HOW  THE  CHINESE  MAKE  DWARF  TREES. 
323 
Mr.  Morson  inquired  whether  quinovic  acid  possessed  any 
medicinal  properties  ? 
Dr.  De  Vry  replied  that  he  believed  it  had  ;  he  had  made 
experiments  on  the  subject,  and  intended  shortly  to  publish  his 
resubs. 
Professor  Bentley  said  that  Dr.  De  Vry's  account  of  our 
cinchona  plantations  was  very  assuring.  One  fact  mentioned, 
however,  was  at  variance  with  a  statement  of  Mr.  Howard,  who 
had  asserted  that  the  root  bark  of  C.  Calisaya  only  contained 
one-tenth  of  the  alkaloids  found  in  the  bark  of  the  stem.  There 
was,  of  course,  no  question  about  the  accuracy  of  Dr.  De  Vry's 
results,  and  it  might  be  that  the  difference  was  owing  to  differ- 
ent ages  of  the  plants. 
Dr.  De  Vry  said  that  the  whole  of  his  results  had  been  con- 
firmed by  Delondre,  with  whom  he  had  worked. — Trans.  Pharm. 
$02.  in  Chem.  News,  London,  May  14,  1864. 
HOW  THE  CHINESE  MAKE  DWARF  TREES. 
We  have  all  known  from  childhood  how  the  Chinese  cramp 
their  women's  feet,  and  so  manage  to  make  them  "  keepers  at 
home  but  how  they  contrive  to  grow  miniature  pines  and 
oaks  in  flower-pots  for  half  a  century,  has  always  been  much  of 
a  secret.  It  is  the  product  chiefly  of  skilful,  long-continued 
root-pruning.  They  aim  first  and  last  at  the  seat  of  vigorous 
growth,  endeavoring  to  weaken  it  as  far  as  may  consist  with  the 
preservation  of  life.  They  begin  at  the  beginning.  Taking  a 
young- plant  (say  a  seedling  or  cutting  of  a  cedar),  when  only 
two  or  three  inches  high,  they  cut  off  its  taproot  as  soon  as  it 
has  other  rootlets  enough  to  live  upon,  and  replant  it  in  a 
shallow  earthern  pot  or  pan.  The  end  of  the  taproot  is  gener- 
ally made  to  rest  on  the  bottom  of  the  pan,  or  on  a  flat  stone 
within  it.  Alluvial  clay  is  then  put  into  the  pot,  much  of  it  in 
bits  the  size  of  beans,  and  just  enough  in  kind  and  quantity  to 
furnish  a  scanty  nourishment  to  the  plant.  Water  enough  is 
given  to  keep  it  in  growth,  but  not  enough  to  excite  a  vigorous 
habit.  So,  likewise,  in  the  application  of  light  and  heat.  As 
the  Chinese  pride  themselves  on  the  shape  of  their  miniature 
trees,  they  use  strings,  wires,  and  pegs,  and  various  other  me- 
