Mr. T. C. Ey ton's Notes on Birds. 177 



enblatte des Neuesten und Wissenswurdigsten fiir Landwirth- 

 schaft,' etc., 1839, No. 41, my attention was drawn to an ar- 

 ticle in M. Riecke's Journal, on "Twofold Ennobling" of 

 fruit-trees. Under this name is understood the ennobling 

 of stems or twigs which have been produced from already 

 ennobled stocks, by which means the excellence of the fruit 

 is said to be greatly increased. 



TrefFz is said to have made known several instances of this 

 "twofold ennobling" in the * Taschenbuch fiir Natur- und 

 Gartenfreunde' for 1803, from which it appeared that apple- 

 trees which had been twice ennobled wei'e distinguished from 

 trees of the same kind by the excellence of their fi-uit. Cur- 

 rants and gooseberries gave excellent fruit after the first, but 

 more especially after the third and fourth ennobling. More 

 striking is the effect of such an ennobling in the case of the 

 apricot and quince : the apricot, which has a dry flesh, was 

 planted on a green Reineclaude ; the quince, which in its raw 

 state is not eatable, was put on an excellent autumnal bergamot 

 pear. Treffz relates of the apricot, that the branch, on account 

 of its excessive luxuriance, only bore fruit in the fifth year; 

 but one as juicy as the Reineclaude, of a more reddish yellow- 

 colour and more delicate taste. The quince bore fruit in the 

 third year, which became ripe in the beginning of September, 

 and whose flesh, even in this first double ennobling, was much 

 more tender, and free from hard parts. 



I hereby bring this subject forward, and hope that more ex- 

 periments may be instituted, and that those that have been 

 already made may become more generally known. The above 

 observations do not prove the usefulness of the double en- 

 nobling, but appear to prove that the nature of the graft is 

 changed by the subject ; for bad fruits were grafted on good 

 ones (which is not generally the case), and better fruit was 

 obtained. 



[To be continued.] 



XXll.— Notes on Birds. By T. C. Eyton, Esq., F.L.S., &c. 



No. 2. 

 Bizeura lobata, Shaw. 



Integuments very thick and strong. Tongue large, broacj and 

 thick, with an appendage at the tip, such as is generally found in 

 Ducks ; a deep groove down the centre, and two others placed so 

 that their points meet towards the tijj, and diverge as they continue 

 backwards, forming a che\Ton ; a lunate groove placed transversely 

 near the middle of the tongue ; the horns turned backwards. The 

 Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Vol. vii. N 



