58 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



of tlie fruit trees belonging to tlie natural order BosacecB. They 

 may be destroyed witli hellebore powder mixed ^Yith water, and 

 applied through the rose of a watering-pot. As they hibernate 



SLUGWOEM OR SAWFLY. 



in the first three or four inches of soil, that depth should be 

 taken off and burnt. Both grubs and flies are extremely slug- 

 gish, and the latter may be shaken down on a white cloth and 

 destroyed. 



BlEDS. 



The feathered enemies are more easy to deal with than any 

 of the above ; but, with the exception of the bullfinch and the 

 sparrow, I would not advise the shooting of them. Even the latter 

 has much to recommend him to mercy. If the birds are killed 

 wholesale we destroy the balance of nature, and get afflicted with 

 a plague of insects far more difficult or impossible to exterminate. \ 

 The gun should be employed during the ripening of the fruit to 

 scare, not to kill. The warning cry has been heard from many 

 an orchard in Kent during the past summer. Of the larger J 

 animals, rabbits and hares are the most destructive during severe 

 weather. They soon destroy an orchard by barking the young 

 trees. To prevent injury, protect the stems of the trees with ' 

 branches of blackthorn or furze ; but the most sure and effective 

 plan is to use a guard of wire netting. Tar, grease, and oils 

 should not be employed, as they are injurious by stopping up the 

 air passages in the bark. 



Vegetable Enemies. 



These are of two kinds, namely, parasites and epiphytes. 

 The former are the most to be dreaded, since they attack and ; 

 destroy the living tissues of the host plants by feeding on their 



