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134 



FOREIGIf N0TICB8. 



UsK OK Ci>i.Loi)i<i,v IX Puoi'Aii.vTiNO Pi-ANTS. — AVc broftllie nn fttmospherc of iiiarvcln. A few 

 years cince the world viis ustonislicd l>y the aniiouiifcuu-nt tl»at so liuriulesH n siibstiince ns cot- 

 ton wool could be niiide to servo tlie purposes of gunpowder; nnd gun cr)tton wns patented for 

 the puri>ose. Shortly afterwards an ingenious a)>olheear}' discov«-red lliat gun cotton coidd he 

 employed to heal the wound it caused, a substance called collodion, the j)rince of plasters, having 

 been made by dissolving this sort of cotton in ether. And now it appears as if collodion itself 

 were likel}' to become a new arm in gardening. 



Collodion is not merely adhesive, but inipcnelrable by water, and impervious to air. Taking 

 a<lvantnge of these properties, it occurred to Mr. Lowk that in tlie nice act of propagating plants, 

 this substance might be advantageously emjdoyed. It would be unjust to this gentleman if we 

 did not give his statement, as ofiicially made public in the Proccidii\fjs of the Royal Society, be- 

 fore wliom a paper on the subject has been lately read. 



It had occurred to him, that if a cutting of a plant were scaled at the base, so as to exclude 

 the moisture of the soil from ascending the stem in injurious quantities, the method of striking 

 cuttings of most species of plants would not be so precarious a process as at present ; and 

 accordingly some collodion was obtained in order to make the experiment. 



"With respect to this new process, he states, that immediately upon the cutting being severed 

 from the parent stem, the collodion was applied to the wound, and then left a few seconds to dry, 

 after which the cuttings were potted in the ordinary manner. 



To test the value of this new process more effectually, duplicates of all the species experi- 

 mented upon were at the same time similarly planted, without the collodion being applied to 

 them. 



Experiments were carried on in two different ways ; one batch of cuttings being placed on a 

 hot-bed, while a second batch was planted in the open ground, without even the protection of 

 glass. 



First Batch. — All of which, were placed on a hot-bed on the 1st of September, and examined 

 on the Ist of October : 



Stove Plants. 



Name of Plant 



Ixor.i coccincn, 



Tacsoiiia miniala, 



Franciscea I lopcana, 



" Pohliana, 



Gloxinia Maria Van Iloutle, 



Beprmia ineamata, 



Achinicnes palens, 



lloya bc-lla, 



Ilondeletia ppeciosa, 



Allainanda ncriifolia, 



Number of i Number of 



Cuttings Cuttings 

 with Collo- which took 

 (lion applied.! root. 



Grekxhouse Plants. 



Name of Plant 



Number of Number of 



Cuttings Cuttings 

 with Collo- which took 

 dion applied. root 



Roronia sprrulata, 



Polygala Dalmaisiana, 



" prandiflora, , 



Verbena luna, , 



Choriizema cordata, , 



Kpacris pallida 



Leschcnaullia formoaa 



Swainsonia astragalifolia... . 



" galegifolia 



Abelia nipcslris, 



Pleciraulhus concolor picta. 



