AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
115 
under his arm, some brickbats, and a hammer. 
He began breaking the pots into pieces nearly 
the size of the bottom of the pot, and put one 
piece the concave side downwards over the hole 
of each pot; he then broke the bricks into 
• pieces about the size of a nut, put a handful 
over each piece of crock, and filled the pots 
with the soil previously prepared, pressing it 
down rather firmly, and striking it off level 
with the top of the pot with his hand. I now 
made a pretty shrewd guess that into one of 
these pots I was to go; and with an exulting 
heart (ah ! I little knew then what I had to go 
through before attaining that separate and inde¬ 
pendent existence I so much longed for) I saw 
my master approach with a little white-handled 
knife in his hand, and before I scarcely knew 
it. I was severed from the stem. After the 
debris or my flower was cut off, there remained 
two leaves; the upper one was left intact, and 
the lower removed; the stem was then cut 
straight, just below where the bottom leaf 
joined it, and I was a cutting “made.” 
I was now inserted, in company with three 
others, in one of the pots previously described. 
A hole was made at the side of the pot with a 
dibble, about the size of an ordinary cedar pen¬ 
cil, and the lower two-thirds of my height were 
placed firmly under the soil. The pot was then 
removed to a frame, with a gentle bottom-heat, 
and plunged to the rim in sawdust. For the 
first few days I suffered greatly, owing to my 
old sources of nourishment being cut off, and 
having as yet no power of appropriating the 
new ones at my disposal. I am sure if my 
master had not exercised the greatest care and 
watchfulness over me, I must have died; and I 
resolved if I recovered, to show my gratitude, 
by throwing- blossoms and odors around his 
dwelling all my life. He kept a tank of warm- 
water flowing- beneath me night and day, by 
which means not only was the soil in which I 
was placed made warm and comfortable, but a 
moisture rose and adhered to the under side of 
my leaf, which proved peculiarly refreshing. 
Whenever the sun burst upon me, threatening 
to exhaust me of my juice, he ran with a mat 
to afford me shade; and he further refreshed 
me morning and evening with a dew-like 
shower, thrown through a fine-rosed syringe. 
In about eight days the juices exuding from 
the top and bottom of my stem had formed a 
callous; and a few days later white porous roots 
began to form, with sponge-like points, that 
sucked up the moisture from the soil, and I felt 
my almost exhausted strength rapidly recruit¬ 
ing. My master now allowed a little sun to 
fall on my leaf in the morning, and admitted a 
little air into the frame in which I had been 
closely shut for a fortnight. By this treatment 
my strength became so. great, and my roots 
spread so rapidly, that the eye in the axil of my 
leaf began to grow, and I was shaken out of 
the cutting-pot and placed in a pot of the same 
size by myself, in a soil something similar, but 
with decayed manure instead of leaf-mould, and 
about one-fourth the quantity of sand. I was 
hei*e separated from my companions, one of 
whom had died a cutting, not having been suf- 
. ficiently ripe when taken; one had not yet 
rooted, having been too ripe; and the fourth 
was placed in a separate pot, like myself. I 
was now carried back to a frame with bottom- 
heat, syringed with water morning and evening, 
and shaded from the sun as before. For the 
first two or three days very little air was admit¬ 
ted ; but after that time more and more was given 
every day, the shade was made lighter by de¬ 
grees, till at last the frame was entirely removed, 
• and I was exposed to the sun and air night and 
day. It was now July, and the growing season 
, was before me ; my first anxiety was to show 
my gratitude to my master, and being of the 
kind called “ autumnal,” by the third week of 
September I produced three, not over-large, but 
finely-shaped and highly-colored flowers. 
As the nursery in which I grew was much 
visited by lovers of flowers, I heard many high 
encomiums passed on me; and one evening I 
was purchased by a quaker, a piece of white 
paper was tied round my pot, and I was placed 
_ingjflp Vlic ""Jr -1- 
lived, now lived and moved I knew not whither. 
It was gratifying to me to see how my new 
master gazed on me, handled me, and inhaled 
my attar breath, regarding me, as I thought, 
with more than usual interest, because he con¬ 
sidered my destiny altogether changed in his 
hands. For my part, I resolved to do my best 
to please him, as I had done my former master. 
Soon the carriage stopped; I was handed out, 
passed through the hall and drawing-room, ad¬ 
mired by the servants and ladies, and placed by 
my master ir. the conservatory. I had not been 
long here before [ saw a red-laced, happy-look- 
ing man, without a coat, and with a blue apron, 
coming towards me with a watering-pot; this, 
as I afterwards lcarnod, iv-«.o 6 o,iuener, 
ol whom 1 snail have more to say by-and-by. 
My master met him close by me; and a con¬ 
versation immediately ensued, ending by John 
expressing himself highly pleased, but wishing 
I had been a “ wee bit bigger.” When I had 
shed my flowers, I was taken out of doors ; and 
a frosty night having denuded my branches of 
their leaves, I was removed to a dry cold pit for 
winter quarters.— William Paul, in Turner's 
Florist. 
(To be contiuued.) 
AGRICULTURAL TOUR IN'. GERMANY.—NO. 8. 
BY COUNT DE GOURCY. 
