General Notices. 37 



they need a fresh supply of food ; and the lid and the floating-board have 

 each an upright peg or two fixed in them to enable him to remove either at 

 pleasure. The advantage of the whole machine is, it enables the bees of the 

 hive to which it is applied to take their food without being exposed to the 

 weather, or without molestation from the bees of other hives. 



I understood Mr. Levett to deem himself the inventor of this excellent 

 instrument ; and this may be quite true, for no one who knows Mr. Levett 

 will doubt his veracity ; but there may have been other inventors of it. On 

 my describing the instrument to Mr. James Barrett of Bury St. Edmunds 

 he stated that his late employer, the present Sir Thomas George Cullum, 

 Bart., had possessed a similar instrument nine or ten years ago, but with the 

 lid made wholly of glass. A neighbour of Mr. Levett's turns and makes the 

 bee-dishes, and sells them at 3s. 6d. each. Mr. Levett spoke very approvingly 

 of Jonas de Gelien's work called the Bee-Preserver (London, 1829, 8vo, 

 pp. 134, price 3^.). — J. D. 



To destroy Worms. — A correspondent has sent us M'Dougal's recipe, which 

 is : — Roll the lawn twice ; then water it with lime water, at the rate of one 

 pint of lime to ten gallons of water. The operation, twice performed, will 

 destroy every worm, without injuring the grass. Or, mix a quarter of an 

 ounce of corrosive sublimate with three gallons of water, and the same effect 

 will be produced. — A Subscriber. 



Wetterstedfs patent Metal. — We recommend gardeners who are curious in 

 making tallies for plants in pots to make trial of this metal. It will take 

 the impression of types or figures almost as well as lead, while it is stifFer, and 

 less likely to bend by frost or heat. It appears, also, to be equally durable as 

 lead. We are not aware that it has yet been tried for piping, either for heat- 

 ing by hot \\ater, or conveying water under ground for fountains, &c., but we 

 think it well deserves a trial for these purposes. — Cond. 



Grafting the Lilac on the Ash. — This season I grafted the different species 

 of lilac upon the common ash, in accordance with some information I re- 

 ceived from a friend (Mr. Wolff, jun.), while I lived in Paris. I do not recol- 

 lect to have seen any account of any one having tried the same in this 

 country. We had grafted here about three dozen ashes, varying from 4 ft. to 

 10 ft. in height with the common and Persian lilac j and I am happy to say 

 that the result has exceeded my most sanguine expectations ; for we have now 

 growing about twenty fine healthy plants, with branches from 1 ft. to 18 in. 

 long, which I hope, in another year, to see covered with bloom. They were 

 grafted in April, after the lilacs had made considerable shoots. I would there- 

 fore advise that the scions be taken off in January or February, in order to 

 retard their vegetating too soon for the stocks. Would not the pendulous 

 ash form a beautiful object by having its branches grafted with Persian lilac ? 

 — J. Scott. Mil/ford Nursery, Sept. 7. 1839. 



Use of Lime in Planting Trees. — In most plantations there is a loss of 

 about 8 per cent on the plants, from frost or other causes, and the great 

 object of the forester is to accelerate and secure their growth the first year. 

 On this head we can give a useful hint from the experience of Darnaway. 

 One hundred and fifty acres have, within the last two or three years, been 

 planted there without a single instance of loss, and this has been achieved by 

 a very simple process, which merits the name and the honours of a discovery. 

 It is merely putting a small quantity of lime into the hole in which the plant 

 is laid. About four bushels of lime will suffice for an acre : it is thoroughly 

 mixed and incorporated with the mould, before the plant is inserted. The 

 effect of the lime is to push on the growth of the plant in its first and most 

 precarious stage : new fibres begin to form and ramify from the taproot, and 

 not only is the growth of the plant secured, but it is advanced in a double 

 ratio, compared with the ordinary system where no lime is used. We saw 

 this pi'ocess in operation two years ago, and were not a little anxious as to 

 tbe result of the lime. We had great faith in the sagacity and practical 

 knowledge of Mr. Cutlar, the forester, but we confess we had a doubt that 



D 3 



