and Providence will no longer be made a scape-goat
for us.

T.G.

PRUNINGS.

The strawberry was introduced into England from Flanders in 1530.

Gardeners in London, England, are always ready to buy toads. The regular
market price for them ranges from $15 to $25 per hundred.

Soap-suds are a valuable fertilizer for all forms of vegetation;
especially serviceable for small fruits, and in the fruit garden proper
will never be wasted.

An Italian claims to have discovered that by drenching the foliage of
grapevines with a solution of soda the filaments of the mildew fungus
will be shriveled, while the leaves will remain uninjured. A Wisconsin
nurseryman, however, advises the use of flowers of sulphur, which he
believes a good remedy, also, when applied to the vines and when added
to the soil surrounding them.

A correspondent of the Germantown Telegraph says that he has found salt
a valuable remedy for rust on blackberry vines, and concludes: "I have
applied two or three handfuls on the surface of the ground, immediately
over the roots, when the plants were badly rusted; in two or three weeks
the disease had disappeared, and the plants had made a good growth. I
believe moderate applications of salt, sown broadcast over a blackberry
patch, would be of great benefit as a fertilizer and health renewer."

Gardener's Monthly: In the discussions on forest culture, little is said
of the willow, which forms a very interesting department. The white
willow, Salix Candida, is often used for coarse work. S. Vinnunatis and
S. Russelliana, are the most commonly used in the Eastern United States,
under the name of Osier, or basket willow, and S. Forbyana, a variety of
S. rubra, or the red willow is often used for fine work. In the Editor's
recent visit to the Northwest a number of fine species were noted which
would evidently be worth introducing for basket-making purposes.

The Germantown Telegraph says: "To grow good crops of blackberries the
soil should be good and especially deep, for the roots run down
wonderfully when possible for them to do so; and as the growing fruit
requires its greatest nourishment in the usually dry month of August, it
is an advantage to have deep soil for the roots to draw a supply from. A
deep, sandy soil will generally grow the best crop of berries, while a
clay soil tends to produce rust. Good cultivation, good soil, and a
judicious use of manure make stout and vigorous canes, with a cro