%t- •:*-;"-» THE JOURNAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY L UNDO N VOLUME VIII. LONDON : PUBLISHED I'.V THE SOCIETY, AT THEIR HOUSE 21, REGENT STREET. SOLI) BY ALT. BOOKSEL1 1853. A J LONDON : BRADBURY AND EVAN'S, PRINTERS, WHITEFRTARS. TABLE OF CONTENTS. VOLUME VIII. Original Communications : Article '' asl> I. On the Periodical Opening and Closing of Flowers. By Karl Fritzsch 1 II. On Magnolia grandiflora. Ey John Saul ; Washington, United States 22 III. Pears, Peaches, etc., at Oulton Park, Tarporley. Cheshire. By Robert Errington, C.M.H.S., Gardener to Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton, Bt., F.H.S 24 IV. On the Premature Decay of Peach and Apricot Trees. By J. B. Whiting, C.M.H.S., Gardener to H. J. Hope, Esq., the Deepdene, near Dorking . . . -~ V. On the cultivation of Orchis longicornu. By William Barnes, Camden Nursery, Camberwell ....... 30 VI. Effect of a Tropical Climate upon Plants of a Temperate Zone. By Sir R. H. Schomburgk 32 VII. Note on a New Sulphurator. By Robert Thompson . . .38 VIII. A Note upon some New Caffrarian Plants, and the Cape Gooseberry. By Thomas Moore, F.H.S., Curator of the Apothecaries' Garden, Chelsea . . ......... 38 IX. Pear Mildew. A Note by the Rev. M. J. Berkley . . . .4" X. On the Genus Yucca. By William Wood, Pifihergate Nurseries, York 42 XL On Holly-leaf Tea. By Ales. Forsyth. ( '.M.H.S., St. Mary's Church, Torquay . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 XII. On the Cultivation of Exotic Fruits. By P. Wallace, Chiswick House 47 XIII. On Ipomopsis elegans. By John Saul; Washington, United States 52 XIV. On the Periodic Phenomena of Vegetable Life at different Altitudes in theAlps. Translated from the German of AdolpheSchlagintweit 61 XV. Notes on the Development of Bulbs and Tubers. By Thilo Irmisch. (Abridged from the German original.) . . . . .91 XVI. Pruning and Management of the Peach Tree. According to the Method of M. Alexis Lepere, of Montreuil, near Paris. (Trans- lated from his work.) ......... 137 XVII. Notes on the Development of Bulbs and Tubers. By Thilo Irmisch. (Abridged from the German original.) ..... 207 XVITT. The Cultivation of the Banana; — Conditions under which it suc- ceeds at a station within the Tropics ; with Suggestions for its better Cultivation in the British Islands. By W. Wren. . . 221 XTX. On Fruit Cylinders. Bv A. Forsvth. C.M.H.S.. St. Mary's Church, Torquay . . . ' . . . . . .225 8 6 5 3 2 CONTENTS. \rii.l.- \\ On the Disease of the Vine. Read before the Royal Academy of Georgofili of Florence, on the 5th September, 1852, by Prof. Giovanni Battista Amid, Eon. Member. (Translated from the [ t : 1 1 i . l T 1 . 231 XXI. Supplemenl to the Third Edition of the Catalogue of Fruits culti vated in the Garden of the Horticultural Society of London . '-!!•'! XXII. On Edgings for Garden Walks and Flower Beds. By Robert Glendinning, F.H S., Chiswick Nursery, Turnham Green . . 270 \ \ 1 1 T. Contributions to a History of the Relation between Climate and Vegetation in various parts of the Globe : No. 14. On the Physical Aspect of the Punjab — its Agriculture and Botany. By Dr. Jameson, Superintendent of the Botanic Garden, Saharunpore ........... 273 \ \ IV. Reminiscences of the Effects of the Winter of 1852-3 on Vegetation generally, and on certain Plants in particular. Bv Messrs. Standisl) and Noble. Bagshot " . . . .314 N I \\ PLANTS, &C. PROM THE SOCIETY'S GARDEN : — 1. Billbergia bifrons ........... 54 •_'. ( tdontoglossuni Insleayi ......... 54 ::. Malva umbellata 56 4. Sonerila orbiculata .......... 56 5 Hibiscus syriacus .......... 58 6. Colletia serratifolia .......... 58 7. Philodendron auritum ......... 60 8. Alonsoa acutifolia . . . . . . . . . .318 9. Oncidium Hartvvegi 318 10. Phacelia ramosissima 318 11. Leptosiphon ciliatum . . . . . . . . . . 319 12. Bahia lati folia 319 13. Specularia perfoliata .......... 319 14. Schizanthus violaceus ..... .... 320 15 Monardella candicans .......... 320 16. Goldfussia isophylla .......... 321 17. Podolepis chrysantha .......... 322 Notices of New or Rare Garden Plants: — Geissomeria nitida . . . . . . . . . 125 Clematis coriacea . . . . . . . . . .125 Hypericum oblongifolium Cryptophragmium canescens Calceolaria ericoides Brillantaisia owariensis Viburnum suspensum Calceolaria hyssopifolia Maxillaria hirtilabia Quercus infectoria 125 127 127 129 130 130 132 132 Quercus Brantii 134 Proceedings at Meetings of the Society, from October 19, 1852, to July 9, 1 B53 Page i. — Iviii. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. I. — On the Periodical Opening and Closing of Flowers. By Karl Fritzsch. (Translated and abridged from the German.) HPHE greater portion of the work before us, which appeared originally in the Transactions* of the Bohemian Society of Natural History, and which contains an account of a series of observations extending through many years, on those plants whose corolla opens and shuts periodically, is occupied with long lists of the plants, which were under examination, and voluminous complicated tables of the results obtained. It would obviously be impossible for us to reproduce these at length ; we think, however, that such an abstract may be given as may be perfectly intelligible, and may afford our readers some definite notions of the conclusions at which the author has taken so much pains to arrive. It is well known to every observer of what passes around him in nature, that plants exhibit day by day certain periodic phenomena analogous to those of sleep in animals. Either the leaves alter their position so as to exhibit a totally different appearance, or the flowers close more or less partially ; either phenomenon taking place within certain fixed limits of time and circumstance. It is to the former of these cases that our author has directed his attention, as, in his opinion, more strictly allied to the periodic rest which is so essential to the sustenance of animal life in health and vigour. He shall, however, speak for himself. " The intention of the observations now recorded is not to point out what phenomena accompany sleep in plants, or to explain how this function of vegetable life is effected, tbough I do not see why the periodic opening and shutting of flowers should * Abhandlungen der Eon. bohm Gesdlschaft der Wissenschaften, V. Folge, 7. Band. Besultate mehrj'dhrige Beobachlungen iiber jene Pflanzen deren Blumen- kronen sicli t'dglich jieriodisch offnen wad Schliessen von Earl Fritzsch. 4to Prag. 1851, pp. 164 incl. sched. 17. tab. 1. VOL. VIU. B 2 PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. — not be regarded more properly as a symptom of sleep in plants, than the alternate approximation or divergence of neighbouring leaves, or the folding together of leaflets and other analogous phenomena depending on the position of such organs: exactly as in men and animals, the closing of the eyes is to be regarded rather as a sign of sleep, than the sinking of the hands and the repose of the feet. The strongest argument against a contrary view rests on the fact that plants bear leaves during the whole time of active vegetation, whereas their flowers are of short duration, and that, consequently, observations of the change of position of leaves would be more consistent with a general inquiry into the sleep of plants than those on the phases of blossoms, especially since these can only be made in the case of regular corollae. It may be replied, however, that the changes of position in leaves, as regards the sleep of plants, are so multifarious, not only in different species, but even in different individuals or even different leaves of the same species, that observations on a number of species are not easily comparable with one another, and, more- over, cannot be the object of admeasurement after a definite scale, whereas the phases of blossoms may be regarded as describing the arc of an angle, which in every case admits of an approximate estimation. "Nor can periodic phenomena be denied to blossoms because many last no longer than a single day, since those which fade are replaced by new blossoms, which exhibit the same alternations ; and in many cases the same individual corolla? go through the same alternation of phases for many successive days. To this may be added the more important destination of these organs in the economy of the plant, their finer texture, their greater number and variety, circumstances which make them far more fit for the exhibi- tion of vegetable life, than the leaves which are in every respect of inferior dignity. While, however, I leave these and similar questions to the determination of Vegetable Physiologists, I would remark that, in the following results of the phenomena of sleep in plants, the question is confined to the periodic changes in the close or expansion of flowers, while a more complete representa- tion of the subject remains for future inquiry." Our author made his first observations in the neighbourhood of Prag, in the year 1840. His immediate object was to note the epochs at which plants go through distinct phases of evolution, and in time, when the number of observations should allow, to distinguish the normal epochs for certain phenomena of develop- PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. 3 ment in particular plants, establishing, meanwhile, some allied inquiries on the relative conditions of Vegetation, and their dependence on season and other circumstances. The motion of the petals in all plants which have a regular corolla may be compared with the motion of two connected lines which form an angle with each other, which may be exactly estimated in every position. The opening and closing of blossoms are very rarely momentary, but are in general slow and continuous processes, which at all hours of the day are in varying degrees of intensity, and by no means bear any regular ratio to the time which has elapsed since the commencement of the phase, but still subject to laws, which can be numerically enunciated, when the nature of the phenomena and their dependence on the contemporaneous inci- dents in the immediate neighbourhood of the plants shall be recognised. Thence arises the necessity of noting hourly through the whole day and the entire duration of each particular blossom the magnitude of the change which has taken place and the relations of coincident meteoric phenomena. It was therefore obviously necessary to have constant access to the plants under observation, though the results would necessarily be somewhat modified, still to a degree more or less appreciable, by the artificial conditions in which they were placed. The series of observations, after certain preliminary steps during the six preceding years, was commenced by Mr. Fritzsch, in earnest, at the beginning of 1844, and was kept up with scarcely any intermission for four years, his sister and wife giving him most important assistance in his inquiries, without which, in fact, it would have been almost impossible to have made any satisfactory progress. Indigenous plants were carefully removed from their native place of growth and planted in pots, old individuals being used in preference to seedlings as possessing greater vigour ; a point of the greater consequence as the confined situation in which the observations were made required as speedy a change as possible of the species to be examined. Exotic plants were placed for examination in the same place with those which w r ere indigenous, the individuals being necessarily such as could conveniently be procured, sometimes in the pots in which they had been raised from seed or cuttings, and sometimes immediately transplanted like the indigenous species. At different times the aspect in which the plants were set varied from East and West to South, and consequently in very different positions as regards the direct b 2 4 PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. rays of the sun, or the duration of their action. The temperature and clearness of the air, in consequence of their evident influence on the progress of the phases under observation, were regularly noted. The temperature was marked by two thermometers of the same range, one of which was exposed to the direct rays of the sun, while the other hung in the shade. That which was placed in the sun was either in a blackened hollow ball of brass, or in a blackened cylinder of the same metal. The differ- ence between the two thermometers was carefully recorded, as affording an exact measure of the degree in which the flowers had been exposed to the direct rays of the sun. The quantity of moisture in the air and its barometrical pressure, as distinguished from that of dry air, were not so constantly registered as of only secondary influence. For the same reason the temperature of the soil was generally neglected, and the more especially as the plants were under artificial circumstances, from which no safe conclusions in that respect could be formed. The number of species observed amounted to 140, belonging to 29 different orders of plants, of very different degrees of affinity. The results of the observations appear under the following heads : — 1. Phases exhibited by flowers. 2. Dependence of the degree of expansion on temperature. 3. Insolation, or exposure to the direct rays of the sun. 4. Dependence of the sleep of plants upon the colour of their corolla. 5. Dependence of the same on the natural orders to which the species belong. 1. Phases exhibited by flowers. — If the duration of the sleep of a plant be reckoned from that hour at which the blossom has closed, as far as the mean daily expansion, to that when it has a second time opened to the same extent, extending over the minimum of the phase, we have the following results : — Number of species. Duration of sleep. 2 10 hours. 2 11 „ 10 12 „ 16 13 „ 16 14 „ 18 15 „ 10 16 „ 5 17 „ Mammillaria polytliela . 1 18 „ Scorzonera laciniata . 1 19 „ 2 20 „ PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. The time, therefore, varies from ten to twenty hours, the mean being somewhat above fourteen, those hours only being reckoned in which the phase is less than the mean of the whole day. The species observed afford the subjoined results according to the difference of the hour at which the plants awake from their sleep, or reach the mean daily phase. Number of species. Ipoincea purpurea . Passiflora coerulea . . Pyrethrum corymbosum CEuothera biennis . . Lychnis vespertina 1 2 4 8 11 23 21 7 2 1 1 1 1 Hour of waking. 2 A.M. 3 „ 4 „ 5 „ 6 „ 7 ., 8 „ 9 » 10 „ 12 2 P.M. 6 n 7 „ Though there seems to be no time of the day when the blossoms of certain plants cannot open, yet in the greater number of cases they are closed soon after sunset ; the number of species increases at first slowly, then more rapidly from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m., and then decreases again rapidly till midday. After that hour, only those species open which are night-bloomers. Commencement of sleep. Number of species. Hours of the day Pyrethrum corymbosum . 1 . . . . 2 a.m. (Enothera biennis ... 1 6 „ Lychnis vespertina ... 1 7 „ Sonchus asper .... 1 9 ,. Lactuca scariola .... 1 11 „ Scorzonera laciniata . . 1 12 6 1 P.M. 3 2 13 3 „ 13 4 „ 11 5 „ 17 6 „ 8 7 „ 2 8 „ 4 9 „ Passiflora coerulea ... 1 10 „ Gentiana cruciata ... 1 11 „ With the exception of a few hours about midnight, there is on 6 PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. hour in the course of the day at which blossoms do not beg n to close, yet there are a few only in which, this is the case about midday, from which time the number increases, reaching its maximum at six, and then again decreasing. The results may be arranged in a table as follows : — Commencement Awakening. Number of Difference be- Hour. of sleep. Number of tween the third and second species. species. column. r.M. 0-5 7 1 - 6 „ 2-5 16 1 -15 „ 4-5 24 — 24 „ 6-5 25 2 — 23 „ 8-5 6 — 6 „ 10-5 2 — 2 „ 12-5 A.M. 2'5 1 3 + 2 „ 4-5 12 + 12 „ 6-5 2 34 + 33 „ 8-5 1 28 -r 27 „ 10-5 1 2 + 1 It appeal's from this table, that the hour (6 p.m.) at which the greater number begin to close is twelve hours distant from that (0 a.m.) at which the greater number begin to expand, and tbat in general there is an opposition between the two phenomena, so far as regards the fact, that at those times of the day when the greater number of flowers are open, a smaller number also are closed, and the contrary. In the table of differences in the fourth column, it is observable that the difference is negative up to midnight, that is, during that part of the day during which the tendency to sleep is the greatest, and positive during the other twelve hours ; negative that is while the sun is westward, positive while it is eastward. From sunrise, and so long as the height of the sun increases, with few exceptions blossoms are opening ; from midday, while the height is decreasing, the contrary takes place. But not only does this connection between the situation of the sun and the phases of the blossoms exist in the principal epocbs, but also in the magnitude of the alterations in either kind of phenomenon. At midnight, at the time of the inferior culmination of the sun, when the expansion of the petals is at zero, we find, as also at mid-day, when, as will appear afterwards, it rcacbes its maximum, there is PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. 7 no alteration of phase, whereas the change is the most striking exactly at those periods of the day when the angle of the sun's altitude changes most rapidly. The duration of expansion is clearly merely the complement of that of remaining closed within the twenty-four hours. The time of the day, however, at which the greatest expansion takes place deserves notice, for the vital powers are there exhibited in the greatest action. Time of greatest expa> SIC N. Lychnis vcspertina . 1 Sonchus asper ... 1 9 1 A.M 7 „ 8 „ 7 9 „ 15 10 „ 11 11 ., 15 12 12 1 P.M. 8 2 „ 4 3 „ 4 „ Passiflora cocrulea . . 1 5 „ Pyretlmim corymbosum 1 CEnothera biennis . . 1 10 „ n „ In general, the number of species whose blossoms attain the maximum of their phase increases from sunrise to midday, and then decreases till sunset. None of the day-bloomers is open till 7 a.m., or later than 5 p.m. A similar law seems to hold good with the night-bloomers, which generally seem to open their cup fully towards midnight, while at mid-day they are completely closed. Now if these results are arranged as in Table A. we have, — TABLE B. Time of greatest expansion. Night blossoms. Day blossoms. Difference between third and second colnmn. P.M. 0-5 27 + 27 „ 2-5 13 + 13 i, 4-5 4 + 4 „ 6-5 „ 8-5 „ 10-5 2 — 2 „ 12-5 1 — 1 A.M. 2'5 „ 4-5 „ 65 1 + 1 „ 8-5 16 + 16 „ 10-5 26 + 26 8 PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. It appears then that at the inferior culmination of the sun the night-bloomers are most expanded ; that the expansion decreases as the sun approaches the horizon ; that at suurise they close, when the day-bloomers commence their phases, being most expanded at midday, and closed again towards sunset, when the night-bloomers in turn recommence their course. From these tables it is clear that the phenomena of flowers, so far as they relate to the sleep of plants, and the diurnal periodical change in the state of the blossoms, are in close causal connection with the apparent daily course of the sun, and therefore its insolation and diurnal variation must be regarded as the proximate cause of the diurnal periodical return of the interchange between 6leep and waking. The next point which engages our notice is the connection of the duration of sleep with the epoch of the greatest expansion . The author,* in another treatise, had proposed certain laws as regulating the sleep of plants. The first is as follows : — " In those blossoms which are fully expanded in the morning, the duration of expansion is short." New observations have afforded the following results with respect to those flowers which are fully expanded from 12 p.m. to mid-day : — Hour of complete expansiou. Duration of sleep 12 Hours. Sonchus asper . . 7 „ ... 20 10 species . . 8 „ ... 14 - 1 mean. 7 „ . . 9 „ ... 16-6 „ 13 „ . . 10 „ ... 13-8 „ 11 „ . . 11 „ ... 15-5 „ The mean duration of sleep in forty-one species which expand in the morning is 148 hours, that is, 08 greater than the mean duration of sleep in eighty-six species for which the duration of sleep has been determined without respect to the diurnal epoch of the maximum change. In twenty-six species the duration is greater, and only in sixteen species less than 14 2. The law is therefore strengthened by a multiplication of observations. A second law was, " In those plants whose blossoms expand in the afternoon, the condition of waking is limited by the duration of the physical day, or the length of time the sun is above the horizon." * Abk. der. Km. Ocsell. der Wissenschafien, V. Folye, 4 Band. p. 83. PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. Hour of com- Duration plete expansion. of sleep. 1 2 species . . 1 p.m. 13 "4 mean. 8 „ . . . 2 „ 13-7 „ 4 „ . . . 3 „ 12-6 „ Hour of com- Duration plete expansion. of sleep. Passiflora ccerulea . . 5 p.m. 14 PyrethrumcoryrnbosumlQ „ 11 5 Oenothera biennis . . 11 „ 12 The mean duration of sleep in twenty-seven species whose flowers expand after midday is 12*9, that is, 1*3 less than the normal duration. In those cases where the full expansion takes place at mid-day, observations on fifteen species give a mean of l4 - 2. The second law is therefore confirmed. A third is, " Those plants which expand at night seem never to fall completely into the state of sleep." In the author's former observations the duration of sleep was confined to those hours in which no alteration takes place in the phases, whereas in the treatise before us it is extended to the time at which the expansion has attained its mean diurnal condition. The law therefore must be stated in the following terms : — " In those plants whose blossoms are fully expanded in the night, the duration of sleep is the shortest." The mean duration of sleep in the three night- blowing plants which have been so often quoted is ll - 8, that is, less than twelve hours, and therefore the third law also is established. The following list contains a comparative view of the duration of sleep in flowers which open at different times of the day : — Morning bloomers (41 species) 14 "8 Mid-day bloomers (15 species) 14*2 Afternoon bloomers (27species) 12 - 9 Night bloomers (3 species). . 11 "8 A fourth law was laid down in the following terms : — " Those blossoms which are fully expanded in the morning open in general more rapidly than they close, while in those which open in the afternoon the contrary law prevails." This will appear from the following table : — Time of full expansion. Phase increasing. Phase Difference between decreasing, inc. and dec. phase. Lychnis vespertina 1 A.M. . 6 Hours . . 6 Hours Sonchus asper . . 7 „ . 2 • • 2 9 species . . . 8 „ . 3'9 mean . . 6 - mean — 21 7 „ . . . 9 „ • 2-6 „ .. 4-8 „ — 2-2 12 „ . . . 10 „ • 4-1 „ . . 61 „ — 20 11 „ . . . 11 „ . 3-4 „ . . 5-1 „ — 1-7 15 „ . . . 12 • 4-6 „ . . 52 „ — 0-6 12 „ . . . 1 P.M. • 5-3 „ . . 5-3 „ o-o 8 „ . . . 2 „ . 56 „ .. 46 „ + 1-0 4 „ . . . 3 „ • 8-0 „ . . 35 „ + 4-5 Passiflora ccerulea . 5 „ . 5 . 5 o-o Pyrethrnm co- \ rymbosum . J 10 „ . 8-5 . . 4 + 4-5 (Enothera biennis . 11 „ . 5 . 7 — 2-0 10 PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OP FLOWERS. In those plants, therefore, which are fully expanded in the morning, the increase of the phase does not last so long as the decrease, while in those which are fully open after mid-day the contrary takes place. When hlossoms begin to open in consequence of the cessation of sleep, the change takes place generally at first slowly, then more rapidly ; as it approaches its maximum, the increase is again retarded ; in a few plants only the complete expansion lasts an hour — more commonly not so much ; and then they begin to close again at first slowly, then more rapidly, and as they approach the maximum of approximation of their petals, the progress is again slow, till the flower, in a more or less closed condition, remains, without any regularity, many hours, till the time comes round for a new cycle of phases. Estimating therefore the angular value of the degree of expansion as follows : — Angular value of phase. Corresponding angle. Perfectly closed ... Half open 50 45° Completely expanded .100 90° Half reflected .... 150 135° Completely reflected . 200 180° We have — Minimum ir 17 species . . . = „ 28 . = 1 — 10 „ 18 . =11 — 20 „ 5 . =21 — 30 „ 10 „ . =31—40 „ 4 » • • . =41 — 50 The maximum therefore approaches more or less 0°, and in no case exceeds 45°. Anthemis cotula, Chrysanthemum cari- natum, and Pyrethrum corymbosum are exceptions to this rule, whose blossoms are reflected at the time of the maximum of expansion. The mean degree of expansion not only depends on the dura- tion of sleep, and is, in plants with a longer duration, smaller than in those whose sleep is shorter, but is affected by the magnitude of the extremes, and the daily variations of the degree of expansion. Therefore the number of plants in the different gradations remains nearly the same, and decreases rapidly only when the phases approach the mean minimum or maximum. PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. 11 The limits of the mean expansion, excepting Pyrethrum corym- bosum, are 5° and 67°. As regards the maximum : — Maximum iu Crocus vera us . . . . = 31 — 40 .„ 4 species = 41 — 50 10 „ = 51—60 14 „ = 61—70 15 „ = 71—80 16 „ = 81—90 13 „ = 91 — 100 „ 4 „ =101—110 8 „ =111 — 120 Borkhausia fcetida . . = 121 — 130 „ Solauum vulgare . . = 131 — 140 „ Scorzonera hispanica . =141 — 150 „ Tigridia pavonia . . = 180 „ Pyrethrum corymbosum = 190 The same proportions hold good as with respect to the mean expansion. The number of species increases as the phase approaches 100 (90°), and then decreases. The usual limits of the maximum lie between 30 and 130. With reference to the whole amount of expansion, or difference between the maximum and minimum, the case is much the same as with the maximum. The number of species increases when the variation amounts to 75, and decreases when it exceeds that measure. The limits of the diurnal change lie between 25 and 130, corresponding to angles of 22° and 112°. 2. Dependence of the degree of expansion on temperature. — We have seen that the time of sleep, as well with regard to its duration as to the period at which it begins or ceases, is in close connexion with the apparent daily course of the sun. This is not the case with the degree of expansion, inasmuch as the temperature of the air and other cosmical conditions are important agents in the matter, as is evident on theoretic grounds : for the influence of the sun's rays (insolation) on plants is greatly modified by meteoric conditions, though the duration of the sun's influence is always the same, at the same time of the year, as its apparent diurnal course. The following table shows the temperature at which the flowers of different species begin to expand. Since the time of the year seems to influence the temperature at which plants wake from their sleep, the mean epoch of observation for every group is reckoned from the time appended in the tables to each individual species : — 12 PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. Degree of temperature. Mean time of observation. 38'75 two species April 3. 43-25 five „ April 18. 4775 nine 5225 sixteen 5675 fourteen 61-22 six May 18. June 16 July 5. July 12. 66-75 (Malva Alcea) .... July 7. The limits of temperature between which flowers begin to open are 38-75° and 65-75°. The number of species increases up to about 54-5°, and then decreases. We observe too that the temperature requisite is so much the higher, as the time at which the plants blow advances in the year. But since plants in general, in the same degree, require a higher temperature for their expansion, the position may be regarded as sure that species which require a higher temperature to attain certain stages of expansion awake from their sleep at a higher tem- perature. The following table indicates the temperature at which the greatest degree of expansion takes place : — Degree of temperature. Mean time of observation. 47'75 Mirabilis Jalapa (night-bloomer) 56-75 Erodium cicutarium, "1 Mr Lychnis vespertina (night-bloomer) j * ^ ' 61-25 foui' species 1 Funkia japonica (night-bloomer) . > . . Aug. 10. Oenothera biennis (night-bloomer) J 65-75 three species July 2. 70-25 eleven „ May 27. 74-75 thirteen „ May 30. 79-25 fifteen „ June 26. 83 - 75 twenty „ June 29. 88-25 thirteen „ July 13. 97'25 Echinocactus Ottonis July 15. 106'25 Carlina acaulis Sep. 1. The night-bloomers reach the maximum of expansion at from 47-75°— 61-25°. The day-bloomers from 79-25°— 88-25°. The remaining two species are exceptional. The number of species whose blossoms are fully expanded in the day increases from 56-75° — 83-75°; many species, however, expand under 81-25°, above that temperature extremely few, and so far from the expan- * The temperature is given in the original according to Reaumur's scale, but is here adapted to Fahrenheit. PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. 13 sion increasing, blossoms are perfectly closed when the temperature attains certain limits. At what temperature this takes place appears from the following table : — Temperature at which all motion of the corolla ceases : 74'75 three species. 83-75 three „ 88-25 five 92 - 75 four „ 97-25 seven „ 101-75 Commelina ccelestis. These then are flowers which cannot bear a temperature of 7475, while others endure up to 97 - 25° and above. It is worthy of remark, that the greater number are collected at 97 - 25, the absolute limit of the temperature of the air in the latitude of Prag, beyond which limit examples are very rare. The importance of the part which is played by the temperature of the air is very evident from these facts : except it reaches a certain height, blossoms do not begin to open ; they are not fully expanded, but only proportionally till it attains a definite degree ; when it exceeds this, some blossoms close, while others probably are at their greatest phase, till the temperature sinks below a certain limit. The daily course of change must thence be infi- nitely modified. If the temperature in the course of the day does not at any hour reach that degree at which the motion of the corolla begins, the more or less closed blossoms will exhibit the same form through the whole day for want of sensibility, and probably, also, stand still as regards their evolution or even their vital functions. The opposite case will arise if the temperature keep continually at that height which is requisite for the full expansion of the blossoms. If the range of temperature remain within these bounds, that of change will not reach that limit. In the following table the plants are arranged according to the alteration of phase which takes place on an increase or decrease of 22-50 of temperature (18 Reaumur); we have here the first approximation to the co-efficient for the reduction of the phase for a specific and equal temperature, and the means of judging whether the daily range of expansion depends alone on the range of temperature or on other circumstances. The co-efficient is valid within the degrees of temperature to which the motion of the petals is confined, and is positive between (t . . . T) where t is the temperature at which the flower begins to expand, T the temperature at which the maximum expansion takes place ; and 14 PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. negative between (T . . . f) where t' is the temperature at which all motion ceases. Co-efticient of temperature, or change Mean daily produced by i acrease of temperature. alteration of phase 225 degrees. Aphelexis huruilis + (11 — 20) 5 species . . + (21 — 30) . . . 40-2 <> » . . + (31 — 40) . . . 59-2 20 „ . . + (41 — 50) . . . 61-8 11 n . . + (51 — 60) . . . 68-9 15 „ . . + (61 — 70) . . . 74-1 10 „ . . + (71 — 80) . . . (61-8)1 7 „ . . + (81 — 90) . . . 84-6 7 „ . . + (91 — 100) . . . 84-4 2 „ . . + (101 — 110) . . 69 2 „ . . + (111 — 120) . . 56 2 . . + (121 —130) Tigridia pav ouia . + (ISO) This shews clearly the immense influence of temperature. In a few plants only the petals approach the horizon, on an increase of 22 - 5°, less than 30°, or what is the same thing, diverge from each other when opposed less than 60°. In most cases the increase of divergence extends from 80° — 170°, in individual cases as much as 240° and in Tigridia pavonia above 820°. Even those blossoms, whose phase is altered together with the temperature, in the same sense, change their range into the opposite when the temperature exceeds certain limits. This is the case with those plants which form the transition from day-bloomers to night-bloomers. Though it cannot be denied, taking these observations into consideration, that temperature is far the most important agent as regards the magnitude of the changes which take place in the phases of flowers, such alteration cannot be sufficiently explained from the diurnal range of temperature alone, but other meteoric agents probably are at work. The answer to this question supposes the co-efficients of temperature and its limits to be more accurately and fully determined than is at present the case. 3. Insolation. — The inquiry with respect to the influence of insolation, or exposure to the direct rays of the sun, has the most intimate connexion with what has been said, for at that time of the year when plants expand their blossoms, insolation is the most pro- ductive source of high temperature. Beyond doubt, however, it exercises not only this but also an immediate influence on the expansion of flowers, in consequence of their susceptibility for the PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. 15 excitement of light. As the higher temperature of summer is produced especially by the degree and duration of insolation, so this in turn may be regarded as a function of the apparent daily course of the sun. But if the duration of sleep, its limits, and the times of the greatest expansion are immediately dependent on insolation, the epochs relative to the sleep of plants in diffei'ent species are only so far comparable with one another, as they are referred to the same length of day. The following tables in connexion with this subject now demand our attention : — Plants which wake from sleep before sunrise : Antkericuni ramosuui. Ipomoea purpurea. Catananche versicolor. Plants which wake before the beginning of insolation : Ipomcoa purpurea, 5 hours before or — 5 2 species — 4 7 „ —3 9 „ — 2 19 „ —1 While then 4 per cent, of the plants examined open their blossoms before sunrise, this is the case with 45 per cent, before they are reached by the first direct sunbeam. As many species, therefore, seem to require the direct light of the sun in order to their expansion, as those which need only that which is diffused in the atmosphere ; a very few only are so delicately susceptible, as to expand at the glimmer of twilight. Plants which wake at sunrise : 6 species. Plants whose blossoms open at the commencement of insola- tion : 22 species. It is clear that sunrise is only so far an important moment for the physiognomy of the floral world, as the position in which plants are placed is favourable to their immediate insolation, which can only be the case where the field of view is perfectly clear. Although the greater number of plants must be exposed to the direct rays of the sun before their flowers expand, yet we cannot suppose that this must necessarily take place at sunrise, when the position is such that it is accessible to the rays of the rising sun, and is not first insolated when the sun has attained a high angle. It is more probable that the latter condition is requisite, in order that the insolation may have attained a due 16 PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OP FLOWERS. intensity. The author's observations were made in a position where the insolation did not begin till three hours after sunrise. Plants which wake after sunrise : 9 species, 1 hour after or . . . . + 1 15 „ +2 25 „ +3 19 „* +4 3 „ +5 Passiflora cccrulea +8 Pyrethrum corymbosum (night-bloomer) +10 Oenothera biennis „ . + 14 Lychnis vespertina „ . + 15 Plants whose blossoms open after the commencement of insolation : 15 species, 1 hour after or . . . . + 1 6 „ +2 Passiflora coerulea +5 Pyrethrum corymbosum (night-bloomer) + 6 Oenothera biennis „ + 10 Lychnis vespertina „ +12 Since the number increases up to three hours after sunrise, and then rapidly decreases, when, at that period, insolation has com- menced, the beginning of insolation may be regarded as the normal period for the cessation of sleep. On a consideration of the results of these observations, the following general position may be considered as proved : — Plants require the light of the sun, in order to awake from sleep, either immediately from insolation, or indirectly from diffusion in the atmosphere. In the last respect, the sensitiveness of some plants for light is so great, that their blossoms begin to open the moment the rays of the sun illuminate the higher regions of the atmo- sphere, wbich in summer is the case to a greater or less degree through the whole of the night. A few blossoms therefore expand before sunrise. Since this is connected with no quick accession of intensity of light, but with the transition from the faintest glimmer of twilight to the weakest insolation, the great diurnal periodically returning act of sunrise is not accompanied by any striking effect on the floral world. More blossoms do not expand at sunrise than the general and steady accession of intensity of light would lead one to expect. As, however, the intensity of light increases, the number increases which expand, in order to be in readiness to receive the breath of PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. 