92 MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



REMARKS. 



On preserving the Flowers and Foliage ok the Veubasci sis FROM a 

 Species ok Caterpillar which inkests them. — Having been yearly annoyed 

 by having the flowers and foliage of the Verbascums destroyed by the Verbasci 

 cuculli, or Mullein shark, in July and August, I last year tried the experiment 

 of dusting them with hellebore powder through a piece of muslin two or three 

 times, which I suppose destroyed them, as I saw no more of them. 



Violet-coloured Glass. — This being the seed-time of floriculturists, I beg to 

 impress upon them the importance and utility of violet-coloured glass in pro- 

 moting (and in some instances, as it would appear, as the almost necessary 

 agent in effecting) the germination of seeds. The effects of this discovery have 

 already been fully detailed in the first volume of the " Gardener's Chronicle,"' 

 many striking instances of its effects have been transmitted to me ; and I now 

 beg. en passant, to record an interesting one, recently communicated by Mr. 

 Smith, the curator of the Hull Botanic Garden. He sowed the seeds of the 

 Teak-tree (naturally of difficult germination), which remained between two and 

 three years in the seed-pan, without showing any signs of growth ; he now 

 placed over them a shade of the coloured glass, and in two or three weeks 

 every one vegetated. Stained glasses of the common form may be employed ; 

 or, when the slight additional expense is an object, a single square of the violet- 

 c domed glass may be placed on the top of the flower-pot in which the seeds are 

 sown. I am anxious to draw the attention of the cultivators of Orchideae to the 

 effects of violet-coloured glass, since many of these plants, extraordinary in their 

 habits, as they are in their beautiful and endless forms and colours, naturally 

 growing in genial climes, and under warm, tinted skies, seek the shade, now 

 lying dormant and now quickly starting into all their gay luxuriance; hould 

 we not greatly enhance our success in their treatment here, did we attempt 

 moie to imitate, more to supply, as it were, the influences which naturally 

 surround them? To this end, were the lights of the Orchidaceous house glazed, 

 partially at least, with this glass, the effect would, I feel confident, be ai 

 beneficial as it would be beautiful ; not only as affording partial shade, but as 

 transmitting a light which possessed a subtile action in exciting vegetation ; 

 and thus proving, in all respects, au admirable auxiliary to the artificial heat 

 and moisture necessarily employed in their culture. — F. R. Horner, M.D., Hull. 

 (Gardener's Chronicled 



Propagation OKTROP.EOi.ustTiucoLORi/ii. — The following process for causing 

 the seeds of the above interesting species to vegetate readily, is given in "" Pax- 

 ton's Magazine of Botany " for the present month ; the propagation by cuttings 

 being liable to frequent failure, as well as being objectionable to many on account 

 of the reluctance to mutilate their plants: — 



"The skin, rind, or integument of the seeds of Tropseolum tricolorum is so 

 hard and tough, that either the requisite stimulants cannot reach the seat of 

 vitality, or the power of vegetation is insufficient to burst the bands by which the 

 integument confines it. To release it from this encumbrance, the easy process of 

 taking off entirely its outer covering has been performed ; and, after this, the 

 seeds are found to germinate in a very short period. Thus, bv a system so 

 trifling that it is hardly worth recording, a most delightful plant may be per- 

 petuated to any extent, care in detaching the rind of the seed being the only 

 prerequisite. Perhaps, preparatory to divesting it of its skin, a short steeping in 

 lukewarm water will tend to secure the internal part from injury. 



" Without doubt, the plan thus sketched is capable of a similar application to 

 T. penlaphyllum, and other species. We know it to be effectual with T. pere- 

 ginum, which, so treated, may be raised during May in the open ground, 

 wherever it is required as a summer ornament. Indeed, there are no seeds whose 

 size admits of their being thus stripped, and which remain in the ground for a 

 lengthened period without vegetating, that we would not subject to the operation, 

 as it is more simple and efficacious than the employment of any chemical 

 agents," 



