HORTICULTURE. 



309 



wafted hither by the wind, or " en-romk-re.l by the 

 hazy" eatl. When some fine weather has induced the 

 blossom to expand itself prematurely, and frost super, 

 renes, blight very often ensues. It is not therefore dc- 

 srntble, especially in the northern parts of Ui i'.atn, that 

 fruit trees hould come early into flower : on the con- 

 trary it would be advantageous if the flowering 

 retarded. Various devices are resorted to for protect- 

 arly blossom, <f me of which have already been 

 described. $ 84. 



543. What is called mjfoca'ion is very commonly in- 

 duced by the stems and branches being overgrown 

 lichens and mosaes ; an evil to which the trees in 

 uhl orchards, where perhaps the bottom is naturally 

 moist, and has not been drained, are peculiarly liable. 

 The remedy is simple, consisting in rubbing off the 

 parasitical plant*, an operation which is much more 

 easily and effectually performed in wet than in dry 

 weather. A round-mouthed iron scraper is sometimes 

 ned fur this purpose ; but one of hard wood answers 

 perfectly wrll The trunk and larger branches are af- 

 t. rwards Irird swept with a birchen rubber, and it is 

 found very useful, even after both these operations, to 

 wash the branches with old soap-suds or any penetra- 

 ting liijiiiil. or to apply a coating, of the consistence 

 of paint, of a mixture of equal part* of quicklime, cow 

 dang and day. 



irtimes Uotcbrt or dark spots appear, termi- 

 nating in ulcer*. If these occur on old branches, the 

 best remedy is to cut off the dinaied part*, if practica- 

 ble, and to'apply a platter. This may be composed of 

 hone-droppings and clay wrought together, these in- 

 gredient* being fo-.ind to answer every useful purpose. 

 . however prefer a mixture of cow dung and old 

 lime; and where the wwvls are small, this is more 

 easily applied. This last, indeed, i* very nearly For- 

 yth's composition,'' the specification of which, the 

 reader may like to *ee. It is a* follows: Take one 

 bushel of fresh cow.dun g, half a I > > hel of Ihne-rnbbif h 

 of old buildings, half * bushel of wood-a*he*, and a 

 sixteenth part of a bushel of pit or river land ; the 

 three lat article* to be jilted fine before the)- be mix- 

 ed : then work them well together with a ipade, and 

 afterwards with a wooden beater, until the stuff is very 

 *e fineplaaUr uatd for the ceiling* of room*. 

 Chamber-rye and soapsuds are to be added, till it ! 

 reduced to the consistence of a pretty thick paint, whirh 

 may be applied to the tree* with a painter's brush. 

 The application of such plaster* or paints, it may here 

 be remarked, i* proper wherever any accident ha* occur- 

 red to fruit tree*, or where large brandies arc I'.j.ped off. 

 In some cases, especially in peach-tree*, blotches ap- 

 pear on the ymrag shoots, which mart of eoone be en- 

 ed. Mr 



removed. TUr Kinment, gardener at Murie hi 

 Scotland, has aaaigntd some reasons for believing that 

 ' blotches on the young wood of the peach-tree. 



1 by the groM feeding of the tree*; in other 

 words, he observed, that blotches always occurred on 

 tree* where the border* were manured with simple 

 dungs, but that where freih : il or well prepared com- 

 post only wu added to the border, the tree* continued 

 in a healthy state. 



II,.-'. 546. When a tree become* AtaV bomd, or when the 



Mad bad. Item swells too fast for the bark, the usual remedy is, 

 with a knife, to *core or divide the outer bark longi- 

 tudinally in various place*. 



