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PART III. 

 MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



Art. I. Foreign Notices. 



FRANCE. 



The Botanic Garden of Perpignan is of little consequence, but there 

 are, nevertheless, several scarce plants in it, habituated to the open air. 

 (Sblanum bonariense and ^chinos Molle were in the utmost luxuriance ; 

 there was also a fine tree of Stillingia sebifera. The lecturer here has 

 200 fr. (about 18/. sterling) per annum, with 200 more to pay the incidental 

 expenses of the establishment, as utensils, flower-pots, new plants, &c. The 

 head gardener is better off: he has 400/r. for the garden, and 700 for 

 taking care of the pepiniere, or nursery, with which, however, he has to pay 

 his assistants. (Arnott, in Jam. Jour., June, 1827.) 



Syntherisma. — A grass of this name, a native of Carolina, and described 

 by Walter in his Flora of that country, is recommended by M. Bosc, in 

 the Annates de V Agricidture Francaise (torn, xxxvi. p. 212.), as very suitable 

 for culture in the poor soils of the South of France. It is said to resemble 

 the Panicum sanguinale, to grow rapidly, very high, spreading, bushy, and 

 rooting at the joints like the Fiorin. It may be cut for hay or soiling three 

 times a year. It has been introduced in the neighbourhood of Bourdeaux, 

 from whence, or from M. Vilmorin of Paris, seeds may be obtained. {Bui. 

 Un., April, 1827.) 



Method of destroying Moles in Meadows or Gardens. — Collect earth- 

 worms, kill them, and mix them up with the powder of nux vomica. 

 After the mixture has remained in a heap twenty-four hours, take the 

 worms, and place one or two here and there in the routes and holes of the 

 moles. The desired effect is said to be a certain result. ( Bui. Un.) 



Whip-grafting, in France, has the more elegant appellation of (grafting 

 en bee de flute, mouth-piece of the flute,) flute-grafting. 



Metamorphosis of Male and Female Plants. — Some curious experiments 

 have been made on this subject by Drs. Autenrieth and Maux, of Tubingen. 

 The difference between a male and female plant may be distinguished even 

 in the seed, for example, in that of the common hemp; the round and 

 elliptical seeds of which produce in general female plants ; the oblong seeds, 

 on the contrary, which have a thin edge projecting from the side of the 

 radicle, produce male plants. The male seeds are also heavier, and they 

 have the radicle longer than the female seeds. The radicle of the male 

 plant developes itself sooner, as the males also come sooner into flower, 

 and flower more abundantly, than the females. The stalks and the leaves of 

 the male plants are commonly longer and thinner, and their flowers more 

 exposed, than those of the females. 



Notwithstanding these very essential differences, experience has proved 

 that the male seeds, or those which are the more heavy, produce female 

 plants, and the female seeds form male plants, if external circumstances are 