17 life through the falling rays, till the moment when insolation commences, after which the number again decreases. At mid-day, with few exceptions, and those of night-bloomers, every flower has opened its cup. It is time, however, to institute a similar inquiry into the circum- stances attendant on the cessation of insolation and the setting of the sun. Plants whose blossoms close before the end of insolation : Sonehus asper, 10 hours before, or — 10 Lactuca scariola — 8 Scorzonera laciniata — 7 5 species — 6 5 „ — 5 10 „ — 4 6 „ — 3 12 „ — 2 14 „ — 1 The number of species increases as the hour approaches at which insolation ceases. No blossom closes before the insolation begins, for even those plants whose cups are closed before mid-day remain for some hours with open cups exposed to the direct rays of the sun. Plants whose blossoms close with the cessation of insolation : 11 species. Plants whose blossoms close after the cessation of insolation : 2 species 2 3 3 „ 2 2 3 Lychnis vespertina (Enothera biennis + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 6 + 7 + 12 + 15 When insolation, and therewith a higher degree of intensity of light, has ceased, a peculiar apathy, as regards the light which still remains, seems to possess the vegetable kingdom, for though with the rapidly decreasing intensity one might expect a rapid increase in the number of plants which close their blossoms, almost an equal number of cases occurs at every hour after the end of insolation. We must suppose, therefore, that in consequence of many hours' exposure to the influence of the direct rays, their susceptibility towards the far fainter light which is dispersed in 18 PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. the atmosphere is lost, and therefore some other cause than the decreasing sunlight is at work in closing the flowers, which does not depend on any diurnal period. Plants which close their hlossoms at or hefore sunset : Sonchus asper, 11 hours = — 11 Lactuca scariola ... — 9 Scorzonera laciniata . 4 species 5 12 10 13 13 — 7 — 6 — 5 — 4 — 3 — 2 — 1 Sunset then, like suni'ise, is no decisive element in the question, for the number of flowers which close is far less at that hour than some hours earlier. As, however, the sun advances in its coui'se, the number of plants which fall asleep increases. Plants which close their blossoms after sunset : 2 species +1 4 „ ......+ 2 Gentiana cruciata . . . + 3 Pyrethrum corymbosum . + 6 GEnothera biennis . . . +10 Lychnis vespertina . . +11 A few hours after the insolation has begun in the morning, the corolla of most plants is expanded, others begin to close as the insolation becomes more intense, while a few still expand. After mid-day the number of closed blossoms rapidly increases when the insolation has reached its maximum. With the exception of night-bloomers there are no plants whose cup has not been expanded, and is now rapidly closing. As the insolation declines, the number of closing blossoms increases, and becomes small at the moment of the cessation of insolation. Later in the day, the number of blossoms which close is from hour to hour nearly equal ; neither the decrease of intensity of diffused light, nor the departure of the sun, nor the far less intensity of twilight, seems to have any influence on the law of the decrease of the number of closing flowers. 4. Dependence of the sleep of plants upon the colour of their corolla. — Those plants, the progress of whose phases can be graphically PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. 19 represented, are ninety-three, which, arranged according to the colours of the blossoms, are — White . . 22 or 23-8 per cent, Blue . • 12 „ 12-9 Yellow . 39-5 „ 42-5 Red . . 19-5 „ 20-9 93 100-1 The result is the same as what had been previously announced by the author : — " That with the exception of yellow blossoms, the white possess the strongest tendency to contract and expand, and then the red and blue in equal proportions; " and the same holds good if every plant which is not indigenous be struck out of the list. Now if all plants indigenous to Bohemia be arranged according to colour, the result is, White . . 677 = 37 per cent. Blue ... 165 = 9 Yellow . . 586 = 32 Red . . . 403 = 22 „ Since then for every hundred species of each kind of colour there is the following number of observed species whose blossoms open and close, — White . . =2-21 Blue . . . = 515 Yellow . . = 5-56 Red . . . = 149 we have the following law : — " The relative number of plants whose blossoms open and close is the greatest in the yellow and blue, and smallest in the white and red." The tables which show the dependence of the duration of sleep and its limits on the colour of the flowers are too long and com- plicated for insertion; it appears, however, that the duration of sleep in the white and red blossoms \ (13-1 + 137) = 13-4 In the blue and yellow, | (14-9 + 14-6) = 1475 As the number of species which periodically close and expand was found to be greater in the blue and yellow than in the white and red, so the duration of sleep is found to be T35 hours longer in the one case than in the other. It appears, also, that the blue and yellow blossoms are more susceptible of the influence c 2 20 PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. of the light of the sun than the white and red, for in a like numher of species of each colour there is in hoth the first groups not only a far greater number of plants whose blossoms open and shut periodically, but there is a far shorter period of the operation of light on them, by which the plants wake from sleep, and com- pletely expand their flowers, and consequently they fall the sooner into a state of repose. Again, as regards temperature we have — Colour. Temperature at which flowers wake from sleep. Temperature at which flowers attain the greatest expansion. Temperature at which flowers lose all motion. Co-efficient of temperature ili'teroiiued as above. White and red . . Blue and yellow. 51-125 51-125 75-65 78-8 88-7 93-65 41-7 34-3 While then the colour of the blossoms seems to have no influence on the temperature at which plants wake from sleep, those which have blue and yellow flowers require a higher temperature for full expansion, and are capable of enduring greater heat than the white and red, and consequently the co-efficient of temperature is less. In general, the difference of this influence of temperature seems to increase in proportion as it is raised above that degree at which plants wake from sleep. White and red blossoms need a longer action of the light of the sun, and a higher temperature of the air, in order to expand then- petals, than blue and yellow ; but when the epoch has arrived at which sleep ceases, this proportion is changed, and the maximum expansion of the latter requires a higher temperature, and this ratio continues to that time of the day when sleep again takes place, since the blue and yellow fall into that condition earlier, and at a higher tempei'ature, than the white and red. There is a very close connection between this last inquiry and the question what influence insolation has on the time of sleep and its limits, taking colour into consideration. The following result is yielded by the tables : — End of sleep. + 0-5 Colour of petals. White and red (after beginning or "I end of insolation) J Blue and yellow (before beginning "• ~ k or end of insolation) . . . j Beginning of sleep. + 0-9 . — 1-6 The white and red open after the commencement of insolation, and close after the insolation has ceased, while the blue and yellow PERIODICAL OPENING AND CLOSING OF FLOWERS. 21 open and close before the beginning or end of insolation, whence we have a fresh confirmation of the position that white and red blossoms possess a weaker sensibility for light than the blue and yellow. It remains under this head to consider the influence of colour on the magnitude of the phase. The tables give the following mean result : — Colour. Minimum phase. Mean phase. Maximum phase. Daily change. White aud red . . Blue and yellow. 231 9-0 40-6 33-5 83-2 82-9 66-7 73-7 We see here that the difference of phase in either group is the greatest at the period of the minimum, that it decreases as the mean phase approaches, aud has nearly vanished at the time of the maximum ; the daily change, too, is greater in the blue and yellow than in the white and red. 5. Dependence on the natural orders of plants. — The only remain- ing point under consideration is the dependence of the phenomena of sleep in plants on the families to which the plants belong. It appears then, from the author's observations, that the duration of sleep, or the time of its commencement and cessation, is as little dependent on the order in which they come in the natural system as the epoch at which they are in full splendour. After an examination of the phenomena exhibited, it appears generally that the Period of waking . , Period of full expansion = „ Period of commence- 1 ment of sleep . . j = from 3 a.m. = „ 10 „ 9 a.m. =: 6 hours 2 p.m. — 4 3 p.m. — 7 = 4 These periods are limited with tolerable precision, so that very rarely a family of plants goes through the different phases beyond the prescribed limits. We are, therefore, compelled to allow that, however manifold and different the causes may be which modify the daily range of phase, still the principal cause of periodicity is the same in every family, and this is the diurnal range of insola- tion ; when it begins, sleep ceases, full expansion is synchronous with its maximum, and sleep again takes place when it ceases. The relation between the magnitude of the phase and the series of natural families is as unimportant as that which regards the limits of sleep. 22 MAGNOLIA GRANDIFLOKA. II. — On Magnolia obandiflora. By John Saul ; Washington, United States. (Communicated December 7th, 1852.) Among evergreen trees few, if any, can compare in beauty or stateliness with this Magnolia ; whether we look at its fine broad expansive foliage, the size, beauty, and fragrance of its flowers, or the noble grandeur of the tree, all must admit it to be one of the greatest ornaments a garden can possess. It is pretty generally known in England, but what are the finest trees in that country compared with specimens of it here ! Iu the Isle of Wight, and some parts of Devonshire, I have seen, perhaps, some of the best examples of it in England ; these were principally standard trees. I have also remarked in various parts of the country very fine trees trained to walls. It appears to me, however, that the majority of cultivators of this tree in England err in its manage- ment, as I shall presently attempt to show ; but first let us view it in this its native country. The Magnolia is quite at home in the southern states, com- mencing with South Carolina, in which it attains a large size, and is one of the greatest ornaments of the forest, but my present purpose is to draw attention to its cultivation in the middle states, where the winters are more severe. About New York this tree is not hardy, a circumstance at which one need not be surprised when it is recollected that the thermometer occasionally sinks as low as from 15° to 20° below Zero, yet even here Magnolias may be kept alive out of doors if they are well pro- tected. About Washington it is perfectly hardy, braving with indifference the greatest cold: the past winter was unusually severe, the thermometer having sunk as low as 5° and 6° below Zero, yet no injury was sustained by this tree: exposed and unpro- tected, not a leaf or young shoot was harmed ; some of the gardens here can boast of handsome specimens, though they are not very remarkable for large size. On the opposite shores of the beautiful Potomac River, a few miles below Alexandria, is Mount Vernon, the once quiet retreat of the illustrious Washing- ton, and still bis resting place. Tbis great man, who was well known to have enjoyed more real delight and happiness in rural affairs than in military exploits, planted and enriched his place with many rare and beautiful trees of his native land ; the Magnolia, among other species, here found a home ; at the present MAGNOLIA GRANDIFLORA. 23 time one magnificent specimen cannot measure less than from fifty to sixty feet in height, feathered to the ground with branches ; this is one of the most beautiful trees of the kind I have ever seen. Let us inquire under what circumstances these plants have been grown. Mount Vernon consists of high ground, sloping to the river; by nature, it is therefore well drained; the soil is a sandy loam on a gravelled bottom ; under such conditions is it to be wondered at that plants thrive? The winters there must be fully as severe as about Washington ; cold, therefore, such as I have been describing, will not hurt the plant. The summers are long and intensely hot; the dry burning heat and brilliant sun which are 60 fatal to many English evergreens, roasting their foliage com- pletely off, have no ill effect upon the Magnolia; on the contrary, they have a good effect, for the trees evidently enjoy the warmth, and why not ? they are at home in it ; and this intense heat, burning sun, and well-drained soil, have produced the fine Magnolias, about which we have been speaking. If cultivators in England, therefore, wish to follow nature and attain success, they must plant in well-drained soil, (no matter what sort if well drained,) in an open airy situation where the tree will get all the sun that the British climate can possibly afford, and there is not much fear of the results. No cold in England will hurt the Magnolia, provided the wood is well ripened, and it may be planted out, as standards in the most northern counties. In this country, where the wood is well matured, it blooms in a very young state and most abundantly, from the middle to the end of June. I have known persons in England regularly house their young plants in winter ; there is, however, no necessity for this if the wood is ripe. How often is this plant turned out against a south wall on a well-made border, and well sheltered : in such situations the plant grows freely, very often too freely and late, if it is not injured by frost ; the wood is so soft and unripe that it cannot produce a bloom, until the plant is comparatively old and stunted. The only trees in Britain which I should consider properly placed were those to which I have alluded in the Isle of Wight and Devonshire; there they appeared to me to have been planted chiefly in the natural well-drained soil, in which they did not grow so rapidly as in rich borders ; they grew moderately, very bushy, ripened their wood well, and tbe result was abundance of bloom. As to plants, seed to any extent might be had from the southern states, and the plants 24 PEARS, PEACH KS, ETC. might be raised, grown, and offered in quantities as cheap as Portugal Laurels. If this tree looks grand in sequestered spots, will it not also prove effective in masses or clumps in the garden, the shrubbery, or the extensive park? There it would be at home, giving a mas- siveness and boldness to the landscape. J II. — Pears, Peaches, etc., at Oulton Park, Tarporeey, Cheshire. By Ptobert Errington, C.M.H.S., Gardener to Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton, Bt., F.H.S. (Communicated December 7th, 1852.) This has been the best season for Pears and Peaches I ever knew ; they have been unusually abundant, of fine size, and excellent in quality for a northern climate. There is one feature in the autumn worthy of particular remark, and that is the unusually protracted mildness of it, as compared with the majority of autumns. Up to this period, December 4th, we have had in the main what may fairly be termed September weather ; and no doubt the average of the thermometer would range some 6° or 8° over ordinary seasons. Now, if this be correct and Pears are finer flavoured than usual, to what does it point but the propriety of using a little artificial warmth, under ordinary autumnal condi- tions, to promote those 'chemical changes in the fruit at that critical period when nature intended them to ripen : for, doubt- less, every fruit has one period more fitting than another. I, for one, have for years contended for a small artificially warmed room, to ripen off and do justice to fruits ; and experience only confirms the opinion. But my chief purpose in these remarks is to point to a few useful practical facts which concern every fruit-grower in the kingdom. It is now more than twenty years since I drew attention to the propriety of shallow soils for tender fruit-trees, taking as the basis of my recommendation the ripening of the wood, which indeed constitutes in itself the only solid foundation for all prac- tice. Since then I have had ample opportunities of confirming the soundness of such views ; this year more than usual. I have a flat table of Pears here, about thirty yards in length, which was a perfect picture, and which produced some of the fiuest Pears in PEARS, PEACHES, ETC. £5 the gardens, many of tbem far superior to the walls. This was originally intended for a table trellis, but somehow the trellis was never applied, and they were trained out with rough stakes : now they are so stout with age as to be capable of sustaining them- selves at about one foot from the soil, and parallel therewith. We had here, Beurre Bosc, Winter Nelis, Beurre Diel, Glout morceau, and Marie Louise, in the highest perfection, so fine, indeed, that Mr. Yates the great Manchester fruiterer, who happened to call, said that he had never in all his life seen such a sight. Now these Pears were planted some fifteen years since on platforms ten inches deep in soil : a rather adhesive loam without any admixture ; they have never received the least culture at root; the soil, indeed, is hard as a footpath over their roots. A Beurre d'Aremberg tree was planted in an imitation alluvium about sixteen years since ; this tree is on a quince stock, and never fails to produce good crops. It is about twenty feet high, a noble standard, the stem ten inches diameter, and the general form a drooping pyramid, if the term may be allowed : this tree pro- duced this year more than a bushel of excellent Pears, thus proving that tender French Pears may be grown as standards much further north than people imagine. The wood on these trees, planted on shallow platforms, is, as might be expected, exceedingly short-jointed and stubby, and covered with spurs. All coarse breast wood is, if time permit, rubbed away as produced, in summer, and every short-jointed young shoot showing opposite indications left to be tied down to the branch whence it proceeds. In the end of July or early in August, every young shoot is pinched ; that is to say, the point removed by the hand, or, if labour be scarce, the shears ; and, henceforth, I hold it good practice to continue at iutervals to repeat the operation : this gradually removes the incentives to a fitful root-action, which, by continued excitement, throws more fluid matter into the tree than can be elaborated through the medium of our chilly autumns ; and the sure consequences of which are an arrest of that amount of solidification in the wood, which is nature's aim, and a certain concomitant of both health and fruitiferous tendencies. I therefore beg again to direct attention to those parts which lie at the bottom of all tender fruit-culture : it may be added that our most hardy fruits have not a perfect immunity from these conditions. As for Peaches and Nectarines, how strange it is that we still 26 PEARS, PEACHES, ETC. hear such complaints about their failure out-doors ; and that too by men of first-rate practice, who perhaps possess two or three Peach-houses in their forcing establishments, in which, on the average, they succeed admirably. Does not this point to the extra precautions necessary in dealing with out-door matters in Britain ? Not in making deep and rich borders, but in avoiding them. The out-door borders here are just ten inches deep, but then they have had a surface-dressing of six inches. These trees always bear a very full crop of first-rate Peaches ; so good that they command the highest price in the market : my note-book tells of more than one hundred dozen from a space of wall fifty yards long by three yards high ; all first-rate Peaches and Nectarines. Here again, the trees on shallow platforms ; top dressings resorted to occasionally by anticipation in the original plan, and a total absence of all cultural operations to a distance of six feet from the wall ; with the exception of the surface-dressing, which is a part of the system. One other point may be adverted to, and that is the protection of the blossoms ; I here must allude to the retarding principle of covering very early in the spring, in order to throw the blooming period later, and thereby increase the chances as regards atmo- spheric conditions. If there be any merit in this practice, I must lay claim to a considerable portion of it. There can be no question now, that such practice, rightly carried out, will suit well the average of seasons : it will, to use a parliamentary phrase, " command a majority." I must here candidly confess, that my attention was mainly directed to this view of the question, originally, by the marginal remarks in the Society's fruit cata- logue. Many years since, my attention was attracted to such marginal notes as these : — "bloom late, escape the spring frosts," &c. Such should naturally suggest the idea of retardation, if it could be practically and economically carried out ; and all I can say is, that if it depended on a vast amount of labour it would long since have fallen through. As it is, we stick lots of fir boughs, the spruce if possible, amongst the branches early in February, and by such means we seldom miss a crop. This of course refers to the Espalier Pears, as also most of those on walls : the Peaches are covered in the end of January with canvas, which is withdrawn two or three times a week on dull days, in order to keep the bud hardy ; they are, however, sedu- lously closed during sunshine, in order to carry out the retardation principle. PREMATURE DECAY OF PEACH AND APRICOT TREES. 27 In concluding these remarks, I would observe, that within little more than a score miles of this place, are gardens in which flued walls are considered indispensable in the out-door culture of the Peach and Nectarine. I have seen as many as from four to six fire holes to a south Peach wall ; and they really look very expensive things. IV. — On the prematuee Decay of Peach and Apricot Trees. By J. B. Whiting, C.M.H.S., Gardener to H. J. Hope, Esq., the Deepdene, near Dorking. (Communicated December 7th, 1852.) In a paper (Vol. VI. p. 128) on the short duration of wall-trees, Mr. G. Lovell ascribes the premature failure of the Peach and its allies chiefly to improper management of the trees during the first stages of their growth, and as a remedy he recommends a course of treatment differing but little from a method described in Vol. II. of Loudon s Gardeners Magazine, but which has never been brought regularly into practice, principally, perhaps, on account of its requiring more time and attention than the mode of management now generally followed in nurseries. It is reasonable to suppose, that the present system is to a certain extent injurious to the constitution of the Peach and the Apricot-tree, which, being natives of much better climates than our own, require to be placed under the most favourable conditions to ensure even a moderate amount of success in their culture ; still I cannot altogether coincide in the opinion Mr. Lovell has expressed, that " to the disagreement between the scion and the stock, and to the early and ruthless application of the knife, may be attributed, in the majority of cases, the early death of the Peach and its allies." I think that the premature decay of our Peach-trees ought rather to be attributed to a conjunction of various causes, not one of which singly equals in evil effect an unfavourable season. In proof of this, we need not go back beyond the springs of 1850 and 1851, when the protracted cold weather blistered and destroyed much of the foliage, and even many of the tender shoots that were first unfolded, so that the young wood made very little progress till nearly the middle of May. Many Peach-trees suffered so much in consequence, that they lingered for a month or two, 28 PREMATURE DECAY OF and then died ; and still more had their constitutions irretrievably weakened. Another bad result of injury to the earliest shoots is, that the length of the growing season is thereby curtailed, and the young wood in the following autumn wants that firmness of structure which gardeners term " well-ripened," and is consequently much more subject to gum ; neither are the future flower-buds so perfectly formed as is necessary for the production of fruit. Untoward circumstances like the foregoing I hold to be a more fertile source of destruction to Peach-trees than the present system of pruning them while young ; but then climate is the cause of these evils, and " climate we cannot control." True ; but if we cannot absolutely control, we can modify climate ; and on that principle I maintain that the cheap frames and sashes, or lilliputian Peach houses, which some writers have so strenuously recom- mended, can be much more profitably employed in covering be.u'ing trees now growing against walls. With the aid of the saw-mill, cheap timber, and cheap glass, an inexpensive structure can be built which will effectually protect both blossoms and young wood against chilling spring frosts, and when by this means a crop of fruit has been insured, the same apparatus will assist in ripening it in a wet and sunless autumn, such as we have lately passed. Several of these erections are now in use in this neigh- bourhood, and (with one exception) all that I have seen answer exceedingly well. Another fertile source of injury, acting also by preventing the proper development of the young shoots, is the aphis. This insect frequently does incalculable mischief to wall-trees by being suffered to establish itself upon them early in the season. It will, perhaps, be said that, as this evil might so readily be removed by a few syringes with tobacco-water, it can only occur through the negligence or the laziness of the gardener ; in answer to which I would beg to observe, that in eight out of ten cases where it does occur, the discredit ought in justice to rest upon the gardener's employer for refusing to allow sufficient help at that most harassing season of the year. No person who has not himself had the management of a wall of full-grown Peach-trees can form any notion of the great amount of attention, and consequently of time, they require to keep them in good condition. Generally speaking, a vigorous Peach-tree is not afforded sufficient space to extend its branches, for either the wall is too low (some eight or nine feet, whereas it ought not to be less than PEACH AND APRICOT TREES. 20 twelve), or the trees are too thickly crowded together. In either case a liberal use of the knife is indispensable in order to keep the aspiring branches within due bounds ; and herein lies another source of injury to the constitution of the tree ; for severe cutting in winter, unless the roots are correspondingly reduced, only induces a stdl more luxuriant crop of spongy summer shoots, which, in the limited growing season usually afforded them in our climate, rarely acquire that degree of solidity necessary to form permanently healthy wood. I quite agree with Mr. Lovell in deprecating the frequent abuse of the knife, but whether that instrument can by any method of management be wholly dispensed with is another question. I think it cannot. Root-pruning in the manner recommended by its advocates is certainly not a con- servative process ; it is rather connected with the radical scheme of " cutting off the supplies." I believe tbe principle to be good, but the way in which it is carried out, judging from the written instructions I have read, seems very closely allied to the antiquated practice of pruning gooseberry-trees with a hedge-shears. A more scientific method of curtailing the roots, I conceive, is to take up and replant the trees occasionally, by which a better opportunity will be afforded of regulating the roots in accordance with the requirements of the branches, of retaining the best and rejecting the worst, and of keeping them within a moderate distance of the surface of the soil. The roots naturally lead us into the border, — a subject of primary importance, but which has been so thoroughly discussed, that it is unnecessary to follow it further in this place. It is clear to me, then, that the variableness of the climate, coupled in some cases with a deficiency of attention, chiefly in spring, has more to do with the early decay of our wall Peach-trees than either the unsuitableness of the plum-stock, or the present method of pruning the trees. In confirmation of this opinion, look into our Peach-houses, where an old . tree is not so great a rarity as it is against our walls, and yet in both cases the stocks and the pruning of the young trees are alike. Under glass, however, the tree enjoys a genial climate, and also the further advantage of better general management. There, want of space for the lateral extension of the branches is the greatest detriment the trees have to encounter ; and if at the time of planting they were so arranged, that one tree might, if necessary, eventually occupy the whole area of the roof at eighteen inches or two feet distance from the glass, I see no reason why a Peach-tree, even 30 CULTIVATION OF ORCHIS LONGICORNU. though pruned with a knife, and budded on a plum-stock, might not live and thrive for an indefinite number of years. As regards the Apricot-tree, Mr. T. A. Knight entertained a notion that the short duration of the Moorpark trees arose in a great measure from its unnatural connection with the plum-stock ; and many years ago he pointed out to me, in his own garden, the greater healthiness of a particular tree on an Apricot-stock than that of another tree growing beside it which had been worked upon a plum-stock. As the Apricot does not thrive in the light sandy soil of this garden, I determined upon trying Mr. Knight's plan, and with that view I sowed a few stones of several sorts of Apricots. Four young plants thus obtained were planted against a wall for the purpose of being budded with the Moorpark ; finding, however, that they exhibited unequivocal symptoms of a delicate constitution, I did not bud them, but trained their branches to the wall till they produced fruit. One of these trees is a genuine Moorpark, and already some of its principal branches have perished by that peculiar disease which detracts so much from the value of the otherwise excellent variety ; thus proving that mis-alliance is not the cause of the disease in question. Of the other trees, one is a Breda, one an orange, and the third an inferior variety of Moorpark ; this last also shows symptoms of the same malady. This experiment seems also to show that some varieties of Apricot can be reproduced from seed. V. — On the Cultivation of Orchis longicornu. By William Barnes, Camden Nursery, Camberwell. (Communicated November 18th, 1852.) Among the many plants now cultivated for ornamenting the conservatory as well as for purposes of exhibition, none, perhaps, have excited more admiration when in bloom than this delightful species of Orchis. I have had collections of plants under my care for these twenty years past, which have been considered by competent judges to be second to none, as far as cultivation was concerned, but among all I have had to deal with, none have been so satisfactory as the plant now under consideration. I have grown it successfully for nineteen years, and I have always observed that however gay my show-house or conservatory may have been, with all the gems that usually occupy such structures, CULTIVATION OF ORCHIS LONGICORNU. 