852 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 



will sometimes be of great service. Too much soot 

 on very tender plants must be avoided, as it will 

 prove fatal at times if used too liberally ; no such 

 danger results from the charcoal dust or ashes. A 

 decoction of waste tobacco, dung, soot, burdock, or 

 elder leaves, or other materials offensive to insects, 

 in water, and applied with the watering-pot, will aid 

 in driving them away or destroying them ; and if an 

 occasional watering of soapsuds, or of a solution of 

 saltpetre be given, the benefit will be great, and the 

 growth of the plants materially assisted. 



Much of the success of the gardener depends on 

 the quality of his seed, and too much care cannot 

 be given to this point. There is a constant tenden- 

 cy in all varieties of the same plant or species to 

 intermix, or, as it is terme'd in breeding cattle, to 

 cross with each other ; and hence, unless great care 

 is taken in the growing of seed, their product may 

 not be like the original or desired variety. The value 

 of the watermelons cultivated for the New- York and 

 Philadelphia markets has greatly decreased, in con- 

 sequence of the general growth by the market gar- 

 deners of the citron melon for preserving ; the vari- 

 eties having intermixed to such a degree, that the 

 flavour of the melon has suffered materially, and its 

 rind been thickened in the same proportion. The 

 beet is another plant very liable to have its value 

 impaired by impregnation with inferior kinds; and 

 many who purchase the scarcity or the sugar-beet, 

 find the product of their seed to be some variety of 

 the common beet, or a mixture of that with the re- 

 quired sort. Cucumbers, squashes, carrots, corn, 

 and many other vegetables deteriorate for the same 

 reason ; and those who grow seed for the market, or 

 for themselves only, should be aware of these facts, 

 and plant the roots intended for seed at such dis- 

 tances from other varieties of the same plant as to 

 preclude all intermixture. 



The facihty of germination in seed, and the val- 



