200 Notices— Switzerland and Italy. 



more rapidly, and that the tender shoots so produced, make a delicate 

 and high-flavoured pot-herb, resembling the points of the shoots of 

 pompion. 



It is certain the nettle is much valued in Holland, where its young 

 shoots are used as a pot-herb ; its roots for dying yellow ; where the horse- 

 dealers give the seeds. to horses, to make them brisk and give them a fine 

 skin ; and where considerable portions of fields are planted with it, and 

 mown five or six times a year, as green food. 



Tfie Acorn, in forest districts, in Saxony, is successfully used to fatten sheep 

 during the winter. (Bav. Journ. 1 825.) 



Distinguishing Fruit Trees by their Blossoms. An interesting paper on 

 this subject will be found in the memoirs of the Pomological Society of 

 Altenburg, vol. 1., for 1821., by M. Waitz. The characters, on which he 

 founds his distinctions are : 1 . The style ; its being parted more or less deeply, 

 smooth or velvet-like, longer or shorter than the stamens, &c. : 2. The 

 petals; being open or shut, near or distant, &c. : 3. In their colour : 4. In 

 the time of flowering. 



Grafting Pears on Apples. Various examples of success are given of 

 this operation by M. Hempel ; and also of grafting apples on pears, though 

 the last practice is not so successful and the plants do not last long. (Mem. 

 Soc. Pom. d'Altenb. Vol. 1.) 



Borage as manure. A writer in a Bavarian Weekly Journal, recommends 

 sowing this plant, and when it is full grown ploughing it down. The good 

 effects of Borage as a green manure, he has proved by long experience. 

 What renders it preferable to most other plants, for this purpose is the 

 great quantity of soda and other salts which it contains. It may be 

 sown in April and ploughed down in August, in time to be followed by wheat. 



Water Cress. About eighteen years ago the culture of this plant was 

 commenced in the neighbourhood of London ; a few years afterwards it 

 was begun near Paris, and it seems it has lately been successfully engaged 

 in, in the neighbourhood of Erfurth, in Bavaria. Such is the influence of 

 the example of England ; which ought to teach us to set none, either in 

 matters of taste or utility, that will not reflect honour on the country. The 

 magic word London, is a passport to every fashion. In consequence of 

 the establishment of the Horticultural Society there, by Sir Joseph Banks, 

 and a few individuals, in 1808, similar societies have now sprung up in every 

 part of the world. In 1819 a paper appeared in the Horticultural Society's 

 Transactions on the culture of water-cress in the neighbourhood of London; 

 since which this plant has become a fashionable salad, not only throughout 

 Britain, but in France and Germany. 



SWITZERLAND. 



The Haymaking Machine, (Encyc. of Ag. § 2597.) has been introduced 

 into Switzerland, and employed to ted meadow hay with perfect success. 

 (Bullet. d'Agric. de Geneve, 2 Ann.) 



New Zealand Spinage. Tetragonia expansa. This plant has been 

 cultivated in the neighbourhood of Lausanne, and is valued, as in England, 

 for its abundant produce during the hottest of the summer months. 



ITALY. 



Pomona Italiana. A work under this title by George Gallesio was com- 

 menced in 1817. The author is known by his treatise on the Genus Citrus, 

 and is considered by some as the Duhamel of Italy. On this work he has 

 been employed eight years, and has spared no pains to describe exactly the 

 best varieties of fruits cultivated in Italy, adding the synonimes of their 

 names, and their peculiar culture. Fourteen numbers of this work, in quarto, 

 had appeared in January 1825; and twenty-six more will complete the 

 work. 



