


HOYA BELLA. 


To have this charming little Hoya in perfection, it requires plenty of warmth 
and moisture while growing, good drainage, and a free open soil. The lat- 
ter should consist of equal parts good fibrous peat, leaf-soil and sand, well 
mixed together, to which may be added a tolerable portion of clear pots- 
herds, broken small, and a few pieces of charcoal. The pots used should be 
drained from 1 to 2 inches in depth, according to their size. The peat 
should be broken up with the hand, but not sifted. 

Presuming that young plants are obtained in spring, they should be 
placed in a stove or pit, where a temperature of from 65 to 70 degrees is 
kept up. Under such circumstances they will grow freely, and will soon 
require shifting into larger pots. Shade slightly during bright sunshine, and 
water when necessary; but with a sufficiently moist atmosphere, and a 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 229 


moderate use of the syringe on favorable occasions, but little will be re- 
quired at the roots, heavy drenches of water being prejudicial to them. As 
they progress, the leading shoots should be stopped, in_order to induce the 
formation of more numerous branches, which should be spread out and ar- 
ranged so as to make a neat specimen. If by the middle or end of June 
the plants are still growing freely, another shift may be given and the same 
temperature maintained. When they begin to cease growing, which they 
should be encouraged to do early in autumn, they should be placed on a 
shelf near the glass to ripen their wood, and a drier atmosphere should be 
maintained; they may be kept here during winter, provided the tempera- 
ture is not higher than 55 or 60 degrees; during that season just sufficient 
water will be required to preserve the foliage in health. | 

Early in January, or a little later, as may be convenient, the plants should 
be cleaned, top-dressed, and placed in a growing temperature as before di- 
rected, keeping the atmosphere moist, to induce them to break freely. When 
they have broken well, if large plants are desired, they may be shifted and 
grown on; but if intended for flowering, it is preferable to defer shifting, 
as they bloom most freely when slightly pot-bound. The flower buds will 
make their appearance as the young shoots progress; and, when commenc- 
ing to expand, a drier atmosphere, and a somewhat cooler temperature will 
prolong the duration of the flowers. If well attended to during the sum- 
mer, the wood will be perfectly ripened by the time the flowering is over, 
and the plants may be wintered as before. If it is necessary to prune them 
back it should be done a few weeks before starting them, in order to allow 
time for the wounds to heal over before growth has commenced. 

This plant has a fine effect, either planted out or plunged in a basket of 
moss, and suspended from the roof of a stove or Orchid house. In this way 
the flowers show themselves to advantage; and if the plants are kept moist 
while growing, and otherwise well treated, they will last for several years 
in perfection. | 

Cuttings made of the young shoots root freely: insert them in sand, 
cover with a bell glass, and place them in a temperature of 70 degrees, 
where there is a gentle bottom heat. When rooted, pot them off singly into 
two or three-inch pots, and place them in a close warm situation; if rooted 
early they will make strong plants by autumn. ALpna.  [Gard. Chron. 


230 THE FLORIST AND 


THE GENUS POLYGALA. 


Some of the gayest and most useful inmates of greenhouses belong to this 
genus. And the best varieties are plants of easy culture, which, with even 
ordinary care, soon form fine large symmetrical bushes, bloom most pro- 
fusely, and remain longer in beauty than most hardwooded plants. But, 
although all the more desirable varieties are of free growth, persons. com- 
mencing their culture should be careful to procure good healthy promising 
young plants, avoiding pot-bound leggy things, which are very unfit for 
beginners. If plants are procured at once, the best situation for them for 
the next two months will be near the glass in a cold pit or frame, where 
they can be secured from bright sunshine, and afforded a free circulation of 
air. If they appear to require more pot room, this should be seen to at 
once, in order to get them well established in their pots before winter; and 
it will be advisable to give a very large shift after this season. Attention 
should be paid to having the ball in a nice, moist healthy state; for no plant 
should be repotted except this is the case, and particularly hardwooded 
plants. or soil, use good strong rich fibry peat, with a small proportion 
of rich mellow turfy loam, well intermixed with plenty of sharp silver 
sand, and some lumpy bits of charcoal, or clean small potsherds to keep it 
open, and permeable to water and insure good drainage. If stopping is 
required, this should be done as soon after potting, as the roots appear to 
have taken to the fresh soil; or in the case of plants that do not require 
repotting, it should be done at once, and the shoots should be kept nicely 
tied out, in ordef to induce a bushy habit of growth. 

‘The best situation for the plants in winter is near the glass in the green- 
house, where they will have all the light possible, and a free circulation of 
air on every favorable opportunity. At that season, water must be ad- 
ministered very carefully, never giving any until it is absolutely wanted, 
and then sufficient to thoroughly moisten the ball. Turn the plants occa- 
sionally, to prevent their getting one-sided through the shoots turning to 
the sun, and give the leaves a gentle washing with the syringe occasonally,. 
to clear them of dust, &c.; but do this on a bright morning, so as to avoid 
damp. About the middle of March, the plants should be cut back, if neces- 
sary, to secure a sufficiently close growth—for they will be too small to be 
of any service for flowering—and placed in the warmest end of the house, 
or removed to where the night temperature may average about 45°, syringed 
over-head on bright days, and kept rather moist. Here they will soon push 
their buds and start into free growth, and when this is the case, the roots 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 231 


should be examined, giving a liberal shift, if the ball is covered with healthy 
roots. Afford the same careful attention after repotting as recommended 
above, keeping the atmosphere moist, and watering sparingly, until the 
roots strike into the fresh soil. Perhaps the best directions that can be 
given as to temperature during spring, would be to regulate it according 
to the amount of light, keeping the plants growing as freely as can be done 
without inducing weakly growth; but by all means avoid this, which would 
spoil the specimens. Remove to a cold frame as soon as the weather be- 
comes at all’ favorable, and treat them during the summer as-recommended 
for last season, remembering that minute attention and careful manage- 
ment is the only way of securing handsome specimens. If a second shift 
should be required in course of the summer, see to this as early as can pro- 
perly be done, in order to have'the pots pretty full of roots; also discontinue 
shading ‘early in autumn, and expose the plants freely to light and air, so as 
to get the young wood rather firm before winter. 

The same treatment as recommended for last winter, will be suitable 
again, but if the plants are considered sufficiently large for flowering, they 
should be kept in a cool, airy part of the greenhouse until they come into 
bloom, when they may be removed to the conservatory, where, if they are 
shaded from en sunshine, they will last some two months in beauty. 

~ Cuutor. [In Turner's Hlorist. | 


—E—E—E 


QUERIES FOR BOTANISTS. 


Wm. Harper, Esq., a gentleman of this city, has growing in his garden 
two apricot trees, which are essentially different in their sexual characters. 
Their history, as near as I can learn, is as follows: Some ten years since, 
John Harper, Esq., son of Mr. H., was in Virginia, and was presented with 
some large and delicious apricots, and brought two of the pits home and gave | 
them to his sister (a young lady gardener); she planted them in a box of 
earth in the cellar, and in the following spring they sprouted and were 
planted where they now grow; since then they have never been transplanted, 
grafted or pruned. ‘The trees are now about eighteen feet tall with wide 
spreading heads and stand so close that some of their branches mix; they 
bloom profusely at the same time every spring. One has borne a plentiful 
crop of fruit each for the last six years’ the other has never set a fruit, and 
although its stamens and pistils appear large, they are without pollen, stigma 
and germen. Now one or other of these trees refutes the doctrine lately 


232 THE FLORIST AND 


promulgated, ‘all varieties of plants when left to themselves take the sexual 
characters of their originals.”” The next query is, would scions or buds of 
the barren tree, worked on other stocks, produce fruit. Mr. Harper will 
no doubt part with a few twigs for experiment, so that those who believe in 
sexual mutation can convince themselves of the wisdom or folly of their 
theory. | SAMBUCUS. : 
Philadelphia, July 14th, 1854. [In Farm Jour. 


Whether Mr. Sambucus understood what he meant by the above para- 
gaaph we do not know, but one thing we are sure of, namely, that we don’t: 
think he did. We happened to have had presented to us, at the instance of 
Mr. Sambucus, a few shoots of each tree when in flower. One, the fruitful 
one, with all its parts perfect, having pistils, and stamens bearing pollen; the 
other, the more vigorous tree, with larger flowers, pistils apparently: perfect, 
both in style and stigma, stamens with perfect. anthers but bearing no pol- 
len. The cause of its unfruitfulness is that it expends all its energy in mak- 
ing wood, it has more leaves and is altogether a stronger tree than the other. 
Now, if Mr. Sambucus will take the trouble to root-prune this tree, we have 
no doubt, nor do we think has he, that it will bear quite as many and as 
large apricots as the other. According to the paragaraph above quoted, 
‘either of the trees is to refute the doctrine lately promulgated,” &c., now 
would Mr. Sambucus insinuate that either of these trees is pistillate or stam- 
inate and unchangeably so? On the contrary, like the rest of the Rose fam- 
ily, to which the Apricot as well as the Strawberry belongs, they have per- 
fect flowers. The gentleman seems to think he has gotten ‘a case” but it | 
won’t do this time. Try again, Mr. Sambucus. Get an unchangeably pistil- 
late Rose or Pear or Apple tree. 


BB Steve 


PERENNIAL DELPHINIUMS, AND THEIR VARIETIES. 


This charming herbaceous plant, with its numerous varieties, now amount- 
ing to about sixty named kinds, is one of the best that can be used for- 
beautifying the flower-garden. The length of time they are in bloom, com- 
bined with their varied and brilliant colors, makes them very desirable. 
The dwarf varieties, when grown in a bed, have the best possible effect, and 
when mixed with other plants in the beds or borders, they have a very 
interesting appearance. ‘The taller perennial varieties grow from six to 
eight or nine feet in height, and are very suitable for planting at the back 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 233 


part of a border bounding a flower-garden. They thrive and flower well in 
any rich mould. The varieties which are best suited for bedding are— 

HeENDERSONII; color, deep azure blue, with a-white eye, growing from 
two to three feet high. It may be regarded as the prettiest of the tribe 
yet in cultivation, and flowers from June to October very profusely. If 
planted about twenty inches apart, they will, in the season, spread and form 
one mass of their beautiful bloom. 

QUADRICOLOR is another dwarf variety, the flower being, as its name 
implies, a mixture of colors, viz., a light blue, lavender, and a shading of 
light rose; it is a free- Hodis fine variety for beddings: Its height is 
from one to two feet. 

WHEELER! is a beautiful light blue, free-blooming and handsome. It is 
a medium-sized double variety, of the bee kind. 

AZUREA GRANDIFLORA is another light blue Delphinium of the dee kind; 
it flowers very freely, and has a nice effect. 

GRANDIFLORA MAXIMA is a dark blue; a large flowering variety, suitable 
for borders. . 

BEAUTY OF CHARONNE is a good flower, E eoehene Hendersonit, but the 
flower is smaller, and its habit is not so free-flowering. 

MAGNIFICUM, a capital variety for a bed; color, azure blue, with a light 
eye; habit free-blooming, with medium-sized flowers; grows from two to 
three feet high. 

AZUREUM PLENUM, a pretty, light-blue double flower, and a free bloomer. 

BARLOWII is a double flower, of a dark blue color; a good, free-blooming 
variety for the border. 

In addition to the above, there is a great variety of the tall-growing 
section, which deserve attention; they should be grown in every garden, 
however small. They are easily increased by division of the roots. When 
a plant attains a large size, it may be taken up, parted, and replanted 
immediately, or kept in pots in a cool frame during winter, and turned out 
into the borders or beds where they are to flower the ensuing season. A 
circular bed, with the tallest growing in the centre, and gradually declining 
to the dwarfest, for the outer row has a singularly pretty appearance, and 
will be ornamental throughout the summer.—or. Cabinet. 


Now that the progressive transformations which cause the production of 
the corn Wuzat from the grass AlGILops have become familiar to the well 
informed cultivator, everything which throws light upon the tendencies among 


234 THE FLORIST AND 


cereals to change their accustomed condition acquires interest. For that 
reason we produce in the accompanying woodcut a representation of a mon- 
strous Wheat, remarked last year by Professor HENsLow in one of his vil- 
lage allotments. It will be seen that at each of 
the places marked a.a a there is an additional body, 
having a very distinct reflexed position; and that at 
‘6 a similar though different appearance occurs. Upon 
‘examining the structures carefully, we find that at a 
a a there is, in addition to the usual spikelet, a late- 
ral one, consisting of imperfect chaffs (glumes and 
palee) containing from three to four florets. This 
additional spikelet occupies the same position as one 
regular lateral one-flowered spikelets of Barley. . At 6 
there is an additional chaff or glume, reflexed’ as be- 
fore, but imperfect, and merely indicating a tendency 
in other parts of the ear to assume the peculiar con- 
a dition of aaa. 

We entertain little doubt that, in this example, we 
have before us the elements of that greater change 
which ultimately resulted in the production of Keyp- 
tian Wheat out of the common Revett or Zriticwm 
durum; and if this be so, we have evidence that the 
common red or white Wheats may also be expected 
to branch in the ear, and thus acquire a degree of 


productiveness at present unknown among them. 

Now, that all eyes are upon Wheat fields, we, as 
botanists, would direct attention to this fact, and sug- 
gest the propriety of putting aside any ears in the 
condition of that now represented, with a view to sow- 
ing the corn apart, for the sake of the possibilty that the tendency to branch 
may be strengthened and perpetuated. It is entirely consistent with all 
we know of the nature of plants that this should occur; not, indeed, in every 
seedling obtained from a branching ear, but in some one of them. Such a 
case should again be reserved and sown apart; and if but one case of a 
branched ear should occur in the third generation, the habit of branching 
may be regarded as fixed; while the degree of it may be expected to go at 
least as far as in the Egyptian Wheat. 

This is a point to which the attention of allotment-holders should be di- 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 235 


rected. It is even worth consideration whether it might not be desirable to 
sharpen the perception of allottees by offering some small rewards for each 
branched ear that should be brought in.—@ard. Chron. 


——e 


Tue State Agricultural Society’s Fair will be held in this city on the 
26th, 27th, 28th and 29th days of September. The location of ground is 
good, being on that part of the property purchased from Mr. Powell by the 
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, lying between the railroad and the river. 
It is already enclosed, and the several buildings are in course of erection. 
There will be a plowing match on the 29th, at 9 A. M., and the address 
will be delivered at 1 P. M. of the same day. We annex that part vo the 
regulations which relates to visitors. 

Any person can become a member of the Society for one year, by the 
payment of one dollar into its treasury. All the members of the Society 
whose dues are paid, and all who shall become members previous to or at the 
Fair, will be furnished with cards of membership, which will admit the person 
to the Exhibition at all times during the continuance of the Fair, and entitle 
the holder thereof to all the privileges of a member until the next annual 
Exhibition. 

Cards of membership will be furnished by the ee at his office in 
Philadelphia, at any time after the first of September, and by the Treasurer 
at his office, on the Fair grounds, during the Exhibition. 

Single ticket for one admittance, price 25 cents, will be ready at the 
Treasurer's office on the grounds, on Thursday morning, the 28th of Sep- 
tember. 

Members will be allowed to enter the grounds in carriages with their 
families; but no hacks or other public conveyances will be permitted to 
enter. 

Members of the Society, Exhibitors, and the Viewing Committees or 
Judges alone, will be admitted the first day of the Exhibition. 


THe GARDENER’S MAGAZINE, edited by W.S. King, published monthly 
at Boston, 32 pp., $1ayear. This is a new periodical, devoted to Horti- 
culture, the first number of which appeared in May. It is made up princi- 
pally from the Practical Farmer, a weekly, edited by the same gentleman. 
We commend it to the attention of our readers. 


236 THE FLORIST AND 


PENNSYLVANIA STATE FAIR. 


At the meeting of the Horticultural Society, held on Tuesday evening 
August 15, the Committee to whom had been referred the subject of hold- 
ing an autumnal exhibition under the auspices of the Society, as usual, re- 
ported a recommendation to hold no separate fair this season, but instead 
therof to solicit all contributors to send their horticultural products to the 
great Pennsylvania State Fair, which will be held at Powelton, in the twenty- 
fourth Ward, commencing on the 26th of September. This recomendation, 
adopted after mature deliberation by the Committee, was agreed to by the 
Society, and a Committee of twelvé members directed to be appointed to 
assist a similar Committee from the State Agricultural Society in conducting 
the Horticultural department of that grand display. This is a most grati- 
fying movement, and shows that the members of the Horticultural, Society 
have properly considered the matter, and are fully alive to the benefits 
likely to accrue to Philadelphia from the approaching exhibition. We are 
confident now, that the department of flowers and shrubbery will be among 
the most attractive features of the Fair. With such facilities for a display 
as those afforded by our numerous private gardens and conservatories, and 
the extensive establishments of our professional florists, aided by the know- 
ledge and energy of the members of the Horticultural Society, we think 
there need be no fear but there will be such an exposition of the floral cre- 
ation as will long be remembered. We know not whether any action has 
been taken by the Gardeners’ Society, but as they seem to be in some sort 
involved in the action of the Horticultural organization, we trust that they 
will come forward in a proper spirit to do their share of the work. 

We have been informed that many of the members of the State Poultry 
Society are exerting themselves in a praiseworthy manner to secure such a 
representation of their department as will do them credit. They have also 
taken the trouble to visit some members of the Bird Fancier’s Society, to 
interest them in the movement, and with reasonable success. Though the 
exhibition occurs at a very unfortunate season for the display of birds, yet — 
not a few of the professional bird fanciers have determined to do their best, 
very properly believing that thereby they will be advancing their own inte- 
rests. Many hundreds of persons who will visit the State Fair from the 
interior, have probably never seen an array of singing birds, such as these 
men can set forth, and we should not feel surprised to see large numbers of 
these feathered songsters sold to the residents of the pleasant villages and 
towns scattered through the State. Asregards the exhibition of poultry, we — 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 231 


have reason to believe that it will be equally fine; and, if so, it will attract 
a great deal of attention. 

We thus find that the Philadelphia Agricultural Society, the Horticul- 
tural, the Poultry and Bird Fancier’s Societies, are now actively co-operating 
in the common effort to render the State Fair worthy of the capabilities and 
reputation of the city. As regards the Franklin Institute, we have as yet 
been informed of no definite action by that organization in reference to its 
fall exhibition, but as its members are generally sensible, public spirited, 
_ and much interested in the welfare of Philadelphia, we feel assured they too 
will wisely resolve to make their usual display in conjunction with the State 
Agricultual Society. So thinking, we look confidently for their energetic 
assistance in getting up a magnificent industrial demonstration.—W. Amer. 


== 98 B tice = 


7 


ON THE MOTION AND COMPOSITION OF SAP IN PLANTS, 
BY WALTER ELDER. | 


Sap is the vital essence of plants, the essential agent of vegetation, and 
the active agent of growth. It is present in a dormant state in the seed, 
the dry bulb, and in deciduous plants in winter, and only needs the combi- 
nation of heat and moisture to set it in motion. 

Its composition is very different in different plants, which is perceptible 
in their earliness and lateness, their tenderness and hardiness, their ligneous 
or herbaceous natures, and in the different degrees of heat and moisture at 
which vegetation commences in different species. We see some luxuriating 
in swamps and others flourishing on mountain tops; some thriving in the 
sunshine, others delighting in the shade; some evergreen, others deciduous; 
some vegetating three fourths, others dormant two-thirds of the year. Some 
are consumed by ‘ Dry rot’ produced by moisture, others suffer from the 
same disease produced by dryness. 

Its motion is also different in different plants; this is visible in the rapidity 
or slowness of growth. The too common expressions the “rise of sap’ in 
spring, and the “return of sap” in the fall have created many erroneous 
impressions especially in young minds. I have met with men who made 
great pretensions to arboreal knowledge, say with much confidence that the 
‘whole vital essence or life of the trees was in the roots during winter.” 

Now the least consideration would convince any one that such is an error. 
The truth is, that the tree is more densely filled with sap in winter, than at 


238 THE FLORIST AND 


any other time of the year, but then it is solid and stationary, and contains 
the vital essence, of another year’s growth, and on the return of warm weather 
in spring the first degree of heat affects it, which appears in the swelling 
buds; and, shortly afterwards we find that in cutting a twig liquefaction has 
taken place, by the oozing out of the sap at the seaman which is termed 
bleeding. : 

But we are not to suppose that the whole sap of ie tree is alibi in 
motion; for this reason. In this case, heat is the mover and it cannot pene- 
trate so quickly into the stem as into the small branches, owing to its great- 
er solidity and thickness. So that extension and liquefaction or vegetation 
begins first in the extremities and goes on gradually until the whole plant 
becomes in a state of vegetation. The motion of the sap then becomes very 
strong and rapid, which bursts the bud, expands the foliage, and forces out 
new shoots. But if a sudden cold spell should come the leaves and young 
shoots may be destroyed or injured, but not the branches stem or roots as 
they are more impenetrable. . 

It has been supposed that the sap of evergreens does not become solid and 
stationary like that of deciduous trees; if it does not it certainly becomes so 
dense in winter as to put the plants into a partial state of rest, and extension 
and liquefaction appear as strong in them in spring as it does in many decid- 
uous trees. It is the composition of the sap which causes some deciduous 
trees to be earlier clothed with foliage than others, they are more easily 
affected by heat than others. We observe the first effect of cold in the 
changed color of the leaves in the fall; this goes on gradually the leaves 
- drop and in time the whole plant appears in a state of rest. | 

But we are not to suppose that the whole tree is matured or in a state of 
rest as soon as the leaves fall; the sap is still in motion, maturing the wood, 
and densely filling the veins with vital essence, which is to give vigor to the 
growth the coming spring; it gradually becomes solid and stationary, first 
in the branches, next in the stem, lastly in the roots. But it is to be ob- 
served that young trees, shrubbery, vines, &c. go more immediately into.a 
a state of rest after the fall of the leaves, than large trees do, because they 
are more slender. Indeed, young trees in a nursery may be said to ripen 
their wood before the fall of the leaves, on account of the little nourish- 
ment they get from the soil after midsummer, being crowded in so small a 
space; but it must be midwinter, before large trees, especially nit are 
fully matured. 

When a plant of any vind besbiosus partly matured. early in she fall by 
drought and again awakened by heavy rains and warm weather, the vitality 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 239 


of the sap is weakened by the moisture taken up by the roots, which some- 
times destroys the constitution of the plants, and renders. useless the fruit 
the plant is then bearing; hence the cause of potato-rot, grape-rot, bad- 
keeping apples, pears, &c., the plants take the “dry rot,’ the fruit becomes 
an unsavorymass, and becomes decomposed; when it reaches this point, 
nothing can stay the malady. i 

But it seems to me that some precautions taken in time would prevent 
the malady ; underdraining would carry off any superabundance of moisture, 
and absorbents mixed in the soil might prevent the trees taking up too much, 
as they would take it up and give it out gradually to the plants. Ashes, 
charcoal, guano, lime, marl, plaster, poudrette, salt, tan-bark, heseyiand ma- 
nure, &c., are all absorbents. ! 

Sihadee vier weakens or destroys the sap hurts the constitution of the plant ; 
too much moisture weakens the sap, causes an over luxuriant growth, makes 
it too succulent and thus causes it to be easily blighted, either by heat, cold or 
drought. Whereas, plants of slow growth are firmer, hardier, better matured _ 
aud seldom affected with any disease, so that those who grow plants quickly 
lose them quickly, as they destroy the natural composition of the sap. 


UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. ~ 


At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the United States Agricul- 
tural Society, held in the city of Washington, in February last, it was 
resolyed that the Society would hold no Exhibition in any State having a 
State Agricultural Society, without the assent of the officers or of the 
Executive Committee of such Society. 

The citizens of Springfield, Ohio, having requested this Society to hold 
an Exhibition of Cattle at that place, during the current year, and gene- 
rously subscribed about ten thousand dollars to defray all the expenses of 
the same, and to guarantee the Society against loss; and the Executive 
Committee of the Ohio Agricultural Society uniting in the request, the 
Executive Committee of this Society have concluded-to hold a National 
Show of Cattle, open to general competition, without sectional limit, on the 
25th, 26th, and 27th days of October next, at Springfield, in the State of 
Ohio. 

The friends of Agriculture in all the States of the eae Union, and 
in the neighboring provinces of Canada, are invited to co-operate with us, 


240 THE FLORIST AND 


‘go that this Exhibition may be the more extensively useful, and be alike 
creditable to the generous citizens of Springfield, with whom it originated, 
to the contributors and visitors who sustain it, and to the United States 
Agricultural Society, who are so deeply interested in its success. 

In consequence of the holding of this Show of Cattle, the contemplated 
Exhibition of Horses, at Springfield, Mass., and the Show of iit in 
Vermont, will be omitted. 

The Journal of the Society, which the Teepe ti Pistia have con- 
cluded to issue once in each year, (four numbers in one,) will appear in 
January next, and will contain the transactions of the Society at its, last 
annual meeting, the lectures and addresses delivered at that time, a full and 
faithful account of the Springfield Show, with other valuable papers, by 
eminent members. This volume will be forwarded to all members who have 
paid their annual assessments for the year 1854. 


MARSHALL P. WILDER, President. 


WitiiaAM 8S. Kine, Secretary. 
Boston, August 1, 1854. 


THE AMERICAN WINE GROWERS’ ASSOCIATON 


Met at the vineyard of R. Buchanan, Clifton, August 26, 1854. After 
surveying the vineyards and orchards, which evidence the great care of the 
proprietor, the Company assembled in the very neat wine house, and exam- 
ined the superior press and arrangements. 

After reading the minutes, the Treasurer read the report of the state of 
the funds. : 

The followmg gentlemen were elected members: T. V. Peticolas, F. 
Schneicke, Dr. A. Howe, P. Bogen, F. Desenrene, Dr. J. J. ’Arons, Abr. 
E. Mother and E. K. Woodward. 

The Committee, through J. P. eae reported the result of the examina- 
tion of wines, as follows: 

To P. Rehfuss, eh .» President of the American Wine Growers’ Asso- 
czation : 

Report of Committee, appointed to examine the specimens oraeommeall for 
the premiums to be awarded for the best Catawba Wines of the vintage 
of 1853. | 

_ The meeting of the Committee for the s deloriaabice of the duty assigned 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 241 


them, was held on Saturday, 19th inst., at the house of Mr. A. W. Frank. 
Thirty-eight samples of wine, distinguished by a number on each bottle, 
were offered for competition, and a sealed paper containing the names of 
the proprietors of the different samples was deposited with the Secretary, 
and not opened until the award of the premiums had been made. 

The Committee in making their examination, divided the samples into 
parcels of five, from each of which the best specimens were chosen, and 
from these after a second examination, the specimens adjudged to be enti- 
tled to the premiums, were selected. 

In forming their judgment, the Committee paid special attention to the 
aroma (bouquet)—that delicate and very sensitive. quality, which constitutes 
one of the excellencies of the still wines of this region. The slightest in- 
attention to neatness and to the exclusion of the defective grapes, or of any 
foreign substance whatever, in the manufacture of the wine, will have an 
unfayorable influence on this important characteristic. Even the addition 
of sugar, in small quantities, to the must, for the purpose of increasing the 
strength, should be avoided, since its unfavorable influence on the aroma, 
injures the quality of the wine more than the increased strength can atone 
for—delicacy of flavor, and not strength, being the quality most desirable 
in our wines. | 

The taste for wines which, in this country, was Stain lly formed al- 
most exclusively on the coarse, strong, alcoholic wines of Madeira, Spain 
and Portugal, is beginning to improve, and it is an important duty of this 
Association to speed the progress of this improvement, until the pure, 
light, delicate and wholesome wines of our own country, with that of France 
and Germany, shall exclude entirely the intoxicating wines, and liquors 
bearing their names, of domestic manufacture, and the remembrance of their 
use and influence, be among the mournful memories of past misfortunes and 
errors. The cultivation of a refined and discriminating taste in wines, and 
providing such wines as satisfy such taste, will give a support to the cause 
of temperance which neither compulsory laws nor voluntarily associations 
ean yield, for intemperance, like other crimes, cannot be exterminated by 
laws, but, like them, must be subdued by correcting the taste, and increas- 
jng the knowledge of mankind, so that they el know the good and pre- 
fer it to the evil. 

It is a duty of this and all similar nssdlenseidild to continue their require- 
ments of all the makers of wines within their influence, that no foreign 
substance of any kind should be permitted to mingle with the juice of the grape, 


and that perfect purity should be, them with sine qua non. By a proper at- 
24 


242 THE FLORIST AND 


tention to their duties, they may assist in checking the conversion of many 
million bushels of the cereal grains into a material for brutalizing and de- 
monizing, instead of nourishing and sustaining their fellow citizens; and 
by inspiring good taste in our department, correct bad habits in many. 

The specimens referred to in this report were, with the exception of two, which 
were. supposed to have had sugar added to the must, and two injured by de- 
caying fruit or some other mark of inattention, of very superior quality, 
and indicated that the progress of Young America, is marked and remark- 
able in this department of its products, as in most others. 

Several of the specimens besides those to which premiums were awarded, 
were deserving of premiums, and the committee regretted that it was not 
in their power to award them. Their judgment was given in favor of No. 
34 as the best, No. 24 as second, and No. 13 as third best, and on opening 
the seal list, it was found that No. 34 belonged to G. & P. Bogen; No. 24 
belonged to Frederick Zinzback; No. 18 belonged to H. H. Duhme. 

Respectfully submitted, 


JoHN P. Foors, —STANISLAUS, . 

S. MosHer, Joun G. ANTHONY, 

JuLIuS Brace, M. KELLY, 
Committee. 


Mr. Buchanan presented, in the name of Mr. Myers, of Philadelphia, a 
piece of music called the Catawba Waltz. On motion, the thanks of the 
Society were voted to the donor. 

Mr. Rehfuss explained that the Committee had pknanien their task with 
fidelity, and stated how the trial had been conducted. 

The remaining premium for ‘‘ other wines’ and for Sparkling, were or- 
dered to be awarded at the next regular meeting, September 25, when 
the Society will meet, at the house of L. Rehfuss. 

Mr. Buchanan asked further time to confer and report upon the aticetion 
of pruning seedling grapes. 

SraTE oF THE CRop.—Members generally stated that the prospects of a 
wine crop were very discouraging. 

The table spread in the wine house, was laden with beautiful fity and 
other delicacies, to which the fine samples of wine added a piquancy that 
‘was highly appreciated. On motion adjourned. 

: J. A. WARDER, Sec’y. 


HORTICULTUARAL JOURNAL. 243 


THE CINCINNATI HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 


Met on Saturday, August 25, 1854, Mr. Ernst in the Chair. The min- 
utes were read, when the Committee appointed to confer with the Academy 
of Sciences, reported that no arrangement had been effected. On motion, 
they were discharged. __ 

On motion of Mr. Foote, Jacob Hoffner and Jar ames W. Ward, were 
added to the delegates to the Pennsylvania Horticultual Society, and au- 
thorized to present themselves as our delegates to other exhibitions. 

Mr. Kelly read a report from the Committee on Arrangements, for the 
Autumnal Exhibition, setting forth the progress of their labors, which 
shows that they are possessed of the energy and discretion, necessary to in- 
-sure the success of this great enterprise. Report accepted. 

Members ELectep.—Peter Joseph, Esq., of Cumminsville, and F. B. 
Howells, of Lebanon, Ohio. 

On motion, the Council and Committee of Arrangements, were author- 
ized to draw on the Treasurer for one hundred dollars to carry out their 
efforts. 

The Fruit Committee awarded three dollars to M. McWilliams, for two 
varieties of figs. 

Circulars were presented from the Western Virginia Agricultural So- 
ciety, and from the Kentucky Horticultural Society which will hold their 
exhibitions respectively on the 13th, and 18th of September. 

Circulars and bills of the Fall Exhibition, were laid on the table. On 
motion, adjourned. | 


Joun A WARDER, See’y. 


EXHIBITED. 


Mrs. Brickham—Peaches—Very fine specimens of Columbia, and a large 
white Free; Grapes, Cigar Box. 

A. H. Ernst—Pears—Grosse Calebasse, and Apples from Te Sanders, 
Kentucky, two varieties, summer fruit; also Plums—Pend’s Purple Gage. 

Dr. Hempstead, Portsmouth, Ohie delicious Grape unknown. 

M. McWilliams—Pears—White Doyenne, Stone, Bartlett; Figs, of two 
varieties. W.S. Harce—Summer Bon Chretien. 

Apples—From T. V. Penicolas— Hubbardston, Nonesuch, Minister, 
Bough, Benoni, Calville, Summer, Pearmain, Pomme Royale, Silver Rus- 
set, Ramsdale’s Sweet, Wine, Apple, Porter, Codling, Summer Queen, 
Corse’s Indian Prince, Maiden’s Blush and three unknown varieties. 


944 THE FLORIST AND 


Pears— Bartlett, Julienne, Dearborn’s Seedling, Stone, Autumn Su- 
perb, Echaserie. 

Plums—Yellow Gage, Smith’s Orleans, Aude ton Plum. 

Peaches—Pullen’s Early Red, White Heath Free, Crawford’s Early, 
Lemon Cling, Abbott’s Late, White Cling, Prince’s Rareripe. 

C. Pinkenstein, Borsdofer, and a plate of Pears. | 

George Hill—lItalian Pear, believed to be Bartlett, Mr. Ernst stating 
that the Bartlett was introduced into this neighborhood by J. Garrard, an 
Italian. 

By the Secretary, from R. §. Musgrave, Sulphur Spring, Crawford 
county, Ohio.—A very handsome apple resembling the Cooper; also, the 
Trenton Early, from R. W. Steele, of Dayton, which is clearly not the 
Golden Sweet, as heretofore supposed, and as set forth in Elliott’s Fruit 
Book. 

Flowers—A large basket from M. Kelley & Co.—Fine Dahlias, Roses, &e. 

Hamburg Grapes—Grown in the open air, by George Graham. 

Melons—From W. E. Mears, Mount Washington.—Beautiful specimens 
of Water and Musk-melons, referred to Mr. Chapman for report. 

i : 


From the American Agriculturist. 
DWARF PEARS. 


The horticultural department of your journal which, by-the-by, is an ex- 
tremely interesting one, is so ably sustained by older and more able pens, 
that I feel some diffidence about offering every idea that a fifteen-year-old 
horticulturist can suggest. Yet some things advanced in your late issues, 
invite and interest the attention of all fruit amateurs. The question has 
been asked and repeated, ‘Who knows of pear trees doing well on the 
quince stock for twenty years?” I conceive this question calculated to do 
a certain amount of injury, unless met in an intelligent manner, and with a 
proper spirit. J am glad, however, the question is asked, as the opportunity 
is given to introduce a few facts worthy of an extended circulation. 

The increasing demand for fruit trees, 1s no shallow puff; it is a veritable 
truth. By far the greater proportion of these purchasers know very little 
about making a judicious selection of plants. Hence the necessity of inform- 
ation safely culled from the experience of others. 

Every one knows that the quince root has the reputation of htivials best _ 
in a moist, rather heavy soil, as its favorite locality. It will grow for a 
while in almost any soil, wet or dry—but will it thrive, and how long will it 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 945 


endure? That is the point. The knowledge of this simple fact is of no 
avail unless carried rigidly into practice. I think I know of dwarf pears 
that have borne fruit some ten or twelve years, in a dry sandy soil, but 
highly fed and cultivated as sandy soils usually require such care. With 
only ordinary culture, however, I am satisfied they would generally fail 
much sooner. For such soils I would never recommend dwarfs, but strong 
seedling standards. No honest man will attempt the growth of the pear on 
sprouts, as he will cheat hzmself prodigiously. Modern horticulture ‘has 
fully proven the fact, that the most healthy and vigorous fruit stocks are 
those raised from the seed. 

- But to my subject, viz., the duration of the pear worked on’ the quince. 
I have already shown them of twelve years’ standing on a dry soil, but 
never very vigorous and thrifty. And I know of them on their favorite 
soil, viz., moist clay, vigorous, thrifty and prolific; Iam not prepared to say 
twenty years of life is their allotted limit, but I am prepared to say that if 
they would surely bear no longer than half that time, it would be a satisfac- 
tory and profitable investment, since many soils would grow those pears 
that would be unfit for anything else. Besides, there are well known prin- 
ciples in horticulture, that place the question beyond a doubt. Quince trees 
are known to attain the age of fifty, and even a hundred years, and pears 
double that time; and the quince stock, usually used for working dwarfs is a 
very free grower, exhibiting the most satisfactory evidence of its enduring 
at least a sufficient number of years to pay the cost. In garden culture the 
dwarf pear is highly prized as an ornament. Long borders of dwarf pear 
trees hanging with fruit, is a rich, tempting and beautiful sight. 

But we now come to the main-spring of the whole affair, the grand secret 
of success : management and culture proper to secure handsome dwarf pears, 
the non-observance of which will insure the amateur a complete failure. 
High culture is essentially necessary for the dwarf pear, and this is so con- 
cisely expressed by a contributor to the last Patent Office Report, that I 
make the brief quotation entire: ‘‘ Dwarf pears worked upon quinces, have 
been planted in large numbers about us, and as fine specimens of fruit from 
them have been exhibited at our State Fair, (N. H.,) as have ever been pro- 
duced anywhere. The dwarfs are preferred to standards for garden cul- 
ture, because they occupy but little space. Besides, they come into bearing 
much sooner than the standards, usually in two or three years from trans-_ 
planting, and some have borne perfect fruit the same yearthey were import- 
ed from France. Pears upon the quince require high cultivation, because 
the quince root must always remain small, and cannot wander far for nour- 


246 THE FLORIST AND 


ishment. The farmers of New-Hampshire, (he might have said the United 
States,) are by no means accustomed to the thorough cultivation which dwarf 
pears require, and I have no doubt that an orchard of them, managed as 
even the best of our apple orchards are, would be worthless. (Can’t endorse 
the last word fully.) Indeed pears of all kinds, standards as well as dwarfs, 
require a deeper and richer soil, and more careful cultivation than the 
apple.”’ 7 

I. conclude from the above reasoning, therefore, that dwarf pears are val- 
uable, are worth all they cost, and by a judicious selection of varieties, are 
a profitable and satisfactory investment; that in their favorite soil they will 
last more than twenty years, but if they give out bearing at the age of ten 
years even, they would fully quit the cost. sh 
| WD. 

Nine hc 
THIS NUMBER. 

We have used the scissors very extensively in getting out this number, 
but we often find many things in foreign magazines of as great interest to 
our readers, as anything written here could be. Our contributors have not 
favored us much in the last week, so that what we could extract has been 
very useful. We wish that our subscribers would extract what they owe us 
from their pockets, and send it to us by mail, or otherwise. Since the issue 
of our last number we have received exactly one-twenty-sixth of what was 
due. This is generous in our friends. At that rate we would be paid in 
full, after a while. Considering that we give our subscribers the best plates 
and the best paper of any magazine published in the United States, we 
think that at least we should be promptly paid the small sum asked for the 
annual subscription. 


Tue ANNUAL Session oF THE PomoLoGicaL Society takes place in 
Boston, commencing on the 13th of this month. There will, no doubt, be 
a large gathering of fruit-growers and fruit-knowers. We are sorry that 
there is no chance for our appearance there. No doubt the merits of many 
fruits will be settled, including the Cincinnati strawberries and the Hovey 
cherry and Boston pear. We hope that those*who have no fruits to recom- 
mend will see that fair play is had in each case. The disappointment in 
our case consists in our not having the opportunity of meeting several 
pleasant correspondents and fellow-editors, and of visiting other friends 
on the route. Nevertheless we shall, no doubt, see some of them at our 
great State Fair later in the month. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 247 


THE Pratre FarMer.—We have just received the August number of 
this monthly, which, we must say, is the very best farmer’s paper we ex- 
change with. With two such men as J. A. Wight and Dr. Kennicott, 
how could it be otherwise? We can sympathize with them in the cause of 
their backwardness in issuing their paper, it being somewhat the same in 
both cases—inability to get up steam. In their case the fault lay in the 
engine—in ours, in our subscribers. The Farmer is closely printed in 8vo, 
with double columns, has about forty pages to a number; is not afraid when 
it has anything to say, to say it; and moreover, to “say it,’ as Emerson 
says, “in hard words.” Those who subscribe to this paper get agreat deal 
for one dollar, and those who do not, should do so as soon as possible. It 
_ is published by Messrs. Wright and Wight, at Chicago, Il. 


NURSERYMEN’S CATALOGUES. 


We have neglected to acknowledge the receipt of several catalogues of | 
Nurserymen. We are often called upon by subscribers at a distance for 
catalogues, and are always willing to procure them. We have catalogues 
from Messrs. Hugh Low & Co., Louis Van Houtte, Buist, Dreer, Rauch, 
Scott, and of nearly all those who advertise in our magazine. 


a 


Tue Iowa Farmer, published at Burlington, Iowa, is a neatly gotten 
up, well written monthly of thirty-two pages, which is gaining with every 
number. We should think it excellent authority in stock raising, which is 
now one of the most important branches of industry in the West. It also 
contains useful articles on horticulture, and occasionally very glowing ones 
on our western Flora. The editors are Messrs. Grimes and Tallant. The 
price is one dollar per annum. 


OUR NEXT NUMBER 


Will be ready in a few days after the issue of this. In order to publish the 
succeeding numbers rapidly, we want all the communications we can get. 
We hope, therefore, that our friends will send us as much interesting mat- 
ter as they can. 


948 THE FLORIST AND 


HOO SUNG. 


Mr. Dartrneron:—Under the above name I have had in cultivation, 
for a number of years, a vegetable which I consider worthy of being gene- 
rally cultivated. It was introduced originally from China, and through the 
kindness of a friend in Illinois, (Dr. Kennicott,) I first received the seed. 
It was represented to be a delicious substitute for asparagus, but not know- 
ing the part used as such, I have not, until this season, fully discovered its 
value. It is a species of lettuce, and while young used in the same way, 
but its greatest value consists (at least such will be the opinion of all lovers 
of asparagus,)in being an admirable substitute for that most excellent vege- 
table when the plants are shooting up, and before it comes into flower; the 
stems being very tender, and when from a quarter to half an inch in diam- 
eter, and eighteen inches to two feet high, may be cut into lengths and 
cooked in the same manner as asparagus. I will not say that it cannot be 
distinguished from that vegetable, but I do not consider it quite as delicious, 
and on the same space of ground where a dozen dishes of asparagus can be 
cut after three or four years of patient and high cultivation, one hundred 
may be cut of the Hoo Sung in three or four weeks! I have a small patch 
going to seed, which I will distribute to any who wish to make a trial of it, 
by lettmg me know their wishes. <A pre-paid letter with a stamp, or pre- 
paid envelope enclosed, will insure a return of the seed. 

J. B. GARBER. 
[in Farm Journal. 


—_—_<>_—_ 


‘WATERING BY TRENCHING AND DRAINING. 


