Transactions of the Prussian Gardening Society. 339 



4. On the Use of Camphor in Horticulture. By M. Droste. 



Camphor is dissolved in alcohol until the latter is satu- 

 rated ; the alcohol is then put into soft water, in the propor- 

 tion of two drops to half an ounce. Withered or apparently 

 dead plants, put into this liquid, and allowed to remain there 

 from two to four hours, will revive, if they have not been 

 completely dead before being put in. 



15. On the Propagation of Vines. By M. Fintelmann. 



Cuttings are made from li ft. to 2 ft. in length, and all the 

 buds removed from them except one at the upper extremity. 

 The shoot is then laid in the soil, to the depth of 6 in., the 

 end having the bud being brought up to the surface. A vi- 

 gorous shoot is made in the first year; and in the second year 

 the plants, if not removed, will bear fruit. 



16. On the Preservation of Grapes and Plums. 



At Berlin, grapes are preserved by cutting the bunch when 

 ripe with about 1 ft. of the wood, above and below the foot- 

 stalk. The ends of the wood are dipped in hot pitch, to 

 keep in the moisture, and the bunch is then hung up in a dry 

 place. The Quetch plum is preserved till March by the 

 following method : — Gather them when perfectly ripe and 

 dry ; put them in a glass jar or bottle, closely tied up, and 

 pitched so as to exclude the air, and then bury them in dry 

 soil 7 or 8 ft. deep, so as to be out of the reach of any change 

 in temperature or moisture. When taken out, they must be 

 used immediately. 



18. On shortening the Tap Roots of Trees. By Dr. Schlechtendal. 



The following principles are laid down : — 



1. An injury to any one part of a plant occasions a change, 

 in the natural developement of the other parts. 



2. Roots and stems are always in a certain degree recipro- 

 cally proportionate to each other. 



3. The tap root does not form a part of every plant; but, 

 where it does so, it is an essential part of that plant. 



4. By shortening the tap root, one or other of the follow- 

 ing consequences will result: — tender plants will be more 

 easily destroyed by severe weather; all sorts of plants by dry 

 weather, from their roots not being so deep in the soil ; the 

 wood of the timber trees will be less durable, their trunks 

 shorter, and their heads broader and less high ; and fruit trees 

 will blossom earlier and more abundantly, and their fruit will 

 be larger and better-flavoured. 



5. To transplant trees, without injuring their roots, is difri- 



z 2 