31 visitors have often passed the flattering compliment, " how beau- tiful your plants look, how brilliant and how grand," but as soon as they had seen the handsome Orchis longicornu, their exclama- tions have been, "0 deal", what charming thing is this? what a most beautiful plant ! this i3 certainly the finest in the collec- tion ;" and in comparison with it, all others previously admired have been thrown, as it were, into the shade. In growing it, the grand secret is to pay it the greatest attention when in a dormant state ; keep it then quite dry and cold ; for it is one of the southern species and subjected to the hot rays of the sun at the time when it is in full growth, and it receives little or no moisture when at rest. My first bulb came from Algiers, and I treated it as follows : — I broke a quantity of light fibrous peat up roughly, adding half the quantity of well decomposed leaf-mould, and a fourth part of good sharp sand with a few clean and broken potsherds intermixed with it. Having my compost mixed in this manner, I then prepared some nice clean dry pots ; the size entirely depends upon the taste of the culti- vator ; but what I have generally used are five-inch pots (or 48s) for single bulbs, or I put three bulbs into six-inch pots (or 32s), four bulbs into a seven-inch pot (or 24s), and five bulbs into an eight-inch pot (or lGs), always placing the largest bulb in the centre, in order that its strength might induce it to throw its spike of bloom above the others. Great care must be taken to drain the pots well by placing in the bottom about two inches in depth of broken potsherds and rough charcoal. Upon the top of that I place some of the most fibrous peat from the mixture, and then the soil, planting the bulb about an inch deep, and not pressing it down too hard, as it delights in a porous soil. When potted, I place them in a cold frame or pit, never allowing frost to touch them, I keep them quite diy until they begin to show symptoms of growth, when they receive a little water, and as vegetation advances, a more liberal supply is given. Abundance of air is admitted, but I never allow the lights to be off in rainy weather, as I have seen the plants severely injured by their hearts becoming filled with water. I always use the greatest caution, in watering, never to allow it, if possible, to touch their foliage. The proper time for potting is in September, and Orchis longi- cornu blooms from November until May. There is no plant with which I am acquainted that remains in bloom the length of time which this does. I have had one pot in perfection six months. I 32 EFFECT OF A TROPICAL CLIMATE UPON PLANTS. find that, by having several bulbs, some can be started so as to come into bloom earlier than others, while the rest may be kept in a dormant condition for another month. By thus potting them in succession, blooming plants may be had for a very long time. I have grown them from fifteen to twenty inches in height, with flower-spikes from six to nine inches in length, the lip of the blossoms being striped with lilac, and the upper part jet black, like most beautiful silk velvet. The contrast thus produced in the flowers is so striking, and the beautiful black so uncommon, that they form objects of the greatest beauty, vastly superior to all their associates. I find this plant very difficult to increase ; the bulbs it forms are about the size of Radish seeds, and unless the soil is sifted through a very fine sieve they escape observation. As regards cultivation, however, follow the advice given above, and such success will follow, that you will have examples of this fine Orchis that will fully bear out the statement made by Dr. Lindley in a recent number of the Gardener s Chronicle, viz. : " that when grown as Mr. Barnes grows it, it is one of the most charming of greenhouse plants." VI. — Effect of a Trotical Climate upon Plants of a Temperate Zone. By Sir R. H. Schomburgk. (Communicated April 2nd, 1852 ) Santo Domingo, the oldest city in the New World, cannot boast of extensive or finely laid-out gardens, but the admiration and love of the Spaniards for flowers seems innate, and few houses, as humble as they may be, are without some Rose-trees, Pinks, and Heliotropes in their patios. The thin superstratum of soil in the city rests upon coralline limestone, which the freshets are very apt to carry away. The beds are therefore surrounded with masonry. The favourite flowers of the Spanish ladies are Roses, of which the following kinds are principally cultivated : — Rosa damascena, var. bifera (le rosier de tous les mois) ; R. centifolia (of the latter the White variety is rare); R. multiflora, R. Banksite, R. indica. Recently three varieties of Tea-roses have been introduced, R. Devoniensis. General Lamarck, and magnolia. They succeed very EFFECT OF A TROPICAL CLIMATE UPON PLANTS. well, and frequently bear flowers, especially the Devonshire Rose, which possesses an exquisite scent under the tropics. The beauty of the large panicles of rose-coloured flowers of the Lagerstrcemia indica cannot be imagined by any person who has seen that handsome plant merely in our hothouses. Here it reaches the height of a moderate-sized tree. It is called by the Spaniards Almira. The other flowers mostly cultivated are : Garden Balsams (Impatiens Balsamina) ; Four o'clock flowers (Mirabilis Jalapa), of all possible colours ; Indian Cress (Tropseolum majus); a large variety of the common Pink; Periwinkle (Vinca rosea and alba) ; Marigolds (Tagetes) ; Chinese Aster ; Chrysan- themums ; Centaureas ; Zinnias ; Tuberoses ; Amaryllis formo- sissima, and a few other tropical bulbs, all of which, as far as enumerated, may be called acclimatised. The acclimatisation of a plant under the tropics, either indi- genous or already inured to a temperate zone, is as interesting as the acclimatisation of a tropical plant in a temperate zone. My observations and experiences in this respect may prove therefore acceptable, the more so since among the plants to which my attention was directed, were some that originally belong to a warm climate, but which had been raised in a hothouse. When I left England in December, 1848, I received, through the kindness of the Director of the Pioyal G ardens at Kew, several plants which seemed qualified for the West Indies. Before I enumerate such as arrived in good order in Santo Domingo, I will observe that the Consulate lies a few hundred yards from the sea shore, and that the little spot which I have turned into a garden consists of coralline limestone, covered with about twelve inches of good soil ; however, since the coral rock has numerous crevices or fissures, the roots may penetrate much deeper. The mean annual temperature is about 78° Fahr., and an 18-inch terrestrial thermometer (the only one which I brought safely to Santo Domingo out of four of different sizes) gives me as the mean temperature of the soil at that depth about 75° Fahr. The elements which I possess for a more exact calculation of the mean annual temperature of the air and the soil have not been calculated as yet in detail, but the above may be assumed as a close approximation. A Wardian case was filled with so-called fashionable flowers. Among these were some Fuchsias, which arrived in a tolerably good state, but with the exception of one, they died before they came into flower. This refers likewise to the Pelargoniums. VOL. VIII. D 84 EFFECT OF A TROPICAL CLIMATE UPON PLANTS. Tom Thumb blossomed several times from young shoots, but, like the rest, it became ultimately yellow, and perished. Of Roses, the White and Red Chinese, R. Bouguera, Devoniensis, Provins Moss, Paul Joseph, and La Birch arrived in good order. Provins Moss produced some new shoots, but soon took a sickly appearance and died. I have never seen, during my wanderings among the West India Islands, a Moss-rose, and my numerous friends all concur that the endeavours to bring it into blossom, or to keep it for more than two or three years, have proved in vain. The Red and White China, the latter for the first time intro- duced here, thrive lustily, and are never without flowers. In the commencement the White China was very delicate, but by trans- planting it into a more sunny spot, it soon recovered, and seldom a morning passes now without my finding a bud opened. The flower possesses, when opening and before the sun has touched it, a slight agreeable scent. Paul Joseph perished without producing flowers ; Bouguere likewise ; and La Birch thrives so much in the wood, that it has no strength to produce flowers. The usual measures here resorted to to check the growth of a rose-plant and to make it bloom, as ringing, cutting down the shoots, depriving it of its leaves, &c, have not produced the desired result. As already observed, the climate agrees very well with Tea-roses ; they produce a succession of flowers. The above came here in Wardian cases ; of others I brought safely to Santo Domingo, I may mention Ixora Bandhucca, which is constantly in flower, presenting a mass of handsome scarlet blossoms. My endeavours to propagate it by cuttings have hitherto failed. Ixora alba looked for two years sickly, the leaves yellow ; it commences now to recover, but it has not flowered as yet, although it is a large-sized shrub. Gardenia Fortuni, after just vegetating for two years, is hastening to decay. Dilleuia speciosa, from a small plant about 6 inches high in 1849, is now 10 feet, but it has not blossomed as yet. Ardisia Wallichii is just alive ; it has regularly shed its leaves twice a year, and every time after that period it has looked sicklier than before, and the shoots became less in size. I have not much hope that I can preserve it. Coelo- bogyne ilicifolia seemed to thrive very well for the first eighteen months ;. the leaves then became yellow, fell off, and the plant died since. Combretum comosum seems to recover, although for the past three years its life was doubtful ; it has not blossomed as yet. Eranthemum coccineum has become a large plant, and is easily EFFECT OF A TROPICAL CLIMATE UPON PLANTS. 35 propagated ; the scarlet flowers are pretty, but they stand wide asunder on the long spikes, which does not give to it a striking appearance. Noronhea chartacea survived only a few months after its arrival. Blaperopus nerifolius has flowered once ; since that period it has declined, and it possesses at this time a single shoot. Kigelia pinnata has grown considerably, being now 5£ feet high, but it has not as yet been in blossom. The greatest success has been connected with Hibiscus rosa sinensis fl. pi., which is now a shrub 12 feet high, and presents the whole year through a mass of fine scarlet flowers, some 7 inches in diameter. It was new in Santo Domingo, and the flower is greatly admired. During holi- days the altars of the churches are, according to Spanish fashion, ornamented with it ; and as the original plant came from Kew, it has received here the name of La flor de la Reina Victoria. The cuttings " take " with great facility, and as I have been very liberal in distributing them, Queen Victm-ia's flower is now found in all the principal gardens in the Republic ; it serves for ornamenting the altars for Divine Service, and the half-opened buds contribute to embellish, by their contrast with the shining black of the luxuriant hair of the fair Serioritas, the sylph-like figures at the festive dance. Another great favourite with the ladies is the pretty yellow thyrse-flowered Galphimia, which I brought with me from Jamaica; it has received the name of Consulita from my having introduced it into Santo Domingo. We are told that Baron de Wimpfens brought the first Narcissus, Hyacinths, Tulips, and Violets to Santo Domingo in 1789. If 1 except the latter, of which the Double Violet especially succeeds well, bulbous plants do not blossom here. I recently succeeded in raising the Reseda odorata, and bringing it into blossom ; the first perhaps that ever flowered in Santo Domingo. A lady friend of mine tells me that all her endeavours to get it to flower in Porto Rico, Saint Thomas, and here, proved in vain. It grew up, she says, in long stalky plants, that dried up without coming into bloom. The scent of my Mignonette was as sweet, if not stronger than in England ; it produced seed-vessels but no seeds. The Stock (Mathiola annua), that great favourite with us at home, thrives here, as far as leaves are concerned, taking the appearance of M. incana, without producing flowers. I have now some already fifteen months old, having therefore passed the annual period, or rather two tropical seasons. The Dahlia roots brought here from Europe do very well the first year ; but in succeeding d2 36 A NEW SULPHUHATOR. seasons the flowers become less and less in size, and in lieu of double flowers the plants ultimately produce single ones. The roots dwindle away, and at last dry up. A. Hollyhock and the common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) may occasionally be met with ; the latter principally in the Cibao district, which is about from 500 to 600 feet above the level of the sea. In the valley of Constanza, which is so high that frosts occasionally kill the tender vegetation, leaving only the leaves on the fir trees, Pinks and Sunflowers are as luxuriant as in England. I saw in Constanza a bed with White and Red Pinks, that had propagated themselves uncared for in such a manner that they covered a large terrain, yielding a mass of flowers that diffused a most delicious scent. The existence of a six months' course of seasons in intertropical countries in lieu of twelve months, which period includes the sleep of winter of the temperate zone, urges the plants, indigenous or inured to the latter, to a constant exertion, which ultimately seems to exhaust their powers. Such a state of things would not, however, refer to the tropical plants of Asia and Africa in my collection ; but it is not my intention to enter into any disquisition on the causes, but merely for the present to give the effects as they have come under my observation. The shedding of the leaves of some tropical trees, and the formation of new wood, may hereafter form the subject of another article. VII. — Note on a New Sdlphueatoe. By Robert Thompson. The Vine mildew having become so universally prevalent, and sulphur proving the best remedy, various contrivances for distribu- ting this substance have, in consequence, been brought forward. One of the most recent is called " Egginton's Sulphurator, of which the accompanying figure is a representation. The instrument was made by Mr Edward Egginton, of Ludlow, under the direction of Mr. Corbett, gardener at Downton Castle. It consists of a copper cylindrical box, about Ah inches diameter at the base, and 4 inches diameter at the top ; the height being also 4 inches. A copper tube, a, y % of an inch diameter, enters the top, extends nearly to the bottom, and is then bent upwards to within an inch of the top. The bottom is flat, A NEW SULPHURATOR. 37 perforated like a tolerably-fine rose of a watering-pot, and may be removed when sulphur is required to be put inside the box. In order to keep the sulphur suspended throughout the interior, a quantity of chopped wing-feathers of a goose are introduced ; they are cut to about inch lengths. The tube extends about 2 inches outside tbe top, and can be fixed upon the nozzle of a common bellows. It was tried in the Society's Garden, and was found to answer very well. The sulpbur is finely diffused, so that the whole atmosphere of the house is thro roughly impregnated, without a great quantity of sulphur being used. In this respect, it is surpassed by none that have come under the notice of the Society. When a stream of flowers of sulphur is required to be directed against any particular spot, the French sulphurator has the advantage ; but when the whole atmosphere of a Vinery is intended to be impregnated with the minute particles of flowers of sulphur, Egginton's sulphurator is preferable. 38 NEW CAFFRAKIAN PLANTS. VIII. — A Note upon some new Caffrarian Plants, and the Cape Gooseberry. By Thomas Moore, F.H.S., Curator of the Apothecaries' Garden, Chelsea. I have the permission of the Rev. Thomas Rooper, of Wick Hill, Brighton, to transmit the accompanying extract from a letter received from him, on a subject which may be interesting to some of the Fellows of the Horticultural Society. The plants cultivated in Mr. Rooper's garden are, I understand, the produce of seeds transmitted from the Cape of Good Hope, by Captain E. Rooper, who has been successful in inti'oduciug some interesting novelties to the gardens of this country. Of one or two of these latter which have come under my notice, I have appended a brief account : — Tritonia Hooperii.* — This is an extremely handsome green- house or half-hardy herbaceous plant, in many respects resembling the old, but not common, T. Burchellii, from which it differs, however, in its dense spike of flowers, its conspicuous bracts, and its included stamens. Captain Rooper found it in Caffrarin, growing in marshy places ; and at Brighton, it has been found to be almost hardy, having survived the last winter with the slight protection afforded by a broken hand-light. It flowers in the winter and spring months. The dense heads of tubular flowers are yellow on the lower side, and of the richest orange-scarlet on the upper side, shining as if varnished. The plant has a fleshy root- stock, from which springs a crown of recurved carinate leaves, which are upwards of four feet long, two inches broad at the base, and tapering to a long point. The scape is a foot high, with a few large bracts below the spike, and terminating above the flowers in a crown of crowded smaller bracts, subtending abortive flowers. The flowers are densely arranged into a roundish ovate spike, and have very short stalks, at the base of each of which is an oblong-ovate obtuse scarious three-to-five-nerved bract, which gradually becomes smaller upwards ; those of the crown being oblong-acute, or acuminate, one-to-three-nerved, and glandular serrate. The perianth is tubular, slightly curved, narrowed above the base, an inch and three-quarters long, with six greenish nerves; * Tritonia Rooperii; leaves very long, recurved, carinate, taper-pointed, minutely cartilagineo-serrate above ; spike roundish-ovate, flowers subsessile, densely crowded in the axils of oblong-obovate scarious bracts, which ave obtuse, with 3 — 5 fuscous nerves, the upper ones acute or acuminate, 1 — 3- nerved, glandular-serrate, forming a coma above the developed flowers ; stamens included. — T. M., in Gard. Comp., i. 113 (with figure). NEW CAFFRARIAN PLANTS. 39 the segments of the limb are ovate-ohtuse, erectish, the three inner slightly recurved, the three outer shorter, their apices incurved. The stamens are unequal and included. The figure referred to, having been drawn from a specimen which blossomed during winter and under cover, does not do justice to the colour which is acquired at a more favourable season. Hypoxia Rooperii. * — Found by Captain Rooper, near the mouth of the Buffalo river in Caffraria, and introduced in October, 1848. It is a very brilliant plant ; but as it produces no side-shoots, nor as yet has shown much disposition to ripen seeds, it is feared that it can never become so common as its merits deserve. It continues in blossom from March until August ; and, during that period, under the influence of sunshine, is seen glittering with its golden stars. It has an erect short stout stem, from which the long narrow leaves grow in three ranks, about four in each rank being perfect at one time ; they are from nine to eighteen inches long, an inch and a half broad, narrowed to the base where they embrace the stems, the apex being drawn out into a long taper point ; on both sides are white stellate hairs, but those on the upper are few and scattered, whilst those below are more dense, and produce a hoary appearance. The scape is about a foot long, and bears four to six flowers, each having a subulate membranous- edged bract, shorter than its pedicel, which latter is about as long as the perianth. The exterior surface of the perianth, as well as the bracts and stalks, are shaggy, with long white hairs. The flowers are green externally, clear bright yellow inside, about an inch and a half in diameter when expanded ; the three outer divisions ovate-lanceolate, entirely shaggy outside ; the three inner, broader, more obtuse, and hairy only at the very base. This plant would seem to be allied to H. stellipilis, but appears to be distinct from it, and a much larger and more showy plant. Among other plants introduced from the same source, are the Ipomcea palmata, and a fine rose-purple-flowered species, which Mr. Henfrey identifies as the I. oblongata of E. Meyer. EXTRACT FROM MR. ROOPER's LETTER. " It is not, I believe, generally known, that the fruit of the Cape Gooseberry (Physalis edulis), a very old inhabitant of our * Hypoxis Rooperii ; pilose ; leaves trifarious, elongate, recurved, acutely keeled, narrowed below, tapering into a long point, with scattered stellate hairs above, woolly beneath ; scape 4 — 6-flowered, much shorter 40 PEAR MILDEW. greenhouses, makes an excellent open tart or preserve, but such I find to be the case. The following bints on its cultivation may be useful to those who may feel inclined to give it a trial. " Jt may be raised from seeds very early in the year ; but I find it far preferable to raise a supply of plants from cuttings in January, as these produce fruit which is much finer and ripens much earlier in the summer, than that borne on plants raised from seeds. The plants should be gradually hardened in March, and should be turned out subsequently, under a south wall, in a favourable soil and position. They will perfect their fruit by the end of July, and will go on bearing abundant crops until the end of October, par- ticularly if the superfluous shoots and leaves are occasionally pruned away, in order to allow the rays of the sun to reach the fruit." IX. — Pear Mildew. A Note by the Rev. M. J. Berkley. (Communicated November 11th, 1852). Many varieties of Pear are affected this autumn with a black mildew, which is extremely injurious to their beauty, and, conse- quently, to their market value. In the Garden of the Horticultural Society, the Glout Morceau and Easter Beurre are more espe- cially affected, but the disease is not confined to these varieties ; in my own district, I have noticed it more particularly on the St. Germain. The disease attacking the fruit is, in point of fact, the same which has of late been observed so frequently both in this country and on the Continent, on the leaves and young shoots of Pears, and of which some account was given in the Garcl. Citron. of June 17, 1845, as also of a similar disease on the leaves of Crataegus Pyracantha, October 28, of the same year. The fungus, like many others, takes its origin beneath the real cuticle, through which it soon makes its way, and then appears perfectly superficial. In some cases, as in the leaves of the Common Service, and on Apple leaves, the mycelium exhibits a beautifully radiated spot, and, in consequence, it has been named by Persoon, Actinonema. than the leaves, and as well as the bracts, pedicels, and exterior of perianth, shaggy with long hairs ; pedicels as long as the perianth, exceeding the subulate membranous-edged bracts.— T.M., in Garcl. Comp.,165 (with figure). PEAR MILDEW. 41 The shape of the spores is, within certain limits, pretty constant, whether it grows on the Pear or Apple ; while those of the plant ou Pyracantha are of a totally different form, and smaller. As the patches, when they occur on fruit, especially on Apples, are more neatly defined than when they grow on leaves, and the remains of the white cuticle are very manifest surrounding the smutty spores, they have given rise to a distinct genus (Spilocaa), in accordance with that superabundance of useless divisions with which Mycology, more perhaps than any other branch of Botany, abounds. Such productions, though far from uncommon amongst Pears, are far more abundant on Apples, insomuch that the produce of whole orchards is frequently almost valueless. The disease sometimes commences in a very aggravated form when the fruit is no larger than a pea, rendering the whole crop abortive. Such was the case this year in one garden with a young and apparently healthy Downton Nonpareil. The New- town Pippins, which are transmitted to the southern states, are often disfigured by it, and though, perhaps, those which are exported to this country are more carefully selected, they are by no means free. The species, however, by which they are affected is not always the same. At least, Spilocaa fructigena, Schwein, of which I have authentic specimens, is not the same species with that before me. As regards any remedial measures, I have little or nothing to offer. Such affections are often dependent on causes over which we have no control whatever, and are part of the curse which aggravates all human labour. The best cultivation will some- times fail where atmospheric agency is principally concerned, and in the present case, where everything has been done to secure a proper condition of soil and a due exposure of the leaves to light and air, immense injury has been produced year after year with every variety of season and treatment. A figure of the little parasite is subjoined. 42 THE GENUS YUCCA. X. — On the Genus Yucca. By William Wood, Fishergate Nurseries, York. (Communicated November 20th, 1852.) No tribe of plants perhaps has received less attention from planters than this, and yet it is an undeniable fact, that, whether considered in regard to its suitability for constituting a natural group, or as an individual feature in the mass, it is probably unequalled as far as effect is concerned, on account of its exotic aspect, and imposing appearance when in bloom. It is true that, like many other ornamental shrubs and trees, the species of Yucca generally require from one to three or more years to attain sufficient vigour of growth to be able to form their majestic flower- scapes, or stems, but the lover of Nature's grand and diversified forms receives ample compensation for this in their peculiar habit of growth, standing out, as it were, with Palm-like aspect from amongst surrounding objects. One of the principal reasons which have proba- bly led to the depreciation and comparative neglect of Yuccas is, that, instead of being permitted to form a distinct and separate feature in the arrangement of a garden, they have too often been either crowded amongst other shrubs of a miscellaneous character, or they have been placed in such isolated or obtrusive positions, as to form no essential or desirable relative feature in the general outline. To convey an accurate idea of the effect which plants of this genus are capable of producing, it may not be improper to remind those who are about to plant, thai, Yuccas differ from other shrubs in their having remarkably large, terminal, radiating crowns of broad, dark, or glaucous-green, sword-shaped, needlepointedleaves from one and a half to three feet in length. In the largest kinds these crowns proceed from a common centre situated on the extremity of an uubranched column-like stem, varying in their maturer state of growth from a few inches to three or four feet in height, and each respective crown measures, according to the species, from five to ten or twelve feet in circumference. The outline of the crowns also differs; in Y. gloriosa, the leaves are erect, with a broad, obtusely plaited or grooved surface ; in Y. recurvifolia, they are at first erect, but ultimately obtain a decurved position; whilst in Y. draconis the leaves assume a gracefully curved form. The stately flower-stems issue from the centre of each crown of leaves. In the large growing kinds they reach an elevation of from six to eight feet, and progressively form densely-flowered pyramidally- ovate racemes containing from 500 to 1000 large conspicuous, creamy-white, pendent perianths or flower-cups, variously shaded with purple or brown. THE GENUS YUCCA. 43 Yuccas appear to great advantage, when planted in a large detached group, at a due distance from the approach or entrance to a flower-garden, but they should be so situated as to form a permanent feature from the mansion. They are also well fitted for bold and picturesque effect on large masses of natural or artificial rock-work, crowning its summits or irregular slopes with an Aloe- like appearance, and during the summer-months relieving the heavy and massive outline with towering pyramids of bloom. The strongest growing species are equally well adapted for imparting a novel and exotic character to a large richly furnished park or arboretum, as the smaller kinds are to blend their distinct features with the ordinary occupants in the prescribed limits of a villa flower-garden. The whole of the species thrive satisfactorily wherever a firm loamy soil is found in connexion with a tolerably dry substratum. If planted upon a mound, or on rock-work, a strong retentive soil is absolutely necessary. The most ornamental kind for a small garden is Yucca glaucesceus, which may be regarded as an evergreen Autumn- flowering perennial, with numerous stemless crowns of flaccid, decurved, lanceolate, shreddy-margined leaves, from twelve to twenty-four inches in height. Its flower-scapes are formed in July, and matured during the two following months, ultimately attaining a height of from two to four feet. When fully developed they assume the appearance of large open pyramidal racemes of creamy- white, drooping, tulip-like blossoms, each raceme containing from twenty to forty or more individual blooms. At the period just referred to, this species forms a highly interesting feature, more especially when viewed from a distance during the deepening twilight of a summer's eve. It is also admirably adapted for smaller groups, and for picturesque effect in the foreground of shrubberies — multiplying itself by numerous crowns, which readily admit of separation, and attain a sufficient vigour to produce flower-stems in a much shorter time than any other known species. The following kinds are enumerated with a view to show their adaptation for planting in a large detached group or bed, com- mencing with the largest (first-named) five species, which are supposed to occupy the centre, the others gradually becoming dwarfer as the margin is approached, viz.: — Yucca recurvifolia. Yucca rufo-cincta. „ gloriosa. „ filameutosa. „ superba. „ „ variegata. „ draconis. „ glauccscens. „ conspicua. 44 HOLLY-LEAP TEA. XL— On Holly-leaf Tea. By Alex. Forsyth, C.M.H.S., St. Mary's Church, Torquay. (Communicated December 2nd, 1852.) In all civilised countries, and particularly iu warm climates, a beverage similar to tea must be had, for, although the savage cau exist upon dry roots, bark of trees, and things of that description, it has been generally remarked that nations highly civilised use a great deal of liquid along with their food. In warm climates intoxicating drinks would brutalise society, for nature craves compensation for her loss by heat, and strong drink in proportion to that would be unreasonable. I am assured by my schoolfellows now residing in India, that though they abstain from wine and spirits, they could not live without tea or coffee. Among the commodities exported from Paraguay, conspicuous is the celebrated Paraguay Tea, to which I now beg to direct atten- tion; and lest any one should imagine that this Paraguay Tea-plant is either a novelty or a thing of little note, I must state that in La Plata, Peru, Chili, and Quito, as well as in Paraguay, it has been the staple tea-tree for half a century at least, and rich and poor indulge in this beverage at every meal ; and when we look at the vast extent of this territory, which is larger than the whole of Europe, and see its natural advantages of soil and climate producing the finest fruits and grain in the greatest abundance, the wines of France or Portugal, or the ale of England, could easily be had if either of them had been preferred. Only imagine a river so wide that sailing in the centre you could not see the land on either side — such is the Rio de la Plata, which overflows like the Nile, and enriches the land for grain crops, as well as tills it without labour. Here then we have the Jesuits, a society of the most learned men, inhabiting one of the finest countries in the world, and with such a river, a regular " high way of nations " for traffic, choosing a serrated-leaved Ilex to make tea from, for the Paraguay Tea-tree is the Ilex Paraguariensis, the manufacture of which into the beverage in question is extremely simple, and the produce is so good that the Creoles are said to be addicted to it even to excess. It is said to be stimulating to the slothful, and to encourage sleep in those that are restless, and is extolled for many virtues which, no doubt, it never possessed ; yet all agree that it is perfectly harmless, being diuretic and aperient. The " black drink " of the American Indians is reported to be manufactured from the leaves of Ilex Dahoon, Ilex vomitoria, and Ilex Cassine, HOLLY-LEAF TEA. 45 and the Paraguay tea is said to get black when allowed to staud a long time in the pot. In the widely-spread field of the genus Ilex such immense variety exists, that botanists can hardly tell whether or not the English Holly is not identical with that of the Himalaya ; indeed, the Holly sports so much, that we have hundreds of them pretty distinct in this country, although all from the same stock ; and not only do the leaves of individual plants differ from one another, but the top of a Holly-tree has frequently entire leaves, whilst the bottom-leaves ai'e waved, and every wave armed with a spine. In connexion with the leaves of Ilex used as tea, it is of the highest importance to bear in mind that the genus Thea (the tea of commerce) is so closely allied to the shining and leathery -leaved Camellia as to be counted by eminent botanists one of that genus ; and although the largest tea-leaf that ever I could unfold from the tea-pot was not more than an inch and a half long, and one inch broad, and of extremely thin texture, still the full-grown tea-leaf is a shining, leathery, laurel-looking leaf, three or four inches long, and half that in breadth ; it is therefore evident that the tender young foliage only is used for the tea of commerce, and Mr. Fortune, in his work on China, expressly states that this is the fact. In the case of Holly-leaves being used for tea, I am certain that many of them remain on the plant seven years, and for aught I can see to the contrary, seven times seven years ; it is therefore not to be expected that " Young Hyson "could ever be made from such old leaves, and consequently, in all experiments with the Holly, young and tender foliage only should be used. The Coffee-plant (Coffea Arabica) has a fine shining mucilaginous foliage, as if there were something in it, as well as in the berry, worth roasting, and this, I find from the newspapers, has actually been attempted lately, thus adding another leaf to our list of tea-stuffs. From the foregoing remarks it will be seen that I had good reasons for suspecting that Ilex aquifolium possessed drinkable qualities, and in order to confirm them, I closely examined Ilex Dahoon, comparing it with various varieties of Ilex aquifolium, and in taste, texture, and appearance they were very much alike. I then manufactured some of the leaves of the common Holly, after the Paraguay fashion, and found that well-roasted Holly leaves are quite as good as five-shilling tea. Paraguay tea is almost charred and then pounded to a coarse powder, and the prickles upon our Holly leaves look as if they had been made on purpose to prop the leaf in roasting, for the hot air gets through the mass of leaves without sweating them or requiring them to be turned or tossed as Chinese teas are The smell is very Hi HOLLY-LEAF TEA. disagreeable during the process of roasting, but not so when the leaves are dried enough for use, and such is precisely the case with Coffee, whose fumes, when roasting, are anything but plea- sant. Paraguay tea is drank with a little lime-juice and sugar, and sucked from the tea-pot (Mate) through a wooden tube (Bambilla); but I used milk and sugar, after the English fashion, and drank it out of a tea-cup, and children, who may surely be considered unbiassed judges, drank it freely. Failures in the manufacture of Holly-tea must not be taken as conclusive evidence of its worthlessness any more than the want of information upon any other branch of industry, leading to unsatisfactory results, would condemn it ; rather let them lead to perseverance in improving, for if the manipulation of tea had been an easy matter, Mr. Fortune's journey to China and his procuring, at great cost and hazard, Chinese manufacturers for our tea plantations in India would have been labour in vain. I beg it to be distinctly understood, that this is no nostrum of mine like " roasted corn," or any other quackery. All the Hollies that will bear the open air in England are here, and I have therefore the best means of comparing their characters. I have shown of what importance Holly-leaves are to millions inhabiting a finer country than ours, aud I do believe that the essence of our English Holly- leaf is not inferior to theirs, and if it is in reality as good as Ilex Paraguariensis, its importance to that portion of Europe, where it is indigenous, will be immense. I cannot imagine the Jesuits preferring this beverage and manufacturing the article so exten- sively in such a country, if it were not a good thing, for, among all the faults laid at their doors, we do not hear that they have been charged, as a body, with dullness as regarded their neigh- bour's best interests or their own. What will tea-drinkers, confirmed tippling tea-drinkers, say to this? The very tea itself becomes cheap at last, aud abundant, even growing in the garden hedge. A forest of tea-trees in full leaf at our doors ! Such a harvest has never before been seen ; waste not the Holly any more upon whip-handles, peel it not for Birdlime as formerly, squander it not even at Christmas, but reap it, roast it, and drink it again and again, for the store will be annually renewed and the future foliage will furnish finer tea leaves than those just gathered. CULTIVATION OF EXOTIC FRUITS. 