a as ee 
Tar—continued. 
female insects that cannot fly. These insects are thus 
prevented from reaching the leaf and flower-buds for 
egg-laying, and the trees are saved from destruction by 
the larve. The Tar may be applied directly on the 
bark, in a broad ring, mixed with an equal bulk of cart- 
grease, or with one-third part of fish-oil; the latter 
being added to prevent the Tar from losing its sticki- 
ness in frosty weather. On warm days, this mixture 
becomes fluid, and sinks into the bark; and trees with 
thin bark are liable to be injured by it. This difficulty 
may be overcome by placing a belt of straw-rope, or 
cloth, or strong paper, round the trunks that might be 
injured, and putting the Tar on the belt. 
Tar-water and Spirits of Tar are also used as pre- 
ventives; sand, well saturated with them, being laid 
round the base of each stem, to prevent the passage of 
insects to the plant. Tar-water is sometimes syringed 
over plants, as, in weak solutions, it is a good insec- 
ticide, and, by its smell, also deters insects from laying 
eggs on plants so treated. 
Tar has been employed with great success for the 
capture of such insects as the beetles that devour Rasp- 
berries (see remarks on InsEcTs under Raspberry), 
Turnips, and other plants, and also against such insects 
as Frog-hoppers. In America, it has proved itself the 
most effectual means of capturing the notorious Rocky 
Mountain Locusts. A light framework of wood is covered 
with thin wooden boards, cloth, or strong paper, so 
as to form a shallow tray, and the inside is smeared 
with Tar. The mode of using the trap varies with the 
insects to be caught. For catching Raspberry Beetles, 
and other insects on trees and bushes, the branches are 
beaten over the tray, and the insects fall into it, and 
are stuck in the Tar. Against the Turnip Flea, Grass- 
hoppers, &c., the same method may be employed as 
against the Rocky Mountain Locusts, viz., dragging the 
tray along the ground, with something about 12in. or 
18in. in front to disturb the insects, and to cause them 
to leap, when many of them fall into the Tar, and are 
held fast in it. 
TARAXACUM (from tarasso, to disturb, to alter ; 
from its supposed effects upon the blood). Dandelion. 
Syn. Leontodon (of Adanson). Including Lasiopus. ORD. 
Composite. A genus comprising, according to Bentham 
and Hooker, not -more than half-a-dozen species of 
mostly hardy, nearly stemless herbs, broadly distributed. 
Flower-heads yellow, homogamous; ray florets ligulate, 
truncate at apex, five-toothed; involucre campanulate 
or oblong, the inner bracts one-seriate, the outer ones 
shorter and many-seriate; receptacle flat; achenes 
glabrous ; scapes leafless, one-headed, or rarely branched 
at apex and two or three-headed. Leaves radical, entire, 
toothed, sinuate, or runcinate-pinnatifid. Only two 
Species call for mention here. They thrive in ordinary 
soil, and may be increased by divisions. T. officinale is 
cultivated as a salad plant. For this purpose, seeds 
should be sown, in March or April, in drills 1ft. apart, or 
m a seed-bed, with a view to transplanting afterwards. 
ul the after-attention necessary is that of an occa- 
sional hoeing between the plants. In the following spring, 
Pe quantity of new leaves will appear, and, in order 
‘ blanch them as they grow, the plants may be buried 
ng sand, or covered with large, inverted flower-pots. 
i e sand should be from 4in. to 6in. deep, and when the 
eaves show through it, they should be cut off at the 
atiy and the sand placed over others. The plants 
a ould, of course, never be allowed to flower and ripen 
bag in a garden. 
: montanum (mountain). fl- or two on a hairy seape ; 
{prolucral westi airman at mene ne oon.” August. i spread: 
1834 onions, sub-runcinate, spiny-toothed, glabrous. Armenia, 
: N. Lasiopus sonch ides (S. B. F. G. ser. ii. 546). 
T, officinale (officinal), Common Dandelion. _f..-heads $in. to 2in. 
» the outer ray florets often brown on the back ; involucre 
Vol. Ly. 
| 
| T, nphor-scented). 
AND ENCYCLOPADIA OF HORTICULTURE. 9 
Taraxacum—continued. 
Fic. 7. TARAXACUM OFFICINALE, 
campanulate, the outer bracts recurved, the inner erect. March 
to October. l. oblong-obovate or spathulate, toothed, sinuate, 
or runcinate-pinnatifid. Root long, stout, black. E 
fogan), &c. A well-known medicine, See Fig. 7. (Sy. En. b 
TARCHONANTHUS (from Tarchon, the Arabic 
name for Artemisia Dracunculus, and anthos, a flower; 
in reference to the resemblance of the flower-heads to 
those of Artemisia Dracunculus). African Fleabane. 
ORD. Compositæ. A small genus (three species) of small, 
greenhouse, tomentose, South African trees. Flower- 
heads small, sessile or shortly pedunculate, in axillary or 
terminal panicles; involucre of the male flowers of five 
scales, connate to their middle; those of the female of 
many separate scales, in a double row ; receptacle hairy. 
Leaves alternate, petiolate, entire or lobed at apex, 
rather thick. The introduced species thrives in sandy, 
fibry loam, with the addition of a little leaf mould. 
Propagated by cuttings, inserted in sand, under a bell 
glass, in the beginning of summer. 
camphoratus (camp 
com d of three to five florets; panicle terminal, many- 
headed. June to October. l. lanceolate-oblong or obovate, acute 
at base, sub-acute or obtuse at apex, Jin. to 5in. long, entire or 
denticulate ; dere ones densely velvety above; old ones 
labrous and reticulated above, tomentose below. A. 6ft. 1690. 
G. B. C. 382.) 
TARO. A native name for Colocasia antiquorum 
(which see). 
TARRAGON (Artemisia Dracunculus). A perennial, 
native. of Southern Europe, cultivated for the use of its 
aromatic leaves in seasoning, salads, &c., and in the 
preparation of Tarragon vinegar. The plant succeeds 
best in warm, rather dry situations, and a little protection 
should also be afforded the roots through the winter, as 
during severe frost they are liable to be injured. If 
green leaves are required during winter, a few roots 
should be lifted in autumn, and placed in heat; it will 
need but a small quantity to maintain a succession. The 
foliage may also be cut and dried in autumn for use in 
a dry state afterwards. Tarragon may readily be pro- 
pagated by division in March and April, or by cuttings 
struck in a little warmth when growth is commencing 
in spring, or later in the summer, under a hand glass 
placed outside. A few young plants should be raised 
annually to keep up a supply. 
TARTAREOUS. Having a rough, crumbling 
surface. : 
TASMANNIA. Included under Drimys. 
TASTELESS MOUNTAIN CURRANT. Ser 
Ribes alpinum. 
TAUSCHERIA (named in honour of Ignatius 
Frederick Tauscher, Professor of Botany at Prague, who 
died in 1848). ORD. Crucifere. A monotypic genus. The 
Cc 
fi.-heads purple; females r 
