398 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



AUGUST 30, 1900. 



preparations were made to receive 

 him. It is not to be inferred that the 

 city's mayor and a brass baud were 

 at the railway station to crown him 

 with laurel; only a few of his admir- 

 ing friends were ready to proffer fe- 

 licitations on his recent achievements. 

 Those who did not know him by his 

 persona! appearance, like Mr. Smith, 

 of Montreal, were sure they would rec- 

 ognize him, if he had nothing else, by 

 the air of triumph and the belt full 

 of scalps he would wear and which are 

 the rightful appurtenances of the con- 

 quering hero of the Buffalo hump. 

 But so far (August 27th), the hero has 

 not come! RIX. 



FROM OUR ENGLISH EXCHANGES. 



The Gardeners' Magazine. 



THE HOLLYHOCK DISEASE.— In 

 almost every garden more or less dis- 

 appointment has been experienced 

 with hollyhocks, through the mischief 

 wrought by the fungus which so per- 

 sistently attacks the foliage, and thos(> 

 who have not, found a remedy will be 

 well advised in using the Bordeaux 

 mixture. To make a quantity of ten 

 gallons, boil one pound of fresh iime 

 and one pound of common treacle in a 

 quart of water for about fifteen min- 

 utes, then add the ten gallons of water 

 and suspend in the mixture one pound 

 of blue stone in a muslin bag until 

 dissolved. This simple remedy must 

 be applied by spraying as soon as the 

 growths start away, and at intervals of 

 a fortnight during the summer, always 

 taking care that the under surface of 

 each leaf is wetted. Liberal cultiva- 

 tion and the extra vigor of young 

 seedling plants over those propagated 

 by cuttings also have a bearing on 

 their resistance of disease, as well as 

 giving more satisfactory flowers. The 

 solution must not be used in greater 

 strength than above advised, or injury 

 to the foliage will result, and it should 

 be applied after the sun has declined. 



WATER LILIES.— Although the ma- 

 jority of the new water lilies are luxu- 

 ries which few can indulge in at pres- 

 ent, yet wherever there is water in the 

 flower garden or pleasure grounds 

 these lovely plants are bound to find 

 their way thither sooner or later, and 

 all future plans should include them 

 as far as means will allow. Just as 

 they are starting into growth is the 

 time to introduce them. The native 

 white lily, Nymphaea alba, I have es- 

 tablished strongly in lakes in several 

 instances, and this by procuring pieces 

 at this season of the year just as 

 growth is starting, and tying them 

 firmly to the sides of wicker tsaskets, 

 and packing about the roots some good 

 loam. The baskets should be pushed 

 into position where the depth of water 

 is from a foot to two feet over the 

 crowns. The majority will start into 

 growth, and as the basi;ets decay away 

 the roots will have taken hold of the 

 mud, and so be firmly established. 

 Where the bottoms of smaller pools 

 are of brick or concrete, some large 



and rough stones must be built up so 

 as to confine the soil and form a good 

 root run. 



ANTS. — There are many ways of 

 getting rid of ants, which are very 

 troublesome in some gardens and plant 

 houses. It should be generally known 

 that petroleum oil poured into their 

 nests will quickly destroy them, as also 

 will a preparation of quassia chips, 

 made by boiling for ten minutes in the 

 required quantity of water. If eight 

 ounces of chips are used, then use ten 

 gallons of water, adding eight ounces 

 of soft soap whilst the liquid is becom- 

 ing cool. Alum water is another cure. 

 Have one pound of alum, which must 

 be dissolved in two quarts of boiling 

 water, and allowed to remain on the 

 fire until the alum is quite dissolved. 

 Joints in plant houses, and spots visit- 

 ed by them, may then be brushed with 

 the preparation. A very good way to 

 get rid of ants is by pouring boiling 

 water into the nest and then throwing 

 in quicklime. From plant houses, 

 frames, and rooms ants may be ban- 

 ished by laying a few pieces of coarse 

 sponge in shallow earthenware sau- 

 cers, such as those in which flower 

 pots are stood, and then sprinkling 

 powdered sugar over them, placing 

 them in suitable positions about the 

 house. In this way they may be caught 

 in large numbers and easily destroyed 

 by dipping the sponge into boiling 

 water. 



