AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 201 



Dusting the bushes with air-slacked lime. I have derived no benefit 

 whatever from this. Thousands of the rascals are lying comfortabl}'^ perdu 

 on the sides of the leaves, feeding undisturbed, while you are raising all 

 this dust overhead. 



Picking them oif singly, and destroying them. I think one whole family 

 if they were smart, and as numerous as John Rodgers's, might, by work- 

 ing steadily, day and night, without stopping to eat or sleep, make out to 

 keep one bush free from these destructive creatures. 



Washing with whale oil soap suds. If the suds is too weak, it does not 

 injure the worm ; if too strong, it kills the leaf and blossom. If just 

 strong enough to finish the slug, it certainly injures the leaf and blossom 

 buds, though not fatally, as for a while they stop growing, and have a 

 glossy varnished appearance, resembling the leaf of the orange or English 

 holly. The injurious effects are probably due to closing up or obstructing 

 the minute pores in the leaf by which it breathes. And then the labor of 

 applying this remedy is pretty formidable, as it must be done every few 

 days for some weeks to effectually kill the worm. Sprinkling or syringing 

 does no good ; every leaf and twig must be fairly immersed in the liquid. 

 It requires two persons, one carrying a large tin pan, nearly full of the 

 suds, and the other (with hands protected with stout leather gloves) to 

 bend down and immerse in succession each portion of the bush. With tall 

 climbers, it is impracticable ; with hybrid perpetuals, or garden roses, 

 which should never be suffered to grow very high, it of course can be done, 

 but the result of my experience is not very encouraging. I have tried it 

 faithfully three seasons, getting scarcely any blossoms meanwhile, and 

 most of the bushes are dead, and the rest look as if they ought to be in a 

 hospital. 



Now, can I do anything more to save my roses ? We used to think, 

 keep them alive, and in time this scourge will pass away. Possibly this is 

 so, but it seems like hoping against hope. At prc.-'cnt the cultivation of 

 rosos in this region is far too much like the silk-worm business. 



REMEDY FOR THE ROSE SLUG. 



Mr. Richardson read a remedy from The Country Genthtnan. Wash 

 the bushes with a decoction of leaves of Ailanthus. 



Mr. Prince. — The rose mentioned as not affected, the Mount Joy, is a 

 prairie rose — the most of the roses affected by the slugs are foreigners- 

 There is no certain remedy for this plague that I know of; mine are not 

 affected. There seems to be a remedy in the entire destruction of roses, 

 slugs and all, in some sections of the country. 



Subjects for next meeting: Fruits, Flowers, Vegetables and Fences. 



The next Monday being the 4th of July, the (Jlub adjourned over to the 

 following Monday, July 11th, 1S59. 



11. MfCIGS, Secretary. 



