I
■•hivi]
REMOTE STORAGE
THE UNIVERSITY
OF ILLINOIS
LIBRARY
'' Vl
A DICTIONARY
MODERN GARDENING.
BY
GEORGE WILLIAM JOHNSON, ESQ.,
FELLOW OF THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF INDIA;
CORRESPONDING MEMIiEK OF
THE ROYAL CALEDONIAN AND MARYLAND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES;
AUTHOR OF THE PRINCIPLES OF PRACTICAL GARDENING ;
THE gardener's ALMANACK, ETC
ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY V/OOD CUTS.
EDITED, WITH NU.^IEROUS ADDITIONS,
BY DAVID LANDRETH,
OF PHILADELPHIA.
PHILADELPHIA:
LEA AND BLANCH A RD.
1847.
TO
JOHN LINDLEY, Ph.D., P.R.S.,
VICE SECRETARY OF THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, AND PROFESSOR OF
BOTANY IN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE,
AS OXE OF THE MOST EFFICIENT
PROMOTERS OF MODERN HORTICULTURE,
THIS VOLUME
IS DEDICATED BY
THE AUTHOR.
Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1S47, by
LEA AND BLANCHARD,
in the OfFice of the Clerk of the District Court for tire Eastern District of
Pennsylvania.
PHILADELPHIA:
T. K. AXD P. G. COLLIXS,
PKINTEKS.
1\
^o
REMOTE STORAGE
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
Utility, more than either originality of contents or elegance of phraseology,
has been the author's principal object in the following pages. He has endea-
voured to gather together in one volume, attainable at a moderate price, an
arranged, easily consulted, record of Gardening, as it is. To effect this object,
he has obtained aid from the best living authorities, as well as from their
published works; but he has not neglected those of other periods, where he
has found in them directions upon which the moderns have suggested no im-
provements. Of all the authorities consulted, none has afforded such abundant
information as the Gardeners^ Chronicle, of which it is not too much to say that,
as it is the best of modern journals devoted to promoting the cultivation of the
soil, so, whoever is fortunate enough to possess a complete copy of its five
published volumes, has a work of reference from which he will rarely turn away
unsatisfied if seeking for information relative to its peculiar subjects.
In every instance, the author has endeavoured to give tribute where due, and
if he has erred in this, or in any other particular, he will be highly obliged by
correction. Besides the work already quoted, he has been much indebted to
Paxton-s Botanical Dictionary ; Whatei.zy's Landscape Gardening ; Glenny's
Practical Gardener and Florist; Maund's Botanic Garden; Lindley's Theory
of Horticulture ; and The United Gardener and Land Steward's Journal. The
author does not wish to mislead his readers into the belief that this is a Botanical
Dictionary. On the contrary, he has confined his notices to such genera of plants
as deserve a place in some department of the garden ; and, for the most part,
even in enumerating the number of species in each genus, only those have been
reckoned that are worthy of cultivation.
It only remains to be explained that, in the monthly calendars, b. intends the
beginning, or first half ef the month, and e. the end, or its closing half.
The following works have also been freely consulted and quoted : —
CuTHBERT Johnson, On Fertilisers.
Farmers' Encylopadia.
Loudon and Westwood's Kollar on Predatory Insects.
, Loudon's Gardeners' Encyclopedia.
Gardeners' Magazine.
Johnson's Principles of Gardening.
Abercrombie's Gardeners' Dictionary.
Johnson's Gardeners' Almanack.
Transactions of the London Horticultural Society.
Caledonian Horticultural Transactions.
Horticultural Magazine.
Decandolle's Philosophy of Plants.
3(34:84
PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.
The ordinary form in cases of reprint, with additions and explanatory notes,
has been departed from in the present instance with a desire to preserve the
book from the awkward aspect which it would necessarily present, if every
addition by the American editor had been included within brackets, or printed
in varied type.
