74 



CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 



a room are white-washed. This, if done in March 

 or April annually, will effectually destroy the eggs 

 of insects, and prevent moss from growing on the 

 trunk and branches ; it will also contribute to the 

 sourishment of the tree, and render the bark heal- 

 thy, so that in the course of the first or second sum- 

 mer, a fine new bark of a fresh and green ap- 

 pearance, takes the place of the old one. If this 

 application be repeated in autumn, after the fall of 

 tne leaves, it will have a salutary tendency in de- 

 stroying the eggs of numerous insects that natch in 

 autumn and winter. For the same purpose of For- 

 syth's mixture, white-washing with lime has been 

 practised, and found very beneficial in producing 

 similar good effects. The application of strong, 

 undiluted soft soap is employed by Mr. Ogden, of 

 Flushing, Long Island. The soap applied by means 

 of a brush, destroys the moss and softens the bark, 

 and, when washed off by rain, acts as a manure to 

 the roots. When Mr. 0. began this process, his 

 trees were covered with moss and old scaly bark, 

 and uore bad crops ; but in two years all the old 

 bark dropped off, and the trunks became as smooth 

 as a young poplar. The soaping may be done ?t 

 any season, and repeated, if necessary. 



A correspondent of the Caledonian horticultural 

 society, (Scotland,) recommends clay paint for the 

 destruction of insects, and the mildew on fruit trees. 

 The instructions are, that you take a quantity of 

 the most tenacious brown clay that can be obtained; 

 diffuse among it as much soft water as will bring it 

 to the consistence of soft cream or paint ; pass it 

 through a fine sieve, so that it may be made per- 

 fectly smooth and unctuous, and freed from any 

 gritty particles. With a painter's brush dipped in 

 the clay paint, go carefully over the whole tree, 

 not excepting the young shoots. This layer, when 

 it becomes dry, forms a hard crust, which, envelop- 



