18t7.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



45 



du Portugal. The petals are large, round to 

 perfection, slightly undulated, crisped ; the cen- 

 tre is occupied by a tuft of pseudo-petals of the 

 purest white. A very free flowering double 

 white variet}'-, which will be grown by thousands 

 for the trade, and become a general favorite. — 

 Verschaffelt. 



QUERIES. 



Starting Cyclamens. — C. S. W., Hartford, 

 Connecticut, writes : — " I should be glad if Mr. 

 Meehan, or some one equally competent, 

 would contribute to the Monthly a short ar- 

 ticle setting forth the best way of starting 

 Cyclamens outside of a greenhouse. It is a plant 

 that I am quite attached to, but I have always 

 had to give my bulbs to a florist to start for me, 

 never having been able to do it myself, and this 

 I should be very glad to avoid if possible." 



[We are always glad to get inquiries like these, 

 as w^e can help many others who may be under 

 similar difficulties. There is no more beautiful 

 window plant than the Cyclamen, and it is well 

 worthy of any trouble one maj^ take to have it 

 in perfection. The annexed illustration shows 

 one fairly grown, and window cultivators may 

 expect to reach this excellence. 



As to starting it, the trouble comes from dry- 

 ing off too much. There is no reason why they 

 should be dried at all in window culture. Keep 

 watering a little all through the season, and they 

 will start at the proper time. They require some 

 little warmth, and this can be helped by i>lacing 

 the bulbs with the pots in a warm [)art of the 

 room. It does not make much difference if the 

 part is not very light, so that it is warm ; but as 

 soon as the young leaves are visible, it must 

 then be removed to a light place. — Ed. G. M.] 



Trees for Protecting Greenhouses. — G. G. S., 

 Boston, Mass., writes: — "Please oblige by letting 

 me know which kind of fruit trees would be 

 best to plant to protect my greenhouses from 

 the cold northwest wind, as I would like them 

 better than pine, spruce, larch, &c." 



[You cannot have the trees too near the green- 

 houses, or icicles will blow from them in winter 

 and break the glass. The cherry is one of the 

 most rapid growing fruit trees, and would soon 

 make a screen ; but the pear does so well about 

 Boston that we would be disposed to try them. 

 The Bartlett would, on the whole, be the beat 

 variety, as it grows moderately fast in compari- 

 son with some others. The Clapp's Favorite 

 and Flemish Beauty are also rapid growers. — 

 Ed. G. M.] 



Red Spider. — " Florist," Des Moines, Iowa, 

 says:— "In the December Gardener's Monthly, 

 speaking of when the red spider becomes an 

 army with bannei's, more scientific approaches 

 must be made to give any show of success." Now, 

 would you please state some of those 'scientific 

 approaches?' It is a subject ia which I am 

 somewhat interested, and probably others are, 

 for in early Spring, when the sun gets hot, and 

 the greenhouse very warm, it is impossible to 

 subdue the little insect by any means of ventila- 

 tion, or sprinkling, showering or squirting of 

 water through the hose. By all means give us 

 a chapter on the red spider and how to destroy 

 him." 



[Sulphur used freely is one of the best reme- 

 dies against red spider. Many good gardeners 

 wash their flues with sulphur, and the vapor is 

 quite sufficient to keep the red spider down. 

 This vapor does not injure the plants. If, how- 

 ever, the sulphur take fire, sulphuric acid is 

 formed, which will destroy both animal and veg- 

 etable life. In some houses it is customary to 

 have sulphur strewn on sheet iron or tin plates, 

 exposing it to the full sun, and this makes vapor 

 enough to keep the red spider down. In the 

 early stages of their appearance sulphur in the 

 water used in syringing does good. For, although 

 the sulphur is not of course dissolved in the 

 water, yet some of the particles of sulphur get 

 distributed Avith the water. Linseed oil may be 

 dissolved in chalk or dry clay and then dissolved 

 in water. After it has settled it will be found 

 that oil mixes with water enough to be disa- 

 greeable, and this water used in syringing provea 

 very disgusting to the red spider. — Ed. G. M.] 