This edition has been greatly altered from the original. Many articles of
little interest to Americans have been curtailed, or wholly omitted, and much
new matter, with numerous illustrations, added; yet the present editor freely
admits, and has desired the publishers to state, that he has only followed in the
path 80 admirably marked out by Mr. Johnson, to whom the chief merit of the
work belongs. It has been an object with the publishers, and editor, to inc. ease
its popular character, thereby adapting it to the larger class of horticultural
readers in this country, and they trust it may prove what they have desired it to
be, an Encyclopaedia of Gardening, if not of Rural Affairs, so condensed as to
be within reach of most persons whom those subjects interest.
THE PUBLISHERS.
Philadelphia, April, 1S47.
NOTE.
It is evident that with a territory extending over so large a space, a monthly calendar,
ordireclion for cropping, &,c., cannot uniformly apply : Those who reside north or south
of Pennsylvania, can readily make the necessary calculations as to time.
\8 ^
THE
GARDENERS' DICTIONARY.
ABE
ABELE TREE. (Populus alba.)
ABLACTATION, the same as In-
arching, and so called because it is
a gradual withdrawing of the scion from
its parent, the same as weaning, which
in Latin is ahlactatio.
ABLAQUEATIONjbaring the bodies
of a tree's main roots. This was an old
mode of checking the tree's over luxu-
riance, for the purpose of making it fer-
tile. A much less injurious plan is to
drain the soil, and mix it with sand,
chalk, or other less rich addition. An-
other method successfully pursued is to
open a trench around the body, at a
suitable distance, thus shortening the
roots, and arresting the tree's rapid
growth.
ABNODATION, cutting off excres-
cences and the slumps of branches
close to the stem. The intention of
this is to have the wound heal over,
but it is very doubtful, in the case of
branches, whether the extremity of a
stump properly treated will not heal
quicker than a wound close to the
trunk. The unsightly aspect of pro-
truding stumps will, however, induce
close pruning.
ABRICOCK, an old mode of spelling
Apricot, Armeniaca vulgaris.
ABRAXAS grossularia. Magpie
Moth. The caterpillar of this moth
often infests the leaves of the gooseber-
ry bush, as well as the currant, sloe,
and even the peach, in eariv summer.
" The caterpillar," says Mr. Curtis, " is
white, slightly tinged with blue, and
having numerous black spots on the
back ; it is called a looper, from its pe-
culiar mode of walking ; it fixes itself
first firmly with its hind feet, and then
extends its body fully ; after which it
puts down its f<ire feet, and draws the
hind part of its body as close afler them
2
AC A
as possible, thus forming an arch or
loop." — Gard. Chron.
ABROMA. Two species. Stove
evergreen shrubs. Seed or cuttings.
Loam and peal.
ABRONIA. Two species. Hardy
perennial trailers. Rooted slips. Sandy
peat.
. AQKVS precaforius. Wild Liquorice.
Stove climber. Cuttings. Sand and
peat.
ABUTA rufescens. Stove evergreen
climber. Rooted slips. Loam and
peat.
ABUTILON. Three species. One
stove, and two green-house evergreen
shrubs. Cuttings. Light rich loam.
A. striatum. Green-house shrub. " As
this seems likely to suit a bed in the
flower garden, to increase it keep it in
the stove, as it will there push even in
winter, and every two joints will be
sufficient for a cutting, which will make
a plant in a fortnight or three weeks.
By the time the cutting has pushed far
enough to admit of being topped, ano-
ther cutting may be made of it, and pro-
ceeded with as before. If kept in the
green-house during winter it will not
move at all." — Gard. Chron.
ACACIA. 274 species, stove and
green-house evergreens. Cuttings.
Sandy loam and peat.
AC/ENA splendens. Green-house
evergreen. Seed. Loam and peat.
ACANTHOPHIPPIUM. Three spe-
cies. Stove epiphytes. Offsets. Sandy
peat and light loam.
ACANTHUS. Bear's Breech. Eight
species. Six hardy herbaceous peren-
nials ; division of roots. One green-
house perennial ; seed. One stove
evergreen; cuttings. All require sandy
peat and loam.
ACARUS, the Plant Mite. Class
AC A
n
ACC
Arachnidae. The following arc the
chief of those known to the gardener.
