I. AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOMY. 393 



on trees, they may be sprinkled with a solution of one part 

 of sulphide of potassium in 500 parts of water. This, it is 

 said, will kill the insects and do no harm to the trees. 2 C, 

 April, 1872,50. 



REMEDIES AGAINST GRAPE-VINE INSECTS. 



Among the various remedies which have been proposed in 

 France for the protection of grape-vines from the* ravages of 

 the vine insect or Phylloxera, one of the latest consists in the 

 application of soot. For this purpose the stump of the vine 

 is first laid bare, and about a pound of soot placed around it, 

 covered with a shovelful of earth, the object of the latter ap- 

 plication being to keep the soot in its place. At the end of 

 some days a penetrating empyreumatic odor becomes per- 

 ceptible at a considerable distance, jthe result of an extensive 

 impregnation of the soil. Should it rain, the water passing 

 through the soot carries various soluble portions to the roots, 

 where they exercise their peculiar effects. The application is 

 very persistent, as after the lapse of a year the sooty smell 

 will still be appreciable. This continuance of the action has 

 an important bearing, since, if one stage of the insect escapes 

 injury, its succeeding transformations will probably be made 

 to suffer in a corresponding degree. Apart from its action 

 upon the grape-vine insect, the soot itself exercises an excel- 

 lent influence upon the vegetation of the vine, in stimulating 

 its growth and imparting to it fresh vigor.^3 J5, May 2, 1872, 

 17. 



SULPHATE OF IRON AS A MANURE. 



According to Gris, sulphate of iron is one of the most im- 

 portant mineral manures known to agriculturists, involving 

 no danger in its intelligent use, and exhibiting its agency 

 more particularly upon the coloring matter of the leaves. It 

 is to be applied by dissolving it in water, in the proportion 

 of one quarter of an ounce to the quart, and the plant is to 

 be sprinkled with a dilution of this solution to suit the occa- 

 sion. This application, it is maintained by Gris, will not only 

 restore a drooping plant, but will impart to it a high degree 

 of vigor and brilliant greenness of leaf, and at the same 

 time will destroy the aphides and other insect enemies by 

 which it may have been attacked. 4 B, August, 1872, 704. 



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