4 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ JANUARY, 
measures. For example three very direful 
enemies,—tlie mealy bug, red spider, and 
mildew—may be greatly kept in check, and 
their effects neutralised, by one operation care¬ 
fully performed, as soon as the trees are nailed 
to the wall in early spring, and before the 
buds begin to swell. Thus, take an equal 
volume of flowers of sulphur and slacked quick¬ 
lime, say twelve pounds of sulphur ; mix them 
together intimately in a dry state, and put them 
into a large vessel. For this quantity, dissolve 
in boiling water 2 lb. of Gishurst compound, 
and when thoroughly dissolved, pour it upon 
the lime and sulphur, and mix it together; 
then run some blue clay, with as little water 
as possible, through a fine brass-wire sieve, to 
get rid of all coarse material, such as small 
stones and other rubbish, and pour this into 
the vessel, and thoroughly mix the whole to¬ 
gether. If too thick for working, add water 
until it becomes of the right consistency, but 
by no means make it too thin. Let it be as 
thick as can possibly be laid on with a large 
and fine-haired painter’s brush, or a plasterer’s 
brush—either will do. With this mixture wash 
over not only the whole of the branches, but 
the w r all likewise, as far as the radius of the 
branches extends, taking care to fill up all 
nail-holes, cracks, and crevices in the walls 
with the mixture, and also to see that the 
branches are completely smothered. If this is 
not effected the first time, go over them a 
second time. 
The rationale of the operation is this,—the 
mixture acts immediately on the mealy bug 
by smothering it,'and thus the thicker it is 
laid on, the better ; but in the case of the red 
spider and mildew, the action is prospective. 
The large proportion of sulphur in the mixture 
will, as the season advances, and the sun acts 
upon it, give out a vapour which is inimical 
to the growth of the fungus mildew, and 
equally so to the spread of the red spider. 
This, in most cases, will act efficiently as a 
preventive, but as there are some sorts which 
are more liable than others to the attacks of 
mildew—such, for example, as the Royal 
George —I do not hesitate in such cases to 
dash a quantity of dry flowers of sulphur on to 
the wet mixture as soon as the trees are painted 
over; but after all, this would only be necessary 
in extremely obstinate cases, for, as a general 
rule, an annual application of the mixture will 
quite suffice to keep those three enemies in 
check. Its action, moreover, will be very much 
assisted by the means which must be adopted 
to keep down the other insect tribes, but, 
again, in this instance, preventive measures are 
infinitely preferable to curative ones. 
Under the above routine of painting over the 
trees, it is very seldom that aphides will begin 
to appear until the trees have made a consider¬ 
able amount of growth, and the temperature of 
the atmosphere is considerably raised; but 
long before that time arrives, it will be safe to 
commence a systematic course of syringing, 
which, if followed up, is by far the best pre¬ 
ventive measure which can be adopted, since it 
prevents the insects from obtaining a lodgment. 
As, however, it is on the tips of the young 
growth that they first begin to show them¬ 
selves, it may become necessary to go over 
them now and then in very hot weather, and 
pinch out those tips and destroy them, which 
will enable the wood and foliage below to 
harden, and thus become impervious to such 
attacks. 
It will hence be seen that constant diligence 
is necessary, for the vermin multiply during hot 
close weather with such rapidity, that if left 
alone for a few days the increase is such that 
the necessity may arise for the application of 
some of those repulsive substances, such as 
tobacco-water, snuff, decoctions of quassia 
chips, and other insecticides, than which I can¬ 
not imagine anything more undesirable than 
to be obliged to syringe them over fruit-trees 
in a bearing state, and no exertion by the use 
of pure water ought to be spared to avoid the 
necessity of having recourse to them. 
Before concluding this part of my subject, 
and entering on that of the Apricot, I would 
impress on the mind of the young Peach culti¬ 
vator the importance of a copious supply of 
water to the roots. It is an absolute necessity 
to keep the trees in a state of healthy develop¬ 
ment ; it strengthens them to resist the attacks 
of insect enemies, and finally enables them to 
grow out of their reach. Without it the 
operator will fail to find a full response to his 
expectations, however great the intelligence 
that directs his various manipulations to that 
end.— John Oox, Redleaf. 
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