46 The Humming Bird. 



he knew of this, his beautiful and extensive garden was sa 

 attacked by mildew that he could scarcely raise any fruit at all, 

 and this of a very poor description. After making use of salt, 

 about four ounces for each vine, and as many pounds for each 

 fruit tree, he had the satisfaction of seeing the mildew disappear 

 completely, and now he gathers such a quantity of good fruit 

 that he scarcely knows what to do with it. 



Here, where I am living now, in the Isle of Wight, the 

 farmers have the same habit as those of Normandy and 

 Brittany, of gathering the varec on the shore, and to cart and 

 spread it in their fields in large quantities, and I am told that 

 the results are very satisfactory. Although I am quite certain 

 that the varec by itself is a good sort of manure, I attribute, 

 more especially, the success attending their operations to the 

 salt which they carry with the varec, although I am afraid that 

 they have never found it out. Therefore Salt must be con- 

 sidered as one of the best remedies against the attacks of the 

 mildew, and as a great factor in obtaining good crops, and it 

 ought to be extensively used by all, in agricultural pursuits. 



ARE ANTS OF AID TO FRUIT-GROWERS ? 



Can the ant be enlisted into the service of man and be 

 utilised for a beneficent purpose by the fruit-grower ? In this 

 country the ant is looked upon as a pest by the horticulturist 

 and gardener that must either be poisoned with arsenic, suffo- 

 cated with tobacco smoke, or drowned in boiling water ; but 

 in spite of these stereotyped ideas, there is just the possibility 

 of indiscriminately destroying an insect which, though insig- 

 nificant in stature, may, when its true value be determined, 

 prove one of the most useful aids in the orchard that can be 

 imagined. 



Though generally regarded as an unmitigated nuisance, 

 they may, when their habits are more fully known, be found 

 to be useful servants of the farmer and gardener. 



For instance, many of the leading orchardists of Southern 

 Germany and Northern Italy hold the black ant in high 

 esteem, and take measures to promote their increase. 



They establish ant hills in their orchards, and leave the 

 police service of their fruit trees entirely to their tiny colonists, 

 which pass all their time in climbing up the stems of the 