5+6. In case* where the outer bark haa become rough 

 and full of chink*, *o that small iruecta deposit? their 

 egg* and produce their larva; below this bark, it i* a 

 good practice entirely to remove it. Thi* lort of decor- 



'>t. : C1 - 



ticntion is by no means a novelty in gardening ; it is' 

 recommended by several of the authors mentioned in 

 the introduction to this article. Thus, Le Gendre, 

 (5 10.) writing about 1650, says, " Those trees which 

 hnvt their bark base, you must with a bill take away 

 the old bark to the quick ; for the trees being thus 

 cleared and discharged, do shoot forth with new 

 strength, bearing fairer and better nourished fruit." 

 (Translation, p/136*.) And Hitt ( 1+) who wrote in 

 17/i*, recommends for tree* that have been neglected 

 or ill dressed, " taking otf the old rind, nm! 

 cankered parts, thus destroying many insect*, as aio 

 their eggs, concealed in these places." ( Trmli.e on 

 Fruit Trees, 3d edit. p. 271.) Of late years Mr Knight 

 practised decorticntion 0:1 some old fruit trees, particu- 

 larly red-streak apples, and found the new growth 

 thus produced quite surprising, so that the growth of 

 some trees deprived of their external bark in 1801, ex- 

 ceeded in the summer of 1802, the increase of the five 

 preceding years taken together. (Treatue on 

 and Pear, 41 h edit p. 86. ) 



?> 1-7. More recently, a zealous horticulturist at Edin- 

 burgh. Mr P. Lyon, surgeon, has culled the attention 

 o! the public to the advantages of decortication. At 

 first Mr Lyon recommended the removal of the bark 

 only in cases where it was cracked and rugged, and 

 chiefly with the view of destroying the ova of insects ; 

 but of late hennas inculcated the stripping off the outer 

 bark even of young tret*, and of the new shoots of full 

 grown tree*, even where the bark i* sound and heal- 

 thy. The beneficial effect* of the former practi, 

 have repeatedly witnessed ; old tree* which usually bore 

 very little fruit and produced little new wood, becom- 

 ing, after the removal of the outer bark, fruitful and 

 rather exuberant in the production of *boot*: the fruit, 

 however, though plentiful, ha* in general been f smal- 

 ler iize than u<ual. The depriving young trees and 

 new shoots of their bark i* quite a different thing: 

 we know that it is the earneat endeavour of many ex- 

 cellent practical gardener* to keep the lurk on, pro- 

 vided they can pnaai> it in a clean and . !.;, 

 We shall only, therefore, for an explanation ot Un part 

 of Mr Lyon doctrines, refer to his book, cut 

 " A Treatise on the Physiology and Pathology of 1 

 tree*," 8o. F.din. 1 H 1 (i, warning the reader that ha 

 must make allowance for no small proportion of extra- 

 neon* natter. 



548. In order to clear tree*, especially wall-tree*, of in- 

 sects and their eggs and larvir, and to pYevent the breed- 

 ing of these, the trunk, branches and even twigs, are, 

 by careful horticulturists, regularly washed with some 

 penetrating liquid every winter. Some of the most ex- 

 perienced practical gardener* in Scotland have followed 

 tin* plan, tnliou* and laborious although it may seem, 

 for a number of yean past, and have found the great- 

 eat benefit result from it. They have very generally 

 adopted a mixture recommended by Mr Nicol, and 

 hi* writings, therefore, the recipe filial! be given : 

 " Take of soft soap, 2lb. ; flowers of sulphur, 'Jib. ; leaf 

 or roll tobacco, 3 ID. ; nux voinica, 4oz. ; turpentine, a 

 gill Engliah measure. These ingredients are to be 

 boiled in eight gallons English of soft or river water, 

 down to six gallons." This mixture is applied, by 

 means of a house-painter's brush and a sponge, gene- 

 rally when in a milk-warm state. All the branches in 

 succession are loosened from the wall, and completely 

 nibbed or anointed on every side, particular attention 

 being paid to the cleanting of angles or cavities. If the 

 tree* have been much overrun with insects, even the 

 wall should be anointed, or the trellis in the case of 



Dire* 



of 1'lanu.- 



