338 



The Hmiiculturist and Journal 



wood ashes over some of my trees and air- 

 slaked lime over others. The slugs covered 

 with lime were killed ; but most, if not all, 

 of those sprinkled with ashes survived. A 

 new tribe of these insects appeared about the 

 first of September. Mystic. 



Medford, Mass. 



Effects of Culture on Currants A 



correspondent of an exchange says : '• About 

 fifteen years ago I received as a present cut- 

 tings of the following varieties : White Grape, 

 White Dutch, White Crystal, Cherry May, 

 Victoria, Large Red Dutch and Black Naples. 

 After planting in the usual manner, I took 

 particular pains to cultivate them well. Every 

 spring the ground has been top-dressed profuse- 

 ly with ashes, leached and unleached, well in- 

 corporated with the soil under and around the 

 bushes, and has been kept from grass and 

 weeds. Immediately after this application 

 they are mulched with barnyard or chip 

 manure. The result has been that I have 

 never failed of a large crop of the finest and 

 largest fruit, and entirely free from the worm. 

 Near these bushes (perhaps sixteen rods away) 

 I have some of the old common varieties, 

 which have not been similarly treated, but 

 left to take care of themselves, and, as a con- 

 sequence, they are nearly destroyed by the 

 worms ; the leaves during the past two sum- 

 mers being entirely, and many of the smaller 

 twigs totally destroyed, I have come to the 

 conclusion, therefore, that larvae of the 

 currant worm lie dormant during winter in 

 the ground near the bush they intend to 

 attack the next season, and that mixing wood- 

 ashes with the soil destroys them, I do not 

 profess to be an entomologist, but I certainly 

 arrive at no other conclusion, I am now 

 growing quite a number of bushes in the tree 

 form, i. e. one bush only in each place, six 

 feet apart each way. The advantages consist 

 of easier cultivation, easier gathering, and 

 larger and finer fruit," 



Melons — The following is recommended 

 by a gardener who has had remarkable success : 

 " I dig holes twelve inches square, eight or 

 ten inches deep; fill up with well-rotted 

 horse manure to the surface. On this put 



two inches of soil. Then take a four-inch 

 flower pot ; set in the center ; draw the re- 

 mainder of the soil around the pot, imtil the 

 soil is about four inches deep, then giving the 

 pot a twist round, withdraw it. This leaves 

 a hole four inches deep by four wide. In this 

 drop five or six seeds, and cover to the depth 

 of three-quarters of an inch. Over this place 

 a pane of six by eight glass, pressing it lightly 

 to fit close. I then give no more attention 

 till the plants are touching the glass. Then 

 go through, taking a small stone, raise up one 

 end of the glass with it ; this admits of a cir- 

 culation of air over the plants and hardens 

 them. In about three days more remove the 

 glass entirely. By this time they will be in 

 the rough leaf; thin out to three plants in a 

 hill, draw a little fine soil around them, up as 

 high as the seed leaf, and the work is done." 

 The Canker Worm — After testing dif- 

 ferent prescriptions for twenty years, a writer 

 in The American Agriculturist concludes 

 that the simplest and best way to barricade 

 the canker worm is to make bands of sheath- 

 ing-paper six or eight inches wide, tack them 

 around the trunks of the trees, and then 

 cover them with refuse printer's ink. The 

 ink costs 12^ cents per pound, requires from 

 two to four applications each season, and the 

 entire expense is about ten cents for each 

 tree annually. 



A New Winter Salad The Garden 



gives the following : " Ordinary buckwheat, 

 grown in a moderately warm greenhouse, and 

 cut like mustard when about two or three 

 inches high, makes a delicious winte* salad. 

 It can be grown in pans all the year round 

 without the least trouble, and even when 

 lettuces are plentiful will be found a very 

 desirable addition to the salad bowl." 



A correspondent of the Farmer's Home 

 Journal, who keeps one hundred fowls among 

 his apple trees, says they destroy every insect 

 that can injure the fruit, and he thinks they 

 off'er the best way of getting our orchards in 

 good bearing condition. 



