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THE

FLORICULTURAL CABINET,

JUNE 1ST, 1846.

PART I.

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.

ARTICLE I. EMBELLISHMENTS.

MESSRS. VEITCHS' NEW FUCHSIA.

THIS new species of Fuchsia was discovered by Messrs. Veitchs' collector, in Peru, about two hundred miles from Lima. It is singularly curious, but a handsome kind, producing a profusion of its rose-coloured tubes, but destitute of petals. It is a noble looking species, and well deserves a place in every collection of this very popular and beautiful flowering tribe of plants.

ARTICLE II.

OBSERVATIONS ON SOILS.

BY J. E. M.

IN the CABINET for April I said, in the few hints then thrown out to amateurs, that they were only prefatory to a few observations on some of the leading principles on which plant cultivation should be conducted. I now send you the first of these; and I may as well state here, once for all, that these short papers are not meant to satisfy inquiry, but merely to point in the direction in which we think correct information will be found, viz., in the study of nature.

Our first will treat of soils; a subject often brought before the VOL. XIV. No. 160.

amateur, yet, we humbly think, often in such a way as must baffle his skill and perseverance to compound them. Were all the various earths and manures mentioned in many horticultural works really necessary for good cultivation, we would, at once, say to amateurs of limited means, give it up; for the time and expense necessary to collect them will leave no balance of satisfaction behind. But we believe that this is by no means the case; nay, we affirm, that without one tithe of the dirty compounds often recommended, equal, if not superior articles, may be produced.

In speaking of soil, we shall first consider its mechanical construction, and, again, its nutritive qualities. One great use of the soil is to afford the roots of plants permanent fixture, and from whence they may draw supplies of nourishment for their existence. In cultivating plants great regard must be paid to the form of the roots; and this in a greater degree when they are cultivated in pots. For the sake of clearness we shall divide plants into two divisions; the one having a mass of fine fibry roots; the other having a branching root of greater substance. Now any one can perceive that, to place a plant of the former division in a close adhesive soil, it will never be able to penetrate and extend its sponglits; and it is through them that all nourishment is received into the plant; they remain a pent-up mass; and, when water reaches them, it is not to disengage and liquify their proper food. By its sluggish motion through the soil it rots, instead of feeds them. This is no theory, but a fact that may be seen and understood. No nutriment in the soil is of any avail unless the soil be of that open consistence that the roots can freely run through it without too much resistance; and, moreover, in this state it has no communication with the air to keep it fresh; this also hastens the decay of the roots. Again, place a plant of the latter division in this soil, and, from the extension of its stronger roots, it displaces and opens the soil, making way for its fibres. Plants with roots of this description have a tendency to open the soil, and make it porous; and, owing to the fewness of its fibres, it requires a soil of greater resistance to afford it sufficient fixture.

From this we infer, that plants having a mass of delicate fibry roots, as heaths, epacris, &c., must be provided with a soil of a nature sufficiently open that the roots may be at liberty to run freely through it in all directions. In this condition, air and water find a

free passage through it, and both are necessary; and for plants having strong roots, especially when large specimens are cultivated, soil having a greater consistence is requisite.

We shall now shortly notice soil in its nutritive qualities, or the food of plants. The food of plants does not consist of anything solid, such as earthy matter. Plants have not the power of absorbing anything solid whatever. Their nutriment consists almost entirely in water,-water is not a simple, but compound element, and carbonic acid; the decay of organic matter combined with water forming carbon. Hence the fertility of soils consists only in the abundance of organic remains. We are thus led to see how vegetation, century after century, luxuriates from the effects of her own partial decay; annually strewing around her the very elements necessary to her existence and extension. This is information of the most valuable description, and comes from a source which precludes the possibility of error. From this we infer that a soil mechanically right, and abounding naturally in organic remains, will abundantly answer all ordinary purposes.

But, as we have now so many plants, so to speak, artificially improved so much beyond their natural parents that a more than ordinary supply of the natural nutriment proper to them must be provided, in order that they may be able to support and perfect their extra developments, we need only mention the rose, the dahlia, the dianthus tribe, &c. This provision we have in a comparatively simple state in cow-dung; which is only vegetable substance subjected to a more rapid change in the stomach than it does from natural decay and atmospheric influence. This, however, in a recent state is quite unfit for the roots of delicate plants, owing to the rapid evolution of its gases; for these, although necessary to the existence of the plant, are, in this case, given out in such abundance as to gorge the absorbing rootlets, and cause a disarrangement in the internal economy of the plant that is almost sure to end in death, or, at all events, defeat the object in view, which we have presumed as being flowers. Before we can safely use cow-dung in the cultivation of the more delicate rooted plants, it must have undergone a considerable degree of decomposition; and in this state it still contains a great proportion of the proper food of plants. The proportion of it to be mixed in the soil must be in proportion to the nature and state

of the plant, and the degree of improvement to which it has been advanced from its natural condition. As an instance, the rose, growing in its wild state, is often found on a thin loose soil, often where there can be little organic substance near it, and the consequence is its poor appearance; yet is there sufficient for its few flowers, with fewer petals. But plant beside it one of our most improved double roses, and allow it the same amount of proper nutriment, and it will soon dwindle back to its original. Extra developments must be provided with extra support.

Soil must not only be porous and nutritive, but also fresh. If kept in a confined place, not exposed to the influence of the weather, it has, especially if rich, a tendency to become mouldy; and in this state it exerts a most baneful effect on the roots of plants. Frost is one of the principal agents in the preparation and melioration of the soil; it expels the deleterious effluvia that frequently exists in them, especially when it is kept in large piles. We advise amateurs to let no opportunity of exposing their soils to frost pass without taking advantage of it. It gives to it an openness and freshness, which, if neglected, no other agent can perform.

From these remarks it is easy to gather, that our principal soil is that of nature's own providing. Decomposed vegetation is the fit and proper food of plants; and the quantity of that to be regulated by the nature and demands of the plant.

When plants cultivated in pots or tubs become large, and are but seldom shifted, they should be top-dressed with compost, containing a great proportion of proper food. It may be used here much grosser in its nature; as, not coming in direct contact with the roots, its virtues are washed down in moderate supplies.

We shall close these remarks with a few words on charcoal. This is a substance of immense value to plant cultivators. Independent of its value in keeping the soil open and porous, and keeping up a constant communication between the air and the roots, it has the power of rapidly absorbing any extra supply of moisture or carbonic acid that may exist in the soil; and not only prevents those elements from doing injury, but retains them until wanted by the roots. thus acts as a reservoir for the escape of extra stimulants. We advise its use universally. It forms, for the above reasons, the best drainage for plants; but it should also be scattered in the body of the soil.

It

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