CA NA DIA X IfORTICUL T CRIST. 



163 



name no doubt refers the innumeral)l(> 

 mass of younji lice concealed beneath. 

 The cotton-like substance continues 

 protruding until about the first of July, 

 when the minute yellowish-white lice 

 issue forth, and attacii themselves to 

 the bark sucking tlie juices. Ihey 

 should be scraped otl" as soon as dis- 

 covered, or if too late for that, try an 

 alkaline wash of two lbs of potash to 

 seven (jts. of water, or the kerosene 

 emulsion elsewhere described. 



LIGHT ON PREVIOUS QUP:STIOXS. 



Coal Ashes. 



The following experience with coal 

 ashes by a writer in the New York 

 Tribune is worthy of note in connec- 

 tion with question 6-t. We judge the 

 good effect produced was however 

 chiefly mechanical, in whi'jh respect no 

 doubt they are beneficial. He says : — 

 One spring day some years ago I 

 dumped a barrel of coal ashes in a 

 corner of my garden. There happened 

 to be a clump of Turner raspberries 

 growing there, which, however, had 

 never before done anything worthy of 

 notice. That summer they took a new 



in life and tlirew up canes of such size 

 that the following season I gathered 

 much good fruit from them. I did not 

 forget the lesson. My garden is a 

 small one, but it is by nature of rather 

 stiff clay, and from that time till the 

 present I have put nearly all the ashes 

 from botii range and furnace into it. 



Sometimes 1 heap th(!m around the 

 trees, which they protect excellently from 

 the borer and other in.sects. SometimesI 

 spread them broadcast over the soil, or 

 use them in the compost heap. Moisten- 

 ed and mixed with ground bone I liave 

 found them useful to sow upon the 

 lawn in early spring. 



The old notion that coal ashes are 

 entirely worthless is certainly wrong. 

 Though not possessing the strong 

 chemical qualities of the wood ash 

 (except so far as wood ashes are present 

 in them), they do, I am convinced, in 

 some measure as.sist to free the undis 

 solved plant food in the soil. Of theit 

 value as a mechanical agent in lighten- 

 ing heavy soils there can be no doubt, 

 as a little experience will show any one 

 that they prevent the heaviest clay 

 from becoming lumpy, and keep it in a 

 condition easily accessible to the tender 

 feeding roots of plants. 



FRUIT CROP REPORTS. 



JUDGING by the following letters 

 from our directors concerning the 

 fruit crop prospects in their vari- 

 ous agricultural divisions, this year will 

 be one to rejoice the hearts of the fruit 

 growers. 'I he apples appear to be set- 

 ting well, even the King which usually 

 bears very lightly, and the Baldwin 

 which has been for years a miserable 

 failure in many places. Pears promise 

 to be an abundant yield, with as yet no 

 sign of spot or crack. The Heart and 

 Biggareau cherries are badly bitten by 

 the curculio already (June 13th) and 



will be very thin in consequence, but tiie 

 Black Eagle, usually a very shy bearer, 

 is heavily loaded. Peaches are showing 

 up well on little side shoots, which no 

 one would ever think of examining in 

 spring time, while the main terminal 

 branches in many parts are barren. 

 Grapes and small fruits are fairly en- 

 couraging, excepting Cuthbert rasp- 

 berries and Kittatinny blackberries, 

 which in many places are more or 

 less winter killed. < )ur readers 

 will I)e interested in the following 

 letters. 



