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the seed from being eaten. The greatest part 

 of the substance need remains in the husk, 

 which the animal rejects. 



The most effectual means is the employment 

 of arsenic ; this not only preserves the seed 

 from decay, but if eaten by the vermin, it des- 

 troys them, being so strongly poisonous. By 

 using arsenic in a soluble form, such as the ar- 

 senite of soda, it may be added to the grain in 

 perfectly definite proportions. 



Boussmgault's prooess is as follows : — A sol- 

 ution of arsenite of soda is prepared, which 

 contains 67 grammes of arsenious acid in the 

 litre. Of this arsenical solution 3^ litres are 

 taken and added to 12^ litres of water. A 

 hectolitre of corn is placed in a large tub, and 

 these 16 litres of mixture are added, the corn 

 being continually stirred. In about an hour 

 the whole of the liquid is absorbed, and the 

 grain is then dried. It is, of course, necessary 

 to exercise extreme care in using the arsenical 

 solution and it is well to color it strongly by 

 the addition of sulphate of iron and prussiate 

 of potash, so that its presence would be readily 

 betrayed. 



This steeping is not an unprofitable aff'air,for 

 it first effectually preserves the harvest, and, 

 secondly, by killing the vermin which might 

 devour it, converts them into useful manure. — 

 £. Atkinton Ph. D., PhMosophical Magazine, 

 {English,) No. 76. 



Over-Feeding Plants. 



A correspondent of the American Agriculturist 

 writes: 



I have found by experience that ynang fruit 

 trees and some flowering shrubs wers often in- 

 jured by over-feeding. For many years I lost all 

 my cherry trees. I planted them around my 

 yards, and gave them the richest soil I could 

 gather. They grew finely; some bore g^ood crops. 

 Id a few years they split from the branches to 

 the roots, and in a few years more they died. 



I fonnd in journals that this splitting was sup- 

 posed to be induced by the heat of the sun, for 

 they generally occurred on the southwest side of 

 the trunk, where the sun shone the hottest. I 

 soon observed, however, that . the cherry trees 

 never split when they grew on a poor soil ; so 

 when I discovered them to cbeck, I at once re- 

 moved all the soil for five or six feet around them 

 and supplied its place with loam or poor grav- 

 elly matter. Since then, not one has split, and 

 I presume they never will. When cherry trees 

 are large and old, they may be safely manured, 

 for their energies are spent in bearing fruit, and 

 they grow but slowly. 



Pear trees are more easily surfeited than cher- 

 ry trees, bat it affects them differently. When 

 overmanured, the leaves coming out of the new 

 wood at the ends of the twigs, instead of being 

 one inch or more apart, eome out in a cluster or 

 bundle, and the limb ceases growing at once. 



A few years ago I procured a fine young pear 

 tree, and wishini; it to grow and bear as soon as 

 M possible, I planted it in the range of the low- 

 est point ef my barnyard, so as to receive the 



draioiags of the manure. The new leaves all 

 over it came out in thick bundles or whorls. I 

 immediately removed all the earth from over the 

 roots and filled the space with yellow loam, and 

 turned the drain from it. In two weeks ihe new 

 wood shot out and put forth its leaves, nearly 

 two inches apart, and made a fine growth. I 

 once manur(,d an apple orchard of seventy trees, 

 and every twig threw out the same whorls^ wood 

 ceased growing. The tips of all dried, and I lost 

 one year's growth. So I find trees as well as 

 men and other animals can be over-fed and sur- 

 feited. JAMES FOUNTAIN. 

 JBrricRsoit Valley, N.Y., Jan. 25, 1857. 



From the Ohio CultiTator. 



Praetieal Hints on the Goltnre of Tines. 



WATER MELONS. 



Soil and laying out. — The best soil for the 

 water melon is a rich black loam, such as our 

 black ash sWales, welldifained and plowed very 

 deep, and thoroughly pulverized. The rows 

 should be marked out at least ten feet apart 

 each way. I know that it looks like wasting 

 land when planting, and in the early tending 

 of the crop; but the reverse is true — if you 

 wish to lose the use of your land and also your 

 labor, plow about five or six inches deep, and 

 plant four or five feet apart each way, and you 

 will be very sure to succeed. 



Seed and Planting. — The next all important 

 point is to select good seed; which is not difB- 

 cult, as they can be obtained at almost any 

 country town of any size. But most persons 

 plant any thing, rather than pay fifty cents or 

 a dollar tor good seeds. The Mountain Sweet 

 is the best in the list. I always buy the 

 Wetherfield seeds, and have ever found them 

 true to their kinds. Drop five or six seeds to 

 the hill. It is better to raise the hills about 

 three inches high before dropping the seeds, 

 and then cover one inch thick with mellow soil. 



Cultivation. — The best thing to tend with 

 is the cultivator, and the young vines cannot 

 receive attention too soon. As soon as they are 

 fairly up and spread out their two broad leaves, 

 hoe them up as high as possible without cover- 

 ing them up. This I have ever found to be the 

 best preventive against the striped bug — that 

 pest of all vines. Keep the ground well stirred, 

 and the weeds under perfect subjection, till the 

 vines are large enough to be beyond the power 

 for harm of the striped bug, then thin to two 

 plants in each hill. I would say one, but some 

 mishap might kill that one, and then the hill 

 would be lost. It requires some courage, Mr. 

 Editor, after you have nursed your vines for a 

 month or more, to pull them up and throw them 

 away, but how disagreeable the task, it is abso- 

 lutely necessary to obtain good crops. For the 

 next dressing we plow them, throwing the fur- 

 row to the rows and finishing in the middle, 

 thus making a ridge for each row wide enough 

 to not dry out readily. All that is necessary 

 afterwards, is to keep the weeds down till the 

 melons begin to ripen. 



Snbaking Thieves. — Look out that your 



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