v'>i« xvti. \o. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



45 



at the beginning of a stage ; afterwards increase 

 the paco, and slacken it again a mile or two before 

 the end of it, so as to bring liim tolerably cool into 

 the stable. 



If horses come in very warm, thoy should bo 

 walked about gradually til! cool, their feet should 

 then be picked, and all dirt and gravel carefully 

 washed out. In hot weather, washing their legs 

 is proper, but they should always be well rubbed 

 afterwards. In winter, cold water is injuriAus to 

 the heels, and apt to bring on swelling and the 

 grease. 



Horses should on no account be permitted to 

 stand uncovered in the stable, much less at the 

 stable doors after being much heated, except the 

 weather be very warm. Road horses .should in the 

 midd'.e of a long stage have half a pail of water 

 mixed with a little oatmeal ; and on a journey, if 

 no other corn but what is soft and new can be pro- 

 cured, oatmeal just moistened with water or some 

 coarse bread, should be given in preference to such 

 corn, which is extremely unwholesome. If a horse 

 grow costive, let him have some niashes of scalded 

 bran or malt. If he have any difficulty in staleing 

 only, an ounce of nitre may be given in his food 

 for a few niohts. 



Should he be seized with a violent fit of the 

 gripes, let him be bled, back-raked, and have a 

 Oyster of three or four quarts of wafer gruel mixed 

 with eight ounces of glauber or common salt. 



The best instrument for giving a glyster is a^ 

 ox bladder, that will hold two or three quarts, tied 

 to the end of a wooden pipe about fourteen inches 

 long, one inch and a half diameter where the bag 

 is tied, and of a gradual taper to the extremity,, 

 where the thickness should suddenly iiicrease, and 

 be rounded off at the point, and made as snioc'b as 

 possible. The hole through the pipe may be made 

 sulKciently large to admit the end of a common 

 funnel for pouring the liquor into the bag ; no other 

 force is requisite to throw it up, than the holding 

 the bag a little higher than the \evei of the pipe. 

 If in consequence of violent inflammation and pain, 

 and opiates should be necessary, a table spoonful 

 of laudanum may be given in a pint of water. 



Should a horse be touched in his wind, be very 

 careful that he has only moderate quantities of 

 food and water at a time. Two spoonfuls of tar 

 mixed with the yolk of an egg given in a morning 

 fasting will be of great service to him when trav- 

 elling. In hot dry weather, it is useful to stop 

 horse's feet at night with a mixture of soft clay 

 and cow dung, and to njoisten them frequently with 

 water. 



FRICTION. 



The currying, brushing, and rubbing down. hor- 

 ses is of great importance, not only to their coats, 

 but also to their general health ; when these opera- 

 tions are neglected, or slightly performed, an ob- 

 struction takes place in the pores of the skin pro- 

 ducing mange, &c. and the hair instead of Joeing 

 smooth and shining, stares, and stands on end. 

 Nothing tends so much to prevent grease and swel- 

 ling of the legs, as frequent hard rubbing and care- 

 fully cleaning the heels. 



TRIMMING. 



The ears of horses are covered with a short down 

 in the inside, mixed with larger hairs, to prevent 

 cold air, rain, dust and flies from hurting the inter- 

 nal ear. The trimming therefore this part, is very 

 prejudicial to the horse. 



HINTS ON PRUNING FOREST TREES. 

 • There were five competitors for the Highland 

 Society's ten guinea premium, offered for the best 

 essay on the pruning of forest trees, — a business 

 which, to be sure, is not yet much practised among 

 us ; but as many of the principles which govern in 

 the oper.ation, apply in the pruning of fruit and or- 

 namental trees, we shall state some of them. The 

 essays are not published entire, but a digest of 

 them is given by William Scott, one of the direc- 

 tors, who states, that on aU the leading points, ex- 

 cept as to the time of priming, there is almost a 

 perfect coincidence of opinion expressed in them 

 all. 



Is pruning benefciul ? " Although pruning in 

 ordinary cases does not ultimately increase the 

 weight or bulk of wood, yet trees which are early 

 a.ni judiciously pruned, will be improved in quality, 

 increased in their useful dimensions and ultimate 

 value, and a great number can be grown on a given 

 space." 



2. TViiiming the plants,tis they advance ii: growth, 

 is deemed indispensable. 



4. Pruning should be begun early, and the direc- 

 tions for pruning, coming as they mostly do fi-om 

 professional nurserymen, are worth remembering : — 

 " When trees in the plantation have produced three 

 or very thriving two years growth, pruning should 

 be commenced. At this period the knife is the most 

 suitable instrument, and the top is the principal 

 part of the plant which requires attention. In order 

 that only one shoot may be allowed to remain as a 

 leader, the others next in size, if not very inferior, 

 should be headed down, generally to about one half 

 the length, and all the stout lateral ^branches of the 

 tree headed in the same manner. No such bran- 

 ches need be cut close to the stem at the first, 

 second, or third pruning." "All suckers or bran- 

 ches that spring from the roots, which tend to make 

 the plant more like a bush than a tree, should be 

 taken away." 



