68 MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



On preserving Pinks, Carnations, &c, from Rabbits. — Last year my Pinks 

 and Carnations were almost entirely destroyed by rabbits during a storm, and 

 all means I could devise proved a failure. I was advised this winter to take 

 some strips of rags as broad as my hand and about a foot long, and dip them 

 into melted sulphur, and then fix them into clefted sticks about half a yard 

 high, allowing the rags to dangle about as flags, these I was to place in, and 

 around the beds at about four feet apart. I adopted the plan, and though the 

 temptation has been great during the last few weeks of storm, not one has 

 ventured to touch the Pink or jCarnation-beds, nor where I had placed a pre- 

 pared flag at the side of a single plant in the border. 



February 3, 1845. A Northern Florist. 



On Guano for Pot Plants, &c. — In reply to A. B., in a former number, on 

 Guano, I beg to inform him, that it should be mixed with about five times its bulk 

 of earth, and pot in the same any strong growing plants, as Pelargoniums, ,&c. 

 On the open border it should be given about the same strength, applying it in 

 wet weather. When the Guano comes into immediate contact with seeds it is 

 injurious to them, so that it is best to carefully mix up the same with a proper 

 quantity of soil before spreading upon the ground, afterwards dig it in. When 

 applied in a liquid state do it weakly to commence with, and as its effects are 

 soon visible, it may be regulated as appearances suggest. So very different are 

 the constitutions of plants that no exact standard can be arranged, and ex- 

 perience will dictate the best. A. 



On destroying Thkip. — Mr. J. Barnes, of Bicton, says, " I take a peck and 

 a half of soot, and put it into one hogshead of soft water, stirring it well with an 

 old broom or batten, every day for ten days or a fortnight. I then strain off - the 

 water through a fine sieve, or piece of canvass, into another tub, on a peck of 

 charcoal, and drop into it afterwards one or two lumps, or about three pounds of 

 fresh lime ; in about two days after I strain it again, and it is then clear enough 

 to svringe any plant or plants with. It will not only extirpate thrip, but many 

 other troublesome insects also ; and it is famous liquor to syringe with, whether 

 for destroying insects or not, as it induces general vigour and healthiness 

 amongst plants of all kinds." 



Moss a Protective Material from Frost. — For several years I have used 

 moss, gathered from the woods, to protect my China, Bourbon, and other Roses, 

 from frost ; and, from recent experience, am so firmly convinced of its bene- 

 ficial effects, that I feel the information cannot be too widely spread. My 

 practice has been to place round each plant a quantity of moss, in the shape of a 

 cone, averaging fifteen to eighteen inches in width at its base, nine inches at its 

 summit, and from twelve to fifteen inches in depth. We have had scarcely any 

 tnow here, so that, in the night of Tuesday, the 11th instant, the ground was 

 nearly bare of snow ; on Wednesday morning, observing that my thermometer, 

 placed on the northern side of a tree, about six feet from the ground, in an ex- 

 pustd situation, registered "26° of frost, I felt curious respecting the efficacy of 

 my moss protectives. To my agreeable surprise I found, that under cones of 

 moss not more than nine inches deep, owing to their settlement from the rains 

 of winter, the soil was not frozen in the least degree, and the young shoots and 

 buds of the Roses, at the bases of the plants, fre^h and vigorous as in the 

 mildest weather. I have hitherto recommended moss, when used as a pro- 

 tective for Roses — not to he placed in contact with the branches of the plants, 

 fearing the effects of damp during the humid weather of a great portion of our 

 winters; but, owing to my men not exactly going according to orders, many of 

 my protective cones have I een placed closely round the plants : no injury from 

 damp has resulted, and their appearance is highly promising. From having 

 thus so recently experienced the [sure and certain protection from frost that 

 moss gives, my ideas have taken a wider range, and I feel convinced that Pelar- 

 goniums, hy having their leaves taken off from the bases of their shoots towards 

 the end of October, and a cone of moss placed round each plant, may be pre- 