ROSE CONGRESS AT PARIS.— The 

 subjects arranged for discussion at the 

 Congress of Rosarians to be held at 

 Paris on June 14 and l.j are: Classifi- 

 cation of roses: synonymous roses; the 

 use of chemical and natural manures 

 in the cultivation of roses in pots and 

 in the open ground; races of roses; 

 hybridity; infiuence of the stock on 

 the bud or graft growth — are sports 

 due to this cause?: new remedies for 

 the diseases of roses: the different 

 forms of roses and their characters; 

 newly introduced botaaical species of 

 roses; the best means of preventing 

 varieties of doubtful merit being in- 

 troduced to commerce; the best Bour- 

 bon and Bengal roses. The congress 

 has been organized by the National 

 Horticultural Society of France and 

 the French Rose Society, and it is sug- 

 gested that those who intend raking 

 part in the proceedings should ■:oin- 

 niunicate with as little delay as pos- 

 sible their intentions to the "President 

 de la Commission d'Organization, ,'4 

 Rue de Crenelle, a Pans." The "ecre- 

 tary-general is M. A. Chatenay, and 

 the secretaries are MM. Bergman. P. 

 Cochet and O. Meyran. The congress 

 will assemble each day at 3 p. m. 



INFLUENCE OF ELECTRICITY ON 

 PLANT LIFE.— In the course of ;in 

 article contributed by Mr. John Perry 

 to "Nature" on the relation of atmos- 

 pheric electricity to disease, the effect 

 of electricity on the growth of plants 

 is incidentally touched upon. Mr. 

 Perry mentions that we know the 

 astonishing effect of a close thunder- 

 storm day on vegetation, the sudden 

 breaking forth of buds, leaves £nd 



flowers, the quick development of 

 young seed, and the sometimes rapid 

 growth of such plants as asparagus. 

 Light, warmth and moisture are of 

 course the first conditions. The ob- 

 servation of this remarkable phenom.- 

 enon gave rise to an interesting ex- 

 periment of Mecquerel; he selected 

 four hyacinth roots of equal size and 

 of the same variety, which he put in a 

 weak salt solution, two in a frame of 

 glass, the third in a frame of zinc, and 

 the fourth in a frame of copper. The 

 copper and zinc were attached to each 

 other by a wire. The vegetation de- 

 veloped most at the negative pole, less- 

 in the neutral frame, and was least at 

 the positive pole. It seems that the' 

 roots of plants need a negative electric 

 medium, and the crust of the earth is 

 constantly negative. What increases 

 the tissue changes in plants, decreases 

 that of the animal organism. Thus 

 very often days good for vegetation 

 become tiresome for us. 



ERADICATION OF MOSS.— But few 

 who have had experience in the man- 

 agement of grass lawns and pastures 

 will not have had some experience 

 with the trouble occasioned by the 

 growth of moss amongst the grass and 

 the difficulty in eradicating it. The 

 growth of the moss is usually attrib- 

 uted to the poorness of the soil, sour- 

 ness and deficient aeration, but in the 

 Wye district the pastures become 

 mossy in winter although the growth 

 of the grass indicates a soil well stored 

 with plant food, and the chalk on 

 which the soil rests ensures thorough 

 drainage and efficient aeration. With 

 a view to test the effects of mechanical 

 and chemical treatment for the eradi- 

 cation of moss, the authorities of the 

 South - Eastern Agricultural College 

 have for some time past been engaged 

 in conducting a series of experiments 

 on moss-infested pastures. Two fields 

 were selected for the purpose of the 

 experiments, one an oid pasture that 

 had originally "fallen down" and was 

 still in poor order, the other was better 

 land that had been laid down about 

 ten years; uniformly mossy situations 

 were selected and eight plots, one rod 

 square, marked out by cutting lines in 

 the turf. The treatment began in 

 April. 1898, and was repeated at inter- 

 vals of p month, except during the dry 

 weather; in all. the plots have been 

 dressed five times. So far as the trials 

 have gone, benefit seems to have ac- 

 crued from dressings of salt and of 

 superphosphate: rolling has produced 

 a slight beneficial effect, and raking 

 has removed much of the moss; lime, 

 basic slag, sulphuric acid, and sulphate 

 of iron have produced no appreciaole 

 effect; organic matter in the shape of 

 sugar and lifting the turf have perhaps 

 made the moss grow more vigorously. 



ACTION OF HUMUS IN THE SOIL. 

 We know that the nitrogenous matter 

 of the soil, the humus, is constantly 

 undergoing changes. Under the influ- 

 ence of micro-organisms, and in the 

 presence of carbonate of lime (chalk), 

 the humic matter Is oxidized and 

 transformed into nitrates. It is also 



