2T4 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Jancauy 15. 
I 
bundles in June, and, indeed, destroys a great pro- | 
portion of that foliage on which the lorniation of the j 
next year’s blossom-bud depends, as well as the welfare j 
of the present crop. These eggs are of a whitish j 
colour, and oval; it would take a dozen of tliem to 
cover the surface of a sixpence. These must be j 
destroyed with the utmost assiduity, if healthy foliage ] 
is to be expected ; and without this it is vain to expect ^ 
any high degree of success ; for if fruit are ripened, they i 
will assuredly prove deficient in flavour, and the j 
blossom-buds in the ensuing spring will in many cases i 
fall off. These little nestlings are readily destroyed, 
one crush of the thumh-nail being sufficient. By 
following this practice up closely for a couple of years, 
it will be found that the trees occasion little trouble 
afterwards; the whole breed will be well nigh extirpated. 
Next in oi’der, in all probability, will come the curl, 
or gathei'ing of the leaves in clusters, before adverted 
to, and which will proceed from the hatchings of any 
eggs which may have escaped the vigilance of the 
searcher. Pick the eggs as carefully as we may, the 
chances are that a few will be left, and these will, 
perhaps, prove sufficient to cause serious damage if 
they be suffered to pursue their depredations un- i 
disturbed. The only plan with which we are acquainted, | 
is to unfold the clusters of leaves, and to destroy the j 
caterpillars; by no means, however, to pick off the j 
infested leaves wholesale. This process may need ; 
repeating in a fortnight or three weeks after the first j 
performance, as there is commonly a later hatch of the ; 
little rogues. ! 
We come now to the Aphides, which sometimes 1 
attack the young shoots of Apricots. They do not ; 
generally commence operations on the young shoots as 
soon as produced, but rather on the later and grosser i 
growth; in fact, about the period that the Plums I 
become infested, which frequently happens in July. I i 
imagine they are the same species of fiy which attacks 
the Plum, but of this I am not sure; indeed, there may ! 
be more than one kind, but the kind which most ! 
commonly attacks them is of a bluish ground colour, 
and looks as though the powder-puff had been exercised ; 
over its body. These, of course, are best combated | 
by tobacco-water; and when it is only a few straggling j 
shoots that are infested, dipping iu a bowl may be bad ' 
recourse to, as economising the tobacco ; otherwise, tile 
tree may be syringed all over. Sometimes a few of the 
proud foreright shoots only are occupied by them ; and : 
as such have to be removed, the best way is to cut out 
such as are not wanted, entirely, and to cast them in ' 
the fire. 
Tlie Mildew is apt to present its unwelcome face on 
some soils, and generally during the droughts of summer. 
The best plan is to pick off the first symptoms as they 
appear, unless much of the foliage is attacked; and on 
the heels of this, to dust the tree all over with sulphur, 
first syringing it with tepid-water in wliich soft-soap, at 
the rate of nearly one ounce to a gallon, has been dis¬ 
solved ; this will cause the sulphur to adhere. 
The Earwig (Forjicula auriculatisj is a great pest of 
the Apricot when the fruit is ripening. This is a night 
wanderer, and those whose duty it is to entrap them 
must plan their matters accordingly. These scamps do 
not seem to provide, instinctively, any fixed residence, 
for they will readily take to “any port in a storm,” if 
possessing the requisite conditions, which would appear 
to be snugness and an immunity from the storm. Tims 
our great Dahlia men are in the habit of suspending 
those small garden pots, kuown as “ thumbs,” over 
the Dahlias; the pot inverted to keep out wet, and 
a little dry hay, known as “ rowen,” or dry moss, 
stuffed inside for a bed. But we have found linen rags 
and pieces of calico a better thing still; and attention 
was first drawn to this fact, by the circumstance of 
i 
observing that clothes drying on the hedge were, if left 
out at nights, much resorted to by both Earwig and 
Woodlouse. INIy better-half, who is somewhat observant 
in these things, and w'ho loves the garden as well as the 
laundry, has often impressed this on my mind; and, 
indeed, it is by watching closely the natural habits of 
these garden enemies that we must hope to discover 
great facts. Some persons have suggested the use of a 
rope dipped in gas-tar, and fastened in a horizontal line 
along the bottom of the wall; it is said they cannot 
cross this: I have not myself practised it, but should 
doubt its efficiency. It is necessary, however, that what 
Earwigs may be on the trees should be destroyed, 
or expelled, previously. I think it would be well to have 
some “ thumb ” pots made specially, without lioles in 
the bottom, for whatever plan we adopt, immunity from 
moisture must be the chief condition. It is not im¬ 
probable that water as hot as the trees could bear (say 
120°), pumped heavily on the trees by a garden engine, 
would speedily dislodge them, and cause them to fall on 
the ground below, where, of course, they should be 
destroyed. 
The Oniscus, or Woodlouse, is another serious depre¬ 
dator, as bad as the former, and the trees equally liable 
to them. Gas-lime has been recommended to expel 
them, but the fact is, we cannot use any nauseous 
matter all over the trees at the period of their depre¬ 
dations, which is, indeed, the ripening period. Like 
the Earwig, this insect is particularly partial to dryness, 
and especially to heat. I have been much plagued in bj'- 
gone years with them in my Mushroom-house; but 
about seven years since I hit upon an expedient, which 
has saved me completely since. At the end, whei’e th.e 
fire enters, there is a corner so hot that we cannot cul¬ 
tivate either Mushrooms, Sea-kale, or Rhubarb ; this I 
have partitioned off tw'o feet in breadth, and a lot of 
chopped sticks are thrown in the bottom, mixed with 
cut logs of decaying timber with the bark on. Here 
Woodlice take refuge, being very partial-to the decaying 
bark of old logs'; and here, once a week, we pour scald¬ 
ing w'ater from the boiler ; this settles them w'ith a 
vengeance ; indeed, it has become more matter of cere¬ 
mony than ought else, as we seldom see a Woodlouse. 
If the readers of The Cottage G.ardener can seize on 
a useful idea through this apparent digression, it will 
be well. 
And now, amongst ailments peculiar to the Apricot, 
let me point to a w'ell-know'n and much-lamented fact, 
that of whole branches decaying suddenly. IMany long 
heads have studied this evil, but I am not aware that 
any solid conclusion has been arrived at concerning it. 
Some have attributed it to the use of improper stocks; 
but this I dispute. Had the stocks in use for so many 
years past been so uncongenial to the habits of the 
Apricot the whole family woidd have been extinct by 
this time. Besides, if a stock is inimical to the habits 
of a given fruit-tree, is it not a fair inference that the 
evil effects wmuld be manifested through the whole 
system of the tree? We have known trees, in former 
days, worked on w'hat was then called “ Commoner 
stocks,” decay in this manner; and just tlie same results 
when worked on the Muscle Plum, which I imagine, is 
the stock now very generally used by nurserymen. 
My opinion is, that the Apricot, when young, is too 
much pampered, is forced into a luxuriant growth un¬ 
known to it in a state of nature; for, of course, deep 
digging and high manuring are unknown to it in its 
wild state. The consequence of this is, that select a 
score trees when you may from a nursery, it is probable 
that three-fourths of them are unequal in their shoots ; 
and that one side of the tree, when trained, is worse re¬ 
presented than the other—one or more lean shoots 
which have been cheated out of their supplies by their 
huge-stomached neighbours. The Apricot appears to 
