November 22. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
95 
i 
are, Astropcca, a poor tiling except the foliage, and the 
three Musas; the Coffee-tree, Cocoloba, Coolcia, Qhry- 
sophylla, Eugenia, Hura, Mammea,Psidium, and Sugar 
cane, although all good in their way, are not adapted 
to the “ multum inparvo ” system. Instead of devot¬ 
ing the back wall to apricot and peach trees, which 
are of doubtful success, we recommend it to be occu¬ 
pied by the Passion-flower, Psidium (guava), Mam- 
mea, and Eugenia, all fruit-bearers; or, to those who 
prefer a flne surface of foliage, the Ficus elasticus 
(Indian-rubber tree) and the Chrysophyllum macro- 
pJiyllum. We take this opportunity to observe that 
conical boilers are not suited for coals that will cake. 
THE EEUIT-GARDEN. 
Order of Business through the Winter.— 
“ Order is heaven’s first law,” according to our poet, 
and in no profession are the benefits resulting from 
an orderly or methodical course more extensive than 
in gardening. We consider the present an impor¬ 
tant period to the fruit gardener—more so, perhaps, 
than any through the whole year; and we think it 
will be well to give a kind of epitome, of a perspec¬ 
tive character, of the main points in fruit-gardening 
during the dormant season, or up to the blossoming 
period in fruit trees, when all arrangements neces¬ 
sary in the meanwhile must be completed. 
Planting. —To this we must first draw attention. 
But as we have done so before somewhat recently, 
our remarks may be few. The chief point is to 
watch the weather, and to plant when it can be done 
safely and efficiently. This becomes necessary for a 
double reason—first, on account of the welfare of 
the trees; and, secondly, because no one kind of 
business in a garden can proceed in a continuous 
way, to the total exclusion of everything else. It 
is generally recommended to plant in wet wea¬ 
ther. We by no means think such a course the 
best; nevertheless, the air should not be dry at the 
time. All good and careful planters keep a water- 
pot, and perhaps a syringe, by them at the time of re¬ 
moval, for it is not well to use the water-pot rose 
liberally when there is a ball of earth attached to the 
plant; it will so loosen the ball as frequently to de¬ 
tach a considerable portion—indeed, a slight dewing 
with the syringe is all that is needed, the object not 
being to make the roots wet, but to prevent them be¬ 
coming dry. 
Wall Trees. —Another consideration is to go over 
the walls as soon as possible, and to draw away all 
superfluous bandages, nails, shreds, &c., both par¬ 
tially from the old wood, and totally from the young 
shoots. This must be done preparatory to pruning; 
but there is yet another reason—the shreds must be 
picked over, proved, and cleansed, the nails polished, 
and the whole placed under gardening quarantine. 
By the latter I mean that steps must be taken to de¬ 
stroy insects and their eggs. The best way, after 
passing every one of the shreds through the hands, 
and proving by a tug whether they will endure ano¬ 
ther season, is, when the whole is collected, to sub¬ 
ject them to a strong heat, either dry or moist. A 
heat of nearly two hundred degrees will be neces¬ 
sary, and that for nearly an hour; for it is astonish¬ 
ing what a high temperature some of the rogues will 
endure. Of course, if water has been used they will 
be spread out and carefully dried afterwards, and 
then stored away in a proper place for use. 
As to the nails, those which have lost their points 
will be rejected; the others should be shook in a 
coarse sack: this operation, which is often practised 
in seed-shops in order to brighten samples of seeds, 
may not be generally known beyond that circle—we 
therefore describe it. A small portion of the article 
is put in the sack, and two persons, one at each end 
of the sack, take hold of the two extreme corners, one in 
each hand, and by a kind of thrust force the enclosed 
materials towards the operator at the other end; the 
person at which proceeds in precisely the same man¬ 
ner to impel them back again, and thus by a recipro¬ 
city of action the materials are kept in constant agi¬ 
tation. About five minutes thus tossing to and fro 
will cleanse one lot of nails, their friction against 
each other effecting the desired cleansing; and then 
another lot may be introduced, and so on. Some per¬ 
sons use oil after the cleansing process, but there is 
scarcely any occasion for it. In our youthful days 
we had much to do in matters of this kind, being 
brought up originally to the nursersy and seed busi¬ 
ness; and being accustomed to the counter, we had 
an opportunity of inspecting the secrets of the seed 
shop. In those times we have seen old onion seeds, 
not worth two shillings the pound, mixed up with 
good Deptford or white Spanish onion seed of fresh 
growth, which was worth some six shillings a pound 
at least, mixed of course according to a certain ratio; 
yet the sample was considered a respectable one 
after these nice operations. The old and dull-looking 
onion seed was shaken in the sack, and a few drops 
of oil poured in made all bright; the old seed 
came out with all the polish of “ Hunt’s matchless.” 
Trusting this digression is pardonable, we return to 
the subject itself. 
One matter alone, we before observed, must not be 
permitted to engross the mind in horticultural mat¬ 
ters; and, by getting the nails and shreds drawn be¬ 
times, some indoor work is furnished during those in¬ 
clement periods which must arrive, and during which 
planting and other outdoor operations must be set 
aside for awhile. 
Extirpation of Insects. —This business is not 
confined to the summer season in gardening affairs; 
to be successful, the cultivator of a garden must be 
ever on the alert, for if in the moral world while men 
sleep the enemy sows tares, so it may be said of the 
world of nature—vigilance unceasing is the condition 
imposed on those who would excel. The principal 
insect we would now allude to is the American blight. 
This is doubtless one of the greatest pests in the 
orchard, and very difficult to extirpate; indeed, there 
is no recipe which will at once destroy it without se¬ 
rious injury to the tree, at least so far as we are ac¬ 
quainted. If any of our readers are really in pos¬ 
session of such a secret, we do hope they will benefit 
the public by publishing it widely through our 
pages. We have tried several recipes, but know of 
nothing better than proceeding on the principle of 
blocking the rogues up in their dens with a mixture 
of such a nauseous character that they cannot pos¬ 
sibly thrive beneath its influence, and which, if per¬ 
sisted in on every manifestation of the blight for a 
whole twelvemonth, will end in a total extirpation. 
About the middle of October they seem to spread at 
a rapid rate, and this is the time, or at least as soon 
as the leaves are fallen, to commence operations. 
The mixture we use is thus compounded : six ounces 
of soft-soap beat well up in a gallon of warm water; 
half a pound of sulphur is then added and beat up, 
