DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



opposite to the common Spinach, as it will en- 

 dure the heat better than the cold. It may be 

 obtained in the summer by planting the seed in 

 April or May — {he might have added June.) 

 Being of luxuriant growth, it sliould be planted 

 in hills three feet apart and about two seeds in 

 a hill. The leaves will be fit for use during the 

 summer and until late in the autumn." Yours, 

 E. New-York, May, 1851. 



Prof. Harris on the Cl'rculio. — This able 

 entomologist has sent the following letter to 

 the Boston Cultivator, as a guide to culti- 

 vators. As the recommendation of one who 

 has studied the habits of this insect very 

 thoroughly, it is worthy of attention. 



Mr. Editor: — These depredators have be- 

 gun their summer work in good earnest. On 

 the 27th, I saw cherries not bigger than small 

 peas, and plums still smaller, that had been 

 stung; and the next day, shaking bi'ought 

 down the weevil from a i)lum tree. From the 

 appearance of the fruit, tlie weevils must have 

 been busy a week or more ago. Those persons 

 who wish to save their plums and cherries, 

 should immediately begin to use such means as 

 may prove best for protecting the fruit. 



Showering the trees with lime-water, or 

 throwing the fluid upon them with a syringe, 

 till it forms a white coat on the young fruit, is 

 said to be an eflfectual preservative from the at- 

 tacks of the plum-weevil. It may be asked, 

 however, whether we shall not have to shower 

 our cherry trees and our apple trees, also. It is 

 a well established fact, that the plum- weevil at- 

 tacks all the following fruits, namely: plums, 

 cherries, apples, nectarines, apricots, and peaches 

 and even walnuts. The whitewash may pro- 

 tect the plums, but the other fruits will be only 

 the more sure to suffer, unless protected in like 

 manner; and, when it comes to showering big 

 trees and whole orchards in order to save the 

 fruit, we shall begin to make unfavorable esti- 

 mates of the cost and of the time required. 



Sprinkling salt upon the surface of the ground 

 has been repeatedly recommended, and some 

 cultivators have applied it abundantly to the 

 soil around plum trees; but it seems with very 

 doubtful results. Some of us have lately had 

 an opportunity of testing the efficacy of sea 

 salt on a large scale, where our gardens (as 

 was the case witli mine) have been thrice over- 

 flown by the sea, during the high tides of last 

 April. We shall soon find out whetlier the 

 brine will have any effect upon the weevils, or 

 will do our trees good in any other way. It is 

 not yet time to make up an opinion thereon. 



Of other remedies I can speak with much 

 confidence — of those whose object is to kill the 

 outriglit, in whatever form they maybe 

 We may begin the slaughter by taking 

 insects during the season when they em. 



ployed in laying their eggs, or stinging the fruit 

 as this process is commonly called. Let a large 

 sheet, divided half way through the middle, be 

 spread under the the trees, every morning early, 

 and every evening after sunset; then, if the 

 tree be suddenly jarred by a few smart blows, 

 the weevils will drop upon the sheet as if dead, 

 looking in their motionless state, like little 

 blackish buds. Gather them up immediately, 

 and throw them into a tin pail having a little 

 water therein, and when the gathering is finish- 

 ed, put them into the fire. Most of the insects 

 thus caught napping, will be found to be fe- 

 males; and, as each female lays a large num- 

 ber of eggs, it is apparent that in this way, we 

 shall nip the future brood in the bud. Plum 

 trees, peach trees, and cherry trees, when not 

 too large, and small apple trees, may thus be 

 protected to some extent. But, as the weevils 

 fly well, especially in the middle of the day, we 

 may expect to be visited by some from the gar- 

 dens and orchards of our neighbors, and even 

 from others distant half a mile or more. The 

 remedy, to be effectual therefore, requires to be 

 universally adopted. 



Let swine be suffered to go at large and to 

 root in the old orchards, and they will do their 

 part in killing and eating the weevils while in a 

 chrysalis state in the ground. Gather up all 

 wind-fallen, immature and wormy fruit, daily, 

 or twice a day, put it into barrels or tubs, and 

 pour boiling water over it. Let this be done 

 faithfully by every owner of a fruit tree, and 

 my word for it, there will soon be a sensible di- 

 minution of the number of the insects; and a 

 much greater amount of sound fruit will be pro- 

 duced. This simple remedy can be emi)loyed 

 by almost every one, at a comparatively trifling 

 expense. It is because it has been so much 

 neglected, that we now have so much Avormy 

 fruit; and the evil is evidently very much on 

 the increase. 



There are, in fine, but two resources that 

 come within our power; either to make a gene- 

 ral business of killing destructive insects in 

 their season, by direct attacks upon them in 

 their various forms ; or, to starve them to death, 

 by cutting down all our fruit trees. T. ^Y. 

 IIaeris. Cambridge, Mass., May 30, 1851. 



^umm tn CnrrrspnnhntH. 



Perpetuals. — Rosa, (Saratoga, N. Y.) You 

 complain of the non-blooming of your perpet- 

 ual Roses. It is doubtless owing to the want 

 of food. You should take up the bed this 

 autumn, dig out the whole of the soil and sub- 

 soil (i.e. the second foot of soil) and fill up its 

 place with stable manure mixed with one-half 

 loam. Then replant the roses and they will 

 bloom plentifully all next summer — especially 

 if you keep the bed rather low, so as to catch 

 and hold the summer showers. All that 



