I20 Notes and Gleanings. 



The War and the French Nurseries. — A correspondent has kindly- 

 favored us with a Post Card, written by a German serving with his regiment 

 near Paris, and giving an account of the condition of some of the nurseries near 

 that city. We see that our agricultural friends are devising means to assist their 

 French brethren with seeds, etc. ; and it will become a question whether our 

 nurserymen may not at the proper time follow so good an example, and transmit 

 grafts, or what not, in aid of their distressed colleagues : — 



" Chatenay, December 4, 1S70. 



" On my return last night from an excursion to Versailles, Palaiseau, Long- 

 jumeau, and Corbeil, which occupied three days, I found your favor of the 27th 

 ult., and hasten to give you the information desired. I am sorry I have but sad 

 news about the estabhshments ; they are all deserted, and the magnificent col- 

 lections are perishing. In detail I can only report of the establishments of 

 MM. Croux and Durand fils ; the others near Bagneux, Chatillon, and Bourg- 

 la-Reine we only passed several times at night, when marching to the batteries 

 in course of erection, for the staying there during the daytime is not very agree- 

 able on account of the shells from Vanvres, Montrouge, and BicGtre. M. Croux's 

 principal establishment at Chatenay is the quarters of the staff of the Bavarian 

 Artillery ; the large Palm-house, sixty to eighty feet long, is occupied by the horses, 

 the flower-tubs being made use of for cribs ; the magnificent Conifers, — Wel- 

 lingtonias, Pinus Pinsapo, &c., — of which we found numbers of fine specimens, 

 have all been cut down to form a fence along the road to Fontenay-aux Roses, 

 to prevent the French from having a loolc into our batteries from their forts, 

 But the most sad sight is offered by the Jardin pour les etudes pomologiques, 

 belonging to M. Croux, and situated near Aulnay. The beautifully trained fruit 

 trees, after having been much broken by the pulling out of the wires, which were 

 used for making gabions, are now completely eaten down by the two thousand 

 sheep and eighty to one hundred cows shut up in the garden. Nor have the 

 nurseries in the open field been spared ; the stems of the young trees had to 

 serve as stakes for gabions, while the branches were used for fagots. A similar 

 sad sight is afforded at the branch establishment of M. Durand fils, near Cla- 

 mart ; the green-houses being, to a great extent, demolished by shot coming 

 down here as thick as hail, and the plants they contain are dried up or frozen, 

 for we had — 6° R. = i8° F. the day before yesterday, and yesterday morning a 

 considerable fall of snow. It will be about the same with the other establish- 

 ments not visited by me, and it may be taken for granted that the losses of 

 these people are beyond replacement, and will bring many of them to the grave." 



Ga7'de7ier's Chronicle. 



Destroying Insects. — A solution recommended by M. Cloez, of the Jardin 

 du Museum, Paris, for destroying plant-lice and other insects, is made as fol- 

 lows : Three and one half ounces quassia chips, and five drachms stavesacre 

 seeds, in powder, are placed in seven pints of water, and boiled down to five 

 pints. When cooled, the strained liquid is ready for use, and may be applied 

 either by a watering-pot or syringe. Florist attd Pomologist. 



