AC A 



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ACC 



Arachnidae. The following arc the 

 chief of those known to the gardener. 

 Acarus tellarhta, the Red Spide7-, is one 

 of the gardener's most troublesome 

 foes. Its colour varies from yellowish 

 to red-brown, and though almost invi- 

 sible from its minuteness, yet it preys 

 most destructively upon some trees and 

 herbaceous plants in our hot-houses, 

 jis well as upon the kidney-bean, lime 

 tree, &c., out of doors in dry summers. 

 A. holosericeus is another species, dis- 

 tinguishable to an unscienced eye 

 chiefly by its scarlet colour. To de- 

 stroy them in the hothouse, there is no 

 plan so effectual as heating the flues or 

 pipes, and sprinkling upon them sul- 

 pliur. The air is thus gently impreg- 

 nated with the vapour of sulphur, for it 

 liegins to evaporate at a heat of 170^. 

 This vapour is fatal to the insect where 

 the air is thoroughly impregnated with 

 it, and the work of destruction is com- 

 pleted by syringing the infested plants 

 with water. This last is the only prac- 

 tical remedy to plants in our borders, 

 unless they can be covered over so that 

 the fumes may be confined, whilst the 

 sulphur is volatilized over a hot-water 

 plate. Potted plants maybe submitted 

 to the vapour of sulphur in a similar 

 way. The vapour of spirit of turpen- 

 tine is said to be as effectual- as sulphur. 

 Acarm hortcnsis, the Garden Mite, tho- 

 rax ochreous, abdomen white, has been 

 found upon the roots of the cucumber, 

 upon w hich it is said to prey. I believe 

 it to be the same Acarus often so abund- 

 ant upon the root of cabbages affected 

 with the Ambury. A. genicvlatus is a 

 minute, red, shining mite, gregarious, 

 and congregating during spring in pro- 

 digious numbers upon the bark of the 

 plum and other fruit trees, near the base 

 of the twigs, and looking like a gummy 

 exudation. By extracting the sap they 

 doubtless weaken the tree, and reduce 

 its productiveness. — Card. Chron. 



ACER. Maple. Twenty- seven spe- 

 cies, all hardy trees except Acer ob/on- 

 gUTfi, which is half-hardy. The Sugar 

 Maple, A. saccharinum of the Ameri- 

 can forests, is perhaps one of the finest 

 fpecies. It forms a full round head, its 

 deep green leaves changing in autumn 

 to many shades of orange. The Silver 

 Maple, A. dcsycarpum, is a light airy 

 tree, of quick growth, and extensively 

 planted in the streets of Philadelphia. 

 A. platanoides, or Norway Maple, and 



A. pseudo-platanoides, or Sycamore, are 

 also desirable varieties. Seed, cuttings, 

 and layers. Common light garden soil. 



ACERAS. Two species, both tube- 

 rous-rooted hardy perennials. Seeds. 

 Light loam. 



ACERATIUM oppositifolium. Stove 

 evergreen shrub. Peat and loam. Cut- 

 tings. 



ACETARIOUS PLANTS. Salading. 



ACCLIMATIZATION is rendering a 

 plant capable of the production desired 

 in a climate differing from that in which 

 it is native. In our climate it is usually 

 required to induce a plant to endure 

 lower temperatures than those to which 

 it has been accustomed, and this, though 

 some are intractable, is more easy than 

 is inducing the natives of colder re- 

 gions to live in our latitudes. When a 

 new plant arrives from a tropical coun- 

 try, it is desirable to use every precau- 

 tion to avoid its loss, but so soon as it 

 has been propagated from, and the dan- 

 ger of such loss is removed, from that 

 moment ought experiments to com- 

 mence, to ascertain whether its acclima- 

 tization is attainable. That this should 

 be done is self-evident; tor the nearer 

 such a desirable point can be attained, 

 the cheaper will be its cultivation, and 

 consequently the greater will be the 

 number of those who will be able to de- 

 rive pleasure from its growth. Hence 

 it is very desirable that an extended se- 

 ries of experiments should be instituted, 

 to ascertain decisively whether many of 

 our present green-house plants would 

 not endure exposure to our winters, if 

 but slightly or not at all protected. It 

 may be laid down as a rule, that all 

 Japan plants will do so in the southern 

 states, but it remains unascertained to 

 what degree of northern latitude this 

 general^ power of endurance extends. 

 Experiment, and experimentonly, ought 

 to be relied upon ; for we know that 

 the larch was once kept in a green- 

 house in England. Many tropical 

 plants of every order and species, have 

 been found to require much less heat, 

 both during the day and during the 

 night, than gardeners of a previous cen- 

 tury believed. Other plants than those 

 already noticed have passed from the 

 tropics to our parterres, and even to 

 those of higher northern latitudes. The 

 horse chestnut is a native of the tropics, 

 but it endures uninjured the stern cli- 

 mate of Sweden. Aucuba Japonica and 



