FOREIGN NOTICES. 



525 



sImiuKI be given n> moisten tlie ball entirely 

 ghj and we advise the constant use of liquid 

 manure, from the moment they are out of blos- 

 som : using it weak, atul perfectly elear. A 

 brewing of Boot-water in one vessel, and good 

 Peruvian gaano in another, will furnish a capital 

 liquor; the guano at the rate of two ounees 

 to a gallon, adding a gallon of soot-water to a 

 gallon of the guano-water. It should always be 

 given of a temperature quite equal to the average 

 temperature of the house. When plunged, the 

 pots will not require above half as much water. 

 We will return to pot culture when we gel an 

 opportunity. R. Erriugton. Cottage Gardener. 



Dahlia Propagatixg. — Some of our florist 

 friends, eager to increase their stock of choice 

 Dahlias, will, by this time, have set them to 

 work — that is, to grow. We do not recommend 

 starting them so early. '" More haste less speed," 

 is a proverb equally applicable to Dahlia-growing 

 as to any other pursuit in life. We conceive that 

 now is quite early enough to start these gorgeous 

 autumnal flowers. The best place to start them 

 in is a pit, or frame, heated either with dung-lit- 

 ter, well mellowed by turning it over frequently 

 previously, and putting it then into the pit when 

 the fierce heat is moderated ; or the pit may be 

 filled with tanner's spent bark, and the roots laid 

 upon it. Upon the dung lay a covering of ashes, 

 or sand, previously to putting in the roots. In 

 this warm, moist heat, the roots will soon send 

 forth shoots and new roots. As soon as the shoots 

 are three or four inches long take them oil, and 

 put them into small pots half filled with earth, 

 and then filled up with fine white sand. Give 

 them some water to settle the sand ; the cut- 

 tings then may be put in, and will soon take 

 root. 



The great art in the management of Dahlia 

 cuttings after they are struck, is to give them 

 just such a quantity of air as will enable them to 

 make dwarf stout plants, without actually starving. 

 Dahlia cuttings should never be allowed to stop 

 so long in the pots as to fill them with roots in a 

 dense mass. It is the greatest absurdity to ex- 

 peet plants that have been cramped in their early 

 youth to make strong healthy fellows afterwards. 

 By no means then, nurse your young Dahlias too 

 much. This observation applies to those that 

 are growing now, or have been growing for some 

 time, as well as to those that are yet to be pro- 

 pagated. Continue to secure them from frost, 

 and no more: too much heat or stimulus, at this 

 early period, is very injurious. T. Appleby. Cot- 

 tage Gardener. 



Rat's-bane, properly so called, a Settler 

 tor the Million. — For the benefit of all who 

 may hereafter fall victims to the rapacity of 

 rats, I will BOW, as briefly as may be, lay before 

 them my military tactics, and explain how I 

 finally brought op my corps it reserve, which 



gained me a decisive (i< tory. Instead of com- 

 mencing hostilities at once, on discovering the 

 extent of the ravages committed, I gave encou- 

 ragement to the enemy, by throwing in his way 

 divers articles of food, such as dripping, lard, 

 meat, bones, fish, and other dainties. This gave 

 him confidence, and threw hint off his guard, so 

 that he revelled unsuspiciously among all the good 

 things of this life, while I was secretly plotting 

 his destruction. I took care, meantime, to secure 

 all the hen-houses, and shut the inmates up every 

 night, to protect them from their blood thirsty 

 foe. The great field-day was Friday last, a day 

 I shall long remember. I devoted it entirely to 

 strategy; and, Ail actum reputans dum quid su- 

 peresset agendum, I completed all my arrange- 

 ments before the hour of dusk, impatiently wait- 

 ing for the rising sun of the morrow. Poison was 

 my weapon ; fresh herrings and sprats were my 

 aides-de-camp. The poison was carbonate of 

 barytes, ground to an impalpable powder, and 

 phosporus. An incision was first made in the 

 backs of the herrings, and the carbonate of bary- 

 tes well rubbed in. The parts were then, as ar- 

 tistically as possible, reunited. The sprats being 

 smaller than the herrings, and more plastic, were 

 pierced through their sides with a sharp piece of 

 deal wood. Had a knife, a fork, or the human 

 hand touched them, all would have been vain. 

 The barytes was then " drilled in," and other 

 sprats, not poisoned, were placed above and be- 

 low them, so that suspicion was disarmed. " La- 

 tet anguis in herba !" It should be borne in 

 mind that the barytes is without taste and with- 

 out smell; hence its great value. The way in 

 which I applied the phosphorus would take more 

 space to detail than you can well afford in one 

 number of your paper. At a future time, I will 

 gladly furnish particulars of this, and other inte- 

 resting matters, connected with my recent experi- 

 ments, for I have been both a " sapper" and a 

 '' miner !" 



When the preparations were all completed, I 

 stationed my trusty messengers in every part of the 

 garden and shrubberies — some under trees, some 

 in flower-pots, some hidden by a brick, others 

 partly imbedded in the garden walks, &c, &c. 

 They " did their bidding" right bravely. Oncom- 

 ing down stairs, the morning following, I found 

 the enemy had fallen into the snare. There was 

 a serious diminution of the provisions furnished for 

 their repast, and the hand of death was observable 

 on every side. They had eaten ravenously; they 

 had been seized with cruel thirst; they had sated 

 themselves with water; they had "burst their 

 boilers!" To use an expressive, and most appro- 

 priate classical quotation, there was a visible 

 " Decessio pereuntium — successio periturorum," 

 which clearly proved I had won the day. In a 

 word, two days and two nights effectually routed 

 the whole army, and I was left master of the field. 

 If it be urged by some, as perhaps it will be, that 

 I am cruel, consider the aggravation, an unpro- 



