Foreign J\''otlccs. 345 



of hospitals, or wherever invalids are in the habit of walking. — Month- 

 ly Caleridar. 



A permanent Tally for Plants. — The foUowing tally is used in Mel- 

 l)ury gardens, the seat of the Earl of Ilchester, in Dorsetshire. Plates 

 are cut out of sheet lead, two and one-fourth inches long, and three and 

 one-fourth inches broad; and on these the name is stamped, letter by 

 letter, with steel types. The plate of lead is next soldered to one end 

 of a piece of iron wire; after which the tally receives two other coats 

 of dark lead-colored paint; and, lastly, a coat of white paint is put over 

 the lettered side, taking care it does not get into the letters. Before the 

 tally is inserted in the ground, the upper part of the shank is bent a lit- 

 tle to one side, the better to show tiie name to an eye which is near it, 

 and considerably above its level. The lead should be about one-tenth 

 of an inch in thickness, and the iron wire not less than one-eighth of an 

 inch in diameter. The plumber will furnish the lead, cut into plates of 

 the proper size, and he will solder them on after they are stamped to 

 the shanks. The shanks cut into the proper length, and also the steel 

 stamp for stamping the letters, may be procured of the ironmonger, and 

 the letters can be stamped on, and the whole tally painted by the gar- 

 dener, during weather when he cannot work out of doors. To insure 

 correct spelling, the person stamping the names should have a printed 

 catalosrue before him, [perhaps it would be safer to take Loudon's Hor- 

 tus Britannicus for a guide. — Ed.] as the error of a sinijle letter will 

 render the whole of the labor bestowed on the plate quite useless. Tal- 

 lies of this sort will last a life-time; when stuck in the ground they are 

 just conspicuous enough to be read easil}^, and not so much so as to at- 

 tract more attention than the plants against which they are placed; and, 

 from the smallness of the shank, it is neither conspicuous to the eye nor 

 injurious to the roots. — James Eaton. [We can confirm from experi- 

 ence all that is said in favor of stamped tallies, having had several hun- 

 dred of them in use at Bayswater, for the last twelve years. Some, like 

 Mr. Eaton's, with shanks, for plants in a free soil, and others, on strips 

 of sheet lead four inches long, five-eiffhths of an inch broad at one end, 

 and one-eighth of an inch broad at the other, for plants in pots. We 

 have also used what may be called an invisible number for plants in the 

 open air, which is a circular plate of lead, about the size of a waistcoat 

 button, or larger if necessary, on which the number is stamped; and the 

 plate or button is afterward soldered to the end of a piece of one-eighth 

 inch iron wire, so as to resemble the head to a nail. Such a number, 

 stuck in near the crown of an herbaceous j)]ant, will be so concealed by 

 its leaves, as not to be seen till it is sought for; and thus, while it affords 

 the means of ascertaining with certainty the name of a plant when re- 

 quired, it does not intrude that name upon those who already know it, 

 or care little about it. Before being stuck in the ground, the tally should 

 receive two or three coats of lead-colored paint; or the head or leaden 

 part may be painted w ith common paint, and the iron shank with anti- 

 corrosive paint, or heated, and afterwards washed over with gas tar. — 

 {Cond. of Card. Mag.) 



Art. II. Foreign Notices. 

 ENGLAND. 



Forcing Roses. — The West London Gardener's Association for Mu- 

 tual Instruction held a meeting Oct. SOth, 1837, before which an essay 

 VOL. IV. — NO. IX. 44 