Acarus tellarhta, the Red Spide7-, is one
of the gardener's most troublesome
foes. Its colour varies from yellowish
to red-brown, and though almost invi-
sible from its minuteness, yet it preys
most destructively upon some trees and
herbaceous plants in our hot-houses,
jis well as upon the kidney-bean, lime
tree, &c., out of doors in dry summers.
A. holosericeus is another species, dis-
tinguishable to an unscienced eye
chiefly by its scarlet colour. To de-
stroy them in the hothouse, there is no
plan so effectual as heating the flues or
pipes, and sprinkling upon them sul-
pliur. The air is thus gently impreg-
nated with the vapour of sulphur, for it
liegins to evaporate at a heat of 170^.
This vapour is fatal to the insect where
the air is thoroughly impregnated with
it, and the work of destruction is com-
pleted by syringing the infested plants
with water. This last is the only prac-
tical remedy to plants in our borders,
unless they can be covered over so that
the fumes may be confined, whilst the
sulphur is volatilized over a hot-water
plate. Potted plants maybe submitted
to the vapour of sulphur in a similar
way. The vapour of spirit of turpen-
tine is said to be as effectual- as sulphur.
Acarm hortcnsis, the Garden Mite, tho-
rax ochreous, abdomen white, has been
found upon the roots of the cucumber,
upon w hich it is said to prey. I believe
it to be the same Acarus often so abund-
ant upon the root of cabbages affected
with the Ambury. A. genicvlatus is a
minute, red, shining mite, gregarious,
and congregating during spring in pro-
digious numbers upon the bark of the
plum and other fruit trees, near the base
of the twigs, and looking like a gummy
exudation. By extracting the sap they
doubtless weaken the tree, and reduce
its productiveness. — Card. Chron.
ACER. Maple. Twenty- seven spe-
cies, all hardy trees except Acer ob/on-
gUTfi, which is half-hardy. The Sugar
Maple, A. saccharinum of the Ameri-
can forests, is perhaps one of the finest
fpecies. It forms a full round head, its
deep green leaves changing in autumn
to many shades of orange. The Silver
Maple, A. dcsycarpum, is a light airy
tree, of quick growth, and extensively
planted in the streets of Philadelphia.
A. platanoides, or Norway Maple, and
A. pseudo-platanoides, or Sycamore, are
also desirable varieties. Seed, cuttings,
and layers. Common light garden soil.
ACERAS. Two species, both tube-
rous-rooted hardy perennials. Seeds.
Light loam.
ACERATIUM oppositifolium. Stove
evergreen shrub. Peat and loam. Cut-
tings.
ACETARIOUS PLANTS. Salading.
ACCLIMATIZATION is rendering a
plant capable of the production desired
in a climate differing from that in which
it is native. In our climate it is usually
required to induce a plant to endure
lower temperatures than those to which
it has been accustomed, and this, though
some are intractable, is more easy than
is inducing the natives of colder re-
gions to live in our latitudes. When a
new plant arrives from a tropical coun-
try, it is desirable to use every precau-
tion to avoid its loss, but so soon as it
has been propagated from, and the dan-
ger of such loss is removed, from that
moment ought experiments to com-
mence, to ascertain whether its acclima-
tization is attainable. That this should
be done is self-evident; tor the nearer
such a desirable point can be attained,
the cheaper will be its cultivation, and
consequently the greater will be the
number of those who will be able to de-
rive pleasure from its growth. Hence
it is very desirable that an extended se-
ries of experiments should be instituted,
to ascertain decisively whether many of
our present green-house plants would
not endure exposure to our winters, if
but slightly or not at all protected. It
may be laid down as a rule, that all
Japan plants will do so in the southern
states, but it remains unascertained to
what degree of northern latitude this
general^ power of endurance extends.
