June 13, 1S8S.] 



Garden and Forest. 



187 



and October. Zinnias raised now g-ive fine flowers from 

 August onward. Coreopsis corona/a and C. Dritiniiiondii are 

 bright and beautiful yellow-flowered Composites, and shoukl 

 be used liberally tor late Howers. About the end of July mil- 

 dew usually injures spring-sown Drummond Phlox, and good 

 young stock should be provided to replace the old. Put in 

 now a sowing of annual Candytuft and another a month 

 hence. Seeds of Gaillai-dia pic/a, and its variety Lorcnziana, 

 sown now will take the place of early spring stock. Corn 

 Flower raised now will bloom freely before the summer is 

 over, so will Balsams, annual Chrysanfhemumsand Mignonette. 

 The dwarf Nasturtiums are very good in their way, but I.obb's 

 varieties continue in good blooming condition longer than any 

 of the annual sorts. Potato beetles are apt to attack Nicctiana 

 affinis, and destroy its beauty before the summer is over. It 

 is well to raise a lot of young plants now, for it is one of the 

 most generous and fragrant of night-blooming plants. In fact, 

 any annual that will bloom within three months from sow- 

 ing, may be raised from seed sown by mid-June for service 

 in the fall. 



dling growth. An<l if they cannot be set out permanently as 

 soon as they are large enough for transplanting they should 

 be pricked off into other temporary beds, to keep them stocky 

 and cause them to root. well and to be in better condition fur 



planting 



\V. F. 



The Plum and the Curculio. — The plum is generallv consid- 

 ered one of the most delicious of the stone fruits, and many 

 persons prefer it to any other product of our orchards. It cer- 

 tainly would be found oftener in home fruit-gardens but for the 

 fact that the curculio has been so destructive. Occasionally, 

 fine fruit is raised in small quantities, with no other precaution 

 than keeping poultry in the yard with the trees. It has long 

 lieen known, too, that the curculio cou d be conquered by 

 suddenly jarring the trees every morning, when the insect, 

 inactive and imable to fly, drops into a sheet and is destroyed. 

 This, however, is a tedious process, and a simpler remedy 

 has long l>een desired. This seems to have been found in the 

 application of arsenical poisons in a spray, by means of a force- 

 pump with a nozzle which throws the poisoned water over the 



A Sunoia Hillside. — See page 186. 



At this time of year it may be well to sow these annuals in a 

 small plot of ground specially reserved for them, in soil which 

 should be moderately moist and very mellow. From this 

 seed bed the seedlings may be transplanted as required. 

 Should warm, dry weather set in, seeds are likely to lie dorm- 

 ant in the ground till after the next soaking rain, but in the 

 case of these succession-crop annuals we cannot afford this 

 inactivity, and they should be kept watered, and, if need be, 

 slightly shaded until after they gerniinate. In preparing the 

 ground for fine seeds to be sown in summer, in the event of 

 warm, dry weather, it is well to give the ground a thorough 

 soaking with water the day before it is dug, mellowed and 

 sown, rather than to prepare the ground while it is dry, and sow 

 the seeds and water afterwards. 



Seeds sown in rows are easier cared for than those sown 

 broadcast, and give a better chance for using a small hoe 

 between them. Seedlings should not be allowed to grow 

 up thickly in the rows, but should be thinned to prevent spin- 



tree in a fine mist. The process was described in the first 

 number of this journal, and it only needs to be added that it 

 is not yet too late to save the fruit, as the insect is just begin- 

 ning to work on the young plums. Of the forms of arsenic 

 used, London Purple seems preferable to Paris Green, being 

 cheaper and less liable to injure the foliage of the tree. It is 

 also in a finer powder, and therefore more easily kept in sus- 

 pension in the water. Three-fourths of a pound to eighty or 

 one hundred gallons of water is considered a good proportion. 

 The greatest caution should be used with poisons of this kind. 

 The hantls of the operator should be protected, and neither 

 horses nor men should be allowed to breathe the vapor. 

 Grazing animals should be kept out of the orchard for some 

 time. If a heavy rainfall, soon after the application, should 

 wash off the poison, a second application may be made. All 

 who have tried this method unite in saying that no danger can 

 come from eating the ripe fruit, as the small amount of poison 

 lodged upon it is dissipated before it matures. 



