General Notices. 227 



success ; for in every instance the first application proved fatal, and I am 

 nov?^ entirely rid of these destructive creatures. I apply the spirit with a 

 camers-hair brush to those parts of the plant where the insects are visible, 

 and the great facility with which it flows over the leaves, &c., renders this 

 an easy operation, and insures that such as are concealed about the bases of 

 the leaves and pseudo-bulbs shall be reached by the fluid, and effectually 

 destroyed. The quantity used is very trifling, as the plant, far from being 

 bathed with it, is merely touched where necessary. No change is made in 

 the plant's treatment, and in a few minutes the spirit having evaporated, no 

 trace of the operation can be discovered, except by the falling off of the 

 dead insects in a day or two. I have also found that the same substance is 

 equally fatal in all its stages to the tlirips, which often attacks these plants 

 in the dry, or winter season. 



Many of mj" greenhouse plants, particularly some fine Orlanders, being 

 infested to a great degree with the white scale, I was, of course, anxious to 

 get rid of such a nuisance. Common waslnng we know to be a very tedious, 

 difficult, and, after all, imporfsct remedy ; I had recourse, therefore, to the 

 use of spirit of wine, as recommended above, and had much reason to be 

 satisfied with the facility, expedition, and efficacy of its application : still it 

 was a tedious and careful operation, and it occurred to me tliat it might "^e 

 very readily and efficaciously applied in the form of vapour ; I made the 

 trial, and with great, I believe with perfect, success ; and strongly recom- 

 mend it to the attention of all horticulturists who may have occasion for a 

 remedy for the white scale, and probably other insects, with which valuable 

 or delicate plants may be infested. It may be as well to add, that the mode 

 of use is sufficiently simple : the branches of a plant 6 feet high, were tied 

 not very closely together, then introduced into a tall air-tight bag, of 

 common brown paper, made for the occasion ; under this was then placed a 

 quart pot of boiling water, over which a cup was fitted containing an ounce 

 of rectified spirit, and the bag was tied moderately close at the bottom. An 

 air-tight box, a garden light, or bag of cheap glazed calico, supported or 

 suspended over a plant would, I think, answer every ordinary occasion, at 

 very little expense ; and when necessary the spirit may be evaporated over 

 a small oil-lamp. {Gard. Chronicle, 1845, p. 134, and 240.) 



Raising Thorn Hedges from Seed. — The fruit should b-j gathered about 

 the end of October, care being taken to keep the seeds of the luxuriant 

 growing sorts separate from those of the dwarfer kinds. A ]iit should be 

 prepared about li feet deep, into which the fruit is to be put with a mixture 

 of earth or sand. It should be turned several times during the season, and 

 if dry, a little water may be added ; one or two inches of soil being a suf- 

 ficient covering to insure the decomposition of the pulp. During the fol- 

 lowing October, a piece of good ground should be prepared, and the seed 

 sown as it is taken from the pit, pretty thick in drills about one foot distant 

 from each other, or in beds three feet wide. In the succeeding spring the 

 plants will begin to appear ; at which time, and throughout the season, they 



