DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



can do this season is to cut back three or four 

 inches, the ends of the shoots that have flower- 

 ed, fork up the bed and drench it liberallj' with 

 liquid manure once or twice. This will start 

 the plants into new growth and with that comes 

 more flowers of course. 



Rare Trees. — W. Wilson, (New- York.) 

 The Virgilia is a native of Kentucky, and is 

 perfectly hardy in any part of the northern 

 states. It is one of the handsomest of all orna- 

 mental trees — whether we consider its tine 

 foliage or its lovely white blossoms. It is scarcer 

 in the nurseries than it should be — considering 

 the fact that there are several trees in the gar- 

 dens about Philadelphia that bear seeds abun- 

 dantly. J. 31., (Buffalo.) The evergreen al- 

 luded to is the Ilinmialayan spruce {Mies Smi- 

 thiana) perfectly hardy and unsurpassed among 

 spruces — being much more beautiful than the 

 Norway spruce, in the same way. Pinus ex- 

 celsa proves as hardy as the common white 

 pine. The European Judas tree {Cercis sili- 

 guastrum) has larger and finer flowers than our 

 native species. Plants may be had of Saul k 

 Co., Newburgh- 



SiCKLT Orange Trees.— .^. P. /., (Balti- 

 more.) Bad soil is undoubtedly the cause of 

 the sickly state of your yellow leaved orange 

 and lemon trees. Take them out of the tubs 

 and shake off a good part of the soil from the 

 roots. Repot them in a mi.Kture of one-half 

 good rich loam — the top spit of a rich turfy 

 pasture — one- third decomposed cow manure 

 and one-third fine charcoal with a little sand. 

 Shorten in the branches all over the head, 

 place the tubs in a shaded situation (on the 

 north side of a building) — and water them plen- 

 tifully as often as they appear dry. 



Espalier Fruit Trees. — N., (Boston.) 

 Your gardener has injured your trees by ex- 

 cessive pruning. Being a Scotchman he was 

 taught training and pruning in a damp climate 

 with a covered sky, and pursues the same sys- 

 tem here where we have a dry climate and an 

 unclouded sky. If he will take a hint from 



nature on this side of the water and leave more 

 wood and leaves, his trees will regain their 

 health. A south exposure we consider on the 

 whole the worst for trained fruit trees. 



Cockroaches. — A Kitchen Gardner, (Jersey 

 City.) The following is given as an excellent 

 mode of destroying these creatures. " Miz 1 

 oz. of arsenic with 4 oz. of tallow, and melt 

 them together. When thoroughly incorporated 

 by stirring and partially cooled, small pieces 

 of Mood should be dipped in the mixture which 

 will form a coating over the wood. If these 

 pieces of wood are placed in the kitchen where 

 the cockroaches are, they will eat them greedily 

 and perish." 



Red Spider. — A Novice. The sickly yellow 

 appearance of the foliage of the grapes in your 

 vinery is caused by that pest the red spider. 

 The only remedy for it now, is to dust the un- 

 der side of the leaves with flower of sulphur. 

 But you should have prevented it by keeping 

 the air of the vinery moist during the hot weath- 

 er, by frequent syringings and sprinkling the 

 floor with water. 



Names of Plants. — J. G. S., (Rose Hill, 

 Va.) The Clematis with a large pale blue 

 flower from the Blue Ridge mountains, of which 

 you enclose a specimen in bloom, is the Ameri- 

 can Atragene (Atragene Americana) one of 

 the Clematis tribe — and one of our prettiest 

 native climbing shrubs. The buck-eye of the 

 western states is a species of horse-chestnut. 



To Destroy Ants. — Will you please to in- 

 form nie through your valuable journal of some 

 method for destroying ants. After repeated 

 doses of whale oil, soap, tobacco M-ater, lime, 

 ashes, and snuff, they still continue to operate 

 destructively upon Osage Orange hedge plants 

 and other things which are not so strong as to 

 bid them defiance. I am quite discouraged and 

 would be greatly obliged for information. 

 Yours resp., A Rochester Subscriber. June 

 14, 1851. 



Tobacco water if made strong enough, and a 

 very little starch mixed with it, will destroy 

 them on the young shoots. Ed. 