That watering is a very important element in the economy of vegetation, 
may be readily conceived when it is known to form upwards of one-half of 
all green vegetable matter, and serves as a medium for the conveyance of 
all their food. All mineral ingredients that enter into the system of plants, 
must be in a state of solution, or so minutely divided as to be carried along 
with water. Even the gaseous elements that enter by the roots, are intro- i 
duced with water, since it is supposed that they cannot enter in the zriform 
state. ) 

In the cultivation of the soil, the most important inquiry is, its relation 
to water. It is waste both of time and money to attempt improvements on 
wet lands until they are drained. I am aware that draining is not generally 
recognized as an indispensable auxiliary to successful cultivation, but it is, 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 249 


nevertheless, a fact. that soils, even of a dry nature, will support a more lux- 
uriant vegetation after being undermined with drains, than they did before. 
The reason is simply this: All soils have their respective absorbing proper- 
ties, and if the surplus which is not retained by absorption, is not carried 
off by drains, it becomes injurious. Air is admitted, the soil is rendered 
more porous, water percolates freely into it, the air holds moisture in sus- 
pension, and when the surface supply fails, this suspended moisture is again 
brought up by capillary attraction, a principle in cultivation which is not 
generally known. 

But by far the best preventive of the evil effects of severe drought, is deep 
cultivation. Loosen the soil, no matter how deep, so that the best soil is 
kept on the surface. Zrenching is undoubtedly the most thorough process 
of deepening soil. The advantages derived from it are various. .The ab- 
sorbing capabilities of the earth are increased, and a large supply of mois- 
ture is thus retained. ‘The roots of plants can extend into a medium where 
they are exempt from the extremes of drought and heat, and obtain a more 
regular supply of nourishment, being neither so likely to suffer in wet, or 
burned up in dry weather; as in the former case the surplus passes freely 
down, and in the latter is drawn up by capillary attraction, more especially 
where a judicious system of surface stirring is persevered in, preventing 
rapid surface evaporation. 

In addition to the supply of moisture thus secured, trenching, when pro- 
perly performed, transposes and disintegrates the soil. The surface that has 
been exhausted by continual cropping, is replaced by a portion of sub-soil, 
enriched with the nutritive matters that have naturally sunk and been © 
washed down with rains from the surface, and carried beyond the reach of 
roots; the manures applied are more freely incorporated with the soil, and 
their action becomes more regular and uniform, and more directly available 
for the purposes of vegetable growth. | 

Artificial waterings are often misapplied; for instance, it 1s no uncommon 
occurrence to see a small basin formed around the stem Of a large tree, into 
which a few gallons of water are poured daily. This is all but useless, since 
the absorbing and feeding points of roots form a circle at a considerable 
distance from the stem, consquently this water cannot reach them. Newly 
planted trees are also frequently killed through kindness in this respect. A 
tree with mutilated roots and scanty growth of leaves, requires very little 
water. Mulching over the roots with a covering of tan bark, manure, &c., 
is a more likely expedient than a direct application of water, which cools 
the soil and retards growth. 


250 THE FLORIST AND . 


Soil that is properly zrated, deeply trenched, and judiciously manured, 
will support a luxuriant growth, no. matter how long a dry spell we may 
have, more especially if the surface is kept loose and open, to prevent, in 
some degree, evaporation of moisture, and radiation of heat. 

WM. SAUNDERS.” 
[In Germantown Telegraph. 


AERATION AND VENTILATION. 


There are many who will scarcely give themselves the trouble to inquire 
in what respect aération differs from ventilation, and in consequence of not 
doing so, regard the two as synonymous. Indeed, I may almost say, this is 
generally the case, although on a little reflection it must be evident they 
are not identical, as was shown when they were formerly noticed in the 
Gardeners’ Chronicle. In the volume for 1845, p. 267, aération is defined 
as “the art of keeping the atmosphere of a forcing house in motion, by 
currents of warmed fresh air,” whilst. ventilation is stated to mean “ the 
process of letting the external air at once into the forcing house.” This is 
no fine drawn @&tinction, but a very important difference which every culti- 
vator ought to bear in mind, especially when it is considered that it 1s 
mainly owing to the power they possess of regulating the atmosphere of 
their forcing houses in a proper manner, and at the time required, that 
their success is to be attributed. The reason why aération is advantageous, 
has been so clearly pointed out and explained in the article to which I have 
just referred, that I trust I shall be excused for bringing it again under the 
notice of those who are likely to profit by its study and perusal. It 1s 
there stated that—‘‘A man’s reason must tell him that a plant condemned 
to pass its life in a still atmosphere, is like nothing so much as a criminal 
set fast in an everlasting pillory. In order to secure motion in the vege- 
table kingdom, currents of air are made to do the work of the muscles, 
limbs and volition of animals. It is not at all improbable that, in addition 
to the mechanical effect of motion in assisting the propulsion of. the sap, it 
may be important that the stratum of air in contact with the leaves of 
plants should be incessantly shifted, in order to enable them to procure an 
adequate supply of food; for we find that water in motion feeds them better 
than that which is stagnant. Leaves are continually abstracting from the 
air the very minute quantities of carbonic acid which it contains. When 
the air moves quickly over the surface, fresh supplies of that food are in- 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 251 


cessantly presented to it, and the operation of abstraction may be facili- 
tated; while, on the contrary, if the air is stagnant, the absorption of 
_earbonic acid may be much slower. In an absolutely still air, perspiration 
will be reduced to its minimum, and it will increase within certain limits, in pro- 
portion to the quickness with which the air sweeps over it. The motion of the 
air being thus favorable to the two great operations of feeding and perspiring, 
we shall find it is equally needed day and night, for perspiration goes on 
principally during daylight, and feeding in the hours of darkness. A good 
system of aération must then be constantly in action.” (Gardeners’ 

Chronicle, volume 1845, page 267.) AD 

With the view of effecting this, a.variety of plans have been deihauit 
from time to time, which, to a certain extent, have answered the purpose ; 
but I think it will be admitted that a great deal yet remains to be done 
before it can be said that a proper system of aération has been perfected. 
At present it is a desideratum, and the oftener the subject is discussed the 
more likely are we to discover the path that shall lead us to the ail 
which has so long evaded our pursuit. 

Some years ago a correspondent suggested that a small machine, made 
on the principle of a winnowing-fan, might be employed for the purpose of 
ventilating hot-houses. The farmer, it was said, obtained’ a very powerful 
current of air in a small compass by such means; and the gardener, it was 
thought, might obtain the same advantages by adopting a somewhat similar 
plan for his forcing-houses. The machine might be so constructed as to be 
wound up like a clock, when its gradual action would produce a gentle and 
continuous breeze; and, by turning a winch or handle, the degree of wind 
might be increased to any extent desired. Such an apparatus, I find, was 
lately made the subject of a patent. It is known as Haig’s pneumatic 
engine, and is stated to be admirably adapted for the complete ventilation 
of houses, churches, and public buildings of every description ; the lower 
decks and holds of ships, and the engine-rooms and stoke-holes of steam 
vessels. It is now in use on board of her Majesty’s ships Asia, Prince 
Regent, Duke of Wellington, and several others; and has been fitted up 
by order of the emigration commissioners on board the Calabar, bound to 
Port Philip. Some idea of its power may be formed from the fact that in 
a trial that was made of it at Messrs. Hoare & Co.’s Brewery, Hast Smith- 
field, one of their largest vats (which holds about 1200 barrels) was emptied 
from carbonic acid gas in the space of 50 minutes, so that a man went to 
the bottom of it in perfect safety. 


252 _ THE FLORIST AND | 


Now, it appears to me that a small machine which can exhaust the air in 
the manner just described, might, by a little ingenuity, be so contrived as 
to produce a circulation of air in our hot-houses at a time when it would be 
unsafe to ventilate, and I think it not unlikely that after we have become 
more alive to the advantages which vegetation derives from a circulation of 
heated fresh air, some such machine as the one I have noticed will be looked 
upon as a necessary appendage to our pits and early forcing-houses. At 
present Haig’s invention may be considered a move in the right direction, 
and as it is capable of being easily fitted to hot-houses or pits at a trifling 
expense, I trust the preceding remarks may induce some of our leading hor- 
ticulturalists to Bie it a fair trial, and favor us with the results. 

W. B. B. 
[In Gardeners’ Chronicle. 


=amrD @ QHitcoms 


THE ROSH. 
BY JOHN A. KENNICOTT, M.D. 


June is the old month of roses, and we write of this Queen of flowers in 
the season of .June roses, with fields of them blooming around us and the 
memory going back to’a time within this century, when in the best gardens 
west of tide water, there were but the old Cinnamon—the “‘ Damask,”’ or 
Light Blush of recent catalogues, (now only fit to feed rosebugs)—the Tall 
White and the Red, (probably the-York and the Lancaster—and now and 
then, outside the garden, and clump of Sweet Briar—the only one not 
fallen into barrenness or decrepitude—though the old white is still a great 
favorite with old fashioned people, and the old Red blooms as showily as 
ever. 

At the present time the Rose Catalogue enumerates sorts by the thou- 
sands, and of all colors, except blue, and of all habits of growth, from the 
dwarf of a few inches, to the climber, making shoots of twenty feet in sea- 
son. Nor is this all; instead of being confined to the first summer month, 
we have them in bloom, in the open border, as far north as the ereat Lakes, 
from the end of May to the beginning of December, and at the Southern 
extremity of the Union during every month of the year. She 

The species of the genus Rosa are not very numerous—though the varie- 
ties from seed and the occasional “ syorts’” are endless. Cross breeding 
and hybridizing giving the greatest results; and high culture and aoe 
protection perfecting the product of nature and art. 

The commercial or professional classification of roses is somewhat arbi- 
trary; and far from clear or definite. The first, and still the most common 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 253 


class, north and west, is that of the old “June,” or Garden Roses. Most 
of them are entirely hardy, and best suited to the climate of north 42 de- 
grees—though some of them bloom abundantly as far south as St. Louis. 

Of this class, Scotch Roses are quite distinct in foliage, though neither 
showy nor diversified in bloom. Still, their delicate little leaves and flow- 
ers, early habits, and extreme hardiness and rapidity of propagation render 
them desirable in ornamental hedging, and out of the way borders. The 
yellow roses of this class, much resemble the’ Scotch in foliage and hardi- 
hood, and are, perhaps, a little more desirable—and they are certainly more 
fashionable. The old French, Provence, Damask and White Roses of 
the class, run into such endless sub-varieties—different, but not distinct— 
and so over-lap each other in their subdivisions, that it will take a better 
rose fancier than the writer, to show them up separately. | 

The Moss and Hysrip CHINA roses are more distinct in elassifivation, 

and, with a few exeptions, by far the most desirable of all the June Roses. 

Our exceptions for this latitude, are some of the White, the Provence, and 
a majority of the Climbers. Nearly all the White Roses are desirable ; 
and we would sooner part with any other than lose the old CaBBaagEu Pro- 
veNcE. And surely the climbing roses are indispensable, especially in cities, 
where but a few feet of soc? and a large spread of wall is available. Of 
the June climbers the AYRSHIRES are the most delicate, and the PRAIRIE 
Roses the most robust and showy. Of the latter, the ,old Queen of the 
Prairies and the Baltimore Belle are good types, and quite sufficiently dis- 
similar in bloom—their only fault is lack of fragrance. And now we are 
told of a new child of this marriage—the King of the Prairies—with more 
beauty than either Queen or Belle, and yet, withal, as fragrant as the old 
Damask. Success to you, Mr. Feast—may we soon feast our senses on 
this king of the Prairie Climbers. 3 

But there is another class of roses, which is , rapidly spreading and dis- 
placing these good old garden sorts, which however beautiful are at best 
but a short month in flower, and for the balance of the season unsightly 
cumberers of the ground—unless pruned and cared for more assiduously 
than the effect will warrant. We now refer to those sometimes called PEr- 
PETUALS—but which are more naturally divided into “‘ Everbloomers’’ and 
two season roses—or Remontants. With good treatment, the Everbloomers 
proper give flowers during the entire growing season; while the Remont- 
ants have two seasons; one with the June roses in early summer, and the 
other late in autumn. 

A large proportion of the roses are set down as “hardy” in the books— 


254 THE FLORIST AND 


but. we find very few of them entirely so in practice. In fact, only a part 
of the “Hybrid Perpetuals’ of the Remontant division. All the Noi- 
settes, Teas, Musks, &c., of the China family which we have tried, are quite 
too tender in-our soil; and even the glorious Bourzons are little, if any 
better than “‘half hardy,” at the best—though in Chicago and other cities 
north, we have seen them doing reasonably well in a few pais 
to the protection by buildings and enclosures. : 

Still, we contrived to winter a few sorts, by cutting down too near the 
ground late in the autumn, and covering the stumps with dry earth and hay 
or straw. The new shoots of the Gloire de Rosamen have commenced bloom- 
ing early in June, and continued until cut down, in November. 

But such Remontants as Duc D’Aumale, Dr. Marx, Earl Talbot, Madame 
Laffay, &c., have withstood our winters, without any. artificial protection, 
whatever. And yet, according to our experience, some of these are quite 
as hardy as the Hybrid Chinas, and other June Roses... 

To increase the autumnal bloom of the Remontants, we practice disbudd- 
ing in June, having then a great abundance of other, equally fine flowers, 
of the border sorts. ; 

But a word on culture and propagation, and we close. The cultivation 
of the Rose is very simple. The whole secret’ may be summed up, in 
depth and richness, of pulverized and well drained soil. A clay loam suit- 
ing best; except for propagation, where a sandy loam is desirable. Dig 
the soil two feet deep, drain it still deeper, and enrich it with thoroughly 
decomposed manure. Plant recent suckers, with small, new roots; or good 
layers—never more than ten years old—keep out grass and weeds, and 
fork up the soil, every spring, and with good sorts you will never fail of 
realizing all you can reasonably hope for, in the way of Roses. 

Except climbers (and a very few other individuals) a Rose plantation 
should be set, once in from four to six years, and the crabbed old stems, 
and gnarly roots thrown away, unless needed for growing layers. 

The climbing roses, the yellow moss, &c., need very little pruning, and 
the old wood should be cut owt, rather than shortened, while most of the 
others require shortening, and a severe cutting out of old wood, besides. 
The Rose nippers or shears, is the implement for this work—and imme- 
diately after blooming, is a good time to cut out a part of the old wood, 
(where the new is abundant) and very early in spring, at the time of fork- 
ing, the new wood may be shortened, and all the old that can be spared, 
finally cut out, to give more strength to that which is to afford flowers, on 
the current growth of the coming season. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 255 


Budded Roses are. not suited to our climate.—In out-door culture, we 
depend entirely upon LAYERS of the current growth, put down as early in 
July if practicable, though August will do. It is not always necessary, 
but it is always best to nick or tongue the layers, and in clay or mucky soil, 
to cover the part with clear sand, pegging down and mulehing with leaf 
mould, or other material—also shading the plant for some days after the- 
operation ; we have found this better than excessive defoliation. | 

| Prairie Farmer. 


VINE DISEASE. 


We have just had an opportunity of examining two Vine Houszs which 
we think throw some light on the subject of the disease which has lately been 
so prevalent in some parts of England. The Vines in the two houses are of 
the various sorts, principally, however, Sweetwater and Black Hamburg, 
and the one some weeks later than the other. Not the slightest trace of 
disease is visible on any of the vines trained to the roof of the house, except 
perhaps a slight pallid tint about the young laterals, to which, however, much 
importance cannot be attached; the leaves on other parts of the trees are 
quite as they should be, and the grapes themselves without spot or blemish. 
In one of the houses, however, were about a dozen pots, containing Black 
Hamburg and Sweetwater Vines, every one of which exhibited leaves coy- 
ered on the under side with little green pustules. As the whole of the Vines 
planted in the border were healthy, it became a matter of interest, to ascer- 
tain the state of the soil and roots in the pots, and on examination they 
proved to be badly drained; a large portion of the roots, indeed, were dead, 
in consequence of some former drought; the new roots were unhealthy, and 
the soil, though not absolutely water-logged, in an unfavorable condition. 
What, therefore we have suspected all along, seems to be verified, that in all 
those cases in which the leaves are deformed with pustules, the root is the - 
seat of evil, and that the remedy must be applied there. 

The next point was to examine the structure of the excresences on the 
leaves, which was impossible in the shrivelled, bruised specimens previously 
submitted to inspection, and in every case it appeared that they were due 
to an hypertrophy of the epidermal cells of the under surface, at the ex- 
pense Of the spongy tissue above, by means of which the air is admitted 
into immediate contact with the walls, and is thus enabled to act upon the 
fluid which they enclose. The effect, therefore, must be, where the warts 


S| THE FLORIST AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 


are in great abundance, to prevent the proper aération of the juices, which 
in consequence, return in an unhealthy condition, and are unable to supply 
the exigencies of the fruit, which very naturally contracts disease, and ulti- 
mately decays... The cells of which the warts are composed contain only a 
few scattered grains of chlorophyl, and have apparently a very low degree 
of vitality, so that they soon become brown, and thus cause the spotted ap- 
pearance which defaces the beauty of the foliage. It is not pretended that 
the spots upon the berries themselves are at all of the same nature as those 
upon the leaves, but rather that they are due to natural decay induced by 
the depraved state of the juices arising from the disease, which is so evident 
upon the foliage. OS 

The spot in Geranium is, we doubt not, a case of quite a similar charac- 
ter, though we have not at present accurately compared the two maladies, 
and the disease so prevalent in pear leaves may belong to the same category, 
though it is often accompanied by a minute Acarus; for it is possible that 
the Acarus may simply take up his abode in the pustules and not be charge- 
able with their first origin. It is not asserted to what particular condition 
of the. roots the evil may be due, whether to the former drought, which 
caused many of the roots to perish, or to the subsequent ill-drained condi- 
tion of the soil when charged with water,.or to marked alternations of 
drought and moisture; but now that the probable origin of the evil has been 
pointed out, it would, perhaps, not be difficult, where there are sufficient op- 
portunities of making experiments, to acquire some certain information on 
the subject.—M. J. B., in Gardeners’ Chronicle. 


CASSIN’S ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA, &c. 


Perhaps the most beautifully gotten up book at present in course of publi- 
cation in this country, is, the Birds of California, Texas and New Mexico ; 
by our valued friend and contributor, John Cassin, Esq., of this city. It 
corresponds in size with Audubon’s 8vo. edition of the Birds of America, to 
which this may serve as asupplement. The plates, lithographed and colored 
by Mr. J. T. Bowen, are exceedingly well done; and in many of the plates, 
plants of the region inhabited by the birds figured are represented. In the 
last number, Zauschneria californica and Nemophila insignis are well given. 
‘It is published in numbers at one dollar each, by Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 
of this city. The work will be completed in about thirty numbers. 


THE FLORIST 
AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL 


APHELANDRA SQUARROSA, (Var. LEopo.pi1.) | 


Acanthacee § Aphelandrex, NrEs.—Didynamia-Angiospermia. 


CHARACT. GENER. Calyx quinquepartitus, inaequalis. Corolla hypogyna, 
ringens, Jabio superiore sub-fornicato, bidentato, inferioribus, lateralibus 
multo minoribus. Stamina 4, corolle tubo inserta, inclusa, didynama ; 
antherce uniloculares, mutice. Ovariwm biloculare, loculis biovulatis. 
Stylus simplex; stigma bifidum. Capsula terestiuscula, bilocularis, tetras- 
perma, loculide bivalvis, valvis medio septiferis. Semina compressa, re- 
tinaculis subtensa. 

Frutices americe tropice ; folits oppositis, spicis axillaribus et termina- 
lobus, tetragonis, bracteis oppositis, submembranaceis, bracteolis, angulatis, 
corollis speciosis, rubricundis. R. Br. 

CHARACT. SpEcIF.—A. (§ Platychila) semi-herbacea, succulenta, glaber- 
rima; foliis petiolatis, oblongis acuminatis secus nervos pulchré albido 
pictis (an semper?), spicis 1-3, terminalibus, squarrosa-bracteosis; brac- 
teis amplis, 4-fariam imbricatis, obovato-orbiculatis, apicem versus leviter 
complicatis ibique leviter eroso-denticulatis, obtusis v. acutiusculis, granulis 
resinosis viscosis conspersis; floribus ad axillam bracteze cujusvis solitarius, 
sessilibus ; corollz flavee sesquipollicaris, bilabiatze labio superiore 2-lobo, 
inferiore 3-partito, divisuris obtusis.* 

Aphelandra squarrosa, NEES AB Esenz. in Endl. et Mart, FI. brasil, 
fascic. 7 p. 89 et in DC Prodr. XI. 300. 

Cuaract. VaRieT.—Bracteis pulchré citrinis. 


The Aphelandra squarrosa var. Leopoldii, has lately been introduced 
from the province of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, by a Belgian lady, who has. 


* Bractez basi ima incrassata, sicut rachis, nivesw, exdescriptione Neesiana ceterum au- 
rantiace, in stirpe nostra pulchré citrinaz, ime due vy. 4 oblong, acuminate, pollicares, luteo- 
virides. 

Bracteole ad basin floris cujusvis 2, subulate, laciniis calycinis duplo breviores, circiter 2 — 
lin-longe. Laciniz calycine subulate, acutissime, postica ceteris tripld latiore et paullo bre- 
viore, apice bidentata. 

Stamina 4, subzequalia, labio superiore corolle parum breviora, basiima et apice leviter 
puberula. Antherz (uniloculares) lineares, villis apicalibus inter se connexe, connectivo li- 
neari, dorso villoso. Ovarium disco pulviniformi crasso impositum, oblongum glaberrimum, bi- 
joculare, loculis 2-ovulatis. Stylus filiformis, glaber, apice sensim dilatatus fobeaque infundi- 
buliformi, stigmatica insculptus. 


25 


258 THE FLORIST AND 


named it in honor of the present king of that nation. Dr. Puancuon, 
in describing another variety (citrina) of the same species, says of it, that 
it is an half shrubby plant, with a simple, erect, somewhat succulent stalk, 
with large oblong leaves, of a fine green, with bands of ivory white very 
delicately marked along the middle and lateral nerves, which is, so far, 
constant; the present variety differs from the last in greater size of the 
leaves, by the persistence of the marking which covers the lateral nerves, 
and by the richness and long duration of its inflorescence. 

Dr PLANCHON also remarks (in the Hlore des serres) that “a striking 
resemblance in the inflorescence, might. at first glance, presuppose more 
affinity between this plant and the Porphyrocoma lanceolata (Hoox. Bot. 
Mag. t. 4,176) than really exists. On the other hand, the Hydromestus ma- 
culatus of SCHEIDWEILER, a Mexican plant, omitted in the work on the 
Acanthacece of the Prodomus, is evidently a species of Aphelandra (A 
maculata, Nob.) a neighbor of the squarrosa, from which it differs by its 
green, opposite bracts, and its much smaller flowers. 

his plant requires heat, moisture and shade. It is easily increased by 


cuttings. 


ACANTHACEOUS PLANTS; AND THE CULTURE OF THE 
APHELANDRA. 


The whole family of plants to which the Aphelandra belongs is one of 
much interest to the floriculturist. It is also one of the oldest in cultiva- 
tion, and has probably more handsome representatives than any other 
tribe. 

Known as the family of Acanthacee, over one hundred different genera 
have been described, of which over one-fourth are well known to the writer 
as containing one or more beautiful species. One of our oldest acquain- 
tances, one of the first plants to excite our boyish admiration, the 
Acanthus mollis is well remembered, not only for the beautiful spikes of 
large blue flowers which it annually produced in the border devoted to hardy 
herbaceous plants, but also for the interest which attached to it from the 
leaves having originally suggested the elegant form of the Corinthian capi- 
tal in architecture. 

Subsequently, our attachment to the tribe was certainly not lessened 


a 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 259 


by a further acquaintance with the various forms of Justicia, Hranthe- 
mum, Geissomeria, Bartleria, Beloperone, Schaueria, fc., all containing 
well known old favorites. Every year seems to add some pleasing link to 
our chain, almost all of them ‘holding their own” in popular estimation. 

Porphyrocoma lanceolata is a beautiful plant when grown in a strong, moist 
heat, in well drained pots of coarse lumps of turfy loam, and made bushy 
by pinching in when young. Asystasia coromandeliana, is another beauti- 
ful twining plant, with light blue flowers, and grows well in the same kind 
of soil and temperature as the last, but likes to be‘more shaded from the 
sun than any of the tribe I have grown, Henfreya scandens, perhaps, ex- 
cepted. There is another beautiful little form in Rwellia elegans, a plant 
growing but a foot high but very bushy, and covered with sky-blue flowers, 
rivalling those of Nemophila ensignis. It likes to grow in the full sun ina 
moist heat of about 60°. We might also include the Whitfieldia lateritia 
but as it is easily grown, its brown-colored fiowers are not generally 
deemed gay enough for extensive culture. 

The whole tribe is one of easy management ; of the Thunbergia division, 
plenty of heat and sunlight are the main essentials of success. The an- 
nual kinds do well sown in May in the open border: and the perennial 
planted out into a border of rich earth about the same time. Some of the 
perennial kinds are now removed to another family, the red and the blue, 
now constituting Hexacentris coccinia § H. grandiflora. These two plants 
are generally difficult to flower in pots; though they grow freely. An 
abundance of light and air, plenty of pot-room, and a temperature above 
60°, is all they require to bloom freely. They are beautiful objects 
when so grown. 

Of the Ruellia division: the Henfreya scandens § Goldfussia aniso- 
phylla are very valuable hot-house plants; the first doing well in the deep- 
est shade of a hot, moist house and abundantly producing the whole season 
creamy-white flowers: and the last doing equally well in the full sunlight 
of a dry stove. In the Barleria division, few things can exceed the beauty 
of the Geissomeria longiflora, or even of the newer variety G. elegans. 
The greatest difficulty with the first is, its very erect habit of growth, ren- 
dering it almost impossible to get a bushy, handsome specimen ; the latter is 
more tractable. In the Justicia tribe, we have a number of handsome 
plants, among which the genus Aphelandra stands pre-eminent. The old 
A. cristata can scarcely be surpassed, when cultivated properly, in the 
beauty of its flowers, the species now figured, claiming superiority mainly 
through its lovely foliage. 


260 THE FLORIST AND 


To cultivate the Aphelandra successfully, cuttings may be struck at any 
time from the beginning of the year till midsummer. The nearer the latter 
date the dwarfer will the plants be at the time of flowering. Cuttings root 
very readily in a sandy soil and strong, moist heat. When rooted, they 
may be potted into small pots. until well established, when they should be 
at once put into the pots intended to flower them; a twelve-inch pot would 
raise a very good specimen. The soil should be half-rotted turfy loam, 
with about a fourth or fifth part of well decayed horsedung: the pots, of 
course, to be well drained. 

In the early struck plants, the tops of the young shoots may be kept 
pinched as they grow, till midsummer, when they must all be suffered to 
run up, if wished to flower the following winter. It is a plant which de- 
lights in a high, moist temperature, with abundance of water, a little, but 
not too much shade and frequent syringings. The mealy bug and various 
kinds of Aphides, are great lovers of this plant and constant attention, the 
best nostrum yet to keep down insects, is needed to oppose them. 

A PHILADELPHIA GARDENER. 


ON THE CULTURE OF THE PELARGONIUM. 


No greenhouse plant has excited such a spirit of emulation among florists 
as the Pelargonium, or what is popularly termed ‘the Geranium.” Thatit 
is worthy of all the care and attention bestowed on it, few who recollect the 
contrast between those raised some thirty-five years ago and their progeny 
at the present time, will question. Unlike the Tulip, the Carnation,. the 
Pansy, and similar florist flowers, our present subject cannot boast of such 
a multitude of raisers; chiefly from the fact that to be successful, needs 


space and time, and is more the occupation of the “‘ Amateur” of means | 


than the humble mechanic who has so prominently figured in the raising of 
‘“‘oems’’ of the above flowers. 

But, if numbers have been wanting, enthusiasm in those engaged have 
not, for it has been our good fortune to live with one of her “‘ devotees,” 
from whose establishment many of those emanating from Mr. Gains, of 
Battersea, have been raised. The peculiar pleasure exhibited by this gen- 
tleman, almost hourly during the flowering of the seedlings, examining the 
bursting buds, and in some instances, curiosity being at such a pitch as not 
to wait for the natural opening of the petals, but partially berlony it him- 
self, is still vividly impressed on our memory. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 261 


This gentleman, who ts, if still alive, far advanced in years, has, many 
times with exulting pleasure, given an epitome of its early history. Of the 
firstimpulse imparted to the floricultural world in the environs of London, by 
the first appearance of Davy’s ‘‘ Daveyanum,” Moore’s Victory, and Macran- 
thum, the lions of those days, of the sensation created by the ‘“‘new Duchess 
of Glo’ster, the most noted flower in the beginning of our days.” 

From that time to the present, vast strides have been made, and the “ pro- 
perties’ of many of the present flowers are all but the perfection aimed at, 
namely, a circle, with the colors, whatever they may be, bright and dense. 
Among the most noted raisers is Mr. Foster, of Clewes, near Windsor ; 
whose first, his ‘‘Gem”’ subsequently ‘“‘Sylph” gave him a name above all 
his compeers, but which have long since sunk into silence, giving way to 
their more showy rivals. 

But to return to what more immediately concerns our present purpose, 
we intend giving a brief outline of its management as a seedling, and as a 
specimen plant. 


AS SEEDLINGS. 


The seeds should be sown as collected in the following manner, as much 
less difficulty is experienced in getting them to germinate if sown at once, 
than where they are allowed to dry. 

Prepare shallow pots or pans, put in one-fourth a ditto: fill on this to 
within two inches of the top, with soil recommended below, the remainder 
with white sand; press firm, and give it a good soaking with water. Have 
a pointed stick and dib in the seed half an inch deep: keep them in a cool 
place near the glass and shady. As soon as the plants are well up and 
sufficiently large to handle, prick off into other pots, filled in the same way 
except the sand ; as soon as they are out in the rough leaf, pot into thumb 
pots, one in a pot; as the roots get to the outsides, shift into larger till 
they occupy a five-inch pot, in which they should be allowed to flower. 
They require during winter, plenty of room, to be placed near the glass, 
and kept entirely free from green-fly, by syringing with tobacco water, or 
fumigating. About the first of May, they will commence flowering, when 
those inferior to what are already possessed, should at once, be entirely dis- 
carded, and those giving signs of improvement propagated and seeded from. 


AS SPECIMEN PLANTS. 


Cuttings may be taken off and struck any month in the year, and of | 
course in the case of nurserymen increasing new varieties, is desirable. But, 
for private establishments, the most usual and best time, is about a fort- 


262 THE FLORIST AND 


night after they have done flowering. It is best to let the plants stand out 
doors that time to get a little hardened. Take the cutting off below 
the third joint, and then cut off smooth under the joint, allowing all the 
leaves to remain, except those at the joint’ to be inserted, which are 
best taken off. By using a small thumb pot, and inserting one cutting in 
each, in the centre, with good drainage in the bottom of the pot, of finely 
broken crocks, the cutting as soon as it has struck, and the roots showing 
outside the ball which will be in about three weeks, may be at once shifted 
into larger pots without disturbing the roots. The cuttings will strike best 
if placed in a cool frame, and kept near the glass, shaded and moist, but 
not wet. 

About October, if the plants are strong, they may be shifted into four 
inch pots; in December, they may have their shoots stopped, keeping them 
somewhat dry till the eyes have pushed, and as soon as they have fairly 
started, they may be shifted into a six or eight inch pot, which is large 
enough for them to flower in the first season. The plants may be again 
stopped in February, and the branches regulated, after which they will re- 
quire no more shifting till after they are cut down, when they may be pre- 
pared for making specimens. | 

We will now suppose, that we have a one year old plant from the cut- 
ting, 
as to form asneat a bush when broken as’ possible, using a sharp knife 


and in the month of July, cut the plants hard back into old wood, so 


on all occasions, as the wound heals over much sooner. Keep the plants 
dry till the shoots are pushing freely. By the end of August, the eyes 
will have started sufficient to reduce the roots. Take the plants, shake the 
soil entirely from them, pruning the roots somewhat closely and repot into 
the smallest size pots the roots will go into. Place them in a frame and 
keep them close till they get established, occasionally damping them over- 
head with a fine rose, after which, give plenty of air night and day, merely 
keeping them from drenching rains and blustering winds. 

All plants intended for exhibition or fine display, are housed by or soon 
after the first of September, having received a shift into a size larger pot. 
In October, all the plants intended for the May shows, receive their final 
shift into the flowering pots. Those intended for flowering in June, should 
also receive a shift as the pots become filled with roots. In December, the 
June flowering will require stopping, and in February, they may receive 
their shift into the flowering pots, after which no Pelargonium should be 
shifted, as the consequence if potted later is, that the wood does not get 
sufficiently ripened to bring a good head of bloom, but have a vigorous 


A 
* 
a 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 268 


foliage up to the time when they ought to be preparing the flower-buds. 
The last stopping of the June plants should take place in March, keeping 
the plants at all times well thinned and regulated, with ample room for the 
foliage to develope itself. The May plants will by this time, be fast pushing 
their buds, and require watering once or twice a week, with weak manure 
water as well as regulating their branches to form a nice even surface at 
the top. We find that occasional syringing over the foliage materially as- 
sists them, especially towards the spring, although others object to it. Too 
much air cannot be given, or too little fire used for the Pelargonium, pro- 
vided the house does not get below 40°, and studiously avoiding all cold 
currents of air. | | 

As a general rule, the Pelargonium during the early months are better 
to flag occasionally for water than to be over watered, to be cool rather 
than warm, and under than over-potted, being much easier to apply a 
stimulant to an under-potted plant, than to recover a plant once sodden or 
over potted. ? 

As regards sticking, use as few as possible, but use sticks in preference 
to having the heads of flowers lopping this side and that, for it is notorious, 
that the growing of plants in pots is entirely artificial, and as such, neat- 
ness should be the point aimed at, andif sticks are used, as much concealed 
as possible. | 

For soil, use turf from a loamy pasture, the thinner cut the better. It is 
improved by laying in a compost heap, one or two years before using, when 
it may have had a third or fourth of its bulk of the dropping of a stable 
mixed with it. But as this is often out of reach and a substitute hag to 
be prepared, take the best turfy loam to be got and well incorporate it with 
a fourth of decayed stable or cow dung, breaking the lumps with the hands or 
trowel, sifting only for the cuttings; white sand should be added according 
to the texture of the loam. 

About a sixth of the pot should in all cases, be occupied by ye 
covering it with some of the rougher portions of turf to keep it free. 


September 4, 1854. KpgaR SANDERS. 


264 THE FLORIST AND 


BOTANICAL THOUGHTS ON THE STRAWBERRY QUESTION. 


I observe in your last number, that you seek the opinion of the Botani- 
cal Committee of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, on the subject of 
the sexual differences and changes said to be observed in the cultivation of. 
some strawberries. 

I am at a loss to conceive what is required of it; a mere expression of 
opinion, is of no scientific value, more especially in Botany, which is em- 
phatically a science of facts. Had you anything to place before them, 
seeds, flowers, plants, specimens, something on which a report could be 
founded, a meeting of the Committee would be consistent; in the absence 
of these, the result would be but the proceedings of a debating club, in 
which judgment goes by a majority, and could stand as a seientific truth 
only so long as a different committee should not decide to the contrary. 

Without specimens before us, all that could be done in the case, would 
be to inquire whether the sexual changes in question, were or were not 
probable ; but probabilities are not facts, and are beyond the field of botani- 
cal inquiry. 

The examination would be more legal than scientific, it would involve 
the honor or accuracy of the observer of the stated facts; not the cor- 
rectness of the facts themselves. It is a question for individual examina- 
tion and study, not for the decisions of committees or conventions. I 
would propose to those interested in the matter, to study the scientific 
bearings of the question for themselves. A little knowledge of the old Lin- 
nan system of Botany would be of service. Amongst other classes in 
that system, are three which have a bearing on the cases in point, Monoe- 
cia, Dicecia and Polygamia. The first, comprises those plants which have 
the stamens and pistils on separate flowers, but on the same plant. The 
second, those which have them on separate flowers, or on separate plants ; 
and the third, those which have the power of providing them on the same 
or separate plants, or even with perfect flowers, as circumstances dictate. 

Now, in reference to this strawberry question, it seems that the great 
botanist Linnzeus, placed it in his twelfth class, as, in his observation, its 
constant character was to bear its flowers perfect. Mr. Longworth and 
others, subsequently showed that this was an error, as, in their observation 
it was constantly Disecious. Subsequently, Mr. Meehan comes forward a 
step farther than either of these, with the observation that the plant is 
really polygamous. | | 

What does all this amount to? Linnzeus and Mr. Longworth take to ex- 
tremes, and Mr. Meehan the intermediate, reconciling the other two. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 265 


That the plants’ character is not consistent with Linnzeus’ disposition of 
it, is certified to by Mr. Longworth, and that it is not dicecious, is attested 
by Linnzeus’ perfect flowering plants, and thus, each shows incontestably 
that the other is wrong. But the inference cannot be drawn, that because 
it belongs to neither of these sections, it belongs nowhere. If it is not per- 
fect, not moneecious, not dicecious, the probability is, without Mr. Meehan’s 
or any other persons’ observations, that the plant is polygamous, or in other 
words, has the power of bearing either of the three by turns, according to 
circumstances. In this class, and having this changeable sexual character, 
the strawberry does not stand alone. The ash-leaved Maple, Heney 
Locust, Kentucky Coffee, Ailanthus, Persimmon, Millet, and many 
kinds of grasses, including the new celebrated Agilops, have all this ten- 
dency to vary in their sexual organs, by some apparently anomalous law, 
equally as in the strawberry: so great indeed, is this tendency to change, 
noted in the Linnean class, Polygamia, that all modern botanists who clas- 
sify on this sexual system, reject the class altogether, referring all its re- 
presentatives to the class to which its perfect blossoms belong, looking on 
the want of stamens and pistils, as an abortion and not as an essential or 
elemental want, as in all plants formerly referred to this class, the rudt- 
ments of stamens and pistils, are always visibly present, awaiting but fa- 
vorable circumstances to call either or both of them into perfect existence. 

In a true moneecious or dicecious plant however, the rudiments of sta- 
roens in pistillate, or of pistils in staminate flowers rarely or never exist. 
Thus, they have to be constant in their sexual character, and it is next to 
impossible for them to change. We may expect to look a long time for an 
Osage Orange, Paper Mulberry, Poplar, Willow, Oak, Chestnut, Pine, or 
many other moncecious and dicecious plants, to change their sexual charac- 
ters, because they have not the rudiments of all the organs necessary to 
a perfect flower in their separate ones. 

I think I have explained clearly the difference between a Polygamous 
plant, and one that is truly mineecious or dicecious. , Those who wish to 
judge for themselves in the case of the Strawberry, have only to observe 
whether a pistillate or staminate flower have imperfect stamens or pistils at 
the same time. If it have not, it 1s net a Polygamons plant, and those 
who assert the changeable character of its sexes are probably. wrong; but 
if it has, they are probably correct in their theory. I say probably, be- 
cause nothing but the direct observation of the change, in fact, can estab- 
lish the circumstance as a Botanical fact. Whether this direct observa- 
tion has or has not been made, it is not my purpose here to inquire. 

JULIUS. 


266 THE FLORIST AND 


For the Florist and Horticultural Journal. 


Sir: I feel indebted to you for favoring us with your opinions of the 
blossoms of Mr. Harper’s, apparently barren apricot trees; you may be 
right and I wrong about their anatomy, yet the few which I hurriedly dis- 
sected, were as I stated. When I called to see the trees, I was then on 
my way to the railroad car to go to the country, and Mr. Harper can tell 
you that I was only ten minutes on his place: during that time, I climbed 
both trees, cut the few shoots, labelled, tied them up, and wrote the note 
you got with them. I sent them to you as I had promised, because I con- 
sidered your judgment superior to my own; after this, I expected that you 
would comply with my request, and give us your opinion through the 
Florist. I waited several months in vain, and then wrote to the Farm 
- Journal, thinking to excite some other Botanist’s curiosity, to examine the 
trees next spring, when in bloom. 

You say that the blossoms of the barren tree, are cael with the ex- 
ception of pollen; it then appears strange to me, why it never got impreg- 
nated with the pollen of the fruitful tree, since it was in blossom at the 
time, and stands so close to it that some of their branches mingle. You 
attribute the want of fruit to an over-luxuriance in the tree. I should think 
that such luxuriance would also prevent its blooming, but the fruitful tree 
appears to me to be the most stately and thrifty, although the other’s leaves 
are much larger. You doubt not that the barren tree will bear fruit, if it 
were root pruned. I am for leaving the tree to nature, and if it will bear 
fruit, it falsifies the doctrine that, “all varieties of plants become as their 
original when left to themselves; yet I am for some scions or buds inserted 
on other stocks, say Plum stocks, and that would show what cross culture 
can do. You know that the late distinguished Van Mons, has teld us that 
he obtained fruit of his seedling pears, two or three and sometimes four 
years sooner, by grafting them on other stocks, than he could from the 
seedling trees themselves. 


Philadelphia, Sep. 22, 1854. SAMBUCUS. 


It is always better to hear both sides of a story; the Editor has nothing 
further to say than what was said in the last number, in reply to Mr. Sam- 
bucus’ observations in the Farm Journal; except to remark that, in order 
to avoid the renewing of a disagreeable subject, no public notice was taken 
of the specimens sent. 


| 


HORTICULTUARAL JOURNAL. 267 


SOME PRINCIPLES OF VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY BEARING 
ON THE CULTURE OF PLANTS. 


BY PROFESSOR W. H. DE VRIESE, OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LEYDEN. 
(Translated from the Dutch.) 


If we consider the vegetable kingdom attentively, we are astonished as 
much with the variety as with the greatness and magnificence of the phe- 
nomena which it offers to our contemplation. Almost every season, every 
day, every hour, and every place, presents us plants under different circum- 
stances, with peculiar qualities and in varied forms. Scarcely does the soft 
air of spring refresh the earth, when every object, in which there is still a 
germ of life, becomes developed with astonishing rapidity. The plants 
which spring has graced with foliage, summer decks with a multitude of 
flowers. In autumn the fruits are collected. In winter those plants, once 
so beautiful, are found to be, some in a state of dissolution, others in a state 
of rest,or in a continued development, which proves that nature is engaged 
in an indefatigable activity. But, in‘winter, the greater number of plants 
die; the fallen foliage decomposes, returns into the earth, and becomes the 
rich source of nutriment for a succeeding growth. 

But to judge of those changes which are observed in plants such long pe- 
riods are not required. How great is the variety in the phenomena of flow- 
ers and plants daily to be seen! Observe them attentively early in the 
morning of June or July, when night has scarcely raised its dark veil, and 
when the sun is hardly risen above the horizon. Everything has another 
aspect than during the day. The flowers are closed, the leaves have chang- 
ed their direction ; those that were spread out seem disposed to close, and 
present quite another appearance than by day; you would even think them 
about to reunite into their former state of buds, and to return to a state of 
formation and development. The vegetable kingdom sleeps! However, not 
only the form and position, but also the colors, have quite a different appear- 
ance. ‘The fields have often a green color, like that of the waves of the 
ocean. And this is not only the effect of vapors fallen from the atmosphere, 
but also of the fact that plants, by their altered directions offer us surfaces 
that are differently colored. 

