HO 
SILENE SCHEFTA. 
around them as possible, without being in ab- 
solute contact. For instance, round an Apple- 
tree of ten years' standing, dig a trench, one 
or one and a half foot deep, at about the same 
distance from the stem that the branches ex- 
tend ; let this trench be about one foot wide ; 
then put at the bottom one and a half inch 
depth of Guano, dig it well in, and incorpo- 
rate it with the soil ; then cover up carefully, 
and press the earth down. The effect of this 
application will unquestionably be felt for 
several years. I am rather inclined to attri- 
bute this shortening of the joints chiefly to the 
action of the soluble portions of the Guano ; 
as the Pelargonium, the Orange, and many 
other plants which exhibited this appearance, 
had only been watered with its solution. But, 
in all applications to fruit trees, I recommend 
the Guano itself, as the insoluble portion con- 
tains the chief materials of the seed, to pro- 
tect and cover which fruit is formed. Where 
young trees are to be manured, a little Guano, 
dug in at the surface around the tree, as well 
as in a trench, will be advantageous. The use 
of Guano for trees probably combines another 
advantage of inestimable value ; this is, the 
destruction of the insect tribe which are buried 
in the earth, and emerge from thence with the 
warmth of spring. The coverings of these in- 
sects, when they first come out of the ground, 
are not hardened ; and, in this tender state, 
the contact with a moderately strong solution 
destroys them. I have tried experiments on 
about eight or ten various caterpillars, and 
some other insects, and have invariably found 
a solution of Guano kill them quickly, except 
when in an advanced state ; then it took a 
longer time and a stronger solution. Salt and 
oil-soap are both apt to be injurious to vege- 
tation ; but, by strewing Guano around the 
trees, and turning it in a little depth, the plant 
will be benefited, and the insects at the same 
time destroyed. My experiments on this sub- 
ject, although perfectly convincing and satis- 
factory to myself, have, for want of time, not 
been conducted with that care and precision 
which should authorize me to lay them before 
the public with requisite confidence. My last 
experiment was with the destructive grub, 
Melolontha, so well known to subsist on the 
roots of grass, of which a friend kindly sent 
me a box. Six of these white grubs were 
placed in a saucer half full of water, in which 
a teaspoonful of African Guano had been put 
and well stirred. They immediately began to 
feel uneasy, and, in about two hours, the 
whole six were dead."— P. 19. 
"With regard to liquid Guano, to be used as 
a fertilizer, not more than one pound of the 
best Guano should be used to ten gallons of 
water, and then it may be applied to growing 
crops the same as water ; but we are among 
those who regret the vast expenditure in 
Guano, while a million a-year is wasted in 
London alone in the common sewers, both in 
solid and liquid manure, of the richest, best, 
and most efficacious of all land dressings. 
But, upon the subject of Guano, we have 
already said the ordinary dressing for an acre 
should be from two-and-a-half to three hun- 
dred weight per acre, and the same proportion 
for garden crops ; and if prepared in the way 
recommended in the paragraph quoted from 
Gardening for the Million, it can be best 
put on by sowing. 
^Half-size). 
SILENE SCHAFTA. 
(G-melin.) 
schaft's catch-fly. 
This is a very pretty little hardy peren- 
nial herbaceous plant, exceedingly well adapted 
for planting on rock-work, or for growing in 
pots, with a collection of Alpine plants. It is 
quite of a prostrate character, producing many 
slender, spreading, downy stems : the leaves 
are rather small, opposite, and without stalks, 
of an oblong oval figure ; and the rosy flowers, 
which are more than an inch in length, are 
produced four or five together, at the ends of 
the little shoots. It is somewhat singular that 
the terminal flower, or that at the extremity 
of the shoot, should open before the others on 
the same shoot, which expand in succession 
from the extremity inwards. A similar mode 
of development exists in some other plants, 
and seems to be analogous to the centripetal 
development of some forms of compound in- 
florescence. 
The plant does not grow more than six 
inches or so in height, the little prostrate 
stems forming compact tufts, above which the 
flowers are elevated, and are thus seen to ad- 
vantage. The flowers are nearly an inch 
