secretary's budget. 373 



pour in a pitcher or tall jar. Have your bouquet arranged and tied ; 

 now suspend from the top of your pitcher or jar, stems up, and the 

 grasses well covered with the water; now set aside, and do not disturb 

 ifor twenty four hours, when you may take out and behold the beautiful 

 crystals formed there. — Journal of Agriculture. 



HOW TO MAKE PLANTS GROW, 



Success in house-plant culture consists in keeping the soil moist, not 

 xuet^ except in the case of the calla; in seeing that the leaves are kept 

 clean, which can be easily done by a weekly showering with a syringe 

 or water-pot with a fine rose nozzle; in keeping down spiders and the 

 aphis — water, above and below the leaves, in liberal quantities, applied 

 with a syringe being the remedy for the former, and tobacco smoke or 

 infusion for the latter; and in so regulating the temperature that it 

 does not exceed 85*^ or fall below 45'^. Keep between these ex- 

 tremes, as evenly as possible, if you would have it suited to your 

 plants. It is a good plan to cover them before sweeping, after that re- 

 move the covering and sprinkle them daily. Keep a vessel of water 

 ■on the stove to evaporate and put moss between the pots, if you can, 

 to absorb water, which it will give off in sufficient quantities to ke«p 

 the air perceptibly moist about the plants. Give them all the light 

 you can. Don't have curtains at the windows where you keep plants, 

 unless you can put them aside during the day time. 



Attention to these details and a carelul study of your plants will 

 soon enable you to grow them well. The more study you give the 

 matter the more intelligently you can do your work. — Our Countiy 

 Home. 



INSECTICIDES FOR THE ORCHARD. 



The U. S Bureau of Entomology, in one of its pamphlets, gives 

 the following directions for mixing the various insecticides. Our ex- 

 perience, however, leads us to suggest that the quantities named are 

 somewhat excessive, and may cause damage to the foliage in some in- 

 stances : 



London Purple. — To 20 lbs. flour from i to | lb. is added and well 

 mixed. This is applied with a sifter or blower. With -10 gals, water :^ 

 to ^ lb. is mixed for spraying. 



Paris Oreen. — With 20 lbs. flour from f to 1 lb. is mixed and ap- 

 plied by sifting or by a blower. The same amount of the insecticide 

 to 40 gals, water is used as a spray. 



Bisulphite of Carhon — For use in the ground a quantity is poured 



