i^^^-B 



sum officinale), that tliey will forsake a building within twenty-four hours after the leaves 

 and stems of this plant have been strewed therein. It should be gathered when in flower, 

 and the more freshly it is used, the more certain are its etfects alleged to be. 



Propagation of the Camellia. — Though the mode of multiplying the camellia by means 

 of leal-buds has been some time introduced, it is not yet so extensively known and employed 

 as it deserves to be. JIany amateurs and cultivators are entirely unacquainted with the 

 process which furnishes the readiest means of propagating any particular variety with great 

 rapidity and entire success, since every leaf-bud, eveu those on wood of the previous year, 

 may be used. The proper time for employing this method is at the end of February, and 

 in July, before the plant produces new shoots. The buds are cut and shaped very much as 

 they are in ordinary budding, only retaining a somewhat larger portion of wood. Tlie best 

 soil is a good sandy loam, somewhat retentive of moisture, and it is to be pressed moderately 

 close into a pot or box. The leaf-biids, prepared as stated, are then placed on the soil with 

 the wood or cut side flat to the ground, gently pressed in, and secured by neat small wooden 

 hooks. A glass plate is then laid on the pot or box, which is to be set in a hotljed newly 

 prei^ared ; and it should be remembered that camellia cuttings can scarcely ever be kept 

 too warm, if care be taken to supply the requisite amount of moisture, and to keej) them 

 shaded from the dii-ect rays of the sun. The hotbed in which the pot or box is placed, 

 should be renovated every three or four weeks, as a steadily continued and equable heat 

 greatly aids the formation of roots. The cuttings made in July will root in the course of 

 Ave or six weeks, but should be allowed to remain in the hotbed till the middle of October, 

 and they may then be kept in the same pot or bos in a cold frame during the winter, to be 

 transplanted in the spring. Those made in February are usually of more rapid growth, and 

 if transplanted in May, in a loamy soil, will attain a height of ten or twelve inches in the 

 course of the ensuing summer. 



I have repeatedly employed this mode of jtropagating camellias, with great success, and 

 can confldently recommend it to cultivators in general. E. M. 



A decoction of common elder leaves (Sambucus niger) has been successfully used, in Ger- 

 many, to preserve rose-bushes, and other flowering plants from mildew, aphides, &c. 



It has been ascertained by numerous experiments, that certain plants are much less sensi- 

 tive to the influence of chloroform at night than they are in daytime ; and it has 

 hence been suggested that delicate and tender plants might, peihaps, be most successfully 

 transplanted at night. 



Fruit jellies may be preserved from mouldiness, by covering the surface one-fourth of an 

 inch deep with finely pulverized loaf sugar. Thus protected, they will keep in good condi- 

 tion for vears. 



Temple of Somnautii. — As the gates of Solomon's temple, at Jerusalem, and those of St. 

 Peter's at Rome, are said to have been made of the cedar of Lebanon, so it has been ascer- 

 tained, says Sir W. J. Hooker, that the gates of the temple of Somnauth are constructed of 

 the Indian cedar, or Deodar. 



Claude Lorkaine's Landscapes. — The stone pine. Pinus pinca, is the pine of Claude Lor- 

 raine's landscapes, so often painted, and with such picturesque eflects. 



The Seed Season, Dreer''s Flower Seeds. — We received, by mail, a few days since, a 

 consideraljle package of the flower seeds advertised in the supplementary sheet, in the best 

 order, proving that the post is a suitable medium for this kind of distribution. Mr. D. 

 informs irs, that he commenced this mode ten years since, and adds : " I find the Ilorticiil- 

 turist one of the very best mediums of advertising, and have been well repaid for every dollar 

 expended therein." This is the universal experience of all from whom the publisher hears. 



IiANDRETH'S SEEDS. — In a fol-mcr year the Iloriiculturist gave a somewhat ex- 

 tended description of Landnjth's farm, devoted to raising garden seeds, where are now un- 

 der cultivation for this purpose alone, three hundred and seventy-five acres. His excellent 

 Almanac, witli directions liow and when to plant, laid upon our table, reminds us to mention 

 that j'hiladelphia supplies a larger amount of reliable garden seeds, probably, than the 

 whole of the rest of the Union. His and other advertisements, in our supplementary sheet, 

 tell the rest of the practical story. Buist, Morris, and Dreer, also deal largely in seeds, and 

 be relied on to execute orders with punctuality and correctness. The season for 

 all others, the most agreeable to us — because it is attended by Hope, 



