•JO MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



is no white. If a pod be slit down to the sub-calix. If a guard petal be badly 

 split. Notched edges are glaring faults, for which no excellence in other com- 

 pensates. 



Picotees. — The properties of form are similar to those of the Carnation ; 

 but the distinction between Carnations and Picotees is that the colour is dis- 

 posed in unequal stripes, going from the centre to the outer edge; and that of 

 the Picotee is disposed on the outer edges of the petals and radiates inwards, 

 and the more uniformly this is disposed the better. Whether it be very deeply 

 feathered at the edge like the colour of a feathered Tulip, or an even shape not 



wider than the thickness ofthe petal. 



Dianthus. 



s 



O'xat.is De'ppei has been cultivated in Belgium for culinary purposes. The 

 young leaves are dressed like sorrel, in soup, or as a vegetable ; they have a 

 fresh and agreeable acid, especially in spring. The flowers are excellent in 

 salad alone, or mixed with corn salad, endive of both kinds, red cabbage, beet 

 mot. and even with the petals of the dahlia, which are delicious when thus 

 employed. When served at table, the flowers, with their pink corolla, green 

 calyx.'yellow stripes, and little stamens, produce a very pretty effect. The roots 

 are taken up in September or October, and preserved through winter in a cool 

 cellar. They are gently boiled with salt and water, after having been washed 

 and slightly peeled ; they are then eaten like asparagus, in the Flemish fashion, 

 with melted butter and the yolks of eggs. They are also served up like scor- 

 zonera and endive, with white sauce. They form, in whatever way they are 

 dressed, a tender, succulent dish, easy to digest, and agreeing with the most 

 delicate stomach. The analogy of the root with salep indicates that its effect 

 should be excellent upon all constitutions. — {Professor Morren, in Gard. Ghron. 

 vol. i. p. 68.) 



Salvia, patens, grown in the open bed, and its branches pegged down, makes 

 a splendid show of blue, and can thus be kept dwarf to correspond with other 

 dwarf plants. To obtain as many lateral shoots as to cover the bed entirely, the 

 flower spikes, in an early state, being pinched off, induces a numerous produc- 

 tion. 1 have done the same with Salvia fulgens, various Petunias, Pentstemon 

 gentianoides and coccinea, Heliotropes, &c, and they succeed with equal effect. 

 ° January 17, 1842. Louisa. 



Propagating Plants from Cuttings in Charcoal. — M. E. Ltikas, botanic 

 gardener at Ratisbon, having made many successful experiments on the effects 

 of charcoal on vegetation, has published the results, which are given in detail 

 in extracts inserted in the Gardener's Magazine, Gazette, and Chronicle. What 

 is especially useful to plant growers is the great success with which some of the 

 previously difficult plants had rooted in pure charcoal ; the preference is given 

 by M. Lukas to that made from firs.* The following remarks upon the method 

 adopted are the most recent, and are given in the Gardener's Chronicle, as for- 

 warded by a person in this country, who had inspected the propagating apparatus 

 in the Botanical Garden at Munich, where M. Lukas formerly resided. 



" By the kindness of Professor Martius I was allowed to inspect the propa- 

 gating apparatus in the Botanical Garden at Munich. It is so fully described 

 by the inventor in the ' Garten Zeitung,' that little remains to be added, excepting 

 to state the results. The strongest proof that the plan is good, is, that it conti- 

 nues to act with the most complete success, although the author of it has been 

 removed to Ratisbon ; for it is well known that many plans are indebted for 

 their success to the unwearied attention of the parent eye, and that, from passing 

 into other hands, they are frequently allowed to languish and decay. .Nothing 

 can lie more simple than the whole apparatus. It is nothing more than a com- 



* Charcoal too, mixed with various composts for growing plants in, had 

 been found very beneficial, giving considerable vigour to the plants so treated. 