Another cause of this phenomenon is that on their surface a cover like 
wax is left, which the sunbeams cause to disappear afterwards, and then the 
original color presents itself again. At mid-day all is in its full splendor. 
The flowers are opened, the leaves are spread out, and often they reflect the 
sunbeams from their shining surfaces; sweet smells spread over the fields; 


- 


268 THE FLORIST AND © 


vegetation attires itself with its most magnificent raiment, and proclaims to the 
serious contemplater of nature the greatness and power of Hiin who called 
all things into existence. 

And in what state does the vegetable kingdom appear to us in the evening? 
While the last rays of the sun, the source of life in nature, yet linger in the 
west, the plants seem to be again in a deep sleep. The whole of animated 
nature, as if wearied with the day, inclines with them to repose. The birds 
and other animals, inhabitants of the woods, are silent, hiding themselves 
among the branches and leaves; the insects creep to their holes; silence and 
calm reign everywhere, till morning comes to revive the whole creation. 
When reflecting on all this, one tries naturally to mount to the causes which 
bring about such contrasts, and to give a reasonable explanation of them, 
which is not founded upon a principle already received, but on one derived 
from the very phenomena. The science designated the physiology of plants 
proposes to itself such investigations. A zealous and unprejudiced inquiry 
has already explained many difficulties. But when we consider the immense 
field of our labor, the knowledge which we possess is still very limited. 
There is much, perhaps, that we shall never wholly understand; but this 
must not discourage us from pressing forward. Kvery good observation, 
every remark is an element—a gain for science. 

If the reader will follow us, we will centre our thoughts in the great labo- 
ratories of nature, and there observe attentively what are her actions, and 
in what manner she performs them; perhaps we shall be able to explain one 
or another of those contrasts which we have just mentioned, and which, at 
first sight, do not seem susceptible of solution. 

In considering a plant externally and superficially, we should not easily 
presume that its structure is so beautiful. However, it is composed of ele- 
ments so small, that the most sharp-sighted eye is unable to distinguish them. 


For this we make use of the instruments called microscopes, consisting of a’ 


series of polished glasses, which have the apparent power of enlarging small 
objects some hundreds of times, and which help usin finding out what it 
would be utterly impossible to perceive with our unaided senses. 

The microscope was first invented in Holland about the end of the 16th 
or the beginning of the 17th century, and in late years it has been brought 
toa high degree of perfection. By means of it we learn that plants consist 


of membranes or vesicles, which are hollow, or rather fill up and enclose a 


certain space, and are generally spherical; which afterwards, on approxima- 


ting one to another, change their form, and often become elongated, and 
when joined together form the body called vegetable tissue. This membrane — 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 269 


is colorless and transparent, it has no openings and contains fluids, and in 
those fluids there are different substances, the productions of vegetable life, 
either in solution or in a solid state. The membranes take up fluids exter- 
nally particularly water ; they bring them into the nearest vesicles or cells, 
and in this way the fluid, which the outer cells of the root take up from the 
ground, is carried up and circulated in all directions through the whole plant, 
and becomes the source whence are formed all the different organs of which 
the plants consist; and though all are formed upon one and the same prin- 
ciple, however, each is separately modified to discharge a more or less deter- 
mined service, and to contribute its particular part in maintaining the organ- 
ism of the whole. So the root has functions to perform quite other than the 
leaves, and again these serve to other purposes than the flower, the fruit, 
the seed, &c. Though the membranes which surround the cells are shut, 
and have no openings at all, yet they are pervious to fluids. ‘This property 
is common to membranes of the bodies both of animals and plants. The 
most simple examples prove this. If I expose in the air a bladder filled 
with water and well closed, all the water will be lost by evaporation on the 
surface, and the bladder will fall together, though it has no openings. The 
thinner the membrane of the bladder, the sooner all the fluid will be lost. 
If we expose membranes with each surface to different fluids, they pene- 
trate through the membranes and mix with each other. The degree in 
which this takes place depends greatly on the nature of the substances 
which are used; the thinner fluids penetrate, however, in greater proportion 
than the thicker ones. This may be proved by a calf’s bladder, half filled 
with the white of eggs, which, when put into water, being put into an albu- 
minous fluid, will become empty and fall together. This is no doubt a re- 
markable property. The cavity which contains the thicker and more gluti- 
nous substance, admits through the membranes of the cell a more fluid one. 
The same is to be observed in this respect in the membranes or vesicles of 
animals, and in the cells of plants. Gum, slime, sugar, albuminous and 
other substances are found in a smaller or larger quantity, in the cavities of 
the young cells of all, particularly younger organs; they are also present 
in those of the outer points of the root, which takes up from the soil a 
moisture, consisting chiefly of water, mixed with small quantities of different 
substances, soluble in that water. The moisture from the earth, being 
thinner than the fluids in the cells, penetrates the membranes of the cells 
in the roots, and with it those substances, the nature of which allows them 
to penetrate through the membrane, and to fix and unite with the sap are 
admitted into the cells ; whereas, on the other hand those substances, which 


270 THE FLORIST AND 


cannot be united with it, are not absorbed by the roots. It is as if the 
roots had a preference for some nourishing substances in the ground, and a 
dislike for others; and it is alone by this that we must explain how some 
substances of the ground are taken up by the plants, and others not; why, 
in fine, each plant requires its own soil and is often unable to grow upon 
other sorts of ground. 

As the plant is fixed in the ground by the roots, so is the stem, with its 
organs, in relation to the atmosphere. From the different nature of these 
two situations proceeds a great difference in the development. We have 
already spoken above of the various forms assumed by the tissue, which we 
called the tissue of the cells. Among them there is one, of which here, in 
connection with our present considerations, we must particularly speak. 
They are, in fact, those cells which are met with on the surface of plants, 
and which we designate the cuticle. They differ in many respects from all 
other tissues, though we may believe that they consist of the same types. 
If the leaf of an Inis be steeped in water during a fortnight, this membrane 
will become detached from the undermost parts, or the surface may be sepa- 
rated from the fresh leaf with a sharp knife. We see oblong rhomboidal 
vesicles, which compose the flat cells of the cuticle. Further, we remark 
small openings or stomata, which may be compared to the pores in the skin 
of animals, and formed by two vesicles of a curvate shape, which unite at 
the end, and leave an open space in the middle. There are also in the 
membrane two sorts of, vesicles, the oblong and the curvate. These open- 
ings in the cuticle are spread over the whole surface, except in the place of 
the fibres of the leaf, where they are missing. 

All this is covered by another thin and transparent membrane, which 
covers the whole cuticle, the openings only excepted, and in which we dis- 
cover lines, the marks of those which show in the cuticle membrane the 
tissue of the cells. If a cabbage leaf be steeped in water for some days, 
this upper membrane can easily be separated. It is caused in all plants by 
the evaporation of substances which remain in the cuticle in a fixed state. 

It is impossible to enlarge on the subject of this cuticle, which presents 
itself in innumerable other modifications. This may be said here of the 
above mentioned stomata, that it may be accepted as certain that they must 
be in a very near relation to the respiration of the plants, that is, the rela- 
tion of plants with the atmosphere, chiefly when we consider in what a 
great quantity they are often found. In the space of []0,001, there are 
2,846 on an Orange leaf, 1,000 on that of the Purslain plant, 480 on a 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. aig | 


Rhododendron leaf, 150 on that of the Oat, &c. » More than three millions 
have been counted on a single leaf of the above mentioned Iris. 

But, however important those pores may be, certain it is that it is not 
by those parts exclusively that the communication of the exterior world 
with the interior of the plant is entertained. We are sure that each mem- 
brane of plants, and consequently also that which lies on the surface, 
possesses the property of admitting fluids, of whatever nature they may be, 
without the presence of determined openings, though the conditions which 
are required for it are not always known to us. It is a fact that the whole 
surface exhales or respires—takes up fluids and conveys them to the inner 
part of the plant. 

In order to make our further contemplations useful to our readers, we 
have been obliged by these observations, to introduce them into the structure 
and nature of plants. 

It may be accepted as a truth that the vesicles or cells of the root may 
be at all times active, in a greater or less degree, even independent of what 
takes place in the other part of the plant which is above the soil. The 
‘“‘endosmosis,’’ such is called the property of the cells (which contain 
thicker fluids) of taking up thinner ones—the endosmosis, that peculiar 
faculty of absorbing, takes place during the colder seasons as well as in the 
summer in the cells of the roots, and also in more inwardly situated cells. 
In other words, where there is life there must be movement also. The 
movement which takes place here, consists of the exchange of fiuids from 
one to another cavity of cells. That movement and the supply and 
exchange of substances which it necessarily brings about, is the only cause 
of the growth. It must, though in a less degree, take place in the parts 
under ground, even when the cold of the winter stops all growth and develop- 
ment—when the superficial contemplater does not see in nature the least 
trace of life. The following causes will explain how this is possible. 
When the earth seems to be changed into a crust of ice, the temperature of 
the ground at a relatively small depth is higher than that of the air. It 
has been proved by experiments, that the temperature of the interior of 
trees is different from that of the surrounding atmosphere. It has been 
observed that even at periods when the thermometer has fallen below the 
freezing point, and thus when the air is cold, when water becomes ice, the 
inner part of the trees is warmer. Incisions were made in the trunks of 
trees in winter, thermometer-bulbs were inserted, and the quicksilver therein 
was some degrees higher than in that of thermometers hung up near the 
trees in the open air. The trees retain their proper degree of heat, not- 


oa, THE FLORIST AND 


withstanding all the changes in the temperature of the air. This may be 
explained by the generally known property of vegetable substances, chiefly 
of wood (and thus particularly of trunks of trees), preserving their proper 
temperature. Therefore, those vegetable substances are called “‘ bad con- 
ductors of heat.” —Gard. Chron. 


AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 


This Society met in Boston, on the 14th inst. We have received only 
the report of the last two days. As it contains much interesting matter, 
we give it in full. 


SeconpD Day’s Sussron.—The Society met in the Horticultural Hall, 
School street, pursuant to adjournment, at 10 o'clock. has first business 
was the appointment of Committees, as follows :— 


Executive Committee-—The President and Vice Presidents ex officio, 
William D. Brinckle of Pennsylvania, B. V. French of Massachusetts, 
J. A. Warder of Ohio, Richard Peters of Georgia, Benjamin Hodge of 
New York. 


On Foreign Pruits.—C. M. Hovey of Massachusetts, Charles Downing 
of New York, C. B. Lines of Connecticut, S. L. Goodale of Maine, H. E. 
Hooker of New York, J. M. Hayes of New Jersey, HE. J. Hull of Illinois. 


On Native Fruits.—William D. Brinckle of Pennsylvania, P. Barry of 
New York, Henry Little of Maine, Robert Manning of Massachusetts, 
Thomas Hancock of New Jersey, J. B. Eaton of New York, B. F. Cutter 
of New Hampshire. 

On Synonymes.—J. 8. Cabot of Massachusetts, William R. Prince of 


New York, L. E. Berkman of New Jersey, A. H. Ernst of Ohio, J. J. 
Thomas of New York, Robert Buist of Pennsylvania, F. R. Elliott of Ohio. 


The President called for the opinion of the Convention on varieties of 
Pears worthy to be placed in the list of “ Pears which promise well.”’ 
After some interesting discussion, the following varieties were placed in 
that list: Beurre Clairgeau, Sheldon, a New York seedling; Hpine 
Dumas, Collins, a seedling from Watertown, and the Adams, exhibited by 
Hovey & Co. 

The Hampton pear, a seedling from Long Island, was proposed to be 
placed on the list of varieties which promise well. Mr. Barry, of New 
York, had known it as the Hagerman. Mr. Harle, of Worcester, said 
there was a pear extensively cultivated in the easterly part of Connecticut, 


| 
; 
i 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 2738 


called the Hampton; he would like to know whether it was the same. Mr. 
Prinee, of Flushing, said the Hagerman was esteemed as a very great acqui- 
sition. Mr. Baxter remarked, that the original tree was found in a hedge. 
It is a fine growing tree—a beautiful fruit. 

Dr. Brinckle, of Pennsylvania, thought we knew too little about this 
variety to adopt it at present. It was withdrawn to await the opinion of 
the Committee on Native Fruits. 

The President proposed the Dallas pear, introduced by Gov. Edwards, of 
Connecticut. At first, he did not think very favorably of that variety, but 
latterly he had formed a very different opinion of it. It was hardy and 
vigorous. 

Mr. Berkman, of New Jersey, regarded this variety as one of the very 
highest flavored pears. It has lasting qualities, and is very juicy. 

Mr. Manning could not regard the quality such as to entitle it to general 
cultivation. : 

Mr. Lines, of Connecticut, said the Dallas pear stands very well indeed 
with pomologists in New Haven, although it has not made a deep impression 
there. It was not adopted. 

The President proposed the Sterling pear. Mr. Barry did not know 
enough about it to give an opinion. Mr. Lines thought it hardly worth 
while to adopt it. The President found the tree to be beautiful, the fruit 
handsome and promising well. It was not adopted. 

The Boston pear (Hovey’s), was proposed for the list which promise well. 
It was opposed by Mr. Walker. Mr. Cabot gave his experience of it. 
When he first tasted it, he thought it as good as the Golden Beurre of Bil- 
boa. At other times, he had seen it when he would not have known it. 
Mr. Earle had known the Boston pear three years, and it appeared to be 
better than the Muskingum or the Urbaniste. If it proved as uniform as 
he had found it, he should think it a very good summer pear. 

The President did not taste it the first year it was exhibited; the second 
year, however, he tried it, but it did not quite come up to his expectations. 

Mr. Lines, of Connecticut, thought it not proper to put it on the list 
which promises well. 

The Boston pear was rejected from that list. 

Mr. Barry, of New York, would like to hear the opinion of the Con- 
vention on the Easter Beurre pear. 

Mr. Rich, of Baltimore, said it did well in Maryland, and ripens without 
difficulty. 

Mr. Barry had cultivated the Easter Beurre in Rochester for fifteen 

26 


O74. - THE FLORIST AND 


years, and was satisfied that it was by far the best winter pear in existence, 
for any place where it ripens as well as it does in Rochester. Had he the 
convenience, he would plant twenty acres with this tree. , 

Mr. Eaton, of Buffalo, had eaten it in perfection as late as the 22d of 
April, and considered it the best pear he had ever eaten. It is a good 
grower, a good bearer, and is unapproachable as a winter pear. 

Mr. Walker said the Easter Beurre had always been a favorite with him. 
He learned from his friend, Mr. Berchman, of Belgium, that the Monks 
always reserved the Haster Beurre for their especial palate, and he con- 
sidered that a pretty good indication of its superiority. Finer pears never 
were grown—better never were eaten. It is not, however, so good in this 
region as it 1s in other parts of the country. Mr. Walker moved that the 
Easter Beurre be placed among the varieties for cultivation in particular 
localities. 

Mr. Barry said the demand for this tree is so great they cannot be 
obtained, either in this country or in Europe. 

Mr. Wilder would like to see it placed upon the list which promise well 
for certain localities. Specimens had been exhibited at the Massachusetts 
Horticultural Society’s exhibition, weighing fourteen, and sixteen ounces, 
and they had been sold as high as one dollar for a single specimen. When 
properly ripened, fifty cents each have been paid for them readily. 

Mr. Walker was inclined to think that the Easter Beurre pear was a 
little too old to be placed in the list of pears which promise well. If fifty 
years of practice and experience with it is not enough to enable us to 
determine its true position, let it die. It would be better to withdraw it 
altogether than to place it in the list of varieties which promise well. We 
should place in that list varieties only that we are pretty well acquainted 
with,—new pears that have been cultivated long enough to determine their 
quality. 

The discussion was continued at some length by a great number of mem- 
bers. Various motions were offered and withdrawn, until, finally, it was 
voted unanimously to lay the subject upon the table until the next biennial 
meeting; the Society, in its associate capacity, expressing no opinion. 

The qualities of the following varieties of pears were briefly considered, 
and they were placed in the list of varieties which promise well: Grande 
Soleil, Jaune De Witt, Walker King Sessing, Belle Noel or Fondante de 
Noel, Doyenne Sieule, Pius Ninth, Fondante de Malines, Beurre Sturk- 
man, Rousselette Esperine, Zepherine Gregoire, Theodore Van Mons, and 
Compte de Flandres. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 215 


Dr. Brinckle exhibited to the Convention specimens of the Latch pear, a 
new native; the Regnier pear, and the Graham grape. 

William R. Prince, of Flushing, L. I., submitted a list of thirty-three 
pears, which he proposed should be placed upon the rejected list: Belle et 
bonne, not rejected; Belle D’Aout—this was said to be one of the most 
deceptive pears in the catalogue, very handsome,’but very miserable— 
rejected; Belle du Bruxeles, rejected; Martin Sec, rejected; Chesseley, not 
rejected; Beurre Van Mons, Bouquia, Callebasse of France, or Pitt’s Pro- 
lific, Jalousie, Leon le Clerc, Levalle, Maria Louise Nova, March Berga- 
mot, Moorfowl Egg, Passane de Portugal, Pope’s Quaker, Queen Caroline, 
Queen of the Lower Countries, Queen of the Pears, Sugar Pear, Summer 
Bergamot, Summer Thorn, Swan’s Egg, and Vert Longue Panache, all 
rejected. 

Chelmsford, Beurre d’Auremburg, Hampden, Bergamot, Mesirre Jeau, 
Muscat Allemand, Windsor and Beze de la Motte, not rejected. 

Mr. Stickney called the attention of the Convention to the Beurre Diel 
Pear. It had always held a high rank with him. 

Mr. Prince remarked that he sent the first Beurre Diel specimens ever 
exhibited at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s tables. He sent it 
under the name of Colmar Souveraine. He considered it a grand pear in 
every respect. Other members gave their opinions. In the city of New- 
ark, it was esteemed among the best varieties; in western New York, it is 
universally regarded as the best pear cultivated; at Worcester, it is very 
popular, where it is mostly cultivated on quince; it is highly regarded in 
Maine; there is no pear in New Haven thought more highly of. They 
think more highly of it for general cultivation than any other. i ia 
were urged that in some localities it cracks badly. 

After a full discussion, the Beurre Diel was placed upon the Gate recom- 
mended for general cultivation. 

In the afternoon session, the subject of Apples was taken up, and it was 
voted to take up those apples which at the last session of the Society were 
placed upon the list of varieties which promise well. The Autumn Bough 
was first on the list. Mr. Downing considered it one of the finest Fall 
sweet apples we have. In Newburg, N. Bo» and its vicinity, it is very fine. 
It was not advanced. 

The Hawley apple did not do well this year, but last season it was one of 
the finest of apples. It remains on the list. The Melon apple, originated 
in western New York, was esteemed worthy of recommendation for general 
cultivation. It ripens in November or December. There is a tree now in 


276 THE FLORIST AND 


bearing at Mr. Stickney’s farm, in Watertown, with two barrels of fruit. 
The Mother apple remains on the list. The Northern Spy was placed on 
the list recommended for particular localities. 

The Smokehouse apple of New Jersey—sometimes called the Lancaster 
Vandevere—was esteemed in Pennsylvania and Ohio as a superior variety ; 
but as it was not very generally known, it was permitted to remain on the 
list where it now stands. 

Mr. Prince recommended the Garrickson’s Early Apple. He would also 
recommend the Sine Qua Non as another superb early apple. 

Mr. Hooker suggested that two early apples, which he considered very 
fine, be added to the list of varieties which promise well—the Primate and 
Early Joe. 

Mr. Downing and Mr. Barry supposed the Primate to be identical with 
the Summer Pippin. It was highly spoken of, and was regarded as one of 
the best market apples cultivated. It began to ripen very early, and con- 
tinues a great length of time. It was placed on the list which promise well. 
Early Joe was passed by. 

Mr. Little, of Maine, called the attention of the Convention to the Rib- 
stone Pippin, especially for Northern situations. 

Mr. Prince remarked that it always drops its fruit on — Island before 
October, and had erased it from his catalogue; but, afterwards receiving 
information that it succeeded remarkably well in New Hampshire and Ver- 
mont, he restored it. 

The Ribstone Pippin was recommended for cultivation in Northern 
latitudes. 

The Genesee Chief was recommended by the Committee on Native 
Fruits, and it was placed on the list that promise well. 

Dr. Eshelman, of Pennsylvania, proposed to place the Jeffreys on the list 
for trial. He considered it the best apple he had ever seen for its season ; 
it ripens in September. 

Mr. Manning considered the Minister apple the very best winter variety 
he had ever had, particularly for strong soils. It was placed on the list for 
general cultivation. 

The Murphy apple tree was characterized by Mr. Manning, of Salem, as 
a poor bearer, and the tree is apt to die at the extremities of the branches. 
Passed over. The Monmouth Pippin was placed on the list which promise 
well., The Coggswell apple, from Connecticut, a fine looking variety, about 
the size of the Baldwin, red, juicy, delicious and continues until December, 
was placed on the list which promise well. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 277 


The Committee’ on Native Fruits submitted a report, the result of their 
examination of a varieties of specimens that had been submitted to them. 
The report was accepted. Among the articles reported on was the some- 
what celebrated Concord grape. he Committee describe it as large, 
round, heavy, dark bloom color, flavor more foxy than Isabella, quality 
good; bunch, in size and form, not unlike the Isabella. 

Mr. Lines, of Connecticut, desired to discuss the item in the report con- 
cerning the Concord grape. It was a matter of great importance to the 
public. There is a deep interest felt in the community in reference to any 
grape that promises to be a substitute for the Isabella. The vote adopting 
the report was reconsidered. 

Mr. Lines now offered the following :— 


Voted, That the Concord grape, which we have had an opportunity to 
examine, is evidently earlier by several weeks than the Isabella grape. It 
is very juicy, but is inferior in quality to the Isabella, Catawba or Diana. 


Mr. Prince considered the Concord grape a decided acquisition to the 
New England States. 

Mr. Bull, the originator of the Concord grape, gave a lengthy account of 
its origin and his experience with it. It is a remarkably juicy berry, and 
from a heaped bushel basket he pressed twenty bottles of juice, to which he 
added four pounds of sugar, and now the wine is too sweet. He believed 
that wine could be made from it without sugar. 

The discussion was continued by several gentlemen, and quite an interest 
was manifested in fixing the true position of this grape. Mr. Lines with- 
drew his vote. Some extended remarks from Mr. Walker, recommending 
caution in endorsing this grape, until it had been tested for at least five 
seasons, elicited responses from Mr. Bull, Mr. Hovey, and some remarks 
from Dr. Brinckle. The discussion became warm and somewhat exciting. 
There is evidently a strong feeling on the grape question, but our limits 
will not permit us to extend our report. Those who are interested will find 
a full report of all that was said in the official report of the Society. 

At half-past six, the Convention adjourned to meet again next morning, 
at ten o'clock. 


Last Day, Sepremper 16.—The Society continued its sessions in the 
Horticultural Hall, the President, Hon. M. P. Wilder, in the chair. 

The discussion on the Concord grape was resumed; the President, Mr. 
Cabot, Mr. Bull, and Mr. Breck participating in it. Mr. Cabot did not 
understand that the Society had examined the grape, and it was not called 


278 THE FLORIST AND 


upon to give an opinion for or against it. The members had not cultivated 
it, and they knew but little about it. It remained for the Society to ae 
the report of the committee on native fruits. 

Mr. Bull did not offer his opinion as to the merits of the Concord grape ; 
neither did he desire an expression of opinion of the Society. 

Mr. Breck thought it proper that the Concord grape should be permitted 
to remain where it now stands. It should not be endorsed by the gee 
until it has been more fully tested. 

On motion of Mr. Cabot, the report of the committee on native fruit was 
unanimously adopted. | 

On motion of the Secretary of the Society, it was voted “‘ That the lists 
of all the fruits now on exhibition at the Massachusetts Horticultural So- 
ciety’s tables, contributed by members of the American Pomological Society, 
be entered:on the record of the proceedings of the Convention. 

The President submitted the report of a committee appointed at the ses- 
sion of 1852, to consider the subject of erecting a suitable monument to 
the memory of the late A. J. Downing, from which it appeared that a fund 
of $1,600 had been subscribed for that purpose, from gentlemen in Phila- 
delphia, New York, Boston, Rochester, Newburg, Buffalo and other places. 
It is designed to erect the monument in the public grounds at Washington, 
which Mr. D. did so much to adorn. 

The consideration of the varieties of apples to,be recommended, was re- 
sumed. | 

Mr. Benson, of Maine, called the attention of the convention to the 
‘Winthrop Greening,”’ known also as the “ Lincoln Pippin.” It is an Au- 

tumn variety, ripening in the latter part of October; is quite as large as 
the Rhode Island Greening, and for flavor, beauty and the table, ranked 
among the very best varieties. 

Mr. Goodale, of Maine, thought it was an unrecognized English variety, 
introduced by Mr. Vaughan. It was a superior variety. Placed on the 
list for trial. ; 

Myr. Barry called attention to the Benoni apple, a New England variety. 
It has been much cultivated, but there has not been much said about it. 

Mr. Walker’s experience led him to be in favor of the Benoni. It origi- 
nated some years ago in the neighborhood of Dedham. He should have 
no hesitation in saying it was a very good variety. 

Mr. Prince received the Benoni from the late Mr. Manning, as the best 
variety he had seen, and he (Prince) had found it so. He thinks it emi- 
nently worthy of general cultivation. It was placed on the list which pro- 
mise well. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 279 


Col. Little, of Maine, called attention to William’s Favorite. It was the 
unanimous opinion of the convention that it was a superior apple for gene- 
ral cultivation—with this qualification, it does not flourish on light soils. 

Mr. Townsend wanted the opinion of the convention as to the best winter 
sweet apple for cooking. There was a general expression that the Danvers 
Winter Sweet was a most desirable variety. 

Mr. Saul never saw any apple equal to the Ladies’ Winter Sweet. 

Mr. Walker’s experience led him to place the Ladies’ Winter Sweet in 
the very first rank. 

The President had seen it in bearing in Massachusetts. The tree was 
loaded with fruit as thick as onions on a string. 

Mr. Manning would like to see it in the promising list. 

The convention gave a unanimous opinion that this variety is the best 
winter sweet apple in cultivation. 

B. F. Cutter, of New Hampshire, spoke of an apple in Hillsboro’, called 
John Sweet, which he esteemed very highly, and he regarded it as the best 
late keeping sweet variety he ever saw. 

Mr. Prince, of New York, remarked in reference to the Newton Pippin, 
that two distinct and very dissimilar varieties are cultivated under the same 
name—the Green Newton and the Yellow Newton. The first has a rough 
bark; the other has a smooth bark, and is very thrifty, while the Green is 
unthrifty. 

Dr. Wight called attention to the Ledge Sweeting, a seedling from Ports- 
mouth, which he had no doubt would prove as good a variety as the Ladies’ 
Winter Sweet. 

Mr. Wilder regarded the Ledge as a most remarkable apple. 

Mr. Barry, of New York, spoke of the Belmont apple as a very popular 
variety in Northern Ohio and Western New York. It is an early winter 
apple of large size. It fails in Illinois. 

Mr. Manning had grown a few specimens, and they promised well for a 
good apple. 

Mr. Manning called attention to the Garden Royal apple as a very su- 
perior variety, but, as it is a small grower, he would not recommend it for 
orchard cultivation; but, for garden, he esteemed it as one of the most de- 
sirable sorts that can be cultivated. It ripens in the latter part of August. 

The President confirmed the remarks of Mr. Manning. The Garden 
Royal stood, in his estimation, among the best. It was recommended as 
good for gardening. 

The discussion of apples was closed. 


280 THE FLORIST AND 


Mr. Prince, of New York, offered the following resolutions, which were 
laid on the table: 


Resolved, Tnat we appreciate the wisdom and beneficence of the Creator 
in placing within the boundaries of our country, eight distinct species of the 
grape, and innumerable varieties; thus providing means for the resuscita- 
tion of the human system, by the most delicious fruits and gently exhilara- 
ting beverages. 


Resolved, That whilst we deprecate the use of all alcoholic liquids, and 
of the adulterated wines that are poured upon our shores from the Eastern 
Hemisphere, we cannot refrain from urging upon Americans the general 
culture of the grape, and the formation of extensive vineyards, in order 
thereby to diminish importations, increase the national wealth, and, above 
all, to furnish an ample supply of pure American wines as the most sove- 
reign preventive of intemperance. } 


Laid on the table. 


Mr. King, of Massachusetts, offered the following resolution : 


Resolved, That the models of fruit prepared by Mr. Townsend Glover, 
of Fishkill, N. Y., excel all others of the kind that have come under our 
notice ;—that they are calculated to serve a very important purpose, in pre- 
senting perfect specimens for examination at all seasons and from all sec- 
tions of the country; and that we respectfully recommend to the Congress 
of the United States to employ Mr. Glover to prepare (under the direc- 
tion of a commtttee to be appointed by this Society,) a full collection of the 
fruits of the country, to be deposited in the Agricultural Department of 
the Patent Office at Washington. 


After remarks from several gentlemen, the resolution was‘unanimously 


adopted. 

Pears suited for cultivation on quince stock were next considered. 

Mr. Barry, of New York, remarked that he had seen it stated in several 
newspaper paragraphs, that the cultivation of the pear on quince stocks 
had proved to be a failure. He regretted to have such statements sent 
abroad. They are not correct. He considered -it a great blessing to the 
country that pears could be cultivated on quince stocks, because it enabled 
thousands upon thousands of our citizens to enjoy delicious varieties of fruit 
years earlier than they otherwise could. Perhaps the best way to check this 
erroneous impression would be for the Society to recommend a list of pears 
that succeed best on quince stocks. He had prepared a brief list of sorts, 
and would submit it for the consideration of the meeting. All the pears 
here enumerated were not, indeed, of the best quality, but they have been 
successfully proved on the quince. Before giving the list, he would say 
that the best quince stocks were the Fontenay and another variety... The 
common apple or orange quince of this country, is not a suitable stock for 
budding. It may grow well for one or two years, but will ultimately fail. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 281 


Pears for cultivation on quince stocks:—Rostiezer, Beurre d’Anjou, 
Beurre Diel, Duchess d’Angouleme, White Doyenne, Louise Bonne de Jer- 
sey, Fig d’Alencon, Urbaniste, Haster Beurre, Glout Morceau, Pound, Cal- 
tilac, Vicar of Wakefield, Napoleon, Beurre d’Amanlis, Beurre d’Aremberg, 
Soldat Laborer, Beurre Langeler, Long Green of Cox, Nouveau Poiteau, 
and St. Michael Archange. } 

The list was adopted by the Society. 

Cherries were next considered. Governor Wood, Black Hawk, Kirtland’s 
Mary, Rockport Biggareau, Ohio Beauty, and the Hovey were placed on 
the list of varieties which promise well. 

Mr. Cabot, of Massachusetts, introduced for the consideration of the 
convention, the seedling cherry of Capt. George Walsh, of Charlestown. 
There were, he said, claimed by Mr. Walsh, three varieties, ripening at in- 
tervals of one week from each other, but they were so much alike, he (Mr. 
Cabot,) could see no difference in them. He proposed to the Society to call 
it Walsh’s Seedling. 

Mr. Walker had been acquainted with this cherry fourteen or fifteen 
years. When it was first exhibited to the Horticultural Society, there was 
some doubts as to its being a seedling, from the fact that a Mr. Brown, of 
Beverly, had exhibited a cherry very similar to it in appearance, which he 
called the Black Biggareau of Savoy. The Society, however, took so 
much interest in the question that a committee was sent out to Mr. Walsh’s 
garden, to examine the trees and see if they were budded. He, (Mr. 
Walker,) was on that committee, and they came to the conclusion that the 
trees were not budded. The fruit is large, black,—equal in size to the Black 
Tartarian—firm flesh, excellent flavor, and quality A No. 1. | 

Quite a discussion ensued, during which it was contended by Mr. Prince 
that the cherry in question was not a seedling, and by Mr. Hovey that its 
true name is the New Black Biggareau. 

The Society adopted the name of “ Walsh’s Seedling,” and placed it in 
the list of sorts which promise well. The Great Biggareau of Downing 
was placed in the list which promise well, and Sparhawk’s Hovey was 
passed by. 

Strawberries were next taken up. Burr’s New Pine was placed in the 
list recommended for certain locations, Walker’s Seedling in the list which 
promise well, Imperial Scarlet and Scarlet Magnet were passed; Jenny’s 
Seedling was recommended for certain locations. 


282 THE FLORIST AND 


Plums were next in order. The McLaughlin and Reine Claude de Bavey 
were put in the list for general cultivation. 

Italian Prune or Fellenberg, a tree of remarkable vigor, very nbodselias 
and holding its fruit in spite of the curculio, was passed for the present. 

Ives’ Washington Seedling was placed in the list which promise well. 

Raspberries. Mr. Cabot moved to strike the Red Antwerp variety from 
the list. He believed it to be a good variety, but there were so many other 
sorts better, it was not worth while to retain it. 

Mr. Lines, of Connecticut, thought the Red Antwerp fully equal to the 
Franconia. Mr. Prince regarded it as one of the most splendid fruits ever 
placed on any table. Mr. Saul said it was the great raspberry of New 
York, and he was astonished to hear the gentleman from Massachusetts say 
anything against it. Mr. Cabot said as there might be some mistake about 
the true name, he would withdraw his motion. 

Knevitt’s Giant was taken from the list which promise well, and recom- 
mended for general cultivation as a hardy, delicious variety, a good bearer, 
and far ahead of all others. 

Dr. Brinckle’s Seedlings, the Orange, French, and Walker varieties, 
were placed on the list which promise well. 

The President stated that the Orange was the most beautiful sort he ever 
tasted. 

Lawson’s Rochelle Blackberry was highly recomended; the fruit is very 
large. Not so much acidity as in other sorts, delicious flavor, sweet and 
pleasant. 

Mr. Prince considered it a remarkable acquisition. 

When the subject of Nectarines was introduced, Mr. Hooker, of New 
York, said it had been doubted whether nectarines could be produced from 
peach stones. He would say that he planted stones of the Harly York va- 
riety, and the produce from them was more than half nectarines. He had 
picked the Harly York peach as free from bloom as the nectarine itself. 

Grapes.-—The Diana was placed on the list for general cultivation. 

The following resolution, which was offered by W. 8. King, of Massa- 
chusetts, was passed unanimously : 

Resolved, That. we cordially invite our sister association—The North 
Western Fruit. Growers’ Association—to meet the United States Pomolo- 
gical Society in council, at the next biennial meeting, appointed to be held 
at Rochester, New York. 

The business of the convention having been finished, Hon. Mr. Benson, 
member of Congress of Maine, addressed the Chair. He said he desired to 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. — «288 


offer two resolutions expressive of the thanks of the convention for the 
kindness and hospitality manifested towards the members, by the Massachu- 
setts Horticultural Society, and also their thanks to the President for the 
urbanity, dignity and impartiality which had distinguished him in presiding 
over the deliberations of the Society. The first resolution was in these 
words : 


Resolved, That the thanks of the Society are hereby tendered to the 
Massachusetts Horticultural Society for the excellent arrangements made 
to receive and accommodate the members of this Soctety, and for the kind 
invitation to their beautiful annual exhibition of fruits, flowers and other 
products of the earth. 


Mr. Barry, of New York, said he was unwilling to have the vote taken 
without saying a few words on the resolution. ‘The Massachusetts Horti- 
cultural Society was entitled to the cordial thanks of the convention, for 
their bountiful hospitality, and for the excellent exhibition to which they 
had been invited. He had seen many Horticultural exhibitions, both in 
this country and in Europe, but in tastefulness of arrangement, in interest 
and instruction, this surpassed all he had ever seen. ‘The display of fruits 
on the tables was hardly ever equalled in the world. He must say the Hor- 
ticultural Society was entitled to the thanks of the delegates, not only as 
citizens, but as pomologists, for what they are doing for Pomology. The 
enterprise of the members of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society is 
not equalled in the world. 

The resolution passed unanimously, every delegate rising in his seat. 


Resolved, That the thanks of the Society are most cordially presented 
to the President, Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, for the prompt, able‘and im- | 
partial manner in which he has presided over its deliberations; and we 
hereby assure him that the members will long cherish a lively recollection 
of the pleasure enjoyed at his bountiful and brilliant festive entertainment 
with which he complimented the Society. 


Mr. Lines, of Connecticut, was unwilling that this resolution should pass 
with a silent vote. It was due to the gentleman who has presided over the 
discussions of the Society with so much dignity and ability. He considered 
that the position in Pomology which the President had reached, conferred 
more honor upon him than the Presidency of the United States could do. 
A gentleman who confers such immense benefits upon the whole country— 
he might say, the world—as Hon. Mr. Wilder does, is entitled to distin- | 
guished honors. He hoped this resolution, too, would be passed by a stand- 
ing vote. 

The resolution was unanimously adopted. 


284. THE FLORIST AND 


President Wilder made the following happy response to the last reso- 
lution : 


GENTLEMEN :—The resolution which you have just adopted awakens in 
me feelings of gratitude and affection. The interest which I have ever felt 
in the prosperity of this Association, has induced me to accept of your 
suffrages, and to occupy the chair for another term. 

I beg to tender you my grateful acknowledgments for your co-operation 
and support, and to assure you of my unabated interest in the objects of 
the Society, and in your personal welfare. May you go on, prospering and 
to prosper, and when we have done cultivating the fruits of earth, may we 
have the unspeakable felicity to meet in celestial fields, and gather ambro- 
sial fruits from the Tree of Life. 

There being no more business before the convention, it adjourned at a 


quarter past two o’clock, to meet in Rochester, N. Y., in September, 1856. 


PITTSBURG HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 


LIST OF PREMIUMS. 
The Committee on Fruits, beg leave to offer the following report as their 
award of premiums: 


APPLES. 
Best six fall varieties, five of each, William Cummings, - - $4 00 
Best three fall varieties, three of each, Thomas Harrison, - 2 00 
Best five fall varieties, three of each, Hugh McCarty, gardener , 

for D. Holmes, - - - - - - = Ly 00 
Best six winter varieties, five of each, Wiliam Cummings, =i el 
Best two winter varieties, five of each, George McHattie, gar- 

dener to C. Spang, - - : - - - 1 50 
Best three winter varieties, three of each, Thomas Dickson, =) 
Second best winter varieties, three of each, James George, - 1 00 
Best large collection, five of each, A. W. Marks, - - a 8 00 
Second best large collection, five of each, W. & J. Murdock, - 6 00 
Third best large collection, five of each, Bockstoce & Ammon, - 8 00 

GRAPES. . 

Best half peck Isabella, Bockstoce & Ammon,~ - - - 3 00 
Second best half peck Isabella, Gregory Fearer, - - ~ ¢ dad 
Best three bunches Isabella, Bockstoce & Ammon, - - 1 oe 
Best half peck Catawba, Gregory Fearer, - i - ae 
Second “ es ©. L. Gehring, - - - ~ ia 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 


285 


Best three bunches, Gregory Fearer, - 2 E ) sc 60 
Best collection grown under glass, George McHattie, gardener, to 
C. F. Spang, - - = - : . wo te5i00 
Second best, grown under glass, J. B. Updike, " = £30,919) G0 
/-WATERMELONS. 
Best three watermelons, George McHattie, gardener to C. F. 
Spang, - 7 - = - - - ee OU 
CITRONS. 
Best six green-fleshed, William Cummings, = nS - 8 00 
ORANGES. 
Best six ripe oranges, George McHattie, gardener to C. F. Spang. 
PEARS. 
Best collection of varieties, five of each, James McCully, - - +8 00 
Second best collection of varieties, five each, John Murdock, Jr. - 5 00 
- "i si pi ‘‘ Bockstoce & Ammon, 3 00 
PEACHES. 
Best six varieties, six of each, William Cummings, = a4; (860 
Best three varieties, three of each, R. McKnight, - - = 2) G0 
Second best ‘“ “ William Cummings, {he -| 00 
Best collection of varieties, six of each, James McCully, - - 8 00 
Second best collection of varieties, six of each, W. M. Dansen, - 5 00 
Third best collection of varieties, six of each, Bockstoce & Ammon, 8 00 
PLUMS. 
Best specimens of choice variety, James McCully, - YY 13060 
Second best specimen of choice variety, Hugh McCarty, gardener 
to D. Holmes, - - - : e get Visalia OO 
Best collection of varieties, six of each, R. L. Baker, : it 4000 
QUINCES. 

Best twelve fruit, A. W. Marks, - = 4 r 2 00 
Second best twelve fruit, James McCully, ~ Sind irlows aed 
WINES. 

Best two bottles Catawba, R. L. Baker, - RTS op Sea 

FRUIT. 
Best general collection, James McCully, - : z Siver Cup 
3d Ky Bockstoce & Ammon, - ~ - $8 00 
3d a John Murdock, Jr., ‘ Horticulturist,’ with colored 


plates, for. £854. 


286 THE FLORIST AND 


The Committee would call the attention of the Society, to several varie- 
ties of foreign grapes exhibited, though not in competition, by William | 
Holmes, Esq., grown in the open air. They so nearly approach grapes 
cultivated under glass, that they are with difficulty distinguished, and form 
a striking instance of what careful culture can effect. 

Having thus, to the best of their ability, performed their rather ungra- 
cious and thankless task, your Committee beg leave to express their regret, 
that competitors have felt themselves at liberty to neglect the liberal terms 
of the competion, which your Committee are bound to follow. The conse- 
quence of this is, that exhibitors complain that they are excluded from 
prizes which the articles are fairly entitled to—and otherwise they are un- 
fairly treated, and the Committee are exposed to censure they do not deserve. 


