112 
THE ELOEIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ May, 
Work for the Month. —The plants, as they pass out of bloom, will require 
moving into summer quarters. They are still growing fast, and throwing out 
the largest foliage they will ever have, like the spent primroses in shady old woods 
and hedge-banks. 
Through the summer, the Auriculas delight in being kept crisp and dewy in 
the more equable temperature, cool light, and airy shade of a clear north aspect. 
Nothing is better for their summer-house than a set of clean well-ventilated 
frames placed in the shade of a north wall, and not of trees or hedges, whence 
honey-dew and divers abominable caterpillars may drop in upon the plants. 
Keep them near the glass, and water moderately. The Auricula ever hates wet, 
and here it will require less frequent waterings. Here, too, it will be free of 
red-spider, that pest of plants that languish in a feverish dry air. An aphis 
feels at home almost anywhere, but least so where plants are kept in vigorous 
health. He is certain to come, as the swallows, with the summer, and must at all 
cost be kept off Auriculas. I use a small bristly brush against him on white- 
foliaged plants, and where I find him colonising a green-leaved one, I dip the 
plant overhead a moment in a solution of soft-soap, dissolving a handful or so in 
a bucket of water. The remedy is simple, speedy, harmless, and complete. It 
coats the enemy with a subtle varnish, and this delicately polishes him off. 
The plants may have warm gentle rain, though it is my own practice to never 
let rain fall upon them. There is great safety in keeping dry overhead a plant 
whose mortal foe is wet in a water-logged heart. Let them have all the air 
possible, but protect them against high winds, that would sadly wreck the 
foliage, and check the plants materially. If any are wanted for seed, they may 
be placed north with the rest. The pods will only ripen a little later, and the 
plants will not be distressed, as they would be in a sunny aspect.— F. D. Horner, 
Kirkhy Malzeard, Ripon. 
THE HOE AND ITS USES. 
HE Hoe is certainly one of our most useful garden tools, if used with a 
little method and thought, and not, as we often see it, carelessly and 
? slovenly driven through the ground, scraping the soil into uneven heaps, 
tearing up a few of the largest weeds—such as should never be seen at all 
at any season, and hiding (earthing-up) the smaller ones, in order to invigorate 
and encourage their future growth. 
The size of the garden hoe varies from 1 in. to 12 in. or 14 in. in width, 
and its form also varies to suit the different purposes to which it is applied. 
A workable hoe, of whatever size or shape, should be made thin, and of good 
steel. All draw-hoes should have a goose-neck, so as to work clean and easy, 
and must be set at a proper angle; the handle should be made of some light 
wood soft to the hand, and not of hard, cold, heavy-feeling wood, which is tiring 
to the user. We still find in use a good many of the old-fashioned draw-hoes, 
formed of thick soft iron, with a socket in which to fix the handle, this being 