47 XII. — On the Cultivation of Exotic Fruits. By P. Wallace, Chiswick House. (Communicated December 4th, 1852.) When we consider the success which attended the covering in of the large space of ground occupied by the Exhibition building of 1851, there can be little doubt that a new era has commenced in the construction of large glass houses for horticultural purposes, and that in future the erection of such buildings will become a matter of no great difficulty — and, comparatively speaking, of little expense. Such being the case I would therefore direct the attention of gardeners and their employers to a more extensive cultivation of exotic fruits. Although great advances have already been made in this department of gardening, yet, looking at the variety of exotic fruits that have come under my notice both at home and abroad, I feel persuaded that their culture can be carried much farther than it ever yet has been, and at the same time be conducted at much less expense, adding to the dessert a variety of handsome and delicious fruits, which are now only known by reputation, or procured with difficulty from foreign countries. The fruits I would more especially treat of in this paper are such as can be cultivated in a temperate house or conservatory. A proper and good style of building might be that represented by the flat ridge and furrow-roofed Lily-house at Chatsworth (the house "that gave birth to the Crystal Palace") and a very similar model Greenhouse, erected by Messrs. Hartley in the Society's Garden at Chiswick. In extent it might be Irom a Crystal Palace down to a nice snug conservatory, according to the desire and wants of the establishment, bearing in mind that all the light and air that can be obtained will be requisite for the production and proper ripening of such fruits as the China, Lisbon, Maltese, and Tangerine Oranges, Sweet Limes, and Lemons, theLoquat, Guavas, the Longan,* the Alligator Pear, the Custard Apple, Pomegra- nates, and many others of less importance, yet creating interest in a collection of this kind. The different kinds of Granadillas might be trained up the columns and supports of the building, provided they did not interfere with the amount of light required or other- wise incommode more valuable plants. I have seen all the above-named trees bearing and perfecting their fruit in the temperate Island of St. Michael, whose only advantage in point of climate over that of our own is its mild winter. From this I conclude they might all be grown with the * The Longan has flowered in a house without artificial heat. 48 CULTIVATION OF EXOTIC FKUITS. greatest success in a temperate house in England, the house being supplied with sufficient heating apparatus to exclude the chill of winter. I might here state, by way of inducement to cultivate the more useful Orange-trees, especially the Tangerine, in England, that the trees in the countries from whence we derive our principal supplies are infested by a kind of Coccus, which is annually destroying acres of Orange-gardens and rendering the fruit of others worthless. We have heard of the sad effects of the Vine- blight in France, Spain, Portugal, and the Island of Madeira. The Coccus might as easily extend to the other countries from which the rest of our Oranges come, and thus cause a scarcity of this deservedly much esteemed fruit. Even at the present time I believe that, owing to the small quantity sent to this country, the Tangerine Orange could be produced at a less cost than that for which they can be bought in our markets. I would recommend those who may be desirous of cultivating the fruits I have enu- merated to have borders formed for their reception, as the success likely to attend their culture will be greater if planted in the open soil than it would be in tubs or boxes. By tasteful arrangement, too, a house of exotic fruits could be made at once useful and highly enjoyable. The borders must not be too deep ; from two to three feet will be ample, and good drainage will be requisite. A suitable soil for forming borders would be two-thirds strong turfy loam and one-third old and well decayed manure, liberally mixed with a quantity of brickbats and broken sandstone, which would permit superabundant water to pass off and maintain a healthy medium for the roots. It has been customary for Orange- growers to use strong and powerful manures, as garbage and other decayed animal substances. The late Mr. Ayres, a most successful cultivator of Citronworts, employed such stimulants at Shipley Hall in Derbyshire, but then his trees were in tubs, and con- sequently such applications were necessary. Growing in the natural way, however, in borders, the use of garbage, &c. is not required, and the frequent and troublesome business of re-tubbing is thus done away with. It has also been a long-acknowledged axiom that Orangeries, to grow fine trees, must be heavy, shady, and sombre-looking buildings, inside and out. In the present advanced state of gardening, however, but few illustrations will be required I imagine to subvert this notion. Look, for instance, at tbe sunny climes and cloudless skies in countries where Orange-trees succeed best. I was in Lisbon a fortnight in May, 1849, and I never once during my stay saw a cloud on the face of the sun. I was informed CULTIVATION OF EXOTIC FRUITS. 49 that the whole summer usually passed away in the same mauner, and that the wiuter there was equally remarkable for its clear and cloudless sky. When Orange-trees were first introduced to the Island of St. Michael it was found absolutely necessary to plant quicker-growing trees around them to shelter them from the rude winds of the Atlantic. To such an extent was this planting of shelter carried and persevered in, that that which was meant for and really would have been a benefit, became an evil. The Orange-trees in the over-sheltered gardens grew fast and luxu- riantly, but the produce was inferior in quality and quantity to that of gardens on the sides of mountains, whei - e it was found impossible to exclude sunlight and air. It was in over-shel- tered gardens where the hordes of Coccus first found a strong- hold, and commenced their attack on the wealth of the Azores ; and such was the natural indolence of the proprietors, that they calmly watched the onward progress of the enemy destroying their property, without even making an effort to stop its career. It was with difficulty that Euglish gardeners persuaded them of the cause of the evil by pointing out Orange-trees free from the pest in more exposed situations. So many dear associations were connected with shelters that it almost amounted to sacrilege to cut them down. At length, however, one by one they gave way ; an onslaught was made on those least required, and the advantage derived was soon perceptible. In the gardens infested by these destructive insects, their progress was checked, and the fruit of others was so much improved by the free admission of light and air that their value was materially increased. Facts like these, therefore, will surely go far to convince reasonable people that all the light and air that can be had is required to produce Oranges in perfection under artificial treatment in this country. The operation of planting will require a good deal of attention, as Orange-trees, when deeply planted, are subject to a kind of canker, which originates at the base of the stem, and, though it works its way slowly, eventually destroys the plants. In order to avoid this evil it will be well to raise the soil where the trees are to be planted a little higher than the general level of the border, and this will afterwards admit of top-dressings to renovate the soil when exhausted, without there being any danger of too deeply burying the stems. Another important point will be to select strong, healthy, and well-established plants, particularly of the more tender kinds, for on the choosing strong plants success in a great measure depends. I have seen the bad effects of planting small and weakly trees in large houses. Time after 50 CULTIVATION OF EXOTIC FRUITS. time they have died, and hopes of the desired plaut ever doing well despaired of, till at length some well-established specimen having been procured, the object aimed at was attained. In order to encourage the growth of a house of young trees, so as to have luxuriant and fine-looking specimens, the temperature may be extended a little beyond what will be required when the plants come into a bearing state ; yet any additional fire-heat beyond 64° must be applied with a sparing hand, as anything approaching forcing will be injurious. Jn a house of this kind the temperature should never be below 50°, and, when rising in winter above 04°, if the external atmosphere be not too cold, admit air. With abundance of ventilation the summer temperature may range from 70° to 90°. Orange-trees, I infer (from their prolificacy and fine growth in the over-drained Island of St. Michael, where, sometimes in sum- mer, rain does not fall for two and three months at a time), are not plants that require much water, especially at the roots ; but it must be remembered that from the nightly heavy dews, and surrounding damp atmosphere, the trees are continually receiving an abundant quantity of moisture through the medium of their leaves. This then points out an important feature in the culti- vation of exotic fruits. Heavy rains fall in St. Michael's from October to March, but the ground is so full of cracks and crevices that in a short time the water is drained off again, so that the roots may be said to be always in a moderately dry state. It must not, however, be inferred from the above statements, that I would have the exotic house without water ; on the contrary, a plentiful supply must be had, and copious showers given to the plants with the engine, or, what would be better still, have the water laid on the house, with taps and hose at short distances, which would be a great saving of time and labour. From May to September the trees should be engined early in the morning, and in the evening ; avoiding throwing water on the plants in bloom ; also admitting near such plants as much air as possible. The borders must not be often watered ; the best way will be to examine them by digging in different parts, and when they are found to want water, let it be well but gradually given, so that every part may receive nearly an equal quantity. I need scarcely say that all kinds of fruit-trees require to be carefully pruned. In pruning Orange-trees thin out all super- fluous branches so as to admit light and air to the fruit. All the pruning they require should be effected immediately the fruit is gathered (which should be as soon as it is ripe, for the fruit CULTIVATION OF EXOTIC FRUITS. 51 remaining on the trees long after it is ripe is injurious to the plants), cutting out the weak sterile-looking and worst-ripened shoots, at the same time having an eye to the symmetry of the tree. Thinning the fruit is never practised in the Orange-gardens in Portugal ; yet it would doubtless be advantageous to trees, when ovei'-cropped, to remove some of the fruit ; nevertheless, if they are healthy they will not suffer from bearing abundant crops. Though I have spoken only of the Orange in the foregoing remarks, the same genei'al treatment is applicable to the other fruits I have mentioned. It may be imagined that some difficulty will arise from the plauts flowering and ripening their fruit at different times ; but this I apprehend will be no more than the ordinary intelligence and perseverance of gardeners will easily over- come. And as I have before observed, the same climate which ripens the Orange in perfection, perfects the Guava and Loquat. After the Orange, the Loquat stands next in value, being hand- some in appearance, and delicate in flavour. I cannot, perhaps, convey a better idea of its worth than is expressed in the following translation of an article whichappeared in the AgricidtorMichaelense. " This valuable tree was imported to St. Michael's as an orna- mental plant by the Sr. Barao de Fonta Bello, about thirty years ago. The tree soon produced seasonable fruit, and of such parti- cular and exquisite flavour that, with the exception of the Orange, no other fruit is so abundant and common in St. Michael's. The tree is robust, extremely prolific, and suits itself to every soil and circumstance. It is easily propagated by layers and seeds. The fruit is juicy, subacid, and pulpy ; but so tender is the pulp that it melts into ' agradabilissimo ' liquor. There is not a quinta (or quintal cottage garden) in which the Loquat is not to be found. In the months when the Oranges are becoming scarce, come the Nesperas and Lnquats, to console us advantageously in their absence." What the writer of the above has stated I have witnessed; and I even consider that he has fallen short in the praise of this line fruit. It will appear strange that the Loquat has been so long known in this country, and so disadvantageously brought out. This is, doubtless, owing to all attempts to cultivate it having been made in tubs or on the back wall of some plant-house : better results may therefore be anticipated from plants growing in the borders of an exotic house. The Loquat (Eriobotrya japo- nica) is all but hardy in our climate ; it is at present (December 4th) in flower on the Arboretum wall in the Society's garden. The fruit must be permitted to remain on the tree till it is perfectly ripe, or it will not be full-flavoured. The finest fruit of this description k 2 IPOMOrSIS BLEGANS. I have ever eaten were gathered from trees on the side of a hill, where the ground consisted of, at least, two-thirds stones. It would lie an admirable plant to introduce into small tropical islands, as it resists the effects of the salt on the very edge of the sea. The best Guavas for dessert are Psidium Cattleyanum, polycar- pum, and pyriferum ; the two first are the best flavoured, having a taste somewhat between that of a Strawberry and a Peach. A white variety of Psidium Cattleyanum, much superior to the dark one, was cultivated in St. Michael's. Psidium pyriferum is a fine-looking yellowish fruit, about tbe size of an egg. When cut open the inside presents a rich rose- colour, and is most tempting in appearance ; its taste is inferior to that of the others, yet it is a desirable fruit. The time of ripening is late in the autumn, but as the fruit seldom all ripens at once, a supply may be kept up by few plants all through the winter. They are all prolific bearers. The Custard Apple is a dark -looking fruit ; when full-sized it is larger than a Kentish Codlin, with something of the shape of that apple ; it is full of pulp of a sweet aromatic flavour, and is very much esteemed by some. It ripens in March. The name of Custard Apple is well bestowed, as it conveys an excellent idea of the nature of the fruit. Pomegranates are not unhandsome fruit; the pulp on the seeds is a very agreeable acid, and in warm weather would be an acqui- sition to the dessert table. As the Longan and Alligator Pear had not produced fruit, I cannot speak of their virtues, but it is well known that they are both fine things. Granadillas were eaten with avidity by the Portuguese and English residents in St. Michael's, but like all new things they require the palate to become accustomed to them before they can be liked. XTII. — On Ipomopsis elegans By John Saul ; Washington, United States. (Communicated December 4th, 1852.) Many elaborate articles have been written on the cultivation of this plant in England, yet it is seldom that it is seen really well grown there, although I think all will admit that it is a charming plant when well cultivated. Before glancing at its treatment in England, however, let me notice how it is managed in this country and with what success. The first example of it IPOMOPSIS ELEGANS. 5:3 here came under niy observation in the summer of 1851, in a nursery where it was positively almost a weed, having ripened seeds in great plenty, shed them and sprung up in every direction, survived a cold winter, and bloomed magnificently. Subsequent acquaintance with the gardens of this country has proved to me that it is one of the commonest plants, and of the easiest culture. In our warm summers it ripens seed in abundance. In 1851 in a garden in this city some plants produced as usual great quantities of seed; a large portion was shed, and soon came up in the borders, on rockwork, and even on the walks. Such plants as were allowed to remain withstood a long and severe winter, the temperature being occasionally 6 ° below zero, yet not a plant was killed or even injured: this past summer (1852) they bloomed finely. It is impossible for a person who has only seen the miserable examples of this plant usually grown in England to form any idea of the brilliancy of colouring which the blooms acquire here, or the profusion in which they are produced. If the flower-spike is removed when its beauty begins, so as to prevent seeding, it will throw out laterals which will continue in bloom during the whole summer. It must be recollected too that all this is going on under a bright sun and burning heat, — a sun and heat under which the greater portion of the fine Californian Annuals refuse to grow. Here the Lan- tanas, Asclepias, Hibiscuses, &c. of English stoves, are the fittest summer occupants of borders, in which they grow luxuriantly and flower as freely as Verbenas do in English gardens. Reasoning from the above, were I now cultivating this plant in England, I would proceed somewhat as follows : — I would sow the seed out of doors about August on rockwork or a dry border; when the youug plants appeared, if too thick, I should thin them and keep them from weeds, which would be all they would require until the following spring. If they were on a dry bottom, where they should be, nothing need be apprehended from cold ; should they stand too thickly a portion might be transplanted in April, when they will take to their new quarters as freely as Cabbages, although I know the general opinion to be that they cannot be successfully trans- planted. When sown the site should be very dry, very warm, and should receive all the sun possible; the same should be observed in transplanting. If these directions are adhered to, there need be little fear of failure ; although the plants may not bloom in that profusion or with such brilliancy as in the warm climate of the United States, yet I have not a doubt that the cultivator will be well repaid for his trouble. NEW PLANTS, ETC., EUUM THE SOCIETY'S GARDEN. 1. Btllbergia bifbons.* Received from M. de Jonghe, of Brussels ; understood to be a Brazilian plant. This plant has the foliage of a Pitcairnia more than a Billbergia. The leaves are long, narrow, fine-pointed, channelled, recurved, quite spineless, and deep clear green on the upper side, although white with meal on the under. The flowers are in oblong heads ; in one plant brilliant fiery red and very handsome, in another dirty greenish yellow. Thei'e does not, however, appear to be any other difference of moment. In the crimson state the spike is longer, the scape scarcely leafy at the base, and the spathes below the ilowers large and blunt ; in the white state, the base of the scape bears a few leaves, the spike is not more than half the length, and the spathes are rather more acute. The two seem, however, to be mere varieties of one and the same species. A dry stove plant, requiring the same treatment and soil as Tillandsias, or others of the Bromeliaceous Order, with plenty of moisture during the growing season. It is increased by offsets. The two varieties are handsome, and if potted together, so as to force the spikes to intermingle, should produce a very gay effect. The flowers will keep six weeks in a sitting-room without wholly losing their beauty. 3. Odontoglossum Insleayi, var. B. macranthum. Lindley, Folia Orchidacea, p. 4, No. 8. This very fine variety of 0. Insleayi has flowered in several gardens in England. Although less rich in colour than the original, the size is most remarkable. A specimen from Sir * B. bifrons; foliis integerrirnis canaliculars setaceo-aeuminatis supra glabris subtus albotomentosis, scapo tomentoso nudo vel basi folioso,spathis ante flores concavis acutiusculis, spied oblonga, ovario calycique la^vi, Bquamis faucialibus ovatis obtusis indivisis. Var. a. spica oblonga. flonbus flammeis, scapo basi nudo. Var. b. albijlora, spica breviore, floribus albidis, scapo basi folioso. — J.L. NEW PLANTS, ETC., FROM THE SOCIETY S GARDEN. 55 Philip Egertou was 2^ inches from tip to tip of the sepals, and another produced with Mrs. Lawrence, and now figured, was even larger. The ground colour is the pale peculiar yellow of 0. grande, clouded, especially on the sepals, with broken bands of dull brownish purple. The lip is darker at the base, lighter at the end, with a bright yellow crest, and deep purple wings to the column, Odontoglossnm Insleayi. The plant is sometimes called 0. Lawrenceanum, but it is certainly nothing more than a variety of Insleayi. 56 NEW PLANTS, ETC. 3. Malva umbeixata. Cavan. ic, t. 95. De Cand. Prodr., I. 435. Received from the Rev. F. Beadon, F.H.S., August, 1852. A very handsome soft shrub, covered with dense starry deciduous woolliness. Leaves roundish, cordate, angular, or 3 — 5-lobed, slightly toothed, sometimes as large as the hand, with tapering stalks about three inches long. The flowers, which are extremely handsome, with five large crimson inversely heart-shaped petals, appear in 3 — 4-flowered umbels in the axils of the leaves, on peduncles as long as the leaves themselves. They each have three very deciduous bracts, which leave behind an indistinct scar when they fall off; the calyx is hemispherical, with five equal triangular lobes. The ovary is a roundish hairy body, containing about forty cells, in each of which are four ovules placed one over the other. It is stated that the native country of this plant is New Spain, where it grows on the eastern slopes of the mountains. It was cultivated thirty years ago, at Boyton, by the late Mr. Lambert, but had been supposed to be lost till it reappeared in the garden of the Rev. F. Beadon, at North Stonham. Although rather coarse-looking, it is useful in the conservatory in winter, and makes a good temporary addition to shrubberies in summer. 4. SoNERIEA ORBICULATA.* Received from, and communicated by Dr. Royle, May 15, 1852, from the Nilgherry Mountains of India. Stems branched, a foot high, brittle, purplish towards the upper end, clothed with weak scattered hairs. Leaves nearly round, slightly pointed, flat, as long as their footstalks, with fine hair-pointed serratures, seven-ribbed when perfect, but with not more than three ribs on the uppermost pair. Peduncle about three inches long, more than twice as long as the uppermost internodes, quite erect, terminated by a simple cyme consisting of one central flower and a pair of four-flowered arms, Calyx-tube oblong, slightly prismatical, closely covered with stiff white hairs. Petals oval, apiculate, bright rose-colour. * & orbkidala ; caruosa, caulescens, sparse pilosa, foliis orbiculatis acutis petiolatis argut6 serratis 5 — 7-nerviis, cyma longe-pedunculata 9-flora, calycis tubo oblongo-prismatico hispido. — J. L. FROM THE SOCIETY S GARDEN. 57 Sonerila orbiculata. 58 NEW PLANTS, ETC., This very distinct species differs from those previously described in the remarkably circular form of its leaves. From S. Brunonis, to which it comes nearest, it is also distinguished by its flower- stalk being much lengthened out, the calyx shaggy, not smooth, and the flowers rose-coloured, not blue. It is a small fleshy-rooted perennial, requiring to be treated like Achimenes and similar fleshy-rooted plants — that is to say, to be grown in a mixture of sandy loam, peat, and leaf-mould, in the stove. It is increased by cuttings or pieces of the roots, placed in sand in the usual way. When the plants have done flowering, they should be kept rather dry and rested. The species forms a very handsome and neat little bush, flowering freely in the stove in November and December. 5. Hibiscus sykiacus, L var. chinensis. Raised from seeds, presented to the Society by John Reeves, Esq. F.H.S., in June, 1844, under the name of Koorkun Vellory. 1 think there can be no doubt that this, although certainly Chinese, is a mere variety, and not a well marked one, of Hibiscus syriacus. It has large violet flowers, with a crimson eye, and its leaves are larger, thinner, and more smooth than in the bhrub out of doors, owing, perhaps, to having been grown in a stove. But the last circumstance is evidently unimportant, for in Mr. Fortune's wild specimens now before us, the leaf-stalks are perfectly shaggy. This traveller found it forming a shrub eight to twelve feet high, with light " blue " flowers, in the hedges and on hill-sides on Poo-too-san, and other islands. Wheu growing in a stove, with the same kind of treatment as is required by the well-known Hibiscus rosa-sinensis — that is to say, if placed in a mixture of sandy loam, peat, and leaf-mould, it forms a very handsome shrub, flowering in July and August. (». Colletia sekratifolia. Ventenat choix des ])U(ntes, t. 15. De Cand. Prodr. ii. 28. Received from Dr. Fischer, of St. Petersburgh, on the 27th of August, 1842, under the name of Discaria crenata. A Peruvian and Chilian shrub, branches bright green, like those of a Broom; leaves opposite, shining, bright green, crenated, obtuse, furnished at the base with a pair of erect brown stipules, which remain upon the stem after the leaves themselves have FROM THE SOCIETY S GARDEN, b\) i serratifolia. 60 NEW PLANTS, ETC., FROM THE SOCIETY'S GARDEN. fallen. Flowers greenish white, axillary, clustered, with their stalks not longer than those of the leaves, extremely fragrant. When the plant is old and stunted, its branches become spiny ; when vigorous, no spines are formed. In the garden it forms a moderate-sized deciduous shrub, and is nearly hardy, living well out of doors when trained against a south wall. It increases by seeds and cutting, but unwillingly. The flowers appear in May and June in great abundance, and being remarkably sweet-scented, give the plant much value either for growing in pots, or for planting against a conservative wall. 7. Philodendron aubitum.* Fouud growing out of a mass of roots of Orchids ; received from Mr. Skinner in 1851. A noble-looking climbing plant, with deep green taper stems, emitting great white roots, by which it clings to trees. The leaves are a rich deep green, with a tapering stalk more than two feet long ; the blade is deeply divided into three oblong, wavy, acuminate, diverging-vemed lobes, of which the middle is a foot, and each of the side lobes nine inches long, placed at right angles to the first, so as to form a hastate figure. The spathe is green, about six inches long, crimson within, but only opening for a short time while the anthers are shedding their pollen. Although of a quite different genus, this is very similar in foliage to the figure of Syngonium auritum in the Flora Fiuminensis, vol. ix. t. 113. It is a climbing stove plant, of robust habit, growing vigorously in a damp atmosphere, with its roots freely exposed, and flowers in December. It is a noble ornament in places where there is room to grow, and where a grandeur of effect is alone required. * P. aicritum; foliis hastatis 3-partitis sub-cordatis lucidis siau aperto, lobis oblongis acuminatis undulatis divergenti-venosis, stylo carnoso, 6tigmate rnembranaceo radiato, loculis 1-ovulatis (?). — J. L. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. XIV. — On the Periodic Phenomena of Vegetable Life at Different Altitudes in the Alps. Translated from the German of Adolplie Schlagintweit.* 1. Mode of Observation. — An enquiry into the periodic phe- nomena of vegetable life is the more interesting in the Alps from the great differences observable within very short distances. A careful observation of these phenomena often points out changes in climate, which it would be difficult to ascertain by meteorological observations alone. Thus, for instance, the several causes which occasion a variation in the limits of vegetation in respect of altitude become much more apparent. It not unfrequently bappens, that it is only in certain seasons that a combination of circumstances occurs unfavourable to the growth of a given plant ; the disturbances thus produced in the periods of development of such a plant will call our attention to the causes of its lower limit in altitude. The great disturbances which the diversity of seasons in dif- ferent years occasions in the development of vegetation make it often difficult to obtain positive results, easily comparable with eacb other. In many special cases, on points either very low or on the summits of the Alps, I have been able to make use of observations already published and extending over a long term of years ; I have also procured detailed notes on many points for the years 1848 and 1849. They are in general taken at the same places for which I have already communicated meteorological observations for the same years. It was a great object to me to extend these stations to the limits of growth of Cerealia. Yet it is difficult to obtain authentic observations of this nature for any lengthened period of time, or for any considerable number of points in the Alps, because they depend entirely on the individual care and attention bestowed by the observer. * This constitutes the 19th chapter of the Researches on the Physical Geography of the Alps, by Hermann and Adolphe Schlagintweit, Leipzig, 1850. 02 PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. In order to compare these phenomena on as large a number of stations as possible, I have endeavoured to procure mean terms, for the commencement of the most important periods of vegetation, by an attentive study of data furnished by the country people, and of notes consigned in old almanacs bj r attentive cultivators, often extending over periods of from six to sixteen years, and by my own observations in the different places where I have resided in different years. I have only admitted with great caution infor- mation communicated verbally : I have generally addressed the same questions to different persons, and I have thus been able the better to test the veracity of verbal communications, which, how- ever, have generally agreed tolerably well with each other. This was a natural consequence of the attention bestowed on the observation of these phenomena. My own observations comprise only some portions of the year ; for great altitudes, where vegetation only commences in June or July, the memoranda taken in summer and autumn are sufficient, and when at other times I was in inhabited valleys, they served me as a check upon the memoranda I had collected. But the number of plants I could admit in my tables was necessarily very limited. In many places, among large leaf-bearing trees, there were only Cherries and Ashes. The species of small plants vary so much with the altitudes, that often the whole of those employed for this purpose and enumerated in the copious catalogues of Quetelet were wanting. I could, however, follow the Beech, the Strawberry, the Walnut, the Cherry, the Elder, the Lilac, the Violet, and some others to great altitudes towards the extreme limits of their circumscrip- tion. The Cerealia interested me more especially, as with them it was easy to record the periods of sowing, of flowering, and of maturity, in different places, from a great number of observations. We should not, however, neglect perennial herbaceous plants, which, not being subject to the chances of cultivation, can obey more freely the direct influence of spring, and are better suited to the observation of the early development of vegetable life. In Cereals, on the contrary, although the commencement of vegetation is, even with them, comprised within fixed limits, yet it is not wholly independent of arbitrary circumstances, and all its periods may be changed if the time of sowing be delayed. Winter Cereals are, however, much freer from this defect, for differences of a week or a fortnight in the time of sowing are compensated during the long continuance of the winter months Summer Cereals appear to be much more influenced by these PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. 68 extraordinary circuitistauces, although not so much in the Alps as in large plains. The cultivation of Cereals is restricted within narrow limits by the fall of snow in the spring and autumn. The fear of seeing their corn prevented from ripening by the commencement of a premature winter obliges the inhabitants of the Alps to crop their fields as early and as rapidly as possible. The period of spring sowing depending therefore so much upon that of the melting of the snows, which is, in general, very characteristic of the re-appearance of vegetation in the Alps, we have taken it into account in the following tables. In investigating the periods of vegetation in different plants, it is necessary to observe in all cases the same moment of do velopment. Many phenomena, the flowering for instance, often last a long while, and in these cases it is always preferable to choose for comparison the commencement of each phenomenon. Take the flowering of the Cherry for instance ; we would not wait till all the branches are quite covered with flowers, but consider the flowering as commenced as soon as it is observed that a considerable number of flowei's are open on each of several trees. The data I make use of are all mean results of phenomena observed during several years.* Annual observations give but very uncertain results, as may be seen by the longer series published by Dove and Quetelet. Among the earlier observations of the commencement of periods of vegetation in a large number of plants, and their relation to changes in climate, may be mentioned those of Linnaeus, Cotta,f Sennebier,* Schuebler,§ dllombres Firmos.1 Berghaus.l L. Schmoeger, ** V. Gasparin, ff Boussingault. { J and, more * All observations made only during short periods arc always noted as such. + Traitv de Mftr'orologie, Paris, 1774, p. 238. j Meteorologic Pratique, fourth edition, Paris, 1810, p. 17'2, kc. § Researches on the period of Flowering of several Plants of the Flora of Germany and the adjoining countries. Ratisbon Journal of Botany, 1830, p. 351. Several series of observations, more or less detailed, made on the occasion of these researches, by Schuebler, have been published in later volumes of the same Journal. Already iu 1822, in the fifth volume of that periodical, Wenderoth, by his remarks on the Spring Flora of the neigh- bourhood of Marburg, had induced the establishment of a regular course of observation in the gardens of Berlin, Salzburg, Dresden, Ratisbon, Sec. || Reciuil >*s i*> (N o o <** ^ u a; 0> JS a a — <\> ■j. 7. as — — i 3 3 O GO O M to — -1 s s^ - lO lO o I-H CO H 0) _ n o «2 O ^ 55 C-= rj fa 3 S 5 I 3 Pno •>* OJ "* oo to -■£, io es -* o> c *r O J H n a, a .o OJ O rt ,»- -a" * IPs £ 1 §1 c3 « •"r > a> 1 >> 2 1. 1 ai P m '• a: .3 S P H P § SC c3 -j: S fe fe — 2 1 C8 P g 3 o cJDia P g g tp-^-P^ P o 3 a ■£ a, .3 g ° o § | i |.s -3 *§ ■g § Ph fe X 02 02 W a a £ P o "S P S, t£ P. <* P P £i 3 ^ fci Ph oj a o p p W2 *; a ^ o o =*-• a u o 02 06 PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. My data comprise altitudes of from 1000 to 8000 feet. They relate, especially as to the periods of vegetation corresponding to great altitudes, to groups of mountains in and near the heart of the Alps, where one meets still at a height of 4000 to 6000 feet with villages, cornfields, and meadows ; as to the lower regions, I have made use also of other observations made in the northern portion of the Alps, and at the foot of the mountains. These stations are between the 46|° and 48° of north latitude.* The melting of the snow and the reappeai'ance of vegetation in spring, as also the commencement of the permanent winter layer of snow, are periods as yet rather uncertain, yet the indications given above will serve to show generally the mean commencement and termination of vegetation at different altitudes. A very favourable circumstance in the observation of these phenomena is, that the winter is so much longer in the Alps f than in the plains, it commences and terminates in a much more regular manner. In lower regions, and even at the foot of the Alps, I especially on their southern side, the commencement and disappearance of snow cannot be taken as the limits of the period of vegetation, because the climate is too mild and the snow too inconsiderable. The recommencement of vegetation must then be determined by observation of the moment at which the sap begins to flow with increased rapidity and the plant appears to revivify. In climates where the winters are mild, as in Belgium, for instance, it not unfrequently happens, as remarked by Quetelet, § that some plants free themselves from their winter sleep and continue partially to develop themselves so long as there do not come on any continuous periods of frost. There are in the Alps considerable local irregularities in the melting of the snows, according to the direction of the valleys and the aspect of the declivities. Here hot banks exposed to the sun are very much in advance of narrow, low, and shaded valleys; there, in ravines and in the isolated depths of the valleys, large masses of snow are amassed which do not melt for a very long while. * The southern Alps are not included in the present tables. *r It sometimes happens in the lower regions, up to 3000 feet, that the winters are interrupted by continuous south winds bringing on a general melting of the snow. X In the lower regions, up to 2000 feet, the quantity of snow in some valleys (that of the Inn, for instance, up to 1700 feet), in extreme years, is not sufficient to admit of going in sledges. § Phenomenes Pcriodiqties des Plantes y p. 23. PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. 67 In some parts of the Alps the meltiug of the snow and reappear- ance of vegetation may be influenced by the unequal repartition of the fall of atmospheric meteors. In the southern portion of the high ridges of the Alps in particular, the storms are generally accompanied, in February, March, or April, by copious falls of snow, and these large masses occasion delays in the melting of the snow and the reappearance of vegetation, and the same influence may be partially traced in the growth of the leaves and the formation of flowers which immediately follow. The reappearance of vegetation often varies very much in dif- ferent years. Thus in the spring of 1817, one of the latest, this phenomenon took place several weeks later than the ordinary mean, whilst on the contrary, in 1834, it was considerably in advance of the same mean.