DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



o/ .y^mmoHia as a fertilizer by " An Amateur," 

 iu your Magazine for June." The one pregnant 

 assurance, " nothing so good can be cheaper, 

 and the substance may be obtained at almost any 

 apothecary's," wrouglit in me a lively satisfac- 

 tion — endorsed as it was, by your own profes- 

 sional endorsement. Filled with faith, I straight- 

 way sought a drugstore, in search of the requi- 

 site " Sulphate of Ammonia," and experienced 

 something very like contempt for the establish- 

 ment, on learning tliatnosiich substance contri- 

 buted to make up its assortment. But after 

 having visited four other large stores witli like 

 success, and finding the said '•sulphate" at 

 neither, while its very existence seemed doubt- 

 ed at many, I sobered down into a more accus- 

 tomed sobriety, and contented myself with a 

 small dose of the Muriate for experiment. 



Now, what is the trouble? If no Sulphate 

 of Ammonia can be found at the respectably 

 extensive drug stores of Syracuse, am I not 

 warranted in doubting the general ability of hor- 

 ticulturists to easily procure it? Or does '• An 

 Amateur" expect us to manufacture for our- 

 selves, as we can do if necessary, from salts 

 which apothecary's do keep? or is it something 

 else than the sulphate which he uses? For one. 

 I am really anxious for the means of preparing 

 so valuable a fertilizer. J. M. W. Syracuse, 

 June 6, 1852. 



[Our correspondent's only error was in saying 

 the sulphate was easily procured. "We believe 

 it is only to be had of the wholesale druggists 

 in the larger cities. Muriate of ammonia, (sal 

 ammoniac,) may be had at any druggists, and 

 from some experiments we have made lately, 

 Ave believe it is a vejj' tolerable substitute for 

 the sulphate, used in the same proportions. 

 Ed.] 



Insects on Apple Trees. — A. J. Downing. 

 On my property near this city, I have a small 

 young orchard of apple and peach trees, which 

 early in the spring, gave promise of a fine crop 

 of fruit. The trees are very thrifty, and are 

 just beginning to hear. The apple trees, espe- 

 cially, look well, and every one had some fruit, 

 and some of them were loaded. But an insect 

 of the bug or beetle species has attacked my 

 orchard , and I fear they will totally destroy the 

 fruit, and seriously injure my trees. 



About a week siuce was the first I observed of 



them. I then discovered a few of them on d 

 ferent trees, eating the tender leaves and young 

 apples. In the past week they have multiplied 

 by thousands, and have commenced on my jiench 

 trees, and even the vegetables in the garden. 

 They have eaten up many of the leaves entirely, 

 except the stem, and nearly all the apjiles. 

 They commence by making a small incision in 

 one side of the apple or peach, then eat the 

 pulp, and increase in numbers as the opening 

 enlarges, until the fruit is entirely devoured. I 

 have seen as many as 15 and 20 all crowding 

 their heads into this opening, in the side of a 

 small apple. The peaches suffer in the same 

 way, but they like the apples much better. 



When I discoved these insects, my first step 

 was to consult my " books," see what they 

 were, and what was the best method of destroy- 

 ing them. I have the works of Downing, Bar- 

 ry and Thomas, all recent publications, and spe- 

 cially devoted to fruit trees, besides several oth- 

 er works that treat partly on the same subject, 

 but in none of them could I find a description 

 Avhicli would answer, as I thought, to this in- 

 sect. I am a mere novice in the delightful stu- 

 dy and art of fruit-growing, as yet, and could 

 not tell any of the destructive insects except by 

 comparing them with the descriptions in the 

 books — which, by the way, I find entirely too 

 brief and unsatisfactory for a learner like my- 

 self. {Query — What is the best work on this 

 subject of" Insects ") [Harris' Treatise — now 

 out of print — but a new edition of which is in 

 preparation. Ed.] 



This insect appears to resemble the locust 

 more in its habits and ravages, than any other 

 insect of which the books treat. But it is not 

 near so large as the locust, and carries on its 

 work of destruction in perfect silence. They 

 fly about but little, and chiefly in the Avarmest 

 part of the day. They continue pretty much 

 in the same place, on the leaf or apple, during 

 day and night. In the evenings and mornings 

 they are more stiff and torpid. This induced 

 me to try an experiment of catching them in a 

 sheet early in the morning, when the dew is on 

 the trees, and then killing them. We tried this 

 plan, but after slaying our ten thousands, we 

 gave it up as a hopeless job. I then tried sy- 

 ringing the trees most eflectually with strong 

 tobacco juice — but this seemed to have but lit- 