Experiment, and experimentonly, ought
to be relied upon ; for we know that
the larch was once kept in a green-
house in England. Many tropical
plants of every order and species, have
been found to require much less heat,
both during the day and during the
night, than gardeners of a previous cen-
tury believed. Other plants than those
already noticed have passed from the
tropics to our parterres, and even to
those of higher northern latitudes. The
horse chestnut is a native of the tropics,
but it endures uninjured the stern cli-
mate of Sweden. Aucuba Japonica and
ACC
19
ACH
PcBonta Moutan, we all remember to I May ; the soil should be poor, dry, and
have passed from our stoves to the i thoroughly drained; if against a wall,
green-house, and now they are in our I the border should be protected through
open gardens. Every year renders us the entire winter by a roof of hurdles
acquainted with instances of plants thatched with straw, and projecting
being acclimatized : and, in addition to . about three feet."
' ACHILLEA. Milfoil. Sixty-four spe-
cies, all, except A. AUgyptica, herba-
ceous perennials. Common garden soil.
Divisio-n of roots. A. JEgyptica is a
green-house evergreen. Cuttings. Peat
and loam.
ACHIMENES. Six species. Stove
bulbs. "After the plants have done
flowering, and the to()s die down, in
November, allow the bulbs to remain
undisturbed in the pots, laid on their
sides beneath the green-house st:ige, or
some other place where frost and wet
cannot reach them, where they may re-
main until the latter part of January,
then to be placed in a gentler heat, and
watered until the soil becomes suffi-
ciently moist to encourage vegetation.
When the small scaly bulhs have made
shoots about two inches in length, plant
them singly in small sixties, in a mixture
of leaf mould and a small portion of sil-
ver sand. At the subsequent sliifling,
until the plants are finally placed in six-
teens in June, the compost consists of
light rich turf loam and peat, or leaf
mould, when peat cannot be i)rocured
in equal proportions, and on no account
sifted. The pots are thoroughly drained,
a point which forms the basis of all
good culture, both in pots and in the
open ground. For growing several
plants in one pot, take No. 12 size, into
which turn five of the plants jjreviously
kept in sixties, placing one in the cen-
tre, and four round the edges. These
forma noble mass when in bloom ; but
never assume the unilbrm conical shape
those already noticed, we find that Mr,
Buchan, Lord Bagot's gardener, at
Blithficld House, in Staflbrdshire, has an
old cinnamon tree (Tyiurus Cinnamo-
mum) under his care, which ripens seed:
from these many plants have been raised
that endure the winters of England in a
conservatory without any artificial lieat.
Then, again, there is no doubt that all
the conifera; of Mexico, which flourish
there at an elevation of more than SOOO
feet above the sea's level, will survive
our winters in the open air. Among
these are Pinus Llaveana, P. Teocate, P.
patula, P. Hartwegii, Cupressus thuri-
fera, Juiiiperus flacc Ida, Ahics religiosa,
and some others. Many natives of the
southern states have been gradually ac-
climated in Pennsylvania; experience
has, however, demonstrated that the na-
ture of the soil is all-important. On
sandy or light loamy land with gravelly
subsoil, many plants are found to witli-
stand the winter, which would surely
perish on heavy or wet land. So also
the aspect as regards exposure to the
sun, it having been found from repeated
observation that tender plants, espe-
cially if evergreen, suffer less from cold
when screened from the sun's rays. The
cause is obvious. An extensive impor-
tation of European Holly received at
the Landreth Nurseries, were, as a pro-
tection from the summer sun, planted
on the north side of a high board fence,
where they safely resisted the severity
of winter : subsequently they were
placed in open positions, and all were
killed by the combined action of heat j of a single s;)ecimen. The main stem
and cold. The following general rules
are the results of experiments in the
London Horticultural Society's Garden,
conducted by Mr. Gordon. 1. " Plants
intended to be acclimatized, should
never be subjected to artificial heat dur^
and side branches are to be neatly
sticked and tied out as they advance in
growth. The temperature of an early
vinery is well adapted for these plants
until the end of May, at which period
they should be taken to a cool pit, where
ing the winter that precedes their being ! a steady moist heat can be maintained,
planted out; if obtained from seeds, as 1 They should be shaded in hot days be-
little heat as possible should be em- tween 11 A.M. ami 2 P. M., to prevent
ployed in raising them ; and starved or 1 the sun from scorching the foliage, and
stunted plants are more likely to sue- ' they should never be watered over-
ceed than such as have been forced into '. head. The pots should be placed upon
a rapid and luxuriant growth. 2. The I others, inverted, and the bottom of the
plants should not be committed to the 1 pit should be kept moist, closing up
open ground earlier than the end of early in the afternoon, and giving air in
ACH
20
ACT
clear weather about eijjht in the morn-
ing, so that the damp may disperse be-
fore the raysofthe sun fall directly up-
on the plants." — Card. Cliron.
