168 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



comes very troublesome and destructive, as it destroys 

 the foliage by feeding along each side of the midrib. 

 The best means for its destruction is fumigating 

 with tobacco-paper. The* first smoking generally 

 kills the old insects, but it has no effect upon the 

 larvae, so it should be repeated three times within 

 a fortnight to catch the young before they have 

 time to breed. In this way a complete clearance 

 can be speedily effected. Where tobacco-smoke can- 

 not be used, repeated sy ringings with tobacco- water, 

 two ounces of shag tobacco steeped in one gallon of 

 boiling water, will soon clear the trees, provided the 

 dressing can be applied without touching the fruit. 

 If taken in time, sponging with the liquid is a certain 

 remedy. To bacco- water should be applied after the 

 sun goes down, as the foliage does not then dry so 

 quickly, and it should be washed off before the sun 

 again strikes the roof of the house. 



Diseases are confined to gumming and mildew. 

 The first is generally caused by an accident to the 

 bark, such as bruising or neglecting to remove tight 

 ligatures, by pressure against the ironwork of the 

 trellis, or by nails on open walls. When a branch 

 is bruised it can often be saved by having all the 

 injured parts of the bark and wood pared away with 

 a sharp knife, and binding up with a strip of new 

 turfy loam to keep out the air until it is healed. 

 The same treatment applies to wounds produced by 

 the removal of large branches, a most objectionable 

 operation in the management of trees generally, stone- 

 fruit trees especially, as they are always subiect to 

 paralysis from hidden injuries received in preceding 

 years. When a branch is deeply cut with a tie, the 

 leaves ripen early, and it eventually dies. If fan 

 training is practised, a branch injured in this way 

 can generally be removed at the winter pruning 

 when the sap is down. An accident of this kind 

 cannot readily be repaired in a Seymour-trained 

 tree. When gumming is brought about by a 

 gross habit of growth, induced by the use of rich 

 manure, strong shoots should be pinched, as soon as 

 they begin to take the lead, to divide and throw the 

 sap into other and weaker channels all over the trees ; 

 and properly balanced shoots should be allowed to 

 grow to the fullest extent, as an outlet until the 

 autumn, when lifting and re-planting in poorer soil 

 will generally correct the tendency to grossness and 

 its attendant evils, gumming being one of the worst. 



Mildew. — When mildew attacks Peach-trees on 

 open walls or in houses, it can frequently be traced 

 to one or other of two extremes. The borders may 

 be cold, wet, and unfavourable to root-action, while 

 the atmosphere may be favourable to development 

 of the spores ; or the borders may be hot and dry, 



when, as is often the case amongst Roses and Peas, 

 mildew will spread as if by magic. The first case 

 can be cured by lifting, draining, and placing the 

 roots in a more genial soil; the second, by liberal 

 supplies of water to roots, leaves, and stems, and the 

 application of sulphur to the foliage when it is damp. 

 It can be syringed off at the end of twenty-four 

 hours, and repeated if necessary. Some sulphur the 

 pipes when hot, others syringe with clear sulphur- 

 water. Royal George, a variety subject to mildew 

 when grown in a cold house, should be closely 

 watched and dressed in time to prevent the fungus 

 from attacking the fruit as well as leaves. When 

 this is the case, sulphur may be applied to the fruit 

 without doing injury, provided the latter is not in 

 an advanced state, and there is time to syringe it off 

 again before it begins to change. This the woolly 

 coat of the Peach renders difficult but not impossible. 



Blistered leaves are sometimes prevalent on open 

 walls, but being unknown in Peach-houses, the cause 

 and remedy will be treated of elsewhere. 



MANURING IN THEORY AND 

 PRACTICE. 



By John J. Willis. 

 MANURES. 



MANURED supply the soil with ingredients re- 

 quired by plants, which are deficient in the land 

 either by reason of the exhaustion consequent on pre- 

 vious cropping, or from original poverty of composi- 

 tion. " To grow plants to perfection," says Cannell, 

 " the art of • Feeding ' and giving a regular and just 

 sufficient moisture is the main secret, and if either 

 is done too much or too little, the object suffers by 

 showing some slight signs of weakness, and only by 

 close observers are those signs of yellowness detected, 

 until insects commence eiting the under surface of 

 the foliage and tender skins, and as soon as the sun 

 shines the leaves become blotched from the fact of 

 the under skin and vein being severed, and scorched 

 brown by the sap not being able to flow ; hence 

 thousands of sickly-looking plants that abound in 

 almost every garden." "Want of 1 Food' is the 

 cause of market plants suddenly fading, although 

 so beautiful when purchased." 



The most complete return to the land growing 

 crops would be accomplished, by manuring it with 

 the excrements of the men and animals consuming 

 the produce. This is partially done by the applica- 

 tion of farmyard manure ; but the congregation of 

 men in cities, and the difficulty of using sewage 

 with profit, prevents this plan from being thoroughly 

 carried out. 



