FOREIGN NOTICES. 



285 



portance. The strong stems of the Bamboo are 

 employed instead of timber and cordage. The 

 ^rundo arenaria anil Elymux arenarius (Marrum 

 grasses) are inv^aluable species for keeping toge- 

 ther the blowing sands of the sea-coast, by their 

 creeping suckers and tough entangled roots. The 

 first is employed in the Hebrides for many econo- 

 mical purposes, being made into ropes for various 

 uses, mats for pack-saddles, bags, hats. etc. Some 

 of the reeds of Brazil, called Taquarussa, are liv- 

 ing fountains: the)^ grow from thirty to forty feet 

 high, with a diameter of six inches, from thorny, 

 impenetrable thickets, and are exceedingly grate- 

 ful to hunters; for, on cutting off such a reed below 

 a joint, the stem of the younger shoots is found to 

 be full of a cool liquid, which quenches the most 

 burning thirst. Reeds and other coarse species 

 furnish, in Europe, the materials for thatching. 

 The reeds (sometimes sixteen feet long,) from 

 which the Indians of Esmeralda form the tubes 

 whence they blow the arrows poisoned with the 

 deadly Urari or Woorali, are single internodes of 

 the ^rudinaria schomburghii. (Linn. Trans, 

 xviii, p. 562.) A coarse but good sort of soft pa- 

 per is manufactered in India from the tissue of the 

 Bamboo, and the very young shoots of that plant 

 are eaten like asparagus. 



Besides these things, the inorganic products are 

 remarkable. That the cuticle contains a large 

 proportion of silex, is proved by its hardness, and 

 by masses of vitrified matter being found whenever 

 a haystack or heap of corn is accidentally consum- 

 ed by fire. In the joints of some grasses, a perfect 

 siliceous deposit is found, particularly in a kind 

 of Jungle grass mentioned in a letter from Dr. 

 Moore to Dr. Kf.n'Edy of Edinburgh. It is also 

 said that wheat straw may be melted into a color- 

 less glass with the blow-pipe, without any addi- 

 tion. Barley straw melts into a glass of a topaz 

 yellow color. The siliceous matter of the Bam- 

 boo is often secreted at the joints, where it forms 

 a singular substance, called tabasheer, of which 

 see a very interesting account in Brewster's Jour- 

 nal, viii. p. 268. It was found by Turner, that 

 the tabasheer of India consisted of silica contain- 

 ing a minute quantity of lime and vegetable mat- 

 ter. Sulpluir exists in combination with different 

 bases, in wheat, barlej', rye, oats, maize, millet, 

 and rice. Lindley's Vegetable Kingdom- 



Tricks in all Trades. — In 182R, the Duchess 

 de Berri obtained from the rose plantations which 

 she made every season at Rosni, twelve flowers 

 which appeared to her of remarkable beauty. 

 However, as the point was not only to have beau- 

 tiful roses, but new and unknown ones, she ordered 

 Madame de la Rochejaquelin to show them to a 

 celebrateil gardener. The gardener, having exa- 

 mined tliom about ten minutes, declared that three 

 of them were new. One of them in particular ap- 

 peared to merit a preference ovr its two rivals, 

 and it received the ai)pellation of the Hybrid of 

 Mosni. 



Two years after, in the month of May, 1S30, 

 the last season the Duchess de Bcrri was destined 

 to see her roses in flower, she bethought herself 

 that she had for two years enjoyed the pleasure of 



possessing alone the Hybrid of Rosni, and that it 

 was time to renew her pleasure by making others 

 partake of it. She considered that it would be a 

 present of value to the celebrated gardener, and 

 she commissioned Bladame de la Rochejaquelin to 

 offer it to him for her. Madame de la Rochejaque- 

 lin found the horticulturist reading under the shade 

 of two lofty rose trees, bendin.ir down with mag- 

 nificent flowers. He received the offer with all 

 the marks of gratitude which this honorable and 

 delicate attention deserved. But the benefit arri- 

 ved too late; he had contrived, during the short 

 time the roses were in his hands, two years before, 

 to cut off privately two buds of the finest variety; 

 he had grafted them with the greatest success, and 

 he had received the messenger of the Duchess un- 

 der the shade of two Hybrids of Rosni far finer 

 than any of those in the possession of Madame. 

 Gardener and Practical Florist, Vol. 3, p. 54. 



A " Seedy " Lawyer. — The Anemone grows 

 naturally in the Levant, particularly in the islands 

 of the Archipelago, where the borders of the 

 fields are covered with them of all the colors, but 

 the flowers are single, and have been greatly im- 

 proved by culture. In France they were long cul- 

 tivated before they were much known in Holland 

 or England. Tournefort mentions two French 

 gentlemen, Messrs. Malaval and Bachelier, who 

 contributed greatly to the improvement of these 

 flowers; and of the latter, he relates a pleasant 

 story as follows: 



There was a certain lawyer to whom M. Bache- 

 lier refused to communicate the seeds of his fine 

 Anemones, who finding he could not obtain any 

 either by friendship or money, determined to make 

 a visit to M. Bachelier, with some of his friends 

 who were in the secret; he ordered his lacquey 

 who supported the train of his gown, to let it drop 

 on a bed where the Anemones grew which he 

 wanted, whose seeds were then ripe. They walk- 

 ed a considerable time, talking on various subjects, 

 anil when they came to the spot where the Anemo- 

 nes grew, a merry gentleman of the company began 

 a story which engaged the attention of M. Bache- 

 lier, at which time the lacquey, who was no fool, 

 let fall his master's train over the bed, and the 

 seeds, having a downy covering, stuck to the gown, 

 which the boy afterwards carefully raised, and the 

 company went forward. The virtuoso took leave 

 of M. Bachelier, and went directly home, where 

 he carefully picked off the seeds which had stuck 

 to his robes, and sowed them, which produced very 

 beautiful flowers. Gardener and Practical Flo- 

 rist, Vol. 3, p. 266. 



Planting Evergreens. — After all that has 

 been said about spring planting of evergreens, or 

 even midwinter, I am persuaded that no part of the 

 year can equal the autumn — say from the middle 

 of October until the enil of November. I have 

 moved hundreds of large evergreens, at all periods 

 within the last twenty years, and I have invariably 

 realized the greatest amount of success by autumn 

 planting. Much, however, depends on the cha- 

 racter of the soil, as well as on the mode in which 

 the operation is conducted. Some persons advo- 



