303 General Mtices. 



roll up on a roller. By putting nails in the frame, the canvass v^ould 

 be a good protection for the glass, as well as leave a space for air 

 between. If nailed to wooden frames, it would form screens useful 

 for garden purposes, and is cheap. The canvass may be of any 

 thickness, according to the purpose for which it is required. — (Gard. 

 Chron.) 



Galvanic plant protectors. — An apparatus has lately been invented 

 in England, called the galvanic plant protector; and it is said to per- 

 fectly secure plants from the depredations of all such insects as can- 

 not ascend to the trees or plants by means of wings. It has ])roved 

 an effectual barrier in all cases, when tried by the inventor, who has 

 had it in operation in his garden twelve months, during which time 

 plants on all sides have sutfered severely while those which were 

 protected by the galvanic apparatus, had not been injured. It is 

 described as follows: — 



The galvanic plant protector consists of a taper or conical ring of 

 zinc, of the following dimensions: six inches diameter at top, the bot- 

 tom four and three-fourths inches, and the height four inches. The 

 top edge is flanged oft" about a quarter of an inch, and cut into nu- 

 merous zigzag or vandyked points, as represented in a drawing. 

 Immediately under this pointed flange, another ring, but of co[)per, 

 is neatly fitted, being exactly of the same taper as the former, and 

 full one inch broad, supported in its place by dots of solder, in three 

 or four places of its circumference. Such is the apparatus; its ope- 

 ration is thus: — The bottom of the zinc ring being pressed into the 

 soil, until the lower edge of the copper ring is about one and a half 

 inches above the surface, the mollusca may crawl up the zinc with 

 impunity, but on coming in contact with the cojjper, will receive a 

 galvanic shock, and immediately turn away or fall to the ground. I 

 have repeatedly watched them, and have observed they were ex- 

 tremely cautious in approaching a second time. I prefer the van- 

 dyked edge to a plain one, for this reason; if the larger of this tribe 

 attempt to stretch across and above the copper belt, avoiding contact, 

 they would be incapable of holding by the points. In fixing the gal- 

 vanic plant protector, care must be taken to enclose within the ring 

 the rods, which are attached to plants that require them for sup- 

 port, otherwise the mollusca would find a ready road to the plant 

 by the rod. The apparatus acts in wet or dry weather, and is there- 

 fore always in action. Its appearance in use is like a flower pot, and 

 its cheapness, utility and dui'ability, must insure its general adoption. 

 —{Gard. Mag.) 



[We would recommend this apparatus to the notice of our readers. 

 We intend to try it ourselves, for the destruction of the canker worm 

 grub. We think it would be impossible for them to get over it: their 

 soft bodies would form good conductors, and they would receive such 

 a shock as to throw them off". The cost of each apparatus is only 

 about 12-4 cents a foot. — Ed.] 



[Valering Planls. — Watering out-door jdants is frequently recom- 

 mended during dry weather; but it should be avoided as long as pos- 

 sible, as the benefit of artificial watering is but temporary, and it has 

 the effect of exciting the roots, thereby rendering them more liable 

 to suffer when the water has evaporated. — {Eng. Farm. Journal) 



