10 



THE OARDENEWS MONTHLY 



[^January, 



making a stronp growth, and taking notliing but 

 the tender portion of the shoot. 



The benclies in the verbena lionse sliould be 

 80 arranged that the plants will all bo near the 

 glass overhead; and the healing-pipes should 

 have snllic'ient fa])ai.ity to dry oil" the plants 

 and allow air to be given during the coldest 

 weather, if necessary. The cutting bench should 

 be boarded tightly below and have an extra loop 

 of pipe beneath it to secure a proper under heat. 

 If the weather becomes warm the first lots of 

 cuttings will be likely to mildew, and should be 

 thrown out, even thougli they may have been 

 potted for weeks. 



Endeavor to put in the main crop of cuttings 

 just before the first severe frost, as the later in 

 the season they are struck, tlie more healthy the 

 plants are likely to be. The cutting bench 

 should be kept constantly moist and shaded 

 from strong sunlight. The temperature of the 

 house, while the verbenas are in it, should be 

 kept as near as possible at from 40^ to 45° at 

 night, and fifteen or twenty degrees higher dur- 

 ing the day, giving air whenever possible. The 

 matter of temperature is very important, and it 

 is the point where most propagators fail. If 

 these limits are exceeded for any length of time, 

 the plants will become unhealthy, even though 

 they have the best treatment in other respects. 



WTien the cuttings have formed soft white 

 rootlets about half an inch in length, which 

 should require at least eight days, they should 

 be potted into thumb pots, using the ordinary 

 fresh, rich, greenhouse soil. The plants should 

 never be watered to excess, particularly during 

 the short, dull days in winter; neither should 

 they be allowed to become so dry as to cause 

 the leaves to droop. 



"When well established in the pots, and having 

 made sufficient new growth, a cutting may be 

 taken from each plant and rooted, thus doub- 

 ling the stock. Each plant thus topped will 

 usually start two or three new shoots ; and as 

 soon as these are an inch or two in length the 

 plant may be re-potted into a two or a two and 

 a half inch pot; or the new shoots may again 

 be taken off to make cuttings and the old plant 

 thrown away. This is to be continued through 

 the winter. Whenever there is proper material 

 to make cuttings from it should be used; and as 

 soon as the old plants cease to produce strong 

 shoots, they should be thrown out, and a con- 

 stant succession of young, vigorous plants kept 

 on hand. In my own practice I seldom re-pot 



the plants during the winter. Two crops of cut- 

 tings are taken from them, and they are then 

 thrown away and their places filled with young 

 plants. 



The house should l)e regularly fumigated with 

 tobacco, at least twice a week, and the plants 

 moved occasionally to prevent their getting too 

 close together, or rooting into the sand on the 

 bencb. If this treatment is followed persistently, 

 and the two lures, temper s.t are and moisture, are 

 particularly attended to, the plants will grow in 

 almost any kind of soil, and will be perfectly 

 healthy. But there are very few growers who 

 are Avilling to give their verbenas the unflagging 

 attention they require; and a large majority of 

 the houses will still contain their sweltering, 

 mildewed, sulphur-coated, long-legged, aphis- 

 covered old plants that are such a disgrace to 

 the trade. 



VERBENA RUST. 



BY HOWARD HRINTON, CHKISTIANA, PA. 



Some time ago I saw inquiry in the Monthly 

 in regard to Verbena rust, its causes and result 

 thereof: In consequence I beg leave to ofTer my 

 opinion ; of course, like everybody, not without 

 thinking it is the correct one. It would seem al- 

 most incredulous with some, after a close exam- 

 ination, that this disease or rust is caused by an 

 insect, or rather the larva; of an insect. In warm 

 sunshiny days, by watching closely in the 

 neighborhood where the plants appear most af- 

 fected, a small minute black fly may often be 

 seen hovering around over them ; sometimes 

 while watering I have seen them rise in myriads 

 almost, from the plants where they alight to de- 

 posit their eggs. The fly itself, I do not think, 

 injures the plants any, but it is the larvae that is 

 so destructible. It is impossible to discern them 

 with the naked eye, but with even a good single 

 lensed microscope they can be seen in innumer- 

 able quantities. I do not know of any remedy 

 that will dislodge or destroy this enemy without 

 leaving its injurious effect on the plants also. 

 Tobacco smoke will not answer, as the insect can 

 imbed itself in the leaves of the plant where it 

 can remain unharmed by the smoke. The insect 

 does not confine its attacks to the Verbena alone. 

 I have seen other plants injured in like manner. 

 Heliotropes in particular, that had become pot- 

 bound, I have seen blackened and injured al- 

 most beyond recovery. The most effectual and 

 only remedy perhaps, is to encourage a strong, 



