338 



FOREIGN NOTICES. 



■pirit of the French travollers. What caused these 

 iniapros to march to the tune of the wliip ? Ami 

 these little trees, so contemptible in appearance — 

 the hei^lit of a foot! — carrying, each Orange-tree, 

 20 enormous Oranges ? Anil each Apple-tree, 20 

 or 30 large Apples ? For the images the explana- 

 tion was not ililRcult to lind. The Chinese hail in- 

 troiluccil into the interior of them one or two mice, 

 which, on being stirred, struck some wires, and 

 communicated thus the movement to the limbs ex- 

 pressly jointed to produce this eflTcct. When the 

 mice slept, a cut of the whip aroused ami aflright- 

 ed them, and so redoubled the vivacity of the ges- 

 tures of the images. As for the ihvarf trees, there 

 was in that a mystery of horticulture, or rather 

 of sylviculture, to divine. M. Renard had noticed 

 on visiting the apartments of the IManilarins, simi- 

 lar little trees of the height of some fevv inches, 

 pitiful to look at, unhealthy, distorted, and covereil 

 with excoriations without number, ami a thing 

 which astonished him, — the little foliage which 

 Ornamenteil the extremity of the branches, belong- 

 ed to kinds that ordinarily attain an enormous size, 

 such as the Elm, the Bamboo, and the Cypress. M. 

 R. arriveil at the following solution of these eccen- 

 tricities: — That for the Chinese nothing is beauti- 

 ful but tliat which is hideous; that a stunted shrub 

 without leaves is a woniler that is worth all the 

 forests in the universe; and so the principal occu- 

 pation of the Chinese nurserymen is to combat 

 Nature in everything that is beautiful and rich. 



The cultivation of the dwarf trees is divided in- 

 to two parts — that of the fruit and forest trees. 

 That of the fruit trees rests upon a jn-ocess alreaiiy 

 partly known in Europe; but of wliich the appli- 

 cation is liiSerent. At the moment when a tree is 

 in flower, the Chinese cultivator cliooscs a branch. 

 It is well unilerstood that he selects tliat which 

 presents the most fantastic forms; he makes two 

 circular notches, in a manner to raise a ring of 

 bark of the length of about an inch; upon the part 

 uncovered he applies fresh earth, that is hclil to it 

 by means of a piece of cloth; each day he moist- 

 ens the earth; soon the bark at the incision throws 

 out roots, the branch becomes a tree, its fruit swells 

 antl ripens. Then the gardener cuts the branch at 

 the end of the packet of earth, and plants it in a 

 pot to send to the market. It is rare that this op- 

 eration does not obtain a complete success. The 

 fruit trees raised in this manner are in general the 

 Litchi (Dimocarpus litchi,) the delicious fruit of 

 China; the Carambol, with octagonal fruit; the 

 Lon-gan, a kind of Plum; the Orange, the Apple, 

 Pear, Ficus indica, and a tree sacred in the pagodas, 

 of which the fruit, a kind of Citron (Citrus medica, 

 var. ?) is called by the Chinese, Hand of Foo, be- 

 cause ;t has the form of hand that the bonzes give 

 to this god. The dwarfed trees are tiestined in gen- 

 eral to ornament the pagodas, and the shops of the 

 merchants on holidays. The cultivation of the 

 forest trees, dwarfed, demands more care. It is 

 not only in this case to get ready a branch, but it 

 is a struggle they undertake with Nature, which 

 consists in making hideous that which Nature has 

 created beautiful, to lame and deform that which 



I she has made straight and well looking, to render 

 mean and unhealthy that which she has iiroduce,j 

 » igorous and robust. The trees submitted to thja 

 system of stunting, are generally theU3aniboo, the 

 C'ypress, and the Elm; the same as with the fruit 

 trees, they choose a little branch as knotty and 

 twisted as they i)ossibly can find; they raise a rinp 

 of bark', anil surround it with vegetable mould; at 

 the same time they prune the tree of its haniUomest 

 branches, only preserving those which are zigzag; 

 they then cauterise the wounds with hot iron. 

 This first operation terminated, the gardener ile- 

 votes all his care to his work, up to the day that 

 he is satisfied of the presence of some roots. This 

 success obtaineil, his kindness is changed to cruel. 

 ty ; from this day he refuses water to his charge, 

 and it is only when he sees it nearly perishing, 

 when its leaves fade, and turn yellow, that he con- 

 Bents to moisten a little the earth which keeps it 

 alive; he cuts off the leaves, and only allows a few 

 at the extremity of the branch to remain. 



The tree thus treated, rests between life and 

 death; it shrivels and bows its heail, until the re- 

 turn of the sap ; at this moment its state appears 

 likely to be ameliorated; it is watered each day, 

 its health is about to return ; but, alas ! for the tree, 

 these attentions are but preliminary to further cru- 

 elties. The sap flows in abundance, and then the 

 Chinaman makes at various distances transverse in- 

 cisions, some almost circular. These cuttings con- 

 tinueii, stop the ascent of the sap, which coagula- 

 ting ui)on the wounds, causes swellings of bai-k 

 frightful to behold; but which rejoices the eye of 

 the Chinaman. When the time of the sap is pass- 

 ed, they put the shrub in regime. They then make 

 new notches upon it, but perpendicular this time. 

 They raise with a knife the bark near these notch- 

 es, and introduce in the one honey, in the other 

 sugar, in some colors, and even acid. A'.tracted 

 by the smell, thousands of ants and flies come and 

 gnaw, and prick the bark of the tree, while on the 

 other side the acid burns and destroys wherever it 

 touclies. At length, after this treatment, when 

 the branch has become a veritable monstrosity, 

 covered with lichens, lumps, and deformities, and 

 is recognised as capable of supporting ils i)itiful 

 existence, they detach it from the tree; they shake 

 away the earth that surrounds it, to place in a vase 

 having the form of a large square jam-pot; the 

 earth is then replaced by little gravel stones, that 

 are just in number sufficient to ir.aintain the tree 

 straight in ils pot. All the care necessary for the 

 future is to moisten lightly the stones, when the 

 plant appears to suffer. 



I'he trees stunted in this manner, arc very much 

 prized by the mandarins, and are sold at a high 

 price; but what is surprising is the extreme lon- 

 gevity they acquire. It is not rare that they attain 

 100 and 200 years. They are often transmitted by 

 inheritance. 



On some dwarfed trees that were sent to Her 

 Majesty from China, in addition to the inflic- 

 tions described in tl.e account, were found numer- 

 ous ligatures of wire, and the branches twisted and 

 bent by the agency of the same material. — IT. /. 

 H indsor, Gardeners' Chronicle. 



