496 Retrospective Criiicisnt. 



bardy will be always limited to the gardens of rich noblemen * Unfortu- 

 nately for the success of my experiment, I was appointed, exactly at that 

 period, to the employment which I now fill ; and I was therefore obliged 

 to give up my trials, which I have never since been able to resume. 



In my attempts to flower and fruit the batata, I intended, first, to 

 prevent as much as possible, or at least to retard, the increase of the 

 tubers ; it being known that, in bulbous or tuberous rooted plants, the 

 developement of the flowers and fruits is in inverse proportion to the 

 developement of the roots: 2dly, to stimulate as much as possible the 

 vegetation ; placing the plants in calcareous and half-burned soil, and ma- 

 nuring them with sea-salt, the grounds of grapes pressed for wine (vinaccie), 

 and dried blood ; knowing, not to mention the effects of the sea-salt, which 

 has been treated of in several Numbers of the Gardener's Magazine, that the 

 sediment of wine, if used in the cultivation of vines, will excite them so 

 much to fructification, that, if the dose be not moderate, in a short time 

 they are weakened; and also that manuring of gillyflowers with it acceler- 

 ates the flowering beyond measure (see Conte Filippo, On Manure, 2d 

 edit. p. 90.) ; and not being ignorant, with respect to dried blood, that its 

 fertilising property is superior to that of the urine, dung, or even the mus- 

 cular flesh of dead animals : 3dly, to graft, after the manner of Tschudy, 

 the buds or young shoots ; remembering that Cabanis (Essais sur les Prin- 

 cipes de la Greffe), by grafting peach trees 2\ months old, obtained fruit 

 from them only 24± months from the time of planting them : 4thly, to keep 

 the plants from the ground, training them against a wall painted violet 

 colour ; the influence of the violet rays being remarkably favourable to 

 vegetation (Vol. IV. p. 451.) : 5thly, to bind them at different heights with 

 bands of wool or other material, to stop the current of the descending sap : 

 6thly, to prune them till they were only about one half or two thirds of 

 their natural length ; for it is by such an operation that, with us, camellias 

 are flowered, and that the Phaseolus Caracdlla L. is made to produce 

 copious flowers and legumes f : 7thly, to deprive the plants of water till 

 the leaves fade, and are almost dry, and then to water them abundantly ; 

 this being the method we take to flower the Alstrcemena Ligtu : and, 8thly, 

 to take the cuttings in autumn, that is, when the shoots or stalks are full 

 grown, since it is a remarkable fact, that plants raised from such cuttings 

 sometimes flower sooner than the mother plant J ; and to treat them, during 

 the winter and the ensuing year, in the same manner as I had previously 

 done the parent plants. By the last means alone it is said that M. Vallet 

 has already obtained flowers from the batata, but not seeds. No doubt you 

 have long since tasted the tubers of the batata ; I have only tasted those 

 of the white variety, which are reckoned inferior to the others ; however, 

 cut in pieces raw, and fried with butter, what a delightful dish it is ! 



Cultivation of the Mulberry Tree, and the Breeding of Silkworms in 



* M. Vallet, nurseryman, of Rouen, preserves the roots of this plant in 

 any substance, provided it be drv, and kept constantly at a temperature 

 between 8° and 12° Reaum. (50" and 59° Fahr.). 



-f- A serious objection to the efficacy of this process might be deduced 

 from the censure of Bosc on the practice of decimating the creeping 

 French beans (see Nouveau Conrs complet d' Agriculture Theoretique et 

 Pratique, art. Haricot); but on this subject permit me to state my justifi- 

 cation, when I hall speak of the cultivation of the Phaseolus Caracdlla in 

 the gardens of Lombardy. 



J The first flower of the Rhododendron arboreum, seen in Lombardy, 

 was observed at Desio, on a plant grown from a cutting. Close by was 

 the parent plant, which had never flowered, nor given any symptom of 

 being likely soon to do so. 



