206 



TEE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[July, 



may be done in the way of training or arranging 

 the plants to make them look pretty, without 

 much labor, time or cost. Training vines on 

 stakes has a beautiful effect. Even on simple 

 stakes a tomato or cucumber looks more beauti- 

 ful than when left to run at random over the 

 ground. Fancy melons trained over a neat trel- 

 lis. And these trellises can be made with any 

 ordinary small sticks tied together. We note a 

 case of this kind in Vilmorin's Illustrated Cata- 

 logue, which we here reproduce, and suppose 

 this mode of culture must be common in France. 



^M% 



•?&9-*- 



It is a pretty custom, and we might grow 

 things the same way here. 



People will soon begin to be worried about 

 fungi and insects on fruit trees. We have gained 

 considerably in our knowledge of these things 

 from year to year, and those* who have followed 

 our pages closelj' will have little trouble. In re- 

 gard to the white scale we may remind our 

 readers of an article that appeared last winter 

 from a Mississippi correspondent, who recom- 

 mended to wash the stems with linseed oil. The 

 writer's orchard was particularly bad last year. 

 It had been a growing trouble for years. Last 

 year they had in many cases the appearance of 

 being whitewashed, and the writer felt a little 

 bad when John J. Thomas, who has not much of 

 an idea of growing trees in grass, came to see 

 them, lest he should regard the insect as the 



direct result of "neglected culture." Every- 

 thing recommended in the books and suggested 

 by our own experience had been tried in vain, 

 or with trifling results. In March and April a 

 boy was put to painting all the bark of the trees 

 with linseed oil, though with some promises on 

 the part of friends that the oil would " stop up 

 the breathing pores," and the trees die. To-day 

 there is not a cleaner or more beautiful lot of 

 trees in the county. The correspondent modestly 

 withheld his name. We feel that the simple idea 

 is of such inestimable value to orchardists that we 

 take the liberty of saying that the thanks of those 

 who read that article are really due to Dr. Phil- 

 ips of the Oxford University, who was the author 

 of the paper, and who has been quite conspicu- 

 ous through a long life for his devotion to the 

 agricultural and horticultural advancement of 

 that part of our country in which he lives. 



As for the plum knot and pear slug we have 

 had so much of interest in our pages lately that 

 we do not suppose that they are to be feared 

 enemies much longer. 



COMMUNICA 7 JONS. 



HOW TO DESTROY THE PEAR SLUG. 



liY MR. W. SAUNDERS, OXTARIO, CANADA. 



In your May number, in reply to the inquiries 

 of a correspondent on this subject, you recom- 

 mend the use of powdered quick lime (not slacked 

 lime) sifted over the trees by means of a suitable 

 sieve fastened to a long pole. There are several 

 objections to the use of this material. The pow- 

 dering of quick lime is a difliculty which but few 

 could overcome ; the mechanical appliances 

 necessary for the purpose not being available. 

 Then the unpleasantly calfstic action of the lime 

 on the eyes and skin of the operator is such as to 

 interfere seriously with a second application of 

 the remedy. 



Having had to contend with frequent swarms 

 of these insects on my pear orchards, I have 

 found nothing so good or so easily applied as 

 powdered hellebore; one pound of the powder 

 mixed with a barrel of water has been found 

 stong enough. My mode of operating is as fol- 

 lows. The barrel of Hellebore and water ia 

 placed on a one-horse cart, and on the cart is 

 erected a suitable platform for the operator, who 

 is supplied with an ordinary watering can. From 

 his elevated position on the platfi)rm he showers 



