536 PRACTICE OF GARDENING. PART III. 



tions for watering. " Use soft water ; in winter, let water that is to be given to plants 

 stand in the house to acquire the same temperature, or warm the water to 75 degrees 

 before applying it." 



2899. From November to February, or as long as the deficiency of a strong exhaling heat in the natural cli- 

 mate makes it unsafe to let water fall into the hearts of the plants, give the water through a tube, composed 



"jointed pieces, so that it may be shortened at will, and having a funnel into which you may pour water. 



2900. From March to October it is proper to water over the leaves, excepting in the last stage of fruit and 

 plants ; let the water be warmed to 80 degrees before it is applied, which will contribute to kill several tribes 



of jointed pieces, so that it may be shortened at will, and having a funnel into which you may pour water. 



Fr 



le 

 of insects. 



2901. From the middle of October to the end of February the plants will require to be moderately watered 

 only once in eight or ten days. When they have been recently potted, they require less than at other times. 

 Under a continuance of moist and hazy weather, the plants may be kept without water for a lengthened 

 interval, without any privation : in the beginning of October and March, once a-week may be sufficient. 

 During the course of September and April, they may require watering every five days ; August, May, 

 June, and July, every three or four. If, by accident, water fall into the heart of a plant in winter, the 

 best remedy is, to shut the house close, and raise the heat something above the customary standard, that 

 the water may go off in vapor before it can injure the plant. 



2902. From the first of March to September is the season of free-excited growth, though this must commence 

 sooner, or be continued later, according to the forwardness or delay of the plant, and the desired time of 

 fruiting. During this season, the mould in the pots should be kept constantly a little moist. Maintain 

 the bark -bed in good action, when you begin to water at the root in an increased degree ; heat the air of 

 the chamber nearly to the maximum, before you at any time dew the herb, and raise it fully afterwards ; 

 for moderate humidity, corrected and exhaled by heat, will make the plants thrive. 



2903. From May to August, the time of day for watering must recede more and more from the hour of 

 noon to ten, nine, and eight in the morning ; or to three, four, or five in the afternoon, according to the 

 power of the sun. When July and August happen to be sultry, the pine, as a plant, will flourish the better 

 for a little water once in two or three days : but from pines in fruit withhold water, as the signs of ripe- 

 ness appear. In the height of summer, pour the water over the leaves, and into the centre of the plant. 

 It promotes the health of the herb, to have water standing continually in the heart of the plant, under a 

 well-sustained heat, never fluctuating more than ten degrees below 80. Shut the house close after water- 

 ing, which will cause a dewy exhalation. 



2904. Watering with drainings of the dunghill. In the growing season, about mid-day, 

 between the times of shifting the plants, pour every six or eight days a quantity of dung- 

 hill drainings on the mould, which is a compendious way of applying manure. Plants 

 making new stalks and leaves may thus be invigorated ; but after fruit is shown, only pure 

 water should be given even at the root. 



2905. Steaming the flues. Having the flues at a maximum heat, sprinkle them occa- 

 sionally with water from a rose-pan. The steam thus raised is congenial to vegetation, 

 and destructive to insects. It is a fine resource when you cannot water over the leaves. 

 ( Abercrombie. ) 



2906. Insects. The white scaly coccus, or mealy pine-bug, is the most injurious in- 

 sect to pine-apples. It adheres closely to the leaves ; and, if not removed, will in time 

 consume them, though in appearance it seems almost inanimate. It infests the vine, the 

 orange, and many plants besides the pine ; and lurking in the pots of earth plunged in 

 the bark-bed, insinuating itself into every crevice of the walls and wood-work, is not to 

 be extricated without extreme difficulty. 



2907. The brown turtle insect, or brown scaly coccus, or bug, also infests the pine. It is nearly allied in 

 form to the white scale, but is much less injurious in its effects. 



2908. The white mealy crimson-tinged insect is also enumerated by Speechly ; and by some is thought to 

 be the same as the white scale, with which it is equally injurious, " wedging itself in between the protu- 

 berances of the fruit in the most surprising manner," so as not to be got out without great difficulty, ren- 

 dering the fruit unsightly, robbing it of its juices, and rendering it deficient in flavor, and ill tasted. ( Tr. 

 on Pine, p. 133.) 



2909. Destroying insects. So many different processes have been recommended for destroying these in- 

 sects, that Abercrombie justly observes, " To devise any remedy new in principle would be difficult and 

 altogether superfluous. Of the recipes and specified methods which have fallen into disuse, or were at 

 once rejected by men of business, we shall avoid quoting any merely to say, that this is too simple to be ef- 

 fective, that too elaborate to be of practical use, and a third as fatal to the plants as to the insects. It 

 will be enough to select one or two remedies, which are safe, with a little qualification, and certainly effi- 

 cacious. The ingredients of the first prescription are met with in many recipes : to Nicol belongs the 

 credit of mixing them in the proportion recommended below. We shall previously observe, however, 

 that many experienced growers of pines concur in the opinion, that a chemical preparation is not to be 

 resorted to till the effects of a sound, cleanly course of culture have been tried." 



2910. Nicol's recipe. Take soft soap, one pound ; flowers of sulphur, one pound ; tobacco, half a pound ; 

 nux vomica, an ounce ; soft water, four gallons ; boil all these together till the liquor is reduced to three 

 gallons, and set it aside to cool. In this liquor immerse the whole plant, after the roots and leaves are 

 trimmed for potting. Plants in any other state, and which are placed in the bark-bed, may safely be wa- 

 tered over-head with the liquor reduced in strength by the addition of a third part water. As the bug 

 harbors most in the angles of the leaves, there is the better chance that the medicated water will be effec- 

 tual, because it will there remain the longest, and there its sediment will settle. The above is a remedy 

 for every species of the coccus ; and for most insects, on account of its strength and glutinous nature. Its 

 application will make the plants look dirty ; therefore, as soon as the intended effect may be supposed to 

 have followed, whatever remains of the liquor on the leaves should be washed off with clean water. It 

 would be improper to pour a decoction charged with such offensive materials over fruiting plants. Further, 

 this peculiar dose for a tenacious insect is not to be applied indiscriminately to exotics in a general stove, 

 as it might make the more delicate leaves of shrubs drop off! 



2911. M'Phail's mode consists in the application of a powerful moist heat. Of this method we have 

 already given an account, and shall only here observe, that it proceeds on the fact experimentally proved, 

 that a degree of heat and moisture, which is speedily fatal to animals, will not immediately destroy or in- 

 jure vegetable life, and this the more especially of plants of such a robust nature as the pine. 



2912. Griffin's recipe. To one gallon of soft rain-water, add eight ounces of soft green soap, one ounce of 

 tobacco, and three table-spoonfuls of turpentine ; stir and mix them well together in a -watering-pot, and 

 let them stand for a day or two. When you are going to use this mixture, stir and mix it well again, then 

 strain it through a thin cloth. If the fruit only is infested, dash the mixture over the crown and fruit, 



