1864. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



191 



ALOES— TO DESTROY INSECTS ON" 

 PLANTS. 



In your journal for May, 1860, you request 

 your readers to try aloes as a protection of plants 

 from insects, and report. As I have beeu induced 

 to try it, by an article in the Southern Cnlticdtor 

 for February, 1859, page 37, giving a translation 

 from F. V. Raspail, recommending it, I will give 

 you the results of my experiment on cabbage 

 plants. 



I was very much annoyed by cut worms, very 

 often not getting more than three-fourths of a 

 stand, even after replanting several times. 



NVhen ready to set out the plants last spi-Ing, 

 (18o9) I ])ut from ^ to 1 pound of aloes in a tin 

 ])an and poured hot water over it, and I stirred it 

 until the water could dissolve no more ; I then 

 poured off the water into an empty whiskey bar- 

 rel and repeated the operation until all the aloes 

 was dissolved ; I then filled the barrel with cold 

 water, and as I. planted the cabbage, I poured the 

 solution on and around it, and did not use it any 

 more for the same- crop, and out of from 200 to 

 250 plants I had but about 15 cut ; those I re- 

 planted and watered again with the solution and 

 they did not trouble me any more this time. 



1 tried it again last fall on another piece of 

 ground in the same garden, with about the same 

 result. 



This spring I tried it again on the same piece of 

 ground as last year, and I had but five plants cut. 



I think if the solution, made much weaker, was 

 used once a week until the cabbage was too hard 

 for them to cut, it would keep ihem off entirely. 



I have not tried it on anything but cabbage. — 

 Southern Cultivator. 



■WATERING HORSES. 



The quantity as well as quality of the water 

 given a horse w ill greaty afl'ect his condition. Per- 

 haps no animal is more distressed by thirst than 

 the horse, a fact not generally known, or if known, 

 not fully appreciated. Horses should be watered 

 rajulnrly, when not at work, as well as W'hen at 

 work, provided, in the latter case, that care is 

 taken not to let him have it when overheated 

 by work. Irregularity in the supply of water is 

 often folb^wed by a refusal to jjartake of solid 

 food, and more frequently by colic and founder, 

 in consequence of his drinking inordinately when 

 an opportunity offers. For horses, when they 

 are not at work, it is perfectly safe to keep a 

 supply of pure water always within their reach ; 

 but as before remarked, theue is some danger in 

 this plan wiien they are worked or driven, and 

 are likely to become overheated. 



There is a very certain way of determining when 

 a horse has been neglected. If the master, on 

 entering the stable, and lifting the water bucket, j 

 finds the animal placing himself in an attitude of 

 expectation, and eagerly gazing upon the ves- 

 sel, it is point blank evidence that his usual sup- 

 ply of water has been withheld. Whenever it is 

 possible, let the horse have water from a run- 

 ning stream. — Stock Joui-nal. 



TuE Black Kxot. — A friend in Roxbury has 

 handed us two or three branches from different 

 trees or shrubs, that are completely covered with 

 the hluek knot of the very worst type. Neither of 

 them are from the plum tree. This is a startling 

 matter. Is this scourge to visit and gradually 

 destroy our climbing shrubs, hedges, and perhaps 

 apples and pear trees ? We hope not ; and yet 

 we see it here in its way to them all. The plum 

 crop has been nearly cut off for several years from 

 this pest, which has bafiHed all attempts to pre- 

 vent its destructive tendencies, and now it is 

 moving on to blast other common plants. We 

 hope some means may be discovered to arrest its 

 progress. 



Wilted Potatoes for Planting. — Some 

 writeVs have i-ecommended the planting of dried 

 potatoes as a preventive of the rot. A Pennsyl- 

 vania correspondent of the Rural New Yorker 

 says : 



I once overlooked a few rows dropped, which 

 remained unnoticed and consequently uncoverftl 

 during several days, and not only wilted but con- 

 siderably dried. These had the advantage in 

 the strong and healthy appearance of the tops 

 throughout the season, and in the tubers at dig- 

 ging, over those covered fresh from the pit. Cut 

 the potatoes and scatter on a little plaster, to pre- 

 vent bleeding, and allow to wilt if time and cir- 

 cumstances will admit. 



France is swarming with and devoured by in- 

 sects because she has gluttonously eaten up her 

 small birds ; which were her natural allies against 

 destructive insects. 



Covered Manures. — A late number of the 

 Journal of Agriculture contains a statement of 

 the result of an experiment made to determine 

 the relative value of manure made under cover, 

 and that exposed in the barnyard. Both manures 

 were applied to potatoes in equal quantities. The 

 yield on equal portions of land was as follows : 

 Manure from barnyard, 252 bushels per acre ; 

 manure made under cover, 297 bushels per acre. 



Cheap Paints. — The essential part of all good 

 paints properly so called, is linseed oil. Oil, if 

 well boiled, may be applied alone, and afi'ords an 

 excellent protection to hard wood and implements 

 and upon floors. Sundry substances ground very 

 fine are used to mix with the oil, and in propor- 

 tion as they thicken the oil and form an opaque 

 coating, they are said to p'ossess '"body." A pret- 

 ty good cheap paint for outside work is made by 

 mixing plaster of Paris with white lead or zinc 

 white, and grinding them together in a paint mill 

 with oil. Plaster alone may be used, and it is 

 said to form a durable and cheap paint. Of course 

 any color may be given which is desired. — Ameri- 

 can Agriculturist. 



Oil the Nails. — If you wish to drive a entail 

 into a seasoned oali timber, and not have it break 

 or bend, just have a small quantity of oil near by 

 anj dip the nail before driving, and it will never 

 fail to go. In mending carts and ploughs this is 

 of great advantage, for they are generally mo.slly 

 of oak wood. In straightening old nails before 

 using, let it be done on wood, and with easy blows. 

 If done on iron, they will be sure to break. 



