14 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[January, 



asleep ? Hardly. So it may be worth while to 

 record here the latest remed}' discovered. 



It is an herb called in German, Pfefferkraut or 

 Peppei'herb, in French, Passerrage or Rage- 

 soother. A person had spread the leaves of this 

 plant in his room, and returning after a few 

 days' absence, found them densely covered with 

 bed bugs so that they looked like coral, and all 

 the bugs dead excepting a few, which, however, 

 were so weak that he had no difficulty in taking 

 them in his fingers and executing them that way. 

 All this we learn from a German paper. The 

 trouble now is what plant is meant. 



Looking closely into it we find that the Passer- 

 age of France is our garden cress or Lepidium 

 sativum, but the Peppergrass of Germany is 

 Lepidium latifolium, the broad-leaved cress. 

 The French call it Passerage because it is said 

 to cure the hydrophobia. 



Looking still more closely into it we find that 

 in other parts of Germany they call Peppergrass 

 Saturega hortensis, and also that in that country 

 Lepidium ruderale, going by the euphonious 

 name of Stinkcress, is also said to destroy bugs 

 and fleas. 



The readers of the Gardener's Monthly 

 justly supposed to be lovers of science and phil- 

 antropists at the same time, are therefoi-e re- 

 quested to experiment and — with the editor's 

 leave — to compare notes until the true remedy 

 be found. 



We beg to mention here that in addition to 

 the Lepidias and Saturega named above, there 

 are further the following Lepidias : L. campestre, 

 draba, and iberis. Beside those that are un- 

 known to the writer. Give the Lepidias a trial. 



SHORT NOTES. 



BY A. H., MEADVILLE, PA. 



It is a pity that Dr. Grant should ever have 

 adopted for the name of his grapes one so much 

 like Isabella as Israella. The first for sundry 

 reasons has been abandoned, so far as I know, by 

 cultivators in this region. The latter though 

 not much of a grape, ripens its fruit better, yet 

 when it is referred to the compositor is almost 

 sure to transpose it into Isabella. 



When I suggested kerosene as a remedy for the 

 Colorado beetle, I should have added that it is 

 most readily applied when the beetles first appear 

 in the spring. If they are kept in check three 

 or four weeks, the crop of potatoes is safe, 

 though the bugs multiply largely subsequently. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Green Corn. — Though it will not mature in 

 the north of Europe sufficiently early to make it 

 a farm crop, it is coming into general use as a 

 garden vegetable, to eat in a green state as with 



ns. 



Sweet Potatoes.— These, from America, 

 are becoming popular in English markets. The 

 London Times, of Oct. 15th notices the arrival 

 of a consignment from Delaware. 



I The Turkish Hazel-nut Trade. — A con- 

 siderable trade has sprung up of late years be- 

 tween the Trebizond district and Great Britain 

 in the article of Hazel-nuts, which are a very 

 important source of wealth on the coast extend- 

 ing from a little south of Batoum to Kerassund. 

 Upwards of £20,000 worth per annum are 

 shipped to England, the chief supplies of the best 

 nuts coming from Tireboli, between Kerassund 

 and Trebizond. Walnut trees, too, are largely 

 grown in the forests of Lazistan, partly for the 

 sake of the nuts, but principally for the walnut 

 tree knobs, which are much in request in France. 

 — The Times. 



The Wickersheimer Process to Pre- 

 serve Animals and Vegetables. — The Im- 

 perial German official paper, the Reichs An- 

 zeiger, has the following : — " Mr. Wickersheimer, 

 Preparator at the anatomical and zootomical 

 collection of the University of Berlin, has in- 

 vented a process of preserving corpses, plants 

 and the single parts thereof. He had taken out a 

 patent for the same throughout the German 

 empire, but has given up his rights acquired 

 thereby, thus allowing any person to use his 

 process. It is described in the certificate of 

 patent thus : I prepare the following liquid, in 

 3000 g. of boiling water, 100 g. of alum, 25 g. of 

 table salt, 12 g. of salt-petre, 60 g. of potash and 

 10 g. of arsenic acid are dissolved. Let cool and 

 filter. To 10 litres of this neutral, colorless and 

 odorless liquid, add 4 litres of glycerine and one 

 litre of metyl alcohol. Soaking and impregnat- 

 ing are the general ways of application. If 

 preparations, animals, etc., are destined to be 

 kept in a dry state, soak them, according to 

 size, from 6 to 12 days, after that dry them. 

 The ligaments and muscles of bodies, crabs, 

 beetles, etc., will remain soft and flexible, so 

 that their natural motions and functions can be 

 shown on them. If cut, the muscles will work 



