i88s.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



73 



attacks the shoots is what, for want of a better 

 name, has been called the " Carnation Twitter." 

 The indication of its presence is a twisting or curl- 

 ing of the leaves, and on examination of plants in 

 that state it can be seen with the naked eye. It is 

 a quick-moving insect, like the point of a cambric 

 needle, and about the 20th part of an inch in 

 length. In its different stages is green or black 

 in color. Whenever any of the Dianthus tribe is 

 attacked by this insect they rarely recover. So 

 far there seems to be no remedy for it, as it bur- 

 rows down in the heart of the shoots, getting out 

 of the reach of anything that might destroy it. 

 It however does not seem to be always invited by 

 debility of the plant. I remember several years 

 ago when we used to grow the hardy garden Car- 

 nations largely for summer flowers, that it once 

 struck into a batch of nearly 20,000 plants that 

 had stood unprotected in the open ground all 

 winter. Its action was peculiar. Beginning seem- 

 ingly with one plant it radiated sometimes to a di- 

 ameter of 20 feet in patches all over the bed, 

 rendering utterly useless all that it attacked. The 

 only consolation is that it seems to come only at 

 long intervals. Jersey City Heights, N. J. 



GAS TAR. 



BY N. ROBERTSON. 



Comment is not necessary to show the bad re- 

 sults of using gas tar on heating pipes. So many 

 instances have been recorded in horticultural 

 works, of its injurious effects on plants, that no 

 reader will fall into the error of using it. 



But I have experienced the ill effects of it in an- 

 other way which plainly demonstrates its detri- 

 mental properties. Three years ago I had a green- 

 house built ; and in a novel position. It was on 

 the top of a substantial shed ; but circumstances 

 were such that no other place was available. This 

 shed was on the lower level of eighteen feet from 

 where I had to put it ; its roof coming to the level 

 of my other houses, with which I wanted to con- 

 nect it. This roof was what is called a flat one, 

 covered with galvanized iron. On this it was 

 built. Knowing that it would be difficult to heat 

 with the space cold below, 1 had first a good coat- 

 ing of tar and sand put over the roof of the 

 shed, so as to make it perfectly close, and then 

 six inches of well-packed concrete. Knowing the 

 Ijad results arising from tar, I was extremely care- 

 ful that every portion should be close, but as soon 

 as the heating commenced its smell became strong, 

 doing considerable dMmage. 1 was in a dilemma, 



as bad almost as if the pipes had been covered 

 with tar. To tear up the floor at that season of 

 the year, with the house full of plants, and no 

 other place to put them in, the other houses being 

 taxed already to the fullest extent, was out of the 

 the question. The floor seemed so close that one 

 would think no gas could escape. However, I 

 gave it another cover of cement, made as thin as 

 could be, so that it would run into any cracks that 

 might exist. This gave me partial relief, so that 

 the bad effects were much reduced, and in the end 

 disappeared entirely. I send you this statement 

 as a warning to all that may construct greenhouses, 

 never to use gas tar in any connection whatever 

 with them. Supt. Govt. Grounds, Ottawa, Can. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Improving Garden Flowers. — Few florists 

 know how much may be made by persistent and 

 intelligent attempts to improve garden flowers. 

 Mr. Rupp undertook the Chinese Primrose some 

 years ago. So successful has he been, that his 

 sales of seeds annually, at first but a few dollars, 

 now go into the many hundreds. Of course he 

 judiciously advertises as well as improves. 



Cypripedium GRANDE.— Messrs. Veitch, Chel- 

 sea, London, continue in the good work of raising 

 hybrid orchids, and are lucky enough in produc- 

 ing some kinds that are quite as distinct and re- 

 markable as species discovered in their native 

 tropical homes. The one now figured is one of 

 the latest. They furnish us with the following ac- 

 count of it : 



"A hybrid of exceptional merit raised by our 

 foreman, Mr. Seden, from C. Roezhi and C. cau- 

 datum, the latter being the pollen parent. It is 

 the most robust Cypripedium known ; its sword- 

 shaped leaves attain a length of from 24 to 30 

 inches, and are of a bright glossy green ; the 

 scape is robust in proportion, exceeding a yard in 

 height, and is many-flowered. The flowers are 6 

 inches across the sepals from tip to tip. The dor- 

 sal sepal is yellowish white traversed with yellow- 

 ish green veins ; the lower sepal is similar with 

 paler veins. The petals are ribbon-like, more than 

 a foot long, quite pendulous, pale crimson except 

 the broader basilar portion, which is yellowish 

 veined with green. The lip is large and promi- 

 nent, greenish yellow above, whitish beneath, the 

 infolded lobes whitish spotted with crimson around 

 the base ; the staminode is pale yellow slightly 



