1849 . _THE CULTIVATOR._ 24 ? 
serymen, particularly on the continent, have been in the 
practice of growing trees for sale, for the last half cen¬ 
tury, without knowing by sight half a dozen of the hun¬ 
dreds in their catalogues. A large and noted establish¬ 
ment, which has sent trees largely to nurserymen in 
this country, it appears, does not raise a single tree, 
but purchases at reduced prices from smaller nurseries. 
No wonder then, that so large a majority of the trees 
sold from most establishments here, shouid either prove 
misnomers, or of second or third quality, for without a 
continual check, by proving the sorts, errors must mul¬ 
tiply and continue to multiply to a considerable extent, 
as they have done. 
Planting and Building. —It was very just remark 
of an eminent author, “ the works of the person who 
builds begin immediately to decay ; while the works of 
him who plants commence immediately to improve.” 
Lord Bacon also remarked, “ When nations arrive at 
civility and elegancy, men come to build stately sooner 
than to garden finely, as if gardening were the greater 
perfection.” 
Curious !—A neighboring periodical of high stand¬ 
ing, soberly copies a story of grafting the grape, by 
splitting the shoot and bud in half, from a white grape 
vine, and joining it to a corresponding half from a black 
grape vine, which after great difficulty was made to 
grow, and yielded white and black fruit on the same 
bunch, and others variegated. Now, the most feeble 
glance at the laws of vegetable growth, should satisfy 
any person, that if two buds, cut right through the 
heart, could, after such formidable mutilation, be made 
to grow, one whole side of the vine, branches and all, 
would be the white, and the other side, the black va¬ 
riety, as much so as if two distinct grafts or buds were 
set, without thus cutting them. 
Weeds in Gravel Walks. —An English gardener, 
has for more than ten years past, kept down the weeds 
in gravel walks, without any apparent bad effect, by 
sprinkling over them annually dry salt, in dry weather, 
and then sweeping it thinly and regularly with a 
broom. 
f Horticulture. —R. C. Winthrop, speaking of the 
achievements of this “fine art of common life,” says, 
“ It decorates the dwelling of the humblest laborer 
with undoubted originals, by the oldest masters, and 
places within his daily view fruit pieces such as Van 
Huy sen never painted, and landscapes such as Poussin 
could only copy.” 
A Profitable Orchard. —The American Agricul¬ 
turist says, “ A gentleman within our knowledge has 
a small orchard on the Hudson river, of less than 7 acres 
which produces from $500 to $750 worth of apples annu¬ 
ally. This is not 1 year of plenty, and another or two of 
famine, but is a regular, steady, average yield. All 
this is secured by the simplest process, viz. good man¬ 
agement.” 
f Another Orchard made profitable. —An old or¬ 
chard of four acres had not been plowed for nearly 30 
years, and was regarded by the neighbors as worthless. 
It did not yield more than eight barrels a year. It 
was well plowed, and thoroughly manured for three 
successive years, and cultivated with crops. It then 
produced two hundred and eighty barrels of apples. 
Curculio. 
L. A. Spalding of Lockport, has addressed a letter 
to our old correspondent, David Thomas, relative to the 
curculio, from which we take the following paragraphs. 
It has been long known that this troublesome insect 
avoided pavements, (Gen. Farmer , vol. ii. p. 227,) 
neither would it venture on a tree that leaned over the 
water (Gen. Far., vol. ii. p. 219 j) but we are satis¬ 
fied chat the extracts will prove interesting to pomolo- 
gists. Whether this method is cheaper than jarring 
the trees, and catching the curculio on sheets, may ad¬ 
mit of a doubt, for boys soon become very expert at this 
business. 
The idea has occurred to us whether platforms made 
of light boards to fit closely round each tree, would an¬ 
swer the same purpose. These might be laid down 
when the trees where in blossom, and removed after the 
lapse of a month or six weeks. Who will try the ex¬ 
periment? 
“ I promised to give thee the result of my experiment 
of paving under apricot and plum trees, to prevent the 
attacks of the curculio. For seven years previously I 
could raise none of the former, and but very few of the 
latter,* but the trees which I protected in this manner, 
have borne abundantly every year, while those in the 
same row which are not flagged have borne nothing. 
“ My trees are ten feet apart in the row, and the 
rows twenty-four feet apart, running east and west. 
After manuring a strip under the trees ten feet in width, 
I covered it with leached ashes two inches thick, and in 
the ashes I laid flat stones—though brick would do as 
well—and to prevent the grass and weeds growing, I 
sowed fine salt over the stones two or three times a 
year, sufficient to kill the grass; and if by the action 
of the weather, the joints between the stones became 
open, I filled them with ashes. I wash my trees once 
or twice a year with tobacco juice and soft soap, adding 
a small quantity of salt. 
. “ This year the trees are loaded as usual. Some of 
the apricots are marked by the curculio, but hardly 
enough to thin out the fruit as it should be. Such as drop 
off, are swept up, and given to the hogs. Should any 
be left, the worm could only find shelter among salt and 
ashes. 
“ This plan is cheaper than jarring the trees, and 
much more effectual, unless more perseveringly pursued 
than I could do.” 
A Curculio Catcher, 
Eds. Cultivator —I send you a description of a eqr- 
culio catcher different from what I have seen figured or 
described in any article on the subject, and which I 
think is a decided improvement on anything used for the 
purpose. It consists of a square of sheeting or cheap 
cotton cloth,- the size to correspond with the tops of 
the trees which it is to be used under: one side of the 
cloth is to be nailed to a straight pole with carpet tacks; 
the opposite side is also to be nailed to a pole with a 
division or joint in the middle, and an opening in the 
cloth to the centre, which is to be occupied by the trunk 
of the tree. The ends of the poles at the joint are to 
be fitted with a ferule or socket, into which each end is 
to be inserted; one end to be fastened permanently, the 
other so that it can be taken out when the sheet is to 
be placed around the tree and then put together again, 
which brings the opening in the sheet together, 
leaving no space for the insects to drop through. It 
will be seen that this article is convenient to be handled 
by two persons, a third person is required to jar the 
trees. Those who are willing to devote a few hours to 
this kind of work, may be sure of saving their crop of 
plums, apricots and cherries, which are often lost from 
inattention or lack of facilities for catching the critters 
i which cause the fruit to fall prematurely from the 
trees. The stick which is used to jar the trees with 
should be covered over the end w-ith several thicknesses 
of cloth, to prevent the branches from being bruised. 
I. Hildreth. Big Stream. Point, June 12, 1849. 
dtp 3 We learn that , a strange and fatal disease has 
appeared among horses in North Adams, Mass. Seve¬ 
ral have died. The symptoms are cramp, swelling, and 
difficulty of swallowing and breathing. 