A. Long/flora. " Tlie bulbs of this
may be started in a warm cucumber
frame towards the end of P'ebruary.
Each plant, when it has formed a few
leaves, should then be potted off, sepa-
rately, into small pots, or, preferably,
several may be planted together in a
shallow box. The temperature of a
warm green-house suits them admira-
bly." — Card. Chron.
ACHYRONIA villosa. Green-house
evergreen shrub. Cuttings. Peat and
loam.
ACIANTHUS. Three species. Tu-
berous green-house plants. Division.
Loam and peat.
ACICARPHA spatidata. Herba-
ceous stove perennial. Division. Loam
and peat.
ACIOTIS. Two species. Stove
evergreen shrubs. Cuttings. Peat and
loam.
ACIS. Four species. Hardy bulbs.
Offsets. Sandy loam.
ACISANTHERA quadrata. Stove
evergreen shrub. Cuttings. Peat and
loam.
ACMADENIA tetragona. Green-
house evergreen shrub. Cuttings. Loam
and peat.
ACMENA Jloribi^nda. Green-house
evergreen shrub. Cuttings. Sandy
loam.
ACONITUM. Eighty species hardy
deciduous tubers; and thirty-four spe-
cies hardy herbaceous perennials. " A.
Napellus, from napus, a turnip, its gru-
mous roots resembling little turnips, is
n well known poisonous plant. Lin-
naaus says, that it is fatal to kine and
goats, especially when they come fresh
to it, and are not acquainted with the
plant; but that it does no injury to
horses, who eat it only when dry. He
also relates (from the Stockholm Acts)
that an ignorant surgeon prescribed the I radicle and plumule, the infant root and
root is unquestionably the most power-
ful partofthe plant. Matthiolus relates,
that a criminal was put to death by
taking one drachm of it. Dodonseus
gives us an instance, recent in his time,
of five persons at Antwerp, who ate the
root by mistake, and ail died. Dr,
Turner also mentions, that some French-
men at the same place, eating the
shoots of this plant for those of master-
wort, all died in the course of two days,
e.xcept two players, who quickly evacu-
ated all that they had taken by vomit.
We have an account, in the Philosophi-
cal Transactions, of a man who was
poisoned, in the year 1732, by eating
some of this plant in a salad, instead of
celery. Dr. Willis also, in his work De
Anima Brutorum, gives an instance of a
man who died in a few hours, by eating
the tender leaves of this plant also in
a salad. He was seized with all the
symptoms of mania. Tlie Aconite,
thus invested with terrors, has, how-
ever, been so far subdued, as to become
a powerful remedy in some of the most
troublesome disorders incident to the
human frame. Baron Stoerck led the
way by administering it in violent pains
of the side and joints, in glandulous
scirrhi, tumours, ulcerous tubercles of
the breast, &c., to the quantity of from
ten to thirty grains in a dose, of an ex-
tract, the method of making which he
describes." — Encyc. Plants. Division.
Common garden soil. All are poison-
ous.
ACRO'N Y CHI A cunningh ami. Green-
house shrub. Cuttings. Sandy loam
and peat.
ACROPERA loddigesii. Stove epi-
phyte. Division. Peat and potsherds.
ACROPHYLLUM verticillatum.
Green-house shrub. Cuttings. Loam
and pent.
ACROSPIRE is the name whereby
malsters, gardeners, and others describe
the sprouts from barley and other seeds
when germinating, and which are the
leaves, and on the patient refusing to
take them, he took them himself and
died. The ancients, who were ac
quainted with chemical poisons, regard
ed the Aconite as the most violent ofi house plants. Division and seed
all poisons. Some persons, only by j and peat.
taking in the effluvia of the herb in full I ACROTRICHE. Threes
flower by the nostrils, have been seized Green-house evergreen shrubs.
with swooning fits, and have lost their | tings. Sandy peat.
eight for two or three days. Cut the
stem.