R. L. BaKer, 

W. ADDISON, C " 
W. HotMxs, pe 
J. Knox, 65 ee 


The Committee on vegetables, beg leave to offer the following report, as 
their award of premiums: 


Best peck Lima Beans, G. Howitt, - - - ae 
Second best peck Lima Beans, David Holmes, - - - 
Best Blood Turnip Beets, William Cummings, - ~ - 
Second best Blood Turnip Beets, David Holmes, - - - 
Best Long Blood Beets, David Holmes, - - - 
Second best Long Blood Beets, George McHattie, - - 
Best Cucumbers, William Cummings, - - - - 
Best White Solid Celery, John T. Logan, - - - 
Second Best White Solid Celery, George McHattie, - - 
Best three heads of Cabbage, John Cummings, - et ae 
Second best three heads of | Cabbage, G. Howitt, - - - 
Best six Red Carrots, John Cummings, - - - - 
Second best six Red Carrots, W. C. Dunn, - - - 
Best six White Carrots, D. Holmes, - - - - 
Second best six White Carrots, G. Howitt, - . - 
Best twelve Ears Table Corn, G. Howitt, - - - 


00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
50 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 


DED FEDPDEHDPHDPFNDENDPH DH OD KH DFR bp Fe bd 


Second best twelve Kars Table Corn, G. McHattie, - - 00 
Best peck Silver Skinned Onions, James Lamont, i - 00 
Second best peck Silver Skinned Onions, R. Grierson, = - - 00 
Best Yellow Onions, James M’ Kain, - - - - 00 . 
Second best Yellow Onions, John Cummings, - - - 00 
Best twenty-four Pods Okre, G. Howitt, - - - 00 
Second best twenty-four Pods Okre, George MeHattie - - 00 
Best six bunches Parsley, George McHattie, —- - - 00 


jad 
S 
So 


Second best six bunches Parsley, D. Holmes, = - a at 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 287 


Best three Pumpkins, W. ©. Dunn, : - - = ane 00 
Second best three Pumpkins, A. Negley, - - - 00 t ToG0 
Best twelve Parsnips, W. C. Dunn, - - - = 200 
Second best twelve Parsnips, John ‘Cummings, - - ojhqty:Q0 
Best twelve Peppers, D. Holmes, - - - - - 2 00 
Second best twelve Peppers, G. Howitt, - wif nae - 1.00 
POTATOES. 
Best Neshannocks, John Cummings, - - - 2 00 
Second best Neshanngcks, William C. Biton. - - ~ §) 1.90 
New variety Peach Blow Potatoes, G, Howtt, H.W.  - =, ~ 200 
One peck Canada White Potatoes, G. Howitt, E. i - - » 200 
Best Yellow Sweet, John Cummings, - - - »2 00 
Second best Yellow Sweet, William Cummings, - = -- - 100 
Best Radishes, James Lamont, gardener for J. H.8., . = - 1 00 
Best Salsify, William Cummings, - - ar ra ey se 10) 
Second best Salsify, David Holmes, - - - = 100 
Best Squashes, Fall, A. Negley,  - - - - 3 00 
Second best Squashes, Fall, William C. ion - - Sir bho 
Best Squashes, winter, William C. Dunn, - - - - §3 00 
Second best Squashes, winter, William Cummings, - a lOO 
Best Tomatoes, William C. Dunn, a aggy - - 2 00 
Second best Tomatoes, William Cummings, ae ~ - 1 00 
Best Vegetable Egg, R. McKnight, - - - - 3 00 
Second best Vegetable Ege, William C. Dunn, - - 1 50 


For the best collection of Vegetables, Gerald Howatt, Silver Gtip- ; Se- 
cond best, David Holmes, $8; Third best, William C. Puna, $4. 

The Committee desire to commend, as "worthy of extensive culture, the 
California Oats, with stalks fifteen jean long, sent by James Gracey, late 
of Pittsburg, exhibited by John Gracey. | 
A. B. McQuEway, 

M. B. Brown, Committee. 
C. L. GoEHRING. 


The Committee on Plants and Flowers award the following Premiums: 


ACHIMENES. 

For the best six varieties in Flowers, George McHattie, - - $38 00 
For the second best six varieties in Flowers, James George, © - 1 50 
ASTERS CHINA. 

For the best collection in Pots, G. G. Negley, — - - = 20) 
For the second best collection in Pots, James McKain,_ - - 1 00 


FUCHIAS. 


For the best six specimens in Flowers, George McHattie, - - 8 00 
For the second best specimens in Flowers, James George, - _- 1.50 
SPECIMEN PLANTS. 

For the best twelve varieties in Flowers, George McHattie, - 0°00 
For the second best twelve varieties in Flowers, James Lamont, - 3 00 
For the best six varieties in Flowers, George McHattie, - - $800 
Eor the second best six varieties in Flowers, James McKain, =) hy oe 


288 THE FLORIST AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 


PHLOXES. 
For the best six varieties, George McHattie, - - » hwo OO 
ROSES. 
For the best six cut varieties, George McHattie, - - - 2-00 
For the best display in Pots, James McKain, - - - 4.00 
For the second best display in Pots, James George, — - - 2 00 
SALVEAS. 

For the best specimens in Flowers, George McHattie, —- 21) 13eb0 
For the second best specimens of Flowers, James Lamont, - 1 50 
VERBENAS. 

For the best twelve varieties, in Pots, of Flowers, Eee Lamont,- 3 00 

For the second best twelve varieties, in Pots, of Flowers, George 
McHattie, - - - - - - - 1 50 

For the best six varieties, in Pots, of Flowers, James George, = 2 OO 

For the second best varieties in Pots, of Flowers, James McKain -. 1 00 

PLANTS. 

For the best collection, George McHattie, - - eet i) 

For the second best collection, James’ Lamont, - - - 6 00 

For the third best collection, James McKain,,.. uc - 4 00 


The Committee take pleasure in saying, that George McHattie (gar- 
dener for C. F. Spang,) James Lamont, (gardener for J. H. Shoenberger,) 
James George, (Gardener at Mount Union Cemetery,) deserve the greatest 
praise for the care taken of the plants exhibited on that occasion. Consider- 
ing the hot season, and long continued drought, the variety is certainly much 
greater than we had reason to expect. 

H. L. Rinewaut. 
R. J. KENNEDY. 
JAS. REED. 
The Committee on Designs and Bouquets award the following Premiums. 


To Miss Margaret Murdoch for the best decorated Design, - $5 00 
do do do 2d do - - $8 00 
Mr. Kennedy for the best Evergreen Wreath. — - - - 4 00 
Jas. Lamont do Basket with Flowers,  - - - 8 00 
Miss Ellen Murdoch for the best Dish do - - Sn) 
Jas. Lamont for the best pair round hand Bouquets, - =, 2.00 
Miss E. Murdoch 2d do do - - - , 1 00 
Jas. McKain for the best flat hand Bouquet, | - - - 2 00 
do 2d do - - = - , 1. ais 
do for the best table do 2 - vos = oe 
do do bridal” do - - ae "28 
Miss E. Murdoch 2d do do - | 1 00 


Miss Margaret Murdoch merits the greatest ile for the beaut Hver- 
green Gothic Monument, also, the Evergreen Spiral Design, imitating a stair- 
case, both of which are made of moss, and ornamented with flowers. 

H. L. Rinewatr. 
R. J. KENNEDY. 
JAS. REED. 


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LONGIFLORUM 


CERATOSTEMA 


THE FLORIST 
AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL 


CERATOSTEMA GRANDIFLORUM. 


Vacciniee.—Decandria-Monogynia. 


CHaRAct. GENER.—Calyz herbinatur 5-gamosepalus, semi-adheerens, lim- 
bo 5-partito, partitionibus liberis magnis ovato-lanceolatis acuminatis mares- 
centibus. Corolla plerumque magna, crassa, subcoriacea, tubulosa, subcon- 
ica, nervosa 5-gamopetala, apice breviter angulata, limbo 5-fido, laciniis 
acutis erectis velreflexis. Stamina 10, epigyna, recta, corollae longitudine, 
inclusa. /%lamenta brevia, compressa, linearia, supra basin extus hirta, pi- 
lis rufis retroflexis subcoalita. -Anthere longissime, biloculares, loculis basi 
liberis, medio coalitas, adnatis, superne liberis in tubulos longe productis, po- 
ro obliquo oblongo apice dehiscentibus. Discus epigynus, liberus, annularis. 
Ovarium semi-adherens, subherbinatum, truncatum, punctis decem excava- 
tis staminum insertionibus respondentibus notatum, e carpellis 5-coalitas 5-lo- 
culare. Stylus cylindricus rectus. Stigma subcapitatum 5-striatum obso- 
lete pentagonum. acca turbinata, subglobosa interdum obscure penta- 
gona, superne truncata, limbo calycino et disco siccis marcidis coronata, sub- 
umbilicata, 5-locularis, loculis polyspermia. Semina plurima minima, obo- 
vata ossea.—Frutices Peruviani, sempervirentes. Caules erecti, ramosissimt ; 
rami patult. Folia entegra breviter petiolata. Flores spicati, terminates 
vel axillares, 1-ni 2-ni 3-ni 4-nique, bracteolis 2 supra basin eincti, floren- 
tes primum erecti, dein cernut, tandem fructiferi erectt. Gemmarum squa- 
me, bractee racemt, calyces, caraliee et baccee rubicundi coloris.—Lructus 
ob saporem acido-duleem Americant jucunde comedunt. Hilores incisos ee 
acetartorum ornatus et saporis acidi gratia adhibentie. 

Cuaract. Specir.— C. ramis junioribus pubescentibus, foliis brevissime 
petiolatis parvis coriaceis ovali-cordatis utrinque punctulatis marginibus rev- 
olutis integerrimis, floribus nutantibus, subterminalibus preecipue in axilis 
foliorum solitariis nunc aggregatis, pedunculis vix folia superantibus calyci- 
busque pubesentibus, corollis amplis suburceolato-cylindraceis calycem quin- 
tuplo superantibus limbi lobis 5 patentibus.”’ Hook. 

Ceratostema grandiflorum, Ruiz et Pav. Icon. ined. t. 883,.—DuNAL 
in DC. Prodr. VII, p. 553. 

Ceratostema longiflorum, Linpu. in Garden. Chronicl. 1848, p. 87 cum 
icone.—FL. DES sERR. IV. p. 346, cum icone xylograph. —Kuorzscn in 
Linn. XXIV. p. 68.—Hoox. Bot. Mag. t. 4479. (Icon hic iterata.) 


The beautiful plant which we figure this month belongs to the Vaccinium 
section of the large and much cultivated family of Hricaceae or Heaths. 


27 


290 THE FLORIST AND 


It was found growing at an altitude of 12,000 ft. above the level of the 
sea, on the Peruvian Andes, by Mr. M. W. Lobb, collector for Messrs. 
Veitch of Exeter, England. Dr. Lindley described the plant as a new spe- 
cies under the name of Ceratostema longiflorum: but when it was exhibited 
in flower at Chiswick in the summer of 1853, it was found to be identical 
with the C. grandiflorum of the Flora of Peru. 7 

“Tt forms’ says Dr. Planchon, in the Flore des Serres, ‘a rather small 
bush, flowering when less than a foot high, having numerous branchlets, stiff 
and straight, with dense persistent coriaceous foliage of a handsome green, and 
magnificent tubular campanulate flowers, gracefully pendant, with a scarlet 
corolla more or less shaded with orange, of a semi-coriaceous, waxy consis- 
tence. Altogether it is an admirable acquisition for the green-house or con- 
servatory, and perhaps, in certain parts of Europe, for the open air.” It 
will therefore probably prove hardy in this country south of Virginia. It 
has not yet, we believe, been introduced to this country. 


re 


MILDEW IN GRAPERIKS. 
BY PROFESSOR S. 8. HALDEMAN, A. M. 


It is well known that Mildew and similar vegetation arises from a super- 
abundance of moisture, and the absence of light, of which the latter is the 
least important in the consideration of the subject. ‘The presence of too 
much moisture, independently of the fact that it facilitates the growth of 
parasitic vegetation, is injurious to many plants, by retarding the evapora- 
tion which their economy requires. The presence of Mildew may cause the 
fruit to drop prematurely, as it constitutes a disease which penetrates to the 
inner parts of the fruit. | 

As much of the moisture in a green-house comes from the plants them- 
selves, it is evident that ventilation is of great advantage, and it is accord- 
ingly, freely resorted to. Ventilation is, however, of little use in checking 
the growth of Mildew, when the external atmosphere is as damp as that 
within the grapery for a week or two at a time. 

In looking for a remedy, we must be acquainted with the circumstances 
upon which the deposition of moisture depends. In a succession of warm 
days, the air takes in solution, as much water as it can hold at a given tem- 


perature, and if the temperature is increased, it is able to dissolve a farther 


portion. If, on the other hand the saturated air should be cooled, the water 
it holds in solution must be given up, when it appears as a fog, a dew or a 
rain. The highest point of temperature at which dew will form on the out- 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 291 


side of a cooled vessel, is the dew point; and its distance below the ordinary 
temperature, is in proportion to the degrees of the air. When rain is 
actually forming, the dew point coincides with the temperature of the weather, 
whilst in a drier atmosphere, it may require a cup of water to be cooled ten, 
twenty, or more degrees before dew will be deposited upon the surface of 
the cup. , 

On a clear day when the themometer is ranging from 70 to 80 degrees, 
an experiment may exhibit dew at 60 degrees; and if the temperature of ° 
the nights at the season of trial, be as low as 60 degrees, dew or moisture 
will be deposited as well inside as outside of the grapery. Should the 
night temperature not be less than 62 degrees, in this case, there will be no 
excess of moisture. During the season when artificial heat is not required 
to protect tender plants from frost, spring or well water will be found suff- 
ciently cold to indicate the point of the deposition of moisture, in most 
cases where a small reduction of temperature would cause its presence in 
the grapery. 

The dew point may be taken with a themometer, a tin or thin metal cup 
of water, care being taken if the moisture deposits readily, to let the tem- 
perature of the water rise as near as possible to that of the air, consisently 
with getting the moisture, and as the temperature rises, the moisture 
should be wiped off from time to time, that the experimenter may gbserve 
the highest temperature at which it will appear: since itis evident that if 
dew will deposit at 60 degrees, it will do so at 50°, 40° or any lower 
temperature, although it may not appear at 62 degrees. 

These considerations lead us to the remedy, namely, artificial heat at any 
period of the year, or day, when a slight fall in the temperature is accom- 
panied by moisture enough to cause a deposition of a dew. But as heat 
both increases, and the capacity of the included air for moisture, the inner 
air might become more moist than the outer, and on this account there must 
be ventilation as well as heat, and the latter may be made to furnish the 
former. | 

As in most cases, a very few degrees above the ordinary temperature is 
sufficient to prevent the deposit of moisture from the air, a small movable 
stove would answer very well, and this might be placed in the middle or at 
one end according as the proper circulation of the warmed air would depend 
upon accidental circumstances, asthe course of the wind. It would not be 
difficult to devise a structure with an arrangement to secure the proper 
warmth, circulation of air and ventilation. Paving and even flooring the 


292 THE FLORIST AND 


walks &c., would not prevent the evil, because evaporation from the ground 
is not the chief source of moisture. . : 

By a judicious arrangement of the sources of artificial heat and proper exit 
flues near the floor, but connected with chimneys, the proper amount of dry- 
ness and circulation of the air could be secured at all seasons. 

Inside walls, particularly of massive stone buildings, from the before men- 
tioned cause, are subject to sweating, and this may be prevented by a little 
fire, as in the United States Patent office, where a furnace sends up heated 
air at all times. Museums and libraries should be protected from mould in 
the same manner. 


Se 


GESNERA ZEBRINA AND GERARDIANA. 


Like the Achimenes picta, to which they are closely allied, these magnifi- 
cient stove plants are ever welcome in or out of flower. When well done, 
few plants have a richer appearance than the G. zebrina, with leaves of 
the richest velvety green, and elegant zebra-like markings, gracefully droop- 
ing downwards over the pot; it is always, while in a growing state, a 
splendid object; when the flowers are rising perpendicularly in long pani- 
cles from the centre of each stem, and in high cultivation, often from the 
axils of the leaf, with colors of deep red and orange, it is a grand object. 

The G. gerardiana is a variety of the other without its zebra markings, 
leaves velvety with several tints of hght green; it is somewhat more robust 
in habit, with flowers similar in color. It is good asa variety in foliage, 
and is somewhat more easily grown than the original type. 

There is not much difficulty in getting it to flower at any season of the 
year, by starting it at different times, but it is as an autumn and winter 
blooming plant, it is mostly admired. It has large scaly under-ground tu- 
bers similar to the Achimenes, which increase sufficiently fast to make it 
unnecessary to resort to other methods of reproduction. 

For autumn and winter flowering, early in March, prepare pots, or pans of 
light porous soil, filled to within three inches of the top, place the tubers 
pretty thick on this, and cover with two inches of soil; give the whole a 
watering to settle down the soil, after which, they should receive but little 
water till they commence growing. They now require to be placed in a 
warm growing atmosphere of 60 or 65 desrees; if a slight bottom heat, so 
much the better. | 

As soon as the plants have made two or three inches of growth, they 
should be shaken out of their pots, parted, and repotted into three-inch 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 293 


pots, and placed again in a warm growing atmosphere. The next point to be 
considered, now is, the sort of plants it is wished to grow, whether single 
plants grown as fine specimens, or as dense bushes with several plants in a 
pot. Hither way looks well, and our preciuce is to grow some each way for 
the sake of variety. : 

As soon as the plants become well established in their three-inch pots, 
they are in a condition to shift into their blooming pots; for when once 
fairly started, they should never receive a check, but be kept steadily grow- 
ing all the summer. The plants like good drainage, so that, in keeping them 
moist during the summer, which they like, no stagnant water may settle 
about the roots. 7 

One-sixth of the pot is none too much for drainage, placing first, a piece 
of crock over the bottom, around and over this, some large pieces, then some 
finer, finishing with a layer of small pieces of charcoal, and some rough 
pieces of turf, to keep the mould from filling in to the crocks. 

The soil may be turfy loam one-fourth, fibry, and if sandy peat, so much 
the better, two-fourths, and rotten manure and sand to make up the remain- 
der. Fill the pots with soil to within a few inches of the top, according to 
the length of the plant, placing each just so deep as that the bottom joint 
of leaves touch the soil. For single plants, large specimens, use nine-inch 
pots, for bushes, twelve-inch pots, placing five plants in a pot, the strongest 
in the centre. Water to settle the soil, and prepare a frame, which is best 
for them during the summer, having @ thick coating of coal ashes at the 
bottom, to keep down worms and afford a moist cool place for the pots to 
rest on. While here, they should have ample room for their foliage to ex- 
pand; keep moist and rather close in the day, especially, when the atmos- 
phere is dry, giving air freely on still warm evenings. 

Soon after midsummer, they will have acquired a large size, and may be 
removed to the stove, and for the single plants, the tops taken out; though, 
if not topped at all, grown in this way, they will throw out a quantity of 
flower spikes up the stem. We have plants now grown this way, from two to 
three feet diameter, a dense bush of foliage, some of the leaves of gerardiana 
measuring nine inches, the flower spikes just making their appearance. 

As soon as the plants exhibit signs of turning yellow, which they will do 
after the flowering is nearly over, water should be gradually withheld, until 
they are quite died off, after which, they require only to be kept dry under 


the stage till time for starting them again. EDGAR SANDERS, 
Gardener to John F. Rathbone, Esq. 
Albany, Oct. Sth, 185 | 


294 THE FLORIST AND 


SOME PRINCIPLES OF VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY, BEARING 
ON THE CULTURE OF PLANTS. | 


BY PROFESSOR W. H. DE VRIESH, OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LEYDEN. 


(Transiated from the Dutch.) 

A plant cannot live, but much less grow, by means of water only; how- 
ever, water performs here a very important service, for 1t conveys much of 
that which must be a means of nourishment to the plant. The substances 
under ground, whether they have their origin from dissolved remains of © 
plants or animals, or are of an earthy nature, contribute, in fact, to the 
formation and development of the plants substances which are found in 
ashes of burned plants. Potash and soda, e. g., form a principle of the 
composition. ‘The former substance is prepared in great quantities from 
wood ash; the soda is manufactured from many plants found on the sea- 
shore. ime, one of the substances which are most scattered through the. 
whole of nature, is likewise present in almost all plants. Investigation 
proves to us that in plants, many other substances known to us as solid 
bodies exist; the water dissolves those substances either as such or united 
with other bodies, and so they penetrate the plants. Thus water is chiefly 
the fluid through which matter is conveyed: but when we observe how great 
amass of such substances exists in plants, and how small a quantity of them 
maybe dissolved in the water, if, on account of too great a degree of den- 
sity, it is not in a state to penetrate the plants, then we must be convinced 
of the immense quantity of water which must pass through a plant during 
its whole life, before it has attained its full delopment and finished its whole 
crowth. | 

If the use of the evaporation to the plant must be measured by the degree 
in which it takes place, we may be sure that it is indeed of the greatest 
service to its vegetation. We can prove this by remarkable examples. 

t the end of the seventeenth century, an English naturalist, Stephen 
Hales, wrote a book, entitled ‘“‘ Vegetable Statics,’ in which he deseribed the 
following observation: A Sun-flower, which was 34 feet high, evaporated dur- 
ing a very hot day, 1 lb. 14 oz. of water. The evaporation averaged per 
day, 1 lb. 4 oz. He observed, that plants with hard wood and evergreen 
leaves evaporate less than those which fall off, such as Cabbage leaves, leaves 
of Apple trees, and others. However, it is not easy to make such experi- 
ments, for the evaporation of the soil in which the plants are, must not be 
computed: and if the amount of the evaporated substance is to be exactly 
determined, it is necessary to enclose the plants. Attention must be paid 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 295 


to the condition of the tissue of the mass of which the leaves consist. But, 
above all, the extension of the surface over which the evaporation takes 
place during a certain time must be known, and also, the exact quantity of 
water which is required by the root. <A thick cuticle, hard like leather, 
such as is found in succulents, Houseleek, Crassula, and Aloe, evaporates 
little, and these plants want but little moisture. They grow often on stones 
and rocks. On the contrary, the more tender the leaves andthe thinner 
their membranes are, the more they perspire; and the greater the number 
of leaves, the more liquid the stem must supply. The leaf of a Linden tree 
has a mean size of 0.01 3 metre; the amount of both surfaces is thus, 
0.02 3 metre: Ifa Linden tree has 25,000 leaves, the amount of all the 
leaves makes a surface of 500 & metres, consequently, 2,000 trees make a 
surface of 593 (3 miles, or the extent of the kingdom of the Netherlands. 

We readily confess, that this calculation may not be precisely correct, or 
it may be even exaggerated. We allow, that to detrmine the number of 
leaves can be only an approximation. Yet, we dare pretend that many a 
tree has half a million of leaves, and that the extent of the leaves of many 
a large well-wooded estate surpasses that of the whole Netherlands. If, 
after these consideration, we remark how luxuriant nature is between the 
tropics, how gigantic are the trees, how luxuriantly the plants grow under 
those huge trees, and how elevated is the temperature, then it may be ex- 
plained why there is an incessant dampness in those forests, on account of 
which they are often impenetrable; and, in what is their relation with the 
state of the atmosphere, on account of the continual evaporation on the 
surface. It would require a series of experiments to determine the quantity 
of moisture evaporated by a single tree. What we can say of it now rests 
greatly on an approximation, for the foundation of which an experiment was 
made on another plant many years ago. If each Linden leaf evaporates 
from June to October, during 137 days, the 5,000th part of a pound of 
water, the mass of liquid which passes through a tree, covered with 25,000 
leaves, is of 1714 cubic metres. This approximation must be, however, far 
beneath the truth.— Gardeners’ Chronicle. 


ORCHARD HOUSES. 


Mr. Rivers’ Nursery, SAwBRIDGEWoRTH.—One of the most interesting 
features of this nursery is its orchard houses, of which there are no fewer 
than 25. Mr. Rivers has found such contrivances so extremely useful, not 
only for the growth of small fruit trees in pots, but also for a variety of 


296. THE FLORIST AND 


other purposes besides, that he has during these last two or three years been 
constantly adding to their number. His fruiting house this year has been, 
as it well deserved to be, the admiration of all who have seen it. _ It is span- 
roofed, 70 feet in length and 20 feet in width, with boarded sides and ends, 
and fixed glass roof, and it has upwards of 100 trees of Peaches and Necta- 
rines from four to six years old in it, many of the later kinds being now lit- 
erally laden with fruit. As an example of the way in which the trees have 
borne, we may mention that on one of them we counted between four and 
five dozen Peaches. The effect of a whole house full of such fruit-bearing 
trees may therefore be more easily imagined than described. 

The trees are all in 13-inch pots, and are set on beds of soil; the centre 
one being about 6 feet in width, and the two side ones each 5 feet in width. 
These beds contain about 18 inches in depth of mould, which is kept out of 
the paths by brick edgings. The pots, which have several holes in the bot- 
tom, or at least have their holes very much enlarged, are set on these 
beds, into which the roots are allowed to enter. To sustain a good sized 
Peach tree in a pot, however (and some of them are 4 or 5 feet in height), 
something more is necessary than merely allowing its roots to go into the 
border; annually in March, therefore, every troe has a top-dressing of some 
stimulant. Mr. Rivers has employed with much success, stiff loam mixed 
with horse-droppings mixed with night-soil, exposed to the air two or three 
months, placed on the surface of the pots, previously stirring the soil with 
a pointed stick, and taking out a portion of it 2 or 3 inches in depth. Li- 
quid manure, not too strong, is also applied once a week during the summer; 
weak guano water, 1 lb. to 30 gallons, has been found as good as any. A 
good soaking of this once a week has been found preferable to using it more 
frequently. Under this kind of treatment the trees are kept in the very 
best of health, and they bear, as has just been shown, enormous crops of fruit 
and their being in pots which permit them to root into the beds, the control 
over them is perfect, for when any tree becomes at all what is termed pot 
proud, its luxuriance is easily checked by merely inclining it on one side 
sufficiently to break off a portion of the roots. At theend of October, when 
the trees are put to rest, the whole of them are root-pruned, 2. e., all the 
roots which have entered the bed are cut off, and after two or three years 
the soil of the bed or border itself is removed 2 or 3 inches in depth, and 
filled up with a compost of burnt earth, manure, 1-inch bones, and turfy 
loam, all very rough. During winter the trees are kept as dry as possible, 
and sometimes, if the weather then is excessively severe, dry hay or litter 
is laid on and around the pots. This, however, is seldom needed. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 297 


No fire heat is employed, indeed no means have been provided in the 
fruiting house for applying it; and yet, with the exception of the Stanwick 
Nectarines, and one or two of the latest Peaches, all have ripened most sat- 
isfactorily, the fruit—owing to the health of the trees and foliage, and the 
abundance of ventilation which is afforded—being large, juicy, highly colored 
and, as a matter course, of extremely good flavor. Such as have not yet 
ripened, Mr. Rivers intends putting into another house, in which a little 
fire-heat will be applied just to gently accelerate their maturity. 

One of Mr. Rivers’ orchard houses, also a span-roofed one—instead of 
having boarded sides and ends, with means of giving plenty of air, for that 
is much insisted on in this kind of culture—has the sides, one a Yew hedge 
the other Siberian Arbor-vite. It is 12 ft. wide, 3 ft. high at the sides, 64 
feet high in the centre, with a sunken path 2 ft. wide, 1 foot deep, and bor- 
ders on each side 5 ft. wide. An improvement, however, on this, Mr. Rivers 
thinks, will be one of the following dimensions—12 ft. wide, 4 ft. high at 
the sides, 8 ft. high in the centre, borders 4 ft. 8 ins. wide, sunken path in 
the centre, 2 ft. 4 ins. wide, and 8 or 10 ins. deep; this, with a well-clipped 
hedge of Yew or Siberian Arbor-vitee on each side, will ripen such Peaches 
as Royal George; Noblesse, and Grosse Mignonne, about a fortnight after 
their usual period of ripening, and give Apricots, Cherries, and Plums (more 
especially the late sorts, which shrivel on the trees), in the highest perfec- 
tion. Owing to the constant percolation of air through the hedges, no in- 
jury ever occurs from ventilation (as is too often the case) being forgotton 
in hot weather ; but with syringing and water the trees are always in fine health. 
The situation for such houses should not be too much exposed in windy sit- 
uations, for then too much air may perhaps be admitted for ripening fruit. 
Peaches and Nectarines, however, appear to succeed perfectly in a house 
made of good deal. boards, and the latter well painted with Carson’s anti- 
corrosive paint, will last good a long time. It has been found, however, 
that, in the case of lean-to houses against a Beech hedge, the cutting north- 
east winds which pass through the latter in spring are too much for the 
trees, and, therefore, the few earlier put up houses which Mr. Rivers has on 
this plan have had painted canvas put along their back walls or hedges, 
half the height of the latter. This has been found to answer perfectly, 
and it may be worthy of mention to show the effect good ventilation has in 
keeping off the mildew and red spider, that when the canvas covered all the 
back or hedge, these pests made their appearance; but as soon as half the 
cahvas was removed, and air freely readmitted, they disappeared. 


Gard. Chron. 


998 THE FLORIST AND’ 


REMARKS ON THE COMPARATIVE MERITS OF POROUS AND 
GLAZED FLOWER POTS. , 


BY THE FOREMAN OF A LONDON NURSERY. 


THE construction of garden pots having of late been a subject of some 
public interest, and opinions having been advanced, which, to say the least 
in their favor, have novelty on their side, it becomes a matter of importance 
to watch rather closely the arguments which have been advanced in their 
support, in order that some idea may be formed of the nature and extent of the 
claim which they have upon the attention of the cultivator. 

As far as regards the shape and proportions which are recommended, I 
think them the best that can be devised, whether their usefulness or elegance 
be taken into consideration; but as regards the other particulars of their 
construction, I am inclined to believe, that however plausible the arguments 
may be which are brought forward in their support, there will be many ob- 
stacles to hinder their adoption. I do not think that the objection urged 
against porous pots on the ground of their absorbing qualities, which would 
afterwards prove deleterious to plants placed in them, has much force; for, 
supposing and allowing, as has been remarked in a previous number, viz., 
that of the stinking roots of an Acacia,—allowing that in this instance the 
effect would be injurious, it must at the same time be borne in mind that 
not one in a hundred of the plants cultivated in pots impregnate those pots 
with any unpleasant smell; and in the case of those which are so circum- 
stanced, if laid by for a time and exposed to the action of the weather, the 
objection would be entirely groundless. 

The objection that the pots in common use are inelegant and unpicturesque, 
may have some force when they are placed in situations intended as de- 
cidedly ornamental. So far the glazed pots recommended by your corres- 
pondent, ‘‘ Londinensis,’ might be deemed preferable. 

He further remarks, that ‘as regards nursery and forcing departments, 
where pots are little seen except by workmen, the common porous, flower- 
pot may answer;” so that here is a plain admission that it is not to their 
use for the purpose of culture, but in an ornamental point of view, that he 
objects to the use of porous pots. ‘For the finer ornamental plants,” he 
continues, ‘‘ whose habits require compost and treatment almost as various 
as the countries they come from, it is necessary that the pot should be as 
clean as a drinking-cup, so as in no way to interfere by admixture of its 
properties with the compost. proper for the plant.’ ‘This, although sound- 
ing very plausible to the ear, I cannot regard as having any weight as an 


HORTICULPURAL JOURNAL. 299 


argument, believing that if decency and cleanliness are strictly kept in 
practice, as they ought to be, there is nothing in the ordinary use of pots 
which can be absorbed so as to contaminate the soil which might afterwards 
be placed within them, to the injury of even the most delicate-rooted plants. 

As regards the objection to placing the roots of various plants, originally 
inhabitants of earth, air, and water, all promiscuously in contact with burnt 
clay, very little of reflection will be sufficient to convince any one that the 
same remarks would apply eg nry to any other kind of pots, whether glazed 
or otherwise. 

The use to which glazed pots seem most couaitante, by the nature of their 
composition, is that of the cultivation of aquatics, and bog or marsh plants ; 
the effectual prevention of evaporation through their sides and bottom, 
would, in all probability, render them well adapted for these kinds of plants, 
and, in this respect, the use of crockage as drainage might also, in all pro- 
bability, be readily dispensed with. 

One objection to glazed pots, in the culture of many Ga of plants, 
even if there were no other with which to oppose them, is the smoothness 
of their inner surface; any one who has paid attention to the rooting of 
plants in pots, must be aware that many kinds delight to root amongst the 
broken crockage, and about any irregularity of surface in the pot: this 
would appear to have some assimilation with the fissures of rocks, in which 
it is known that some kinds delight to root; and, if this be the case, the 
smooth glazed pots, and the absence of all crockage, as recommended, 
might render them still less valuable. 

The great objection, however, to glazed pots, is the simple fact that they 
are not porous, and this brings me to notice briefly, the advantage of those 
in common use over the those recommended by “ Londinensis.” The air 
is composed of certain gases, which are taken up by and aré the food 
of plants; these gases are absorbed in various forms, both by the roots and 
leaves of plants. and therefore it is that, in a certain degree, atmospheric 
air is as necessary to the spongioles as it is to the foliage of the vegetable 
race; hence the deep burying of the roots of trees, which is found to be 
injurious, and is accordingly deprecated; and hence it is, also, that in the 
culture of those trees in which horticultural science is more immediately 
concerned, we find shallow borders now recommended, and the roots to be 
disposed in such a position as to be near the surface of the soil; the reason 
of this is, that the air may penetrate the soil sufficiently to reach the 
spongioles, so as to be taken up by them as food. In the culture of plants 
in pots, the porosity of the sides of the latter will permit the atmospheric 


— 300 THE FLORIST AND 


air, composed of vital gases, to penetrate through into the soil, and thus 
the healthiest roots are always found in contact with the pot; but in the 
case of glazed pots, this percolation could not take place, and the surface 
of the soil alone would be exposed in any degree,to the action of the atmos- 
phere; consequently the plants would be deprived of a greater portion of 
their nourishment. This would not be a matter of importance, provided 
that the roots could extend themselves horizontally to their full extent, as 
in that case a sufficiency of air would penetrate through the soil; but it 
must be recollected that the roots of plants in pots are not so circumstanced, 
but, being checked by coming in contact with the pot, they are obliged to de- 
scend, and, therefore, the whole surface of the pot becomes to them an 
equivalent to the surface soil enjoyed by an unconfined plant. Were it 
possible to combine in a garden pot the transmission of air through its sides, 
and yet to check the too rapid evaporation which sometimes takes place, 
such a combination would be the ne plus ultra of pot manufacturing. 


Flor. Cab. 


OF THE DIRECT RELATION THAT EXISTS BETWEEN THE 
CHARACTER OF THE SOIL AND THE KIND OF PLANTS 
THAT NATURALLY GROW UPON IF. 


The importance of a minute study of the chemical composition of soils 
will, perhaps, be most readily appreciated by a glance at the very different 
kinds of vegetables which, under the ‘same circumstances, different soils 
naturally produce; in other words, by a glance at their botanical relations. 

There are none s0 little skilled in regard to the capabilities of the soil, as 
not to be aware that some lands naturally produce abundant herbage or rich 
crops, while others refuse to yield a nourishing pasture, and are deaf to the 
often-repeated solicitations of the diligent husbandman. There exists, 
therefore, a universally understood connection between the kind of soil and 
the kind of plants that naturally grow upon it. It is interesting to observe 
how close this relation in many cases is. 

The sands of the sea-shore, the margins of salt lakes and the surfaces of 
salt plains, like the Russian steppes, are distinguished by their peculiar 
tribes of salt-loving plants—by varieties of salsola, salicornia, &. The 
Triticum junceum (sea wheat) grows on the seaward slopes of the downs at 
no great distance from the sea. The drifted sands more removed from the 
beach produce their own long, waving, coarser grass,—the Arundo arenaria, 
(sea bent,) the Elymus arenarius, (sea lime grass,)and the Carex arenarius, 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 301 


(sand sedge,) the roots of which plants bind the shifting sands together. The 
beautiful sea pink spreads itself over the loose downs—while further inland, 
and as the soil changes, new vegetable races appear. 

The peaty hills and flats of our island naturally clothe themselves with 
the common ling, (Calluna vulgaris,) the fine-leaved heath, (Hrica cinerea,) 
and with the cross-leaved heath, (rica tetralix.) When drained and laid 
down to grass, or when they exist as natural meadows, they produce one 
soft woolly grass almost exclusively—the Holcus lanatus. After they are 
limed, these same soils become propitious to green crops and produce much 
straw, but refuse to fill the ear. The grain is thick-skinned, and therefore 
light in flour. There isa greater tendency to produce cellular fibra, and 
the insoluble matter associated with it, than the more useful substances, 
starch and gluten. 

On the margins of water-coursesin which silica abounds the mare’s tail 
(Eqguisetum) springs up in abundance; while, if the stream contains much 
carbonate of lime, the water-cress appears and lines the sides and bottom. 
of its shallow beds, sometimes for many miles from its source. 

The Cornish heath (Hrica vagans) shows itself rarely above any other 
than the serpentine rocks; the red broom-rape, (Orobanche rubra,) only on 
trap or basaltic rocks; the Anemone pulsatilla on the dry banks of chalky 
mounds, as in the neighborhood of Newmarket; the lady’s slipper on calca- 
reous formations only; the Medicago lupulina on soils which abound in 
marl; while the red clover and the vetch delight in the presence of gypsum, 
and the white clover in that of alkaline matter in the soil. 

So the red and white fire-weeds, Epilobium coloratum, and Erichtites 
hierecifolius, cover with their bright blossoms every open space in North 
American woods, over which the fires, so frequent there, have run during 
the previous year. The ashes of the burned trees and underwood are spe- 
cially grateful to the seeds of these plants, which in vast quantities lie dor- 
mant in the soils. 

The clays, too, have their likings. The Rest harrow, (Ononis arvensis,) 
delights in the weald, the gault, and the plastic clays, but passes by the 
green-sand and chalk-soils, by which these clays are separated from each 
other. The oak, in like manner, characterizes the clays of the weald; 
while the elm flourishes, in preference, on the neighboring soils of green- 
sand formation. 

Then, again, plants seem to alternate with each other on the same soil. 
Burn down a forest of pines in Sweden, and one of birch takes its place for 
awhile. The pines after a time again spring up, and ultimately supersede 


302 THE FLORIST AND 


the birch. The same takes place naturally. On the shores of the Rhine 
are seen ancient forests of oak from two to four centuries old, gradually 
giving place at present to a natural growth of beech, and others where the 
pine is succeeding to both. In the Palatinate, the ancient oak-woods are 
followed by natural pines; and in the Jura, the Tyrol, and Bohemia, the 
pine alternates with the beech. 

These and other similar differences are believed to depend in great part 
upon the chemical composition of the soil. The slug may live well upon, 
and therefore infest, a field almost deficient in hme; the common land snail 
will abound at the roots of the hedges only where lime is plentiful, and can 
easily be obtained for the construction of its shells. So it is with plants. 
Each grows spontaneously where its wants can be most fully and most easily 
supplied. If they cannot move from place to place like the living animal, 
yet their seeds can lie dormant, until either the hand of man or the opera- 
tion of natural causes produces such a change in their position, in reference 
to light, heat, &c., as to give them an opportunity of growing—or in the 
composition and physical qualities of the soil itself, as to fit it for ministering 
to their most important wants. 

And such changes do naturally come over the soil. The oak, after 
thriving for long generations on a particular spot, gradually sickens; its 
entire race dies out, and other races succeed it. Has the operation of na- 
tural causes gradually removed from the soil that which favored the oak, 
and introduced or given the predominance to those substances which favor 
the beech or the pine? On the light soils of the state of New Jersey the 
peach tree used to thrive better than anything else, and large sums of 
money were made from the peach grounds in that state. But of later years 
they have almost entirely failed. In Scotland, the Scotch fir has been 
known at once to die out over an area of 500 or 600 acres—and the 
forests of larch are now in many localities exhibiting a similar decay. This 
decay is often, I believe, owing to the presence of noxious matters in sub- 
soil, but it is due in some cases, also to a natural change in the composition 
and character of the several soils, which has taken place since the peach, 
the fir, and the larch trees were first planted upon them. 

In the hands of the farmer, the land grows sick of this crop—it becomes 
tired of that. These facts may be regarded as indications of a change in 
the chemical composition of the soil. This alteration may proceed slowly 
and for many years; and the same crops may still grow upon it for a suc- 
cession of rotations. But at length the change is too great for the plant to 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 303 


bear; it sickens, yields an unhealthy crop, and ultimately refuses altogether 
to grow. | 

The plants we raise for food have similar likes and dislikes with those 
that are naturally produced. On some kinds of food they thrive; fed with 
others, they sicken or die. ‘The soil must therefore be prepared for their 
special growth. 

In an artificial rotation of crops we only follow nature. One kind of 
crop extracts from the soil a certain quantity of all the inorganic constitu- 
ents of plants, but some of these in much larger (proportions than others. 
A second kind of crop carries off, in preference, a large quantity of those 
substances of which the former had taken little; and thus it is clearly seen, 
both why an abundant manuring may so alter the composition of the soil as 
to enable it to grow almost any crop; and why, at the same time, this soil 
may, in succession, yield more abundant crops, and in greater number, if 
the kind of plants sown and reaped be so varied as to extract from the soil, 
one after the other, the several different substances which the manure we 
have originally added is known to contain. ‘ 

So with regard to the organic matter which soils contain. That form of 
organic food which suits one, may not equally favor another species of 
plant, and thus, at different times, different species may be most suited to 
the chemical condition of the same field. 

The management and tilling of the soil, in fact, is a branch of practical 
chemistry which, like the art of dyeing, lead-smelting, or of glass-making, 
may advance to a certain degree of perfection without the aid of pure 
science, but which can only have its processes explained, and be led on to 
shorter, more simple, more economical, and more perfect processes, by the 
aid of scientific principles.—Prof. Johnston. 


(ne 


THE PENNSYVLANIA STATE FAIR. 


The fourth annual fair of the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society 
“was opened on the 26th of September, on the ground selected for the pur- 
pose at Powelton, in the 24th Ward. 

This is situated on the west side of the Schuylkill, north of Market street, 
lying between the Pennsylvania railroad and Bridgewater, and embracing 
over 21 acres. It is very level and was supplied with water from the reser- 
voir of the railroad locomotive depot. 

The whole was surrounded by a substantial fence, against the inside of 
which were erected the stalls for the live stock, the whole of which were oc- 
cupied. 


304 THE FLORIST AND 


The buildings within the ground were numerous and large; besides the 
business and ticket offices, there were three large dining and refreshment 
halls, and three very large ones for the floral display and for the mechani- 
cal departments. A track extended around the entire lot affording a drive 
of more than a mile, which was generaily occupied by a continuous string of 
carriages. At the northern end was a nearly circular track of a quarter of 
a mile in length for the show of horses. Several large tents were erected 
for the display of Agricultural and other products. ? 

During the first two days, the 26th and 27th only those who were mem- 
bers of the Society were admitted, and we certainly have never seen, even 
in Philadelphia, such a splendid turnout of handsome equipages and fine 
women. 

The Cattle. There was a most notable show of bulls and cows. ‘The 
most attractive of these as usual were the improved short horns. Selections 
from the herds of Dennis Kelley, Thos. P. Remington, Christopher Fallon, 
Anthony Bolmar, Jas. Gowen, Davis Hoopes, and others were very fine. 

Mr. Remington showed some very fine Alderney cows, which, however, 
were in rather indifferent condition, even for Alderneys. The Devons were 
from the herds of Thos. Hancock, Chauncey P. Holcomb, and others. 

Sheep of the Southdown and Merino varieties were exhibited by Aaron 
Clement and others. 

Several Cashmere goats, exhibited by Dr. Davis of South Carolina, 
attracted much attention; their long fine hair was much examined. It is, we 
believe, now proved that they can be profitably raised in this country. 

Hogs were abundant, fat and dirty. 

A large number, twenty span, of working oxen from West Chester were on 
the ground. ) ! 

The mechanical display was good, consisting as is usual, of stoves, furni- 
ture, machinery, ornamental iron work, patent medicines &e. The show of 
agricultural implements by Messrs. David Landreth & Son, and Paschall 
Morris & Co. was very large and various. 

