Vol. VII.— No. 26. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



203 



" We are not asserting that yelloio sand will not 

 equally ajtply in both cases, of planting cuttings 

 of hardy evergreen trees and shrubs, both by 

 summer planting, in the open exposure, and au- 

 tumn planting, under hand-glasses ; but in all the 

 experiments we have witnessed, and throughout 

 the whole of our own practice, white sand, where 

 it could be obtained, has been invariably applied, 

 and most successfully. 



" When we reflect, that mouldiness is the chief 

 annoyance to cuttings of almost every description 

 when planted under hand-glasses ; every propa- 

 gator should strenuously guard against it : and 

 we know of notiiing so liktly to discharge wet, and 

 prevent undue retention of moisture, as sand alone ; 

 and this, in preference to every other soil and 

 compost. 



" There are few soils with wliich sand cannot 

 be intermingled to the greatest advantage in the 

 various other branches of horticulture, as well as 

 in the propagation of plants and flowers ; it be- 

 ing admirably adapted, from its loose and open 

 nature, to expand the pores of heavier, more 

 close, and adhesive soils, thereby opening the en- 

 tire mass of compost, and rendering it i)orous, and 

 open to the free admission and full expansion of 

 the delicately fine, and thread-like roots of plants 

 aJid flowers ; and in which we have most satisfac- 

 torily witnessed its singular and superior efficacy ! 

 We have known in various cases, plants to have 

 been placed in soils most opposite and ungenial 

 to tlieir natures and constitutions, and thereby 

 early inclining to decay ; but which were speedily 

 restored to their original vigor and complexion, by 

 a proper and timely application of white sand. 



• The sand wliich has invariably been found to 



We apply to our Legislature, and they make 

 laws to prevent unruly boys and others entering 

 our enclosures and pilfering our fruits ; and tliis is 

 all very well and necessary ; but I undertake to 

 say that we lose more in one season by those dep- 

 redators which no laws will intimidate, nor arm 

 of justice reach, than is lost in fifty years in the 

 way just mentioned. Hence I think that all in- 

 vestigation which may lead to an extermination, 

 or even mitigation of the evil, is exceedingly de- 

 sirnhle, and I hope, as the subject is introduced in 

 your useful pubhcation now, while our common 

 enemies have gone into " winter quarters" and 

 iriven us time to rally and prepare for a new at- 

 tack, it will be desirable that our efibrts should be 

 combined, and for this purpose that those who 

 have made discoveries of the origin, or best mode 

 of extermination of our cruel foes, should freely 

 communicate the information for the benefit of 

 the common cause. 



In one communication in a late number of the 

 Farmer, reference is jnade to a " rye shaped" in- 

 sect which is found on the apple tree. This kind 

 I have been troubled with for two or three years 

 past, on a choice apple tree in my garden, and it 

 seems they do not, like some other insects, make 

 tlieir appearance anew every year, but when once 

 tliey have got foot hold they go on increasing from 

 year to year, and probably would eventually des- 

 troy the tree entirelj'. I have tried the applica- 

 tion of strong soap suds, &c. without effect in this 

 case, and as the only effectual remedy have pro- 

 ceeded to scrape the bark until I had dislodged 

 them. They might indeed be destroyed with less 

 labor perhaps by the aiiplication of a strong solu- 

 •'iti of Potash, but as there is danger I think of 



surpass all others for general and special purposes Jnjuring the buds and tender limbs to which the 



m horticulture, is a peculiarly soft and fine white 

 sand, of an unusual smoothness, nearly as fine as 

 flour-emery, 



" Where none other than the common white 

 sand, which is unusually coarse, can be obtained, 

 tiuiall quantities of the most fine can be sifted out 

 with a fine sieve. [Or still better procured from 

 it by a little washing over. — Ed. Tech. Mep.] 



" Little argument can be necessary to convince 

 the unprejudiced florist, gardener, or amateur, of 

 the general utility of suitable sands being mixed 

 with the more cold and heavier soils ; thereby 

 rendering them open and porous to discharge all 

 copious fulls of rain, dissolving snow, &c., and 

 which tend to overcharge adhesive soils with an 

 undue proportion of moisture, and thereby to chill 

 ,Tiid starve the stock of plants and flawers." — 

 Tech. Ecp. 



FOR THE KEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



INSECTS ON FRUIT TREES. 

 Mr Fessenden — Among the many useful sub- 

 jects, which have appeared in your paper, the 

 one i-elating to '■ Insects on fruit trees" hasi been 



insects cling, I have preferred the method which 

 I have adopted ; perhaps, however, upon a larger 

 scale, a less tedious course may be found as effi- 

 cacious. 



