516 General Notices. 



square feet of soil for the tree to grow in ? Instead of but one foot, I say 

 two, or at least eighteen inches next the wall, gradually falling to the front 

 of the border, where a drain should be made the whole length of the border, 

 three feet deep, to carry off excess of moisture. I agree with the bottom 

 being made solid at that depth, but not at a less one. In pruning tlie roots, 

 we are told to cut from the underside at a sharp angle. Now I think that 

 the incision should be at an obtuse angle. Also we are told to paint our 

 young plants where we cut their roots. Paint, of course, cannot be poison- 

 ous, or the parts touched with it would die, unless it should be one of those 

 trees tliat have tliat tenacity of life which bears almost any amount of pun- 

 ishment ; certainly that is not the peach. Newly planted trees should not 

 be pruned until June, says Mr. Cramb. Now, with due respect to Mr. 

 Cramb, I must beg to differ from him on tliat point, as our summers are not 

 too long to ripen the wood of the peach or nectarine that is pruned in March, 

 much less tliose that have to make tlieir growth and ripen tlieir wood after 

 May : I say early in April is quite late enough to prune them. The direc- 

 tions contained in the latter part of his article, I have not seen practised, 

 neitlier do I intend where I have tlie management. — [In a very light and 

 very dry soil especially, the subsoil 18 inches, or even twice 18 inches 

 deep, would be proper; but in soils where the subsoil is naturally cold 

 and inclined to be wet, we suppose most gardeners would prefer the lesser 

 depth, and this holds good with all kinds of trees. As a beginning this 

 will do very well. Try again.] — [Gard. Jour., 1850, p. 644.) 



Remedy for the Mealy Bug. — ^tlereman's fluid and Kyle's liquid 

 have been recommended for this purpose ; but as a correspondent says of 

 the latter, " he cannot get it." I do not know of any one who sells these 

 mysterious compounds ; but I can with confidence recommend a liquid free 

 from mystery, and that may be applied with safety — spirits of wine. I first 

 tried whiskey ; afterwards I used spirits of wine, dipping the young shoots 

 of justicias, clerodendrons, torenias, &c., into it, without tlieir being injured 

 in the least. I have also applied it with a feather and camel's hair pencil. 

 As a trial, let two large mealy bugs be placed on a leaf, touch one with 

 water, and the bug will remain dry and uninjured ; touch the otlier with 

 whiskey or spirits of wine, it will appear soaked through, die, and turn 

 brown directly. — {Gard. Chron., 1850, p. 550.) 



Plumbago Larpentje as a Herbaceous Plant. — I am pleased to no- 

 tice, by the Journal of September 28, that this little beauty is liliely to be- 

 come a favorite as a hardy herbaceous plant. It has proved hardy here ; and 

 not only so, but some suckers that happened to be left in the ground, when 

 most of the plants were removed in the autumn, have sprung up and bloomed 

 well. The plumbago was sown witli mignonette this summer ; and the for- 

 tuitous appearance of the blue flowers of the former have so much enhanced 

 the beauty of the latter, that I venture to recommend that from henceforth 

 every bed of mignonette be enlivened witli a few plants of Plumbago Lar- 

 pentas. I also find the Plumbago Larpentaj useful for blooming in tlie con- 

 servatory from tlie latter end of August to October ; and, when well grown, 

 it is really a beautiful object. — {Gard. Jour., 1850, p. 659.) 