The Floral exhibition, considering all things, was good. The plants in 
most cases were brought a considerable distance, and the dust and exposure 
to the night air injured their appearance. But there were fine collections 
exhibited, and in them some new and fine plants. 

We noticed fine specimens of Ozssus discolor, Coleus Blumet, and Begonia 
aanthina. In Mr. Knorr’s collection was a plant of Gardenia Devoniana, 
shown in bloom for the first time, with creamy white tubular flowers, nearly 
a foot long. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 305 


We give below the awards of premiums in such departments as may inte- 
rest our readers: 


CATTLE.—No. 1 Snort Horns, 
Bulls, three years old and upwards. 


To Anthony Bolmar, of Chester County, Pa., for his bull ‘ Harry,” the 
first premium of $20. 
To William Fernistone, of Easton, Pa., for his bull ‘‘ Cato,” the second 
premium of $15. 
To George Brinton, of Chester County, for his bull “ Mars,” the third 
premium of $8. 
Bulls, between two and three years old. 


To Dennis Kelley, of Philadelphia, for his bull ‘Lord Barrington,” the 
first premium of $15. 

To Thomas Richeson, of Philadelphia, for his bull “‘ Henry Clay,” the 
second premium of $8. 

To Davis Hoopes, of Chester County, for his bull——-—, the third pre- 
mium of $4. 


Bulls, between one and two years old. 


To Geo. A. Kreeble, of Montgomery County, for his bull ‘‘ General Tay- 
lor,” the first premium of $10. 

To James Gowen, of Mount Airy, for his bull “Duke of York,” the se- 
cond premium of $5. 

To George Martin, of Philadelphia, for his bull “‘ Strawberry,”’ the third 
premium of $3. 


Bull Calves under ten months old. 


To Anthony Bolmar, of Chester County, for his “ Charley,” 5 months 
old, the first premium of $5. 

To John R. Barton, of Philadelphia, for calf ‘‘ Woodbine,” 4 months old, 
the second premium of $3. 

To Richard Cartwright, of Philadelphia, for his [not named] bull calf, 4 
months old, the third premium of $1. 


Cows, three years old and upwards. 


To James Gowen, of Mount Airy, for his cow “Isabella,” the first pre- 
mium of $20. 

To Anthony Bolmar, of Chester County, for his cow “Flora,” the se- 
cond premium of $10. 

To Owen Sheridan, of Philadelphia, for his cow “Sally,” the third pre- 
mium of $6. 


Heifers, between two and three years old. 


To James Gowan, of Mount Airy, for his heifer “Young Lady,’’ the 
first premium of $15, | | 


28 


306 THE FLORIST AND 


To Dr. John R. Barton, of Philadelphia, for his heifer “‘ May Flower,” 
the second premium of $10. 

To Thomas P. Remington, of Philadelphia, for his heifer ‘“‘ Beauty Spot,” 
the third premium of $5. 


Heifers, between one and two years old. 


To David McConkey, of Philadelphia, for his heifer ‘Rose,’’ the first 
premium of $10. 

To John Clark, of Philadelphia, for his heifer ‘‘ Kate,” the second pre- 
mium of $5. 

To James Gowan, of Mount Airy, for his heifer ia the third 
premium of $2. 


Heifer Calves under ten months old. 


To Thomas P. Remington, of Philadelphia, for his ‘‘ Donna Maria 4th,’’ 
the first premium of $5. 
To Anthony Bolmar, of Chester County, for his heifer five months old, 
the second premium of $3. 
in Thomas P. Remington, of Philadelphia, for his heifer ‘‘ Miss ane” 
’ the third premium “of $1. 


The following special premiums were recommended by the Committee : 


To John A. Sheets, of Berks County, for his bull “Juno,” over three 
years old, $8. 

To Adrian Comel, of Berks County, for his bull ‘ Pontiac,” over three 
years old, $3. 

To Thomas P. Remington, of Philadelphia, for his bull “Lord Barring- 
ton,’ between two and three years old, $4. 

To Willtam Divine, of Philadelphia, for his bull ‘General Scott,” be- 
tween two and three years old, $4. 

To Lewis P. Hoopes, of Chester County, for his bull, between one and 
two years old, $3. 

To Thomas P. Remington, of Philadelphia, for his bull calf, ten months 
old, $2. 

To Joseph Palmer, of Philadelphia, for his heifer ‘‘ Lucy,”’ between two 
and three years old, $5. 

To Aaron Clement, of Philadelphia, for his heifer ‘‘ Ellen,” between two 
and three years old, $5. 

To the same, for his two heifers “ Flora” and “ Beauty,” each $2—$4. 

To the same, for heifer ‘‘ Duchess,”’ $2. 

Mr. Remington’s heifers Fanny, 44 months old, and Flora, 5 months 
old, are worthy of especial commendation. 


No. 2. Drevons.—Bulls of three years and upwards. 


To Morri is Longstreth, of White Marsh, Montgomery County, for his bull 
‘¢ Buck,” three years and six months old, ‘the first premium of $20. 

To G. P. Holcomb, of Newcastle, Delaware, for his bull 
old, the second premium of $15. 

To George A. Kriebel, of Montgomery County, for his bull ‘ Echo,” 
seven years old, the third premium of $8. 


, 4 years 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 307 


Buils between two and three years old. 


To Thomas Hancock, of Burlington, N. J., for his bull ‘‘ Winchester,”’ 
two years and six months old, the first premium of $15. 

To Aaron Clement, of Philadelphia, for his bull two years old, the se- 
cond premium of $8. 

To Christopher Fallon, of Upper Darby, Delaware County, Pa., for his 
bull ‘‘William Bigler,”’ between two and three years old, the third premium 
of $4. 


Bulls, between one and two years old. 


To Aaron Clement, of Philadelphia, for his bull, one year and four months 
old, the first premium of $10. 

To Richard Pim, of Thorndale, Chester County, for his bull, one year 
and one month old, the second premium of $5. 

To C. P. Holcomb, of Newcastle, Delaware, for his bull ‘‘Granby,’’ one 
year old, the third premium of $3. | 


Bull Calves under ten months old. 


To Charles H. Muirhead, of Philadelphia, for his bull, four months and 
two weeks old, the first premium of $5. 

To C. P. Holcomb, of Newcastle, Delaware, for his bull, six months old, 
the second premium of $3. 

To the same, for his bull five months and two weeks old, the third pre- 
mium of $2, 


Cows of three years and upwards. 


To C. P. Holcomb, of Newcastle, Delaware, for his cow “ Betty,” six 
years old, the first premium of $20. ‘ 

To same, for his cow “ Cherry,” six years old, the second premium of $10. 

To William H. Stewart, of , for his cow, five years old, the third 
premium of $6. 


Heifers, between two and three years old. 
For first premium—No merit. ) 
For second premium—No merit. 


To Morris Longstreth, of White Marsh, Montgomery County, for his 
heifer, two years and six months old, the third premium of $5. | 


Heifers, between one and two years old. 


To John Lippincott, of Bucks County, for his heifer, one year and eight 
months old, the first premium of $10. 

To Richard Pim, of Chester County, for his heifer, one year and five 
months old, the second premium of $5. 

To Morris Longstreth, of White Marsh, Montgomery County, for his 


heifer, one year and six months old, the third premium of $2. r 


Heifer Calves under ten months old. 


To C. P. Holcomb, of Newcastle, Delaware, for his heifer, five months 
and two weeks old, the first premium of $5. 
To same, for his heifer eight months old, the second premium of $3. 


308 THE FLORIST AND 


To Thomas Hancock, of Burlington, N. J., for his heifer calf “ Violet,” 
eight months and two wake old, he thind pr eau of $1. 


Nos. 4, 5, AnD 6.— AYRSHIRE, Horry, AND ALDERNEY. 


To the President of the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society : 


The Committee on Ayrshire, Holstein, and Alderney Cattle, make the 
following report :— 


Ayrshire. 


bie A. R. Mellvain, for the best bull, between three and four years 
old, $20. 
To A. L. Pennock, for the best bull between one and two years old, $10. 
To Aaron Clement, of Philadelphia, for the best cow three years old, $20. 
ie ag Harrison, for the best heifer between two and three years 
old, $15. 


Holstein. 


To John Worth, for the best cow three years old, $20. 
To same, for the best heifer between one and two years old, $10. 
To same, for the best heifer calf ten months old, $5. 


Alderney 


To Jonathan Knight, of Bucks County, for the best bull, three years 
old, first premium of $20. 

To Marshall Strode, of Chester County, for the second best bull, the se- 
cond premium of $15. 

To Thomas P. Remington, of Philadelphia, for the third best bull, the 
third premium of $8. 

‘To William Supplee, of Philadelphia, for the best bull, between one and 
two years old, $10. 

To Aaron Clement, for the second best bull, between one and two years 
old, $5. 

To Craig Biddle, of Philadelphia, for the third best bull, between one and 
two years old, o4. 

To Thomas P. Remington, for the best bull calf, ten months old, $65. 


Alderney Cows. 


To Peter Rose, of Philadelphia, for the best Alderney cow, between three 
and four years old, $20. 

To Thomas P. Remington, for the second best, $15. 

To William Supplee, for the third best, $6. 

To. Thomas P. Remington, for the best cow, between two and three years 
old, $15. 

To Lewis R. Hillard, of Montgomery County, for the second best, between 
two and three years old, $5. 

To William Supplee, for the best Alderney heifer, between one and. two 
years old, $10. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 309 


To L. H. Twaddell, of West Philadelpna, for the second best, between 
one and two years old, $0. 

The Committee consider the foregoing Cattle in fine condition, and highly 
creditable to the Exhibition. 


WILLIAM KENNEDY, Comins 
JoHN J. ROWLAND. ; 


No. 7.—NATIVES, 0R GRADES. 
To the President of the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Socvety :—. 


Your Committee (No. 7) on Natives or Grades, respectfully report eae 
they award the following premiums: 


To James Gowen, of Mount Airy, for the best bull, between one and two 
years old, $6. 

To Isaac Newton, for the second best, $4. 

To Reuben C. Lewis; for the best bull under ten months, $3. 
A special premium is recommended to Aaron Clement, for his grade bull, 
eleven months old, $9 

To Robert Purvis, for best cow over three years old, $12. 

To John J. Rowlin, for second best cow over three years old, $10. 

To Jesse M. Wiihams, for third best cow over three years old, $6. 

3 Christopher Fallon, for best heifer between two and three years 
old,$10. 

To C. W. Harrison, for the second best heifer between two and three 
years old, $8. 

To Isaac Newton, for the third best heifer between two and three years 
old, $4. 

To Richard Cartwright, for the best heifer between one and two years 
old, $6. 

To Christopher Fallon, for the second best heifer between one and two 
years old, $4. 

To Abraham L. Pennock, for the third best heifer between one and two 
years old, $2. 

To er Newton, for best heifer calf under ten months old, $3. 

To Richard Cartwright, for second best heifer calf, under ten months 
old, $1. 

We also recommend special premiums to be given as follows: 

To Peter Rose, for a native heifer, $5. 

To Christopher Fallon, for two grade cows, $10. 

To A. C. Jones, for a native cow, $5. 

To James Maas, for five grade cows, $20. 

To Richard Cartwright, for a native cow, 510. 

To Bernard Devlin, for two heifers, $5. 

To John Turner, for one grade cow, $6. 

To W. P. Padaniore, for one grade cow, $6. 

To same, for one pair of twin calves, $4. 

To Francis Little, for two grade cows, $10. 


310 THE FLORIST AND 


To Thomas D. Taylor, for two native cows, $10. 
To George Martin, for two grade cows, $10. 

To P. Lambert, for one grade cow, $6. 

To Nathan Hllmaker, for two grade cows, $10. 


No. 9.—Worxine OXEN. 
To the President of the Pennsylvania State Apricultural Society : 


The Committee on Working Oxen respectfully present the following re- 
port as their awards: 

For the premium offered by the Society for the twenty yoke of working 
oxen contended for by the Society of Chester, they award the premium of 
$00, to be given to the Agricultural Society of that county, and also re- 
commend a silver medal to be offered to the same Society. 

For the best three yoke they assign the premium of $20, to the three 
yoke owned by Paschall Worth, Thomas 8. Woodward and Lewis Hoopes, 
of the county of Chester. 

For the second best three yoke they award the second premium of $15, to 
George Blight, C. H. Muirhead and Thomas Dunlap. 

The Committee desire to express their admiration of a pair of Devon 
Oxen, owned by Mr. George Blight, that in every respect showed the best 
breaking and the greatest docility. 

For the best single yoke they award the first premium of $12, to Richard 
Pim, of Chester County. 

A second premium of $10 to Joseph Powell, of the county of Delaware. 


No. 9.—Far. CatTTim, 


To Joseph Palmer, of Kingsessing, for his fine four year old short-horn 
steer, first premium of $15. 


No. 10.—MuiicH Cows. 


Peter Rose, of the 24th Ward, of the city of Philadelphia, is entitled to 
a premium of $20, for the best grade cow, ‘‘ Milk Maid,” seven years 
old; said cow having yielded or produced 228 quarts of milk in ten days, 
viz: from the 12th to the 22d of September, 1854 inclusive—that the weight 
thereof, was 547 Ibs, and that it took 18 quarts of milk to make one pound 
of butter; said cow calved on the 22d of August last. 


No. 11.—ForztcgN Importep CATTLE. 


The best short horn bull imported within twelve months, the premium of 
$25, and Diploma to Charles Kelly, for his bull ‘ Liberator.” 

To Christopher Fallon, is awarded the premium of $20, and Diploma, 
for his very fine cow “Rose.” Mr. Fallon exhibited another fine short 
horn cow, of recent importation, called ‘‘ Nelly.” also, a fine young roan 
bull, under age, of much promise. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 311 


No. 24.—GRAIN SEEDS, AND VEGETABLES. 


To Hon. F. Warts, President of the Pennsylvania State Agricultural 

Society: 

The Committee (No. 24) on Grain, Seeds, and Vegetables, report as 
follows: 

To Richard Pim, best bushel white Wheat, $3. 

To Joseph Hemings, second best bushel white Wheat, $1. 

To G. and C. K. Engle, best bushel red Wheat, $3. 

To Jesse M. Williams, second best bushel red Wheat, $1. 

To Charles L. Wampole, best bushel of Rye, $3. 

To George Blight, second best bushel of Rye, $1. 

To David Landreth, for the best bushel of white Flint Corn, $3. 

To G. and C. K. Engle, for best bushel of Oats, $3. 

To David Landreth, second best bushel of Oats, $1. 

To James Sloan, best bushel of Potatoes, $3. 

To A. L. Felton, second best bushel of Potatoes, $1. 

To Ira Gibson, for a very fine sample of ‘‘ Foxite Potatoes, $3. 

To Joseph Harrison, for best bushel of Sweet Potatoes, Pennsylvania — 
growth, $3. 

To William Blair, best bushel field Turnips, $3. 

To A. L. Felton, second best bushel field Turnips, $1. 

To A. L. Felton, best bushel of Carrots, $3. 

To William Blair, best bushel of Parsnips, $3. 

To David Landreth, best bushel of Flaxseed, $3. 

To Job Hayes, best bushel Timothy Seed, $3. 


The Committee also notice a very fine collection of garden and field 
seeds, grown by David Landreth, Esq., at Bloomsdale, numbering over two 
hundred different kinds. Also, some white flour corn and “ Adams’”’ early 
six week’s corn. 

Paschall Morris & Co. also exhibited a large and highly crieditable col- 
lection of field and garden products, including over one hundred varieties 
of seed. 

Among the contributions, we notice fine samples of corn from G. Blight, 
E. Hindle, E. T. Hoopes, Thomas Yeamans, W. Blair, J. Kinnear, Rey. 
K. Goddard, E. J. Dicking, and others. 

Samples of wheat from M. Garret, M. Clegg, T. Yeamans, J. Lidster, J. 
Cope, P. and G. P. Whitaker, G. Vanartsdalen, and others. 

The competition in potatoes, was large. Among the contributors we no- 
tice G. Blight, T. Yeamans, J. Simpers, F’. Scattergood, J. Kinnear, J. C. 
Kane, T. R. Bunting, H. W. Ditman, and others, all of whom exhibited 
fine samples. 

Messrs. Craig and Bellas, A. Garrett, G. 8. Fox, E. T. Hoopes, M. H. 
Cornell and C. M. Wampole, exhibited some good samples of oats. 


ole THE FLORIST AND 


No. 80.—FtLowers, PLants anp DEsIGNs. 
To Hon. F. Warts, President of the Pennsylvania State Agricultural 
Society : | 
Your Committee (No. 30.) on Flowers, Plants and Designs, have awarded 
the following premiums, viz: | : 
For Private Collection of Green House Plants—20 Varietees. 


First premium of $20 to James Kent, gardener to J. Francis Knorr. 
Second premium of $15 to Thomas Robertson, gardener to B. A. 


Fahnestock. | 
Third premium of $10 to gardener of William W. Keen. 
Fourth premium of $8 to gardener of John Lambert. 
Fifth premium of $6 to Alexander Burnett, gardener to H. Pratt 


McKean. 
Collections of Green House Plants—20 Varieties, open to all. 


First premium of $20 to John Pollock, gardener to James Dundas. 
Second premium of $15 to Robert Buist. — 
Third preminm of $10 to Isaac Collins. 


Collections of Green House Plants—12 Varieties, open to all. 


First premium of $10 to Isaac Collins, gardener to Gen. Robert Patterson. 
Second premium of $8 to John Pollock, gardener to James Dundas. 
Third premium of $6 to James Kent, gardener to J. Francis Knorr. 
Fourth premium of $5 to David Ferguson. 


Collections of Specimen Plants—4 Varieties. 


First premium of $8 to Peter Raabe. 
Second premium of $6 to James Kent, gardener to J. Francis Knorr. 
Third premium of $5 to John Pollock, gardener to James Dundas. 


Collections of Conifers—6 Varieties. 


First premium of $5 to Paschall Morris. 
Second premium of $3 to John Gray. 


Collection of Achimenes. 
First premium of $4 to Thomas Robertson, gardener to B. A. Fahnestock. 
Collection of Orchids. 
First premium of $5 to Robert Buist. 
Collection of Ferns. 
First premium of $2 to John Pollock, gardener to James Dundas. 
Designs of Cut Flowers. 


Premium of $20 to Peter Raabe. , 
Premium of $10 to Harry Lynch, gardener to J. Rutter, West Chester. 


We nee Tic an ee nay 


‘HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. ole 


Designs of Cut Flowers, not exceeding five feet in height. 


Premium of $4 to Henry A. Dreer. 
Premium of $3 to Robert Kilvington. 


Designs formed of Grasses. 


First premium of $3 to Mary McIlvaine, West Philadelphia. 
Second premium of $3 to William Berry, gardener to Alfred Cope. 


Designs formed of Indigenous Plants. 
First premium of $8 to John McIntosh. 
Baskets formed of Cut Flowers. 


First premium of $3 to Mrs. M. Newkirk. 
Second premium of $2 to John Kinnier, gardener to Thomas Dunlap. 
Third premium of $1 to Robert Kilvington. 


Bouquets for the hand. 


First premium of $3 to Charles Souchet. 
Second premium of $2 to Henry Lynch, gardener to J. Rutter, West 
Chester. 


Dahlias—24 Varieties. 
First premium of silver medal, to Robert Buist. 
| Roses—20 Varveties. 
First premium of $5, to Robert Buist; second premium of $3 to Henry 
A. Dreer. 
Roses—Greatest Variety. 
=First premium of $3 to Paschall Morris; second premium of $2 to Robert 
Buist. 
Verbenas—Grreatest Variety. 
First premium of $3 to Robert Buist. 
German Asters—Best Collection. 


First premium of $3 to Charles Souchet. 


The Committee with great pleasure, notice a handsomely prepared col- 
lection of “Marine Algae,” or ‘Sea Weeds,” by J. M. A. Sommerville, 
of Philadelphia, and a beautiful collection of variegated plants, by Robert 
Buist—together, with a handsome collection of plants from the garden of 
Dr. James Rush, not entered for competition. They also notice an im- 
mense leaf of the “ Victoria Regia,” and a fine specimen of ‘ Nelumbium 
Speciosum,”’ from the collection of Caleb Cope; and a splendid specimen of 
“ Lycopodium Coesium,” from Mr, Joshua Robinson, Pittsburg, Pa. Mr. 


314 THE FLORIST AND 


Peter McKenzie, of Philadelphia, has contributed 250 varieties of Green 
House Plants, but not for competition. 


No. 803—GarDEN VEGETABLES. 


To Hon. F. Warts, President of the Pennsylvania State Agricultural So- 
cuety : 


Your Committee (No. 303) on Garden Vegetables, respectfully report, 
that they have awarded the following premiums, viz: 


To James Jones, gardener at Girard College, for best twelve stocks of 
Celery, $3. 

‘T'o same person, for second best, another variety, $2. 

To A. L. Felton, for twelve best white table Turnips, $3. 

To J. and C. K. Engle, for second best white table Turnips, $2. 

To James Jones, gardener at Girard College, for best dozen long red 
Beets, $3. 

To William Barry, gardener to A. Cope, best dozen Parsnips, $3. 

‘To George Blight, of Germantown, for second best dozen.Parsnips, $2. 

To William Barry, gardener to A. Cope, best dozen yellow Onions, $3. 

To William Barry, gardener to A. Cope, second best dozen yellow 
Onions, $2. 

To John Riley, gardener at Insane Hospital, best three dozen yellow 
Onions, $3. 

To James Jones, gardener at Girard College, best three dozen white 
Onions, $2. 

A. L. Felton, best six heads Broccoli, $3. , 

To William Barry, A. Cope’s gardener, best dozen Tomatoes, $3. 

To William Barry, A. Cope’s gardener, best peck Tomatoes, $3. 

‘To James Jones, gardener at Girard College, second best peck Toma- 
toes, $2. 

To George Blight, best Egg Plants, (second plants,) $3. 

To Henry Smith, Frankford, second best Egg Plants, (second plants,) $3. 

To James Jones, Girard College, best six Egg Plants, $2. 

‘'o Robert Buist, second best six Egg Plants, $1. 

‘To Jesse Rambo, Gloucester County, N. J., best dozen Sweet Pota- 
toes, $3. 

a ee Darlington, West Chester, second best dozen Sweet Pota- 
toes, $2. 

To William Barry—A. Cope’s gardener, best half peck Lima Beans, $3. 

To John Gray, best three garden Squashes, $3. 

To L. P. Hoopes, West Chester, best dozen ears yellow Seed Corn, $3. 

To 4 ohn Kinnier—T. Dunlap’s gardener, second best yellow Seed 
Corn, $2. 

To John Gray, best dozen ears white Seed Corn, $3. 

To Matilda B. Thomas, best dozen table Potatoes, $3. 

To John Kinnier, second best dozen table Potatoes, $2. 

To George Blight, best dozen Carrots, $2. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 315 


To William Barry, second best dozen Carrots, $2. 
To John Riley, best one dozen Salsify, $2. 
: To bead Barry—A. Cope’s gardener, best six dozen heads Cab- 
age, $3. 
To John Riley, second best drum heads Cabbage, $2. 
To James Jones—Girard College gardener, best red Dutch Cabbage, $3. 
T'o James Jones, Girard College gardener, best of another kind, Savoy, $2. 
To A. L. Felton, best six heads Lettuce, $38. 
To William Barry, second best six heads Lettuce, $2. 
To George Blight, best three dozen Sweet Corn, $3. 
To A. S. Felton, second best three dozen Sweet Corn, $2. 
To George Blight, best three specimens Marrow Squashes, $3. 
To John Riley, best two specimens Pumpkins, $3. 
To H. W. Ditman, Oxford, second best two specimens Pumpkins, $2. 


DISPLAY OF VEGETABLES. 


Best, by market gardener, A. L. Felton, premium of $15. 

Best, by amateur gardener, John Riley, $10. 

Second best, amateur gardener, James Jones, Girard College gar- 
dener, $5. 

Third best, amateur gardener, George Blight, $4. 


PHILADELPHIA SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING AGRICULTURE. 
Stated Meeting, August, 1854.—President, Dr. A. L. Elwyn, in the 


chair. 

Minutes of preceding meeting read and approved. Dr. William Shippen 
and Mr. J. C. Cresson, proposed as resident members at last meeting, were 
balloted for and duly elected. Two propositions for resident membership 
were received. 

Mr. David George tendered his resignation from the Joint Committee of 
Arrangement on the State Agricultural Fair. On motion, the resignation 
_ was accepted, and Mr. John Rice appointed in his stead. 

Mr. Harrison, from the same Committee, reported that the grounds at 
Powelton had been enclosed for the purposes of the Fair, and that a propo- 
sition had been made to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, to adopt 
their premium list, and the awards of their judges, provided the Society 
would waive their usual exhibition and throw their influence in behalf of the 
Horticultural department of the State Fair. All which has since been 
agreed to. 

The President inquired concerning the result of the late exhibition of 
implements at Mr. Stavely’s, in Bucks county. 


316 THE FLORIST AND 


Mr. Landreth had understood that, owing to the great diversity of opinion 
which prevailed, awards had been made to several of the competitors. 

On motion of Mr. Landreth, that the Secretary be and he is hereby 
authorized to send a copy of the published minutes of the Society, recently 
prepared in pamphlet form, to every kindred Society in the Union. Which 
was so ordered. 

Dr. Kennedy hoped that the discussion on Reaping and Mowing Machines, 
postponed from last meeting, would be resumed. Hitherto our Society had 
devoted too little attention to agricultural machinery, a department in which 
our countrymen would probably attain to the highest excellence. In the 
improvement of stock, in irrigation, in drainage, in the cultivation of soils 
and the application of concentrated manures, we competed with Hurope 
unequally. There labor was cheaper, and wealth more concentrated. The 
high price of labor, while it prevented expensive experiments in agriculture, 
stimulated to the invention and perfection of labor-saving machinery. 
Reaping and mowing machines were cases in point. American agriculture 
had recived no greater boon for many years, and agricultural societies could 
do no greater service to the cause, than by increasing the list of their pre- 
miums for improved implements and newly-invented machinery. In England, 
where such inventions were less needed, their production was vastly more 
stimulated by prizes. M’Cormick’s Reaper was the great feature of the 
Agricultural Department of the World’s Fair at London. Yet the speaker 
had there seen a drain-laying machine which dug the trench, laid the tiles 
and covered them up by power applied to a windlass at a remote part of 
the field! Tile-making machines came properly within the province of the 
agriculturist. ‘Tiles were now made in Europe in a continuous tube, the clay 
being forced through proper orifices in steel plates, by the pressure of a 
piston (as in the manufacture of maccaroni), or by friction of rollers. The 
tubes as they are formed are cut into appropriate lengths. Dr. K. had 
failed to find such tiles in Albany, where he had been on the preceding | 
Saturday. He farther explained their action, and also that of the tile-laying 
machine, above cited. 

Mr. Sheridan contended that drain-laying machines might do in a light, 
well-worked soil, in Europe, but not in the refractory, stony soils of America. 
He could not imagine a subsoil plough which could cut a drain without 
leaving a wide, open trench. 

Mr. Samuel Williams had seen such ploughs. They burrowed, as it were, 
the lower part, not improperly called a shoe, connected with the frame of 
the plough, by means of a thin, strong piece of iron, which, like a coulter, 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 317 


presented its edge to the sod. The peculiarity of the machine described by 
Dr. Kennedy, did not consist so much in that it made a trench, as that it 
laid the tiles evenly immediately following the plough, and closed in the soil 
over them. 

Mr. Landreth was pleased to hear the amount of agricultural machinery 
at the World’s Fair, and coincided in the opinion that the subject of agri- 
cultural machines had not received sufficient attention and encouragement. 
He resumed the debate on the reaper and mower, and was followed by 
Messrs. Harrison, Willits, Newton, George R. Engle, Gustavus Engle, 
Sheridan and others. The discussion, although highly animated and enter- 
taining, is, for reasons formerly given, not reported. 


MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 


The tent on the Common, devoted to the annual display of the Massachu- 
setts Horticultural Society, has been visited by a large number of our 
citizens and strangers. The display was magnificent. The following is the 
list of prizes and gratuities awarded by the Society :— 


PRIZES. 


Apples—F or the best 30 varieties, of 12 specimens each, the Lyman 
plate, valued at $30, to Messrs. Burr, Hingham; for the second best, $20 
B. V. French, Braintree ; for the third best, $10, Joseph Lovett, Beverly ; 
for the best 12 varieties of 12 specimens each, the Society’s plate, valued 
$20, B. V. French, Braintree; for the second best, $15, J. B. Moore, 
Concord; for the third best, $12, Messrs. Burr, Hingham; for the fourth 
best, $8, John Gordon, Brighton; for the best dish of apples, 12 specimens 
of one variety, $6, James Guild, Roxbury ; for the second best, $5, Francis 
Marsh, Dedham; for the third best, $4, John Gilbert, Hillsboro’ N. H.; 
for the fourth best, $3, B. V. French, Braintree. 


Pears—For the best 30 varieties of 12 specimens each, the Lyman plate, 
valued at $30, to M. P. Wilder, Dorchester; for the second best, $10, 
Hovey & Co., Cambridge; for the third best, $10, Joseph Stickney, Water- 
town; for the best 12 varieties of 12 specimens each, the Lyman plate, 
valued at $20, Josiah Stickney, Watertown ; for the second best, $15, 
Josiah Richardson, Cambridge; for the third best, $12, W. R. Austin, 
Dorchester ; for the fourth best, $8, J. A. Stetson, Quincy; for the best 
dish of pears, 12 specimens of one variety, $6, Nahum Stetson, Bridge- 


318 THE FLORIST AND 


water; second best, $5, Josiah Richardson, Cambridge; third best, $4, 

John Gordon, Brighton ; fourth best, $3, J. H. Stetson, Quincy. 
Assorted Fruits—For the best basket of fruit of various kinds, $8, to M. 

P. Wilder, Dorchester; for the second best, $4, Azell Bowditch, Roxbury. 


Grapes—For the best five varieties, two bunches each, $12, W. C. Strong, 
Newton ; second best, $8, Mrs. F. B. Durfee, Fall River; third best, $5, 
Charles HE. Grant, Roxbury ; for the best two varieties, two bunches each, 
$6, Thomas Page, Waltham; second best, $4, C. S. Holbrook, Hast Ran- 
dolph; third best, $2, J. Pritchard, West Roxbury. 


Peaches—¥Yor the best dish of not less than twelve, $5, William Bacon, 
Roxbury ; second best, $3, D. E. Jewett, Westboro’. 


Vase Bouquets—For the best pair suitable for the Bradlee vases, a 
prize of the Bradlee plate, valued at $10, to Evers & Bock, Brighton ; 
second best, $5, James Nugent, Jamaica Plain; for the best pair for the 
Society’s Marble Vases, $10, Winship & Co., Brighton. 


Parlor Bouquets—For the best pair suitable to the parlor, $8, to M. P. 
Wilder, Dorchester; second best, $6, Evers & Bock, Brighton; third best, 
$5, James Nugent, Jamaica Plain; fourth best, $38, Winship & Co., Brigh- 
ton. 

Pot Plants—For the best display of not less than 20 pots, a prize of $12, 
to J. P. Cushing, Watertown; second best, $10, Thomas Page, Waltham ; 
third best, $8, Azell Bowditch, Roxbury; fourth best, $5, M. P. Wilder, 
Dorchester. 

Cockscombs—For the best six pots, a prize of $3, to J. Kelley, Water- 


town. 


Vegetables—For the best display and greatest variety at the Annual 
Exhibition, $10, to B. V. French, Braintree; second best, $8, Henry 
Bradlee, Medford; third best, $6, Stone & Co.; fourth best, $4, John B. 
Moore. Mammoth Squash—For the largest fl best, the Society’s Silver 
Medal, to Amos W. Stetson, East Braintree; for the second best, $3, 
Messrs. Derby, Salem. Pumpkins—For the largest and best, the Society’s 
Silver Medal, to T. McCarty, Roxbury; for the second best, $3, George 
Nelson, Lexington. 


GRATUITIES. 


Peaches and WNectarines—George W. Willis, Chelsea, $3; Josiah 
Richardson, Cambridgeport, $3; Nahum Stetson, Bridgewater, $3; H. Y. 
Gilson, East Cambridge, $2; E. C. Stevens, Dorchester, $3. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 319 


Baskets of Assorted Fruit—K. M. Richards, Dedham, $2; W. A. Crafts, 
Roxbury, $2; Nahum Stetson, Bridgewater, $3; Misses Cordwell, Roxbury, 
two dollars. , 

Grapes—Wnm. Blake, Jamaica Plain, $2; Joseph Breck & Son, Brighton, 
$5; W. ©. Strong, Newton, $3. 


Apples—A. D. Willams, Roxbury, $10; Bowen Harrington, Lexington, 
$6 ; Samuel G. Hyde, Newton, $8; Josiah Stickney, Watertown, $6; W. 
R. Austin, Northern Spy, $3; John Parker, Acton, Blue Pearmain, $3 ; 
Josiah Richardson, Cambridge, Ribston Pippin, $3; Levi Brigham, Saxon- 
ville, Nonpareil, $3; E. M. Richards, Dedham, Gravenstein, $3; James 
Eustice, South Reading, Gravenstein, $3 ; Theodore Clapp, Dorchester 
Gravenstein, $3; John Gordon, Brighton, Grand Sachem, $3 ; Josiah 
Stickney, Watertown, 20 oz. Pippin, $3; A. W. Withington, Dorchester, 
St. Lawrence, $3 ; Benjamin Bliss, Porter, $3; Peter Lawson, Lowell, 
collection, $5; Thomas Page, Waltham, do, $3; A. W. Stetson, East 
Braintree, do, $7; C. S. Holbrook, East Randolph, do, $3; Cheever New- 
hall, Dorchester, do, $3; John A. Kenrick, Newton, do, $3; James Eus- 
tice, South Reading, do, $7; Evers & Bock, Brighton, do, 6; E. Winslow, 
Roxbury, do. $3; Eben Wight, Dedham, do, $6; Josiah Newhall, do, 39. 

Pears—George Southard, Roxbury, Louise Bonne $3; Samuel Downer, 
Dorchester, fine specimens, $10; Samuel Walker, collection, $10; J. S. 
Cabot, Salem, do, $10; J. S. Sleeper, Roxbury, do, $5; Josiah Lovett, 
Beverly, do, $5; Winship & Co., Brighton do, $5; William Bacon, Roxbury, 
fine specimens, $5 ; Henry Vandine, Cambridge, collection, $5; Robert 
Manning, Salem, do, $10. 

Vegetables—For fine display—John Gordon, Brighton, $2; Josiah 
Crosby, West Cambridge, 38; Nahum Stetson, Bridgewater, $4. Davis 
Seedling Potatoes, display—H. L. Shattuck, Concord, $2; A. Bowditch, 
Roxbury, $5; Josiah Stickney, Watertown, $4; S. B. Pierce, Dorchester, 
$2; C. 8S. Holbrook, Hast Randolph, $2. Sea Kale, display—James L. 
Little, Swampscott, $1; Timothy McCarty, Roxbury, $3; James Nugent, 
Jamaica Plain, $3. Squash—Winship & Co., Brighton, $10. Corn, 
display—Messrs. Burr, Hingham, $2; Bowen Harrington, Lexington, $4; 
A. D. Williams, Roxbury, $4; Galen Merriam, Newton, $4; A. D. Webber, 
Needham, $4. Lima Beans—Samuel Jordon, Hast Stoughton, $1.. Potatoes, 
display—James Hyde & Son, Newton, $8; A. R. Pope, Somerville, $2. 
Celery— Bowen Harrington, Lexington, $2. Potatoes (Davis)—J. B. 
Moore, Concord, $2. Syuash, collection—H. M. Richards, Dedham, $1; 


320 THE FLORIST AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 


George R. Sampson, Roxbury, $2.. Tomatoes,—Peter Lawson, Lowell, $1. 
Potatoes (new)—B. V. French, Braintree, $2. Summer Squash—Henry 
Bradlee, Medford, $3. 

Melons—B. V. French, Braintree, 11; Nahum Stetson, Bridgewater, 
$3; Josiah Stickney, Watertown, $1; Galen Merriam, Newton, $1; A. D. 
Webber, West Needham, $2; H. Bradlee, Medford, two dollars. 

For Pot Plants—Winship & Co.; Brighton, $8; Evers & Brock, Brigh- 
ton, $5; George W. Collamore, Boston, $2; Mrs. Gorley, $1; Moses B. 
Williams, Brookline, $8; M. P. Wilder, Dorchester, $5; J. Mason, 
Cambridgeport, $1. 

Floral Design—Mrs. William Kenrick, Newton, $5; Miss F. A. Russell, 
Newton, 2; W. C. Strong, Newton, $7; do do, $1; Miss Fannie Wright, 
Dedham, $5; Curtis & Lincoln, Boston, $6; Miss Mary M. Kenrick, New- 
ton, $3; Azell Bowditch, Roxbury, $3. 

For Bouquets—William E. Carter, Cambridge, $2; C. S. Holbrook, 
East Randolph, $2; Messrs. Burr, Hingham, $2; Jonathan Morris, 
Newtonville $5; Master A. G. Read, Boston, for basket artificial flowers, 
two dollars. 


We have occupied perhaps too great space in this number, to the 
awards of premiums at our late State Fair; but there are many of our sub- 
scribers to whom these reports will be very interesting, especially, as this 
was the greatest Fair ever held in this State. 


Notwithstanding all our appeals to our subscribers, they still withhold the 
subscriptions due last January; it may be the result of carelessness on their 
part, but if so, it is very inconvenient to us; fully one third of the number 
are still our debtors. 


ee SS 


CaTaLocurs have been received from the Toledo Nursery Association, 
and Messrs. A. Frost & Co., Rochester, New York. 


OuR NEXT PLATE will be a figure of a new variety of Rhododendron, the 
Comtesse Ferdinand Visart. 


|) i 


7 
f 
ri } 


RHODODENDRUM 
COMTESSE FERDIN. VISART (VHA! 


SH ORS Pre 
AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL, 


RHODODENDRON CINNAMOMEO-CAMPANULATUM, 
Comtesse Ferdinand Visart. (VAN HovurTte.) 


Wz give in this number a figure of a variety of Rhododendron Cinnamo- 
meum, obtained by Mr. Van Houtte, of Ghent. The foliage is handsome, 
cinnamon color beneath, and the flowers, creamy white, bordered with rose, 
produced in large clusters. It is adapted, in this climate, to a cool green- 
house. 


CULTURE OF THE PEACH TREE. 


For the last few years the culture of the Peach has declined. The 
“yellows,” “blight,” peach-worm and curculio have been singularly de- 
structive, and fruit which a few years ago could be scarcely given away, 
now finds ready sales at high prices. Old orchards are dying out, and com- 
paratively few new ones formed to replace them; confidence in their suc- 
cessful culture is yearly growing weaker, till in almost every region we 
travel we are told ‘‘ Peaches will not grow with us any more.” 

I am not going to deny that there are no difficulties attendant on modern 
peach-growing near cities, or even that if there are difficulties, that they are 
not greater than attended the efforts of our forefathers; but merely to point 
out how they can still be grown successfully, either to return a handsome 
profit in a commercial point of view, or to yield a crop of the very finest 
kind of fruit for the raiser’s own table. 

The aspect of the site of a peach-orchard is one of the first importance. 
Contrary to the general idea in favor of a southern exposure, a north- 
western or western is preferable. Peach trees on a southern aspect seldom 
bear well over five years, or live over ten. On any other, all other things 
being equal, there seems to be, as there probably is, no limit to their age. 
Rarely do we meet with a peach tree on a southern slope stricken with the 
‘yellows,’ while aged, healthy trees are invariably found in such places in 


perfection. I have some trees at the present moment in my mind’s eye, 
29 


322 THE FLORIST AND 


so old that I can find no one to tell me their age exactly, which are grow- 
ing on the north side of some high buildings, models of health and produc- 
tiveness. | 

Theory confirms this view of the proper site for Peach trees, as well as 
observation ; not being a native of this country, it is like most exotics, not 
perfectly adapted to our ‘climate. The sap vessels of the wood are large, 
and there is a large amount of moisture stored up in them, in the winter 
season. Science has shown that when these vessels are frozen through, 
they become particles of ice, any sudden thaw is apt to burst the cell tissues, 
if the expansion by the act of freezing alone does not do so; so that trees 
in situations where they are not liable to be suddenly thawed in winter, are 
more liable to escape injury. In the respect of sodl, the Peach is not so 
fastidious as it is often supposed to be. Any loose kind of loam will suit 
it. I have seen as fine and productive Peach trees in “‘ Pennsylvania clay,” 
as in “Jersey sand.” In a red clay loam, on a subsoil of rotten shaly 
rock, I have noted splendid specimens. In each, it is more easy to point 
out what soils are ill adapted for Peach culture, than what is the best; and 
the whole subject may be summed up in the observation, that the, Peach 
will do well in any soils except heavy clays, or soils very retentive of 
moisture. 

Having dismissed the questions of aspect and soil, we may talk a little 
on the preparation of the ground. If it be of a nature to get very dry 
in summer time, it should be trenched eighteen inches in depth, if the piece 
to be planted is small; and subsoil ploughed, if their culture is to be car- 
ried on to a large extent. Sandy soils will not require this operation, be- 
cause they retain moisture a long time, a few inches below the surface, 
though on the ground such soils soon become hot and dry; all strong 
manures are superfluous, if not injurious; wood ashes, and in some cases, 
lime in small quantity, I have found beneficial. 

The selection of kinds to plant is difficult, if we will have only the best ; 
if we seek merely good standard varieties, it is a very simple affair. In the 
Philadelphia markets the Early York, Crawford Early, Crawford Late, 
Morris White, and Morris Red, with occasionally, the Heath and George 4th, 
probably comprise three fourths of all the named kinds offered there. If 
I were to select twelve varieties for myself, I should take for the two best 
early Crawford’s Early, and Druid Hill: next, early George 4th, Haines 
Early, and Morris Red; next succeeded by Morris ;White and Cooledge’s 
Favorite; Crawford’s Late and Ward’s Late coming m after these: and the 
amirable, Late Heath, and the Oldmixon Free winding up the list, and the 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 323 


season. This list comprises well known and general favorites. There are 
many other new kinds, and some old, but ill-known ones, probably as good 
as those enumerated. The Tyson is a fine large, well-flavored variety, 
ripening about mid-season. In my observation, it seems but a shy bearer, 
but I have only seen young trees. The Eliza is a very early, large, yellow 
Peach, of which I think very highly, though some of my friends deem it 
but second rate in flavor. - Tippecanoe, and La Grange have high reputa- 
tions, but of these, I cannot speak from my own experience. The Shang- 
hae Peach, lately introduced from China, will, I think, prove one of our 
best late peaches. The fruit is very large, flesh melting, and of a yellowish 
white, the habit of the tree is peculiar; the buds are white, and the leaves 
and shoots very vigorous and strong. But as tastes differ as widely as, in 
many cases the varieties of the Peach itself, we will pass to another bone 
of contention—the best time to plant. So far as my experience goes, 
peaches will do nearly as well planted early in spring, as early in the fall,— 
say before the 15th of November. I prefer to plant them as soon as the 
first autumn frosts have scorched the leaves. The only disadvantage I have 
noted as attendant on autumn planting Peaches is, that the soil becomes 
packed tight around the roots by spring, and the fibres do not seem to push 
so freely there, as they do in soil newly turned up, and well filled with air 
and nutritious gases. On the other hand, an early fall planted tree, gene- 
rally gets a good root hold before fall, and while it suffers less from severe 
winters, will at the same time, often bear some fruit in the following sea- 
son, which a spring planted tree rarely does. The advantages and disad- 
vantages of spring and fall planting, are respectively so evenly balanced, 
that probably opinions will never be united in one channel on the point. 
Each will do well to consult his own observations and convenience. 

