Miscellanies. 183 



sulphate of potash, and of carbonate of lime than he ever had found 

 in it, in its natural state, and that the action of an electric current 

 augmented the quantity of sulphate of potash one third more still, but 

 in concluding from this, that the sulphate of lime ought to be employ- 

 ed dissolved and not in a solid state, he appears not to have had in 

 view merely, the introduction of the material into the plant — where 

 it is not altogether certain that it contributes to its organic develope- 

 ment. This procedure, it seems, in the mean time withdraws the ag- 

 riculturalists from a practice, whose advantages are established, with- 

 out sufficiently considering that the farmer enters into the same views 

 in not using the plaster in a solid state, except in weather which is 

 not rainy, but cloudy and moist, which causes the slow and gradual 

 dissolution of it, to the benefit of all the parts of the vegetable, with- 

 out excepting the roots. All this appears to merit attention. It is 

 impossible to discover too much ardor in observing, or too much cau- 

 tion informing conclusions. S. B. 



Ann. de VInstitut royal horticole de Fromont. 



3. Memoir upon valuable kinds of fruit trees, and their propaga- 

 tion from seed. — In pursuing my researches upon the French Flora 

 and Pomona, I have been led to make a new observation, and one 

 which is contrary to all the received opinions of the last two thou- 

 sand years, relative to the seeds of valuable fruits, such as pears, ap- 

 ples, plums, &c. M. Sageret, our associate, sowed about fifteen 

 years since in his garden, in the street Folie Mericourt, a very great 

 number of seeds of the best fruits. The young trees proceeding from 

 their seeds, were put into a nursery. Four years after, he quitted 

 his garden, and went to live in Montreuil street, No. 141, where he 

 at present resides. His young fruit trees were taken up, and trans- 

 planted to his new garden, in Montreuil street, some of them having 

 been twice transplanted. After two or three years, many pears, 

 plums, &,c, proceeding from these seeds, yielded fruit, and many 

 among them good fruit : without being perfectly similar to the spe- 

 cies from which they came, they often have some qualities which ap- 

 proximate to them. Having always heard it said that the best fruits 

 propagated by their seeds degenerate, and that almost always acid 

 and unpalatable fruits are the consequence, I wished to know the ori- 

 gin, or rather the experiments, which constitute the foundation of this 

 opinion ; 1 have read in consequence, and consulted a great number 

 of works, and especially those of the most celebrated authors ; but I 



