378 STATE HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 



of birds, and other animals, which, during the severe weather, cannot reach 

 them in the frost-bound ground. 



Mild winters, on the contrary, generally cause premature activity in insects, 

 often followed by relapses into the torpid state, and such changes are preju- 

 dicial to their well-being. Insectivorous animals also fare better during such 

 mild winters. — American Entomologist. 



TANSY FOR CABBAGE WORMS. 



The following item from the Country Gentleman is certainly worth saving 

 and the remedy worth a trial : 



I have saved my cabbages for two years by steeping tansy and pouring it on 

 after they begin to head, two applications proving to be necessary. This sea- 

 son the millers commenced depositing their eggs before the cabbages began to 

 head, and I gave them a dose over two weeks ago, and there is no sign of any 

 worms since. 



SICKLY TREES. 



I notice in your paper of 10th inst., advice to whitewash apple trees which 

 have the dry black rot. Now my experience is that whitewashing injures and 

 frequently kills fruit trees. One of my neighbors has succeeded in killing 

 quite a number of thrifty young pear and cherry trees by annual whitewashing. 

 I have experimented myself fully and freely with whitewash, and find that 

 annual applications are sure to kill the trees. For your rotting and sickly 

 fruit trees dig around the trees well, then manure freely, sprinkle a peck of 

 salt on the ground under each tree. After the tree leaves out make a strong 

 salt brine and sprinkle the foliage well two or three times during the summer. 

 Hogs frequently injure fruit trees by rubbing against and loosening the bark 

 during the flow of sap. — L. N., in Indiana Farmer. 



SIMPLE INSECTICIDE. 



As an insecticide, the juice of the tobacco plant is said to be of great value. 

 The leaves and stems are well boiled in water, and when the fluid is cold it is 

 sprinkled over plants attacked by insects, when it at once destroys caterpillars, 

 black and green fly, gnats, and other enemies to vegetables, and in no way 

 impairs the growth of the plants. A peculiar odor remains and prevents insects 

 from coming again for a long time. — Indiana Farmer. 



TWO VALUABLE INSECTICIDES. 



London purple. Prof. C. V. Kiely in his Bulletin No. 3 of the U. S. 

 Entomological Commission, says of London purple : "This powder is obtained 

 from the manufacture of aniline dyes. Crude coal-oil is distilled to produce 

 benzole; this is mixed with nitric acid and forms nitro-benzole ; iron filings 



