0)1 the Excels of Chmxoal on Vegetation. 307 



winter. In the beffinnins: of November, when the bed was 

 cleared out, both bulbs had produced large leaves 3 m. long, 

 and showed evident proofs of flowering. They were put in pots 

 in pure charcoal, and as early as the middle of November per- 

 fectly formed flowers appeared. There is no doubt, therefore, 

 that for other early forcing bulbs this method would also be 

 successful. In the same bed there was planted amongst others 

 a fully grown scorzonera, which had been pulled up from a 

 bed, and had lost part of its spindle-shaped root ; it grew very 

 well, and flowered. 



Late in October, cuttings from very young shoots with flower- 

 buds were made from some fine dahlias, nine tenths of which 

 rooted in a short time. They wei-e put in charcoal in large 

 seed pans ; at the bottom of the pans under the charcoal was one 

 third leaf mould. 



Some trees, such as Prunus Padus, Cytisus ivaburnum, Fraxi- 

 nus excelsior, i?6sa centifolia, were, at the suggestion of Dr. 

 Zuccarini, who has always encouraged me in my experiments, 

 and taken the liveliest interest in them, taken up in their first 

 growth, almost all their absorbing roots cut off, and planted in 

 holes filled with charcoal. For some weeks they were quite 

 fresh, then the ashes and bird-cherries began to languisli, and 

 the greater part of the leaves fell off; in the mean time the 

 second growth began, but somewhat later, and not so strong ; 

 the Cytisus and the roses, on the contrary, continued to grow 

 well. 



I enclosed in a box, filled with half peat-mould and half 

 charcoal, some plants of Z)aphne striata and D. Cneorum, which 

 I had brought from the Alps, to prepare for sending them off 

 afterwards. I succeeded in my object ; these plants, which are 

 apt to have their roots injured by the most careful taking up, 

 and hence very seldom thrive with the usual method of cultiva- 

 tion and the mould used, had in a few weeks made new roots, 

 and began again to grow. This treatment should always be 

 applied to plants like these which are difficult to root. As a 

 mixture, I have always used charcoal ashes successfully for all 

 sorts of plants, and also seen it used in several other gardens ; 

 for example, for camellias, ericas, roses, pelargoniums, carna- 

 tions, dahlias, palms, ferns, &c. ; and I think that this use of it 

 will become more general in districts where clay or chalk pre- 

 dominates, and where the mould used for growing plants is more 

 compact than in sandy districts, and hence charcoal, as a means 

 of producing porosity, must have a very favourable effect on the 

 plants. 



To prove if any difference existed with respect to the efficacy 

 of the charcoal of different sorts of wood, the garden inspector, 

 M. Seitz, had charcoal made from eight sorts of trees, viz. oaks, 



X 3 



