VOIi. XI. NO. 30. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



237 



The larvse of this second brood are not trans- 

 formed to flk'S until the ensuing spring, but re- 

 main torpid in their earthen cells through the 

 winter. During the present summer many %incs 

 have been entirely stripped of their leaves by these 

 insects, and the evil seems evidently on the in- 

 crease. Air-slacked lime, which is fatal to these 

 larva;, should be dusted upon them ; and the 

 ground beneath the vines should also be strewed 

 with it or with ashes, to ensure the destruction of 

 those that fall. A solution of one pound of com- 

 mon hard soap in five or six gallons of soft water, 

 is used by English gardeners to destroy the Ten- 

 thredo of the gooseberry, and might perhaps be 

 equally destructive to that of the grape-vine. It 

 is applied warm, by means of a garden engine, 

 early in the morning or in the evening. 

 [To be continued.] 



From the Allumy Argus. 

 HINTS TO FARMERS. KO. III. 



The Garden is at once a source of profit, of 

 substantial comfort, and of high intellectual gratifi- 

 cation. Its fruits and its vegetables constitute the 

 most grateful delicacies of our tables. Its flowers 

 exhibit the exquisite pencilings of nature, calcula- 

 ted to gratify our senses, and to awaken the finer 

 feelings of our nature. Its employments elevate 

 the mind, reveal to it new sources of delight, and 

 give health and vigor to the body. Its charms are 

 alike calculated to temper the passions of youth, 

 and to solace the infirmities of age. In fine, its 

 pleasures afl:ord one of the best illustrations we can 

 possess, of the happiness of our first parents in 

 their primeval abode. So apt am I to couple in my 

 mind the culture of the garden with whatever is 

 commendable in life, that I never, in travelling from 

 home, see a neatly cultivated spot of this kind, 

 without intuitively imputing to its cultivator the 

 active exercise of the social aiid relative virtues. 



Half an acre of well cultivated garden, will go 

 farther towards subsisting a farmer's family, than 

 perhaps any three acres upon his farm, with the 

 further advantage that while its products serve to 

 gratify a diversity of taste, they materially contri 

 bate to secure the blessings of health. Its labors 

 may be managed by those who are too young or 

 too old to share in the heavier toils of the field, by 

 the female inmates of the family and the occasional 

 aid of the workmen, without impeding the opera- 

 tions on the farm. My first essays at gardening 

 were made during a period of comparative indi- 

 gence and of active mechanical employment, which 

 left me little but the usual hours of rest to devote 

 to my garden. My rural labor did not infringe 

 upon my ordinary business; and yet I managed to 

 raise, with a trifling expense, all the garden pro- 

 ductions necessary for my family. My zeal for im- 

 provement in this new business, attracted the at- 

 tention of that excellent philanthropist, the late 

 Chancellor Livingston, who encouraged my efforts 

 by presenting me trees and scions of new fruits, 

 which he had recently brought from France. I bud- 

 ded and grafted, and though my first eflbrts were 

 bungling, yet I nevertheless succeeded, with the 

 occasional purchase of [)lants from the nurseries in 

 establishing in my grounds an excellent assortment 

 of garden and orchard fruit. Thirty years' experi- 

 ence has fully satisfied me, that a garden is not 

 only profitable, but that it affords comforts and 

 pleasures which wealth cannot purchase. The pas- 

 sion for rural culture has increased with my years ; 

 and I look forward to its employments, should my 



life be mercifully spared, as the best conservator 

 of health, and the prolific source of future enjoy- 

 ments. 



In many parts of Europe, the garden is not only 

 a connnon appendage of the farm, but even of the 

 humble cottage ; and while these little improve- 

 ments effect a great economy of labor in furnish- 

 ing human subsistence, their floral decorations ex- 

 cite peculiar interest and admiration in the travel- 

 ler, and are the theme of high commendation. In 

 Wirtemburg, Badei.i, and some other of the Ger- 

 man states, this branch of labor has iiarticularly 

 engaged the attention of the governments, and 

 forms a branch of education in the primary schools. 

 A knowledge of gardening is made an indispensable 

 qualification in teachers of schools, who are required 

 to instruct their pupils, in the hours of vacation, 

 in a garden which is attached to every district 

 school. B. 



Dec. 19, 1832. 



From the Gejiesce Farmer. 

 THE NECESSITY OP LEGISLATION OBI THE 

 SUBJECT OP CANADA THISTLES. NO. IV. 



No doubt, I think, need be entertained, that it 

 is yet practicable to arrest the progress of Canada 

 thistles, and ultimately expel them from our soil. 

 Yet I have not the least expectation that these 

 resuhs, or either of them, will be realized, if no 

 other agency for the purpose is to be put in ope- 

 ration than such as may result from individual 

 enterprise. It is in vain, or almost in vain, to 

 publish the results of experience in relation to 

 the practical means of subduing Canada thistles, 

 unless we may expect to have laws on the sub- 

 ject. It is not enough to publish practicabilities. 