ACROSTICHUM. Sixteen species.
Chiefly stove herbaceous perennials.
A. alcicorne and A. grande are green-
Loam
ACTINOMERIS. Four species.
ACT
21
Divi-
Hardy liorbaceous perennials
â– ion. Pent and loam.
ACTINOTUS. Two species. Green-
house herbaceous perennials. Division.
Sandy loam.
A C Y N O S. Eleven species. All
hardy. Seeds. Dry sandy soil.
AD AM I. \ cyanea. Stove evergreen
shrub. Cuttinsrs. Peat and loam.
ADAM'S NEEDLE. Yucca.
ADDKR'S TONGUE. Opioglossum.
ADELIA. Three species. Stove
evergreen shrubs. Cuttings. Peat and
loam.
ADENANDR.\. Thirteen species.
Green-house evergreen shrubs. Cut-
tings. Loam and peat.
ADENANTHERA. Two species.
Stove evergreen shrubs. Cuttings.
Sandv loam and peat.
ADENANTHOS. Three species.
Green-house evergreen shrubs. Cut-
tings. Sandy peat and loam. A.obo-
vata is best iVoin seed.
ADENOCARPUS. Six species. A.
foliolosus and frankenl aides are ever-
green shrubs. Cuttings. Sandy loam.
The others are hardy deciduous shrubs.
Seeds. Common garden soil.
ADENOPHORA. Sixteen species.
Hardy herbaceous perennials. Com-
mon garden soil. Peat and loam.
ADESMIA. Eight species, of which
A. viscosa is hardy. The others are
green-house plants. A.visrosa and us-
pallatenais are propagated by cuttings.
The others from seed. All in sandy
loam.
ADIANTUM. Maidenhair. Twen-
ty-nine species. All green-house or
etove plants, except /I. C(/p(7/«s veneris
and puhescens. They are hardy herba-
ceous perennials. Division. Loam and
peat.
ADINA glnbijlora. Stove evergreen
shrub. Cuttings. Sandy loam and peat.
ADLUMIA cirrhosa. Hardy climb-
ing biennial. Seeds. Sandy loam.
ADONIS. Thirteen species. All
hardy. Seed. Common garden soil.
TEGIPniLA. Seven species. Stove
evergreen shrubs. Cuttings. Loam and
peal.
7EGLE marmelos. Bengal Quince.
Stove evergreen shrub. Cuttings.
Loam.
^CIIMEA. Three species. Stove
perennials. Suckers. Loam, peat, and
sand.
iEGOCHLOA. Six species. All hardy ;
A G A
Seeds. Light rich gardea
Stove
annuals,
soil.
iEOLLANTHUS suaveolens.
annual. Seeds. Sandy loam.
iEONIUM Youngiannm. Green-
house. Cuttings. Sandy loam.
.1':SCHYNANT1IUS. Two species.
Stove epiphytes. Cuttings. Peat and
potsherds, or wood.
7ESCULUS. Horse-chestnut.
JE. glabra. (Grafts.)
yE. hippocastanum, Jlore plena. (Lay-
ers.)
jS. hippocastanum, fol. argenteis. (Lay-
ers.)
^â– E. hippocnstanum variegatum.
jE. ohiensis.
JE. fallida. (Grafts.)
JE. rubicunda. (Grafts.)
All hardy deciduous trees. The com-
mon European horse-chestnut jE. hip-
pocastanum, is a truly magnificent tree,
at once grand from its magnitude and
massy form, and beautiful when in
bloom from being covered with large
spikes of white and pink flowers, pro-
truding beyond its elegant digitate
leaves. Seeds (except where other-
wise described). Common garden soil.
AERANTHES. Two species. Stove
epiphytes. Division. Peat and pot-
sherds, or wood.
AF2RIDES, {air plant.) Nine spe-
cies. All stove epiphytes. Cuttings,
except A. cornutum, which is multi-
plied by root-divisions. Peat and pot-