My after management of the Peach is a very simple affair. It consists 
in chief, of ‘‘letting them alone.” If they do not seem as vigorous as I 
like them, I prune back, or shorten in a httle, some of the young shoots; 
but the maxim is sound, that if you want wood, prune and “trim out,” if 
fruit, cut as little as you can. I like the ground around and about peach 
trees to be kept constantly tilled, cultivated and kept clean. I never could 
convince myself by reason, analogy, or observation, that Peach trees did well 
with a mass of sod around them, and the constant cultivation of the soil 
is also advantageous towards inducing fruitfulness, by cutting off occasionally, 
some of the smaller roots thereby checking that extreme -luxuriousness, 
which is a frequent cause of barreness in this class of fruits. MErLocoTon. 


324 THE FLORIST AND 


ON THE PLEROMA KUNTHIANUM AND LASTIANDRA’ SPLEN- 
DENS. 


It sometimes happens that accident points out the best method to man- 
age certain plants, to get them to the greatest perfection. To a certain 
extent we have been indebted to this cause, or rather, perhaps, for the right 
means, for a magnificent display of blossom of the Pleroma Kunthianum 
of Paxton, also called P. Benthamianum, and Lasiandra Kunthiana, cer- 
tainly one of the best of all the fine tribe of the Melastomaceze. The treat- 
ment this has received here was the following: This time twelve months 
gone, was purchased among other plants, a nice young plant of our present 
object. At that time there was but one house for accommodating all sorts, 
which was kept during winter as a warm green-house. The plant, when 
purchased, was healthy and luxuriant, but all winter wore a sickly, un- 
healthy appearance, as though ill at ease. This being so, it was kept out 
of sight as much as possible, and watered but seldom. The first week in 
March, a hot-bed was prepared to accommodate our few pining stove plants, 
and amongst them was our present notice, which was cut well back and 
given a liberal shift, and which then ultimately began to show signs of new 
life. It remained here till the first week in May, when having a vinery just 
finished and planted, it was transferred to this place, getting too large for 
a frame; here it showed evident signs of luxuriating in a high, moist and 
humid atmosphere. 

By the 4th of July our stove was ready into which our pet was intro- 
duced ; from that time to the present, it showed its gratefulness for all favors, 
and now is repaying by a bountiful supply of panicles, of very large, deep, 
blue-purple flowers, of five wedge-shaped petals, each pap? a white blotch 
at the base. 

From the foregoing we infer it requires perfect repose, in a low tempera- 
ture during winter, exciting it into growth early in the spring, and affording 
all the encouragement possible during summer and it should receive no 
stopping from the time it first commences growing. 

Of course this presupposes a good plant, to begin with. A plant should 
be grown one year before treated thus, in the following manner: Strike 
cuttings early in the spring, which root readily with the assistance of heat, 
as soon as rooted, pot off into single pots, as the pots become filled with 
roots, shift into larger, occasionally stopping the leading shoots, till the end 
of July, after which, cease potting and stopping, and give the plants every 
opportunity to ripen their wood; gradually dry off the plants in the fall, 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 325 


and treat as recommended above. For soil, use turfy loam and peat, equal 
parts, with sand enough added to make porous; a little pulverized charcoal 
will benefit them. Use liberal drainage. 

The plant is a native of the Organ Mountains of Beast 3,000 feet above 
the level of the sea, from whenceit was sent to the Glasgow Botanic Garden, 
in 1846-7. 

LASIANDRA SPLENDENS. 

This is another fine Melastomaceous plant, better in habit than the pre- 
ceding, finer in foliage, inferior in blossom, size, color, and duration. We 
have a fine plant now bursting its flower buds, and is immensely full; the 
same plant having flowered bountifully last April, being twice in eight 
months. It has been treated throughout as a warm green-house plant, and 
out of doors from the first of June till the plants were housed. It is now 
placed in the stove to open the flowers, after which it will be, most likely, 
again wintered in the green-house. 

This affords another proof of the power the ileiSior has over many 
plants to alter the time of flowering. The opinion seems fast gaining ground 
that many of what are termed stove or hot-house plants are benefited by a 
perfect repose during winter. In this country it can only be successfully 
done by wintering many of them in a green-house, owing doubtless to the 
exciting temperature of ordinary stoves; from the powerful effects of mid- 
day sun even in winter, tends to keep such plants as the preceding always 
in a state of activity. 

The whole family of Allamanda, after they become specimen plants, do 
far better if wintered in the green-house for two or three months, than if 
left in the stove the whole time, forming better plants and flowering freer. 

EDGAR SANDERS. 
November 6th, 1854. 


THE PELARGONIUM. 


Of the many productions of the florist, none attract so much attention as 
a well-grown Pelargonium. Good plants may be obtained by different treat- 
ment from what I adopt; but no directions can be given which will insure 
equal success with practice and experience. Gardeners all know that ne- 
glect is always followed by its consequences, shabby specimens and inferior 
flowers; and that whenever a plant loses its health, whatever may be sug- 
gested or put in force may accomplish, it seldom atones for the abuse first 
received. 


396 THE FLORIST AND 


What growers consider beauty in a Pelargonium are, the perfect develop- 
ment of all its parts, and that they should be symmetrically disposed. 
Compact, healthy plants cannot be obtained, if water is not carefully ap- 
plied, or if crowded, or not freely aired upon all favorable occasions. If 
kept close and warm, and watered freely in winter, they grow weak, and if 
kept cool and watered, they become yellow and spotted. 

To make good specimens, take your cuttings before ‘cutting back your 
old plants, which is generally done in July, and put them into small pots, 
one in each, filled with sandy loam. Plunge into a gentle bottom heat in a 
frame, taking off the sash on mild nights. In three or four weeks they will 
be well rooted; then they should be shifted into larger, and grown until the 
roots fill the pots. Keep them moderately dry and stop the shoots, having 
a care to the symmetry of the specimen. After stopping, give plenty of air 
and grow them strong and bushy. Through the winter months, give suffi- 
cient water to keep them from flagging ; in the middle of February, shift into 
blooming pots, 8 or 10 inch pots being sufficiently large. The best soil to use 
is two-thirds turfy loam that has been kept a season, and one-third rotten 
manure and sand, rubbed together with the hands; press the soil well in 
potting. To grow plants for exhibition tie all the shoots to stakes to keep 
them in their place, those for the green-house only need to be regulated. 
In cutting down old plants, it is best to allow them to become dry to heal 
the wounds. At starting again, keep them close and give water, and when 
they have started, shake them out and-trim the roots pretty close, repot 
and put in gentle bottom heat until they emit new roots, then give them 
the same treatment as recommended above. 

Wo. GREY, » 
Gardener to J. T. Norton, Hsq., Farmington, Ct. 


NEW PLANTS FIGURED OR DESCRIBED IN EUROPEAN 
PERIODICALS. 


Brconta var. LAPEYROUSEI.—M. de La Peyrouse had the kindness to 
send me last year a Begonia which he had obtained from seed, which excels 
in beauty all the species and varieties yet known. It is derived from B. 
hydrocotylefolia, fertilized by B. incarnata. Its appearance is majestic, its 
stalks robust, its leaves very large, very thick, of a fine shining green more 
like those of B. hydrocotylefolia than those of B. incarnata. This last 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. oot 


species has a limber foliage and elongated stalks, appearing drawn up, de- 
fects which the beauty and long duration of its flowers do not repay. The 
B. Lapeyrouset has, as I said, firm, strong stalks, admirable leaves, pedun- 
cles and pedicels short, and large compact bouquets of flowers of a beautiful 
satiny rose which ornaments the plant from the base to the top. This plant, 
which I cannot praise too highly, does not grow above two feet high. 
LL. Van Houtte in the Flore des Serres. 

Crergus MacDonatpia, Hoox.—This is a new species similar in color 
and form to the ©. grandiflorus, but with much larger flowers, the bud alone 
before opening measuring 14 inches, and the flower is greater than that in 
diameter. The stalks are like those of C. grandiflorus, but the angles are 
scarcely perceptible.* It will be a great addition to our collections, as it 
grows rapidly and flowers easily. It is night-blooming. The species was 
sent to Kew from Honduras, of which country it is a native, by the wife of 
Gen. Mac Donald. 

GESNERIA DoNCKELAARIANA.—Judging from the figure and description 
of this in the Flore des Serres, it should be the handsomest plant of the 
family to which it belongs. The leaves are large, heart-shaped, and of a 
‘deep green. ‘The flowers are borne on a deep purple stalk, simple below 
and panicled above with numerous flowers. These are gloxinia-shaped, of a 
bright crimson, the inside of the tube yellow. M. Donckelaar the younger, 
claims it as a hybrid between Gesneria discolor and Ligeria rubra (Gloxinia 
speciosa). M. Decaisne doubts this and suggests that itis a distinct species 
introduced by accident among other. individuals of the family. He pro- 
nounces it the richest in flowering and color of the genus. ; 

FucHsIA SOUVENIR DE LA Retne.—If the plant be nearly as striking as 
the figure of this variety, it is the handsomest variety extant. The tube of 
the calyx is crimson extending in a fringe a little into the sepals; the rest 
of which are white, tipped with green. The corolla is deep crimson. It is 
a seedling of M. Coene of Gendbrugge, Belgium. 

CLIANTHUS PUNICEUS var. MAGNIFICUS.—This is a leguminous plant, said 
to have been introduced from Navigator’s Island, which Dr. Planchon doubts, 
because the original species was discovered in New Zealand; and this plant 
requires only the green-house. The leaves are small and deep green; the 
flowers are brilliant vermillion and fully 34 inches across, are borne on 
short peduncles. 

PHILESIA BUXIFOLIA.—This species, with the Lapageria rosea, form the 
sub-order Philesiz, a division of Smilacez. It is a shrub, with numerous 


* In the figure the stalk resembles that of C. extensus. Saum. 


328 THE FLORIST AND 


branches, and dense, evergreen, coriaceous leaves. The flowers which are 
tri-petalous, bright red, about 2 inches long, are borne at the ends of the 
branchlets. It was brought from the neighborhood of the Straits of Magel- 
lan and is hardy at Exeter, in England. Messrs. Veitch, for whom it was 
collected, have flowered plants from four to eighteen inches high. 

CALYPTRARIA HAMANTHA.—A melastomaceous plant, with leaves green 
above, brown beneath sprinkled with red hairs. The flowers are borne in 
panicles, are reddish purple and very large. It was obtained by M. Schlim, 
collector for Mr. Linden of Brussels, on the Andes of New Grenada, grow- 
ing at an altitude of 5000 to 7000 feet. 

BERBERIS DARWINII.—This hardy shrub was discovered Paes a few 
years in the island of Chiloe by Mr. Darwin the learned naturalist. Mr. 
Wm. Lobb, the celebrated collector for Messrs. Veitch of Exeter, England, 
sent the seeds to them. They exhibited a plant in April, 1851, not three 
feet high, covered with flowers. The leaves are of a brilliant, shining green, 
and the orange colored flowers in axillary racemes, make a beautiful contrast. 

HypranGEaA JApontca, fol. albo variegatis.—This is a variety obtained 
in Italy by the Messrs. Rovelli, near Milan. The leaves are beautifully 
variegated at the edges with white, with a light green blotching the darker 
ground color. We have seen a young plant of this, in the house of Jas. 
Dundas, Esquire, of this city, which although it had not entirely recovered 
from the effects of a sea-voyage, yet showed the variegation very distinctly. 

ERIOCNEMA NEA.—In a former notice of this plant, we said that it had 
‘umbels of inconspicuous flowers.”’ In this we were wrong, having judged 
from the spike of buds just shooting up when we saw it. Since then we 
have seen it in bloom. It bears a one-sided cyme of rosy pink flowers 
very much resembling in size and color those of our native Rhexias, which 
are the only representatives of the same order, Melastomacezx, we have in 
this part of the United States. 


SOME PRINCIPLES OF VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY, BEARING 
ON THE CULTURE OF PLANTS. 


BY PROFESSOR W. H. DE VRIESE, OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LEYDEN. 
(Translated from the Dutch.) 


THE sleep of plants is that state of which we said a few words in the be- 
ginning, and in which we see the parts of flowers or leaves, which are at 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 329 


other times expanded, contract or fall together, because they lose their na- 
tural elasticity and turgescence, which is occasioned by the action of the 
sun’s rays. The sleep of plants is in no respect to be compared with that 
of animals. . 

The barometer indicates the changes of weather, even before they are 
preceptible to our senses. We say that it forebodes them. In that respect 
also do certain plants. Not only do many flowers close up when it rains, 
but there are many plants which forebode rain, in the same sense as the 
barometer forebodes the changes of weather. Calendula. pluvialis closes 
its flowers, and Porliera hygrometrica its leaves, when rain is about to fall. 
Warmth and dry air are necessary, which cause them to expand and evapo- 
rate strongly, to retain their natural size. The dampness of a cloudy or 
misty atmosphere, which precedes rain, causes the parts to fall together ; 
this and the sleep of plants are, therefore, called hygrometric phenomena. 

When the evaporation is disturbed, the plant becomes sick, nothwithstand- 
ing the supply of nutritious particles by the root; this has appeared from 
observation and experiment. If the leaves are smeared with varnish, or 
any other glutinous matter which hinders the evaporation, then the plant 
dies, for the surface can no longer be active. 

In July, 1845, there appeared, to an alarming degree, in one of the 
plants most generally used for food (the Potato) a disease probably not un- 
known formerly. Fields, which till lately had grown luxuriantly, showed 
only death and decomposition; the hope of the farmer on a large crop dis- 
appeared. Many people forboded bad harvests for following years, and ad- 
vised a change in the plan of agriculture. An extraordinary hot summer 
weather preceded, followed by a sudden falling of the thermometer, having 
showers, and cold days. The plant, which had grown too luxuriantly, was 
at once disturbed in its growth and in its evaporation. The liquids were 
forced to remain in the plant; they had no means of escape, the tubercle 
was not ripe—the fecula not yet formed, but, floating in an over-abundant 
water, stood still of necessity, and soon rotted; the leaves and stem withered 
and became rotten. That is, it appears to me, the simple, primary cause, 
and the course of a sickness, which was a national calamity here and else- 
where, and the sad consequences of which we see more or less every year. 
The leaves are to be compared to the lungs and skins of animals; they 
remove from the body substances which could not, without damage to the 
organism, remain in the mass. But while they draw the saps upwards, 
they are nourished by them, and borrow from the fluids raised the substan- 
ces necessary for their own development. At first white, thin, membranous, 


330 - THE FLORIST AND 


ig 


and tender in their construction, afterwards they become gradually thicker, 
more fibrous, sometimes hard as leather, dark green, and shining. Such is 
their state in the middle of summer; afterwards we see them lose their 
green color, become yellow, and hang loosely down. Others become red ; 
they acquire the particular colors that we call autumnal, and which impart 
to the woods and pleasure-grounds, such a peculiar charm as to make us 
loth to exchange the woods and fields for the turmoil of the town. The 
Oak becomes brown, the black Beech whitens, the Ash loses its green 
color, the Maple becomes yellow and black, the wild Vine of a purple color, 
and the Cornel tree red and yellow ; the whole presents a peculiar variegated 
mixture of the finest diversity of tints; but all this beauty is only the pre- 
cursor—yea, it is even the beginning of an approaching dissolution and instant 
death. The leaves die—their whole relation to the atmosphere is changed, or 
even seems to cease. The upper layer, by the quantity of fluid which soaks 
through it, and of which some substances fasten on it, or affect the surface, 
changes, thickens—but in all isat last unfit for evaporation, and shut out from 
the air. Those regular successions in change of substances which we have no- 
ticed as the cause of growth, as such take place no more; another series of 
changes, in which the growth has no part, nor is even the consequence, takes 
place instead ; external influences become, as it were, master of the body, which 
is without the circle of life. The leaf, which is unable to discharge any more 
substances outwardly, can take up no more, becomes a useless appendage ; 
it soon falls from the organ of which the life is not disturbed. The fall of 
the leaf, then, is not the consequence of the change of the seasons, for in 
tropical countries, also, this phenomenon takes place; it is the consequence 
of a changed state of life itself, of the disturbed connection between evapo- 
ration and absorption. In the month of August it was necessary, for local _ 
reasons, to strip two Linden trees of all their branches. They made new 
leaves, and they stand now (24th of November) still green and fresh, al- 
though covered with snow, and lately there have been some severe night 
frosts. The cause of the fall of the leaves is not to be sought for originally 
in the atmosphere, but in the construction of those organs themselves. The 
increased action of life is the cause of death, on account of the change it 
brings upon the tissues, without which the leaves would not fall off, and the 
plants we call annual, (that is, those which within the circle of a year, de- 
velop themselves and bring forth seed) would not in so short a time die off, 
but like shrubs and trees, would have an indefinite term of life. 

Where should we end, if we wished to continue to enumerate examples 
of all that is to be ascribed to evaporation and its connection with ab- 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 331 


sorption ?—therefore we limit ourselves, and we repeat only this, that plants 
also take moisture from the air; that not only do the roots absorb fluids 
from the ground, but that the leaves inhale other substances which circulate 
in the air in the form of gas; that evaporation and absorption by green 
parts depend on the moisture of the atmosphere, on that of the plant, and 
on that of the ground; that the nature of plants is by these circumstances, 
remarkably modified, and that on them depend the forms and properties 
which plants present to us in different latitudes, and in their various po- 
sitions. ” | 

The knowledge of what we have now treated is not without practical 
utility. A good watering or draining of the ground is not of less import- 
ance for the cultivator than a good manuring. The water that a plant 
evaporates, must also be brought into its roots. Where would be the limit 
of our treatise if we wished to try to make known all the great phenomena 
which vegetation, by means of evaporation, brings about in all Nature? Al- 
ways, where there are woods, the state of the atmosphere is damp, and the 
ground for the most part fertile. The great streams of the earth have their ori- 
gin generally in wooded mountains, and empty themselves at a great distance 
from them into the seas. Populationsettles on their fertile borders—culture, 
being, and civilization keep pace. Wherenovegetationis, there is the soil well- 
barren, the state of the atmosphere always dry; it seldom rains there. 
Men and animals flee from those withered and unfruitful regions. Wide 
districts of South America, where it never rains, and where there is no 
vegetation, may be cited as examples.—Gard. Chron. | 


DURATION OF WOOD IMPREGNATED WITH SULPHATE OF 
COPPER. / 


Many experiments have been made of late years with a view to the 
increase, by chemical means, of the duration of wood used in buildings of 
various kinds, and in the arts; the process has generally been to saturate 
the wood with some salt, several of which have been found to answer the 
purpose in different degrees: that used with most success has been the sul- 
phate of copper. We translate for the benefit of our readers the following 
from the Bulletin of the Horticultural Society of the Seine: 


M. Decaisne, the president, presents to the Society several specimens of 
wood impregnated with sulphate of copper by Dr. Boucherie’s process, 
which consists in causing a solution of sulphate of copper to penetrate to 


332 THE FLORIST AND 


the interior of freshly cut wood, which preserves them indefinitely from 
decay ; but it must be observed that all woods do not permit penetration 
equally. The beech, elm, and fir, readily admit all kinds of salts into their 
tissue’ The oak impregnates completely its sap-wood, while the heart of 
the tree absorbs absolutely nothing. This last fact is not wanting in impor- 
tance, in view of the value of forest products, for we see at once that the 
part of this tree*~which was thrown aside, or cut away as unfit for any use, 
acquires immediately, and merely by the fact of its impregnation, at least 
as much value as the ‘heart of the tree, and that it can he employed with at 
least as much advantage as this latter part. 

Different salts have been tried in order to find which of them possessed in 
the highest degr ee the faculty of preserving wood, and the sulphate of cop- 
per has been acknowledged the only one which could be employed with entire 
success. 

M. Decaisne presented to the gompany a large piece of beech plank, 
divided in half, and in its length into three parts, by means of two cuts of a 
saw, of which one was impregnated with sulphate of copper, another with 
corrosive sublimate or chloride of mercury, while the middle part repre- 
senting the heart, had not undergone any impregnation. This plank buried 
in the earth during five years, leaving one of the extremities above, has 
consequently been exposed to all sorts of atmospheric variations. At the 
end of this time, the central part was found completely altered; that sub- 
mitted to the action of the mercury, was partly destroyed, while that 
injected with sulphate of copper, was preserved as sound as if it were 
just cut. 

The same trials and the same results appear on other pieces of different 
woods. A lath of elm impregnated with sulphate of copper which, for the 
last seven years, has served at the Museum, to form with others a trellis, 
appeared yet as solid as if it had just come from the wood-yard. 

The process of the injection of wood with the salts of copper, is as simple 
as easy. For thin wood intended for rods, it consists in plunging the base 
of a branch furnished with leaves, into a tub containing the solution. The 
liquid ascends into the branches by the action of the leaves, and the wood 
is impregnated with the preservative salt. As for logs, the operation con- 
sists in cutting down the tree to be operated upon, to fix at its base, a 
plank which is fixed by means of a screw, placed in the centre, and which 
can be tightened at will, when placed in the centre of the tree; this plank 
has on the side to be applied to the bottom of the tree, a rather thick shield 
of leather, cloth, paste-board, or some other substance intended to establish 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 333 


a space between it and the wood, sufficient for the preserving, to keep in 
contact with the freshly cut surface of the tree. The liquid is brought 
there from a tub or other reservoir, by the help of a slanting hole made on 
the upper side of the tree and in which is put a tube adapted at its other 
extremity, to a spigot in the upper reservoir which contains the solution. 
A pressure of five metres suffices, so that the imstant the sap of the 
tree is driven away, it escapes and is replaced by the liquid saturated with 
sulphate of copper. As soon as the operation terminates, and it lasts some 
hours for the most difficult logs, the wood can be sold and put to any use. 
M. Decaisne enumerated the immense advantages which this process 
would procure to horticulture. Boxes, frames, greenhouses, supports, 
&e. Ke., submitted to the so deleterious action of all the exterior agents, 
which destroy them so rapidly, all can acquire, so to speak, an indefinite 
duration, and thus furnish a very great economy of time and money. M. 
Decaisne opposes the processes by simple immersion. He demonstrates 
that in these processes, the impregnation is too imperfect; he shows that 
wood dried, and consequently filled with air, opposes an insurmount- 
able force to the penetration of any liquid. According to M. Decaisne, 
dried woods immersed in sulphate of copper, are no more safe at the heart 
than wood on which have been applied a coat of color, varnish, pitch, &c. 
M. Andry asserts, that he has obtained excellent results by these last 
processes applied to the wood of his greenhouse, to the supports which he 
employs, and especially to the coverings and curtains, serving as shelter for 
his greenhouse, these shutters and curtains, exposed to every cause of de- 
struction, having lasted eight years after being immersed in a solution of 
one kilogramme of the salt to eight litres of water. M. Decaisne showed 
that this proportion is too weak for young pines which have little heart, and 
in which resin itself forms a combination. He regards the quantity of two 
' kilogrammes of the sulphate, to a hectolitre as being more fit. He thinks 
that M. Boucherie possesses in this subject, results of experiment which are 
wanting to him. M. Decaisne also remarked to M. Andry, that his expe- 
rience and observations were not comparative; that in the case of cover- 
ings, of cloth or of curtains, the liquid could wet completely, the fibres of 
his cloth and cords, &c., but it is not the same for timber which we wish to 
entirely moisten; nothing is easier than to steep cloth into water and to 
soak it; nothing is more difficult than to deprive the dried trunk of a tree 
of the salts which it contains. The wood destined for naval construction, 
and which are left several years in the basins, are an example. M. De- 
caisne asserts, that in plunging into the same liquid a cube of dry wood, 


334 . THE FLORIST AND: 


and a cube of green wood, the first will be wet at the most, in twenty-four 
hours a line in depth, while the green and fresh wood would impregnate 
itself in all its depth, in the same space of time, and he persuaded the 
members of the association to repeat this experiment. — 


PLANTING TREES AN D SHRUBS IN THE PLEASURE GARDEN. 
By A GARDEN ARCHITECT. 


The present season of the year being that in which the laying out and 
planting of pleasure gardens is usually carried on, and as it is an operation 
of considerable gardening importance, not merely for the present, but for 
future too, to do it as effectually as circumstances admit of, both in forming 
the ground and arranging the trees, shrubs, and flowers, I am induced, as a 
constant practitioner, to forward some hints in furtherance of so desirable 
an object. 

The style of this sort of a pleasure garden very much depends on the ex- 
tent, situation, and character of the ground, that I can only, in this place, 
offer more than general remarks. | 

The plants which stand nearest the dwelling must be of the dwarfer 
kinds, and of the most beautiful sorts. The trees, also should be selected 
so as to correspond with the style of building. The villa shows best when 
surrounded by light ornamental trees, such as the birch, the acacia, the su- 
mach, the laburnum and cypress; and a clump of poplars and mountain ash 
interspersed in the front part, to exhibit their pendant heads of scarlet ber- 
ries, may sometimes be introduced, so as to break the line with good effect. 
The cottage may have more rustic trees; while to the castle belong the oak, 
the ash, and the pine: the mansion admits of all at their proper distance, 
and in suitable situations. 

One of the most important things in peplbttaeices is to attend particularly to 
the shades of green, especially where the view from the house or lawn 
catches the trees. Flowers, which Pliny calls the joys of the trees, continue 
but for a short period, in comparison to the duration of foliage; therefore, 
the picture should be formed by judiciously contrasting the greens. Hven 
the effect of perspective may be considerably increased by the proper arrange- 
ment of hues. ‘Trees whose leaves are gray or bluish tint, when seen over 
or between shrubs of a yellow or bright green, seem to be thrown into the 
distance. Trees with small and tremulous leaves should wave over or be- 
fore those of broad or fixed foliage. The light and elegant acacia has a 


HORTICULTUEAL JOURNAL. oa0 


more beautiful effect when its branches float over the firm and dark holly or 
_bay-tree. In some situations the bare trunk of trees may be shown; in 
some it should be concealed by evergreens and creepers. Vines, also, may 
be suffered to embrace it, and form natural festoons, where the extent of 
ground will allow of wilderness scenery. In all situations nature may be 
assisted, but should never be deformed by clipping; for ingenuity ought to 
be employed to disguise art, not to expose it. 

The beauty of plants cannot be displayed when they are too much crowded ; 
as they are then drawn up into unnatural shapes. Therefore, the oftener 
open spaces can be admitted, the more will the shrubs exhibit themselves to 
advantage, and the more cheerful will be the walk; for it becomes insipid 
and gloomy when confined for any distance. The winds also claim our 
attention. Care must be taken so to arrange the position of trees, that 
only those gales which are most congenial to the growth of particular plants 
should be allowed access to them. 

The undulating appearance of a plantation will be considerably assisted 
by a gradual progression from the lowest shrub to the highest tree, and 
again from the highest to the lowest. But, as some shrubs will. not flourish 
under certain trees, their respective situations demand consideration. These 
shrubs may indeed exist under such unfavorable circumstances, but their 
unhealthy appearance will never be pleasing. Where the shade of any tree 
is too powerful for laurel or privet to thrive, ivy may be planted with advan- 
tage, if it be desirable to cover the ground with evergreen. , 

In proportion as the shrubbery or plantation recedes from the dwelling, 
it should become more rural in its character, more especially if the house 
be in the cottage style. Here climbers, and such plants as require the sup- 
port of others, are to be introduced. The most delightful groups in a plea- 
sure-ground are generally those where nature, freeing herself from the 
shackles of art, depends only on her own assistance for support. Her 
beauty is chiefly to be seen there, where her various creations combine 
spontaneously, and without restraint. . 

The means by which these plants raise themselves up, so as to offer their 
flowers to the sun, are as various as they are curious, and they seldom blos- 
som whilst trailing on the ground. The ivy and bignonia ascend by the 
help of little fibres, which fix themselves to the bark of trees or crevices in 
walls so tightly as to render their disengagement a difficult thing to be ac- 
complished without injury to the trunk or building they are attached to. 
The honey-suckle, like the hop, twines itself spirally around the trunk or 
branches of trees, and often clasps them so closely as to make an impression 


336 THE FLORIST AND 


on the hardest timber. Others, as the vine and passion-flower, rear them- 
selves by means of corkscrew tendrils, which hold go fast that the strongest 
winds seldom disunite them from their surport. Some plants climb by 
means of a hook in their leaf-stalk, or have a kind of vegetable hand given 
them, by which they are assisted in mounting, as the pea and several others. 

To return from this digression.— The sombre, gloomy walk of yew, 
cypress, or holly, should lead to the spot from which there is the most beau- 
tiful prospect, or to the gay parterre, where Flora has diffused her flowery 
beauties; as the contrast, particularly if sudden, adds greatly to the cheer- 
fulness of the terminating view. 

Bad taste is seldom more conspicuous than when we see trees or plants 
marshaled in regular order, and at equal distances, like beaux and belles, 
standing up for a quadrille or country dance. Where the situation will 
permit, four or six lilacs should be grouped in one place, and as many labur- 
nums in another, so as to give effect in various parts by a mass of color. 

The guelder rose should appear as if escaping from the dark bosom of 
evergreens, and not a plant should be set in the ground without adding to 
the harmony of the whole. A shrubbery should be planted as a court or 
stage is ornamented, for general effect, and not particular and partial inspec- 
tion. Boldness of design, which seems to be more the offspring of nature 
and chance, than of art and study, should be attempted; but though bold- 
ness is what the planter should aspire to, all harshness, or too great abrupt- 
ness, must be avoided, by a judicious mixture of plants whose colors will 
blend easily into one another. 

The most beautiful shrubs should occupy the most conspicuous and prom- 
inent places. Tor instance, a projecting part of the plantation should be 
reserved for the purple rhododendron, the flaming azalea, and other. bog 
plants, Here it must be observed, that unless proper soil be provided for 
these American plants, the cost of the shrubs will be lost, as they will soon 
decay when not placed in earth congenial to their nature. With these 
shrubs may be planted the hardy kinds of heath, as the same soil suits both 
species. With respect to evergreens, considerable judgment is required, in 
order to relieve their uniform appearance during winter. This may be done 
by skilfully arranging different kinds, and those with variegated leaves, or 
such as retain their brilliant berries during the cold months. _ 

However, a well planted shrubbery depends not so much for its beauty 
on the expense or rarity of the plants it contains, as on the selection of trees 
and shrubs which succeed each other in blossoming throughout the year, or 
whose various-colored fruits grace them for the longest duration of time. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. aor 


We shall, therefore, not dwell upon those plants alone that are the orna- 
ments of the summer season, but also point out some that will contribute to 
the gaiety of morning and evening of the year; so that the gloom may be 
banished at all times as much as possible from the grove, and nature’s 
repose shortened between the plaintive good-night of autumn and the cheer- 
ful good-morrow of spring.—Flor. Cabinet. 


REMARKS ON THE HEALTHINESS OF THE ROOTS OF PLANTS 
BEING ESSENTIAL TO THEIR SUCCESSFUL GROWTH. » 


BY A- PRACTICAL GARDENER. 


As the roots of plants are the chief medium through which they receive 
nourishment, some account of their structure, and of the curious and simple 
mode by which they effect their object, will, I hope, prove of some utility 
to the readers hereof. | 

The root may be defined to be that portion of a plant which grows in an 
opposite direction to the stem; and differing from the latter in its remark- 
able downward tendency, and from its disposition to shun the light of day. 
So powerful, indeed, is this tendency to descend, ‘that no known force is 
sufficient to overcome it.’’ The chief object of the root appears to be that 
of fixing the plant firmly in the earth, and of taking up a supply of mois- 
ture from the humid medium by which it is surrounded. It usually con- » 
sists of several ramifications, from the sides and extremities of which, with- 
out any apparent order or regularity, proceed an indefinite number of deli- 
cate fibrils with spongy points. Now these fibrils are the only true roots, 
and to their soft extremities (spongelets) is consigned the whole office of 
absorbing fluid; the more woody portions of the root merely serving as 
canals, to convey the fluid thus obtained to the upper parts of the plant. 
The roots generally pierce the soil in a downward or horizontal direction, 
according to the individual habit, but more especially in that course which 
offers the least resistance, and yields the greatest quantity of soluble food. 
Hence the propriety of mulching is by some gardeners called into ques- 
tion, because the richness of the mulching material, and the warmth pro- 
duced by its fermentation, has a tendency to attract the surface the young 
fibrils. And then, upon the removal of the manure employed in the opera- 
tion, their extremely succulent and tender tips become exposed to the in- 
fluence of drought, &c., than which nothing can be more injurious, as it 
quickly destroys their absorbing power, and thus deprives the plant of its 

30 


338 THE FLORIST AND 


chief source of nourishment. It has been said that the fibrils are the only 
true roots, and that the feeding function is chiefly, consigned .to ‘the lax 
tissue of their extreme points. That this is really the ease, there: can be. 
no reasonable cause to doubt, or why should the.success of. planting depend 
so materially upon their preservation? it being a, well-known fact, that. sub- 
jects of any size, such as fruit trees, are invariably less prolific the first 
season after transplantation, than on the previous and ensuing years. Why 
these little spongelets should possess the power of absorbing moisture with 
great force, and of transmitting it to every part of the plant, is a curious 
question, and has given rise to. many ingenious conjectures. But it has at 
length been satisfactorily answered by that clever French author, M. 
Dutrocet. If a small glass tube, having its end covered with a piece of 
bladder, be partially filled with gum-water, and then plunged into simple 
water, sufficient to wet the outside of the bladder, the latter will be per- 
meated by the water, and the volume within the tube will continue to in- 
crease, so long as the density of the fluids on each side of the intervening 
membrane remains unequal. ‘ But there is also a contrary current to less 
amount,—the interior fluid passing out to mix with the surrounding water.’’ 
The first and more powerful of these currents is called endosmose (flow in- 
wards), and the second and less powerful, exosmose (flow outwards). The 
cause of their motion was by Dutrocet referred to galvanism; but it is now 
more generally believed to arise from “the attraction exerted between the 
particles of the different fluids emploxed, as they meet in the porous mem- 
brane.’’—(Dr. Reid.) 

‘Now the conditions requisite for this action are two fluids of different 
densities, separated by a septem or partition of a porous character. This 
we find in the roots. ‘The fluid in their interior.is rendered denser than the 
water around by an admixture of the descending sap; and the spongiole (or 
spongelet) applies the place of a partition. Thus then, as long as this dif- 
ference of density is maintained, the absorption of fluid may continue. But 
if the rise of the sap is due to the action of endosmose, there ought also 
to be an exosmose. ‘This is found to take place; for if a plant 1s grown 
with its roots in water, the fluid surrounding them is soon found to contain 
some of the peculiar substances they form, and which are contained in the 
descending sap: thus a pea or bean would disengage a gummy matter ; a 
poppy would communicate to the water an opiate impregnation, and a 
spurge would give it an acrid taste.” 

“Thus we see how beautifully and how simply this action, extraordinary 
as it seems, is accounted for, when its whole history is known, on principles 
which operate in other departments of nature.” —(Dr. Carpenter.) 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 339 


From this it must appear obvious to every one that, to keep plants in a 
healthy state, the conditions of endosmose and exosmose must be carefully 
maintained. Thus in the case of bulbs maturing and at rest, and of plants 
cut down in the autumn, such as Pelargoniums and Fuchsias, the actions of 
the leaves being destroyed, the fluid, rising by the force of endosmose, must 
gradually subside, and the plants languish into a state of semi-vitality, till 
such time as genial warmth shall expand the fluid within their latent buds, 
and cause them to open and put forth new leaves. This is the reason why 
the application of water to plants thus cireumstanced should be carefully 
avoided, excepting, indeed, a few special subjects, whose. succulency is not 
sufficient to keep them from being shrivelled up. flor. Cabinet. 


THE TIME WHEN PEARS SHOULD BE GATHERED. 
BY M. DE JONGHE, OF BRUSSELS. 


Formerly, when the varieties of Pears in cultivation were comparatively 
few, there was little difficulty in knowing the time when each sort ought to be 
gathered ; but now, when the number of good varieties is so much increased, 
the proper time for gathering the respective sorts cannot be known without 
a certain experience acquired during a period of from three to five years, in 
order that a mean may be obtained. For the maturity of the fruit on the 
tree depends— : 

1. On the individual constitution of the tree, and its liability to change. 
On the soil in which the tree is planted. 

On the influence of the stock. | 

4. On the temperature of the season, whether more or less favorable, for 
accelerating the maturity of the fruit. 

In order to know exactly the mean period of maturity on the tree of any 
particular variety of fruit, it is necessary to observe several trees of such 
variety, planted in different soils andsituations. With regard to the varieties 
of Pears which ripen at the end of summer, or early in autumn, it is not 
difficult to fix the date when they should be gathered; for, in the same ° 
situation, this, in different years, does not vary more than ten days. 

The influence of soil, of stocks, and of a temperature more or less warm 
and dry, is not so great on early fruits as on the late autumn, winter, and 
spring varieties. With regard to the summer and early autumn kinds, they 
cannot always be left to ripen completely on the tree, grown as a pyramid 
or standard; and it is needless to add that these sorts of fruits do not, in 


bo 


Co 


340 THE FLORIST AND 


our climate, merit a wall, where, in fact they are never so good as in the 
open ground. When a considerable number of fruits is observed to have 
reached the point of maturity, and when, with a slight pressure of the 
thumb, the stalk is readily detached, without twisting, at its junction with 
the spur, a portion of the fruit should then be gathered, and allowed to ac- 
quire their full maturity in the fruit-room. This first gathering will ease 
the tree, and the whole of the nutritive sap will be directed towards the re- 
maining fruits, which, in consequence, becomes much finer; and these are 
gathered in the same manner, and successionally. The operation of suc- 
cessional gathering, called, in French gardening terms, l entrecuellement, 
may be very advantageously followed up, because all the fruits on a tree 
never ripen simultaneously; and that they may acquire full perfection, it is 
important that they should be left on the tree to attain the necessary degree 
of maturity, known to the practised eye by certain signs, which it would be 
difficult to point out without entering into tedious details. 

With regard to the late autumn, winter, and spring Pears, the same pro- 
ceeding is adopted; it is only by successional gathering, l’entrecuellement, 
that we can hit upon the proper time, and know the happy medium between 
gathering too early or too late. The gathering of these fruits, in season 
as above mentioned, commences about the middle of September, and con- 
tinues till the end of October, or till just before the fall of the leaves. 

When some fruits, neither bruised nor pierced by insects, of a late variety 
of Pear begin to drop, although not affected by strong winds, nor by the 
continued drought which we sometimes experience in our climate towards. 
the end of September; and when the leaves begin to turn yellow and fall 
from the tree, an attentive and experienced person will perceive that the 
period of gathering is close at hand. Whatever may be the influence of 
the phases of the moon with regard to the period of gathering, I have ob- 
served, for more than twenty years, that a great number of varieties gathered 
two or three days before the full moon in September, kept exceedingly well, 
without specking, in the fruit-room, where they acquired the full degree of 
perfection which the sorts respectively possess ; whereas, by leaving all the 
fruit on the tree, without having recourse to successional gathering, I have 
seen a great portion of it drop successively during the last quarter of the 
moon; and moreover the fruits, whether fallen or gathered late, did not 
keep well in the fruit-room, nor did they acquire their full flavor. I ought 
here to remark that these observations have been made with regard to trees 
grafted on Pear stocks, and cultivated in the open ground, in a light deep 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 341 


soil, but very rich with vegetable humus down to the subsoil, in consequence 
of frequently turning down the surface. : 

As above stated, the period of the maturity of the fruit on the tree, and 
likewise in the fruit-room, depends in a great measure on the soil in which 
the tree is planted; and the most delicious qualities of certain varieties 
of Pears, are owing to the peculiar nature of the soil. The lighter, 
warmer, and drier the soil, the sooner the flow of sap ends, and the earlier 
the fruit indicates the necessity of partial gathering. But in case of a 
stiff cold soil it is the reverse. The first variety of soil will be favorable 
to one kind of Pear, whilst the second would be unfavorable, and vice versa. 
But these details belong to a monograph on the cultivation of the principal 
kinds of Pears; which, it is hoped, will be completed some of these days, 
and it will prove very useful to young and inexperienced cultivators. In 
_ proof of this, I may be permitted to give an example, and it is taken from 
amongst many others. The variety of Pear called Nouveau Poiteau, of 
- Van Mons, is unquestionably one of great vigor, very hardy, and produc- 
tive. Worked on the Pear stock, and trained en pyramide, it bears fruit 
as large and as handsome as the Duchesse d’Angouleme, Beurre Clairgeau, 
and Marie Louis. Cultivated on the Pear stock, or on the Quince, in a 
free light soil, with a more substantial and somewhat gravely subsoil, this 
variety bears fruit which is melting, surgary, vinous, and slightly aromatic ; 
whereas, if the tree is cultivated in a stiff cold soil, the fruit possesses none 
of these qualities. It is to be observed that the mean period of the matu- 
rity of this fruit takes place between the 10th and 25th of November, but 
without any change of its color (an opaque green), to announce that such 
is the case. 

The soil, as previously stated, exercises a great influence on the quality 
of the fruit, but more decidedly on the long-keeping sorts than on the au- 
tumn kinds. When a tree has been planted under favorable circumstances, 
and has acquired sufficient strength—when it is not overloaded with too 
heavy a crop, and conesquently the fruits are enabled to attain their natural 
size, and likewise the proper degree of maturity, on the tree—it will then 
only ripen in the fruit-room at the normal period assigned to the variety, 
whether it may have been gathered in the end of September or in October. 
In September, before the full moon in this month, if the trees is in a light, 
deep, warm soil; and in October if the soil is strong, compact, and cold. 
All these circumstances require to be taken into consideration, in order to 
know when to gather the fruit, so that it may keep in the fruit-room its 
usual proper time for use. 