 To whatever extent this may be done, ahd in 

 a manner how satisfactory soever, not more than 

 one out of ten will be influenced to make any 

 eflicient eflbrt to check the progress of thistles. 

 Any thing that a minority can do in this case 

 will avail little or nothing. General and united 

 effort is, from tlie nature of the case, indispen- 

 sable. 



In writing my appeal on this subject, publish- 

 ed in the Genesee Farmer, Vol. 2. No. II. it was 

 my object to awaken the public mind to a sense 

 of the importance of legislative action on the sub- 

 ject. A schedule of a plan of operation was then 

 iven. It was not supposed that I had devised, or 

 could devise, an unexceptionable plan, or one that 

 ought to be adopted, without material modifica 

 tions. It was hoped that my humble efforts might 

 lead to useful investigations of the subject. It did 

 not appear, hov/ever, that my views were second- 

 ed at all. Perhaps they were considered, and just- 

 ly too, as visionary altogether. Be that as it may, 

 the case, in my view, had become nearly desper- 

 ate. As there appeared to be no prospect that 

 such means would be brought into use as would 

 save the country from the universal dominion of 

 Canada thistles, I had been laboring to prepare my- 

 self for submission, and thought of writing no 

 more on the subject. 



Late publications in the Genesee Farmer, on 

 the subject, and especially that of D. T., whose 

 views, so far as relates to the importance of legis- 

 lative interposition, appear to agree with my own, 

 have encouraged me to resume the subject. 

 Something obviously needs to be done, and I yet 

 indulge a glimmering of hope, that something will 

 be done to save fhe country from so great a 

 calamity as that of being overrun with Canada 

 tbistlea. 



There is an abused class of citizeLS who have 

 strong claims to the compassionate regards of the 

 legislature. There are, I am glad to say, in all 

 parts of the country, farmers in greater or less 

 numbers who desire to keep their farms in a neat 

 condition, and to «|iractise neat husbandry. If 

 they have done it hitherto, it must have required, 

 at least in many places, great exertion. They 

 will not be able to do it much longer, if Canada 

 thistles are to be free commoners. 



Although I feel a deep conviction that nothing 

 less ought, in this case, to be aimed at than the 

 entire expulsion of Canada thistles from the coun- 

 try, yet if it be thought too nmch to attempt this, 

 then let enough be done to prevent their spread- 

 ing by the dissemination of seed. It will not be 

 difticult to devise a system of public measures that 

 will secure such a result, nor will its execution 

 involve great expense. This, if nothing more can 

 be done, will afford great relief to thousands of 

 our b^st farmers, who are now suffering grievous 

 abuses, for wliich no remedy is provided. This 

 too will encourage individual effort to eradicate 

 thistles, and it may be hoped, will be the means 

 of ultimately expelling them from the country. 



Some farmers talk of Canada thistles as though 

 they were quite harmless things. They are not, 

 say they, very bad weeds — they can be subdued 

 without much difficulty, and they don't trouble 

 themselves much about them. Such farmers talk 

 very unadvisedly. They are altogether ignorant 

 of the dangerous character of Canada thistles. 

 Beyond all dispute, Canada thistles are, by many 

 degrees, the most troublesome, the most mischiev- 

 ous, and the most dangerous weeds that grow in 

 this country ; probably the worst that ever did 

 grow on tlie face of the earth. They inflict on 

 the ground the severest curse to which it was 

 doomed by the fatal apostacy. "Thorns also, and 

 thistles shall it bring forth unto thee." 



As was remarked in No. 1, it is not merely be- 

 cause Canada thistles are tenacious of life and dif- 

 ficult to be subdued, that they are to be dreaded so 

 much more than other foul weeds ; but this results 

 chiefly from their extraordinary facilities of self- 

 propagation. Otherfoul weeds, such asjohnswort 

 daises, docks, &c. are bad enough to be sure, but 

 they are susceptible of confinement. They may 

 grow in one of my neighbor's fields without tres- 

 passing upon me. Or they may grow in my own 

 fields without contaminating all the others. Not 

 so are Canada thistles. To them fence is no bar- 

 rier. The seeds of this weed, taking wings ascend 

 into the atmosphere, and there, in the car of Eolus 

 are wafted and distributed in all directions. 



Talk not then of the inofieusiveness of Canada 

 thistles. I hazard nothing in predicting, that if 

 unmolested, or if no elVorls be made to molest them, 

 except such as may result from individual pru- 

 dence, they will ere long become a tremendous 

 scourge to the country. 



I have been trying to discipline my patience so 

 as to make it hold out while I could write another 

 number on the subject of foul weeds generally, but 

 I cannot do it. I am tired of the contemplation 

 of bad weeds. It 'is fair to suppose my readem 

 will be tired too. DAN BRADLEY. 



December, 1S32. 



Keep your barn and stable clean — see that yo« 

 waste no fodder — Card your oxen and horse* 

 every day — look to your beea. 



