190 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR 
highly, both for its gently purgative effect and from be- 
ing free from the nauseous taste peculiar to castor oil. 
■‘I cannot state with certainty how much seed this plant 
will produce to the acre, but believe that 20 bushels is a 
moderate estimate. 
“The leaf of the plant is an excellent remedy for bowel 
complaints in children, and also in adults. For this pur- 
pose two or three leaves are put in a tumbler of water, 
which they immediately render mucilaginous, but impart 
no disagreeable taste. The negroes cultivate it for food, 
using the parched seeds with their meats. 
“1 consider it so useful that a few stalks at least should 
be raised in every garden. And I believe it will soon be 
-extensively cultivated for manufacturing oil, yielding, as 
it does, about a gallon to a bushel more than flax-seed 
-oil. 
“I doubt whether it will mature well north of latitude 
36°. It should be planted as soon as the frost is out of 
the ground. Poor land is best suited to its production, as 
it branches too much in rich soil, because the pods are 
more likely to shatter from the branches than from a single 
up-right stem. The seeds should be planted in drills 3 
feet apart and 6 inches distance along the drill.” 
KEEP FRUIT TREES STRAIGHT. 
Trees in an open inclosure often acquire a leaning posi- 
tion from the prevailing winds. This should not be suf- 
fered beyond a certain stage of the tree. When as large 
as one’s wrist, they should be set up erect, and, indeed, 
thrown into the wind at an angle of ten orfiffeen degrees; 
in order to bring them ultimately into a straight position 
This is best done by o!)taining crotched limbs from the 
woods, eight to twelve feet long, and planting the butt end 
which should be sharpened, on the ground, and the crotch 
end either against the trunk, immediately beneath the 
branching point, or against a large outer limb, if mon 
convenient, securing it from chafing in the crotch, by a 
padding of straw, or litter, and setting the tree at once U[i 
to the desired angle of elevation. Loosen, also, the 
ground on the windward side of the root so that it will 
not bind, and the w'ork is accomfilished. Let thi.s be 
done when the tree begins to make its summer growth, 
-or soonafi.er leafing out. One season, if the tree is thrifty, 
will be all thiit i.s required. If however, it be obstinate- 
repeat the trial anoiher year. The remedy is sure. Even 
large trees, whic.h have acquired a permanent lean, ma\ 
he thrown into an erect posture, by loosening the earth 
the root, and occasionally cutting otf ati o bstinate large 
root, without injury to its- growth, and thus be inacb 
sightly. An erect tree will be longer lived, and more fruit 
mi than . a leaning one, and not half so subject to casual- 
ly as if Jefi to its ovvo truid-mce' — 
V iGEc.^Eur. G \RDEv. — Tiie ear.iness of crop^ is much 
accelerated by the application of thoroughly de^'ornposeh 
manure at liie time of sowing ; the matters for absorptioi 
are thus pre-ented in a highly concentrated form to tin 
mots, and the filants more speedily at maturiiy. Much 
abso depeo'fs on the state of the soil at the ti-ne ofsnwioir 
It is .surprisinji' tliat so little, atleniiiin is ^tven to draining 
by those who are interested in seconrii; e :r!y crops; drain- 
ed i>:roiind is dlway.s in a fit condition for working mucl- 
so mer th-rn th.-at undraine-1. nrainin-j, also, hytheitreat 
er eifii-if-ncv it conf-rs on wafer as a solvent of plant f lod 
increases the availaide supply of the soil, and the rapidity 
of thi.s supply depends upon the aggregate surfice of’ pa-*- 
licles presented to the dissolving: aj^Piu Reduce a soil, 
iherefore, u.n'-l the roots of phmts will have an increa.s'e’ 
pas'urage. ffence the lienefit of repeated culture such aS 
digCT-n^. forlcinir hoeing, &c , and lienee, alsti, the bene- 
ificial influence of frosts on soil. Frost is not a fertilizer, 
but as water expands in freezing, and as the crystals of 
ice pervade the entire substance, a diminution of the par- 
ticles follows after thawing, increasing the soluble sur- 
face. So tar from diminishing the necessity of applying 
manures, the increased power of manufacture thus confer- 
red on the soil must be accompanied by an increased sup- 
ply of the r.aw material, if a permanent benefit is to be re- 
alized. — Ezekwnge. 
THE CURCUEIO — QUERIES. 
Editors Southern Cultivator— P ermit me to ask a 
few questions : 
1st. The Curculio punctures the young fruit and de- 
posits its eggs; the worm then hatches, lives upon the 
fruit and grows with its growth and strengthens with 'its 
strength;” and arriving at maturity during the maturity 
of the fruit, cuts its way out and enters the ground to 
pass through its transformations. 
The lime of its various stages of exitslance in the form 
of worm, chysalis and butterfly, is fixed (such is the case 
with other insects.) 
If those facts are true (as they are supposed to be) how 
then will a curculio, depositing a portion of its eggs on 
the Early Tiilotson (ripening the middle of June), and 
another portion on the Baldwin's Laie OvHober, find in 
both the proper condition for maintaining its young 1 
Or, if it be said that it raises two or more broods the 
.•<ame season, will not the October Peach be too old firm by 
the time the brood from the early peach is ready for its 
next attack 1 
2d. What becomes of the Curculio when all the stem 
*ruit is destroyed ? and how does it exist and propagate 
us species through the season I 
Remarks — The Curculio very seldom attacks Peach- 
es ; besides, the early as well as the late peaches bloom 
nearly at the same perioi, and their development during 
the early pait of the existence of the fruit is nearly the 
same. Thus the Curculio might deposit the eggs in 
either and cause them to drop, never troubling himself 
ibuut the season of ripening. We understand, however, 
hat the Curculio is not found in Florida. The reason 
<iven is that the summer is so long that the chrysalis will 
ijas.s through all the stages of transformation and come out 
ID the autumn, when there is nothing for him to deposit 
ms ej^gs on, and consequenily the breed will be dastroy- 
ed.— E ds. 
TREES, IMSECT.'k, &(■. 
At a late meeting of the xMew York “Farmers’ Club,” 
Vlr. Pell, the great orchardist, read a paper on Trees, 
iom which we take the following extracts: 
The disi ruction of insecis that prey upon our trees 
nu-^t not be indiscriminate Many wage war upon n.mles, 
ybi-’h ought not to be destroyed In their subterraneous 
xcavaiions they destroy thousands of gruirs. The des- 
ruciion of cro'ws muiuphes noxious in.se(-ts iha: do lucon- 
eivabiy greater damage to our corn-fit Ids ih.in the eiows. 
never permit them to lie killeii. 1 he fb s.-^ian fly, and 
ifteen thousand other insects, so hnniidable in our wheat 
ields. may be outwitted by steep>ingihe sefcd,as)d .sowing 
ar!y in well lilled ground 
The few that escape will be devoured by tluir relent- 
ess enemy, the ycihsw lord I'he iViotli (gort\n,i zea) 
lestroys our Indian corn by peneirating ilie sn-ok just 
bove the surface of the ground —and the -igroiis segt turn, 
he ndcr routs. My remedy is 1 ite |)!an iiig. 
The wire worm destroys our grass fields To prevent 
US depiedaiions 1 use lime freely as a lop dressing — Iron*. 
