THE GENESEE FARMER. 



191 



uOTiawucgMf.. 



fHE AMKRICAX GOLDFINCH 

 OK YELLOW-BIED. 



roncealed within. Insects seldom bore into healthy 



(vood ; but a decayed stump or branch is always 

 full of them, and the 

 woodpecker sets to work 

 and destroys them all. 



TiiK American Gold- 

 finch or Yellow-Bxed. 

 — Every one knows this 

 pretty little bird, and 

 has noticed him perched 

 on a thistle by the road- 

 side, the seeds of which 

 are his food. But for 

 him they would in a 



Qeasure overrun the grounds of every farmer. 

 The Blue Jay. — This bird has notlnng but his 



leautiful plumage to recommend him. lie is ex- 



eedingly noisy and mis- 



hievous ; and although he 



[ves on insects, it is only 



rhen berries are not to be 



ad. He also helps to 



rive away the more use- 



i\ birds. 

 In addition to these, 



here are other birds, too 



nmerous to mention in 



Ills short article ; but we 



on not help putting in a 



rord for the Blue-Bird 



il, and the best singer of all our native birds ; and 



ne, too, peculiar to our country. lie may be seen 



erched on a rail, pouring out his melody, during 



tie sultry hours of the day ; while morning and 



ight he is unceasingly employed in picking up 



tie early worm or the drowsy beetle. 



THE BLUE JAT. 



• the prettiest, most use- 



HOKTICULTUEAL NOTES FOS THE MONTH. 



Tms is a good time to sow peas for a late crop ; 

 ut to insure success it will be necessary that the 

 round be in good tilth, deep, rich and moist, to 

 nable tJiem to stand the hot, dry month of Au- 

 ust. Many persons have a notion that peas 

 hould be sown on poor ground, because on rich 

 hey make more leaves and stalks than pods. I 

 ave never found that the ground could be too 

 ich for peas, provided they have room, and good 

 ticks to climb upon. If time can be spared when 

 be peas have set their first pods, it will be found 

 ery beneficial to the main crop to pinch off the 

 ops of the stalks a few inches. 



Sweet or Sugar Corn may still bo sown for a 

 econd crop. Sow in hills three feet apart, from 

 enter to center. If three seeds grow it will be 

 iuough. If a shovelful of good, rotten manure be 

 •ut under each hiU before sowing, it wiU be found 

 'ery beneficial. 



Lima Beans. — A good way of growing Lima 

 )ean3 is to dig a trench one foot wide and one foot 



deep ; then fill in six inches with good, rotten sta- 

 ble manure and decayed leaves; cover this over 

 with the surface soil and mix a little. Plant tho 

 beans on the top, cover one inch. When up, thin 

 out to six inches apart. Now drive stakes six feet 

 apart and five feet high, and tie or nail a pole on the 

 top of these stakes, and set thin brush along- the 

 row, like pea sticks, to enable the beans to reach 

 the pole on top of the stakes. I thutk three times 

 the quantity of beans on tlie same ground, and at 

 less expense for poles, can be grown this way than 

 in the ordinary way of hills and poles. 



String Beans. — In some warm, deep, rich 

 ground, draw drills with the corner of the hoe two 

 feet apart and two inches deep. Sow Early Six 

 Weels beans, and cover over. When up six inches, 

 draw earth up to the stems with the hoe, and keep 

 clear of weeds. 



Cucumbers and Musk Melons. — Dig holes two 

 feet square^ and one foot deep, and six feet apart; 

 fill them w'ith equal parts of turfy sods and rotten 

 manure, or mix rotten manure with the soil that 

 came out of the hole, and fill it in again. This 

 Avill raise the hill three or four inches above the 

 surrounding soil. Sow sj^ or eight seeds upon 

 each hill, and press tliem in one inch deep. When 

 well established, thin out to three plants in a hill. 

 The Early Christina Musk Melon is the best varie- 

 ty, all things considered. 



Water Melons managed this way do remarka- 

 ble well ; only make the hills eight or ten feet 

 apart. Watch well the bugs, morning and eve- 

 ning. Catch and kill every one. This, and keep- 

 ing all clear of weeds, is more readily advised than 

 done. The easiest way is to walk quickly with a 

 piece of tliin gauze, and spread it over the plants 

 before the bugs have time to fly away, you may 

 then catch and kJH them. 



Tomatoes are better when trained to espaliers, 

 or when branches of trees are laid beneath them 

 to keep them from the ground. They are not so 

 liable to rot, and wiU remain good later in tho 

 season. josiah saltee. 



Rochester, 27', T., Jime, 1859. 



Aloes to destroy Bugs, &o. — A correspondent 

 of the London Cottage Gardener recommends bitter 

 aloes to destroy the aphis and other insect marau- 

 ders. Mix half an ounce of aloes with a gallon of 

 warm water, and apply it to the infected plants by 

 means of a fine syringe or watering can, and, he says, 

 " before half an hour you will have clean plants." 

 He syringed his rose trees and cucumber plants 

 with it last season, and it not only cleared the plants 

 at the time, but there was not one on all the season 

 after ; and it does not harm the foliage in the least. 



It is well known that a solution of aloes is fatal 

 to the common bed-bug ; and another intense bitter 

 — gentian — is fatal to the house fly. Aloes is a 

 cheap drug, and we would recommend a trial of it. 



Mulch your Dahlias, if you want fine, rapid, 

 vigorous growth, and full abundant bloom. Much 

 the best substance for the purpose is the soft, 

 spongy meadow moss, but leaves and coarse mead- 

 ow hay will do. 



