General Notices. 177 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



Art. I. General JVotices. 



New Mode of Preserving, or Transmitting to a Distance, Cut- 

 tings OF Plants. — Various methods have been tried whereby cuttings of 

 tender plants may be safely conveyed to a distance, all of which arc, in 

 some respect or other, defective. A most ingenious and effective method 

 was shown to us the other day by Mr. Daniel, gardener to the Baron Ilugal, 

 of Vienna, who is, at present, travelling in this country, collecting animals 

 and plants for the young Emperor of Austria. We may also remark, that 

 Mr. Daniel is a native of Holland, a most enthusiastic gardener and botanist, 

 has made several tours to tliis country, as well as having visited most of the 

 best collections in Europe. 



He carries with him several cylinder-shaped glass bottles, with wide 

 moutlis and glass stoppers, similar to those used in chemists' shops for hold- 

 ing medicine ; into these he throws his cuttings, just as they are taken from 

 the plant, without any particular arrangement or order ; a very little w^ater is 

 placed in the bottle, and when filled with cuttings, the stopper is hermeti- 

 cally sealed up. In this way he has been collecting for several weeks, and 

 those he had from both Mr. M'Nab and ourselves, although tliey will not 

 reach Vienna for probably a month or six weeks, he is satisfied they will 

 arrive in safety, and grow. He stated to us, that cuttings kept in similar 

 bottles, for fifteen weeks, had grown most freely, and that many instances 

 had occurred, where they had sent out roots during their journey, and were 

 immediately potted on their arrival at Vienna. So simple and efficacious a 

 mode of sending cuttings deserves to be brought before the notice of culti- 

 vators, tlie rationale of which will be readily comprehended by such as have 

 studied tlie principle of the Wardian case. To prevent accident in transit 

 these glasses may be packed within small wooden cases, for siiort journeys, 

 but as light may have something to do in the matter, when sent to a great 

 distance, arrangements might be easily made by which they could be placed 

 within its influence. 



Specimen heaths of the rarer, and more difficult sorts to grow, are wrought 

 by Mr. Daniel upon tlie stronger growing khids, such as melanthera, arbo- 

 rea, &c. ; on these the tricolors, Massoni, elegans, &c., are grafted, and 

 some attain a very large size ; nor does it appear, from Mr. Daniel's ex- 

 perience, that they are afterwards short-lived. He was much struck witli 

 many of the plants in the Edinburgh Botanical Garden, and pronounced 

 several of them as unrivalled in Europe. Nor was he less gratified in having 

 an opportunity of seeing Mr. M'Nab's most judicious method of shifting 

 large plants, it so happening that the splendid plant, Cocos nucifora, was 

 undergoing that operation during the time he was in the garden.( — Jour, of 

 Hort., 1850, p. 153.) 



Select Flower and Kitchen-Garden Seeds. — As cultivators of gar- 

 dens are now making tlieir purchases of seeds for tlie season, perhaps it v.-ill 



VOL. XVI. NO, IV. 23 



