1867. 



NEW ENGLAND PARMER. 



S41 



(which L. W. assumes to be the function of the bark, 

 contrary to the opinion of all writers on this sub- 

 ject,) actually has a strong attraction for both, and 

 is in daily use, as a disinfectant, on account of this 

 very property. So far from obstructing the pores 

 in the bark of trees, supposing that they had any, 

 it would have h directly contrary effect, and aid 

 "nutrition" by its affinity for carbonic acid gas. 

 Supposing, again, what is not true, that any nutri- 

 tive office is performed by the bark, L. W. must 

 not expect me, nor your readers, to receive his ipse 

 dixit as to the functions of the epidermis, unless 

 supported by some acknowledged authority ; nor 

 must he expect to escape by locating the stomata 

 or pores in the bark, instead of the leaves, and then 

 applying to the former what is designed for the 

 latter. This double assumption may be ingenious ; 

 but it is not quite in accordance with scientific rules, 

 which require our reasoning to be based on estab- 

 lished facts. 



I therefore hold, that it is not "empiricism" to 

 advocate the utility of whitewashing trees ; L. W. 

 may call the late Mr. Downing, Judge Buel, Dr. 

 Harris, Dr. Fitch, &c. "charlatans" for favoring this 

 practice, but the reader will be at no great loss in 

 determining who bet.t deserves the title. The "ar- 

 boriculturist of Boston Common," so far from ma- 

 king any "mistake" in applying a "composition of 

 the consistence of paint" to the trees, acted with 

 skill and judgment, violating none of the laws of 

 vegetable life, and with the most successful results. 

 Even L. W., who has such a morbid horror of paint 

 and whitewash, admits the "trees grow and seem to 

 flourish, notwithstanding this mistaken treatment," 

 proving at any rate that such applications are harm- 

 less, and that all that can be said against them is, 

 that they are unsightly and unnecessary. On this 

 point, however, facts and observation are altogether 

 against L. W. These have conclusively demonstrat- 

 ed that lime, in the form of whitewash, is a perfect 

 protection against the attacks both of aphides and 

 borers, just as in the form of powder, it protects 

 rose bushes, cucumber vines, grape vines, &c., against 

 the ravages of their insect enemies. L. W. would 

 admit "a little soap." What! close the "pores," with 

 this viscid substance, which it is far more likely to 

 do, than whitewash ; and then, how unnatural to 

 wash trees with soap and water, as if they were dir- 

 ty babies or coal-heavers ! Analogv, instead of be- 

 ing opposed, as L. W. woulcJi^ave it, to the use of 

 artificial remedies and preventives against vegeta- 

 ble parasites, is altogether in their favor, as I have 

 already stated. When human "pediculi" are left 

 to the curative powers of "pure water," for fear of 

 "closing the pores" by oily medicated unguents, it 

 will be time enough to talk of leaving vegetable 

 parasites to the deterging influence of the same 

 agent. A tar ointment cap for tinea capitis seems 

 "a priori" as absurd and ridiculous, as a coat of 

 whitewash to a tree, but here, as always, utility is 

 the test, and the only test by which these applica- 

 tions are to be judged. It looks very ridiculous, to 

 be sure., to see the straw effigy of a man suspended 

 in our fruit trees, or corn fields, but when we find 

 thai it saves our fruit and corn from the birds, we 

 lose sight of any absurdity or ridiculousness, which 

 might otherwise be connected with such an effigy 

 so situated, and so of whitewash. Its color is quite 

 unnatural to most trees, to all perhaps except the 

 white birch and silver poplar, but it is not unseem- 

 ly, and if it were, this may well be overlooked, when 

 we remember its great utility. 



I do not deny, that we judge very much as to 

 he health and good condition of a tree, by the ap- 

 pearance of its bark, particularly the ajjple and 

 peach, but that proves nothing in regard to the 

 proper function of the bark, any more than the 

 state of the tongue, nails and hair, in the human 

 subject, prove any thing in regard to the function 

 of these organs. They merely furnish signs by 

 which we judge of the general health, and so of the 

 bark of fruit trees. 



In the seventh Vol. of the JSTew England Far- 

 mer, may be found a paper by the late Dr. Harris, 

 of Cambridge, which contains a full description of 

 th e various bark-lice which infest our fruit trees, to- 

 gether with the remedies, and among these white- 

 wash is ranked among the best. In the same wri- 

 ter's "Report on the Insects of Mass.," (1841, p. 

 202,) he remarks as follows: "The best application 

 for the destruction of the lice is a wash made of 

 two parts of soft soap and eight of water, with 

 which is to be mixed lime enough to bring it to the 

 consistence of thick whitewash. This is to be put 

 upon the trunks and limbs of the trees with a brush, 

 and as high as practicable, so as to cover the whole 

 surface, and fill the cracks in the bark." (Alas ! 

 the "pores !") The same intelligent naturalist, in 

 the fifth Vol. of the JVew England Farmer, de- 

 scribes the peach-borer, and recommends the 8am.e 

 application to prevent its ravages, and as respects 

 the canker-worms which infest our fruit and orna- 

 mental trees, he recommends "troughs filled with 

 oil, to be fastened round the trees," but, "before the 

 troughs are fastened and filled, the body of the 

 tree should be well coated with clay-paint or white- 

 wash, to absorb the oil that may fall upon it." 

 ("Report on Insects of Mass.," p. 337.) So also 

 as regards the various species of clyttis which are 

 destroying our maples, locusts and other ornamen- 

 tal trees. Dr. H. states that "whitewashing and 

 covering the trunks of the trees with grafting com- 

 position will prevent the female from depositing 

 her eggs, on them." (Lae. Cit.) Surely, "grafting 

 composition" must "close the pores," if any thing 

 would ! But I will not prolong this discussion. I 

 might support my views by even higher authority 

 than I have quoted, but it is unnecessarj'. I thought 

 that the supercilious flippancy of L. W. deserved 

 some rebuke, and it has been administered homse- 

 opathically it is true, but hoping it may have a cu- 

 rative effect notwithstanding. c. A. L. 



Berkshire, Sept. 1st, 1857. 



IS THIS ANYBODY'S PICTURE ? 



There's neighbor S . He's content with his 



farm, and believes that draining is too costly to be 

 practised, and sheds will not pay as a protection to 

 stock. He leaves a dilapidated fence in front of his 

 dwelling, backed by a row of scraggy peach trees. 

 His wood-yard is the space in front of the house, 

 consisting of an unsightly pile of green logs, to be 

 cut up as occasion requires. His barn ! the roof 

 decayed and ragged, with the boards here and there 

 missing from the sides ; an open yard, where all 

 winter a herd of lowing cattle may be seen, pinch- 

 ed with cold, and trampling their fodder under 

 their feet. His farming implements ! they are few 

 and simple. Go into the road, and there by the 

 fence — where they are carefully placed when not in 

 use — you will see them. An old wagon with an 

 older box stands there, ready to drop to pieces by 



