FEBRUARY. 
45 
resorted to, the operation is performed the 
same year that the stocks are cut over. Not¬ 
withstanding that some objections have been 
made to these modes, I prefer them to flute- 
budding, hut the scions must be taken off 
early, and the tree worked when the sap is in 
full' flow. The shoots for scions should be 
taken off in winter, and laid in sand in a cel¬ 
lar till the end of May or beginning- of June, 
according to the season. It is advisable not 
to cut off all the branches of the stock ; on 
the contrary, some should be left below the 
grafts to provide an outlet for the sap, and 
these may be cut off in the following year. 
The wood of the wild plant is held in higher 
estimation than that of the grafted trees; 
hence these are always worked at a con. 
siderable height'—say 10 to 13 feet.— {Abridged 
from the {Revue Horticole.) 
Preservation oe Wood. —To preserve small 
pieces of wood such as props, &c., they should 
be soaked eight or ten days in a solution of 
5 lbs. of sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) to a 
gallon of water. At the Jardin des Plantes 
at Paris, a solution of 3| ozs. sulphate of cop¬ 
per to a gall n of water is successfully used in 
preserving Russia and other mats from the 
weather.—( Gazette de MMecine.') 
The Florists’ Guide. —Under this title a 
new Florists’ monthly is announced to issue 
from Nottingham, the birthplace of the old 
Midland Ilorist, which died some years ago. 
The new Journal takes the place of Gossip for 
the Garden , which closed its career with the end 
of last year, and is to be under the editorial 
protection of Mr. William Dean, of the Nur¬ 
sery, Shipley, Yorkshire. Himself a thorough 
florist, we doubt not that in the band of Mr. 
Dean the new organ of the Midland fancy 
will have a competent director, and our wish 
is that it may be successful. 
The Tokay Grape. —We have on several 
occasions been asked, “ What is the Tokay 
Grape ?” And our reply has invariably been, 
“A Grape similar to the Muscat of Alexandria, 
but without the Muscat flavour.” We have, 
however, been assured by many excellent gar¬ 
deners—for whose opinion we have great re¬ 
spect—that the true Tokay is a Muscat Grape, 
and quite distinct from Muscat of Alexandria, 
and that it is principally in Yorkshire and the 
North of England where this variety is to be 
met with in its true character. Through the 
kindness of Mr. Fowler, the excellent gardener 
to the Earl of Harewood, at Harewood, near 
Leeds, we have been enabled this season to 
form a judgment on the subject, he having 
sent us a bunch from a vine now about 100 
years old. The fruit was beautifully grown, 
and the flavour was most exquisite; but we 
have no hesitation in saying that it is, not¬ 
withstanding, merely the old Muscat of Alex¬ 
andria. We are greatly obliged to Mr. Fowler 
for enabling us to come to this conclusion; for, 
from the age of the vine, there cannot be a 
doubt but that this is one of those to which at 
an early period the name of Tokay, or Charles- 
worth Tokay, was applied. 
obituary. 
Mr. Charles McIntosh died on the 9th ult., 
at Murray field, near Edinburgh, in his 70tli 
year. He was well known both as a practical 
gardener of high attainments, as the author 
of the “Practical Gardener” and other works 
on kindred subjects. He was a frequent con • 
tributor to Loudon’s “ Gardener’s Magazine,” 
“Paxton’s Magazine of Botany,’’and other gar¬ 
dening periodicals; but his fame will chiefly 
rest on the “Book of the Garden,” the most 
complete and extensive work on gardening 
which exists. He was born in August, 1794, 
at Abercairney, in Perthshire, where his father 
was gardener, and, after passing some time in 
the gardens there, went to the Marquis of 
Breadalbane’s, at Taymouth Castle. Subse¬ 
quently he took charge of the gardens of Sir 
Thomas Baring, at Stratton Park, Hampshire, 
and for many years he was gardener to the 
King of the Belgians, at Claremont. In 1838 
he returned to Scotland to fill the post of gar¬ 
dener to the Duke of Buccleuch, at Dalkeith 
Palace, where the gardens were re-laid out 
under his superintendence, and the magnifi¬ 
cent conservatory erected. Latterly, he took 
up his residence in Edinburgh, where he was 
much employed as a landscape gardener. 
Mr. Fintelmann, gardener to the King of 
Prussia, at Charlottenburg, died on Christmas- 
day, at the age of 90. This veteran gardener, 
when young, was employed at Sans-Souci, in 
the time of Frederick the Great, who used to 
point out the finest Figs with his redoubtable 
cane, which he was so fond of using, and 
make him bring them down from the tree. 
Peacock’s Island (Pfauens Insel), near Pots¬ 
dam, which is considered the most perfect 
scene of its kind in Prussia, owes its principal 
attractions to his skill. 
Dr. Francis Boott. —We have to record 
another loss to scientific botany in Dr. Boott, 
who, for upwards of forty years was connected 
with the Linneean Society, in which he acted 
as Secretary, Treasurer, and latterly as a Vice- 
President. He died in London, on Christmas- 
day, in the 72nd year of his age, having been 
born at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1792 ; but 
both his parents were British-born. He came 
to England when a youth, and early acquired 
that taste for botany which remained with 
him to the last,—forming intimacies with Sir 
Joseph Banks, Sir James Smith, Sir William 
Hooker, and other eminent men. In 1820 
he turned his attention to medicine, and after 
studying in London and Edinburgh he took 
his degree of M.D. in 1824, and for some years 
was in practice in London. He was the 
author of several works of a professional na¬ 
ture, and of one on the genus Carex, to which 
he especially devoted his attention. He was 
