THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[February, 



and water ; or, with a whisk broom sprinkle 

 thoroughly with Paris green prepared in water, 

 as for potato bug, repeating several times 

 through the summer. 



It must be noted that the wood, bark ^and 

 leaves of this plant are all poisonous. Death 

 has resulted from eating meat in which skewers 

 of Oleander wood have been used ; the pow- 

 dered bark is used as a rat poison, and an infu- 

 sion of the leaves is a powerful insecticide. 



The principal varieties described are Nerium 

 oleander, the common rose-colored single-flow- 

 ering species, from which many varieties have 

 originated ; N. 0. splendens, the most popular, a 

 double rose colored flower; N. 0. striata fl. pi., 

 with double flowers, striped rose and white ; N. 

 album maximum, semi double, white ; N. grand- 

 iflorum plenum, double rose ; Shaw's seedling, 

 deep crimson, single ; N. macrophyllum, very 

 double and large, deep pink ; N. album plenum, 

 double white; N. atropurpureum plenum, dark 

 . purple, rich ; N. cardinale, double rich purple 

 vermilion, lighter in centre of petals, very fine. 

 N. flavum duplex, double yellow, fine and dis- 

 tinct ; Geant des Battailles, single, light blue cen- 

 tre, petals edged with crimson, very fine; N. 

 madoni grandiflorum, double white, free flower 

 ing, fine ; Professor Durand, fine double yellow ; 

 N. 0. Eleganti ssimum, a most beautiful plant 

 with deep, silver-edged foliage, and young wood, 

 striped white and green ; and many other fine 

 varieties. The writer, however, doubts whether 

 there is such a thing as a truly double white, or 

 a true vellow. 



STEAM HEATING. 



BY ALEX. MURDOCH, PITTSBURG, PA. 



Friend Fowler can rest assured that steam will 

 not ''smoulder." It is undoubtedly the coming 

 heater for greenhouses — until superseded in its 

 turn by electricity — and before long is destined 

 to enter into the construction of all new ranges 

 of houses ; if not substituted for other methods 

 in those already built. Around Pittsburg it has 

 been introduced with invariable success, and 

 rose-growers from Summit and Madison have 

 been here taking notes. Where we (John R. & 

 A. Murdoch) grow our roses in the 22nd Ward, 

 we this summer took out a No. 16 and a No. 17 

 Hitching's corrugated boiler and two thousand 

 feet of four-inch pipe ; and after making an ex- 

 tension of 100 feet by 20 feet, put in steam with 

 most satisfactory results, adding a steam-pump, 



with which we raise water from the brook below 

 to water the houses and supply the boiler. 

 Two-inch pipe was used excepting where the 

 valves were placed; here we used one-inch pipes 

 and smaller valves to reduce the cost of valves. 



We consider steam as safe as hot water, and 

 much easier to regulate, aside from the economy 

 of labor resulting in the decreased number of 

 fires necessary. After a winter's experience, we 

 may refer again to this important topic. 



DENDROBIUM CAMBRIDCEANUM. 



BY WALTER GRAY. 



"G. C." will find this plant do best to grow it on 

 a block of wood or in a basket, with peat and 

 moss ; suspend it from the roof and as near the 

 glass as possible. It requires plenty of heat and 

 moisture when growing, and when it has made 

 its growth, should be placed in a cooler position 

 with less water until it begins to grow; then 

 bring it back into more heat and moisture to give 

 it a quick growth. It produces its flowers upon 

 the first season's growth early in the spring. 

 It is a grand species ; flowers, dark yellow, some- 

 times orange color, tip crimson. 



ON THE CULTURE OF THE CAMELLIA, 



BY JOHN WOODING, PENCOYD, MONTGOMERY CO., PA. 



The soil heat adapted to the growth of Camel- 

 lias is a mixture of peat and rotten sod in nearly 

 equal proportions, with a little silver sand added. 

 Where the soil is peculiarly light and sandy, a 

 less quantity of peat is requisite. Mix this well 

 together, but not sifted ; use it as rough as possi- 

 ble, as it is necessary the soil should be open and 

 porous ; the plants will have a more healthy ap- 

 pearance. In potting use plenty of broken 

 crocks, thereby securing a free drainage, a cir- 

 cumstance indispensable to the success of the 

 plants. The proper season for the general shift- 

 ing is when the young growth is hardened, and 

 the blossom buds for next year can be detected 

 at the extremity of the shoots. After shifting 

 all those that require it, place them <)ut in the 

 open air in a shady place; an occasional 

 sprinkling of the foliage will improve the ap- 

 pearance as well as be beneficial to the health of 

 the plants. At all times attention must be paid 

 to watering them properly, the roots being apt 

 to become matted in the pots, so as to render the 

 ball of earth impervious to moisture ; hence it is 

 necessary to see that the ball of earth is moist- 



