CONTEMPORARY WRITINGS. 
52^ 
sown, and covered with some of the same 
mould, broken fine but not sifted ; then they 
are to be covered with a furze-bush, or other 
such covering, and this is to remain for some 
time after the plants are come up, but they 
must not be covered too close by it. When 
this covering is taken off, a little loose earth 
is to be drawn about the stems of the plants, 
and a little furze stuck about them to keep off 
the too great heat of the sun. Usually, from 
twelve seeds, there are eight plants or there- 
abouts, and these may be left standing toge- 
ther till the third year. In March or April, 
the third year after sowing the plants, they 
are to be removed to the place where they are 
to stand, and planted at eight feet square dis- 
tance, or greater, if desired. Two plants 
should, however, be left in the plantation in 
each cluster, and great care taken not to in- 
jure the roots of these. The others also must 
be taken up with as much earth about their 
roots as possible ; when they are set in the 
new plantation there must be stakes fixed 
near them, to tie them to, that the wind may 
not blow them down, and the roots must be 
covered with litter, and they must have a gen- 
tle watering to settle the earth to their roots. 
If the weather prove very dry, this may be 
repeated two or three times, but a little at a 
time, — over-watering kills all newset trees. 
Geape Refuse. — M. Renaudot has sent 
a paper to the Academy of Sciences in Paris, 
relating to the means by which the marc of 
grapes may be employed much more usefully 
than it is at present. M. Renaudot gives the 
details of a process by which he expects to 
obtain a spirituous liquid free from any unplea- 
sant taste or smell, in the place of the ordinary 
brandy obtained from the distillation of the 
marc, which is often tainted and never free 
fi'om an empyreumatic taste, which greatly 
diminishes its value. Instead, too, of using 
the remains of the distillation as manure, M. 
Renaudot proposes to obtain potash from them 
by calcination. — Comptes Mendus. 
Arbour making with Trees. — In this 
country very few arbours are to be seen, at 
least rustic ones. They are, however, very 
useful and ornamental in a garden ; for they 
can be formed before a cascade or an avenue, 
at cross walks, in a greenhouse or in a con- 
servatory. They are not only striking objects 
in such places, but offer an agreeable resort 
for a gentleman and his family in bright sum- 
mer days. The following plan of forming 
arbours is explained by a correspondent : — 
" I generally make them thus : — Four trees 
of one species are planted in a square, and 
trained erect until they attain the height re- 
quired, then the tops are drawn together, and 
a cut made in each from two to three inches 
long. A different species, in a pot, with four 
cuts in it, equal in length to those on the 
trees planted out, is placed between them, and 
tied together as in inarching. As soon as the 
scion is united with the stocks, I cut the four 
tops off above the union and the scion below, 
so that the four trees support the one head, 
which looks very curious, being a different 
species. I prefer deciduous trees for stocks, 
and evergreens for scions ; or evergreens for 
stocks, and deciduous trees for scions ; the 
appearance being more striking than if they 
were all of one kind. The scion is allowed to 
grow at large, but the side branches on the 
stocks are trained horizontally, or nearly so, 
until they attain sufliicient thickness to be cut 
with the hedging-shears." 
YiEGiLiA LUTE A. — TheVirgilia lutea flow- 
ers very profusely in France, but not before 
it is ten years of age on its own roots. A 
correspondent writes : — " I have seen it often 
in flower in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, 
and measured its snow-white odoriferous 
racemes, which were from a foot to a foot and 
a half in length when grown on its own roots. 
I mention that the flowers are snow-white, 
because I have seen them. I suppose it does 
not often flower in this country, for I have 
seen it mentioned in catalogues, and other 
botanical works, as bearing yellow flowers ; 
I do not know by whom this mistake is made. 
Perhaps it takes its name, lutea, from its 
wood being yellow, and not the flowers. If 
it does not flower in Britain, I advise your 
readers to work it on Sophora japonica, as is 
done by Messrs. Baumann, nurserymen, in 
France, in whose nursery it flowers very well 
in three years after grafting on young and old 
stocks, with racemes from eighteen inches to 
two feet long." 
Slugs and Snails. — There is hardly any- 
thing in the whole range of garden plagues 
much worse than slugs and snails. There is 
no season but they are present and devouring 
the crops if they be not kept under by all the 
means we know of. They may be caught in 
great numbers by laying cabbage leaves on 
the soil and taking them up twice a-day, when 
the pests will be found on the under side ; we 
have known a quart to be taken up in one 
round upon twenty rods of ground, under flat 
pieces of board or tile. Pan-tiles are especially 
tempting to them, for being arched, the slugs 
are enabled to get under without exertion, 
and a score may be picked off a single tile. 
It may be thought that in time this would thin 
them ; and if persevered in, a great deal may 
be done towards extirpating them altogether. 
Again, they are greatly incommoded by re- 
peated hoeing, raking, and stirring of the earth. 
In neglected gardens, where weeds are allowed 
to grow up in abundance, they breed so fast 
that for some time afterwards it is scarcely 
