44 



Ne'w Systevi of labelling Plants 



thickness, which is covered on both sides with a coat of hard 



white enamel, on which latter the letters are also enamelled. 



The situation of the copper plate, in the cast-iron rim, is 



seen by the section, /^. 10. a. The mode of casting the 



former in the latter is perfectly simple. 



When taken out of the moulding sand, 



the copper will be found having a slight 



curvature, which is to be removed by 



a few blows of a hammer. 



The contraction of the rim in cool- 



ino- is the cause of this, and has the 



» 1 I 



advantage ol completely preventmg 



their being stolen, to sell as old cop- 

 per; for the latter is held so tight that 

 nothing but breaking the iron rim into 

 small fragments can possibly detach 

 it, and, together, they are unsaleable. 

 The hard white enamel is next to 

 be applied, on both sides of the copper, 

 and fused ; an operation familiar to every 

 clock-dial maker ; after which the letters are to be painted in 

 enamel colours, and burnt in. The final operation is then to 

 cover the iron rim and prong with a varnish, to prevent rust. 

 An easily attainable and perfectly efficacious one is to be found 

 in a mixture of gromid black lead with the residuum which 

 is drawn out of the retorts used in the manufacture of oil gas. 

 It is a black, solid, shining asphaltum, fusible at about 300° 

 Fahr., and resisting, when applied with the black lead in 

 sufficient quantity to give it a body, all vicissitudes of seasons. 

 To apply it, the labels are to be heated slowly in an oven, 

 or hot sand, to about 200° Fahr., and the varnish, being pre- 

 viously melted in a fit vessel, is to be applied with a hiird 

 brush. 



So much for the material of the label : now for what it 

 bears. It is obvious that the more information can be con- 

 veyed by a label, consistent with due simplicity, the better. All 

 that is generally useful, however, and that is not evident by 

 the locality of the plant in the general arrangement of the 

 garden, may, 1 think, be comprised as follows ; viz., — 1. The 

 place in the Linnaean system ; 2. The place in the Jussieuean 

 system; 3. The genus and species; 4. The habitat, and year 

 of introduction, if an exotic; or the habitat, and year of dis- 

 covery, if a native; 5. The month of flowering; 6. The 

 colour of the flower; 7. The number in the catalogue of the 

 garden. On the principal face of the label are enamelled the 

 places of the plant in the Linnaean and Jussieuean systems, 



