ii8 fnE FAkM. 



Suggestions to Fruit Gro-wers. — I find that lime, wood ashes and old 

 iron put around the roots of declining fruit trees have a very beneficial 

 effect, writes a fruit grower of many years' experience. These fertilizers 

 restore the tree to a healthy condition, and also greatly improve the fruit in 

 quality and quantity. I made the application on a Windsap and Never Fail, 

 about half a bushel of mixed lime and ashes to each, and dug it in with a 

 hoe some six feet around the trunk, and put the old iron immediately 

 around the base of each. 



The trees put forth with renewed vigor, bloomed abundantly, and yielded 

 a good crop of fruit. An excellent Avash for trees may be made thus: Heat 

 an ounce of salsoda to redness in an iron pot, and dissolve it in one gallon 

 of water, and while Avarm apply it to the trunk. After one applica- 

 tion the moss and old bark Avill drop off and the trunk will be quite 

 smooth. The wash has highly recuperative properties, making old trees 

 bear anew. 



I have tried soft soap as a wash with good results, and also a coating of 

 lime in the spring season, which is a fine specific for old trees. The ques- 

 tion is often asked, is it best to manure trees in the fall or spring ? I have 

 found the summer season to be a good time; I have much faith in mulching, 

 especially young trees, for several seasons after they are planted. Apple 

 trees are said to have two growths during the season — the secondary growth 

 takes place after midsummer, hence it is that a top-dressing of good manure, 

 and also coarse litter, facilitates the late growth, and often produces very 

 marked results in the habit and formation of the tree. 



The good effect that mulching has to young trees is, that it wards off the 

 intense heat of the sun from the tender roots, and also has a tendency to 

 hold moisture. A good top-dressing of stable manure in the fall, around 

 young trees, with a good many com cobs cast over the surface of the soil, 

 give satisfactory results. 



Ants on Young Trees. — An authority says that ants do not destroy 

 trees. The ants are after the lice which are hurting the trees. These Uce 

 exude a sweet substance which attracts the ants, and the ants do no harm. 

 To get rid of the lice make a solution of whale-oil soap, and add to a pailful 

 one drachm of carbolic acid. Syiinge or spray this on the under side of the 

 leaves and it will either kill or drive away the lice, and the ants will be seen 

 no more. 



Diseased Peach Trees. — The following is said to be a sure remedy for 

 the yellows in peach trees: " One jDart of saltpetre to two of salt, placed 

 close to the body of a tree before a rain. It seems not only to destroy any 

 fungoid growth of vermin which may be infesting the roots, but to act aa an 

 excellent fertilizer." 



Suggestion Regarding Apple Trees. — It is a good idea to wrap the 

 trunks of apple trees with burlap sacks, and to examine the wrappings 

 every few days, or at least every week, to ascertain if any of the gnibs or 

 worms of the codling moth have foimd their way into them, that they may 

 be destroyed. 



The Peacli Borer. — A fruit-grower placed tobacco-sterna around the 

 trunks of peach trees, and there is not the slightest sign of a borer in any ol 

 the trees so treated. He set the stems around the butts of the trees, and 

 tied them at the top. It keeps off rabbits as well iu winter. 



