Pomology, Gardening, Forestry, Horticulture, Rural Architecture, Bees. 



Vol. I. 



DES MOINES, IOWA; LEAVENWOTRH, KANSAS, MARCH, 1870. 



No. 3. 



MARK MILIiER, 



EdUor and Proprietor^ - • Des Moines^ 



J. A. NASH, Assistant, 



DES MOINES. 



J. STAYMAN, Leavenworth, Kansas. 



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For the Western Pomologist* 



White Hellebore-Remedy for Rose-Slug. 



If rose-growers at the West are as much 

 annoyed with the slug as we are here in the 

 East, any remedy for the pest, which can be 

 applied without hurtiug the foliage of the 

 bushes, cannot but be of interest for them 

 to know. In saying this, we do not forget 

 that many remedies have been proposed, 

 some of which, however, are of doubtful 

 advantage, and others of such a character as 

 to be nearly as objectionable as the malady 

 sought to be stayed. This is true, especially 

 of whale oil soap, which, though potent to 

 destroy slug, may, if not cautiously used 

 prove hurtful to the bushes; and those 

 having a lively sense of smell — a gift gener- 

 ally possessed by rose-fanciers — the contrast 

 betwixt it and the fragrance of a living rose 

 is so great as to be almost an insuperable 

 objection to its being used for such a purpose 

 at alL But be this is it may, and judging 

 from the prescriptions given in the latest 

 works on horticulture, there has not yet 

 been any thing better proposed. 



Twenty-eight years ago Loudon recom- 

 mended the powdered roots of veratrum 

 album, or the white hellebore of the shops, 

 as a remedy for caterpiller on gooseberry 

 bushes, and those who took advantage of his 

 suggestion were satisfied to find it answered 

 their purpose better than any thing previous- 



ly tried. If this substance is good against 

 caterpiller, it is no less so for ridding rose 

 bushes of the troublesome slug. For this 

 purpose it has been used about here for 

 several years, and with such good effects as 

 to satisfy every one cognizant of the facts 

 that we need seek no farther for a remedy 

 against the depredations of the slug. 



The mode of application is easy enough. 

 It is simply to sprinkle it over the bushes 

 from the hand, or out of a dredger, selecting 

 a cloudy day to do it in, or in clear weather 

 in the early moraing, at which times the 

 creatures are apt to be abroad feeding, and 

 can be more easily reached than when 

 reposing on the under side of the leaves, as 

 they generally do when the sun shines. It 

 may be as well, however, to spriuke at all 

 times so as to reach both sides of the leaves, 

 and thus leave nothing to chance. One 

 application may be sufficient in a season, 

 provided the eggs are all hatched w^ien the 

 work is done, otherwise it may be necessary 

 to repeat the dose so as to meet the case of 

 stragglers coming up in the rear. It is 

 neccssiiry also that the powder be fresh 

 when used. Of this the operator will have 

 sulilcieut evidence should any floating par- 

 ticles get into his nostrils, as there it will 

 instantly provoke an irrepressible fit of 

 sneezing. Barring this, and care being 

 taken not to let it into the eyes, I know of 

 no further danger to be apprehended from 

 its being so used. 



Much need not be said regarding the 

 botanical characters of the plant from which 

 this powder is obtained, as such information 

 can be better got from works on pure botany. 

 It may be as well to state, however, that 

 Hellebore, or Helleborus niger, is the Christ- 

 mas rose of Europe, and is sometimes met 

 with in gardens here, a plant bearing no 

 resemblance to any veratrum. Veratrum 

 album is a native of middle and southern 

 Europe. Veratrum nigrum is from Siberia, 

 from which species the genus has been most 

 appropriat/ly named, its flowers being almost 

 as black as midnight. Both of these species 

 are exceedingly interesting to those who 

 take pleasure in getting together large col- 

 lections of herbaceous plants, and are beauti- 

 ful, or otherwise according to the medium 

 through which they are seen. Veratrum 

 viride is quite common about here, growing 



mostly by the sides of rivulets or in damp 

 glades in the woods. The roots of this species 

 I take yields the white hellebore sold about 

 here ; and indeed Wood in his botany has it 

 under that name, while other authorities 

 seem to regard it as possessing much tlie 

 same medicinal qualities as the album. 



A. Veitch. 

 Hew Jlaven, Conn. 



For the "Western Pomologist. 



■Winter and Summer Pruning. 



After ten years experience and close 

 observation as to the efieots of winter or 

 summer pruning, I have fully come to the 

 conclusion, taking all things into considera- 

 tion, that winter or early spring pruning is 

 much less injurious to the tree. The last 

 season I had occasion to move some build- 

 ings and to make room for them, had to 

 move some large apple and maple trees 

 which were cut up and split into stove 

 wood. 



In these I saw convincing proof in favor 

 of winter pruning ; the roots of those that 

 were cut oft' in winter were universally 

 sound, whether healed over or not, to the 

 center of the tree, while those that were cut 

 oflT in summer, were generally sound on the 

 outside for about half an inch, but from 

 thence to the heart rotten. Since seeing 

 that effect I have given more thought to the 

 subject and carefully compared notes, and 

 although the winter pruned trees presented 

 black, unsightly and generally slow healing 

 wounds, the trees are less injured than those 

 with clean, quick healing wounds made in 

 summer pruning. I have had a great deal 

 of summer pruning done; one vineyard 

 nearly ruined by having the ends of the 

 vines twisted off to stop their rapid growth. 

 It is true that very light summer pruning 

 or pinching will do but little harm, but if 

 done in early spring before the sap starts, it 

 will do less hann. In fact I cannot say that 

 I have ever seen any ill effects from even 

 thorough pruning, if done while the trees 

 are not frozen and before the siip starts. 

 After that until the leaves are fully grown 

 no pruning should be done on any kind of 

 fruit trees. Wm. Tanner. 



Leavenworth, Kansas. 



In planting out sliade trees this spring, do not 

 get them too close together around the dwelling. 

 Plenty of sunlight is important. 