Translated for the American Agriculturist from the Journal 
d’Agriculture Pratique. 
I set out early from Stuttgakd by the rail¬ 
road recently finished between that city and 
Friedrichshafen on lake Constance, passing Ulm 
and Biberach. The road at first leads through 
the chai-ming valley of Necker, and leaves it 
near Geislingen, and opens into the chain of 
mountains which separates this valley from that 
of the Danube. The descent on this road is 
considerable at first, and increases, which makes 
it necessary to employ a very powerful locomo¬ 
tive. On reaching the plain, we enter a fine 
region with good calcareous soil, where there are 
no plantations to be seen. Cultivation is very 
inferior here to the valley just left. The im¬ 
mense fortifications of Ulm, still unfinished, 
show themselves at a distance on the bank of 
the Danube, where this strong place occupies 
the extreme frontier of Bavaria and Wirtemburg. 
Beyond this the country is flat and peaty. It 
wants to be drained and marled; the latter 
operation could be easily managed, as the banks 
which overhang the Danube are composd of 
marl, at least in a great measure. We leave 
this backward country a little before arriving 
at Biberach, where good land and good cultiva¬ 
tion are again met with. 
From Biberach I took a trip to Ochsenhau- 
sen. A portion of the immense buildings of an 
ancient convent has been transformed into a 
farm-school, of which M. Horn, who has the- 
title of “ Councillor of Agriculture,” is the di¬ 
rector and farmer. The farm comprises about 
250 acres of good land and 75 acres of meadow, 
on a peaty bottom, formerly marshy. M. Horn 
first drained and afterwards irrigated it; since 
that time he has been enabled to dispose of a 
large quantity of good hay. His land is nearly 
2000 feet above sea level. The climate of the 
locality is too cold and moist for the production 
of large crops of wheat. He confines himself 
to the cultivation of spelt, which succeeds well, 
it produces about 25 bushels per acre threshed. 
M. Horn has six cows or heifers, of a breed 
allied to that of the Schwitz Canton, but not so 
strong, and of a purer color. This breed comes 
from a district called Algau, and is called the 
Algauef breed. They are said to be good milkers.; 
average is from twelve to fourteen quarts daily. 
The work is performed by twelve oxen, and two 
working mares; two foals and twelve hogs com¬ 
plete the stock. Except the working animals, 
the others young or old, never leave the stable, 
save to drink and exercise in the yard. The 
oxen are fed with hay in summer, as well as 
winter. The remainder of the black cattle are 
fed in winter with the second crop' of hay, with 
a small feed of roots, and in summer with green 
clover. The clover in this Canton is dried on a 
firm post, driven into the ground with 
, J4> „„ prevent the wind from overturning it. 
Rails at right angles, one attached to the other, 
cross this pole and serve to support the clover. 
Each post will support as much fresh material 
as will produce one hundred and twenty pounds 
of dry clover. M. Horn pays two and a half 
dollars rent per acre. His school admits ten 
young men. They must be seventeen years old 
at least, at the time of entering; these per¬ 
form all the farm labor; they are accommodated 
with board, lodging and washing, but receive no 
pay. They engage to remain three years at 
Ochsenhausen. A professor of practical agri¬ 
culture, and 'a teacher of ability, are furnished 
by the government. M. Horn is obliged to 
purchase his fuel. Beech wood costs double as 
much as pine. 
HUMBUGS. 
Silvering Powders. —We deem it no less a 
duty than a benefit to our readers, to occasion¬ 
ally notice some of the worthless articles that 
are daily palmed off upon the unsuspecting. 
Were these articles simply worthless, we should 
think it less important to notice them; for pur¬ 
chased experience is often the most useful kind, 
but many of these spurious articles are worse 
than useless; they are of positive and lasting- 
injury. 
We have recently seen several pedlers retail¬ 
ing a silvering powder, which is “warranted to 
brighten up all sorts of metal and give them 
a lasting silver polish.” This, article, under 
whatever name sold, is essentially composed of 
murcury (quicksilver) and fine clay, chalk, 
emery, &c. A “ silvering fluid,” so called, is 
also sold, which is simply a little mercury dis¬ 
solved in nitric acid (aqua fortis.) When rub¬ 
bed upon any metal the quicksilver is deposited 
upon the surface, and gives a bright, silvery 
lustre; but this is not 'permanent. Heat will 
readily evaporate or drive it off; the coating 
also quickly tarnishes, and what is far worse, 
quicksilver has the power of penetrating most 
metals and rendering them brittle. A piece of 
silver immersed in quicksilver will soon become 
brittle, and entirely loose the valuable proper¬ 
ties of silver. The same effect is produced 
upon other metals. Any of these silver polish¬ 
ing-powders or liquids will act in the same way 
upon tke surface. 
We believe there is no compound which will 
give a good and lasting coating of silver, with¬ 
out the aid of the galvanic battery or of skilful 
heating. We are quite certain that none of the 
common dry powders or the liquids will do it, 
but that on the contrary they are positively in¬ 
jurious. 
Duplicate Writing Papers. —Ingenious ped- 
lers are hawking about the country a kind of 
colored paper, which answers well to take im¬ 
pressions of plants, leaves, &c., but every 
specimen we have examined is entirely deficient 
