66 



THE MINIATURE FRUlT GARDEN. 



this pest ; the most efficacious I have yet found is soft 

 soap dissolved in soft water, two pounds to the gallon, 

 or the Gishurst Compound, sold by Price's Candle 

 Company, one pound to the gallon, and applied with 

 an old painter's brush. Many remedies, such as train 

 oil, spirits of tar, &c, are apt to injure the trees : it 

 must be recollected that soft soap will turn the leaves 

 brown — in fact, kill them ; but it need not be applied 

 to them, as the aphis generally fixes itself on the 

 branches. 



Here let me impress upon the lover of his garden, liv- 

 ing anywhere within reach of smoke, the necessity of 

 using the syringe: its efficacy is not half appreciated 

 by gardening amateurs. As soon as the leaves of his 

 fruit trees are fully expanded, every morning and 

 every evening, in dry weather, should the attentive 

 gardener dash on the water with an unsparing hand — 

 not with a plaything, but with the perforated common 

 syringe, such as a practical gardener would use, capa- 

 ble of pouring a sharp stream on the plant, and of 

 dislodging all the dust or soot that may have accumu- 

 lated in twelve hours. For apple and pear trees in 

 pots, or in small city gardens, this syringing is abso- 

 lutely necessary. 



Pinching the shoots of pyramidal apple trees, and, 

 indeed, exactly the same method of managing the trees 

 as given for pyramidal pears on the quince stock, may 

 be followed with a certainty of success; and the pro- 

 prietor of a very small garden may thus raise apple 

 trees which will be sure to give him much gratifica- 

 tion. To have fine fruit, the clusters should be thinned 

 in June; and small trees should not be overburdened, 



