Chips and Slips. 223 



the ground in hot gas tar is obviously much cheaper and more efficient. Heat 

 the tar in a large stove boiler or kettle to a temperature that will be safe from 

 taking fire, and then immerse as much of the posts as are to be buried for a few 

 minutes, when the tar will enter the exterior portion of the pores of the wood, 

 and when dry will form a coating outside impervious to water. The posts 

 should be well seasoned previously, and the tar should not come much above 

 the surface, as it does not help the durability of wood when much exposed to 

 the changes of the weather. A still better way is first to soak the posts in 

 crude petroleum, which enters the pores to a much greater depth, and then 

 coat them with gas tar as before, which will hold the petroleum. This treat- 

 ment may be given to any kind of wood ; the more durable, the less obvious 

 will be its preservative effect. The importance of giving a good bottom 

 drainage to posts is not sufficiently understood. If they never become water- 

 Poaked, but are always dry internally, they will obviously last many times 

 longer than when repeatedly made wet and dry. Hence the importance of 

 placing the fence near or over a good undcrdraiij. — Albany Ctdtivator. 



Madagascar. — The Eev. T. Brockway, travelling in Madagascar, alludes to 

 the vegetation as follows: "lb was not yet the season for flowers, but there 

 were some here in warm spots. Sometimes I saw orchids hanging fi-om trunks 

 of trees, and found one beaiitiful specimen of a terrestrial orchid in full bloom, 

 and in a sheltered nook recognized the pretty blue lobelia. Ferns of great 

 beauty abound, among which the tree fern and the maidenhair are frequently 

 seen. But it was almost worth the trouble of the journey to see the bamboos 

 These with the roifia tree and the traveller's tree, only found in hot regions, 

 showed the luxuriance of vegetation in this tropical climate." 



Paeaffin Oil. — The value of paraffin oil as a preventative remedy for insects 

 injurious to farm, garden, and forest crops has been engaging some little atten- 

 tion of late, and Young's Paraffin Light and Oil Company have recently issued 

 a circular in reference thereto. It is stated by the company, in their circular, 

 that " experiments have shown that this oil can be applied so as to produce no 

 injurious effects on the seeds and plants, while, at the same time it is so 

 obnoxious to animal life as to greatly lessen, if not altogether to prevent, 

 those destructive inroads which every farmer, gardener, and forester has to 

 deplore." Directions for the use of pai'affiu oil are given as follows " Add a 

 wine-glassful of paraffin oil to a thirty-gallon cask of water, aglbate thoroughly, 

 allow the mixture to settle, skim off the oil that rises to the surface, and employ 

 the water — 1, for soaking the seeds before use; 2, for sprinkling the ground 

 between the rows or drills after the plants have brairded. Care should be 

 taken to avoid sprinkling the plants." As the cost is infinitesimal ; the sug- 

 gested remedy is well worthy of a careful trial. 



Cahbolic Acid for Insects. — A writer in the Gardener's MontlJij gives his 

 experience in the use of carbolic acid for destroying all sorts of insects and lice 

 which infect trees, plants, &c. If possible obtain the crude acid, because it is 

 stronger and better in this form. Fii'st make a good strong suds of domestic 

 soft soap, and into this pour a quantity of the acid and let it remain a few 

 hours. Then test it by mixing a little with sofc water. If too much acid has 

 been used oily particles will float on the surface ; in which case use more soap, 

 until the same will balance the excess of acid. No more definite rule can be 

 given, and a little practice will enable one to compound it correctly. Apply 

 with a sponge or syringe. Generally it will not injure the foliage of the mos:; 

 delicate house plants. [We should nevertheless warn our readers to be cautious 

 in experimenting with such a deleterious mixture, and to thoroughly test its 