* There are even greater irregu- larities in the time of the last falls of snow in spring and the first falls in autumn, as well as in the extremes of nocturnal cold in certain years. At the foot of the Alps, from 1500 to 2000 feet, passing falls of snow become very rare in the middle of May, or at any rate at the end of that month ; so also is it with nocturnal frosts. In autumn, the latter may come on suddenly very early, whereby the cultivation of fruit-trees in many valleys, especially on the northern side of the chain, becomes uncertain ; the fall of leaves is also much hastened in consequence. Between 2000 and 3000 feet, the 15th of June gives an average of extreme falls of snow, f The night-frosts of spring and autumn are considerable in these regions, especially in deep valleys which reach down to the regions of cultivation of Maize | and Buckwheat. Where these frosts are frequent the cultivation of these plants is much restricted, and much sooner ceases entirely. In the centre of this region, 2500 to 2700 feet, the sharp night-frosts generally * As examples of these yeai-s, I may state that at Leugenfeld (3617 feet) in 1817, sledges were still used in the beginning of May; at Fertheiseu the meadows were not yet green towards the middle of May ; a similar delay was observable at greater altitudes, so that every where journeys in the Alps could only take place that year several weeks later than usual. According to Heer there was still in the beginning of May, at Matt (2560 feet), deep snow which only melted towards the middle of the month. In 1834, on the contrary, the winter was mild. On the 31st of January there was scarcely any snow remaining at Matt, and in places exposed to the sun, the first flowers appeared of Anemone hepatica, Daphne Mezereum, Tussilago alba, and Mercurialis perennis. + For Kitzebiihl, Unger mentions an extreme fall of snow on the night of the 16-17th June, 1830, which extended down to 2350 feet, and lay in the morning an inch and a half thick. X Maize is in all climates very susceptible of spring and autumn frosts. f 2 68 PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. come on in the beginning of October; any strikingly early appearances of them cause a considerable deficiency in the harvest. * We have elsewhere noticed that at the height of 4500 feet, taking the mean of several years, no month is without snow, and that from this height upwards, the number of days of snow rapidly increases, without entirely excluding falls of water even at great heights. In extreme years there are still considerable tracts of snow at between 4000 and 5000 feet in the beginning of May, which, however, then rapidly disappear. In September, and especially in October, falls of snow become frequent at the further limits of Cereals ; falls of snow are not unfrequeut in all months. In the table of heights, the 15th June is given as the mean of ordinary years at an elevation of 5000 to 6000 feet. The flowering of Cereals often suffers considerably by such falls, and it not unfrequently happens that they are entirely covered with snow for a short time not long before their ripening. The commencement of winter is usually accompanied by the heavier falls of snow ; sometimes, however, the latter take place somewhat after the sinking of the temperature. The number of days of snow in comparison with that of rainy days iuci*eases with the altitude, so also the length of time during which the ground is covered with snow. The latter, however, inci'eases with the altitude more than the former ; an increase of one day in the fall of snow corresponds with an increase of several days in its duration on the ground. Thurmannf found that, in the Jura, an increase of three days in the fall of snow entailed an increase of ten days in its duration on the ground. The figures given on this subject show some interesting results as to their relations in elevated regions. They indicate also numerous variations according to the quantity of snow fallen on each snowy day, \ according to the degree of heat in summer, or to the daily maxima, according to the radiation on isolated summits, &c. The duration of vegetation, that is, the period intervening between the reappearance of vegetation in spring, and the com- * As an instance of an early frost, very injurious to Maize at an elevation of 1700 feet, we may state on the authority of private letters, that a very severe one took place at Innspruck in the nights of the 14-15th September, 1850, after a continued east wind. t Essai de Phijtostatique, v. i., p. 67. j The quantity of snow which falls in a day diminishes at considerable elevations. PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. 69 mencement of winter, undergoes considerable changes according to altitude. The comparison of this period in similar climates will afford interesting results as to the degree of development which vegetation may reach during this period. In the north, the duration of vegetation is also very short ; at St. Petersburg, for instance, it comprises, according to Giisebach, only four mouths and ten days.* Yet the high maxima of temperature during this time, and the increased excitement, from the long duration of daylight, occasions a much more active development and a greater richness of vegetation than might have been expected from the short duration of the period of vegetation, when comparing these relations with what takes place in the Alps. DURATION OF THE PERIODS OF VEGETATION. Heights. Days. Differences. 1500 to 2000 268 2000 to 3000 245 23 3000 to 4000 224 21 4000 to 5000 203 21 5000 to 6000 169 34 6000 to 7000 125 44 7000 to 8000 95 30 The mean difference is twenty-nine days for every thousand feet, but it would appear from the above figures that the diminu- tion is less rapid at lower elevations than in higher localities. Above the line of snow, and especially towards the furthest limits of phanerogamic vegetation (above 10,000 feet), the period of vegetation is still further shortened ; this period is, on an average, not much more than a month in localities not much exposed to the sun, yet still accessible to plants, and is chiefly confined to the month of August. During this short period, there occur, not unfrequently, very considerable changes of temperature and great falls to which the last phanerogamic plants appear to be but little sensitive. These plants continue to flower when the noctur- nal temperature sinks very low, even below the freezing point, and when the surrounding rocks, as well as the leaves and flowers of the plants, are covered with rime. After very snowy winters and duriug cool summers, it happens sometimes that the last phanerogamic plants remain completely covered with snow the * On the influence of climate on the limitation of natural floras. Linntm, vol. xii., p. 194. 70 PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. whole season ; and as to the highest lichens, where the rocks are not too abrupt, that is very frequently the case ; they have the power of preservation under the snow for a very long time without losing their vital faculties. * On account of the great length of the period during which the ground is covered with the winter snows, the relation to each other of the different seasons alters considerably at great altitudes. The winter comprises by far the greatest portion of the year, summer comes next in point of duration, spring becomes very much shorter, and still more so autumn, which is generally very rapidly put an end to by the fall of early snows. For each individual plant, the time which intervenes hetween the flowering and fruiting, for instance, shows great differences according to altitude, f It is, in general, long in the elevated regions; for the deficiency of heat necessarily delays the ripening of fruits. As examples, I will mention the Cherry, Winter Rye and Barley, for which the following means are the result of a great number of observations. NUMBER OF DAYS BETWEEN THE TIMES OF FLOWERING AND OF RIPENING FRUIT. Heights. Cherries (Prunus Cerasus). "Winter Rye (Secale cereale). Barley (Hordeum distichum et hexastichum). 1500 to 2000 2000 to 3000 3000 to 4000 4000 to 5000 5200 51 days 44 days 69 „ 47 „ 79 „ 48 „ 84 „ 51 „ „ „ ' 57 „ 44 days 48 „ 48 „ 49 „ 52 „ For the Cherry, the interval between these phenomena is greater than for Rye and Barley ; so the differences according to elevation vary more in the case of the former, than in the two latter : a * Premature ice is much more injurious to vegetation than snow ; when from the oscillation (that is, the variations in length and breadth) of glaciers, spots are left free either on their lower extremity or on their sides, these spots remain for a long time without vegetation, although generally situated below the limit of perpetual snow. The motion of the glacier itself is not however without influence in this respect, as it destroys the roots and germs of previous plants. And new plants, even mosses, establish themselves with great difficulty on the smooth rocks and rocky fragments left on the edge of the glacier. t There may be some exceptional cases where the length of time from the flowering to maturity is not sensibly increased, but these cases have not as yet been determined with certainty. Those species which will grow up to a great elevation are the best suited for these comparisons. PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. 71 few observations have indicated to us clearly similar relations for other fruit-trees. For Cereals, account may also be taken of the time which elapses between sowing and reaping. Striking dif- ferences are observable in this respect according to geographical latitude, as well as according to elevation. I have here placed in juxtaposition with these phenomena, as recorded in the Alps, some observations which Grisebach* has published after Daum and Parlatore. Plants. Places. Mean time of sowing. Mean time of reaping.! Difference in days. / Malta . . . 1st December 13th May 163 Sicily . . . 1st December 20th May 170 Triticutn vulgare ! (Palermo) Naples . . . 16th November 2nd June 198 Rome . . . 1st November 2nd July 243 Berlin . . . — — 299 y Alpsat3000ft. 12th September 7th August 329 Secale cereale f Alps at 2000 ft. hibernum . .(_ Alps at 4000 ft. 20th September 30th July 313 8th September 14th August 340 The progression from southern Italy to the north of Germany here produces the same effect as a considerable increase in elevation. In both cases there is a great prolongation of the period of vegetation in Cereals. At 5000 to 5200 feet, the extreme limit of Rye, it often remains a whole year in the ground. These comparisons can only be established in respect of countries whose climates are analogous in the repartition of heat according to seasons. The growth of Cereals near their limits towards the north can no longer be compared with the same phenomena in the Alps, for in the usually excessive climate of the north of Siberia, the period of vegetation of Cereals is on the contrary shortened. Besides the phenomena of which the periods are solely occa- sioned by relations of climate, I have, in the table of their mean commencements (above, p. 65,)} inserted some others which * Report on the progress of Vegetable Geography for the year 1845. Berlin, 1847. + I have here taken the period of the harvest in preference to that of maturity, for the purpose of comparison with southern stations, the former being there rather later than the period of maturity strictly speaking. In the variations in the time of sowing, the data given, especially for autumn, can only give the most usual changes in these relations. % In some parts of that table, as, for instance, opposite the foliations of Fraxinus excelsior and the flowering of Viola odorata, at the heights not 73 PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. depend on the will of man ; these are the hay-harvest and the cultivation of summer Cereals. Yet in comparing a number of observations, we find that the differences in the periods of these voluntary acts are still caused by relations of climate. The hay-harvest gives the most irregular results and differences, varying the least according to elevation. It is only from 6000 to 7000 feet that it shows a very considerable delay, which is owing to the manner in which the meadows are turned to use.* Up to 6000 feet the meadows are generally mown twice : it is only in some of the deepest valleys that by irrigation and careful cultivation three hay-crops are sometimes obtained. In more elevated situations they are obliged to commence mowing as soon as the Grarninese are in seed, in order that the second mowing may be completed before the often premature fall of the first snows of winter. From 6000 to 7000 feet we often meet still with real Alpine meadows, which, however, are only once mown ; this takes place from the beginning to the end of August, and even as late as September, whilst some high Alpine meadows, above 7000 feet, are only mown every two years. In order to show, at one view, the delays occasioned in the development of vegetation according to altitudes in a general manner,! I have inserted in the following table comparative differences in regard to special periods of vegetable life. We may observe, that in general the delay in the periods of vegetation is less in the spring months than towards the end of the flowering, and thence to the ripening. of the fruit. The mean difference in question is of two days and a half, and this pheno- menon is more especially observable in different parts of isolated valleys. The cause must be sought for in the more rapid fall of temperature which takes place in those situations in the summer months, as the more elevated parts are thereby colder in propor- tion, and the development of plants consequently slower than at the commencement of vegetation. reached by these plants, I have inserted some data on the vegetation of meadows or on early spring flowers, without intending to indicate any analogy between these latter phenomena and the former. * This only applies to meadows cultivated in the vicinity of the most elevated habitations. For in some places Alpine meadows are met with much lower down which are only once mown. + It is only by comparing the means of a great number of observations that any precise estimate of the influence of altitude on the development of plants can bo obtained ; for isolated stations and particular seasons show very great differences, from which many apparently contradictory result?- might be obtained. a! 52 *o 1013 i~> go cm c? t-T i-T c-i — T 5 u s & a a Of o »""l ;«?5 - o •M ;- — a — ^^ ^^ ^ s o o o o © o © © © © O0 © © 05 o 3 So fe, 03 « Tr, &% m I g s ® a ; to csTo ! 8 (h 3 *»r3 a> 3 fll Sb o a -a a 3 K 5 ^-. o ci O S fci 5 o S t> fa 132 02 OJ M 3Ph02ScH<{ a . a 'So OB ,Q CD ^a ra .2 -13 o> ^ o> >o .» be a t, > R • ° ,2r£»T3 O ~ > " J ^ a ■£. 2 m iC r2 Oi2 a • ^3 a *• o o -3 "2 » » S 2 • 9 =-5 s 2 .g 3^-g|-3= a ' § s ° ■ » o . •§ .S «> I § . o?|)a 2 «*H <*H _2 O O r3 g >> >. >-, S "* ,fj OS ^ ai a a> 74 PEKIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. The mean elevation for every degree (of the centigrade ther- mometer) of lowering of the temperature is in winter 670 feet, in spring 510 feet, in summer 440, and in autumn 560. One circumstance seems of importance, which is that the lower temperatures acting on plants at great elevations influence their development more especially after a long lapse of time ; the period of ripening the fruit, for instance, is more delayed by this prolonged action than that of flowering. As a general mean, we find in the Alps a delay of eleven days in the development of vegetation for every 1000 feet ; * this result, however, shows many variations in different parts of the Alps of different elevations, configuration, and aspect, on account of the changes occasioned by these circumstances in the repartition and fall of temperature. A vertical difference of 1000 feet, corresponding to a delay of eleven days, entails generally in the mean temperature, especially during the period when the development of vegetation takes place, a difference of two degrees centigrade. Schuebler, from his own observations, admits, for every 1000 feet, a delay in vegetation of from ten to fourteen days, and a difference of six days for a mean lowering of temperature of one degree. Queteletf has confirmed these results. He finds that 100 metres in the climate of central Europe entails a delay of about four days, which corresponds with the action of one degree of latitude. | Thurmann has published some observations on the delays in the periods of vegetation in the Jura ; he finds that, generally speaking, a delay of seventeen days in the harvest corresponds to a difference of altitude of 1000 feet, or 100 metres = 5 - 50 days.§ Some special observations, made on several points of the Jura, during the first half of the summer of 1849, up to an elevation of 1045 metres, || gave, for the time comprised between the com- * Notwithstanding the variations to which these general means are liable, they nevertheless serve to give an idea of general results, and to facilitate their comparison in different climates. + Pliinomenes periodiques des Plantes, p. 69. % These relations vary in different latitudes. Berghaus (Almanack for 1840) observed, that between Hamburg and Christiania a much shorter delay corresponds to a degree of latitude, than between South Germany and Smyrna. § Essai de phytostatique, vol. i. p. 51. || Essai de phytostatique, vol. ii. pp. 286 — 293. These observations are continued by Thurmann. PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. 75 mencernent of vegetation iu spring and the hay-harvest, thirteen days and a half for every 1000 feet (100 metres = 4"25 days). Although these numbers are the result of only very short observa- tions, they seem to show that in the Jura, as in the mean results in the Alps, there is a greater delay in the development of vegetation at the time of harvest, and especially in autumn, than during the spring months. I should here mention, that the delay is generally greater in the Jura than in the Alps ; this proceeds from the higher stations in the former chain of mountains being in exceedingly exposed situations, where the much more restricted cultivation of Cereals and the want of fruit-trees already indicate a more rigorous climate. Influence of CUmateric Relations. — Amongst the climateric conditions influencing the periodic development of vegetation, the following appear to be the most important : the mean temperature of the air in the shade and iu sunshine ; the form of the curves of temperatures during short periods ; and the magnitude of isolated extremes in consequence of exposure to sunshine and radiation ; the heat of the soil and its variations ; the moisture of the air and of the soil ; the accumulation of clouds and repartition of rain ; the pressure of the air, whether moist or dry ; winds, and in some measure, electricity, &c. These groups of influences have all this common character, that they depend essentially on changes in geo- graphical position, — that is, in altitude, latitude, and longitude. Aspect, configuration of the ground, composition, and especially physical properties of the soil, are more local, but also of great importance : add to this many irregularities peculiar to certain plants, which, however, disappear in mean results, obtaiued from the consideration of different plants. From the manner in which the phenomena of vegetable life in any given year depend on the conditions of temperature, it will be readily seen how important, among the above-mentioned influences, is that of temperature. These phenomena always commence earlier under the action of greater heat, always later when the heat is less, than the ordinary means ; although the other cli- materic conditions should not exercise their iufluence in the same direction on the temperature. This constant relation of the non- periodic changes of temperature points out to us what the investigations of Dove have proved, that heat is generally the most essential condition for the phenomena of vegetation. The great influence of temperature, which acts directly as well as by pro- 76 PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. rnoting the evaporation of leaves, has been frequently demonstrated by direct experiments on the growth of plants. Miinter,* I farting,! and others, have proved that the growth of plants is greater by day than by night; that under a decreasing intensity of develop- ment, it may be confined to the day-time, and that it is more active in direct sunshine than in the shade. Nevertheless, the heat which a plant receives is different from the mean temperature obtained by the observation of a thermometer suspended in the shade ; for plants have usually their free parts exposed to the action of the sun,]; whilst their roots partake of the temperature of the soil. In shady situations, the mean temperature of the air is lower, and the extremes are nearer together, than in sunny places ; for the maximum is much lower in the shade, and the minimum is also not quite so low, owing to the diminution of nocturnal radiation. This contrast between the shaded and sunny situations is greater during the warmer than during the colder portions of the year, and increases greatly in more elevated situ- ations in comparison with lower ones. Yet, variations even in the mean temperature of the air, as indicated by the thermometer in the shade, exercise great influence on the development and general growth of plants. In the scale of heights in the Alps, the variations, as we have already observed, diminish with greater elevation, but more because at greater altitudes the heat is less, than because the cold is greater : the decrease in temperature is greater in summer than in winter. The great influence which the climaterie character and mode of repartition of temperature exercise on the development of plants may be readily perceived, if we endeavour to draw synchronistic lines ; that is, if we connect those places where certain phenomena of vegetation occur at the same time. These lines, in extensive continents, do not, as observed by Quetelet, coincide with mean annual temperatures, and are neither parallel, nor do they show * Observations phytophysiologicos. Berlin, 1841. See Schlechtendahl's Linncea,vo\.xv. pp. 200—242 ; Mohl and Schlechtendahl's BotaniscJie Zeitwag, vol. i. pp. 69, 753, &c. f In F. Van Hccven and De Vriese's Journal, Leyden, 1842, vol. iv. pp. 296 — 348, extracted in Mohl and Schlechtendahl's Journal, vol. i. pp. 90 — 102. For the relations of the development of plants to external conditions, as well as for the physiological relations of these phenomena, ses De Candolle's Physiologic Vegetale, vol. i. Schleiden's Principles of Scientific Botany, second edition, 1845, vol. ii. pp. 494 — 503. X For the great influence on vegetation of the direct exposure to sunshine, see Von Humboldt's De Distributions Qeographica Plantarvm, 1817, p. 163. PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. 77 any constant differences. They cross each other, on the contrary, repeatedly, and are of very dissimilar forms for different months. In one and the same place there may he a delay in one phenomenon, and a considerable acceleration in another. The vernal phenomena and those of autumn show the greatest differences ; which depend, more especially, on whether it is a continental or a maritime climate which prevails, as in the latter case, besides the lower degree of summer heat, the frequent cloudiness, and the con- sequent deficiency of sunshine, delay much the ripening of fruits. For the Alps, these synchronistic lines take somewhat more regular forms, and the enclosed spaces indicate, in general, more uniform variations ; although here, also, very considerable divergences occur, according to the configuration of the ground in particular stations, according to geographical longitude and latitude, and according to the form of the groups of mountains. For the daily periods, the variations of temperature depend chiefly on aspect ; for the periods of the year, positions in the bottom of a valley, as we have already seen, act favourably, as in their case, with the same mean annual temperature, the differences between particular months are generally greater than on the sides of the mountains. It is not all plants that are equally affected by these conditions; — they relate chiefly to plants generally cultivated in freer aspects and on sunny slopes, and where long stalks enable them to take a greater part in the temperature of the air. The temperature to which forests are exposed is very nearly that of the thermometer in the shade ; they are, moreover, affected by that of the deeper strata of the soil. For larger plants, also, the aerial temperature is not everywhere the same ; for their lower parts are exposed to greater heat in the sunshine, and to greater cold by noc- turnal radiation* in calm, cold weather, than their upper portions. Together with the greater heat under sunshine, there arises also greater excitement from light, which, it is known, has so important an influence on the functions of vegetable life, and on the assimi- lation of nutritive matter. The intensity of this excitement, depending on the transparency of the air, increases with elevation, and is certainly not without influence on the periods of vegetation, and on the lower limits of Alpine plants. Grisebach has also shown that the southern limits of northern plants in North-west Germany,! depend very essentially on the excitement from light, * See Glaisher, Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 1847, vol. ii. t Grisebach, The Lines of Vegetation in North-west Germany. Gottinger, Studien, 1847, p. 476. 78 PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. on the duration of daylight, which here corresponds with intensity, whilst there is little prohability that there the southern limits are fixed by any excess of summer temperature, which is, moreover, inconsiderable. Exposure to sunshine depends on the state of the sky as to cloudiness ; this varies in different groups of Alps, in a manner analogous to the repartition of rain ; but it also acts unequally on the periods of vegetable life, at different elevations. As the greater clouds do not generally reach the highest summits, and isolated mists especially remain long in the valleys, so the highest plants are thereby exposed to much greater excitement from light. The temperature of the soil produces great variations, as well in the quantity as in the distribution of the heat which a plant receives. As plants of the higher Alpine regions are mostly perennial, and their roots generally have a great extent in com- parison with their green parts, so is their connexion with the temperature of the soil much increased. This temperature, in the upper strata, is exposed to greater variations from sunshine by day, and radiation by night, than the temperature of the air ; and in these cases, the colouring, the degree of looseness, &c, of the surface have considerable influence. But at some depth the temperature of the soil is much less extreme, and the minima of cold and maxima of heat occur later than in the atmosphere ; the degree and the rapidity of these changes is much pi*omoted by the degree of conductibility of heat which the soil possesses.* Plants with deep, especially tap-roots, experience therefore, in their sub- terraneous parts, a cooler temperature in summer, and a warmer degree in winter, than that of the atmosphere. For larger plants, where roots are small in proportion to their green parts, the total heat they receive is greater than the mean annual temperature in the shade. For smaller plants, with roots lying near the surface, these conditions are still more favourable. In winter they are entirely covered with snow, which, being so bad a conductor, protects them from the chilling effects of radiation. f In summer, their roots are but little colder than the temperature of the air; they even sometimes, in their whole extent, partake of the heating of the upper strata by exposure to sunshine. J * See the numerous experiments of Forbes in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh. + See Boussingault's experiment?, Economie rurale, vol. ii. p. 454. X A fine example of the conditions of growth of this class of plants is afforded by Cereals, which depend so much on the temperature of the air and of the upper strata of the soil ; thus, for example, lye and barley ripen PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. 79 Under all the above influences, the periodic phenomena are not less varied than the limits of plants. We should here point out that influences, which appear most favourable on considering only the periodic phenomena of vegeta- tion, do not always promote equally the general growth of the plant, or any important rise in the upper limits of its range. This appears more clearly in regard to vernal phenomena, and by a compari- son of smaller plants with larger ones, as trees for example. The effect of an open aspect, the influence of violent storms, the steep declivity of the ground, &c, which are so prejudicial to the growth of the latter, disappear, for the most part, in the case of smaller plants. In the steeper parts of a declivity, the snow melts in spring more rapidly thau in flatter situations ; and the re-appear- ance of vegetation takes place earlier, although these very declivities are unfavourable for the formation of close masses of vegetation, and still more so for the establishment of trees. So also dry, even stony localities, which are rapidly heated by sunshine, hasten the development of spring vegetation, and the commencement of flowering, far beyond what is seen in moist rich soils under the same aspect ; whilst, later in the season, the plants in the former case become very stunted. Also, an early commencement of vegetation, and a rapid formation of shoots and flowers, become very injurious to the plants on the occurrence of frequent night- frosts ; whilst those which grow in situations where, owing to less sunshine, to the composition of the soil, or other circumstances, these periods are delayed, succeed far better, and in greater numbers.* The consideration of the degree of humidity is more important than that of the repartition of rain, because it depresses the tem- perature much more in summer than in the other seasons, and thereby often disturbs considerably certain stages of development. Great droughts, which sometimes oppose as great hindrances to vegetation as cold, are rather scarce in the Alps, as the absolute quantity of rain is so great, that even a considerable diminution of it is but little injurious ; much more frequently do moist summers affect considerably by their cold the ripening of fruits. Amongst the local influences, must here be mentioned the in Siberia near Nerehinsk, where the soil ia constantly frozen at a certain depth; in the middle of August, this is the case at seven feet below the surface. See Kupffer in the Bulletins de V Academie de St. Petersbourg, Classe Phys. Math. vol. iv. p. 67. * "We shall farther on have the opportunity of giving some examples of these relations in the case of the Cheriy. 80 PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. configuration of the ground. In very narrow valleys and ravines, the duration of sunshine is much shortened, or, in a few rare instances, almost entirely cut off. This diminution occurs chiefly in winter ; partially, also, in spring and autumn. Under the high steep mountains which often rise by the side of such valleys, many points are entirely deprived of the direct rays of the sun for several weeks in winter ; whilst in the others the duration of sunshine is exceedingly short. Even in summer, it lasts in most valleys of the Alps, except in the broader basins, some hours less than in plains. * Many periods of vegetable life, the ripening of fruit for example, is thus remarkably delayed in shady valleys. The same circum- stances may be readily observed under northern aspects, in comparison with southern declivities. Considerable accidental variations may be observed on com- paring isolated phenomena and years, in consequence of irregu- larities in certain plants. Age, or artificial transplantation, bring out great differences ; single individuals are earlier than others without our being able to attribute it to any external causes ; also a degree of development given to a plant by the temperatui'e of the preceding year, especially of autumn, is often perceptible in its effects the following year.f Differences in the degree of con- sistency or in the composition of the soil, slight variations in moisture or irrigation, will also produce rather striking differences in the period of development, in plants growing in close proximity to each other. Although the influence of the temperature of the air in the shade on the periodic phenomena of vegetable life is not extensive, we may, nevertheless, make use of it for some general comparisons ; partly because its influence is always great ; partly because it depends so essentially upon many of the other modifications of climate, that, within certain limits, it gives a fair estimate of their mean variations. The points to be ascertained in this respect are, at what degree of temperature a given phenomenon takes place at different altitudes, and what is the temperature which prevails during the whole period of development. The mean temperature by day, at which a given phenomenon takes place in spring, remains generally nearly the same ; j although * The influence of the shade is also perceptible in the curves of daily temperature. t See Quetelet, Climat de la Belgique, p. 35. J This is shown also by Que"telet's comparison of Brussels, Climat de la Belgique, p. 19, with the carefully chosen means collected by Gasparin for Western Europe, in his Cours d' Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 94. PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. 31 at greater elevations the melting of snows and re-appearance of vegetation require a somewhat warmer temperature than in lower valleys or plains. This may be caused by the circumstance that, in the latter case, a partial melting of the snow has taken place during the preceding months ; whilst, during the continuous winters of the higher Alps, the masses of snow accumulated during many months, only begin to melt away in spring ; and, as this operation requires a longer time, vegetation is thereby delayed. The complete melting of snow in the higher regions generally takes place under the influence of warm south or south-west winds. This somewhat warmer temperature, which already prevails at that time at great heights, is also the cause of the well-known rapid growth of meadows, and development of the first flowers of Anemones, Gentians, Primula?, Tussilagos, &c., immediately after the disappearance of the general mass of snow.* These plants begin partially to bud even earlier. The rose of the Alps (Rhododendron) often makes fresh shoots under the snow. The fact that, in the higher Alps, not a colder, hut even a warmer temperature than in the plain, prevails at the time of the melting of the snows, acts also favourably on the growth of many plants at greater elevations. The snow-covering keeps the temperature of the soil low, and hinders the too early shooting and flowering of plants, which might be destroyed by the cold of succeeding nights. Were this not the case, the constitution of many plants would suffer so severely from freezing, that they would probably die off, and not re-appear at the same altitude.-j- In later periods of vegetation, ^specially the ripening of fruit, it may, nevertheless, be observed, that they take place at great elevations at a lower temperature than in the lower regions of the Alps. They do not even occur at the same time in the former * We must call to mind, also, that the rapid development of vegetation in its farther progress at great elevations is also owing to the plants being nearly all spring plants ; which show the same disposition when transplanted into the plains. See Treviranus, Biologie, vol. ii. p. 37. + An interesting phenomenon, which may be compared with the above observations, is communicated by Dove, Connexion of the Variations in at- mospheric Temperature with the development of Plants. Transactions of the Berlin Academy for 1844, p. 341. The development of the flowers of the cherry-tree in Prussian Lithuania is artificially delayed, by covering the surrounding ground with a layer of non-conducting leaves, by which it is ' kept longer frozen. The flowers in that case appear so late, that they are no longer exposed to nocturnal frosts. In plains in general, it is of frequent occurrence that trees suffer from late frosts, in consequence of the too early opening of their young shoots and flowers. vol. vnr. 82 PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. case, but later during the period of decreasing temperature. As a fine example, we may take the case of the Cherry and of the Winter Rye. The Cherry ripens In Western Europe, in general, according to Gasparin,* at a mean temperature by day of 17°, Scent. In East Prussia, according to Dove,-j' at a temperature by day of 17°, 5 cent. At tbe foot of the Alps, to the height of about 2000 feet, it appears likewise to range between 17° and 18° Towards the upper limits of the tree in the central Alps, at 4500 feet, where the ripening only begins on 20th August the temperature during the period does not exceed 11° to 12° The Winter Rye ripens In East Prussia, according to Dove, at 17°, 9 cent. At the foot of the Alps, the temperature is nearly the same. At the upper limits of its cultivation in the higher chains of the Alps, at an elevation of 5200 feet, the temperature at the time of ripening on 3rd September is barely 10° Whilst a considerable diminution is apparent at lower altitudes of 4000 to 4500 feet. In the case of the Grape-vine, also, the ripening takes place at a much lower temperature towards its northern limits, as well as towards its limits in altitude, than in more favourable situations. In considering the total temperature during the whole period of vegetation of a plant, or during particular periods of development, we must distinguish those temperatures which are directly pro- motive of vegetation, and those which occasion their growth to remain stationary. In mean temperatures, as they are usually taken, these considerations cannot be completely comparable, as the temperatures below the freezing point have in the averages the same value as those above it ; that is not, however, the case with plants, as growth only takes place with the higher tempera- ture. The lowering of the temperature may, indeed, produce a stoppage in growth, or even the death of the plant ; but there is never any retrograde step in the only sense in which it can be compared to temperatures below freezing point, and to the manner in which they are taken account of in striking the monthly and annual means. The temperature at which the development commences, as * Cours d' Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 94. t Reports of the Berlin Academy, 1850, Table 2, at p. 214. PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. 