Inoculation of the Rose on the Orange. 589 



penetrate to the heart of logs of wood 1 ft. or more in thickness, whether 

 of beech or fir ; and that, at all events, Kyanised wood is not injurious either 

 to plants or animals, as far as he has experienced. On the other hand, he is 

 doubtful whether Kyanising will prove an effectual preservative of canvass. 

 A large tent, the canvass of which had been Kyanised, was put up at Syon ; 

 and, after heavy rains, it was found that the matter washed from it into the 

 earth killed the worms, which came up to the surface in the same manner as 

 they do when the ground is watered with lime water, and died there. These 

 worms were eaten by the birds, which also died ; so that, to prevent this, the 

 worms were collected and buried. Notwithstanding this injury to the worms 

 and the birds, the grass sprang up with apparently greater vigour than ever. 

 Mr. Parsons has Kyanised skins of animals, legs, hoofs, and other parts; and, 

 after they have been hung up in the open air for several years, he has observed 

 no symptoms of decay. In the pineries at Syon we had an opportunity of 

 examining Kyanised cucumber boxes, and boxes which were not Kyanised, 

 both covered with several coats of paint ; and we found the latter, when struck 

 with a piece of iron, to sound as if they were quite hollow from decay, while 

 the former sounded as if they were quite solid. It must be borne in mind, 

 that the circumstance of these boxes not injuring the plants may be owing to 

 the boards being planed over as already mentioned. All the orange tubs and 

 other plant boxes at Syon, both for the green-houses and stoves, have been 

 Kyanised for several years past, and continue to be so. 



Mr. M'Nab, jun., of the Experimental Garden, Edinburgh, has tried Ky- 

 anising for plant boxes, and finds that the wood rots more rapidly than when 

 not Kyanised. At least this is the impression made on our minds by a short 

 hurried conversation which we had the pleasure of having with Mr. M'Nab 

 in London in September last ; but the subject is of so much importance that 

 we trust, when he returns home, he will favour us with his experience on the 

 subject for publication. 



Jedediah Strutt, Esq., of Belper, apprehends no bad effects whatever from 

 Kyanising. He has tried it in various ways, and he assures us that he has 

 grown plants in Kyanised sawdust, and perceived no difference between them 

 and plants grown in sawdust that was not Kyanised. We wish much that this 

 gentleman and Mr. Paxton would enable us to record their experience on 

 Kyanising. 



Sept. 20. 1839. 



Art. III. On inoculating the Rose on the Orange, and similar Prac* 

 tices; and on Mr. Long's Paper on the Quercus and Fagus of the 

 Ancients. In a Letter to Major Webb from his Brother, P.B.Webb. 



My dear Robert, 

 You tell me you will not believe Mrs. Piozzi's account {Travels in Italy, 

 vol. ii. p. 224., cited in the Gentleman's Magazine, April, 1839, in the article, 

 " Notes on Pinkerton's Literary Correspondence ") of the inoculation of a 

 rose on an orange, a fig tree on a lemon, &c, unless I will back her au- 

 thority. You will be surprised to hear that I am bold enough to undertake 

 this. When at Nice, in 1832-3, my old friend, Professor Risso, took me to 

 see a monstrous " inoculation, " similar to those mentioned by that learned 

 lady, and which, I confess, without seeing and feeling like the incredu- 

 lous St. Thomas, I was loth to believe. However, / did see a cypress, a 

 Catalonian jasmine, an olive, and, I believe, something else, growing sociably 

 together, engrafted on a lemon stock. How this unnatural union was ac- 

 complished I could only have learnt by purchasing the tree at an exorbitant 

 price, and dissecting its trunk. I confess, I shrunk before a demand of 

 2000 francs. The author of the marvel, a common gardener, said that 99 

 out of a 100 of his pseudo-grafts failed. With some hesitation, as he lives 



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