t>56 Method of making Bass for binding Plants, 



good plants of Clethra arborea and Datura arborea in the con- 

 servatory, nearly 16 ft. high ; also .Ficus elastica and prostrata, 

 ikfyrtus pimentoides, &c. Mr. Wiggins seems very successfid 

 in his management of .Elichrysum ; having a number of fine 

 plants, he seldom fails in striking every cutting put in. His 

 method is simply this : — Having selected the young shoots, 

 which he slips off the stem or branch of the mother plant, he 

 inserts them into a pot which has been previously filled to the 

 brim with a mixture of sand and good heath mould, in the pro- 

 portion of two thirds of sand to one third of heath mould, at 

 the same time putting plenty of drainage into them. He then 

 places the pot in the front of any of his houses where a mode- 

 rate heat is kept up, watering rather sparingly. The knife 

 is not used, nor are they covered with a glass. This method 

 is applicable to many plants that are tenacious of damp. 



William Saunders. 



Art. IV. Historical Account of a Method of making Bass for bind- 

 ing Plants, fyc. By M. P. Lindegaard. Translated from the 

 Danish by M. Jens P. Petersen, of the Royal Gardens at 

 Rosenburgh, Copenhagen. 



Accidents sometimes will occur during the lives of men, 

 which are often the causes of the discovery of many useful, and 

 even important inventions. Some years ago I cut the branches 

 of several lime trees (Zilia europae'a) growing along the mar- 

 gin of a narrow piece of water, into which parts of these 

 branches fell. Shortly afterwards the frost happened to set in, 

 and the branches remained in the water below the ice till the 

 spring following, when the ditch or piece of water was cleaned, 

 and the branches taken up and thrown on a heap along with 

 some other faggots or spray. Some time after this, when the 

 weather had become milder, I passed by this heap, and ob- 

 served the bass to separate easily from the alburnum ; and as 

 I could draw it off in long strips, and found it very strong, I 

 concluded it would answer the same purpose as bass of Rus- 

 sian mats, and be tougher when properly prepared. This 

 happened during the time of war, when trade and navigation 

 languished, and consequently bass, as well as every thing else, 

 was at a high price. I took advantage of this opportunity ; 

 and whenever I had cut the lateral branches of lime trees, 

 all the smooth branches were collected, and, in the beginning 

 of the ensuing April, put into a ditch or piece of water, and 

 something weighty put over them to keep them below the sur- 



