48 
CONTEMPORARY WRITINGS. 
and smooth it with a trowel ; after this, keep 
the floor free of dirt and dust, sweeping it well 
with a brush until it is quite hard and solid. 
Floors carefully laid down in this way have 
been known to last for forty years, at the cost, 
per square yard, of five pence for labour, and 
eight pence for materials — thirteen pence. 
Anacharis Alsinastrum — In the Annah 
of Horticulture iov 1848 (p. 139,) this plant 
was described, and was mentioned as having 
been in 1 847 found apparently wild in this 
country. The existence of some doubts as to 
this point was also mentioned. During the 
summer of 1848 it appears, however, to have 
been met with in some other places, which 
appear to remove any suspicion of its being 
truly indigenous to this country. Dr. Mit- 
chell found it in the month of September in 
great quantities in the river Leen, near Not- 
tingham ; and Dr. Johnstone of Berwick also 
found it in a truly wild locality in the bed of 
the Whittadder. It also appears that this 
plant was found, by Dr. Johnstone, in a pond 
at Dunse Castle, so long ago as 1842, but 
being not then in flower or fruit, was laid by, 
and its name undetermined. The total sub- 
mersion of the plant accounts for its bav- 
in o- been so long overlooked by British bo- 
tanists. 
Tarring Iron Work. — This plan, which 
is extensively followed at Trentham, the resi- 
dence of the Duke of Sutherland, is found to 
answer much better than painting. Out-door 
iron work, such as rails and fencing, is referred 
•to. The material used is, one-third of Stock- 
holm tar mixed with two-thirds of gas tar. 
This is laid on boiling hot, and in dry warm 
weather, when the iron is quite dry. It is laid 
on with a brush, and spread as thinly as pos- 
sible. The fire should be kept close to the 
work, in order that it may be used boiling 
hot, as it can then be spread much thinner; 
under which circumstances it dries quicker 
and presents a harder and smoother surface. 
The cost of applying this to common iron ox- 
hurdles is found to be three-eighths of a penny 
per square yard ; and it is computed to last 
nine years. 
Poppy Seeds as Food. — Mr. Forsyth, in 
the Gardener's Chronicle, recommends the use 
of the seeds of the white poppy (Papaver 
somniferum) as an article of food. The seeds 
are stated to be wholesome and nutritious, 
agreeable to the taste, much resembling that 
of the kernel of a walnut. The quantity of 
seed yielded per acre, is considerably above 
that obtained from ordinary bread corn, being 
upon rich land above one tonj'and in poor soils 
about eleven hundred weight. The seed for 
an acre of this crop could be had for something 
less than a shilling. The plant is less likely 
to become diseased than almost any other crop. 
The culture of this poppy must not be looked 
on as anything new or speculative, or imprac- 
ticable. Thousands of acres are now and have 
for ages past been devoted to its culture to 
supply the deadly drug, opium. But the seeds 
are wholesome, and the oil expressed from 
them is similar in purity and salubrity to the 
best olive oil. The oil and the seeds are ar- 
ticles of commerce. 
Destroying Snails. — In the Florist, M. 
Braconnot describes some experiments which 
he instituted to discover a ready means of 
destroying snails, from which it may be useful 
to quote the substance. He ascertained that 
lime-water diluted with three times its bulk of 
water, was sufficient for their destruction. 
"Water scarcely rendered alkaline by the ad- 
dition of potash, killed them still more quickly. 
Of all the poisons which he tried, none exerted 
so powerful and deleterious an effect upon the 
snails as the alkalies. If a drop of caustic 
ammonia, or of caustic potash, be added to a 
quart of rain water, an alkaline solution will 
be foi-med of such little strength, that it scarcely 
affects delicate test paper, and causes no im- 
pression on the organs of taste. If snails are 
placed in this solution they soon die, though, if 
placed in rain water alone, they escape out of 
the vessel. He therefore concludes that a 
weak solution of caustic potash, or soda, or 
what would be still more economical, the re- 
fuse lyes which have served for the washing 
of linen, diluted with water to which a small 
quantity of quick lime has been added, will 
prove a better remedy than lime alone in the 
state of powder, Avhich soon, under the action 
of air, becomes converted into a carbonate, 
and loses its poisonous influence on the 
snails. 
Deodar Cedars. — The leading shoot of 
this beautiful Cedar tree invariably curves 
downwards, though the stem may be quite up- 
right ; at least, this is the case with young 
plants. This shoot should never be tied up 
straight, under the idea that by leaving it in 
the drooping position the stem will become 
crooked. To tie them up will be to kill them, 
or render them unhealthy. As the tree grows, 
they right themselves, and the stem forms 
straight enough. 
Erica Watsoni. — This, which appears to 
be a wild hybrid heath, was found, in 1847, in 
the neighbourhood of Carclew, It seems to 
be exactly intermediate between Erica ciliaris 
— the handsomest of our wild heaths — and 
E. tetralix. It seems, however, to range with 
E. Mackayana as a variety of E. tetralix, 
rather than under E. ciliaris. Mr. Watson 
found the same form some years since, and it 
was then named after him by Mr. Ben- 
tham, who thought it a variety of E. ciliaris. 
