THE GENESEE FARMER. 



221 



SPECIAL MANU&ES. 



Unokr this heatl, the llorliadlurist publiislies u 

 letter I'roin L. ^\'yMAN, Jr., of West Oambriilge, 

 Mas&, in wliich Gdui-d's Muriate of Lime is recoiu- 

 inended to horticulturists as the very best of nil ina- 

 tiurts for fruit trees. It may be well to inform our 

 horticultural readers that this manure has been ana- 

 lyzed recently by Prof. Joumson, of 1' ale Collage, 

 witi the loUowiug result: 



Analysis of Goulds Muriate of Lime. 



Orjifanic matter, mostly coal-dust, 6.48 



Siuid .■ 608 



Soluble Silica, coiuliiueii witU lime oralkalien, 6.79 



Sulphuric Acid,.. 62 



Lime, ,.. 43 06 



Mu{;ne.'-i;i, 2.07 



I'ei-oxyd of Iron and Alumina, 4.12 



Potash, 210 



Soda, 45 



Chlorine, 1 27 



Water, mostly combined with lime, 6 03 



Cai'boaic Aoid, 19 54 



100.00 



Two analyses of the article wei-e made, and the re- 

 ults were the same in both cases. Prof. Johnson is 

 one of the ablest and most reliable chemists in the 

 country, and it is impossible to doubt the accuracy of 

 Qie above analysis. No one at all acquainted with 

 the composition and value of manures, and the re- 

 quirements of plants, can for a moment doubt that 

 Goulds Muriate of Lime is an unmitigated humbug. 

 There is scarcely a trace of " muriate of lime " in it, 

 00 phosphoric acid, and no ammonia, actual or po- 

 tential. 



Prof. Johnson well observes: "If the specimen I 

 examined was a fair one, it is evident that the ' mu- 

 riate of lime ' is chiefly remarkable for its supplying 

 to the farmer a stuff having a value inferior to leach- 

 ed ashes." 



DWAEF TREES OF CHIITA. 



All have heard of the dwarf trees of China. 

 The dense population, the low price of labor, and 

 the general taste for horticulture, all conspire to ren- 

 der the cultivation of dwarf trees particularly attrac- 

 tive and profitable to the Chinese. Anything which 

 retards the free circulation of the sap, prevent.^, to a 

 certain extent, the formation of wood and leaves. 

 The Chinese understand this principle perfectly, and, 

 as a general rule, their system of dwarfing is founded 

 apon it But in a recent work, China and the Chi- 

 nese, a description is given of a mode of dwarfing, 

 emtiodying a somewhat diflerent principle. The 

 branch of a grown tree is covered with mould, which 

 is bound round with cloth or matting, and kept con- 

 stantly wet ; the fibres of the branch thus covered 

 soon shoot into the mould, and then the branch is 

 carefully cut from the tree, the bandage is removed, 

 and it is planted iii new earth. The fibres then be- 

 come roots, and thus that which was previously a 

 branch on the^ parent tree becomes a trunk, bearing 

 flowers and friiit. The buds at the extremity of the 

 branches which* are intended to be dwarfed, are torn 

 off as soon as they appear, and by this means the 

 branches are arrested in their growth, and other buds 

 and branches shoot out. After a certain time, sugar 

 juice is applied to the truck of the dwarf tree, by 

 which means insects are attracted, and thus the bark 

 8 injured, and that knotted appearance, peculiar to 

 eld tfees, is produced. The author says he has had 



in his possession an oak, two fee t high, bearing acorns, 

 and it^s trunk exhibiting all the exteinal marks of an 

 aged tree. He has also had oruiigc aiul citron trecH, 

 not over two feet high, bearing fruit of vciy fine fla- 

 vor. One of these orange trees had on it, at the same 

 moment, incipient buds, blossoms in full llower, fruit 

 newly set and of full size, in a green state and ripe. 

 He has also had a baniboo tree, two and a half lieet 

 high, so distoited as to represent a dragon with a 

 boy seated on his back ! 



-^^♦^ 



LiiiK Barrkls for Pukskrvino Ai'Plvs.— a cor- 

 respondent of the JYczv Jersey Farmer says: "1 

 had occasion to overhaul some apples the other day. 

 'I'hey were picked in the same orchard, and on the 

 same day, and were put away the same day; and some 

 in flour barrels and some in lime barrels. Those m 

 the flour barrels were much decayed, while those in 

 the lime barrels were sound, and but very few showed 

 any signs of decay. The apples were of the same 

 variety." 



Under certain circumstances, it is well known that 

 lime acts as an antiseptic, though under other chf- 

 cumstances it accelerates decomposition. For i»- 

 stance, it will preserve dry straw, but decompose wet 

 straw. In the above instance, the lime on the bar- 

 rels probably excluded the air, and absorbed the 

 moisture given off by the apples, and thus countoj- 

 acted two of the principal causes of decay. 



HOETICTJLTURAL OPERAnONS FOR JULY. 



It will not be too late to repeat the sowings of 

 peas, string beans, sweet corn, spinach, lettuce, radish, 

 mustard and cress. 



Peas. — To have a late supply of good peas, 

 it will be necessary to give them the best piece of 

 ground that can be commanded — for when sown on 

 poor, shallow, or very dry soil, they are almost sure 

 to be spoiled by the mildew; therefoie let the ground 

 be deeply spaded and highly manured — if trenched 

 two spades deep, so much the better. Dwarf Blue 

 Imperial, and Knight's Dwarf Marrow, will be the 

 best varieties for laie Eowings. They grow three feet 

 high. 



Dwarf Beans may still be sown, and will do 

 moderately well on poorer ground than almost any 

 other crop, although the better the ground the bet- 

 ter will be the success. Should there be more sown 

 than are wanted for the table, they will come in ea- 

 cellently well for pickling. 



ywF,ET CoRX may still be sown, up to the middle 

 of the mouth. There will be no occasion to hoe 

 the soil into hills; it will be better to sow the corn 

 on the flat surface — for there will be no danger of 

 the ground b'eing too wet or too cold at this tims of 

 the year. 



SriNACH.— Another sowing of spinach may still be 

 made, for summer use ; but it will be necessary to 

 give it a rich, moist piece of gro.uid, to enable it to 

 make large, succulent leaves. It will be found very 

 useful all through September. 



Radishes, Mustard and Cress will do excellently 

 well when sown on the north side of a wall or board 

 fence at this time of the year. They should be w,ir 

 tered every evening, in dry weather. 



Purple Egg, Cauliflower and Celery, in dry 

 and hot weather, will require frequent waterings. If 

 the eggplant aad cauliflower were planted in tronche*, 