4. Error to be avoided. The practice of cutting 

 away the side branches to a certain height, at the 

 first pruning, and afterwards to operate only on the 

 under branches of the tree, is reprobated as tending 

 to produce a small trunk, an irregular top, and side 

 branches more vigorous than the leader. Under 

 this management, in " exposed places, not one in a 

 hundred ever becomes a large and valuable tree." 

 " Such an excess of amputation destroys the health 

 of the tree, by depriving it of the organs by which 

 a sufficiency of sap is secured [elaborated] to be af- 

 terwards converted into wood." 



5. The leading shoot should be preserved, and 

 all others checked which have a tendency to com- 

 pete with it, so as to divide the stem into forks or 

 clefts. 



6. " The writers agree in opinion," says Mr Scott, 

 " that young trees should not be* pruned at once 

 close to the stem, but that the larger branches 

 which it may be necessary to cut away, should be 

 shortened first, and cut close afterwards." As de- 

 ciduous trees give out an irregular tier of branches 

 yearly, any branch should be shortened which is of 

 greater length than the majority of those on the 

 same tier; or, if the whole of them be too long, 

 they must be shortened. By the concentration of 

 tht sap, which the shortening effects, a much great- 

 er quantity 'is thrown into the main stem," the 

 leaves are much larger, the foliage healthier, and 

 the tree shoots up much fiister, and at the same 

 time maintains a proportional circumference of 

 stem. 



The objects of the pruner should be " to give, in 

 trees of advanced size, twice the length of the trunh 

 to that of the top, in good soil ; and in poor soil to 

 leave the top as long as the trunk ; and 2d. to have 

 one inch in circumference to 1.5 feet of height ; and 

 if the circumference is proportioniibly gro.iter, so 

 much the better." 



With regard to coniferous trees, as the silver fir, 

 spruce, pine.s, &c. it is objected to their being 

 pruned, in any soU or situation. 



The opinions of the writers as to the best season 

 of pruning are variant. One recommends April to 

 June ; another before the buds swell ; another in 

 autumn, &c. and Mr Scott, to reconcile the con- 

 tradictory opinions, proposes to prune "a little be- 

 fore the buds begin to swell, — or a little while af- 

 ter the leaves havi' expanded." We repeat — lat« 

 in June. — Cultivator. 



RfTCIPE FOR TAKI.»iG HIVES WITHOUT DE3TR0T- 



ING THE BFEs. — Having always thought that there 

 was great inhumanity in the old plan of destroying 

 the bees, in order to take the honey, we determined 

 to try the more humane plan practised by the French 

 of robbing them of their sweets without depriving 

 them of life, and we have put the plan twice into 

 operation the present season with entire success. 

 And as, besides the humanity of the process, it has 

 economy to recommend it, we deem it our duty to 

 lay the method before our readers, in the hope that 

 we may be instrumental in saving many lives of 

 those industrious workmen, and of securing their 

 labors to tlieir owners for numbers of years. The 

 method, which is easy, is as follows: 



In the dusk of the evening, when the bees are 

 quietly lodged, place a tub near the hive, tlien turn 

 the hive over with Ws bottom upwards into the tub, 

 Cover the hive with t\ clean one, which must be pre- 

 viously prepared by washing its inside with salt and 

 water, and rubbing it with hickory leaves, thyme, 

 or some other aromatic leaves or herbs. Having 

 carefully adjusted the mouth of each hive to the 

 other, so that no aperture remains between them, 

 take a small stick and gently beat round the sides 

 of the full hive for about 15 minutes, in which time 

 the bees will leave their cells in the lower hive, as- 

 cend and adhere to the upper one. Then gently 

 lift the new hive with all its little tenants, and 

 place it on tlie stand from which the other hive was 

 taken. 



This should be done about midsummer, so as to 

 allow the bees time to provide a new stock of hon- 

 ey for winter's use. If care be observed no danger 

 need be apprehended. — Baltimore Farmer. 



Corn. — The growth of corn for a propitious sea- 

 son has been so rapid, it is to be regretted that our 

 farming friends have not planted larger quantities 

 of this valuable grain. A friend at our elbow in- 

 forms us that he measured corn, which had been 

 in the ground but six weeks, and it had tlien grown 

 a fraction over six feet He also informs us that a 

 gentleman measured a patch of corn, which had 

 been planted fiftyseven days, and found it sixty in- 

 ches in height. This is tolerably well ior Penob- 

 scot, it does not come up to some planted by our 

 friend Harlow of the Herald, which grew one foot 

 in 48 hours! — Bangor Mechanic. 



Sir Humphrey Davy says, that the refuse salt in 

 Cornwall wliich contains some of the oil and exupia 

 of Jish, has long been known as an admirable ma- 

 nure. 



