MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 
10 
39 
select them from tlie young shoots that have gro'wn the same year : they should be ciit close to the old 
wood. The cuttings should be planted in pots of silver sand, and kept in a warm greenhouse or pro- 
pagating house, and covered with a bell glass or a hand Hght. Those persons who have not the con- 
venience of a house in which to place cuttings, may avail themselves of the mode of propagating called 
layering. For this purpose, when the young shoots have become sufficiently strong, it will be neces- 
sary to erect an artificial stage around the plant which it is desired to propagate. On this stage, pots 
of suitable soil must be fastened, by being tied to the boards, and in the position best adapted for the 
operation. The branches must then be gently bent over the i)ot, and properly secured in their place ; 
the yomig shoots inserted in the soil of the pot, and secm-ed with a small peg. Tlus is the most suc- 
cessful mode of propagating such kinds as Pinus longifolius, P. palustris, and P. Hartwegii, which 
have a spongy bark. 
Grafting upon roots has been found very successful with the difi'erent species of Thuja and Juni- 
perus. This mode is performed as follows : — In February or March, the small roots of Juniperus vir- 
giniana, and Thuja orientalis or occidentalis, are talven off : they must not be stronger than the scion 
or shoot, which should be selected from last year's wood, near the summit of the plant. When the 
grafts are made, the roots must be potted in small pots and placed on a shelf in the greenhouse, 
being kept close, and shaded until established. 
As regards the most suitable stocks for Coniferas, it may be observed that they are most success- 
fully raised from seed. It is not advisable to take young plants fr-om a collection for this pm-- 
pose; because they do not accommodate themselves to pot cidture so well as plants obtained from 
seeds. Good healthy seeds of the species named at the begimung of this article, should be procm-ed 
for the purpose of raising plants to be kept as stocks. Such plants will be found most suitable for 
those engaged in the propagation of Coniferse. The seeds should be sown in February, in wooden 
boxes of convenient size, and thi-ee or four inches in depth. The soil most siutable for sowing them 
in is sandy peat, mixed vsath a foui-th part of loam. The boxes should be well drained, and, after 
the seeds are sown, placed in a temperate greenhouse. As soon as the seedlings appear, the boxes 
must be removed near the glass, in order to give the plants plenty of Kght. Before the first leaves 
appear, the young plants should be taken out and potted in two-inch pots, using a sandy peat soil, but 
no loam. This treatment is preferable to allowing the young plants to grow large in the box, and then 
shifting them into pots ; as, when they are taken out of the box very young, with only one or two 
roots, they are less liable to be injm-ed, and they soon adapt themselves to their new situation. When 
the seedlings have been potted, they should be removed to a cool frame, and placed on a bed of ashes 
or gravel, but quite near the glass. They will require to be shaded during bright sunny weather, and 
care must be taken never to allow them to become either too dry or too wet. The frame may be kept 
rather close till the end of May, or the beginning of June, according to the state of the weather, when 
the lights may be taken off. As soon as very rainy and fi-osty weather sets in, the lights must be put 
on again, to remain on all the winter. Very little shelter will be necessary except dming severe fi-osts. 
Air must be admitted to the plants on all favourable occasions. In spring, they will require to 
be shifted into fom--inch pots, and if properly attended to, they wiU be ready to graft npon by the 
autumn. 
Seeds of Taxus, Thuja, and Juniperus wginiana, may be sown in the open ground, and pricked 
into pots three or fom- months before they are wanted to work on. They may be removed to a shelf in 
a temperate moist stove, to remain for some time, the better to establish them in the pots. 
SIlkBlliinMiis JIntra. 
Trapa biconiis, or Linrj. — Leaving the [city of Kea- 
hiug-foo] behiad ua, and sailing westerly, we entered on 
a broad sheet of water of considerable extent, which pro- 
bably is part of, or at least joias, the celebrated Tai-ho 
Lake. This part of the lake is very shallow, and a 
great part of it is quite covered with the Trapa Ucornis, 
a plant called ling by the Chinese. It produces a fruit 
of a very peculiar shape, resembling the head and horns 
of a buUock more than anything else, and is highly es- 
teemed as a vegetable by the Chinese in aU pai-ts of the 
empire. I have seen three very distinct species or 
varieties of this plant, one of which has fruit of a beau- 
tiful red colour. 'Women and boys were sailing about 
on all parts of the lake in tubs of the same size and 
form as our common washing tub, gathering the fruit of 
the Imff. I do not know of any contrivance, rude as it 
appeared, that woidd have answered the pm-pose better 
than these tubs ; for they held the fruit as it was ga- 
thered as well as the gatherers, and, at the same time, 
were easily propelled thi'ongh the masses of the ling 
without doing the shghtest injmy to the plants. Never- 
theless, the sight of a munber of people swimming about 
on the lalce, each in his washing tub, had, in my eyes, 
something very amusing and ludicrous about it. — 
-K. F., in Athencaum. 
m. 
