34 



FAI^MERS' REGISTER— TO DESTROY VERMIN OxN PLANTS, &c. 



JARDIN DES PLAiVTKS. 



The Jardin des Pla ite^-, at Paris, dates its 

 origin trom tlie beginning of the seventeentli 

 century; but, as a scliool oC botany and vegetable 

 culture, was made what it is by the late Prof. 

 Thouin, during the first years of the cqnsulshij). 

 Speaking with reference only to what concerns 

 plants and their culture, this garden isiniquestion- 

 ably the first establishment of the kind in Euro}je. 

 We have in Britain several botanic gardens, but 

 none maintained for the same objects as tliat of 

 Paris. These objects are two: first, to collect use- 

 ful or remarkable plants from every part of the 

 world, and to distribute them to every pa,rt of 

 France, and, as far as practicable, to every other 

 country; and secondly, to form a perpetual school 

 of botany and vegetable culture. Plants are 

 brought to the Paris garden from all countries, by 

 a uni'versal correspondence, by particular natura- 

 lists sent out at the expense of the nation, and by 

 the general protection and favor of government to 

 the objects of science and the pursuits of scientific 

 men. Objects of natural history destined for the 

 Paris garden, in whatever description of vessels 

 they may arrive in a French port, pay no entrance 

 duty, and they are mostly forwarded by govern- 

 ment conveyances to Paris free of expense. Every 

 warlike, exploring, or commercial expedition is 

 eccompar;i;'d by naturalists officially appointed or 

 voluntarily admitted, to whon\ every facility is 

 afforded in the objects of their pursr"". Plants 

 received in the Paris garden are propagated with- 

 out loss of time, and distributed in the first place, 

 to all the botanic gardens of France, of which 

 there is at least oneln the capital of every depart- 

 ment; next, seeds or plants are sent to such of the 

 colonies as it is supposed may profit most fi-om 

 them; and, lastly, they are sent to foreign con-es- 

 pondents, in proportion to similar favors received, 

 or returns expected. The departmental botanic 

 gardens propagate with all rapidity the plants re- 

 ceived from the central garden, and distribute them 

 among the eminent proprietors and cultivators of 

 the department. This, at all events, is remarka- 

 bly good in tlieory. Botany is taught by the lec- 

 tures, demonstrations, and herborisations of a pro- 

 fessor., and illustrated by an exemplification of 124 

 orders of the Jussieuean system in living plants. 

 A considerable number of these plants are neces- 

 earily exotic, and kept under glass during winter; 

 but, in May, bcf jre the demonstrations begin, they 

 are brought out in the pots, and sunk in the earfh 

 in their proper places in the systematic arrange- 

 ment, with their names and the names of the 

 orders to which they belong placed beside Ihem. 

 The cultivation of vegetables, and all the diflerent 

 operations of agriculture and gardening, are taught 

 by another professor, with assistants, and exem- 

 plified by different compartments in the gcu'den. 

 For instance, there is one compartment in which 

 all the different operations on plants and on the 

 soil are exemplified, from the diflerent modes of 

 preparing the soil for sowing or ])lanting, through 

 all the species and varieties of propagation, train- 

 ing, and pruning, even to hedge-growing and 

 fence-making; another compartmeilt contains all 

 the plants of field culture; another all the medicinal 

 plants; another all the principal timber trees; ano- 

 ther, as far as practicable, all the fruit trees. 

 Specimen^ of the different im[)lements are kept in 



one building, and of the principal soils, manures* 

 and composts in an appropriate enclosure; and so 

 on. The essence of the lectures, accompanied by 

 figures of such of the implements and operations 

 as admit of representation by lines^ will be (bund 

 in Tiunda's Cours de Culture et dc Naiuralisation 

 dcs Fegetaux, by Oscar Leclerc, three vols. 8vo., 

 with one quarto volume of plates; and a complete 

 description of the garden is given in the well 

 known work of Royer. — Gard. (Eng.) Ilag. 



TO DESTROY VERMIN OlS PJ.ANTS. 



Ty a coirespondent of tlie Gardeners' Magazine. 



In all the recipes for destroying j^cari which I 

 have seen, sulphur is an ingredient; this, in its 

 crude state, will not unite with the liriuids used for 

 that pm'pose, and therefore it can have little or no 

 effect, except when applied as a wash on the 

 heated flues of a house. In order to make it unite 

 with soap suds, tobacco water, and other liquids 

 usually made use of lor destroying insects, it must 

 be converted into a sulphuret, by boiling it with 

 lime or an alkaline salt, as in the following mixture, 

 which expeditiously and efiectually destroys the 

 red spider, by merely immersing the plant, or part 

 inf(?sted, in the mixture: — Common sofi soap half 

 an ounce, sulphuret of lime* one ounce by measure 

 (or two table spoonfuls,) soft water (hot) one ale 

 quart. The soap and sulphuret to be first well 

 mixed with an iron or wooden spoon, in the same 

 manner as a mixture of egg and oil is made for a 

 salad; the hot water is then to be added by degrees, 

 stirring the mixture well with a painter's brush, as 

 in making a lather, by which means a uniform 

 fluid will be obtained, like whey, without any sedi- 

 ment, wiiich may be used as soon as it is cool 

 enough to bear the hand in it. This mixture will 

 destroy every insect usually found in the green- 

 house, by mere immersion, except the Coccus, or 

 scaly insect, which adheres so closely to the stem, 

 or under side of the leaf, llia.t the mixture cannot 

 reach its vulnerable parts; therefore, in this case, 

 the mixture must be applied with a brush that will 

 dislodge the insect. If the mixture be put into a 

 wooden bowl, or any other shallow vessel, small 

 plants in pots, and the leaves and branches of 

 larger ones, and of fruit trees, may be easily im- 

 mersed in it by pressing them down with the hand. 

 The above mixture will not destroy the black 

 Aphides of the cherrj'- tree, nor the green Aphides 

 of the plum tree, by immersing the lea^'es and 

 branches in it; there being an oiliness on these inr 

 sects which prevents its adhering to them. It will 

 destroy them by applying it with a brush: but this 

 is too tedious a process. It has been recommend- 

 ed, by writers on horticulture, to wash these and 

 other fruit trees agninst walls, before the leaves 

 and buds appear, Avhh mixtures which cannot be 

 safely applied after; lor which puqiose the above 



*The.sulpliuret of liine is easily made in the follow- 

 ing manner: — Take of flonr of sulplinr one ounce; 

 fresh lime, finely sifted, two ounces; soft water a qnart, 

 boil the mixture in an iron vessel about a quarter of an 

 hour, frequently stirring it after it begins to boil; let it 

 stand to settle, and pour ofl' the clear liquor. If it is 

 not used on the same day, it must be put into a bottle 

 filled with it, and be well corked; for, if it be exposed 

 to tlie air, it will soon attract oxygen, and will then 

 curdle tlie soap, and smear the plants with a \\ liite sub- 

 stance, which is not easih- washed off. 