342 THE FLORIST AND 


It cannot be denied, and all practical men agree, that the stock has great 
influence, not only as regards the period of gathering the fruit, but also 
with respect to that of its ripening in the fruit-room. I knew a cultivator 
who raised stocks for budding with summer and autumn fruits, others for 
winter and spring varieties. With regard to the summer and autumn 
kinds, the nature of the stock is of little importance; but when long-keep- 
ing sorts are worked on wild Pear stocks, which stocks, if allowed to fruit, 
would produce summer Pears, it is certain that the period of ripening of 
late Pears worked on these stocks would be affected. I-have seen some 
seedlings, planted in proper soil, produce fruit of which the medium time 
of ripening on their own roots had been fixed. between September and 
February; but when grafted on summer or early ripening wild Pears, the 
ripening of the above varieties, grown in similar soil, was accelerated more - 
than a month. ‘Such irregularities do not result from propagations on the 
Quince stocks, because these are identically reproduced from layers.. The 
importance of avoiding the unsuitable union of winter and summer fruits 
will be readily admitted: that is, the grafting of late ripening varieties of 
Pear trees on early ripening wild Pear stocks. 

I am aware it will be objected that the purchaser would not take pre- 
cautions on this point into consideration; that he only sees to the young 
trees having been once or twice properly cut or pruned; and that a certain 
number of such and such varieties required for his plantation is obtained. 
I understand these objections, because they do_in reality exist. However, 
there are some intelligent amateurs who wish to obtain good articles on 
which they can depend, and are willing to pay a good price. for them as‘a 
just remuneration to the producer. 

Warm and early seasons accelerate the maturity of the fruit on the tree, 
but not in the fruit-room. After a good summer and warm autumn, Pears 
keep better, are always longer in becoming fit for use than when the sea- 
son is otherwise, especially as regards:the late sorts. After the warm 
summers of 1854, 1838, 1841, 1844, 1848, and 1850, the Passe Colmar 
and Beurre d’Hardenpont [Glout Morceau], although gathered in the end 
of September, kept till the end of December and January; the Beurre 
Rance, from January till April and June. 

In conclusion, from what has been stated, it results that the same kind 
of fruit cannot be gathered uniformly at the same date, owing to various 
circumstances which influence the ripening; that by successional gather- 
ings, or at intervals, the proper time for different localities is best ascer- 


HORTICULTUEAL JOURNAL. 343 


tained ; and that, in general, all the varieties ought to be gathered before 
their gash maturity, which should be attained in the fruit-room. 
Gard. Chron. 


(From the Germantown Telegraph.) _ 
STRAWBERRY CUL TURE. 


The Strawberry is, and deserves to be, the most extensively cultivated of 
all our small fruits. Productive, easily cultivated, and equal to any fruit 
in flavor and general usefulness, it would be strange were it not familiar to 
every garden. Neither has it lacked notice in horticultural literature. 
Much valuable information has of late years been disseminated relative to 
its history and management; and although there are various opinions held, 
with reference to its botanical distinctions, its treatment as a fruit-bearing 
plant is reduced to a matter of certainty. On the former question it 1s not 
my present purpose to enter, but beg to offer a few remarks.in regard to its 
general treatment and wiileaibat 

When we consider the habit of growth, season of ripening, and perma- 
nency of the strawberry plant, we are led to the conclusion that the soil 
intended for its growth should receive the most thorough preparation. Its 
dwarf, spreading growth is not favorable for after improvement of the soil, 
farther than what can be derived from applications on-the surface. Ripen- 
ing at a period which, in nine seasons out of ten, is characterized by defi-- 
cient moisture in the soil, and extreme atmospheric aridity, suggests the 
idea of allowing the roots a deep and rich medium, where they can luxuriate 
uninfluenced by surface temperature. And when we farther consider that 
a strawberry plantation should produce at least three crops before removal 
we may safely aver that the Lelia of the soil in the first instance is of 
the utmost importance. 

This leads us again to tne foundation of all permanent improvement, 
subsoil culture. ‘Trench the soil at least 18 inches in depth, incorporating a 
heavy dressing of well-decomposed manure, and if the soil is clayey, or ad- 
hesive in its nature, an application of charcoal dust will be highly beneficial. 
As a corrective for clayey soils, charcoal cannot be too highly recommended. 
In a physical view, it renders the soil porous and permeable to gases, and 
chemically, its absorbing and disinfecting properties are equally valuable, 
the amount of ammonia and other gases which it is capable of absorbing, 
giving it value as a fertilizer. On asoil thus treated, there will be no dan- 


344 THE FLORIST AND 


ger of a defective, half-ripened crop, or the plants burning out, as frequently 
happens on poor, shallow soil, for although the strawberry is a plant of 
small structure, I have traced the roots, in favorable soils, a, distance of 
three feet from the surface. 

There are various methods of arranging the soit: They may be placed 
in rows thirty inches apart, the plants standing one foot from each other in 
the row, or, planted in beds six feet wide, thus admitting of four rows, the 
plants fifteen inches apart. Some strong growing varieties require more 
space than the above to attain their greatest perfection, and such as the - 
Boston Pine, Goliah, &c., do best in hills thirty inches or three feet apart. 
The best method for garden culture is the first-mentioned, keeping between 
the rows clear of weeds and runners, unless the latter are required for a 
new plantation, which, on the principal of rotative cropping, should be done 
every third or fourth year, as the plants seem to retain their vigor and fruit- 
fulness. ; 

Young plantations may be set out at various seasons; either at midsum- 
mer, fall or early spring. As early as young plants can be obtained, say 
about the last of July or beginning of August, is the time for midsummer 
planting. Choosing a cloudy day for the operation, the plants immediately 
on removal should have their roots preserved for dipping them in a puddle. 
This system of encasing roots with a coat of mud, is very useful and efficient, 
and may be practised in the transplanting of all young plantsin dry weather, 
as it obviates, ina great degree, subsequent attention in watering. A thin 
covering of short grass, or litter of any description, should now be laid 
about the young plants. Planted thus early, a good growth will follow, the 
plants mature bud before winter, and produce an average ene8 the follow- 
ing season. 

Fall planting is frequently practised, and if the plants are set out early, 
not later than the middle of September, they will root and get somewhat 
established before winter; but the alternate freezing and thawing of the soil 
during winter, throws them out of the ground, unless the soil is of a sandy 
nature and protected with a covering of litter. Instead of planting them 
out permanently in the fall, it is more advisable to place them a few inches 
apart in a sheltered spot, where they can be preserved by a covering of 
leaves all winter, and planted out early in spring. This practice not only 
affords time for a suitable and thorough preparation of the ground, but the 
plants being carefully lifted with small balls of earth to their roots, will pro- 
duce a more uniform and vigorous plantation, than those permanently 
planted out in the fall. , 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 345 


Mulching is a very material consideration in strawberry culture, more 
particularly in spring and fall. Covering the ground between the plants 
with hay,. leaves, &c., in spring, preserves the fruit while ripening, and re- 
tards the escape of moisture from the soil. In the fall a covering of short 
manure will serve the double purpose of enriching the soil and sheltering the 
plants during winter. Tan bark has been much recommended for this pur- 
pose, and has been pronounced aspecial manure for the strawberry. I have 
used it largely for many years, but have not discovered its utility as a ma- 
nure ; its protecting qualities cannot be questioned, and may be usefully em- 
ployed as a substitute—but not equal to a mixture of partly decomposed 
leaves and stable-yard manure—for winter covering. 

The long list of named varieties, and the constant additions to the list, 
renders it difficult to make a choice selection; some catalogues enumerate 
over 100 named sorts. Having tested at least half that number, I prefer 
and would recommend the three following as combining all that has been 
attained in this fruit: 

1. For flavor alone, Burr’s Pine. 2. For size and flavor, Hovey’s Seed- 
ling, and for size, M’Avoy’s Superior. These, with a few plants of the 
Cushing, or Buist’s Prize, as fertilizers, will leave little to be desired in the 
excellence of this valuable fruit. | 

Some time ago the horticultural world was thrown into a small state of 
excitement by the announcement that in New-Orleans they had a straw- 
berry which produced a succession of crops during the summer. Plants of 
this variety soon found their way to the North, but, without exception, they 
have proved an entire failure. No doubt this peculiarity depended altogether 
upon the climate and treatment. I have frequently by peculiar treatment, 
gathered two crops in one season from the same plants. Our strawberry 
season might be much prolonged were means taken to irrigate the plants 
when necessary. ‘This might easily be effected on sloping grounds, by 
forming a series of slight terraces, the plants grown in narrow beds some- 
what elevated, leaving slight trenches between the rows of plants. These 
level platforms could then be saturated with water at pleasure, and commu- 
cation being secured, the surplus water would descend from one to the other. 
The rain water falling on a dwelling house or barn, collected in a tank, 
would be found sufficient for an ordinary plantation, and there is no doubt, 
would amply repay all trouble both in the quantity and quality of the pro- 


duce. WILLIAM SAUNDERS. 
Landscape Gardener, Germantown. 


346 ' THE FLORIST AND 


HARDINESS OF AKEBIA QUINATA: 


When, a year ago, M. Decaisne gave the figure and description of Akebia 
quinata, he could scarcely have expected that this plant was about to become 
an addition to ovr hardy climbing plants; but at present, since the winter 
of 1853-4 has proved its hardiness, and the abundance of its flowers has 
shown its merit as an ornamental plant, we do not hesitate to recommend it 
to amateurs. In fact, if it be one of the most brilliant plants, it is no less 
one of the most curious, as much from the shape of the leaves, as from the 
color, the number and the disposition of its flowers. 

Two specimens planted in the open ground in the garden of the Museum, 
one against a wall and one exposed, have not suffered in their herbaceous 
parts.. That placed against a wall towards the south-west, attained a size 
of nearly six feet, nnd has but one stalk ; it bore fifty-two bunches of flowers, 
united by two and threes, at the base ofeach bud of the preceding year ; 
the flowers commence to bloom on the 28th of March and now on the 12th 
of April, there are yet a great number of buds. The plant exposed im the 
open air is nearly as high, it has three principal stalks, which altogether 
have not less than seventy clusters of flowers. ‘These last commence to 


open on the 9th of April. But if the sheltered situation has been favorable 


to the former with regard to its forwardness, it has not been the same to 
those flowers entirely exposed to the sun. These flowers have been less 
colored and have passed very quickly from the violet color toa deeper shade. 

We should add that the Akebia quinata joins to the above merit that of 
vigorous growth, and that its numerous shoots can attain in a single year, 
from 5 to 10 feet, or even greater length. 

The exposure which we suppose to be the most favorable for this plant, is 
a partly shaded one, or along a wall exposed to the East. The-soil we 
found most suitable for it is a very sandy peat, or mixed with sand. Its 
multiplication is rather difficult, it is best done by means of cutttings of 
the half ripened wood, cut from a plant kept in the greenhouse. 

CARRIERE, in Revne horticole. 


As we are drawing to the close of the year, we would urge upon our de- 
linquent subscribers the necessity of paying their subscriptions. We have 
appealed to them again and again, and in too many cases, vainly. We 
have been giving them our time and our means, and have received no re- 
turn. There are a few, even, who owe us for the preceding volume. With 
the present high prices of paper, and our paper is the best used by any 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 347 


periodical in the country, and the high cost of our plates, to be repaid, 
we must have the prompt co-operation of our subscribers. We hope that 
before we issue our January number, to have few or no delinquents to 
complain of. We have made such arrangements forthe coming year, that 
no delay can be experienced in getting out each number promptly; we 
have plates for some months in advance, and paper enough for nearly a 
year. 


NATIONAL CATTLE SHOW. 


We are indebted to a friend in Boston fora copy of the New England Far- 
mer, containing an account of the opening of the National Cattle Show at 
Springfield. A large number of persons were present from all parts of the 
country. The-show of cattle was very large, and the entries generally of 
very fine quality. The premiums offered were very large, one being as high 
as 000 dollars. 


There were several noteworthy things at the November exhibition of the 
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. 

The Cissus discolor from Mr. Cope’s, shown in flower fae the first time 
was a well grown and well trained specimen, the largest we have seen of 
this most beautiful of variegated plants. The white flowers add much to 
the appearance of the plant, contrasting well with the dark color of the 
foliage. 

A specimen of Luculia gratissima, shown by Mr. Thompson, gardener to 
John Tucker, Esq., was a rare object; it bore five clusters of its beautiful, | 
rose-colored, fragrant flowers. Although by no means a new plant, our 
gardeners do not seem to be successful with this. We have seen it tried 
several times, and on one occasion a few years ago we saw it bloomed, but 
every specimen which has come under our notice has been lost. We once 
suggested that they were probably killed with kindness, being nursed to 
death in warm stoves. 

Mr. James Jones, gardener at Girard College, exhibited some remarkable 


Celery, as large and white as we have ever seen. It attracted much atten- 
tion. | 

Mr. Felten’s vegetables, were what they usually are, large in size and 
excellent in quality. 

The Coleus Blumei in Mr. Fahnstock’s collection was a good specimen 
of his gardener, Mr. Robertson’s skill. It was well grown and neatly 
staked. 

The number of visitors to the monthly meetings has been small, since the 
destruction of the Museum building, probably on account of the location of 
the room chosen. The Assembly Buildings is a more central location. 


348 THE FLORIST AND 


NOISETTE ROSE “BEAUTY OF GREENMOUNT.” 


This Rose is a seedling of Messrs. Pentland and Brother, Greenmount 
gardeners, Baltimore, Md. It received the first premium for the best seed- 
ling exhibited last year. It is free blooming, bearing large clusters, the 
flowers are shaped like Hermosa, very double, and of a rich cherry color. 
Another not yet named, is a pure white, a constant bloomer, with extra 
large clusters and very fragrant. They have both been pronounced to 
be among the finest of their class and quite distinct. J. 


——! 


NEW YORK STATE FAIR. 


The Fourteenth Annual Show of the: New York State Agricultural So- 
ciety, was held on the 3d, 4th, 5th, and 6th days of October, in Hamilton 
Square, in the upper part of the City of New York. The arrangements 
were in the same style as those of the Pennsylvania Fair. The Show of 
cattle, we hear, was superior to ours, as might have been expected from the 
liberal importations of fine stock, by Messrs. Becar, Stevens, Morris and 
others. There were 205 horses entered, principally blood horses and trot- 
ters: among which, were Trustee, Monarch and Fashion. The Mules were 
very numerous and superior. The Sheep, Swine, Poultry, &c., were well 
represented. Vegetables and Fruit are said to have been shown in abund- 
ance, and good quality. The Plants from Messrs. Thomas Hogg & Sons, 
Ellwanger & Barry, and others, are highly spoken of. The number of per- 
sons visiting the Fair was small, and consequently, the receipts were not 
great. The American Agriculturist, from which we take the above, puts 
the receipts at $10,000, less than one half the sum realized in our City. 


THE MARYLAND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 


Held their Annual Exhibition on the 4th, 5th and 6th of October. The 
Show was a very fine one, considering the extreme drought which prevailed 
during the summer. The Vegetables were remarkably fine, and in great 
abundance, more so than at any previous Exhibition of the Society. Of 
Fruits, there was also a fine collection, and a beautiful display of Plants 
and Flowers. The greastest drawback, was the want of a proper place to 
display all that was offered: the large Hall of the Maryland Institute, be- 
ing occupied by the Annual Exhibition of that Society. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 349 


S. Feast & Sons, contributed a large collection of Plants and Flowers. 
They also had 27 varieties of Pears, with Grapes, &e. 

Dr. Edmondson, by his gardener, contributed Plants and Flowers, many 
of them quite new. | 

Pentland & Brother, had a fine collection, among which, were some large 
specimens of new hardy Evergreens: also a fine collection of Roses,, in- 
cluding two seedling Noisettes of their own raising. 

John Feast had a large collection of Plants. 

John Tuomey contributed Plants and Flowers. 

Jacob Standenmeyer, gardener to G. Brown, contributed a fine collec- 
tion of Grapes. 

James Cowan, gardener to J. Ridgely, of Hampton, had some very large 
bunches of Black Hamburgh and Royal Classelas Grapes. 8. H. Simp- 
son, H. Mankin’s gardener, Plants and Flowers. O. Kemp, a fine collec- 
tion of Achimenes. 

Vegetables from Whittemore & Bro., D. R. Lusby and others. The 
room was handsomely decorated with various designs, contributed by S. 
Feast & Sons, Pentland & Bro., J. F. Fuss and E. Foulk. Mrs. Town also 
had a beautifal Vase, formed of Grasses tastefully arranged which was 
much admired. 

The following premiums were awarded : 

Best 24 specimens of Plants, 8. Feast & Sons. 


2d best “ “¢  C. Campbell, gardener to Dr. Edmonson. 
od best = “S «John Feast. 

Best 12 new and rare Plants, C. Campbell. 

2d best “ -¢ John Feast. 

Best 24 Roses, Cut-blooms, Pentland & Bro. 

2d best ‘‘ ra C. Campbell. 


Best seedling Rose, to Pentland & Bro., for their fine White Noisette:. 
Dahalias, best 20 blooms, James Cowan. | 
2d best ‘* “to EH. Foulk. 
Best 12 “ to S. Feast & Sons. 
Balsams, best to Capt. Pracht. 

“ 2d best to C. Campbell: discretionary premium to Mr. Walker. 
Best Tuberoses, to C. Campbell. 


2d best * to James Cowan. 
Bouquet, best for hand, to 8. Feast & Bro. 
2d best “ d J. Standenmeyer. _ 


3d best “ % S. Simpson. 


850 THE FLORIST AND 


» Design for table ‘Ornament, to Pentland & Bro. 

2d best . 0 perto Bg Foulk. 

Best Basket, H. Foulk. ) 

2d best “* §. Feast & Sons. 

3d best “* Mrs. A. Pentland, discretionary to ioe pape 
-. Bouquets for Vase, best pair, Mr. Fuss. _ 

ae ‘¢ 2d best pair, EH. Foulk, discretionary to Mrs. Town, 

for Bouquets of Grasses. 

Best Design for room, 8. Feast & Sons. 

2d best * ~ > Pentland & Bro. 

3d best * ee Mr Buss: 

A number of premiums were awarded for Native and Bones Grapes, 
Apples, Peaches, Pears and Melons; and for Be ea for which wo 
have not room. 


PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 


Septeniber 19, 1854, the Stated Meeting of the Society, was held in 
Sansom Street Hall, this evening. 

Dr. William D. Brinckle, Vice President in the chair. 

On motion, ordered that the chairman of the special committee appointed 
to conduct the Horticultural department of the State Fair, be authorized to 
purchase the table coverings, at the close of the Fair. 

On motion, resolved, that no member of either of the standing com- 
mittees for awarding premiums shall be considered qualified to act, from 
whose collections objects for competition are presented, at either the annual 
or monthly exhibitions of the society. 

Resolved, that the Secretary is hereby directed to append to the name of 
every private gardener that of his employer also, in all cases where the 
former shall appear on the records of the proceedings of the society. 

John Churchman was elected a member of the society. 

Objects shown.—By William Johns—several dishes of Grapes. By John 
P. Aertsen—a basket of Figs. | 


October 1T.—The stated meeting of the ae was held, in the Paneer 
Street Hall, this evening. 
Dr. William D. Brincklé, Y. P., in the chair. 


The following were the premiums awarded: 


Pears.—F¥or the best collection of ten varieties, to Isaac B. Baxter. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. . 351 


Apples.—For the best collection of ten varieties, to EB; A. Vickroy, of 
Johnstown, Penn.; and a special premium of: one dollar to Jerome Graff, 
Gardener to Caleb pee for a dish of Reine Spin de Bavay Plums, raised 
under glass. 

The special committee arautentee to assist in shod nai he Foftiouleevl 
department at the State Agricultural Fair held at Powellton, submitted a 
report, in which they assign reasons for the ‘sad condition” of the articles 
returned to those persons who so kindly and generously contributed of their 
choicest productions, and express their disappointment and dissatisfaction 
of an omission on the part of the Managers of the Agricultural Society to 
provide the facilities indispensable to a more successful display of horticul- 
tural objects. 

Members elected.—To honorary and corresponding membership—Dr. 
Pierre Bretonneau, and Dr. Frederick Le Clerc, of Tours, and Alexander 
Brevort, of Belgium. 

OBJECTS SHOWN. ' 


Plants.—By Thomas Robertson, gardener to B. A. Fahnestock—Coleus 
Blumei, Ixora’ Blanda, Clerodendron Paniculatum, Veronica’ Andersonii, 
Pentas Carnea, Angelonia Gardeneriana, Torenia Asiatica, Passiflora Ama- 
bilis, Achimenes Coccinea, Gloxinia Albo-sanguinea, Fuchsia} Mazeppa and 
Cuphea platycentra. By William Thompson, gardener to John Tucker, a 
fine blooming specimen of Dipladenia Crassinoides. ce 

Cut-Dahlias.—By Gerhard Schmitz, a number of his fine Ronda and 
by Robert Buist a display of choice kinds. 

Bouquets.—By James Kent, gardener to J. F. Knorr, a cone and rey 
suitable for the hand. 

Fruit.—By Isaac B, Baxter—Pears—Doyenne, Napoleon, Vicar of Wink- 
field, St. Germain, Haster Beurre, B. Rance, B. D’Aremberg, Charmontel, 
Seckel, Broom Park, Duchesse D’Angouleme and Passe Colman. Also, 
Grapes, grown in the open air—White Portugal, Catawba and Isabella. 
By E. A. Vickroy, of Johnstown, Penn.—Apples—Hwalt, Sweet Mishlen 
and Pride of Richland Seedlings, and Hubers’ Pippin, Holland Pippin, 
Yellow Pippin, Pound, Bellflower, Rambo, Gillyflower, Russet; and by 
Jerome Graff, gardener to Caleb Cope, a dish of Reine Claude de Bavay 
Plums, raised under glass. By Alexander Parker—Pears. 


November 21.—The monthly meeting of this Association was held in the 
Saloon of the Assembly Buildings, on Tuesday evening, the President in 
the chair. The display of Plants was comprised mainly of Chrysanthemums. 


ape THE FLORIST AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 


Mr. Buist’s collection was very fine, several of the Plants measured ten 
feet in circumference, and were in the profusest bloom. Mr. Fahnestock’s 
gardener had a table of choice plants, the finest of which was the Coleus 
Biumei. Mr. Cope’s gardener brought a magnificent specimen of the 
Cissus discolor, for the first time shown in flower—it was trained in an 
oblong oval form, measuring six feet in height and twelve feet in circum- 
ference; the beauty of the plant consists in the richness of color of the 
leaves, the flowers being insignificant. The Luculia gratissima, shown by 
John Tucker’s gardener, was by far the best specimen of that plant seen 
before the Society. Mr. Parker exhibited many Chrysanthemums. A 
fine basket of Cut-flowers came from Mr. Cope’s house, and four hand 
Bouquets from Mr. Knorr’s. 

Of Fruits, Isaac B. Baxter presented a fine display of. Pears, consisting 
of ten varieties;s EH. A. Vickroy, of Johnstown, exhibited ten kinds of 
Apples, and Mr. Kessler, of Reading, the Reading, and Belle Angeviene 
Pear. 

The fine display of Vegetables were contributed by A. L. Felten; and 
excellent Celery, by James Jones, from the Girard College grounds; and 
six handsome Cucumbers, by Mark Hill, gardener to M. W. Baldwin. 

The following were the premiums awarded: 

Chrysanthemums.—Uarge varieties; for the best, to Robert Buist; for 
the best of dwarf varieties to the same. Anda special premium of $3 to 
Alexander Parker, for a display of Chrysanthemums. 

American Seedling Chrysanthemum.—For the best, to Robert Buist, 
and for the best specimen of the large variety; and for the best of the 
dwarf, to Robert Buist. For a collection of plants a special premium of 
$3 to Thomas Robertson, gardener to B. A. Fahnestock. _ 

Specimen plant.—For the best, a fine plant of Luculia gratissima in 
bloom, to William Thompson, gardener to John Tucker; for the second 
best, the Coleus Blumei, to Thomas Robertson, gardener to B. A. Fahne- 
stock. 

Plant shown fort the first time.—A premium of $5, to Jerome Graff, 
gardener to C. Cope, for a very fine specimen of Cissus discolor, shown in 
bloom in all its splendor for the first time. 

Basket of Cut-Flowers.—For the best, to J. Graff, gardener to C. Cope. 

Apples.—For the best ten varieties, to H. A. Vickroy, of Johnstown. 

Pears.—For the best ten varieties, to Isaac B. Baxter. The Committee 
notice a mammoth Pear, the Belle Angeviene, from Mr. Kessler, of Reading. 

Vegetables.—For the best display of a market gardener, to A. L. Felten. 

Celery.—For the best white and for the best red, to James Jones, from 
Girard College. 

Broccolt.—For the best, to A. L. Felten. 

Brussels Sprouts.—For the best, to the same. 


HABROTHAMNUS AURANTIiACUS Regel 


q 
J 
UE diateays. 
Ee gare 


i 
i} 
HH 


rh 


a Mere 


THE FLORIST 
AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 


CESTRUM REGELII, piancu. 


HABROTHAMNUS AURANTIACUS, Kegel. Solaneze § Cestrinece—Pentandria- 
Monogynia. 


CHARACT. GENER.—Calyz subcampanulatus, tubuloso-campanulatus, 
poculiformis, cyathipoculiformis, 5-dentatus, 5-fidus aut 5, partitus.  Co- 
rolla tubuloso-infundibuliformis, tubo elongato superne ampliato clavato aut 
faucem szepe constrictam versus inflato, limbo 5-fido, laciniis membrana 
plicata parvula junctis, vel 5-partito, laciniis patentibus margine inilexis 
aut reflexis, xstivatione conduplicativis. Stamina 5, rarissime tota libera, 
tubo usque ad medium vel ultra adnati, inclusa; filamenta simplicia vel 
dente aucta, basi plus minus in tubum decurrentia. Anthere bilobe, orbi- 
culares aut obcordatze, dorso medio affixe, minute tuberculate, longitudi- 
naliter dehiscentes. Ovarium ovatum vel globosum, breviter stipitatum, 
stipite disco hypogyne circumdato, biloculare, dissepimento medio placenti- 
fero, placentis subglobosis; pauciovulatis. Stylus simplex, superne ple- 
rumque glandulis brevissimis obsitus. Stigma capitatum, subpeltatum, con- 
cavum aut bilobum, rarius clavatum. Bacca ovata, ovatooblonga aut ob- 
longo-elliptica, elliptica, aut subglobosa, calyce cincta vel inclusa, bilocu- 
laris vel dis ssepimento obliterato placentisque coadunatis unilocularis. Se- 
mina pauca, compressa, dorso rotundata, facie interna angulata, hilo ven- 
trali. Hmbryo in axi albuminis carnosi rectus; cotyledonibus parvis, folia- 
ceis, orbiculatis, compressis; radicula tereti, infera.—Frutices aut arbuscu- 
lee interdum fetentes, Americe tropice. Solia solitaria vel rarius gemina- 
integerrima, breviter petiolata, penninervia; gemmarum axillarium folia 
extima evoluta, stipulas mentientia. Llores sepe suaveolentes, racemosi, 
racemis braceteatis axillaribus elongatis, vel in corymbum,spieam aut fasct- 
culum contractis, interdum paniculam magnam terminalem componentibus. 
Corolle lutee, rarius viridescenti-albide, albcee, aurantiace vel rubre, aut 
purpuree. Bacce nigre aut violacee, interdum rufescentes, raro albe. 


CHARACT. SPECIF.—C .(Habrothamnus) frutescens, ramis crebris pa- 
tentibus floriferis plerumque nutantibus, sicut petioli calyces foliaque subtus, 
pube crispa plus minus densa tectis, foliis alternis longiuscule petiolatis pe- 
tiolis gracilibus szepius tortis limbo ovato acuminato margine leviter re- 
pando, fasciculis florum in paniculam terminalem foliosam digestis pedi- 
cellatis v. sessilibus, foliis floralibus 3-4 basi stipatis, floribus sessilibus, caly- 
cis ad medium 5-fidi laciniis lanceolato-linearibus cuspidatis erectic, corollze 


31 


O04 THE FLORIST AND 


aurantiacz tubuloso-clavatz tubo inferne valde attenuato calycem 8-plo ex- 
cedente, limbi reflexi lobis ovatis obtusiusculis ciliatis, genitalibus glaber- 
rimis, staminum inclusorum filamentis edentulis. 


CESTRUM REGELII, Puancu. 


Habrothamnus aurantiacus, Reaen. Ind. Semin. Hort. Turic. 1850 col- 
lect. p. 4, adnot. ¢, ex WALP. Annal. Bot. Syst. IIT, p. 176 (non Cestrum 
aurantiacum, LINDL.) ee 

Mr. Dunal, the learned author of the monograph of the Solanex, in 
De Candolle’s Prodromus, recognizes in Habrothamnus only a sub-genus 
of Cestrum. According to this idea, which seems rational to us, it would 
be necessary to make of Habrothamnus aurantiacus, of Regel, Cestrum 
aurantiacum. But there has been for a long time in gardens a Cestrum 
aurantiacum described by Dr. Lindley (in Bot. Register 1844, miscell. 65 
and in 1845 t. 22. Flore des Serres t. 33), a plant entirely distinct from 
that of which we now publish the figure: so, to avoid confusion, we think 
we should assign to this last the name of Cestrum Regelit. 

Still little known and little distributed, this elegant species of flowers first 
in the garden of Zurich, about 1850. Its origin is attributed to Guate- 
mala, and itis probably to the care of some German collector, that it owes its 
introduction to Hurope. The color of its flowers will suffice to distinguish 
from the other species of the section, Habrothamnus, and especially from 
H. elegans, near which the appearance of its characters places it. It is 
evidently a precious addition to our green house shrubs. J. BPs 

In Flore des Serres. 


—= 


TREE VIOLETS, AND HOW TO GROW THEM. 


Humble as is the Violet beneath our feet, peering out from its own green 
foliage, a few blades of grass, or the decaying remains of a by-gone year, 
as we take our stroll in the woods and shady groves, enjoying the delight- 
ful dawn of summer again, this little pet is a general favorite. Every 
body knows its name and admires it. Not less so are the cultivated varie- 
ties: a greenhouse can hardly be said to be well stocked without them. 
Especially the “Tree,” for there is no difficulty whatever, to have them in 
flower from November till April. This ever blooming property is one of 
its chief attractions, as none of the others bloom but once. ‘There are 
several different colors in cultivation in Great Britain; we have grown blue, 
rose, and white, the two latter are valuable for variety in color, though in- 
ferior to the blue. We have only met with the blue in this country. Many 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 3505 


think the name of ‘Tree’ a misnomer, and that the plant has only the 
creeping habit of the original type, but this is incorrect, for with proper man- 
agement, a clean stem of a foot or fifteen inches, can be obtained with a 
beautiful little head on the top; or a cone feathering down to the. pot at 
the will of the cultivator. Such an object clothed with flowers of the 
sweetness of V2olets, needs no eulogy. 

Botanists tell us, that the whole of our ee ia varieties sprung from 
the Viola odorata; another proof of the beneficence of an allwise Provi- 
dence, in implanting the principle in vegetable organism, of their suscepti- 
bility of improvement for man’s wants and comfort. 

The following is the method we have found to succeed in their culture : 

PROPAGATION. 

Karly in April, take the offsets or suckers and pot into three-inch pots; 
keeping them in the greenhouse, or what is better a frame, till they get well 
established and their pots pretty full of roots. Give them a shift into a two 
sizes larger pot, and plunge the pots to the rim under the shade of some 
tree where no sun can get to them. If these pots become filled with roots 
pretty early, they may have another shift into the next size pot, which will 
be large enough for them the first season. Any laterals that may show 
themselves during summer, should be pinched out and the lower leaves occa- 
sionally taken off to induce an upward growth. 

The plants by the fall will be from four to six inches high, with a little 
tuft of leaves on the top from which will spring a large quantity of flowers 
during winter. arly in the fall the plants should be taken into the green- 
house, and placed in a somewhat shady place, having previously a little of 
the top soil taken off, and replenished with new. 


SECOND SEASON, FORMING SPECIMENS. 


Early in April, shake the soil clean from the roots, injuring the fibres as 
little as possible. Repot into the same size pots and treat as recommended 
the first season. When they have become well established, shift into seven 
inch pots, which will be large enough to grow them in; plunge as directed 
above. Those intended for pyramids, should have a tier of laterals left 
that will spring from the crown of the plant; these by fall, will hang grace- 
fully down to the pot, while the centre is again elongating having the late- 
rals pinched off till the height is obtained for a second tier of branches, 
and soon. For the clean stem, keep all shoots pinched off till the height 
required is obtained, after which it should be allowed to form its head. 

The plants will last for years, and by similar treatment to the foregoing, 


356 THE FLORIST AND 


increase in beauty with age. They require watering overhead frequently, and 
occasionally sulphur applied during summer to keep downred spider. Another 
pest that frequently gets on them is, the “thrip” which must be destroyed 
by dipping the foliage occasionally into pretty strong tobacco water, and 
sulphur. Every care should be taken to keep the foliage healthy during 
summer, as their rapid progress into sizable plants and capability of pro- 
ducing flowers in abundance during winter entirely depends on this. Plants 
eat up by insects, yellow, unhealthy foliage, and inattention in watering, 
are the main obstacles against their sure success. 

This is the only Violet we care to grow in the greenhouse, as thee sorts 
do better in frames, or pits. In fact the Neapolitan is the only other kind 
worth growing, and that on account of its fine size and color, for the 
flower of the “Tree” variety, is every way equal to that of the best double 
Russian Violet, with the additional good quality of everblooming. For it 
may be had in flower even in summer, if a cool moist place is given it: 
but those grown especially for winter, should not be allowed to bloom, 
but should have the buds pinched off as they appear, to strengthen them 
for winter duty. | EDGAR SANDERS, 

Albany, N. Y., Nov. 30. Gardener to J. F. Rathbone, Esq. 


ee re 


PLEROMA ELEGANS. 


Sir :—Your correspondent’s observations on the two Melastomads, 
(Pleroma Benthamiana and Lasiandra Splendens,) has induced me to make 
a few remarks upon the still more beautiful though still less known, Pleroma 
elegans, the cultivation of which is quite as simple and easy as any of the 
family. I am not aware of its having been flowered in this country up to 
the present time, so that to.those of your readers who are fortunate enough 
to possess plants of it, the following remarks may be useful. This plant 
was sent out by the Messrs. Veitch, of Exeter, as a stove plant. But 
treated as such none were successful enough, either to grow a good specimen, 
or to flower it to perfection; however, its rapid distribution, soon put it 
into the hands of most gardeners, whose skill was soon turned to growing it 
as an intermediate or greenhouse plant, under which treatment many most 
excellent specimens were grown and exhibited, proving it to be one of the 
most attractive and useful plants of late introduction. Its natural habit is 
more bushy than either of the above, its leaves are of a dark shining green, 
the flowers are from two inches to two and a half in diameter, produced i in 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 357 


great abundance, the petals, generally five, but occasionally six in number, 
are stiffer than those of any other of the family at present in cultivation, 
making it a most desirable acquisition; the color is a very rich purple, 
deepening towards the base of the petals. 

Those who have plants of this kind now, should winter them in an inter- 
mediate or warm greenhouse, and water them very sparingly until March, 
when, if they are at all leggy, the extreme points should be nipped out to 
induce them to throw out a greater number of shoots ; the roots examined, 
and if necessary a shift should be given when the new growth has began. 
The soil best suited for that young plant is sandy peat and leaf mould; 
loam should be entirely withheld in the young state of the plants, and used 
but sparingly at any time. The shoots should ‘be tied out a little, and 
allowed to stand and grow in the greenhouse, shifted into larger pots as the 
roots require, the drainage of the pots must be perfect, and the syringe 
appled frequently throughout the growing season. But as far as my 
experience goes the plants should not be turned out of doors in summer 
time, for the exposure causes many of the lower leaves to turn brown and 
fall off, while their preservation is so desirable, but I would rather recommend 
them to be kept in the greenhouse entirely, and slightly shaded in hot 
weather, and as much air given as possible, neither should the plant be 
stopped or cut back after the first time; if done, the plant is apt to break 
irregularly. JI have seen fine plants entirely spoiled by it, the wood being 
hard and the habit bushy and compact. Stopping is seldom necessary 
more than once. ‘The time Pleroma elegans flowers in England, is from 
July to apie but it can be managed to flower at almost any time during 
the Spring, Summer, and Autumn months, and when in bloom, all care and 
attention will be richly rewarded. 


H. Curry. 


EFFECT OF FROST ON CERTAIN PLANTS. 


THOSE who have observed the effect of a sharp early frost on the stems of 
Heliotropes and other plants, will be interested in the following remarks 
of the Rey. Mr. Berkeley, which we extract from the Gardener’s Chronicle 
of November 18th. We have frequently seen the curled plates of ice shown 
in the figure, springing from the stems of Heliotropes after a cold night. 

It is now some years since Elliot described, in his “Sketch of the 
Botany of South Carolina and Georgia,” certain icy fibres which appeared 
day by day on the stems of Pluchea bifrons, D.C. About nine years later, 
Sir John Herschel published a notice of a remarkable disposition of ice 


ry 


358 THE FLORIST AND 


round the decaying stems of vegetables; and more recently Dana and Le 
Conte have described a remarkable exudation of ice from the stems of vege- 
tables, which the latter has illustrated by the-occasional protrusion of icy 
columns from certain kinds of earth during frost. Dr. Caspary had an 
opportunity of studying a similar phenomenon in the botanic garden at 
Schoneberg, in the course of last November ; and, after a careful study of 
all the attendant circumstances, he has lately given the result of his obser- 
vations at considerable length in the “‘ Botanische Zeitung,’ September 22, 
1854. Notwithstanding some little discrepancies, there is no doubt that 
the several cases are substantially the same, though modified by particular 
circumstances. ‘The matter is so interesting that a brief notice cannot fail 
to be acceptable to many of our readers; first of the phenomenon itself, 
and then of the causes from which it seems to be derived. 

On the morning of the 14th of November, several plants,* both annual 
and perennial, all of them cultivated in the open ground, and in full health 
and vigor the previous day, presented a very extraordinary appearance. 
The bark was variously split and separated from the wood, from which two 
kinds of icy formations of considerable size projected, the one consisting of 
fibrous strata, the other of thin vertical sheets. These were not confined to 
the base of the stems, but extended even to the highest and thinnest 
branches, some of which were three feet or more above the surface of the 
soil. The first species consists of small thin horizontal threads, perpen- 
dicular to the stem, closely pressed to each other, but not separable, so as 
_to form a continuous layer 14-—4 m m. (,059-, 157 inch) thick, and from 
30-90 m m. (1,18—3,54 inch) long, 
woody cylinder. The second, which was extremely beautiful, and far more 
common, exhibited vertical sheets from 10—160 mm. (,89—6,29 inch) 
long by 10—80 (,39—1,18 inch) broad, and as thick as strong paper, 
springing in a radiating direction from the whole or part of the stem, some- 
times to the number of 80, more or less, irregularly curled and undulated, 


occupying from 4 to 2 of the whole 


with the margin entire or minutely crenate, of a pure snow-white, or clear 
as crystal, and resembling some richly lamellated coral. 

The plates themselves were marked with horizontal lines, as though the 
whole were formed of laterally confluent fibres, which sometimes projected, 
especially in the smaller upper twigs, in ‘the form of a beautiful fringe. 
The wood itself was often split, but the plates never projected from the fis- 
sures, but originated on the exposed surface of the wood itself. The phe- 


* Perilla arguta, Benth. ; Tagetes bonariensis, P. ; tone ee incisifolia, R. and P. ; Cuphea 
pubifiora, Benth. ; cordate k and P: ;. platycentra, Benth. ; FHeliotropium peruvianum, thas 
Manulea oppotitifolia, Vent. ; Lantana abyssinica, Otto and ‘Diet, ; aculeata, L. ; Calceolaria 
perfoliata, ZL. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 359 


nomenon was strictly confined to exotic species cultivated in the open 
ground, and consequently with their roots well developed and capable of 
imbibing large quantities of fluid without intermission. It occurred, more- 
over, on the first night that the temperature of the air and surface of the 
ground descended, except as a transient minimum, in a marked degree 
below the freezing point, and that accompanied bya strong dry wind, which 
must have been very favorable to evaporation. ‘The accompanying illustra- 
tion represents a small portion of a branch with either kind of formation, 
the prickly twig of Lantana aculeata exhibiting the first species, while the 
second is a Cuphea cordata. 

This curious formation admits of more than one explanation. Le Conte 
regards it as a purely physical phenomenon, while De Caspary, neglecting 
Herschel’s view, leaves it uncertain whether the ice arises from the plant 
itself, or from the comparatively warm earth beneath, the evaporation from 
which is conveyed upwards by the plant, as by a kind of chimney. © Le 
Conte considers the lamellar formation en the plants of the same nature 
with the pillars of ice, consisting of innumerable thread-like spun glass, 
which sometimes spring from the surface of the soil, arising from the innu- 
merable capillary tubes which are contained in its substance. These masses 
occur only on the surface of the soil, which itself remains unfrozen. Sup- 
posing, then, a loose and warm soil to be saturated with moisture and 
exposed to moderate frost, since the soil is a bad conductor of heat, the 
uppermost stratum alone would be cooled down to the freezing point: and 
since the resistance to lateral expansion is less on the surface than it is 
lower down, the first effect of cold will be to make the ends of the capillary 
tubes or pores conical or pyramidal. The sudden chilling of the surface- 
water produces a rapid and forcible expansion, which, in consequence of the 
resistance offered by the sides of the cones, not merely pushes the thready 
pillar of ice forwards, but also causes it to protrude in the direction of least 
resistance, namely, perpendicular to the surface. The conical extremities 
thus become free,fresh fluid follows by capillary attraction from behind, the 
formation and protrusion of ice is again effected, and the same process is 
repeated by paroxysms till a mass is formed three inches or more in length. 
“‘Now if this be compared,” says Le Conte, “with what takes place in the 

‘Pluchea, similar conditions will be found to exist. The porous pith supplies 

a constant flow of warm fluid from the soil, while the cuneiform medullary 
rays present the mechanical conditions necessary for the exercise of a pro- 
trusive power in the required direction.” 

It is not true that the moisture does ascend by the pith; but making the 
necessary corrections, it is easy to understand that masses of ice might be 


360 THE FLORIST AND 


formed in this way on the plant, by causes similar to those which exist in 
the soil. Our limits prevent our examining other parts of Le Conte’s 
explanation, or pointing out the errors which seem to be involved in it. 
But allowing that this is sufficient to account for the formation of the com- 
pact fibrous masses of Lantana, it does not apply to the lamellar sheets 
which surround the stems of other plants. Dr. Caspary therefore inquires 
what organs there are in+plants disposed with sufficient regularity and of 
proper length to give rise to plates extending sometimes several inches down 
the stem, and thrusting off the bark in every direction. , 

The only organs answerable to this character are the vascular bundles, 
and to these therefore his attention has been turned. In all the instances 
which came under his observation, he found the walls of the vessels pitted, 
and the only difficulty of great consequence which met him, was the 
uncertainty that exists as to the functions of the vessels. That they con- 
tain fluid at an early stage is certain, because they are but modifications of 
cells; but whether they carry fluid when arrived at maturity, except with 
rare exceptions, is far from certain. Allowing that they were gorged with 
fluid, in the plants in question, the lateral pores might readily convey it to 
the neighboring elongated tissue, and so be subjected to the freezing tem- 
perature which had penetrated through the bark. It seems, however, to us 
quite as probable that the fluid might be more energetically carried through 
the cells with which the vascular bundles are surrounded, than through the 
neighboring tissue; and if so, we have a series of lines corresponding with 
the vessels, where the icy plates 
might be formed, without assuming 
the doubtful position that water is 
carried through vessels which seem 
more peculiarly destined to convey 
air, with rapidity and abundance 
sufficient to produce the enoimous 
masses of ice which appear upon 
the stems—masses which have a 
very high ratio to the quantity of 
water which could pass through the 


plant within the time of the forma- 
tion of the ice, under any ordinary circumstatances. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 361 


THE WELLINGTONIA GIGANTEA. 


