General Mikes. 303 



three inches long, and dull red sepals and petals, and a cream- 

 colored lip. (Bot. Reg.., May.) 



OXrt'DIUM 

 *strainln:eiim Balcman A stove epiphyte; with straw-colored flowers; a native of Vera 

 Cruz. Bot. Res. Mis. Not. 63. 



"A beautiful stove epiphyte, with pale straw-colored flowers 

 about as large as those of O. flexuosura. [Bot. Reg., IMay.) 

 Ijilidcem. 



ORNITHO'GALUM 

 inoiitanum Giissnue Mountain Ornithogaluin. A green-house or frame bulb ; ciowins 

 about ;i foot iiiL'ii ; with white flowtr> ; apptarintr in April and May ; a native of Sicily ; 

 cultivated in ricli sandy Icam ; increased liy otfsetis. Bot. Rui;. n. s. 23. 



A pretty species of the Ornithogalum, with spreading panicles 

 of greenish-white flowers. It is a common plant in the moun- 

 tainous pastures of Sicily, flowering in April and May. In 

 England it is a hardy bulb, and may prove so in our gardens. It 

 is easily increased by seeds or ofisetts. [Bot. Reg., May.) 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



Art. I. General JSotices. 



Emasculation of the Vine, or a method to produce Grapes without 

 pips. — Some of your readers will possibly feel startled at the above 

 designation, and many will disapprove of a term used in surgery to an 

 operation on the vine, at variance with received opinions on the physi- 

 ology of plants. But, to your more ingenious readers, the experiment 

 will offer a new source of amusement, and perhaps may lead to useful 

 investigation. In Portugal and other places I frequently met with or- 

 ange and lemon trees which produced fruit divested of pips. Upon in- 

 quiring for the cause, no one was a1»lc to enlighten me, further than 

 that the etiect was accidental. And I make no doubt that mere acci- 

 dent, (such as the perforation of the plant, when young, by a worm, or 

 a blow from a spade or hoe, when first planted,) did produce the same 

 effect on those trees which it would have produced upon the vine, if 

 done i)urposely, and with a view to the same result. 



For this iuirenious operation on the vine I was indebted, some 3'eara 

 ago, to a horticulturist of great eminence in Paris. It is as follows: — 



When the sap is rising in March, make a deep incision in the heart 

 of the bearing branch, from whence extract, with a grafting knife, about 

 a quarter of an inch (1 centime, 5 lignes,) of the pith, (moclle,) close 

 under the first bud (na-ud,) at the stem, (souche.) The wound is then 

 to be bound up with worsted, like a graft. This may be removed at 

 the end of three weeks. 



If the operation be performed with care, after some experience, the 

 result will be the production of grapes without pips. {Hort. Jour.) 



Ncio method of applying Sulphur to plants, in a liquid form. — The 



