Vegetable Physiology. 323 



unhealthy vegetation ; for it is not a transient remedy, that will 

 cease in its effects as soon as it has attained the desired end. 

 The oil dries, and, as it v/ere, forms a varnish over the epi- 

 dermis for years, unremoved by exposure to the atmosphere ; 

 and this effect is more decidedly insured, by linseed oil being 

 the kind recommended, it being one of the most unctuous and 

 quick-drying of the oils. The most effectual, most salutary, 

 and least disagreeable, is a remedy of trivial expense, and 

 which a gardener need but try upon one individual to insure 

 its adoption. It is, with a hard brush, dipped in a strong brine 

 of common salt, as often as necessary, to insure each portion of 

 the bark being moistened with it, to scrub the trunks and 

 branches of his trees at least every second year. It most 

 effectually destroys insects of all kinds, and moss ; and the 

 stimulating influence of the application and friction is pro- 

 ductive of the most beneficial effects. The expense is not so 

 much as that of dressing the trunks with a solution of lime, 

 which, however efficient in the destruction of moss, is not so 

 in the removal of insects ; is highly injurious to the trees, by 

 filling up the respiratory pores of the epidermis ; and is deci- 

 dedly a promoter of canker. Let my remedy be brought by 

 every orchardist to the test of experiment, under his own eye, 

 that it may be effectually done, and he will not require me to 

 theorise. Facts are stubborn opponents. If the fibres emitted 

 by the ivy, by which they cling to other trees for support, do 

 not aid it in obtaining nourishment, yet, by filling the respir- 

 atory pores, they are injurious, and, for other reasons, should 

 never be allowed to cling around serviceable trees. The belief 

 that ivy draws no sustenance to itself by the attaching fibres, 

 I cannot, however, subscribe to. Attached to the officers' 

 barracks at Winchester, is a very fine specimen of ivy ; its 

 trunk has been severed off to a height of more than 2 ft. from 

 the ground, yet it has for years continued a healthy vegetation. 

 That the fibres have become real roots in the interstices of the 

 wall, which is built of flints and mortar, I will not dispute ; 

 but that is only confirmatory of my belief that the ivy gains 

 nourishment by their means. 



{To be continued.) 



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