Until this time nothing has contradicted the ingenious observation of 
Buffon, on the comparative size of the animal species in the old and new 
Continents. To the first, belongs those gigantic pachyderms, whose ap- 
pearance recals the lost race of Mastodons. 

America and Oceanica seem, on the contrary, less endowed in this birth 
of large animals. Will it be the same in the vegetable kingdom ? 

One would have supposed it, while the famous Baobab of Senegal, whose 
largest trunk, measured by Adanson in 1749, was 78 feet in circumference, 
that is 27 feet in diameter, was thought to be without a rival: but this vegeta- 
ble mass, only attained a height of 70 feet. India has its gigantic Banyan 
_ Figs, (Ficus religiosa) and its Tectona grandis; Asia Minor its Cedars; 
Europe its historical Chestnuts, Oaks, Elms and Lindens. ‘To these colos- 
sal plants of the Old World, America opposes Palms with tall stems; Figs 
with massive trunks: Van Dieman’s Land, its enormous Hucalyptus ‘glo- 
bulus, and its Huron Pines (Dacrydium Frankliniz.) But in this congress 
of giants disputing the pre-eminence, the king of all of them has just en- 
tered upon the scene: the one which proudly bears the name of Welling- 
tonia gigantea, and which, native of the Rocky Mountainsin the interior 
of California, assures to the New World the honor of possessing the largest 
plant known. 

The exploration of the basin of Oregon and of Upper California, by the 
unfortunate naturalist traveler Douglass, made known to the botanical 
world, now twenty-five years ago, the existence of Conifers of immense size. 
Such was the Pinus Lambertiana, of Oregon, such, especially, was a tree 
of California, about which Douglass expresses himself as follows, in a 
letter published by Sir William Hooker, (Companion to the Botanical 
Magazine,) (Vol. 11, p. 150.) 

“The wonder of California vegetation is a species of Taxodiwm, which 
gives to the aspect of the mountains of this country, a something strange 
and imposing, which removes you far enough from Europe. At different | 
times I have measured examples 270 feet high, by thirty feet in cirumfer- 
ence at three feet above the ground, a small number measured 800 feet in 
height, but without any greater size than those I mentioned. 

What was the supposed Tarodium of Douglass? No specimen, seed or 
description was known to botanists. It was therefore from a very hazard- 
ous conjecture, that Sir William Hooker figured in his Jcones plantarum, 
(tab. 379,) as being probably the tree in question, and at the same time 


362 THE FLORIST AND © 


the Sequota sempervirens, sterile branches of a conifer, found without a 
name in Douglass’s collections. Better informed by later discoveries, the 
editor of the Botanical Magazine, recognizes now in these branches, and 
consequently in the figure quoted, another Conifer lately introduced in 
Kuropean Horticulture, the Adzes bracteata, (see Bot. Mag. t..4.640 and 
Flore des Serres, t. 899). As to the monster tree of Douglass, Mr. W. 
Lobb, following certain very plausible conjectures, thought that this would 
be the true Sequoia sempervirens, so that the Sequoia gigantea of Endli- 
cher, founded on the measurements of the plant of Douglass, and on the 
figure in Hooker’s Jeones, which represents the Adbzes bracteata, should be 
erased from catalogues as an imaginary being, formed of extravagant 
elements. 

By a happy circumstance, one of the most skilful purveyors of the horticul- 
tural establishment of Messrs. Veitch of Exeter, Mr. W. Lobb, in his re- 
cent exploration of California vegetation, has just assured to horticulture 
the possession of a conifer more collossal than the Taxodiwm sempervirens, a 
tree imperfectly known as to its botanical characters, but which vegetates 
at present in England, and which it is hoped will become as much dis- 
tributed as the Deodar Cedars. This tree, entirely new to science, has 
received from Dr. Lindley the name of Wellingtonia gigantea, in honor, 
it is said of the greatest hero of modern times. Many Frenchmen would 
take away the epithet to make it correct, but the English language ignores 
this subtle distinction. | 

The foliage of grown specimens of the Wellingtonia gigantea, can in no 
way be confounded with that of the Zaxodium; it resembles more that 
of the Juniperus. , The branches, slender, - filiform and pendant are covered 
with little imbricated leaves in three rows, alternate, straight, appressed, ovat- 
elanceolate, acute, coriaceous, pale green. On the young specimens from 
seed, which are not, so to speak, characterized, the leaves are more dis- 
persed, oblong subulate, pointed or mucronate, keeled on the back, flat on 
the front, except a little swelling in the middle. The cones are about 
the size of those of Pinus silvestris, but resemble a great deal in their 
structure, according to Sir William Hooker, those of the Sczodapytes of 
Siebold and Zuccarini, a Japanese genus entirely different in aspect and 
foliage.- These cones, such as they ‘possess in Europe, after complete 
maturity and distribution of the seeds, are oval, obtuse, sessile, formed of 
a thick and cylindrical axis, on which are inserted without any articula- 
tion and by an enlarged base, woody, divergent scales, whose thickness is 
increased by the suture of the bract with the corresponding scale. The 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 363 


top of each scale forms a convex dilation, conversely rhomboidal, keeled 

inversely and forming an umbilical depression. Under each scale, Dr. 

Lindley says, are found seven seeds like those of Sciadopytis in number 

and form, being nearly orbicular, compressed, small, less than a line long, 

slightly winged at the sides. ~ J. H. PLANCHON, 
In Flore des Serres. 


PORTULACCA ALBA STRIATA. 


2 q yy 
= = » 
— = eee PE ES cs ros = > 
Beg ee = S 
. a Bo 
SSE BA, 


The principal varieties of Portulacca under cultivation, are the Crimson, 
Scarlet, Pink, Yellow and the White. The variegated kinds are very numer- 
ous, but not much known, and were first obtained by myself, by crossing the 
crimson and yellow about four years ago, and the hybrid, shown in the 
illustration from the crimson and white last year. The white variety has 
always had a sporting character, appearing sometimes with a pure crimson 
flower and sometimes striped and variously marked, but so fickle as to pos- 
sess but little interest. The Alba striata, now two years old, sustains thus 
far a permanent character, with this exception, that occasionally it has an 


364 THE FLORIST AND 
extra dash of deep crimson and sometimes (once only during the last sea- 
gon,) it has a pure crimson flower, but in no case has it ever sported back 
to the pure white. | | sii 
The Portulacca, mixed in a bed will not readily cross themselves, and 
the striped kinds were very difficult to obtain, several hundred flowers hay- 
ing been fertilized to produce a single specimen. From their disposition 
to revert to the original selfs, any remarkable and valuable varieties must 
be propagated by cuttings and kept through the winter. They may be 
easily wintered in the greenhouse by plunging the pots to the rim in sand 
and keeping the plants rather dry, or if unchecked by cold or frost in the 
fall, they may be kept growing, with plenty of heat; especially if the plants 
are from late summer cuttings. Cas. G. Pas. 
Washington, D. C., Dee. 11, 1854. 


STEPHANOTIS FLORIBUNDA. 


This is a fine evergreen twiner, with dark ereen coriaceous leaves, and 
very fragrant white flowers. Itis a native of Madagascar, and belongs to 
the natural order, Asclepiadaces. 

By many, this is thought to require a stove, and those having only a 
green-house and hot-bed, debar themselves the pleasure of its possession. 
When it is kept blooming during the winter in a stove, it seldom blooms so 
freely as when it has a few months’ rest in a cooler place. 

Without occupying more room with preliminary remarks, I will suppose 
any one to have a good strong plant, which can be obtained from any nur- 
seryman ; place it on a front shelf in the green-house for the winter months, 
taking care not to give much water, or it will become a little yellow. When 
spring approaches, tie it neatly to a balloon-shaped wire trellis, covering the 
bottom of the trellis first. The soil I use is turfy sandy loam, but it will 
grow in porous soil of any description. About the middle of March, shift it 
into a size larger pot; I keep it rather underpotted, as I do not think there 
is anything gained in beauty either of leaves or flowers, by the one shift 
system with the Stephanotis. After I have repotted a plant a few seasons, 
until I get into a ten inch pot, I turn it out and cut off a little of the ou 
side of the earth and roots, and thus grow it for awhile in the same 
pot. After repotting, I plunge it into slight bottom heat in an early 
cucumber frame, or in a hot-bed made for propagating bedding plants. 
With several plants started a few weeks after each other, they can be had 


e 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 365 


in bloom from the end of May until near August, and will take the place of 
plants put out of doors in the Summer. 


WM. GREY. 


THOUGHTS ON THE CULTIVATION OF ON se AND 
FLOWERS. 


An old subject and truly a hackneyed one, perhaps some. one who sces 
the heading of this article will say. Itis indeed an old subject, but nevertheless 
one of increasing interest throughout the length and breadth of our land. 
Even in “our village,” we see by the choice and beautiful selections of 
flowers that greet us around almost every little home that this interest is here 
too deeply felt. And even now we are anticipating the time when we shall 
be prepared to show with any city in the land, gardens and greenhouses 
adorned with every plant that can charm the eye. And their beauty and 
Juxuriance shall also tell that we are well versed in all that pertains to their 
culture. 

Already we are assured by many who have visited the northern and 
eastern gardens, that in the cultivation of roses we now excel, and that ours | 
were so far superior that it was difficult for them to recognize in the sickly 
and stinted plants of many of those gardens, the pets so much cared for at 
home, and which have repaid that care with a beauty and a luxuriance of 
growth seldom equalled and never surpassed. 

We know that all this cannot be claimed from our superior treatment, 

we know that our climate is much more adapted to the growth of delicate 
roses ; but when we recollect that we have seen the same roses growing, but 
oh ‘iy differently, in places of the same latitude, we are constrained to 
award some merit to ourselves for superior care and skill. 

Thanks to the pages of your valuable journal for much that has proved 
useful to us, and for the stimulus that it has given’ to our exertions in 
horticulture; exertions that have already been richly repaid. | 

But as yet, Mr. Editor, the ladies alone of our village are giving their 
attention to these things, the culture of fruits and flowers. They do not 
trust alone to an inexperienced gardener, for no other kind is to be had 
here now; they do not purchase a rare plant and trust to chance whether 
it grows or not; no, with their own hands they tend it, and in due time are 
repaid by the unfolding of its lovely flowers. However, a few of the 
“lords of the land” are beginning to give us their countenance, and when 


» 


366 THE FLORIST AND 


their eyes are feasting on beauty that has been nursed by our humble 
efforts, reward us with a smile. But, on the other hand, there are others 
who croak at all this as “‘ nonsense,” who even give a friend, who has paid 
a trifle for a rare plant, a look which says, “you had better spend your 
money for something else; what good does all this do? They may well ask 
the question, for they know not the resources the humblest citizen has, when 
the little plat of ground before his door is tastefully adorned with flowers ; 
they know not with what pleasure he turns from the toils of the day to his 
own quiet little home, where in the budding flowers he sees new beauties 
opening every day, and feels, that although he cannot look around on 
‘broad acres, all his own’”’ yet it is his to enjoy the beauties of creation, to 
look up through nature unto nature’s God. They know not the pleasur- 
able emotions which fill the soul of one who turns from a world which has 
often proved hollow and heartless, to the companionship of flowers. 

Let those who talk so much of what they consider useful, take with us a 
glance at the surrounding country. On all sides we see large plantations. 
In the grounds immediately surrounding the abodes of their owners, is there 
anything pleasant for the eye to rest on? No, the old neglected looking 
house, the rude patched up fence, and stables and pig pen, often in front of 
the dwelling, sadly attest that all felt is a grovelling devotion to mere gain. | 
And, let me ask, would it not be better to spend a little of their rapidly 
increasing wealth in beautifying and giving an air of comfort to their 
homes? Yes, and we believe soon would be felt and seen, its refining and 
elevating effects, in the manners and habits of the families of the neighbor- 
hood. The home-ties would be strengthened, and the youth, who in after 
years goes forth from his native land, could, with pride, look back to the 
old homestead, a beautiful picture hung up in his memory, and long to rest 
from his wanderings beneath its peaceful shades. 

But as it is, their heads are growing gray in heaping up wealth they 
never take time to enjoy, when they could have about them all that is 
beautiful to the eye and delightful to the taste. 

We do not say that there are exceptions to this state of things. In the 
course of a day’s journey, as an oasis in a desert, ahome may meet the eye 
of a traveler which tells him that the fragrance of the flower is here some- 
times wafted on the wind, as well as the fumes of tobacco. We are pleased 
to know some in this place whose hearts have been touched by this genial 
influence ; who have the means and are making their homes all that will be 
delightful in after years to turn to. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 367 


Not more than twenty miles from hence, in an almost inaccessible spot 
a horticultural garden smiles, often resorted to from this and other places. 
Let me ask those who visit it, if they have not felt, whilst partaking of the 
hospitality always there extended, that there is a wide difference in’ the 
manners of one who has given his time to horticultural pursuits, and those 
of him whose whole time is given to raising tobacco. The spirit of content 
and repose that pervades the former is in the latter, never seen. We hope 
to see a taste for the pursuits we advocate becoming more general, and that 
ere long its effects will be seen and felt about our country. 


A Lover oF FLOWERS. ; 


Clarksville, Tennessee. 


(From the Germantown Telegraph. ) 
PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 


The grape vine is perhaps the most useful fruit-bearing plant that we 
possess; at all events it is more available than any other, and good crops 
can be secured in situations where the growth of any other fruit would be 
impracticable. Any one having a square yard of ground unoccupied, near 
their dwelling, may plant a vine and train the branches on the walls. It is 
surprising that this system is not more generally practised. What could be 
more beatiful than clusters of grapes hanging in profusion and greeting the 
eyes from a parlor window? Or how could a dessert be more conveniently 
secured than by opening the casement and gathering a dish of this luscious 
fruit? Many opportunities of this kind are overlooked, and many a bare 
wall and unsightly projection might be improved by the addition of grape 
vine. Indeed many of our modern houses are so bedecked with ornament, 
and like the “ Rural cot of Mr. Knott,” as described by Lowell, so full of 


‘Lord knows what, of round and square, 
Stuck on at randum everywhere.” 


That the introduction of climbing plants upon these otherwise apparently 
useless additions, would at last show that they were not altogether divested 
of utility. | 


868 THE FLORIST AND 


There are various systems of. pruning and trimming grape vines; none 
of them pores deserving ungualified censure, at the same time thong is 
much room for improvement in this necessaray operation. | | 

The principal methods may be classed thus: 1st, short srUrTeng 2d, 
alternate spurring ; and the long cane or renewal systems. 

Each of these methods has its supporters, and good fruit and good ques 
are produced by them all, an additional proof that it is not by paying 
strict attention to any one particular point, but rather from a happy com- 
bination of all the essential elements of culture, that we are to derive con- 
stant success. I propose offering a few remarks on these systems, and 
before entering into detail upon their respective merits, a brief exposition 
of the process of vegetable growth, will assist us greatly i in arriving at a 
proper understanding of the subject. 

When aseed is placed in a germinating medium, it sends a shoot upwards 
in the air, and roots downward into the earth. The ‘seed. contains within 
itself the nutriment necessary for this process; but as soon as the young 
plant is thus formed, its mode of existence is changed, and it now depends 
upon the air and soil for its farther developement. The young root imme- 
diately ab orbs matter from the earth which enters into the stem, and from 
that to the leaves, where it is decomposed by the action of light. This 
elaborated sap is then returned downwards enlarging the stem, and passing 
into the roots, also extends their formation. It is considered that the car- 
bonic acid and other inatters absorbed by the roots, are of no value until 
they undergo this decomposition in the leaves: consequently the increase 
of size in the plant, the quantity of its secretions, and extension of roots, 
are all dependent upon the amount of foliage. Any system of pruning, 
therefore, that involves a removal of leaves, must also involve the health 
and vigor of the plant. It is an axiom with horticulturists that summer 
pruning weakens, while winter pruning strengthens a tree. Hence on 
strong growing barren fruit trees, summer pruning is practised in order to 
their vigor and cause them to bear; while on the other hand, an old 
or sickly tree will generally start with renewed vigor if severely pruned 
down in winter. These simple rules should be kept in view while discuss- 


check 


\ 


ing the various systems of pruning. 

The short spurring system of pruning grape vines, is _yery generally. 
practised and easily understood. In practice, a single shoot is encouraged 
until itreaches the desired length. The bearing shoots issue at intervals from 
this main shoot, and are cut close down to it annually in the winter pruning. 
The summer pruning consists in pinching out the extremity of every shoot, 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 369 


one or two leaves beyond the fruit; all lateral growths are also removed on 
their first appearance. Growth is thus prevented from extending, and the 
sap is consequently concentrated into the short branch and fruit. The 
leading shoot is also stopped in its longitudinal growth to give more vigor to 
the side branches. It will be seen that this continued pruning during 
growth, will check the progress of the roots, and although it is the most 
popular method of treating the foreign grape under glass, and if otherwise 
well managed will insure heavy crops, I am convinced from extended_obser- 
vation of the practice, that, after a few years, the plants gradually decline 
and do not burst into growth with their former vigor. This method is not 
at all suited for our native sorts. | 

Alternate spurring 1s an improvement upon the foregoing, and for amateurs 
who wish to cultivate a variety of foreign grapes in one small house, or 
where the grapery also serves the purpose of a greenhouse, I consider it 
the best method that can be adopted. 

In pruning on the short spur plan, the shoots are cut down to one eye or 
bud, thus sacrificing larger and better developed buds nearer the extremity 
of the branch. To remedy this, and at the same time secure to the fruit 
all the advantages of close pruning, as well as encourage the formation 
and extension of roots by retaining a greater amount of foliage, led to the 
practice of selecting the most prominent bud on the branch and pruning to 
it, without reference to its distance from the main stem, at the same time 
all other buds are cut out except the lowest. Supposing the branch has twelve 
buds, and the sixth (from the main stem) appears most promising, the 
branch is cut to within half an inch of it. It and the first bud are undis- 
turbed, the immediate four buds are cut clean out ta prevent them growing. 
When growth commences, these two buds will form two shoots, whose future 
treatment is quite distinct. The extreme bud produces the present crop, while 
the lower bud forms a shoot to bear the next year’s produce: if any fruit 
appear, it should be promptly removed. The summer management of these 
shoots, is simple. The bearing branch should have its point pinched out 
two or three leaves beyond the bunch of fruit, and all subsequent efforts 
of growth quickly checked. The lower, or non-bearing branch, on the con- 
trary, should not be disturbed until after midsummer, when the extreme 
point should be pinched off. When the fruit is cut, the branch that pro- ° 
duced it should be cut clean off. The shoots for future bearing will now 
ripen thoroughly, and in winter pruning, undergo the same treatment as 
their predecessors—pruned down to the best bud, all others being removed 
except the lowermost, as before. 


32 


370 THE FLORIST AND 


The long cane renewal system is in my opinion most worthy of.recom- 
mendation, especially for out-door culture; native grapes do not require 
vigorous pruning, if not allowed to bear too heavy a crop, which ruins half 
the vines in the country. - When such is the case, a severe winter pruning 
is necessary. The routine management under’ this system, is as follows: 
The first year the young plants should be encouraged to grow as luxuriantly 
as possible. No pinching or pruning of any description is requisite until the 
leaves fall off at their natural period of decay. The plant should now be 
trimmed to a single clean rod for ten feet in length. ‘his ends the first 
season. ; 

The second year a few bunches of fruit will appear on the side shoots, 
and if the stem is three-fourths of an inch in diameter, two or three may be 
left, although it is better to remove the whole than impair the health and 
vigor of the plant. The summer pruning will consist in pinching the points 
of all the side branches when about eighteen inches in length. The lead- 
ing shoot is not to be disturbed. A shoot from the lower part of the plant 
is to be encouraged; this also, should receive no check in its summer 
growth. ‘The winter pruning will consist in cutting all the side shoots out 
close to the main stem, the leading shoot and the one from the bottom 
should merely be shortened, leaving five or six feet of young wood to each. 

The third season, a tolerable crop of fruit may be expected; the main 
stem will fruit its whole length; and should any fruit appear on the bottom 
shoot, it should be removed. The main stem should be summer pruned as 
recommended in short spurring, which will encourage the fruit. The se- 
condary leading stem should be managed similar to the main stem last 
season, and an additional young rod encouraged from its base, as before. 
The winter pruning will also suggest itself on reference to the foregoing 
remarks. ‘The oldest main stem may be removed altogether, thus intro- 
ducing a young cane yearly, and cutting the oldest one out. It is not 
necessary to adhere closely to this periodical renewal, as the canes can be 
fruited one or more years on spurs if desired. 

Pruning on this method, combines all the advantages. of close spurring, 
while the additional quantitity of foliage retained, supports a healthy and 
increasing root action; and farther, the principal removal of wood, taking 
place in the winter pruning, imparts renewed force to the plant. This 
system enables us to keep a plant in health and vigor in a small space, or 
extend the branches in proportion to the roots, which is the most natural 
manner of treating a plant. Disease is very frequently engendered by 
unskilful and injudicious pruning, and the more it can be dispensed with 
the better, consistent with the objects of the cultivator. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. Bye 


With regard to the proper season for pruning, I consider the fall and 
early portion of winter the best. Immediately on the fall of the leaf is 
undoubtedly the most advantageous to the plant, as the sap stored up 
in the buds during winter, is economized and hastens the growth during 
the following seasons: a desideratum of much importance both with the 
foreign and native grapes in cultivation. WILLIAM SAUNDERS, 


Dec. T, 1854. Landscape Gardener, Germantown. 


DR. LEIDY’S FLORA AND FAUNA WITHIN LIVING ANIMALS. 


It appears from an article in the “Florist and Horticultural Journal,” 
published in the United States, that we had inadvertently given great offence 
by our review of the work above mentioned. On a reperusal of that review 
we find it very difficult to conceive why it has been taken in such bad part, 
and the more especially as our object in writing it was to induce those per- 
sons who had already purchased Dr. Robin’s work, which has had a very 
large sale in England, to add to their libraries the work of Dr. Leidy, as 
containing information not to be found in Robin; and we were the more 
desirous of recommending it, because the only remuneration, as far as we 
believe, which the authors of communications to the Smithsonian Institution 
can look to, is the sale of the copies which are placed at their disposal by 
the society. | 

The passage which is more particularly called in question stands as follows. 
‘“‘Tt may be true that it does not contain much which may not be found in 
Robin’s second edition of his admirable work on those fungals which grow 
on animals; but the illustrations are in some instances far more complete, 
and well worth the attention of every botanist and physiologist who may 
chance to be interested in the subject. We would point out more especially 
the plates which represent the curious parasites which infest the intestines 
of different species of Julus, and the several entozoa which live in their com- 
pany; for though the principal of them are not overlooked by Robin, there 
is nothing in his plates as regards these particular productions which can 
for a moment be compared with Dr. Leidy’s copious and excellent figures.”’ 
Now, what ‘‘remarkable errors” or “perversions” are contained in the 
above passage we cannot conceive. 

There is no question whatever as to the originality of the observations of 
Dr. Leidy, a question altogether beyond the scope of our journal, which aims 
at little more in its reviews than an indication of the sources from whence 
trustworthy information can be obtained; and the whole tendency of the 


Sy THE sLORIST AND 


passage is to show that, onsome points, Dr. Leidy’s work contains informa- 
tion and illustrations superior to what is presented by the popular publica- 
tion of Dr. Robin. We beg too, to observe that at the time our notice was 
written, we had read every word of Dr. Leidy’s book, and had gone through 
that of Dr. Robin page by page with a view to ascertain what additions had 
been made in his second edition. If, therefore, we have erred, it has been 
with our eyes open. If we had reason to believe that we had given the 
slightest pain to Dr. Leidy, we should at once write to him personally to ex- 
press our regret; for we have received too many kindnesses from American 
botanists, and are in too intimate relation with several, to wish to give a 
moment’s dissatisfaction where we have met with nothing but the most kind 
and honorable feeling, without a particle of captiousness or jealousy—a 
fact to which we have more than once borne testimony in this journal, as also 
to the rapid strides which every branch of botany is making in the United 
States; and those American botanists, such as Asa Gray, who know most 
of England, are well aware that such kind feelings are universal amongst 
those who are most worthy of estimation for diligence and talent. Much as 
we admire genuine patriotism, we have no sympathy for the man of science, 
however great his abilities may be, who confines his powers of vision to his 
own horizon, and will acknowledge no merit with which he is not personally 
or nationally identified.— Gard. Chron. 


THE CLIMATE OF THE CRIMEA. 


In the Gardener’s Chronicle we find the following account of the 
climate of this, at present, interesting place: | 

A more trustworthy account of the South Crimea, is to be found in the 
writings of Panuas, the great Russian Botanist who lived at Akmetshet, 
or, as it is now called Sympheropol.. In one of his works this author says: 

‘The mildest and most fruitful region in all the Russian Empire is, that 
continuation of valleys arranged in a natural amphitheatre, at the southern 
base of Taurida, (the Crimea), along the coasts of the Black Sea. The 
climate is little different from that of Anatolia and Asia Minor; winter . 
is hardly felt, the Primrose and the Crocus appear above the ground 
in the month of January, and the Oak retains its green foliage throughout 
the year. No part of Taurida, perhaps of the whole empire, affords the 
botanist a greater variety of plants, or the husbandman a richer harvest. 
The ever-verdant Laurel grows beside the Olive, the Pomegranate, the Fig, 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. ate 


or the Date tree, which might have been brought to the country in ancient 
times, by Greek colonists. The manniferous Ash, the Mastich, the Sumach, 
the Bladder-nut, the sage-leaved Cistus, the Emerus and the Arbute of 
Asia Minor, flourish in the open air. The Walnut and almost every kind 
of fruit tree thrives in the woods, or rather the natural gardens in the 
valleys. The Caper bush is scattered along the coast, the wild Vine reaches 
to the tops of the highest trees, descends again to the ground, and forms, 
with the Viburnum, festoons and garlands. High hills, masses of rocks, 
streams and cataracts, verdant fields and woods, and the sea that bounds 
the horizon, render the landscape equal to any imagined or described by 
poets. The simple life of the good Tartars, their cottages cut in the solid 
rock and concealed by the thick foliage of surrounding gardens, the flute 
of the shepherd, his flocks scattered on solitary hills, remind the stranger 
of the golden age. The traveler leaves the people with regret, and envies 
the destiny of mortals ignorant of war, the frauds of trade, and luxury 
accompanied with all its vices.” 

Although there is a dash of fine writing in this statement, the facts in- 
cluded in it give the Botanist satisfactory proof that the winter of the South 
Crimea, has little to be dreaded. Where the Olive and the Caper bush, the 
Mastich tree and the Fig tree find themselves at home, there can be no 
serious cold. The Caper bush more especially, affords unmistakeable 
evidence of a climate where a hard winter is unknown; and we know from 
other authority than that of PALLAS, that it is an extremely common plant; 
in fact, the Capers of the Crimea, are a common article of sale in the 
southern provinces of Russia. 

It is undoubtedly true, that occasionally there are exceptional winters. 
Patuas himself informs us that, in 1787, the frost was so intense during the 
most boisterous north winds, that not only the whole sea of Azof, together 
with the Bosphorus, but also great part of the bay of Kaffa, and several 
creeks of the Black Sea, were covered with ice sufficiently strong to support 
the weight of persons crossing both on foot and horseback. But this 
seems to have occurred on the north-eastern coast; the southern shore 
from Balaklava to Alouptka, is sheltered from these cold winds, and it is 


there that we presume the troops will winter, if they winter in the Crimea 
at all. 


3714 THE FLORIST AND 


COLD GRAPERIKS. 


One of the most valuable appendages to a country residence, and which 
yields a speedy and most luxurious return for the outlay, is a cold grapery. 

This is simply a frame building, with either a span or lean-to glass roof, 
for the cultivation, without heat, of such varieties of grapes as are not 
perfectly hardy out of doors. The construction is very simple, being for a 
lean-to house merely a double frame, two feet in front and twelve feet high 
at back, nailed to substantial posts setin the ground from three to three and 
a half feet, with the intervening space filled with tan closely rammed down. 
The width should be sixteen feet, admitting of two lengths of sash. Such 
a house is estimated to cost not more than $8 per running foot. 

It may not be generally remembered that most of the splendid bunches, 
which grace the fall exhibitions of our Horticultural Societies, particularly 
in the cities, are grown with trifling expense in houses of this description. 
At the late State Fair, bunches were exhibited by David 8. Brown, from his 
graperies in Delaware County, four of which weighed 25 lbs. 2 oz. One bunch 
with every grape perfect and large, weighed 6 lbs. 12 0z. H.W. 8. Cleaveland, 
Burlington, N. J., for several years successively carried off the premiums of the 
Philadelphia Horticultural Society, for his fine black Hamburg grapes also 
grown in a house without heat. Indeed, we are satisfied, independent of 
the luxury of such a desert for one’s own table, they may be made a source 
of great profit. Mr. Cleaveland’s grapery, which we have visited, was a 
very simple affair, formerly used for propagating Multicaulis, but he had a 
fine, deeply dug, well prepared border outside, twenty feet wide. His 
grapes were always sold beforehand to one establishment in Philadelphia, at 
fully remunerating prices and the demand was always greater than the 
supply. It is a matter of some account at least, for a farmer to save tyme 
in his marketing. A crop he has merely to deliver at one place and receive 
his pay, without waiting for customers, in a market house exposed often to 
inclement weather, has certainly one great recommendation over ordinary 
and more bulky farm produce. A cold grapery 100 feet long, at $8 per 
foot, would cost $800, the interest of. which is $48. We believe a net 
interest of twenty per cent would be obtained by erecting a cold grapery, 
instead of putting the money out on mortgage, as our farmers generally do 
with their surplus cash at the end of the year. The attention required 
would be but very slight, and such as could readily be performed by the 


females of the family. 
So accustomed are we to an unvarying rotation of corn, oats, wheat, 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 875 


potatoes, that we have but little expectation our hints will be acted on to 
much extent by our agricultural friends; still we do not fear, to recommend, 
to hundreds, of our readers in the country to build a cold grapery both as a 
source of pleasure and profit. We have made the suggestion, and we hope 
at least they will think of it, and reflect upon it. The varieties we recom- 
mend for this purpose are black Hamburg, white and grizzly Frontignan, 
and golden Chasselas ; but the black Hamburg most especially. As regards 
the routine of culture, Downing says: © 

‘In a vinery without heat this is comparatively simple. As soon as the 
vines commence swelling their buds in the spring, they should be carefully 
washed with mild soap suds, to free them from any insects, soften the wood 
and assist the buds to swell regularly. At least three or four times every 
week they should be well syringed with water, which when the weather is 
cool should always be done in the morning. And every day the vine 
border should be duly supplied with water. During the time when the 
vines are in blossom, and while the fruit is settling, all sprinkling or syring- 
ing over the leaves must be suspended, and the house should be kept a little 
more closed and warmer than usual, and should any indications of mildew 
appear on any of the branghes it may at once be checked by dusting them 
with flower of sulphur. Air must be given liberally every day when the 
temperature rises in the house, beginning by sliding down the top sashes a 
little in the morning, more at mid-day, and then gradually closing them in 
the same manner. To guard against the sudden changes of temperature 
out of doors, and at the same time to keep up as moist and warm a state of 
the atmosphere within the vinery as is consistent with pretty free admission 
of the air during sunshine, is the great object of culture in a vinery of this 
kind.” —Farm Journal. 


AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 


We have received from M. P. Wilder, Esq., a copy of the proceedings of 
the third session of the American Pomological Society, held in Boston in 
September, 1854. 

It forms an octavo volume of over 250 well printed pages. The contents 
of the first 50 pages are the address of the President, and a list of the 
officers and committees. The state reports follow, occupying 100 pages 
of very interesting matter. Eighty pages following contain the discussions. 


376 THE FLORIST AND | 


The remainder is filled with several reports, lists of fruits classed, and of 
officers and members of the society. 

The proceedings are to be distributed only to members. New members 
paying the biennial subscription, two dollars, to Thomas P. James, Philadel- 
phia, the Treasurer, or to Marshall P. Wilder, President, Boston, Mass., 
can be supplied. 

It is one of the most useful guides in the choice of fruits and their 
qualities in different localities we can recommend. 


Messrs. Meehan and Saunders, Nurserymen and Landscape Gardeners, 
will act as our agents in Germantown and its vicinity, and will receive all 
money due us there. 


ASPARAGUS. 


In answer to an inquiry as to the advantage of deep-planting Asparagus, 
the Americant Agriculturalist gives the following: 

In meeting the wants of our correspondent, it will be necessary to go a 
little into detail, in our remarks upon this earliest and best of the vegetable 
products of the garden. If people only knew how to cultivate Asparagus 
in its perfection, they would welcome the month of May for the delicacy, 
almost as warmly as for its flowers; and, judging from the tall spikes that 
make their appearance at that date in our own garden, they might save 
themselves the trouble of rearing May-poles, and hang out their mes 
festoons and garlands upon poles of their own growing. 

We have no experience in deep planting, because we think we have a 
more excellent way. ‘The deep planting which is resorted to by some of 
the English gardeners, and which, we presume, was introduced by them 
into this country, is unphilosophical, and is condemned by the best authori- 
ties on gardening. The Gardeners’ Chronicle, one of the best English 
Journals devoted to this art, says, in an article upon this vegetable: “The 
Asparagus being brought to the requisite state of vigor, the next question 
is, how to secure the necessary degree of succulence, which it never has 
beyond two or three inches in an English market, and not often anywhere 
else. That succulence will depend upon temperature as much as upon 
other causes. The warmer the Asparagus bed is kept while the plants are 
rising, the more brilliant they will be, provided the temperature of the soil 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. OTT 


does not rise 75° at the most. Now, under ordinary circumstances, every 
thing is done to keep it cold; buried twelve or thirteen inches below the 
surface, the influence of the sun is slowly felt, and very imperfectly into 
the bargain. It is only when the roots are lightly covered by some rapidly 
conducting material, that the sun can exercise his proper influence, unas- 
sisted by artificial contrivances. Hence one of the greatest faults the 
Asparagus-grower can commit, is to bury his plants deep. Only observe 
Mr. Kendall’s practice: his plants are just covered with soil resting upon 
a deep bed of the most nutritious matter. The earliest rays of the sun 
are felt in such a case, and as soon as the dormant energy of the plant is 
roused, it continues to be exercised without a day’s interruption. 

Unquestionability the deep-planted beds that succeed well, owe their 
success to the depth and richness of the soil rather than to the deep-plant- 
ing of the roots. Within three inches of the surface they would produce 
earlier and more succulent shoots, and with proper surface-treatment, not 
a less amount of cuttings in the course of a season. 

Buist says asparagus is a native of Great Britain, where it is found on 
banks of sandy soil contiguous to the sea, growing luxuriantly under the 
salt breezes. Bridgeman says it is found growing wild in Russia and 
Poland, where it is eaten by the cattle the same as grass. In none of the 
authorities that we have consulted, do we find the fact recognized, that it 
is also a native of this country. We have so often found it growing along 
our shores, with all the characteristics of a wild plant, that we have no 
doubt that it is as much one of our own native marine plants, as the eel 
grass and the rock weed that grow in the adjacent waters. It is found 
abundantly upon the shores of Mason’s Island, at the mouth of the Mystic 
river, Connecticut, where it is sometimes gathered by the inhabitants for 
greens. We have seen it growing on the shores of Quanituc, in the same 
neighborhood, and also on Shelter Island, New York, New Jersey, and 
elsewhere. 

In order to properly prepare a piece of ground for the cultivaton of this 
plant, it is important to understand its native habits, and the food neces- 
sary for its health. When these are understood, we may apply any mode 
of stimulating its growth within our reach, and bring it to its desired 
perfection. Nature places it, we see, in its wild state, among sea-sand, 
mixed with the soft, spongy decay of marine plants, the most yielding of 
all earthy substances, never becoming dry, never remaining loaded with 
stagnant water, but at every tide receiving a supply of the saline particles 
that constitute an essential part of the food of the plant. Under such 


378 THE FLORIST AND 


circumstances, the roots meet with no obstruction to their full development: 
An analysis of the ash of the plant, by Levy, shows the following con- 
stituents : | 


Potash - ~ . 20.48 Sulphuric acid - - 5.72 
Soda - - - 2.89 Phosphoric acid ; 10.03 
Lime - - - 13.15 Carbonic acid - - 25.71 
Magnesia - - - 3.24 Chlorine - - - 3.21 
Peroxide of iron . 4.22 Loss - - - - 1.35 
Silicia == ~ . Shey 

100.00 


The native habits of the plant, and its inorganic constituents should be 
our guide in preparing the ground for its cultivation. We have prepared 
two beds upon our present premises, the one upon upland, and the other 
upon reclaimed salt-marsh. ‘That upon the upland is about a rod square 
and was prepared by removing the surface-soil to the depth of about two 
feet, pushing in stones, oyster-shells, and bones at the bottom, a heavy 
coating of manure over these, and then the surface-soil replaced. We give 
this, every winter, about a bushel of course refuse salt, and heavy dressing | 
of manure, either from the pig-stye, or the privy. This has produced 
admirably, and we thought it the perfection of an Asparagus bed, until we 
made a second. The lower part of our garden, a strip some four hundred 
feet long by a rod in width, was originally a marsh with salt-water ditch for 
the boundary line. ‘This we*began to reclaim, some three years since, and 
appropriated, about one-third to Asparagus. The marsh was removed to 
the depth of three and in some places four feet, and stones aud blasted 
rocks from the upland, rolled into the vacuum and then the marsh mud put 
on top of them; raising the surface of the land about two feet above its 
former height. After this had been heavily manured, we set out our plants 
in drills, about two feet apart, and eighteen inches in the drill, covering 
them with two or three inches of the soil. The new made land receives the 
wash of the adjacent hill-side, which furnishes it with all the sand it need 
Though it is situated, where its roots have access to salt-water every side 
we give ita heavy coating of salt every winter, and manure the surface 
liberally from the pig-stye. We have once given it a dressing of oyster- 
shell lime, which the analysis shows to be an important constituent in its 
composition. ‘To furnish the potash, we burnt a portion of the course sods, 
and peat from the marsh, and strewed the ashes upon the surface. The 
result has been surprising to all beholders. The light porous black soil 
feels the first genial sunshine of spring, and the plants start about a week 
earlier than those upon the adjacent upland. 


HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 379 


OUR EXCHANGES. 


At the close of the year we desire to say a few words about our exchanges. 
They are of course rather numerous, but to some we are under obligations 
for courteous notices and encouragement. 

W. S. King, Esq. of Boston is editor of three of our exchanges, the Prac- 
tical Farmer weekly, and the Journal of Agriculture and Gardeners’ Maga- 
zine monthly, which are principally made up from the different articles on 
each branch in the weekly. All of these are conducted with ability and 
contain excellent contributions, the price of the Farmer is $2.00 and of 
the monthlies $1.00 per annum each. 

The Working Farmer, published in New York, at $2.00 a year is a 
monthly, edited by Prof. Mapes. The well known ability of its editor is a 
guarantee that something instructive can always be found in its pages. He 
appears to be at loggerheads with a number of other agricultural editors, 
but he seems able to take care of himself. We are the more disposed to 
feel favorably towards the Working Farmer as it is the only paper in the 
State of New York which has noticed the Florist. 

Our neighbors, the Pennsylvania Farm Journal and the Germantown 
Telegraph are too well known and appreciated to require any commendation 
from us. The former published at Westchester at $1.00 a year has reached 
a large circulation and it is steadily and rapidly increasing. It is singular, 
that it and the Florist are the only magazines exclusively devoted to Agri- 
culture and Horticulture in this state. But then the quality makes up the 
deficiency. The Sozl of the South publishsd at Columbus, Ga. is an excel- 
lent monthly. The Horticultural partis conducted by Mr. Peabody, who 
has become well known by his successful Strawberry culture. The Alabama 
Planter is the weekly edition of the Mobile Tribune, and is furnished with 
excellent essays by the writers of its neighborhood. 

Of our Western friends we have several times spoken. The Prairie Far- 
mer of Chicago, the lowa Farmer of Burlington, Iowa, and the Ohio Farmer 
of Cleveland, O. are welcome visitors to our table. Of the Western Horti- 
cultural Review we have received nothing since the eighth number, the 
cause we do not know. 


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A FEW WORDS TO OUR READERS. 


We have now completed another volume of the Florist, not without dis- 
satisfaction arising from delay in its issue. This our subscribers, or the 
mnajority of them must blame themselves for, as they neglected to pay their 


a 


380 THE FLORIST AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 


subscriptions and thus, by not fulfilling their part of the contract, causing 


our part to fall behind. However, we hope, from the arrangements — 


we have made to be very punctual in future so that those who do pay will 
have no cause for complaint. 

Our Magazine with this exception has given universal satisfaction; we 
hear in every direction, commendations, of its appearance and of the mat- 
ter contained init. And there is no magazine, certainly no horticultural 
magazine, published in this country, which gives so much at so low a price. 

Our Plates are unsurpassed. ‘There is not a work of the kind published 
in London, whose plates are more beautifully executed,certain ly not in this 
country. ‘There are in the volume just furnished, counting each double 
plate as two, for they cost exactly double, thirteen plates, all colored, and 
of most beautiful subjects. 

The paper on which the Florist is printed, is much superior to that used 
generally for magazines: it is made for us at one of the best mills in the 
country. The printing and presswork are not excelled by any, either in 
execution or correctness. 

The contributions to the Florist are of the very first class, both practical 
and scientific: the papers which appear, are from well known pens and can 
always be relied on as the best guides to the subjects treated of. We expect 
next year additional assistance from our friends, and we invite all who have 
anything to communicate, to favor us. We hope that all our friends and 
subscribers will lend us a helping hand in increasing our list, so that in 
another year we may be on an equality in the number of subscribers with 
any other horticultural magazine. With a very little exertion on the part 
of subscribers, we can attain a very large circulation. We would especially 
request our present subscribers to send in their subscriptions as promptly 
as possible, as delay on their part of a little matter, makes it a great dis- 
advantage to us. 


NUMBER SEVEN. 


We have had several: applications for No. 7 of this Volume; if those who 
think they have not received it, will look into the cover of No. 6 they will 
find two numbers, the second of which is the one they want. No.5 has a 
double plate, as had No. 4 and No. 9. We shall have no double numbers 
next year, as we shall have no “catching up” to do. 


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