142 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHL Y 



[May, 



Probably the best plan would be to put this 

 soil in a box three or four feet square and one 

 foot deep and sink it where the water is twenty 

 or thirty inches deep. They can be wintered in 

 a tub of water in the greenhouse. They produce 

 during the summer young tubers which remain 

 dormant during the winter. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Insect Powder. — Wm. Saundei's of London, 

 Ontario, well known for his horticultural expe- 

 rience, as well as distinguished as the editor of 

 the Canadian Entomologist , finds the Dalmatian 

 Insect Powder, made from Pyretlirum cinerariae- 

 folium, an excellent insecticide. He says : 



"House flies are very sensitive to the effects of 

 these powders. A few puffs of the dust from an 

 insect gun, blown into the air of a room with the 

 doors closed, the discharges directed towards 

 those parts where flies are congregated, will 

 stupefy and kill them within a very short time. 

 The powder is somewhat pungent, and to breathe 

 an atmosphere charged with it will frequently 

 cause a slight sneezing, but beyond this the op- 

 erator need not anticipate any annoyance. Fre- 

 quently during the past Summer, when flies have 

 been troublesome, we have pretty thoroughly 

 charged the air in our dining-room and kitchen 

 at night, closing the doors, and in the morning 

 found all, or nearly all the flies lying dead on 

 the floors. A few minutes after its use they 

 begin to drop on their backs, and after a very 

 short time die ; if a room be closed for half an 

 hour after using the powder, few, if any will 

 escape." 



He finds it as good against Aphides and other 

 plant lice. Much superior in its results to to- 

 bacco smoke. 



Forcing Lily of the Valley. — Miss Car- 

 rie Brown of Dayton, Ohio, was very successful 

 in blooming Lily of the Valley last Winter, and 

 in response to a request from the Montgomery 

 Co. Horticultural Societ}^ gave the following 

 note as to their treatment : 



"It is necessary to leave them in the ground 

 until after a hard freeze. It may perhaps do to 

 transplant the bulbs in the Fall to pots or boxes, 

 and let them remain outdoors to freeze. In se- 

 lecting the bulbs take those that have rounding 

 tops instead of the pointed ones. Put them in 

 a very warm place, and the light is not neces- 



sary for them until they are well started, at 

 least an inch high. Then give them light, but 

 do not put them too near the glass, as they often 

 blight if the sun is too hot upon them." 



The Store-plant House in Tower Grove 

 Park, St. Louis. — While making a hasty run 

 last Summer through St. Louis on the way to the 

 Rio Grande, the editor was kindly driven around 

 Tower Grove Park by the controller Mr. Henry 

 Shaw, and among other interesting things, in- 

 spected the store-house for plants then being 

 erected. This was simply a handsome brick 

 building with numerous windows instead of an 

 ordinary greenhouse. Mr. Shaw had noted from 

 his extended horticultural experience, that a 

 vast number of hardy plants which are used for 

 Summer decoration, did not grow in the Winter, 

 and therefore needed little light. It was of 

 more importance to keep them from frost than 

 to have an abundance of light. Of course a 

 building with solid walls would be much warmer 

 at far less expense than an ordinary greenhouse; 

 and so this beautiful building was put up. Desir- 

 ing to know the success during the past Winter 

 Mr. Shaw now tells us : 



" The plant-house erected in Tower Grove 

 Park 100 by 30 feet, appears to answer our pur- 

 pose, viz : for the Winter protection of palms 

 and other foliage plants, to place in the park in 

 Summer. The temperature has been kept at 

 50 to 60'' to avoid a forced growth which would 

 be affected by out-door exposure." 



NEIV OR RARE PLANTS. 



New Tea Rose Madame Welch.— The 

 Bellevue Nursery Co. writes : " We send by mail 

 this day one bud of the New Tea Rose Madame 

 Welch, grown by us at our nursery. The 

 plant is in a four-inch pot, and we think that 

 with good treatment and with plants thoroughly 

 established, the bud will be increased in size fully 

 one half. The plant is of a good branching 

 habit, vigorous, carrying its buds on strong stems 

 which is so desirable for cut flowers; and from 

 what we have seen so far, it will take its place 

 along side of Safrano, Bon Silene and others as 

 a bloomer, and we have no doubt that it will be 

 eagerly sought after by the dealers in cut roses. 



[This is a bronzy buff of sweet odor, and with 

 slender oval form prized by the arrangers of cut 

 flowers.— Ed. G. M.l 