83 well as the disturbance produced by a fall in temperature during growth, is not the same for every plant ; we have already observed that high Alpine plants suffer less from a sudden cooling than those which grow lower down, and especially cultivated plants. The commencement of vegetation takes place with more or less heat according to the peculiar constitution of any given species ; but it is also generally affected by the temperature of the pre- ceding winters ; a mild season, for instance, may have so far prepared the commencement of vegetation, that its development in spring may take place at a lower temperature than usual. Great heats may also act prejudicially on vegetation. Therefore, the temperatures to be taken into account in respect of the development of vegetation are included between higher and lower limits, which vary according to the species of plant, and to the stage of development at which it has arrived.* Temperatures which have a direct influence on the development of plants appear to be always above freezing point, but in many cases a temperature of from + 1° to + 3° centigrade will remain without any perceptible effect, if after a short time it be interrupted by greater cold. This is particularly evident from the little alteration which winter Cereals show before the advent of the warmer spring months, although higher midday temperatures may have com- menced earlier, and the snow may have partially disappeared. Similar phenomena are observable, according to Alph. de Candolle,f towards the northern limits of plants. On the other hand, in many larger plants, trees for instance, there is no absolute stag- nation I even during winter. It becomes, therefore, extremely difficult to judge of the real amount of heat which a plant experiences, either during its whole period of vegetation, or during specific portions of it. It is not even expressed by the sum total of all temperatures above freezing point, for sunshine, distribution of temperature, and especially isolated extreme heats. * We may mention here, as an instance of a great range of temperature, the process of germination, which will take place from 3° or 4° centigrade to 40° or 50°. See Boussingault, Economic rwrcde, German edition, vol. ii. p. 420. t Sur les Limites polaires des Especes : Bibliotheque Universelle de Geneve, 1848. Z By the interesting experiments of Boucherie on the colouring of woods by infiltration, it appears ihat winter is indeed the season of rest for the sap, but that there is, nevertheless, no absolute stagnation. This is especially the case with evergreen Coniferac. Annates de Chimie, Second series, vol. liv. p. 134. .; ■_' 84 PEKIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. are items of great importance.* It appears, nevertheless, that in considering the influences of different latitudes and altitudes, the sums of temperatures, or, as Quetelet proposed, the sums of the squares of temperatures f give very fair general points of comparison. If we investigate these conditions according to either of these modes of computation, we shall find that many plants, at their highest limits in the Alps, notwithstanding a considerable retarda- tion of their periods of vegetation, experience a less total heat for the same stages of development than in plains. J In this respect, we might especially have made use of meteorological observations taken in the years 1 848-49 at Vent, Heiligenblut, and Sagritz, in connexion with memoranda on the development of plants. But the period of time appeared to us to have been too short to give specifically the figures which resulted from them, as differences in different years are so important, according to the interesting communications of Dove.§ The diminished total heat * A. de Candolle attempted to make use of the development of single plants, in conjunction with the temperature in sunshine and in shade, for the appreciation of the development of vegetation in general, and at different seasons of the year. Bibl. de Geneve, 1850. Sciences Physiques, pp. 177—192. + Hess of Stettin has shown that relative moisture may also be taken in account by dividing the product of heat and time by the relative humidity. Lamont (Annals of the Observatory of Munich, 1849, p. 171) remarks, that a more correct result will be obtained by combining higher powers of the mean temperatures with the squares of the extremes. The farther removed the phenomena considered are from the commencement of vege- tation in spring, the more concordant will be the results obtained by different methods, because during the longer periods single variations compensate each other more and more. J That vacillations in the total heat are not uninfluenced by the nature of the plants themselves, is shown by A. de Candolle's observations. It appeared that, even with the most careful experiments with seeds of the same kind, the total temperature under apparently similar outward cir- cumstances was never precisely the same ; single plants were developed, some more rapidly, others more slowly. Bibl. Universelle, 1850, p. 179. § According to Vogt's observations at Arys, in East Prussia, comprising the years 1836 to 1849 (Reports of the Berlin Academy, 1850, p. 213), the differences in different years, that is, the non-periodic variations in tem- perature, become, as shown by Dove, important in another way. There frequently occurs a succession of favourable or unfavourable years ; if the first development of a plant occurs during a series of favourable years, it may reach such a size that its existence is secured, also, for succeeding years ; this is an important point for acclimatising and other experiments in cultivation. These conditions may also have been of great importance in the case of isolated trees at great elevations, which may be often found at considerable distances from all others. If once they have been able to PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. 85 towards their highest limits is most conspicuous iu Cereals; a consequence is, that the corn in such situations always gives a smaller produce, and an inferior quality, which confirms the statement made by Dove, that in one and the same locality an increased total heat from the flowering to the ripening has a favourable effect on the quality of the grain. In some other plants, fruit-trees for instance, we could not, from the series of observations given, deduce with any certainty the conditions as to the total heat experienced, or the sum of the squares. These relations depend so much on the vital functions of plants, on the physiological and chemical conditions of the formation of their sap and ripening their fruit, that it is as yet impossible to trace out the causes of many variations. 4. Observations made at separate stations. — (Under this head the original contains eight tables of observations of periodic phenomena of vegetable life made at twenty-nine different stations varying in elevation from 1250 feet to 8400 feet. These separate observations, which form the bases of the general results given in the former part of this article, together with the careful indication of the sources from whence the data they furnish were derived, occupy too much space to be here repeated. It may suffice to give a few general observations which follow.) Differences in geographical situation, in exposure, in the direction and form of the valleys, alter so much the period of commencement of the various stages of vegetation, that by a comparison of single stations, whose difference of altitude is not considerable, very great irregularities may be observed. The great local inflections of the isothermal lines, which strike one more especially in the lower parts of the Alps, have been adverted to in a former part of the work. Valleys which are thus warmer than others, of the same or of lower altitudes, have also a cor- responding advance in the development of vegetation. The observations given have enabled us also to follow up the great influence exercised on the periods of commencement of vegetation attain a certain age, they are enabled to continue their development for some, time, and will at last remain long after they are reduced to half dried up trunks. Von Humboldt published, as early as 1817. observations on the condi- tions of temperature during the period of vegetation of Cereals (Sur les Lignes isothermes ; M e moires d' A rcueil, iii.) G. Lucas communicated observations on the periods of vegetation of winter rye and barley, and the conditions of temperature prevailing at the time at Arnstadt from 1838 to 1848, to Mohl and Schlechtendahl's Botanische Zeitimg, 1849, p. 300. 86 PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. by the different repartition of warmth where the mean tempera- ture of the year remains the same. For instance, Heiligenblut in the Mollthal, and Innichen in the Pusterthal, are at the same elevation of about 4000 feet ; they have nearly the same mean annual temperature, but the repartition of the temperature in the different seasons is very different, and this difference is plainly indicated, also, in the period of vegetation, as the following com- parative table will show : — TEMPERATURE. (By the centigrade thermometer.) PERIODS OF VEGETATION. 184S-1S49. | In ™£ OT Heiligenblut 4C04'. Mean Innichen Mean. 3999 , Heiligenblut 4004'. Winter . . Spring . . Summer . Autumn . Year . . . — 4,8 + 4,7 15,1 + 5,8 5,2 — 2,1 + 3,9 13,0 5,6 5,1 Leafing : — Fraxiuus excelsior . Flowering : — Prunus Cerasus . . Secale cereale hib. . Fruiting : — Prunus Cerasus . Secale cereale hib. . f Hordeum distichum L et hexastichum. 27 May 20 May 11 June 26 July 2 August 13 August 29 May 26 May 17 June 17 August 10 August 22 August Similar results, in different degrees, are not unfrequent in the Alps. 5. Eemarks on the growth of Cerealia at different elevations. — With a greater altitude not only are the periods of vegetation delayed, but the general development and successful growth of Cerealia is very much impeded. The number of grains, the size and number of haulms, and the product altogether gradually decrease as we approach the limits of the growth of corn. In order to judge of the amount of this product, we may take either the proportion which the harvest bears to the seed, or the whole quantity harvested from a given surface under the most appropriate treatment. We have often had opportunities of estimating these quantities by a comparison of long continued lists of observations of great cultivators with other more isolated data. The produce compared with the seed varies (taking the mean of Wheat, Rye, and Barley) in the high plains at the northern foot of the Alps, and in the deep longitudinal valleys, from sevenfold PEKIODIC PHENOMENA OP VEGETABLE LIFE. 87 to eightfold.* At an elevation of 3000 feet it is reduced to five or sixfold ; at 4000 feet, and a little above, the produce diminishes very much, particularly in respect of Wheat, which meets here with its limits, whilst at the upper limits of all grain cultivation the produce of Winter Rye and Barley, even in a mean of favourable years, sinks down to two or three and a half-fold. It there happens in the worst years that the corn either does not ripen at all, or barely produces the quantity sown. The produce of Maize shows very great variations. At 2000 feet it amounts to about eighty-five times the seed ; at its mean limits of 2500 to 2700, it still produces from fifty to sixty-fold ; whilst at the highest isolated points where it is cultivated (3500 feet), it not unfrequently happens, that from a deficiency of autumn heat, or the early occurrence of night frosts, it does not ripen at all.f Besides the climateric changes, especially the diminution of temperature, the mode of cultivation, at great elevations, affects considerably the produce of Cereals. In the lower parts of the Alps a rotation of crops can he carried out with advantage, and in the broad flat valleys and their neighbourhood may be found a regular and tolerably extensive course of agriculture. But in the more elevated spots the inclination and inequalities of the soil give room only for very small fields, which are worked with the hoe. By a rich supply of dung, J however, it is endeavoured to form a very favourable soil. In the more elevated cultivated spots, the results are still far more unfavourable, when we calculate them by a comparison of the produce of a given surface, as in these situations, in conse- quence of the inclination of the soil and the abundance of weeds, the crops are vexy much thinner on the ground. The inclination of the soil is very considerable, and in many * The produce, however, under the most favourable external circum- stances may, for the ordinary kinds of grain, rise to twenty-five times the seed, as, for instance, in the case of wheat in Mexico. See Humboldt, Essal surla Nouvelle Espagne, vol. ii. p. 429. +■ Such attempts at cultivation may be seen, for instance, at Sagritz, at an elevation of 3500 feet; mean temperature, 6,2° centigrade, in summer 14,4° centigrade, in autumn 6,2° centigrade. In the tropics where maize is grown at an elevation of 2800 feet in South America (mean annual temperature 27,5° to 14° centigrade), it produces, according to Codazzo, 238-fold ; in Abatia sometimes 190-fold. Boussingault, Economie rurale, vol. ii. Z For the highest fields an abundant supply of dung can generally be obtained from the adjoining chalets ; in the deep valleys, on the contrary, where the greater portion of the cattle is usually sent during the summer to the Alpine pastures, there is often a considerable scarcity of dung. 8S PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. elevated fields reaches an angle of 30° to 35°; the soil is thus washed down by rains, and has to be carried back with great labour to the upper parts. At the same time the projection becomes smaller as the inclination increases. This projection is for every 100 square metres (or yards).* With aslope of 10° . . . 98 - 5 square metres. „ „ 20° . . . 90-6 30° . , . 86-6 „ „ „ to . , . . 70-7 The loss of cultivation is not indeed, as shown by Corrard, quite so great, f as the pulverisation and exposure of the soil to the atmosphere somewhat increases ; nevertheless it is very perceptible in steeply inclined fields. Still more prejudicial to the crops are the great number of grasses and other weeds which grow amongst the corn. They are specially favoured by the humidity of the air and soil. Already at an elevation of 3000 feet, must they be weeded out of Wheat, and at great elevations even from Rye and Barley. The haulms are generally very thinly scattered, and often a half or a whole square foot entirely covered with weeds. Yet a too thick sowing of the corn would also be prejudicial, for the passing snow-storms, which occur at great heights, especially in autumn, would easily lay and break down the haulms where they are too crowded. The quality of the grain diminishes also with altitude ; the Cereals grown in elevated spots, even in favourable years, are much lighter and yield less flour. The straw, near the limits of the corn cultivation, is much stronger in proportion to the grain; it amounts to from four to five times the latter in weight, whilst lower down the proportion may be valued at from 40 to 60 parts of grain to 100 of straw in weight. J The quantity of produce and quality of the grain in different years corresponds, even in plains, with the variations in tempera- ture during the term of vegetation, although in this case con- siderable aberrations may be occasioned by too much rain or by prolonged droughts according to the nature of the soil ; but in * According to Boussingault, Economic rurale. f Transactions of the Haarlem Society, vol. xv. p. 308. For larger plants, as trees for instance, which in plains also are placed far apart, the loss of space by inclination is much less than for herbaceous crops. + The different kinds of grain show great differences in this respect, the proportions, according to Boussingault, Economic rurale, are as follows : Wheat 41, Rye 47, Barley 50, Oats 60 to 100 of straw. See also Zierl, On the State of Agriculture in Bavaria, Part 2, 1840, Appendix 3. PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. 89 Alpine valleys, especially towards the limits of cultivation, the effects of temperature are much less disturbed. In cold summers, in which the depressions of temperature are often very consider- able, the higher points of the limits of cultivation are brought down to a much lower level for the year; even if the corn does ripen, most of the chaff remains empty and the grains are very small and unproductive ; a phenomenon always observed when attempts at cultivation at great elevations have failed. As an increase of temperature brings on an acceleration of the develop- ment of vegetation, so it is observed, that fruitful years in the Alps are generally those where the ripening of corn takes place at an earlier period than usual. Variations in produce, depending on circumstances of weather, are, as we have already remarked, very great at the limits of Cereals. Between these higher points and the plains, even between the bottoms of different valleys, very perceptible differ- ences are observable in the relative fertility of different years. In the former case, for instance, the want of summer rains is less felt than in the plains, as in mountains the place of rain is partially supplied by dews and by the moisture of the soil, whilst at the same time the high temperature, which generally accom- panies dry summers, promotes considerably the ripening of the grain. This remark relates, however, chiefly to elevated points in the northern and central Alps, whilst, in the warmer masses on the southern declivity, dry summers may diminish much the produce of com among the mountains. Recapitulation. 1. The duration of the period of vegetation diminishes with altitude ; it is only ninety-five days at an elevation of from 7000 to 8000 feet, and at the outer limits of phsenogamous plants above 10,000 feet, it is reduced to about a month. These highest plants, in unfavourable years, remain covered with snow the whole summer. 2. The time which intervenes between sowing and harvesting of winter corn increases with altitude, and at the outer limits of Cereals, at an elevation of 5000 to 5200, often extends to a whole year. 3. The retardation of vegetable development is generally less in the flowering than in the ripening of fruit ; it amounts in the Alps for every 1000 feet in elevation to ten days for the former period, twelve and a half days for the latter; and for the whole 90 PERIODIC PHENOMENA OF VEGETABLE LIFE. period of vegetation to a mean of eleven days. The mean tem- perature for the same difference in height, especially during that season when the development of vegetation takes place, experiences a diminution of 2° centigrade. 1. The temperature at which a given phenomenon commences, appears generally in spring to remain nearly the same at different elevations ; the melting of snow, however, and the first awakening of vegetation take place at great heights, at a somewhat higher temperature. For the periods of fruit ripening, on the contrary, it is clearly observable that it takes place at great heights at a lower mean temperature. The differences for many plants are considerable. It amounts, for instance, in the case of the Cherry, to 5° or 6° centigrade, in that of Winter Rye to near 8°, on a comparison of the highest points where it is grown, with the foot of the Alps or the plains of Germany. 5. Whether we take the sum of the temperatures or the sum of the squares of temperatures between the different periods of vegetation, it will appear by either method, that many plants at their highest limits in the Alps experience a lower aggregate temperature for the same stages of development than in the plains ; this is more especially apparent in the case of Cereals. 6. By a comparison of separate stations in the Alps, it appears that many aberrations in the periods of vegetation are occasioned by the repartition of the temperature in the several months or in shorter periods. Between points which have the same altitude and mean temperature, those whose climate is more extreme are always more forward in their vegetation than those where the variations of temperature are less. 7. The product in grain of Cereals, as well as the quality and the proportion in weight to that of the straw, diminishes with altitude ; the former in the case of Winter Rye and Barley, at their outer limits of cultivation from 5000 to 5200 feet, sinks, even taking the mean of the most favourable year, to from twice to three and a half times the seed. An increase of temperature during the period of vegetation at great heights increases the produce with great regularity ; and in such situations, fruitful years generally coincide with those in which the ripening of the fruit is in advance of the mean period. DEVELOPMENT OF BULBS AND TUBERS. 91 XV. — Notes on the Development of Bulbs and Tubers. By Thilo Iraiisch. (Abridged from the German original.) [In the year 1850 an elaborate work on this subject appeared in Berlin, from the pen of Mr. Thilo Irmisch, of Sondershausen, under the title of "Zur Morphologie der monocotylischen Kuollen- und Zwiebelgewachse." 'In two hundred and eighty-six 8vo pages of letter-press and ten 4to plates crowded with figures, the author ex- plained in great detail the manner in which about eighty European plants form their bulbs, or tubers, giving a complete history of the development of such parts. The manner in which the task was executed was so complete, as to throw the clearest light upon the history of such subterranean formations ; and thus demonstrated to the intelligent reader the principles upon which tuberous and bulbous plants should be cultivated and propagated. The great length of the original renders it improbable that it will he com- pletely translated, nor is it necessary, in a horticultural point of view, that it should be, for many details required to illustrate points of abstract science have little bearing upon horticulture, or merely confirm the general conclusions at which Mr. Irmisch has arrived. It would, however, be a real loss to English Horticulturists if they were altogether deprived of the valuable information contained in the author's pages, and it has appeared desirable to introduce into the Society's Journal such an abridg- ment of his observations as will enable the gardener to profit by what among them is most essential to his art. The following pages are therefore not to be regained as a translation of the German original, but as a condensation of certain portions of it. The woodcuts are copies of some of the engravings employed by Mr. Irmisch to explain his descriptions.] I. LILIACEOUS PLANTS. Allium ursinum, L. The slender bulb of this plant, when the fruit is ripe, presents the following structure : — At its base is the axal portion of the last year's plant, which is now very short, and which like the few 92 DEVELOPMENT OF ALLIUM URS1NUM. fibres which still adhere to it is quite dead (Fig. 1, a). Very rarely two new bulbs adhere to the old axis. The young filiform roots, which are but slightly branched, and are sprinkled with delicate hairs, spring from the base of this year's axis, perforating the lower part of the bulb. The bulb is surrounded by a single row of bristle-shaped short threads (Fig. 1, c) without any dry skins. The outer portion is at this time formed of the white membranaceous transparent sheaths of the outer or lower leaf (Fig. 1, d), which is of some height, and from whose contracted orifice the flower-stem (e) and the petiole of the second leaf (f ) protrude. If the position of the lamina of this outer leaf with respect to its sheath be accurately examined, it appears that that surface (/3), which on account of the brightness of its cuticle and its peculiar form is to all appearance the upper surface, is turned from the aperture of the sheath while in other plants it is turned towards it ; whereas the surface, which, to judge from the dull aspect of the cuticle, the keel-like projection of the midrib, as well as the margins which are somewhat rolled back toward the tip, and the arching back of the tip itself, is the under surface, forms apparently the continuation of the inner surface of the sheath produced by the petiole.* This irregularity, however, vanishes on closer inspection ; for then it appears that the true upper surface has assumed all the peculiarities of the lower surface, the dull aspect of the cuticle, &c., while the real lower surface has the usual brilliancy, &c. of the upper surface ; and this takes place with various modifications, sometimes merely from a bending forward of the leaf so as to expose the under surface to the influence of light, and sometimes from various degrees of torsion of the petiole. The second leaf (f ), winch projects from the sheath of the first, exhibits the same phenomena. It does not, however, by any means surround the flower-stem with its sheath, but it stands in the axil which the first leaf makes with it, and is turned with its external surface (Figs. 2, 3) to the peduncle, and with the other side ( 8 ) to the medial line of the first leaf. .It belongs therefore to a lateral axis ; the back of its sheath, which is far shorter than that of the first leaf, is thick and fleshy (Fig. 3) : the front is far less so. The bore of the sheath is extremely narrow, since the dorsal and frontal portion rest on each other, and it appears in a * Oil this side there are abundant stomata, whereas those on the other side are few in number. There the walls of the cells are undulated, here quite straight. DEVELOPMENT OF ALLIUM URSINUM. 93 transverse section (Fig. 4, e) as a curved fissure whose convex side is directed forwards. At the bottom of this cavity a little bud (Fig. 3, g) is found. The form of the bulb is derived from this sheath, since that of the first leaf, in consequence of its membra- naceous substance, adds little to the thickness. After flowering the leaves quickly fade ; the first leaf by autumn is completely gone, so as to leave not even a vestige of the sheath. Such is the case also with the peduncle. The second leaf perishes only as far as the commencement of the sheath, leaving there a roundish scar. The sheath itself remains fresh and fleshy. In autumn the vegetation of this bulb awakes, which had been dor- mant through the summer ; it sends out from its base through the fleshy sheath filiform roots, one of which frequently ascends through its bore, and makes its way through the aperture above. The before-mentioned bud begins to elongate, and in November has frequently reached half the height of the sheath. Its outer part is a membranaceous sheath whose aperture is at the apex. It alternates with the sheath which incloses it. After its removal either a second similar sheath appears, or, what is more frequent, a still tender leaf, the closed sheath of which is very evident. The margins of its lamina are rolled inwards, and the medial nerve is very strong and broad on its upper surface ; near it on either side the involute margin. On the under side, on the contrary, the nerve does not project. The leaves of Alstrcemeria Pelegrina and other species of the genus, in which the under side is smooth and the upper marked with many raised nerves alternately higher and lower, exhibit the same phases. The proper under surface becomes the upper surface by means of the twisting of the lamina. From the sheath of this first leaf the very short flower-stem projects : it bears at its apex two bracts, of which, the outer alternates with the first leaf, the inner stands opposite to it. Both at a later period become connate and form the involucre. In the axil of the first a second but smaller leaf is found, which is turned with its back towards the stem. In spring, when the sheath, which is two to three inches long, and the two leaves (the second of which expands somewhat later than the first) and the flower-stem spring forth, in which the leaves undergo the above-mentioned bending and twisting, the fleshy sheath which remained from the second leaf of the foregoing year is gradually absorbed, so that nothing remains except the bundles, of vessels by which they were threaded ; hence arise the bristles which were mentioned above. The sheath also which origiuallv 94 DEVELOPMENT OF ALLIUM UKSINUM. surrounded the bud equally perishes. The following is the result of the foregoing remarks : — I. — The two leaves, which exist at the time of flowering and some time later, belong to two different axes ; the outer to this year's basal axis which is terminated by the flower-stem, the inner to the lateral axis which proceeds from the angle which the outer leaf forms with the peduncle, and which in the following year is terminated by it. II. — The leaves on the lateral axis (which next year becomes with reference to the new bud the primary axis) are arranged as follows : — 1. The inner leaf (f), whose sheath forms the true bulb or reservoir of nutriment when the lamina dies. It is the outermost or lowest of its own axis. 2. One (seldom two) membranaceous sheaths. 3. Another leaf (d) which surrounds the flower-stem with its sheath, and, after fruit is formed, entirely vanishes, and with which the outer leaf of the involucre alternates. This leaf is highest and innermost of its axis. It becomes external, however, by the previous destruction of the one or two outer sheaths. III. — It is remarkable, that the first or lowest leaf in this lateral axis is a perfect leaf, and that its evolution takes place at a different period of vegetation from that of the other leaf of the same axis. In plants which do not blossom there is normally but one leaf, whose sheath equally becomes a reservoir, while the lamina withers, and with it a sheath alternates : this is followed next year by a leaf with a fleshy sheath. Whereas the pinncipal bud in the flowering plant is axillary, it is terminal in non-flowering individuals, and the leaves formed at their summit always belong to one and the same axis. A bud is rarely found in the axil of the sheath. The multiplica- tion of the plant by bulbs is rare, and seeds are therefore pro- duced the more abundantly. It begins to sprout in the beginning of April. The seedling plant consists of the cotyledonal leaf, which is firmly fixed by the process answering to the lamina within the seed ; a membranaceous sheath, a leaf which incloses a little bud in its fleshy sheath, and which is, with the exception of the cotyledon, in whose place we find in older examples the sheathing base, constructed exactly like the older but not yet DEVELOPMENT OF ALLIUM URSINUM. 95 \r Fruit-buds; and it is important for the operations of pruning to distinguish well these two conditions. I may, however, remark, that with reference to the Peach-free, the nature of the bud is never doubtful to an experienced person. In fact, its form, its place, the age of tho wood on which It appears, all help to show the function which it is destined to perform ; lint for those little acquainted with this tree, il is necessary to enter more into detail. PRUNING AND MANAGEMENT OF THE PEACH TREE. 139 8. The Wood-bud (Figs. 1, 2, 8, 1, 5, a) is an embryo shoot, covered with imbricated scales of a reddish-brown. Its form is usually that of a little cone, more or less pointed ; when in the axil of a leaf it is always slightly compressed. The wood-bud, which is also called at Montreuil leii de pousse (pushing-eye), comes , producing young shoots and leaves, these branches attract a greater quantity of sap than flows to the upper secondaries, checked as it is at the same time by the obstacles opposed to the growth of the latter, and thus inducing its flow towards the extremities a, b, c, d, thereby contributing so much the more to their growth. 183. Therefore the four last are pruned as long as possible, in order that their points may regularly touch the perpendicular line drawn from the top of the wall to the earth. The only limit to this elongation is the height of the wall which prevents the branch a from attaining a greater length than that at which it touches the under side of the coping ; and which, consequently, obliges us to keep the three secondary branches, b, c, d, in a relative proportion, so that their extremities, when nailed, may not extend beyond the perpendicular line falling from the point of the branch, a. 184. When it has reached the coping, there are three modes- of proceeding. 1st, — By the annual cutting back of each of the four branches a, b, c, d, on shoots proper for replacing the extremities of the branches shortened back. These shoots are each pruned on a wood-bud suitable for a leader. This is the way generally adopted ; and must necessarily be so when, as has been pointed out (59), the Peach-trees are only twenty-six feet apart, and consequently there is no more space for the extension of the branches. 185. 2nd, — By the annual cutting back of the branch a only, which must be treated from that time the same as will be directed at 187 for the branches e, e, e, and by the equal elongation of the branches b, c, d, until the branch d, in its turn, reach the • •••ping. But, to employ this method, there must be certain con- PRUNING AND MANAGEMENT OF THE PEACH TREE. 191 ditions not always to be met with. It will be understood that the elongation of the lower branches is a secondary consideration to that of their being maintained in good condition ; and that they should always be well furnished with young wood ; for if they were prolonged without care being taken, it might prove injurious to the vigour of the lower part of the tree, and produce ugly gaps. Therefore, the elongation of the four branches a, b. c. D must be proportionate to their strength ; and when they are weakly, they must be kept shorter, by every year cutting back their extremities to a lower shoot, which, with proper nailing, forms a new leader (184). This proceeding concentrates the sap for the better nourishment of the lower parts, and for the producing in them a more active state of growth. But if, on the other hand, the growth of the tree is so vigorous that the lower parts are healthy, and the principal branches there well furnished with fruit-branches, there is no dauger in treating the branches a, b, c, d as has been explained in the beginning of this article, and thus we may even be able to give each wing an extent of twenty feet — a proportion that cannot well be exceeded on walls ten feet high ; and this does not prevent us from keeping the tree in the form of a long parallelogram forty feet in length by ten feet in height. But the second method, which can be very seldom resorted to, requires that a greater distance between the trees be provided for at the time of planting. It will be easily understood that the equilibrium of strength and growth is more difficult to maintain in a tree disposed in this way, the lower principal branches being only three against four upper ones ; and, therefore, I do not recommend the adoption of this method. 186. 