MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 45 



part in 100, is sufficient ; it should be pulverised and well mixed with the earth 

 iu which a plant is to be repotted. When it is not convenient to repot, the earth 

 may be gently stirred on the surface of the pot one or two inches deep, and the 

 guano pulverised, then mix in; the plants should be kept well watered. Besides 

 Pelargoniums and Roses, 1 have tried it on the Myitaceous family, on Ericas, 

 Fuchsias, and Camellias ; its effects on these are equally surprising. I have 

 been also trying experiments on various plants with nitrate of soda ; in every 

 case I placed two plants, of the same species and of nearly the same size, close 

 together; one of them was watered three times a week with a very weak solu- 

 tion of this salt, the other was under the usual management. The effect of the 

 nitrate of soda has now become very evident, the plants watered with it are 

 larger and earlier in bloom than the others ; it appears, however, to me, probable 

 that these effects will be rather evanescent, and the plants will always require 

 this stimulant. I observe in the English publications that this constant necessity 

 for the stimulant is urged against all these new manures, but surely there is no 

 strength in this argument. All manures become exhausted, and the farmer has 

 always to apply the stimulant of his manure-heap to make his land bear. From 

 some experiments I have made, I think that guano will prove a manure of much 

 greater permanence than any that is now in use, particularly in soils deficient in 

 phosphate of lime. — Hovey's Magazine of Horticulture. 



On Yeast as a Manuue. — Having seen the most surprising effects from refuse 

 barm or veast, diluted with water, and distributed over grass lands, I am induced 

 to call the attention of some of your correspondents more particularly to its use, 

 where it cau be readily obtained, as it seems to be the most powerful manure we 

 have for new grass lands, applied early in the spring; and for plants generally 

 requiring a rich compost it is highly Leneficia 1 , given in a very diluted state. 

 Composts for Roses, Geraniums, Dahlias, &c, are greatly improved by the 

 addition of a small quantity of putrid yeast in a fluid state. It acts as a 

 powerful exciter to the whole mass of vegetable matter ; the results arising from 

 the fermentation and decomposition of which, and their effects iu stimulating 

 vegetation, are well known. H. B. 



On Tussii.ago vkagrans. — I do not know auy border plant that is a greater 

 favourite with the ladies than the beautiful heliotrope scented flower of Tussilago 

 fragrans, either growing in pots or as a cut flower ; and to insure a regular or 

 ample supply of flowering plants, it is only requisite to prepare a steep bank 

 facing the south, and stuping to an angle of about 45 degrees ; about the middle 

 of June fill it with plants six inches apart, and cover the surface of the bank 

 with at least six inches of ordinary garden mould. No further attention is 

 necessary till the end of October, when it will be observed that almost every 

 flower has formed a bold swelling flower-bud, from which a sufficient supply 

 either for the greenhouse or the market, may be potted off. By keeping part 

 in a cold frame, a succession may be retarded, and thus a supply obtained till 

 the end of March, when the season will furnish an ample stock of other flower- 

 ing plants to take its place. The plantation made in June ■will continue to 

 furnish plenty of flowering plants the second year after planting, but should be 

 afterwards renewed, as the flowering plants become weaker aud far fewer in 

 number after the soil is exhausted by bearing a succession of the same sort of 

 crop. A few leaves thrown over the bank will protect many of the flowers in 

 ordinary winters, aud retard their flowering till the beginning of spring. 



GbsnrBA Zebrina. — Iu order to have the Gesnera Zebrina bloom in a dwarf 

 state, the ends of lateral shoots being cut off as soon as they appear to have 

 formed flower buds, inserted in sandy loam, and placed in moist heat, soon strike 

 root, and then bloom nearly as fine as if allowed to remain on the parent plant, 

 but in a very dwarf and compact state. I have^a number of such struck plants 



