280 General Notices. 



director of the Anti-Dry-Rot Company and Mr. Kyan came down to see and 

 test the timber ; and, on their return, sent down from the Company's yard at 

 Limehouse eight pieces, prepared and unprepared, to be plunged in the same 

 stove. The results have been the same as on the first trial ; and the different 

 kinds of prepared timber have decayed quite as fast as the unprepared. Good 

 Baltic deal unprepared lasted longer than the best kyanised oak, owing, no 

 doubt, to the resinous quality of the wood. We have tried kyanised timber 

 in the mushroom shelves, and I am decidedly of opinion that it is prejudicial 

 to their growth. In 1837, we tried, in the bottom of mushroom beds I-inch 

 Scotch fir deals, saturated in copperas and limewater ; it had the effect of pre- 

 serving the timber for two years ; in the same place, when not saturated, it 

 never lasted longer than one. Having seen the pernicious effects of timber 

 kyanised in a large stove at Thoresby, the particulars of which were commu- 

 nicated to the conductor of the Gardener'' s Magazine by Earl Manvers, I am 

 fully convinced it must be used in all horticultural erections with great caution. 

 Another preparation, which is, I believe, of zinc, has been patented by Sir 

 W. Burnett, and tried here, the particulars of which I will transcribe from my 

 memorandum-book. " April 20. 1840 : Received from Sir W. Burnett, from the 

 Admiralty, eight pieces of timber, four prepared and four unprepared, plunged 

 in the bark-bed of new Calcutta stove ; likewise pieces of canvass, cloth, and 

 cordage, prepared and unprepared, placed in a damp stokehole, amongst de- 

 caying vegetable substances. Sept. 28. 1840 : The unprepared pieces of 

 canvass, cloth, and cordage, quite decayed; the prepared sound. Jan. 20. 

 1841 : A piece of scarlet prepared cloth decayed; the other cloth, canvass, 

 and ropes, sound. The timber, prepared and unprepared, is now beginning to 

 decay alike, and I have no doubt it will not last longer than Kyan's, under the 

 same circumstances. Garden nets, rick cloths, and so on, dipped in Sir W. 

 Burnett's preparation, according to the trial made, would last for a great many 

 years, if taken care of and kept dry, when laid up for the season ; besides, it 

 has not the poisonous qualities of Kyan's solution. {)¥. Tillery, Welbeck ; in 

 Gard. Chron., Feb. 20. p. 117.) 



Pocock's Asphalte Roofing has been tried as a substitute for bast mats, straw 

 mats, or boards, for covering frames or pits, in the Dalkeith Gardens, by Mr. 

 M'Intosh. This material, which is composed of coarse waste felt saturated 

 with asphalte, and powerfully compressed, is sold in plates, 16 in. by 32 in., 

 and about the thickness of thin pasteboard, at i^d. each. It weighs 60 lb. to 

 the 100 square feet, and bears extreme heat and any degree of cold. It is 

 formed into panels in wooden frames, and, of course, may be applied to 

 all the different uses for which frames or shutters of boards are adapted. Mr. 

 M'Intosh considers that it will be found much more efficient and economical 

 than any other description of covering hitherto in use. (Ga?'d. Chron,, Feb. 

 13. 1841, p. 100.) The asphalte roofing is sold in London, by Messrs. Pocock 

 and Co., 61. Cheapside, from whom we have procured a specimen. The dif- 

 ficulty in using it, we find, will be its tendency to absorb moisture, and become 

 depressed in the panels into which it is Ibrmed when used as protecting 

 covers. When used as roofing, it is supported on a uniform surface of boards, 

 which, of course, prevents it from sinking, so that the rain is thrown off almost 

 as effectually as by slates. — Co7id, 



Taired Canvass for Coverings to pits would be more convenient than patent 

 asphalte roofing, as it might be nailed on the top edge of the pit, and made to 

 roll up on a roller By putting rails on the frame, the canvass would be a good 

 protection for the glass, as well as leave a space for air between. If nailed to 

 wooden frames, it would form screens useful for garden purposes, and is cheap. 

 The canvass may be of any thickness, according to the purpose for which it is 

 required. {W. in Gard. Chron., March 13. p. 164.) 



To destroy Ants. — Pour solution of chloride of lime round the roots of 

 plants attacked by them, or lay the following mixture in their runs : " Take 

 2 oz. of fine bread crumbs, well dried, and rubbed very small ; 2 oz. of loaf 

 sugar, well pounded and made very fine ; and I oz. of levigated mercury : mix 



