GARDEN MECHANICS. 
187 
GARDEN MECHANICS. 
All wlio are engaged in plant-growing, especially of such as 
are confined in the limits of an ordinary glass structure, must 
be conversant with the use of that most efficient extirpator of 
insects and filth,—the syringe, and fully alive to its importance 
as an agent in the management of their charge. The value of this 
instrument is proved by its universal adoption in all gardening 
establishments of consequence, where, notwithstanding its cost¬ 
liness, it would be thought in the present day almost as impos¬ 
sible to cultivate such plants without a syringe as without pots. 
Every gardener does and must continue to use it, or he would 
witness such a speedy accumulation of impurities as would in¬ 
evitably overwhelm vegetation so situated; but there is an 
extensive class of the flower-loving community, whom the hitherto 
heavy price charged has precluded from its use, and even where 
considerations of this nature are not positive hinderances, it must 
still be desirable to reduce the necessary expenditure as far as is 
practicable with the proper working of the establishment, and 
therefore any improvement in the manufacture which will main¬ 
tain efficiency, and at the same time bring it more easily within 
reach, must he regarded as deserving our best offices. Of this 
nature is the syringe offered to the public by Mr. Biertkumpfel, 
of Albany Street, Regent’s Park, which we have had the oppor¬ 
tunity of examining, and can pronounce quite equal in power to 
any other we have yet seen. The great difference in this instru¬ 
ment and those usually sold consists in the material of which 
they are made, this new syringe being manufactured in white 
metal instead of brass, which admits of a very large reduction in 
price. The valves are of metal, and the workmanship equal 
in every respect to the best; yet, by the happy thought of em¬ 
ploying this material, the maker is enabled to sell them fully 
two thirds cheaper than are the brass syringes. As regards their 
durability we have authority to state, the first one made has been 
in use nearly fifteen years, and it must be remembered that the 
incorrosive nature and hard surface of the metal would warrant 
this assertion, and with fair usage they may reasonably be ex¬ 
pected to last the term of an ordinary life. We have therefore 