3rd, — In carrying successively the depression of the main branch, a, to its utmost limit, its length relatively to the extre- mities of the three lower secondaries must, however, be main- tained. This extreme lowering of the main branch, which thus ceases to divide the wing into two equal parts, still more increases the distance from each other of the upper branches, e, on each wing ; and there would be a great space left between them if a fourth upper secondary (f,) were not formed. It is obtained, as stated at 170, by the prolongation of a fruit-branch chosen at the base of each of the two innermost branches e. This method is preferable to the second (185), but it should only be employed on trees that are very vigorous, especially in 192 PRUNING AND MANAGEMENT OF THE PEACH TREE. their lower parts ; and in those in which a greater number of outlets for the sap can be afforded. 187. The pruning of the upper branches, e, e, e, consists in cutting each of them back every year, at the winter-pruning, on a fruit-branch, the shoot from the terminal bud of which replaces the extremity of the branch. This shoot is nailed as closely to the wall as possible, in order to restrain its growth. If this branch be shortened to a wood-bud, care must be taken to nail it as soon as it is sufficiently developed to admit of its being fastened. The extremities of the three upper branches should, after the winter-pruning, be at the distance of eight or ten inches from the coping. 188. Notwithstanding the constraint imposed on 'these upper extremities, they soon begin to grow rapidly ; and we must take care, first to pinch them, afterwards to cut them down on the lowest lateral which the pinching produces ; and, lastly, whenever one of them approaches too near the coping it is cut down at a summer-pruning on a lower shoot, or on a very slender branch of old wood, which is nailed in as soon as possible, and which becomes a new terminal. Attention to these shortenings is required during the time vegetation is going on ; nevertheless if they prove ineffectual, and the branch gain the ascendant, it must be cut down at the following winter-pruning to a small fruit- branch, situated at its base (170), which is pruned and nailed as there directed. It is of course understood that disbudding and pinching are performed on the shoots of these upper branches, and that they should all be nailed as soon as it is possible to lay them in. They are pinched when necessary, and summer- pruning is employed for dispensing with the crowd of laterals which results from the pinching, cutting them off to the lowest lateral. All these precautions are necessary for producing and maintaining a supply of fruit-bearing branches on the three upper secondaries, e, e, e, of each wing. The omission of these operations is often the cause of gaps in Peach-trees. The treatment of the upper secondary branches is the same throughout the life of the tree. Lastly, — As repetitions must be made in order to draw the attention of the reader to the fundamental principles of the pruning of the Peach- tree, I will conclude by stating that its success depends on the care of the cultivator : — 189. 1st, — To form well -nourished main branches, a, a, each tapering from its base to its top without inequalities even at the PRUNING AND MANAGEMENT OF THE PEACH TREE. 193 place where pruned. This result is obtained by training aud nailing. 190. 2nd, — To obtain lower secondary branches of a proper relative strength ; and, like the main branches, perfectly straight, and tapering, without swelling or knots. 191. 3rd, — Not to form the upper secondary branches until the lower ones are so well established, that there may be no danger of their being impoverished by the upper secondaries depriving them of the necessary sap. Rather than run the risk of this, it is better to delay their formation for a year, or more. 192. 4th, — To take advantage of all the eyes, or young shoots, which grow on the upper or under sides of each branch, in order to furnish it properly with fruit-branches and successional shoots ; and to destroy all the eyes which push in front of the branches as soon as they make their appearance, in order not to leave unsightly scars. Those produced at the back of the branch are likewise taken off, unless there is a vacancy to fill up, in which case they are preferable to those in front. The shoots resulting from these eyes must be nailed so as to bring them gradually to the side. 193. 5th, — Lastly, in order to insure these results, to make a proper use of the means which are presented by disbudding ; by pinching, which should not be too liberally applied ; and by summer-pruning, so useful for concentrating the sap in the base of the successional shoot. Neither must we forget the importance of training the principal branches in a perfectly straight direction, this being favourable to the circulation of the sap ; nor that of nailing, the effects of which have been treated on, according as it is loose, or otherwise, and whether it keep the branch in an easy or confined, a vertical or inclined position ; the importance of shading the strong part to retard its growth ; and that of budding and inarching when there is no more natural means of producing a shoot where it is wanted. In thus operating with care and intelligence, we will generally obtain trees of regular form, having the bark of the principal branches fresh and nearly smooth, indicating perfect health. They will be well-furnished with fruit- branches at regular distances, and their crops will also be regular and abundant. REPORT FROM THE COUNCIL TO THE ANNIVERSARY MEETING, MAY 2, 1853. The year that has now elapsed has heen so little suited to Horticultural operations, that the Fellows of the Society could scarcely have been surprised had the Report now about to be read conveyed much more unsatisfactory intelligence than the Council have to communicate. Bleak, uninviting weather at the most important of the Garden Exhibitions, almost incessant rain from the end of October to the beginning of March, during a large part of which time the water stood nearly on a level with the highest parts of the Garden, contributed in different ways to render the year 1852-3 singularly unprosperous. On the one hand, the revenue derived from the Exhibitions was diminished to the extent of 1820Z. ; and on the other, improvements to the Garden during the winter were rendered impracticable. Never- theless, the Council have the satisfaction to find that if they have no surplus income to record, they have no material increase of debt to announce ; the whole addition to the liabilities of the Society not exceeding 12H. 16s. 5d., as will be explained in the following Report. The Garden Exhibitions were probably more rich in finely cultivated plants, and more free from bad ones, than they have been in any former year ; showing that horticultural skill is not only advancing, but is becoming more generally diffused. The attendance was as follows : — May 8 2755 June 12 4719 July 10 8820 16,294 being nearly 4000 fewer than in 1851. This seems to have arisen chiefly from the excessive coldness of June 12, the day on which it has been customary for the greatest number of visitors VOL. VIII. P 196 REPORT OF THE COUNCIL, to attend, and which itself presented a falling off of 4GG4. Owing in part to this cause and in part to an increase in the value of medals awarded by the Judges, the net produce of the Garden Exhibitions was less by 1898Z. 2s. Ad. than in 1851, although the working cost of the Exhibitions in 1852 was less than in 1851 by the sum of 1161. 5s. Sd., as will be perceived from the following comparative statement : — Expense of Exhibitions. Miscellaneous timber .... Miscellaneous repairs Carpenters, painters, tent- pitchers, &c Miscellaneous labour beyond the ordinary service of the Garden Miscellaneous printing .... Admission tickets Advertisements Judges Extra clerks and temporary rooms Police Bands and all musical expenses . Provisions for exhibitors,police,&c. Watering roads Miscellaneous expenses, including stationery, carriage, postage, &c. Cost of new tents Green baize for tables Extra labour for New Exhibitors' Yard and Alterations . . . . Meclals awarded . 1850. 1851. 1852. £ s. 23 10 60 2 d. 2 7 £ 27 39 d. 8 6 £ *. d. 18 7 7 45 13 4 |l26 4 7 121 10 11 140 2 5 |l88 13 31 13 37 15 86 13 30 9 28 11 60 11 270 6 55 10 7 69 17 5 72 13 8 6 6 6 2 64 30 125 31 22 81 300 56 15 17 14 4 10 16 9 15 in 6 11 59 17 4 25 7 119 1 31 10 24 71 12 270 56 16 10 15 15 j 54 12 6 48 3 41 4 8 65 46 3 9 32 5 j 52 9 1107 2 1066 5 1 1145 1033 6 5 6 1029 10 1227* 2173 7 1 2178 11 6,2256 10 It will be observed in this account that the cost of Medals was augmented by the sum of nearly 200/". beyond that of 1851, no less than 1227L having been expended upon that head alone. The attention of the Council having been directed to this point, the Exhibition Committee was instructed to consider whether in preparing the schedule of prizes for 1853 some arrangement could not be made for diminishing this head of expenditure. * This is part of the sum of 1299/. 5s. entered in the balance-sheet as Medals awarded — the balance of 72/. 5s. being for Awards at Meetings in Recent Street. may 2,-1853. 197 * The Committee found that there had been for many years a progressive increase of charge for Medals; that in 1812 it was in round numbers only 719/., in 1851 1033/., and in 1852 1227/., so that in 1852 the value of the awards exceeded that of 1851 by 194/., and that of 1842 by 508/. ; and it was possible that if the schedule of 1852 remained in force, the sum awarded in 1853 might amount to 1737/. 5s. Od. On analysing the details of the Schedule of 1852, it became evident to the Committee that the great increase in the cost of Medals arose principally from two causes, the one a system of separate showing, by Nurserymen or Market Gardeners and Private growers, and the other from the magnitude of the prizes offered for Orchids, which alone received 189/. 5s. in 1852, a larger sum than was given to any other class, except collections of stove and greenhouse plants. The Committee, after a very careful consideration of the various documents brought under their notice, came to the con- clusion that the system of separate showing was carried to a need- less as well as injurious extent, and that there no longer existed any sufficient reason for placing Orchids so high among other classes of Exhibition. The Council entirely concurred in the former of these recom- mendations, and with respect to the latter, they determined for the pi - esent season to reduce the scale of prizes for Orchids. At the same time, taking into consideration the great and increasing interest which attaches to the Exhibition of these gorgeous plants, they have resolved to give, in addition to the Medals already offered in the Printed Schedule, the following extra prizes : — viz., To those who, in the two Exhibitions in the months of May and June, shall have gained the highest amount of Medals, the following Medals in addition, viz. : — In the class of 20 species, to the first Exhibitor the Large Gold, and to the second the Gold Knightian Medal. In the class of 10 species, to the first Exhibitor the Gold Knightian, and to the second the Gold Banksian Medal. In the class of 6 species, to the first Exhibitor the Gold Banksian, and to the second the Silver-Gilt Medal. The Council having ascertained that the admission of Fellows to the Garden Exhibitions, at an early hour, accompanied by one friend, was unattended with inconvenience, have had very great satisfaction in extending the privilege so as to enable any Fellow or some member of his family as his representative to enter early p 2 ]'.)S REPORT OF THE COUNCIL. in future with two friends instead of one. By this arrangement the Fellows of the Society and their personal friends have now the power of viewing the Exhibitions an hour and half earlier than visitors not accompanied by Fellows of the Society. They have also authorised the construction of a zinc roof over the iron tent, instead of renewing the canvas covering ; by which means the tent itself will become far more useful as well as more durable than it has hitherto been. The funds at the disposal of the Council would not have enabled them to incur much cost in new works at the Garden, even had the winter rendered ground-work of any extensive kind practicable. They have, however, to announce that Messrs. Pilkington and Co. have fixed a very good specimen of Ewing's glass walls; that a new and improved heating apparatus has been adapted satisfactorily, by Messrs. Weeks and Co., to some brick pits ; and that the condition of the Arboretum, of the new American Garden, and of its approaches has been still further improved. They have also permitted Mr. McGlashan, of Edinburgh, to exhibit the capability of his transplanting apparatus to remove trees of considerable magnitude — a Poplar, 50 feet high, having been selected for the purpose ; on which occasion H.K.H. Prince Albert honoured the Garden with his presence. A large number of varieties of fruits having been introduced to cultivation since the last edition of the Fruit Catalogue was pub- lished, Mr. Thompson has been instructed to prepare a supplement to it, which will be ready in the course of the ensuing summer. It will be within the recollection of the Society that in the year 1850 the distribution department of the Garden was re- organised on the retirement of Mr. Munro, in whose charge it had been for many years, and by the construction of better houses for the propagation of plants. The Garden Committee report that this change has proved satisfactory ; that a better class of plants is now provided for distribution among the Fellows ; and that many imported plants, which there had been previously no sufficient means of multiplying, had been sent in some abundance to the applicants. It also appears that the number of demands upon the Garden still remaining to be complied with is very much smaller than it has been at any time for more than twenty years. The Council had, however, previously found that the new plants obtained for dispersion had ceased to be sufficient to satisfy the just expectations of the Fellows of the Society ; tbat little was MAY 2, 1853. 190 to be expected from the Scotch expedition to Oregon, to which the Society had subscribed, and that fresh importations of seeds and plants had become necessary. It was therefore announced at the last anniversary that the Council felt the period to have arrived when it was desirable once more to despatch a Collector of plants in search of horticultural novelties, and that it was under consideration whether one might not be advantageously employed in some of the temperate regions of South America. The unsettled state of the Argentine Provinces having, however, compelled the Council to pause, and some negociations with a naturalist in South America having failed, the Council provision- ally availed themselves of the very liberal offer of Mr. Phillips, one of the agents of the Mining Company of Pieal del Monte in Mexico, to permit their officers to collect a supply of seeds of the valuable Coniferous and other plants inhabiting that locality, and an expenditure of 50/. in defraying the expenses of the collectors was authorised. Subsequently, after much con- sideration, the unexhausted richness of Mexico in fine plants, its varied climate, and the rapidity with which it can now be reached, have finally induced the Council to take that country once more for a collecting-ground. But they have determined that the agent to be sent there shall no longer, as on former occasions, travel incessantly from place to place. They believe that it will be more economical as well as more advantageous that the Collector should remain stationary in some rich field until he has gleaned all that is most worth having, before he is transferred to fresh ground ; and they have to announce that a Committee has been appointed which is engaged in arranging the details of the enterprise. It has already been settled that Mount Orizaba shall be the first district to be explored ; and the Committee have every reason to believe that they have engaged the services of a Collector who will skilfully and energetically fulfil the trust reposed in him. The number of Plants, &c, actually given away by the Society, during the period now reported on, was as follows : — Plants. Seeds. Cuttings. 4,390 211 34 40,192 670 472 1,689 20 To Foreign Countries, Correspondents, &c. 4,635 41,334 1,709 200 REPORT OF THE COUNCIL, The number of Visitors to the Garden has been 5931, not- withstanding the almost constant bad weather. The more important of the presents made to the Society have been the following : — From M. Seitz. of Munich, Seeds of the Burgundy Radish, and 8 other varieties of Vegetable Seeds. From Sir Robert Sehomburgk, of St. Domingo, Seeds of Calonyction speciosum, and 17 other sorts of Seeds, From C. A. Uhde, Esq., of Hadschusheim, near Heidelberg, a Plant of an Early White Grape, and 18 ornamental Plants. From M. Baumann, of Ghent, 12 Plants of Deutzia gracilis. From H. C. Calvert, Esq., of Erzeroom, a collection of Erzeroom Seeds and some Acorns and Bulbs. From G. U. Skinner, Esq., a Plant of Masdevallia coccinea, a tuberous- rooted Fuchsia, with various newly imported Orchids, Plants, and Seeds. From J. B. Pentland, Esq., Seeds of the Titicaca Maize, Cinchona Calisaya and Cinchona Boliviaua, a new Annual from Bolivia, 4 Acorns from Italy, and Cones of the Silver Cedar. From Messrs. Rinz, of Frankfort, Plants of 5 varieties of Juniper, 5 of Helleborus, and 16 other hardy ornamental Plants. From the Lord Ashburton, a basket of Orchids, consisting of 2 species of Cattleya and 20 other kinds of Orchids ; and a woody tuberous- rooted Plant. From Messrs. Bossin, Louesse, and Co., of Paris, a Plant of the Pre'coce Malingre Vine, Tubers of Pomme de Terre Cornice dAmiens, and 7 sorts of Seeds. From Prof. Chas. A. Meyer, Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens, St. Petersburgh, a collection of curious Botanical Seeds. From Mr. D. Moore, Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, a Plant of Orchis speciosa. From Dr. J. E. Stocks, Superintendent of the Botanic Garden, Dapooree, Poonah, Bombay, Seeds of Citrullus fistulosus and Cucumis cicatrisatus. From the Honourable Court of Directors of the East India Company, Roots of Sonerila orbicularis and a Balsam, Seeds of Abies Deodara and Berberis nepalensis, with a collection of Seeds from the Botanic Garden, Calcutta, and some Orchids. From John Tinne", Esq., of Liverpool, Seeds of a Runner called " Turkishe Bohne," together with Seeds of a Kidney Bean resembling the Haricot Riz. From Edward Smith, Esq., of Sheffield, a Plant of Caladium (?) dis- tillatorium. From the Royal Botanic Gardens. Kew, Gloxinia fimbriata, Primula Sikkimensis, and 3 other new Plants. From Mr. Barlow, of Grove Terrace, Notting-hill, 3 sorts of Mexican Seeds and 2 tuberous Roots. From Henry Southern, Esq., H. M. Minister at Rio de Janeiro, a bag of Araucaria imbricata Seed. From the Marquis of Winchester, 5 sorts of Russian Seeds. From Dr. J. D. Hooker, R.N., Seeds of Rhododendron argenteum. From Mr. Wakefield (through J. R. Gowen, Esq.), Tubers of the dif- ferent varieties of New Zealand Potatoes. From " .,-, nna^HOH eo oa -i -. co o w i- u- oi -ri CO OM .-H OO 5 fi s a £ a x g> .3 - * aa f : a J" i q &'3 S b dogs 3>.£?*-S ■a© © . I— o Sa .2 « ' p." v. ft So BS5s,a = ?~»--3 -~asi°»fr2 fl .3 £ k -S »r o c 1.^ ic- a ^^ „ » or^ ' 3 "3 % 1 3. ^ S S -2 £ -"H ft as .2 "2 ■£ -9 S .Shh^nooa ft=tl oj So.K tfofl bc-C fa a ffiHfqfqnfqfQfqmeqpqHpqeqfqfqfqpqfqfq '™ 934 OCCOCOOOi-lOOCO OH?]'DKOH»H^ unoao . 00 1- CO ) o 1 ?! r- ?: CM CO M ,2 g S' Q o H £ £ 05 a 3 3 so St « ops C4> £ ~~ 6sg .g ^ 5 -a a * "3 g .2 ■r j ; ; a -j" ,J 2°o 2f^a s'9 ■ Oi =3 a 000 - -^ ts '3 .„ . 3 Oft* u so c a O ~j? "cj £ I- a g ^8 as cu £1 ^ o H D P P O i5 O ce £ O 01 -O V u ><£ ■35 •s w« 0<< .2 05 fan aa X to fafa faC5 CO o>£ &P3 00 ^R .a a «uw o'-a 02O ¥ ►■a a. rt 13 CO CO ^tJlOH 1- IQ r-i CO ~t< CO - X ^ 05 a §1° _rl^ o -< a « es -H °° m ■83*1 Q p t, g ^000 aHHH REPORT OP THE COUNCIL, MAY ?., 1853. 203 The items in this document will be better appreciated upon perusing a comparative account of the Income and Expenditure in the present and previous year. Income. Annual Subscriptions Admission Fees from Fellows Quarterly Journal sold Transactions and Fruit Catalogue sold . . Rent of Apartments let off in Regent-street Garden Produce sold Receipts from Members for Garden charges Miscellaneous Receipts Garden Exhibitions American Exhibition, 1851 Total . . , £ s. d., & s. d. 2533 12 2685 i 8 107 26 2 4 3 6 9 6 150 28 3 36 5 30 13 5046 7 18 7 7983 4 4 75 12 80 16 3 9 18 150 25 11 1 28 18 34 1 10 3225 14 6 6315 13 4 Expenditure. Interest on loan notes, &c 268 Rent, taxes, &c, Regent-street and Chiswick , Repairs, furniture, &c, Regent-street . . . Housekeeping expenses ditto .... Salaries and wages, collector's poundage, &c. Cost of Quarterly Journal Cost of .Transactions and Fruit Catalogues Library charges Printing, stationery, &c Foreign missions and imports Expenses of meetings, postage, carriage, &c. . Garden labour Implements, mats, seeds, &c Tan, dung, &c Coals and coke for Garden Miscellaneous expenses at Garden .... Garden repairs Distribution expenses Exhibition expenses New works at Garden Law expenses, 1850 and 1851 American Exhibition expenses, 1851 . . Cost of medals awarded Total £ s. d. £ ». d. 268 18 11 280 8 5 643 11 1 645 3 86 4 6 92 4 11 32 17 7 41 5 966 7 969 15 9 312 1 301 2 1 11 2 3 13 14 3 22 8 5 18 5 4 82 2 3 73 6 9 1 2 7 5 9 76 12 11 98 5 1 1332 1 9 1329 3 118 8 6 99 14 31 11 9 34 15 2 96 13 9 153 9 9 127 16 4 115 12 5 109 5 3 130 18 10 124 15 1 120 13 lit 1145 6 6 1029 Ki 360 2 8 158 13 4 20 18 6 275 5 8 1120 1299 5 7365 14 3 7009 14 9 It here appears that the annual Income from the subscriptions of Fellows has increased by 15U. 9s. Sd., and from the sale of 204- REPORT OF THE COUNCIL, the Journal, by 54/. 12s. ; but that there has been a falling off in the amount received on account of Admission Fees to the extent of oil. 10s. This, however, does not indicate an equivalent diminu- tion in the number of Fellows elected; for, in reality, the number elected in 1852 has been only four fewer, representing 81. 8s., than in 1851. The difference is caused by several Admis- sion Fees, which were unpaid on the 1st April, 1851, having been received and carried to account in the last Report. The other sources of income have been nearly stationary, with the exception of receipts for Garden Exhibitions, to the falling off in which allusion has been already made. In the Expenditure it will be found that a reduction has been effected in the cost of the Journal, in Library expenses, Printing and Stationery, Implements, &c, for the use of the Gardens, Exhibition charges, and Garden works ; while there has been a small increase in some fluctuating heads of expense, especially in Expenses of Meetings, &c. (till. 12s. 2d.), caused by the improve- ments and alterations mentioned hereafter; in fuel at the Garden (56Z. 16s.), in consequence of a large stock, at a very low price, having been purchased, and remaining unconsumed, and in the value of Medals given away, as previously explained ; the general result being a reduction of expense to the amount of 355/. 19s. Gd. The Debt on April 1, 1852, was ... £7286 11 9 Since diminished by Compositions, to the extent of 572 5 £6714 ' 6 9 But the Ordinary Income having been less than the Expenditure by the sum of £694 Is. 5d., that sum has to be added to the debt . . . 694 1 5 £7408 8 2 Showing a balance against tbe Society upon the Year of £121 16s. 5d. as already announced. With regard to the amended plan of compounding for annual subscriptions, referred to in the Pieport of last year, the Council find that it has been taken advantage of by the following Fellows. £ *. d, Wm. Gibbs, Esq., after paying 22 years' subscription, 1 .-,, „ „ by further payment of . . . . . j Rev. W. B. Lee, after paying 20 years' subscription, by 1 , „ n further payment of . . . . . j Sir P. Egerton, Bart., after paying 14 years' subscrip- 1 „ fi ,- ,. tion, by further payment of . . . . J " James Gadesden, Esq., after paying 17 years' subscrip- \ 9( . r tion, by further payment of . . . . J " MAY :>, 1853. 205 ,/. Earl of Leicester, after paying 8 years' subscription, byl „, ,« rt further payment of J B. Edgington, Esq., after paying 14 years' subscription, \ 9 „ ~ q by further payment of . . . . . J W. Aldam, Esq., after paying 9 years' subscription, by 1 ,i i n n further payment of . . . . . J J. Rogers, Esq., after paying 20 years' subscription, T , n ( . by further payment of . . . . . J Rev. J. H. Horner, after paying 7 years' subscription, 1 o-j i q a by further payment of . . . . . J Alderman "Wilson, after paying 20 years' subscription, 1 n\ n by fui'ther payment of . . . . . J With a view to the greater extension of the utility of the Monthly Meetings in Eegent Street, and to the further encouragement of good cultivation at all seasons and in all branches of Gardening, the Council gave public notice, last October, that Medals and Certificates of Merit would be given at each General Meeting during the years 1852 and 1853, according to a Schedule and under certain regulations thereto annexed; not, however, to the exclusion of other objects of horticultural interest, for which prizes would continue to be given, provided the Exhibitions possessed conspicuous merit. A trial of this plan, during the six winter months, although not attended with all the advantages expected from it, partly from the very bad weather, partly, as it would seem, from Gardeners not being prepared for the change, and in some measure from the difficulties inseparable from all unexpected alterations, has upon the whole worked so well as to induce the Council to continue the plan, hoping more especially that the admission of Kitchen Garden produce to exhibition will have the effect of improving that most useful branch of Horticulture as much as public Exhibitions have stimulated the more attractive, but not more important departments, of flower and fruit gardening. The following is a Return of the number of Medals awarded in Regent Street between April 1, 1852, and April 1, 1853 : — 1. Flowers. 2. Fruits. 1 Large Silver Medal. 1 Knightian Medal. 11 Knightian Medals. 13 Banksian Medals 13 Banksian Medals. 1 6 Certificates of Merit 41 27 Certificates of Merit. 41 Vegetables. 4 Banksian Medals. 8 Certificates of Merit. 12 200 REPORT OF THE COUNCIL, MAY 2, 1853.. In the course of the Autumn the Society passed a By-Law, increasing the number of Honorary Members from five to ten ; this has enabled the Council to remove from the list of Fellows, and to place, as was most fitting, at the head of the Society, the names of the following Royal and Imperial personages : — His Royal Highness Prince Albert. His Imperial Majesty the Euij>eror of Russia. His Majesty the King of Prussia. His Majesty the King of Wurtemburg. His Imperial Highness the Archduke John of Austria. All the vacancies in the list of Foreign members have been also tilled by the election of eight of the most distinguished Physio- logists or scientific Horticulturists of the present day, viz. : — His Excellency Prince Michael "Woronzow, Tiflis. The Count Francis v. Thun Hohenstein, Tetchen Castle, Bohemia. Professor Alphonse de Candolle, Botanic Garden, Geneva. Professor Wni. de Vriese, University, Leyden. Professor Win. Gasparrini, Naples. Professor Adr. de Jussieu, Jardin des Plantes, Paris. Professor Hugo Mohl, Tubingen. Professor Treviranus, Bonn. The Council trust that this recapitulation of what has been effected during a year of considerable difficulty, and of the measures which are in progress for the future, will satisfy the Society that its interests have been cared for to the utmost extent of the means which have been available. The object of the Council has been to render the Corporation useful to the Fellows as well as to the country, to increase its sphere of activity in every practicable manner, and at the same time to preserve its finances in a secure position ; for all experience shows that what- ever appearance of prosperity may attend a lavish expenditure exceeding the means of defraying it, such a system must eventu- ally prove as fatal to a public association as to an individual. It is this feeling which has led them to pause before entering upon costly undertakings, and to administer all the branches of their administration with the utmost economy. If they have at last resolved upon incurring some expenses to which the Society has of late been unaccustomed, it has been in the full conviction that the finances of the Society will be improved, that its real utility will be greatly extended, and that the public will support them effectually by joining in greater numbers an institution of indisputable public value. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. XVII. — Notes on the Development oe Bulbs and Tubers. By Thilo Irraisch. (Concluded from page 124). II. TERRESTRIAL ORCHIDS. Spiranthes autumnal is. The base of the new tuft of leaves and of the peduncle, which is clothed merely with small adpressed sheaths, is surrounded at the time of flowering with the more or less perfectly preserved remains of the old dry leaves. If these are completely removed, their circular lines of insertion are visible on an extremely short portion of the axis, which holds together the collective parts of the plant. Upon this stands the peduncle, and near this the new tuft of leaves, and at its base the tuberiform roots. The number of these is not constant. There are generallv two in the flowering plant, but frequently three or only one are present : the vigour of the peduncle and leaves is in direct pro- portion with their number. Younger specimens which do not yet pro J uce flowers have usually one only: if there are two or three on the same plant, they are for the most part of unequal length, while one is an inch long (a length of two inches is sometimes attained), the other scarcely reaches three quarters of an inch, or even less. But this is not constant, for there is sometimes no difference of size. They are cylindrical and are only slightly attenuated below ; there are generally minute transverse hollows in the surface like wrinkles ; they are thickly clothed with very delicate simple hairs about two lines long, which are very hygro- scopic, curling when dry. The hairs which frequently occur in the upper part of the peduncle are of quite a different construction, for they consist of a simple row of delicate cells, of which the highest is rather the stoutest. There is no reason, therefore, for supposing them identical. At the top of the pseudo-tubers, the hairs either fail or are more sparing. The cuticle sometimes peels off; in which case minute insects have been discovered; whether a new cuticle beset with hairs is in such case reproduced has not 208 DEVELOPMENT OF at present been observed. By means of these hairs the plant is firmly fixed to the surrounding soil, and the roots of other plants are often matted in, and penetrate the hollows in the root which close on them, so that they seem to take their origin from it. This may here give rise to the branched roots figured in Nees von Esenbeck's Gen. heft. 5. Careful washing soon shows their real nature ; no organic connexion exists, and there is no reason to believe the plant parasitic. Indeed, it admits of culti- vation in pots where no other plants accompany it. The tuberiform roots are threaded by a central bundle of vessels, which is gradually attenuated at the lower end where the youngest elementary parts are found. If more than one is present, they are all equally organised at the time of flowering. They do not exhibit any trace of dissolution. They belong, therefore, to a single annual period, as they also spring from one axis. If we now examine the tuft of leaves, we find that it stands near the peduncle, and indeed the axil formed with it by the uppermost dried leaf. This incloses also the peduncle with the lowest part of its short sheath. This also is terminal, the tuft of leaves on the contrary axillary, as is proved also by the arrange- ment of its leaves. On the basal axis of the flowering plant below the leaves are generally some small buds, scarce a line long, covered by a sheath ; they are the axillary produce of lower and earlier leaves. One of these sometimes produces a tuft of leaves, so that two are present ; more rarely the main bud near the peduncle still remains in its contracted state at the time of flowering, so that no new leaves are present. The first or lowest scale-like leaf about two to three lines high, stands with its back towards the peduncle ; with this the second alternates, but not strongly, since the leaves are spirally arranged. It is large, but has not so perfect a lamina as the following. If the second is torn off to the base, two light green roundish bodies are visible ; they glimmer through the membranous base of the third and fourth leaves, in whose respective axils they stand. It seldom happens that one only comes to perfection. This swelling is often visible in the axil of the third leaf only ; they are the first rudiments of the tuberiform roots, and a difference in size is often visible from their earliest appearance. In the axils of the two upper leaves there are either rudiments of their roots or minute buds. In the axils of all the upper leaves which are only partially grown, we find equally little buds, if not equally at the time of flowering ; the point of most consequence is that in the SPIRANTHES. 209 axils where there are no huds, the roots are wanting, and the contrary. This circumstance as well as the central bundle of vessels, and the hairy cuticle, make it matter of certainty that they do not belong to the axis but are real roots, which like the capillary roots in many plants break forth from the axis. These remarks all apply to the plant in autumn. In spring, towards the end of May, we find the tuft of leaves even to its first sheath still entire. The new pseudo-tubers have Fig. 2. Spiranthes a tumnalie. burst through the base of the leaves which covered them. The buds in the axils of the upper leaves which have all attained their full size, six to ten in number, are larger, the upper being the most developed which stands near the peduncle, which is still sur- rounded by some sheaths. The pseudo-tubers of the former year begin to shrivel ; the stem is commonly quite decayed. In the middle of June the new pseudo-tubers are full-grown ; the old ones as well as the tuft of leaves, of which the lower are dry, gradually fade ; the new peduncle as well as the bud which stands near to it, which will produce the new tuft of leaves, increases at a later period, and thus the plant again commences its annual cycle. Spiranthes autumnalis has then a very short basal axis, which is terminated by the peduncle. Numerous leaves stand on it 210 DEVELOPMENT OF close above one another, which are at the time of flowering already dead. On the lower part of the axis there are from one to three pseudo-tubers ; in the axils of the upper leaves many young lateral axes. Most of the leaves of the highest of these lateral axes, or sometimes of two, which are to flower next year, are, at the time when the peduncle of this year's axis is perfectly evolved, entirely expanded, forming a rosette. The new leaves belong, therefore, to a different axis from that of the peduncle. The pseudo-tubers contain the nutriment for the lateral axes with expanded leaves, and die with the leaves themselves the next summer, at which time new pseudo-tubers are formed on the lateral axis, which then becomes the principal axis at the same time with the axis on which they staud. By the decay of the basal axis, the buds in its lower leaves, and whose leaves are not evolved like those of the upper bud, become free. They put forth pseudo-bulbs, but do not flower till they have borne merely rosettes for many years. Spirantues autumnalis. Fig. 1. Base of flowering plant. a. peduncle. b. basal axis. c. c'. tuberiform roots. d. lowest sheatb of tuft of leaves. f. accessory bud. 2. g. rudirnentof largerpseudo- tuber. h. smaller do. e. scale in whose axil they are produced. Platanthem bifolio. It is well known that when the plant flowers, there are two pseudo-tubers, the older shrivelled and about to perish, the younger plump and fresh. The older pseudo-tuber has at its upper extremity a larger or shorter appendage, at whose tip there is a scar formed of dead parenchym. This is the point of attach- ment of the peduncle of the previous year, which is now almost entirely decayed. Near this place is seated the peduncle of this year, on an oblique sloping area. The following appearances are observed on its axis : 1 . A short sheathing scale ; the base of this is perforated by numerous long simple roots, seated round the stem, and confined to that portion of it which is embraced by the scale, and thickly clothed with fine hairs. 2. A rather long sheathing scale projecting beyond the first, and alternating with it more or less perfectly. It is split behind at the base, and through the fissure protrudes the fresh tuber. PLAT ANTHER A. 211 3. A third sheath, which is again longer, alternates with the second. These three sheaths are attached close to each other. They are generally quite dry at this time, though still perfect in form. 4. A leaf separated from the third sheath by a distiuct intemode. 