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IMHBNBB STRIDSSS IN TUB PROGRKSS OB
Agriculture and Horticulture.
Calomel for I’RUIt Trees. —A gentleman of this city
was lately in Saratoga county, and was there shown an ap
ple tree in fine, healthy condition, which hud been ill,
subjected to treatment with calomel, and thoroughly cured!
This tree was afflicted with insects, which were'desnoying
it, aid rendering it unproductive. A hole was bored 'into
the body of the tree, nearly through the sap, „i,,i two
grains of calomel inserted.* As soon as this calomel was
taken by the sap, the vermin on the tree died, and it be
gan to bear fruit, and lias done so for three years, to to the
entire satisfaction of the owner. We are told that sul
phur may be mixed with the calomel, and with good effect.
It may not be new to them, but it is new to us. Hoiihc
pathists and Thompsonians may object to the calomel
treatment, but if they do not like it, they may find among
the sugar pills of lobelia and red pepper a substitute.—
Rochester {N. Y.) Union.
There can be no doubt concerning the correctness of
this theory—of course not. The Farmers’ Club of the
American Institute, New York, will endorse all of the
above, and considerable more of the same sort. We un
derstand that a plum tree belonging to Dr. Brandretli, cov
ered with that dreadful disease the black knot, which has
so raged in the plum tree family, was “bored into” and a
couple of boxes of bis pills poured in. The result was,
that in ninety days every kr ot had disappeared from the
bark, and the tree in its trunk resembled a sapling ; so
smooth was the cuticle. There is another instance on re
cord of an old apple tree that had gotten past its prime ;
shedding its leaves every year as early as August, and was
so feeble withal, that it could not set the fruit, not having
borne a single apple in the past ten years, though each
spring it was filled with blossoms. The owner of the tree
General Bombshell, purchased a bottle of Jones’s Immor
tal Invigorator, bored into the trunk, and poured its con
tents therein, and the result was, the next season fourteen
bushels and one peek of the most splendid fruit ever seen
in Monroe county. General Bombshell sent a specimen
of the fruit to the Farmers’ Club. A St. Michael’s pear
tree, the fruit of which was subject to crack, was bored
into, and a bott.e of the old Dr. Jacob Townsend brand
of Sarsaparilla (genuine) was poured in, and the cure was
made perfect. \\ hat is strange, the trunk had been pre
viously bored into, and a bottle of the young Dr. Jacob’s
tried, with no effect whatever—a beautiful illustration of
the rare quotation, “ truth is mighty and must prevail.”
lo show the wonderful changes that can be produced upon
a tree by boring into its trunk, a neighbor of General
Bombshell had an old horse-chestnut tree in his yard, sup
posed to have been planted by General Washington, as
the General was once in that part of the State. °A hole
was bored into the trunk of this tree, and three quarts of
apple jack poured in, and the hole plugged up. The fol
lowing year this old horse-chestnut bore eight peeks of
splendid apples of the Brandywine variety, a sample of
which was immediately sent to the Farmer’s Club.—
New York Day-Book.
Cutworms. — l rom my own observations, it appears
these worms are never able to crawl the length of their
bodies up a perpendicular bank of earth, before they lose
their foothold and fall. If my supposition is correct, that
these worms come mostly from surrounding fields, I have
thought that a single deep furrow around the outside of a
field or garden, when the worms are first beginning to ap
pear, (any break in the land side of the furrow being re
paired with the hoe,) would form a barrier over which it
would be impossible for them to make their wav, thus pro
tecting the whole field effectually, at a verv trifling cost. —
Dr. Asa Ditch , in A. Y. U)tt ontological lie port.
Dr. Fitch is a very careful observer, and the above sug
gestion may be worthy of trial. It is very certain that
cabbage plants, when set in a trench, four or five inches
deep, are not molested by the cutworm, and head equally
as well, if not better. —Ed. So. Cult.
SOUTHERN CULTrVATOR.
HEDGE F! INT Y< ANTED.
Editors Southern Cultivai : -Will you or some of
your contributors inform me, ro» gh the columns of your
valuable journal, what plant is best suited r a hedgo
where timber is growing on one side? I want to put a
hedge around my garden and orchard, on one side of
v liich there is timber. Have never tried any hedge plants
except the Osage Orange—am very much pleased with it
in open fields, but it will not do in timber. The desired
information will greatlv oblige,
A YOUNG FARMER.
Wood! mm, Jcb. 28/7/, 1867.
A\ e know of no hedge plant but what will suffer from
the presence of large trees near at hand. The shade is
\cm injurious, causing the plants of the hedge to grow glen,
der end elongated, instead of with the dense habit which it
is desirable for a plant to maintain, and which requires
sunlight to develope. Tnc hedge will also suffer in health
and vigor, from having its nourishment taken up by tho
marauding roots of the adjacent trees. This can be par
tially prevented by a deep trench between the hedge and
forest, and keeping it open—cutting off all roots that at
tempt a passage. If you could cut down a space of, say
110 or 40 feet, to admit the sun to your hedge, it would bo
possible to make a good one.— Ed. So. Cult.
G ARDtiMNG FOlt WOOTEN.
There is nothing better for wives and daughters, physi
cally, than to have the care of a garden—a flower pot, if
nothing more. What is pleasanter than to spend a por
tion of every passing day in working among plants, and
watching the growth of shrubs, and trees, and plants, and
to observe the opening of flowers from week to week as
the season advances? Then how much it adds to the en
joyment, to know that your own hands have planted and
tilled them, and have pruned and trained them—this is a
pleasure that requires neither great riches nor profound
knowledge. The humble cottage of the laboring poor, not
less than their grounds, may be adorned with pet plants,
which in due time, will become redolent of rich perfume,
not less than radiant with beauty ; thus ministering to the
love of the beautiful in nature. The wife or daughter
that loves home, and would seek to make it the best place
for husband and brother,is willing to forego some goss’pping
morning calls, for the sake of having leisure for the cultiva
tion of plants, and shrubs, and flowers. The good house-wife
is early among her plants and flowers, as is the hut-band at
his place of business. They are both utilitarians ; the one
it may be in the abstract, and the other in the concrete,
each as essential to the enjoyment of the other, as are the
real and the iacal In human life. The lowest utilitarian
ism would labor only for the meat that perishes. Those of
higher and more noble views, would labor with no less as
siduity for the substantial things ot life, but would in ad
dition seek also those things which elevate and refine the
mind and exalt the soul. The advantages winch women
personally derives from stirring the soii and snuffing the
morning air, are freshness and beauty of cheeek, and
brightness of eye, cheerfulness of temper, vigor of mind,
and purity of heart. Consequently, she is more cheerful
and lovely as a daughter, more dignified and womanly as
a sister, and more attractive at and confiding and as a wife;
hence the fruits and products of garden culture, as they
relate to woman, when viewed objectively, are fait small,
relatively, as compared with the benefits secured in regard
to herself as the centre of social refinement and enjoyment,
amid such a world as ours. A husband who revolves
round such a centre, cannot but be a good neighbor,a useful
citizen, a kind father, a loving and confiding companion.
Do not, thy;, mothers and sisters, the latter wives in
prospect, neglect the garden.
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