Another correspondent in your last number, 

 mentions an appearance on one of his trees in 

 September, which resembles "fish scales closely 

 adhering to the bark, from the ground to the ends 

 of the limbs." The same appearance I have no- 

 ticed for the two last years upon a Mountain Ash 

 tree. The first year I neglected to attend to this 

 tree until the following spring, when the " scales" 

 were pretty easily washed of( with strong soap 

 suds, and I noticed no appearance of them for the 

 remainder of the season, until late in the fall, 

 when I proceeded to scrape them from the bark, 

 which may very easily be done with a small stick 

 or other simple means. I have not yet satisfied 

 myself whether this is an insect, as your corres- 

 pondent thinks, or a disease of the tree making 

 its appearance upon the surface. If the former, I 

 think they must have been deposited on the tree 

 early in the season, as there was no appearance 

 of them on the wood of the previous year's growth. 

 Another circumstance is, that, in both years they 



particularly interesting to me ; having for a few I have appeared only upon one of two trees which 

 years past, by way of pleasing amusement, tunied are planted within about a rod of each other, and 



my attention to the cultivation of a kvr choice 

 kinds. But as we find few pleasures without 

 some alloy, so I have, in common with my fellow 

 cultivators, experienced some drawback from the 

 satisfaction which would otherwise have been en- 

 joyed, in consequence of the various and destruc- 

 tive, though sometimes minute enemies which at- 

 tack most of our trees, and almost threaten to des- 

 troy our hopes. 



while the infected tree has for three or four years 

 hardly increased in size, the other, with no better 

 advantages has nearly or quite doubled, which 

 leads me to suspect it may be a disease, for why 

 should an insect attack one tree two years in suc- 

 cession, and leave the other untouched. At any 

 rate there is evidently a connexion between this 

 appearance whatever it may be, and the want of 

 vigor in the tree, but whether it is the cause or 



the effect of tliat want of vigor, I am yet at a loss 

 to determine. These trees, when planted a few 

 years since, were of equal size and equally thrifty 

 in appearance. 



I have no doubt that the application of soap 

 suds, &.C. will be etfectual in destroying most of 

 the insects which infest the bark of our trees ; but 

 if their origin could be sought out, perhaps some 

 easier and more expeditious method would be 

 equally effectual. 



I intended to have said something respecting 

 other kinds of insects, as well as the alarming dis- 

 ease which has, particularly of late, appeared 

 among our peach trees, but as this communica- 

 tion is already longer than I intended it should be, 

 I will reserve my remarks for a future opportuni- 

 ty. Yours respectfully, D. F. 



Charlesiown, Jan. 13, 1829. 



FOR THE NEW ENGL.AND FARMER. 



BUDDING FRUIT TREES. 



Mr Fessende.n — In the 2d vol. of the N. E. 

 Farmer, page 353 is a communication from Mr C. 

 Harrison, describing a mode of budding fruit 

 trees, that he had practiced, somewhat different 

 from any I have ever seen described. It is bud- 

 ding from cuttings taken from bearing trees in 

 February, ^nd preserved until wanted, in the same 

 manner as if intended for grafting — the buds to 

 be inserted as soon as the sap flows sufficiently 

 free in the spring to perform the operation. Mr 

 H. observes that he has only attempted budding 

 apples and pears in this manner, but thinks it will 

 succeed equally well with stoned fruit. If the 

 above mode of budding fruit trees has ever been 

 tried by any of your subscribers, on stoned fruit, I 

 wish the result of the experiment might be made 

 public, through the medium of your New England 

 Farmer, for the benefit of at least one 



LOVER OF GOOD FRUIT. 



Lyme, Ct. Jan. 9, 1829. 



From the Washington Telegraph. 



Mr Editor — As this is a season when severe 

 colds are very pirevalent throughout the District, I 

 have taken the liberty to send you for publication, 

 the following recipe, which I found very effectual 

 in my own case ; 



Cure for a Cold. — Take 1 teaspoonful of flax 

 seed, with two penny worth of stick liquorice, and 

 a quarter of a pound of sun raisins. Put them 

 into two quarts of soft water ; and let it simmer 

 over a slow fire, till it is reduced to one ; then add 

 to it a quarter of a pound of brown sugar candy, 

 pounded — a table spoonful of white wine vinegar 

 or lemon juice. 



JVote — The vinegar is best to be added only to 

 that quantity you are going immediately to take ; 

 for if it be jiut into the whole, it is liable in a little 

 time to grow flat. 



Directions. — Drink half a pint at going to bed, 

 and take a little when the cough is troublesome. 



This recipe generally cures the worst of colds 

 in two or three days, and if taken in time may be 

 said to be almost an infallible remedy. It is a 

 sovereign balsamic cordial for the lungs, without 

 the opening qualities, which endanger fresh colds 

 on going out. It has been known to cure colds, 

 that have almost been settled into consumption, in 

 less than three weeks. 



The preparation is a tea spoonful of vinegar to 

 half a pint of the medicine. 