5. A second leaf, for the most part apparently opposite to the first, but sometimes the iuternode is tolerably developed. This is followed by from three to five short leaves, whose axils are sterile, separated by distinct internodes, and then follow the bracts. The new tuber, like the old, is clothed wtih delicate hairs, which are of the same nature as those on the filiform roots and the pseudo-tubers of Spiranthes. A short space below the point of attachment of the new tuber, on the side which is turned away from the peduncle, there is a shallow depression, and in this a bud about two to three lines long. At the time when the lower flowers are withering, but the upper are still blooming, it is plainly visible, consisting of numerous membranous sheaths which lie more or less closely above one another. The outermost is the shortest, and its margin is very soon withered ; beyond this projects the upper margin of the second, and beyond this the tip of the third. If these sheaths are removed, the axil of the first, second, and often of the third is barren ; the third, however, sometimes contains a bud which rarely arrives at perfection. At the base of the last sheath the first rudiments of the roots appear in the form of little round swellings. In the axil of the fourth appendage, there is the first rudiment of a bud, which is always greater than that in the axil of the third. The first leaf of the bud is a flat annular prominence or wall ; this, being below at the point of insertion of the fourth leaf, is at an early period broader than at other points, since at that point there are the first indications of the future pseudo-tuber. A fifth sheath follows which incloses the succeeding leaves. We have then in the flowering plant three individuals ; the peduncle on the last year's pseudo-tuber, the bud on the new pseudo-tuber which is to flower next year, and the bud in the axil of the fourth leaf of this bud which is to flower the next year. When the fruit is ripe, late in summer or in autumn, all the parts of the old plant die off, and the bud on the new pseudo- tuber, which has now attained its full size, becomes longer and thicker, and exhibits the two leaves and the blossoms inclosed within them. The root-threads break out from the axis of the bud (as early as July, if the weather is favourable), perforating the third VOL. VIII. • Q :l\:l DEVELOPMENT OF Bheath, and becoming elongated, especially towards autumn, if the "round is moist. The two lower sheaths of the bud perish, and by September scarcely any traces of them are visible, so that the sheath which is perforated by the roots, which was at first the third, is now the first, and that in whose axil the bud of the second succeeding year is seated is now the second. This bud is now enlarged and somewhat changed. The annular appendage of spring is in autumn closed with the exception of a minute orifice, whose margins at a later period wrap over each other ; other appendages are inclosed within this. The swelling which was visible in spring at the lower side of the bud is now much larger, and the young pseudo-tuber is visible within. It has thrust aside the lower or frontal side of the base of the first leaf of the bud from the portion of the stem of the mother bud, to which it was originally closely attached all round, while the upper or dorsal side of the base of the first leaf remains attached to the corresponding portion of the stem. The bud then rests on the top of the infant pseudo-tuber. In order to display clearly the relation of the infant pseudo- tuber to its bud and to the leaf in whose axil the bud is seated, it is necessary to make a vertical section through the medial line of that leaf and through the whole of the parent bud. The tuber is not formed in the axil of the penultimate sheath of the parent bulb in such a way as to stand absolutely above the point of insertion of the sheath, and to be closely inclosed by it with its upper surface only ; on the contrary, the leaf seems for a short space at the very base, which is rather thick, to be' split into two plates at the point where the tuber is seated, and only at that point. The lower and thicker layer (o) invests now the lower and lateral surface of the tuber, and has normally its insertion on the corresponding point of the axis of the parent bud ; the upper layer (n), which is very thin and runs for a short distance only, is inserted on the young tuber itself, and close beneath the point of insertion of the first leaf of the infant bud, seated on the crown of the infant tuber, so that the point of insertion of this upper layer, that of the penultimate sheath of the parent bud, and that of the first of the infant are parallel to each other, and scarcely take up a quarter of a line. In this fissure or cavity, which has no cuticle, the bulb is completely inclosed. This is the normal construction, but sometimes the two surfaces of the parent leaf are not separated in this way, but remain continuous. In this case, a thin membrane, inserted a little below the point TLATANTHElLt. 2 1 3 of insertion of the first leaf of the bud, invests the whole surface of the infant tuber, aud at its base becomes confluent with the cuticle of the upper surface of the parent leaf. Between these two modes of construction there is every possible degree of transition. When vegetation recommences in spring, the changes which take place are confined, so far at least as relates to our Platanthera bifolia present subject, to the development of the parts already existent, which are fully expanded towards the end of May or the beginning of June ; the full-formed bud of the previous year is perfectly evolved ; the leaves extend beyond the sheaths, and the peduncle beyond the leaves ; and in case no peduncle is present, the main axis remains very short. The tuber belonging to this bud is q2 214 DEVELOPMENT OF meanwhile entirely exhausted and crumpled. The bundles of vessels are in consequence isolated from the parenchym, so that the whole pseudo-tuber appears composed of a number of strings loosely held together by the cuticle. The axillary bud, which was already visible last year on the parent bud, protrudes from the axil of its parent leaf, which soon dries up, bursting through it, and the pseudo-tuber, which also has ruptured its envelope, is elongated like a little handle, and diverges slightly from the parent plant. The first and second leaves of this bud are extended by reason of this elongation, and form frequently a tolerably long hollow or covered tube, whose under or dorsal wall is formed by the pseudo-tuber at whose base the other parts of the infant bud are seated. In consequence of this extension, both the first leaves of the bulb soon die. But there are also more normal cases in which the first and second leaves are directly above the inner leaves of the bud. The infant pseudo-tuber becomes spindle-shaped, thickening in the middle, but constantly attenuated above, so as often to attain a length of two inches ; its whole surface is clothed more or less thickly with hairs. Everything now occurs as before. A new bud is formed in the axil of the fourth leaf, which is destined to produce a peduncle after an interval of two years. It is not requisite to enter into the opinion broached by Schleiden, that the tuberiform organs belong to the axis : the whole history of their evolution shows that they are really roots, like the accessory roots in Crocus. Platanthera bifolia. Fig. 1. a. Base of flowering plant, bud on do. which is to C. flower next year. first sheath. 1). second. i-:. third. Fig. 2. a. section of the last year's pseudo-tuber, bud which is to flower next year. m. bundle of vessels from axis. Fig. 3. bud with the new bud (a') which is to flower the year after. e. aperture of its sheath. Fig. 4. section of the new bud when more advanced, to show the origin of the pseudo-tuber. d. parent sheath split into two laminae below (n, o). p. young pseudo-tuber. e. wall of parent bud. a', new bud. Fig. 5. Base of a plant, to show de- velopment of new pseudo- tuber, a', the new bud. n. border of do. LIPARIS LOESELII. 215 Liparis Loeselii. The remains of the organs of last year are found at the base of the flowering plant ; they are reduced to a bulb-like conical or ovate body, which is however compressed on two sides so as to present two flat surfaces and two rounded keels ; on the outside are the sheathing bases of many leaves : the most external of which are decayed, the inner though dead tolerably firm, and threaded by strong longitudinal nerves, which are separated from each other by thin parenchym. The innermost sheath has a very narrow orifice, in which the nerves coalesce and the parenchym is much thickened. The dry peduncle of the former year often protrudes from this aperture. These sheaths encompass more or less the base of this years plant. They arise from a generally short horizontal axis of but moderate strength, from which also the fibrous roots spring which for the most part perforate the leaves, and which now like the leaves are dead. After the sheaths are removed, a firm, green, smooth, almost shining tuber is found about the size of a nail, and still fresh. At its base it is united with the portion of the axil which bears the leaves, bearing above the withered peduncle or at least exhibiting the scar of its point of attachment. The only part of last year's plant which is fresh is this tuber : on one of its angles there is a hollow, and in this the plant of the present year is connected with the tuber. In the growing plant of this year we find always five leaves ; the two outer or lower consist merely at the time of flowering of a fissured sheath or lamina ; the third is generally a tolerably high un withered sheath merely developed into a short lamina; the fourth and fifth are perfect leaves, which have however a closed sheath two to three lines high. The first stands with its back to last year's tuber; the second slightly alternates with the first, the angle of diver- gence being about 90°; the third with the second (about 180°); the fourth with the third, and finally the fifth with the fourth. The second and fourth are sometimes to the right of the last year's tuber, in which case the third and fifth are consequently to its left, but sometimes the contrary takes place. The corresponding inter- nodes are generally undeveloped, and the filiform roots clothed with delicate hairs, which are about an inch long and rise from the axis, in this case perforate the base of the leaves. The internodes are rarely so developed, that at least those between the lower 216 DEVELOPMENT OF leaves are no longer concealed by them, in which case the posi- tion of the leaves as indicated above is not so easily visible. Immediately above the fifth leaf the axis at the time of flowering is extremely thickened, and on this tubcriform body stands the triangular peduncle clothed only with a few bracts. A line through the greatest diameter of this tube, if produced, passes on the one side through the medial line of the second and fourth, and on the Fig-. 1. Lipaiis Loeselil. ather through that of the third and fifth leaf, and since the middle nerve of the fourth and fifth projects externally like a keel, the base of the young plant appears broadly compressed. In the usual case, in which the internodes are not developed, the plant of this year is closely applied to last year's tuber, and consequently the larger diameter of the first is not in the same direction with that of the last, but at right angles to each other. The more the internodes are extended (and they measure together sometimes an inch) the farther the lower leaves are separated from the upper, and the young tuber from that of the previous year, the less marked is this relation of the young plant to the old tuber. In the axil formed by the fifth leaf with the young tuber there is a little hollow in the latter containing the young ovate rather broadly compressed bud, which is to produce leaves and flowers the LIPARIS LOESELII. 217 next year. The major axis of this is again at right angles to that of the young tuber. After flowering, when the seed is ripe, the parts of the vegetating plant die off gradually ; meanwhile, however, the young tuber swells, that of the former year shrinking, and at last entirely perishing. The sheaths of the leaves which expand with the tuber, namely the fourth and fifth, protect the bud from external injury. This is developed the next year perfectly, breaking through the base of the fifth leaf and the front of the sheath of the fourth. The same formation of bulbs takes place in plants which do not flower ; the tubers cannot therefore be considered merely as the base of the peduncle. Little acute gemma? are often developed from the last year's tuber, generally at its crown, and not in the axils of the leaves ; these soon fall off and become independent. It is clear that the plant changes its place annually. If the axis below the tube always remains short, and if the third through every cycle stands always to the right or left of the last preceding old tuber, the same position would again be attained in the fifth annual period. The premises do not, however, strictly hold good. LlPARIS LOESELII. Fig. 1. Base of flowering plant. A. axis. B. dead roots, i. living roots. C. outer decayed leaf. F. old peduncle. Fig. 1. a, b, c. sheathing scales. d, e. leaves. f. peduncle. Fig. 2. e. point of attachment of se- cond leaf. f. peduncle. g. young tuber, h. principal bud. III. MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. Primula officinalis. The simplest case is that in which a single flower-stem only is produced on one plant. This, rising in the midst of the leaves which rest upon the ground, is terminal. In the axil which is formed between it and the uppermost leaf is seated the principal bud, whose under leaves are developed in the course of the same year, while the inner leaves surrounded by a few scales remain small. It produces the next year the first flower-stem. There 218 DEVELOPMENT OF are buds also in the axils of the lower leaves at the base of the axis ; the lower these leaves are seated the smaller the bud. More frequently, however, the principal bud developes all the leaves of its axis (an axis of the second order as regards that which produced this year the first flower-stem), and gives rise to a second peduncle. A bud is formed on the axis of this second flower-stem between it and the uppermost leaf, which may either remain till the following year and then produce a flower-stem, or may unfold its leaves and their peduncle (the third of the whole plant) during the present year, in which case a bud is found in the axil of the uppermost leaf of the axis of the third order, which in the next year will produce its flower-stem. The peduncles are therefore always terminal, since the second breaks out by no means immediately from the axil of the upper- most leaf of the axis of the first order, but appears on the top of a leafy branch (the axis of the second order), the internodes of which are not however developed. The same holds good with the third head of flowers, with respect to the axis of the second order. It was remarked that buds occur also in the axils of the lower leaves of the axis of the first order. These buds sometimes produce peduncles, but they are developed later than the blossom at the top of the axis of the second or even of the third order. At the period of flowering, the leaves of the first axis are frequently withered ; the peduncles which belong to it stand near to but externally to the leaves which belong to the axis of the second order. In barren plants the principal bud is naturally terminal, and no part of the upper portion of the axis dies. The whole resembles greatly Alisma Plautago ; but in Frimula the base of the axis lasts longer, but at length dies beneath, since it is nourished only by accessory i-oots, inasmuch as the main root which was present in the seedlings soon perishes. Oxalis. In a state of rest, late in autumn the bulbs of O. tetraphylla have the following composition. On the outside are many dry scales, on whose tips the remains, or at least the scars, of the dead leaves are visible ; below these dry scales, are fresh, rather fleshy broad scales ; these are the basal portions of leaves ; the free end of the stipules is visible at their tips, between which are PRIMULA AND OXALIS. 219 the rudimentary petiole and lamina. The basal axis which bears all these parts is very low. The roots break through the outer integument in spring, and are much branched. Many of these are delicate, but others are tuberiform, like those which frequently accompany the newly formed corms of Crocus vermis ; occasionally all are of this description. The outer fresh scales do not develope their lamina, but the inner only. In the axils of the lower scales there are buds, which in the course of the summer increase in size and form bulbs. The outer leaves of these axillary bulbs are scale-like, and in general dry up very early ; then follow perfect leaves, and then again scales. During the first summer they frequently produce no leaves, especially those bulbs which are highest on the axis, but are formed of scales only. In the axils of the uppermost scales and leaves stand the peduncles, on which are seated only a few small bracts. The uppermost leaves form again a terminal bulb, which in consequence of the decay of this year's axis and leaves becomes independent, and flowers the year following, as do the greater axillary bulbs which equally become isolated. It seems very difficult to deny the existence of bulbs in these plants. In Oxalis acetosella the main shoot is equally terminal. It elongates after the manner of a runner, like Adoxa moschatellina ; its first leaves are true leaves. Lateral shoots also are present, so that 0. acetosella has a strong agreement with Adoxa in the arrangement of its parts, much as it differs in other respects. The main axis in O. acetosella is not, however, so transitory, for the stem, whose internodes are sometimes much developed though occasionally very short, last at least a year. The leaves die down as far only as the short fleshy basilar part, which is articulated with the petiole and the peduncles in their axils. The main axis is elongated yearly by means of the terminal bud. In Oxalis stricta, on the contrary, the whole axis (which with respect to last year's axis is lateral,) dies off with the flower- bearing branches on it, and only the runner-like shoots remain, which spring from the subterranean portions of the primary axis, and are somewhat fleshy to their extremities. They are clothed with scales, from whose axils again fleshy branches frequently spring, and have internodes about half an inch long, giving rise to the scattered delicate branched roots, while still connected with the parent axis. In the following year they produce a peduncle, and die after the formation of the fleshy branches. 220 DEVELOPMENT OF This plant then must he reckoned as perennial, and not as biennial," with Koch in his Synopsis. Otherwise, to he consistent, Gagea, Tulipa, Epilobiurn palustre, Mentha arvensis, and Stachys palus- tris must be reckoned as triennials. In true biennials, as in Girsium lanceolatum, the course is quite different. In Oxaliscorniculata the whole plant perishes annually, and there is nothing perennial about it. The different habit of 0. eornicu- lata and O. stricta depends on this, that in the first the primary axis remains proportionally short, while the procumbent frequently rooting branches, which spring from the axils of the four or five lower leaves, spread out, but in 0. stricta the primary axis is especially developed and has long internodes, while the branches in the axils of nine or ten lower leaves remain far shorter than in 0. corniculata. These points are not in general sufficiently distinguished in their speci6c characters. In both, the first appendage of the branch is a small lanceolate scale, as is the case also in the lateral runners of 0. acetosella. Anemone Hepatica. The common Hepatica presents several points of interest in its construction. If it is examined in spring during the time of flowering, we find at the top of the main axis, from whose lower part numerous branched roots are developed, thickly clothed with fine hairs, the coriaceous leaves of the former, here and there withered at the margin, and bearing about them the signs of approaching decay. Since the internodes are not developed they stand with the base of one directly on that of another. Im- mediately above these leaves, the internodes in this case also being undeveloped, there are from three to eight membranaceous imbricated scales exhibiting slight traces of a tendency to form a lamina, without, however, there being any gradual transition from the perfect leaves to these scales. In the axil of the lowest scale, and if the number of scales is large, in that of the second, third, and fourth also, there are little buds whose outer coats are membranaceous scales, the outermost always seated with its back to the main axis, and which inclose the rudiments of perfect three-lobed leaves. In the axils of the scales above these are the solitary peduncles. In the axil, how- ever, of the last, and sometimes of the last but one, there seems at first to be no peduncle, but, on close examination, the rudiments HEPATICA. 221 of a flower appear under the guise of a little bud borne by a stem, frequently not half a line long, in which traces of the different organs of the blossom are discernible. This flower is, however, frequently developed in all its parts, and it is then plain that the uppermost scale does not stand more than half way up the portion of the main axis which is clothed with peduncles. Close above the uppermost peduncle, or its rudiment, and not in the axil which the last scale forms with the peduncle, but on the other side of it, are the still undeveloped leaves whose lobes are rolled in, smooth and naked on the inner, but clothed with long silky hairs on the outer surface. The highest scale incloses these leaves, yet not with the middle of its disc, but with its two margins which extend beyond the last peduncle, since the lowest leaf alternates with the highest scale. In the axil of the lowest new leaf there is often a perfect blossom on a long peduncle, but this blossom often remains in a rudimentary state, or is com- pletely abortive. The leaves are perfectly developed after flower- ing, and in summer, or still more plainly in autumn, we find at the top of the maiu axis the scales again, and the above-described lateral buds and peduncles in their axils, all compressed into a thick knob. The structures of a new cycle of vegetation begin here with the scales and close with the new leaves ; and these are all on one and the same axis. The peduncles are axillary. The new main bud, which towards the end of the summer is quite formed, is terminal in the centre of the leaves. A. Hepatica agrees in the arrangement of the parts with Convallaria majalis, in which the lateral peduncle is surrounded by imperfect leaves, and l-ises from its point of origin at the moment when the leaves burst forth. XVIII. — The Cultivation of the Banana; — Conditions under which it succeeds at a station within the Tropics ; with Suggestions for its better Cultivation in the British Islands. By W. Wren. The successful culture of this noble and delicious fruit is yet among the desiderata of British Gardening. True, one or two of our best gardeners do now and then succeed, when aided by the unlimited liberality of their employ- ers, in producing an occasional bunch of its fruit, though with CULTIVATION OF THE BANANA. such an amount of care, expense, and uncertainty, that gentlemen with more limited means, and market-gardeuers who look to profit only, are altogether deterred from the attempt. And, indeed, gentlemen and their gardeners generally, though rarely failing to point out to the admiration of their friends their specimens of " Bread-fruit " and Bananas, seldom entertain the remotest hope, or conceive an idea, of ever fruiting them, so universal is the notion of its impracticability. I, having grown and cut their fruit by cart-loads on mountains within the Tropics, have become firmly impressed with the con- viction that they may be fruited in this country, not only with little difficulty, but at so small an expense, and with such a degree of certainty, that any person with a properly constructed "house" may grow them with much advantage and profit. The experience of upwards of five years within the Tropics "beneath the wild Banana Tree" has thoroughly convinced me that the practice commonly pursued in England is most admirably calculated to prevent their fruiting. Let them be removed from among the stove-flowering plants, give more bottom heat and less water, and fruit-bearing plants will not long be so rare in England as they now are. The following are conditions under which T. have grown richly- flavoured golden bunches of the Musa Sapientum of 60 lbs. weight and upwards, viz. : — Hot ( Mean Temperature of the soil . 85°] Bahr. season, „ „ atmosphere 78° » or -! Maximum temperature in sunshine . 145° » season of | Day temperature in shade . . 87° >) growth, t Night temperature. . 72° >» Cold C Mean temperature of soil . 70°: Fahr. season, or J „ „ atmosphere . 65° 'j season "| Maximum day temperature . 78° >' of rest. {_ Lowest night temperature . . 59° » The annual amount of rain falling in this district varies from 19 to 36 inches, distributed at uncertain intervals through the year, but doing evident injury to the plants when falling in quantity in the colder season. The atmosphere during the hotter or growing season is dry ; the thermometer in the day time falling 15° or 18° by the appli- cation of a drop of water to its bulb. At night the difference in the two thermometers is 4° or 5°. During the colder or resthuj season the usual difference between CULTIVATION OF THE BANANA. 223 the wet and dry bulb thermometers is at noon from 4° to 8°. The night air at this season is usually saturated. The soil is a light loam formed from decomposed lava and volcanic cinders ■with a small percentage of rotted vegetable matter. The principal growing season is during the hot, dry weather, and the plants make such rapid advances that the smallest sucker becomes a large fruit-bearing tree in the space of eighteen months. A plantation once made requires no renewal. As the plants advance to maturity, a new progeny of " suckers " rises around their bases, one of which is retained to occupy the place of its parent, which, when the fruit is ripe, is cut down with the axe, the bunch of fruit conveyed to the storehouse, and the old stem with its foliage buried in the soil to assist in supplying nutriment to the young generation. The manner in which the above conditions of growth, and the practices adopted, may be imitated in our own country is familiar to every gardener. But, for the information of those less con- versant with such matters, I submit the following plan, being one which I conceive well adapted to ensure a successful result, viz. : — The plants are to be cultivated by themselves in a Banana-house, which should be constructed as near of one height as possible, say about twelve feet above the surface of the soil. A house with ridge and furrow roof would perhaps be best — such an one as may be seen in the Gardens of the Horticultural Society, — erected by (if I remember rightly) Hartley and Co., of Sunderland. The ridge-rafters of this house should be made to close firmly on a ridge-board, and the sashes be made by means of hinges, or other contrivances, to move about the axis of the furrow-rafter, in order that the sashes may be made to fold upwards from either side, and give the plants the benefit of the greatest possible amount of air. In this house, a border should be made about two feet in depth, of common garden mould, and capable of being heated from a chamber constructed immediately beneath ; the trees to be planted in this border about four feet apart from each other, and directly under the ridge-rafter. Before planting, cut off all expanded leaves to prevent evaporation, press in the plants with the foot slightly, and give no water whatever. Admit all possible air (when above 55°j, and never under any circumstances let them be shaded from the sun. The best time to plant is in the hottest weather of spring or summer. 224 CULTIVATION OF THE BANANA. Their subsequent management should be as follows, viz., the border to be kept constantly heated from the beginning of March to the end cf September to a temperature of 78°, 95°, 85°, increasing and decreasing gradually as the seasons advance and decline, adhering to the maximum through May, June, July, and August. The atmospheric temperature in the day must be kept up to 78°, and may rise to any natural degree without harm, but that of the night must be kept down to 72° or 70° by a free admission of air. Keep the soil moderately damp only, never approaching to wet, but leaning rather to the other extreme, and, above all things, avoid creating any artificial moisture in the atmosphere. The above instructions relate to the growing season, viz., from the beginning of March to the end of September, during which period the requisite temperature may be maintained with a very trifling amount of fuel. From September to March the plants must be rested by lower- ing the temperature, which must now rapidly decline from that of the summer to — Atmosphere, 68° by day, 59° by night ; Soil, 70° to 68°. The atmospheric temperature may, I have reason to believe, fall considerably below 59° without injury, though the roots can only be kept in health by maintaining the requisite bottom heat. In the fine weather of summer give as much air as possible, opening not only all the side sashes but those of the roof also, by folding up the sashes ; and, indeed, if it were practicable to remove the house entirely, the plants would probably succeed all the better. When, in fine weather, cold currents of air prevail, open the sashes of the roof only. In winter give air as abundantly as is consistent with the maintenance of the proper temperature, and remember above all things to avoid wet both in the atmosphere and soil. Under this system of management the plants may be expected to fruit in the second summer after planting, though it is not unlikely but some may do so in the first. Their further management will be the same as I have described above, viz., cutting down the trees when the fruit is ripe, and training up a young sucker in its place, &c. FRUIT CYLINDERS. 225 XIX.— On Fruit Cylinders. By A. Forsyth, C.M.H.S., St. Mary's Church, Torquay. (Communicated May 14th, 1853.) The culture of hardy fruit-trees and hardy fruit-bearing shrubs is a subject of such importance, that any system of management calculated to render the supply of fruit less precarious than it has hitherto been, will be hailed with pleasure. Almost every locality has its prevailing winds, and as " the wind bloweth where it listeth," it is no easy matter to keep tender blossoms from being damaged by such a variable current. In the beautiful arrangements of nature, the blossom is wrapped up for months in a scaly bud, hard and dry, allowing the cultivator every facility once a year to dispose of it in any form most suitable to his interest. In cultivating the Peach, for example, the tree is carefully pruned and trained to a garden wall, and other less important fruit-bearing plants are either trained to espalier rails, or grown as standards. Still there are attentions paid to all of them in the way of pruning, &c, so that the fruit-buds may be advantageously placed as regards regularity and shelter. Many Pear-trees are naturally tall-growing, and pyramidal in shape ; such, by different manipulations, are artfully dwarfed and trained into more flat-headed forms, so as to get the blossom- buds, and eventually the fruit, as much as possible under shelter. Were this not done, their profitable cultivation would be impracticable. The action of the stormy blast or of the sea breeze upon ligneous plants induces a stunted growth and fruitless spray upon the windward side, whereas the lee side produces healthy shoots and blossoms. In the case of evergreens this is particularly remarkable, and not only does one plant shelter another, but one half of the same plant is thus used by nature to shelter the other half. Now, if our principal hardy fruits were produced upon evergreen trees or shrubs, the tender blossoms would have a mantle of mature leaves to protect them, but unfortunately for us they " come forth like the silvery almond-flower, that blooms on a leafless bough." Such being the case, all sorts of appliances are pressed into the service of horticulture in spring to protect the infant fruits — such as glass shades, bunting shades, worsted net, old fishing-net, 226 FRUIT CYLINDERS. straw ropes, spruce fir-branches, and the like. The Lancashire gooseberry-fancier has been known to share even his bed-clothuS with the gooseberry bush on a frosty night, rather than permit his "Roaring Lion " to suffer. In nurseries the compartments are chequered with evergreen hedges, or, failing that, with Beech, whose leaves remain on the plant so long as to have earned for this tree the adage " that it keeps its old coat until it sees how the new one suits." The growers of those splendid specimens of Cape Heaths &c, which we see at exhibitions, use a tent of bunting to lessen the sun's glare and the force of storms, in order to preserve the blossoms and the foliage in the finest possible condition. The normal form of a standard fruit-tree is either globular or mushroom-shaped, and therefore it faces every point of the compass, and bears fruit all over it, having an aspect East, West, North, and South. Now, although one tree injures another by its shade and other robberies, still it is clear that the individual tree benefits as much by its foliage on the shady or northern side, as it does by that on its sunny or southern exposure, and in practice we find the foliage of fruit-trees, and that of many flowering- plants, as Camellias for instance, on a north wall unusually fine. The distance of one fruit-tree from another on an ordinary garden wall, I may take to be 15 feet ; I have therefore made the circumference of the fruit cylinders here introduced, 15 feet, and the height 5 feet. The ease with which all tangents may be made to run into the circumferential line peculiarly adapts the circular form to this sort of work, and the ease too with which a shoot fruitful at the extremities may be made to return upon the barren end of itself, and thereby clothe the bole, is no small recommendation to this style of trellis, not to mention its unity of character, and conse- quent strength, having no ends, being a broad-based cylinder or low column. In explanation of this, the straight lines from the hole of a tree easily run into the circular form as in ground plan, Fig. la, and the barren part, at the bole end of the shoot, is by the circular trellis covered by the fruitful part, so that without any doubling back, the whole is covered with foliage and fruit ; for everybody knows that fruits are scanty near the bole end of the branch and fruitful at the tips generally. To show the practical value of small cylinders as compared with large ones, let us take one with a circumference of 30 feet instead of 15, and in round numbers try it thus : — FRUIT CYLINDERS. 227 GROUND PLAN SHOWING A COMPARTMENT IN A GARDEN FILLED WITH FRUIT CYLINDERS. Scale J inch to 10 feet. Fig. \,a, shows a tree occupying 4 cylinders or 60 feet of trellis ; b, 3 cylinders or 45 feet of trellis; c, 2 cylinders, and d, 1 cylinder. 228 FRUIT CYLINDERS. Diameter 5 x 5 x -7854 = 19-635 Diameter 10 x 10 x -7854 = 78-54 [19-635 x 4 = 78-54.] Diameter 10 is only twice diameter 5, but area 78 - 54 is four times area 19-635, showing an economy of space and materials equal to cent, per cent, by using trellises of 5 feet diameter instead of 10. Here it will be seen that a trellis or cylinder of circumference double does not take just double the area, but no more than four times the area to stand upon, and four times the amount of faggots to fill it. I have borrowed the evergreen foliage of the gorse plant, and built a column of it within the circular iron trellis alluded to, in order that the early blossoms of our fruit-trees may not any longer be borne upon naked twigs. Trellises similar to the foregoing existed in the gardens of the late Sir John Stanley, in Cheshire, in 1837, when I was gardener tbere, and the only alteration that I have made in my late respected employer's plan is the adding a body to his skeleton trellis. I have shown in the accompanying plau how different lengths '•.