' ' • GARDENiMG. 



323 



tS>l<AA:-: ■, 



Kerosene Emulsion.— As regards how 

 to make it we quote as follows from a 

 W. Va., Experiment Station bulletin (43) 

 iiist to hand: 



"Soft soap, 1 quart, or hard soap, }A 

 pound; U quarts hot water; 1 pint of 

 Ucrosciic. Stir until thoroughly mixed; 

 tlioii dilute with water, using one part of 

 llu' emulsion tothreeorfour of the water. 

 The most satisfactory way of making an 

 emulsion is to use a foree pump for 

 mixing, pumping the water back into the 

 receptacle several times. Another method 

 is to use hard soap, '/2 pound; boiling 

 water, 1 gallon; kerosene, 2 gallons. 

 Churn or pump the ingredients thor- 

 oughly for fifteen minutes. Dilute ten 

 times when using. 



"Kerosene and Milk Emulsion —Sour 

 milk, 1 gallon; kerosene oil, 2 gallons; 

 warm to blood heatand mix thoroughly. 

 Dilute ten times with water and use as a 

 dip or spray." 



Skimmed milk is almost as good as 

 soar milk and is what we generally use. 

 Kerosene mixes readily with milk but not 

 with water, hence why we use milk. 



A LYE WASH is also an excellent thing 

 for killing scale insects on trees, especially 

 on the bark of stems and branches; as 

 regards how to make it we quote from 

 the same bulletin: "One pound concen- 

 trated lye or potash I'i pounds to three 

 ,'allons of water. This may be applied 



MAGNOLIA CONSPICUA 



sets of plants, there are neither distinct 

 male nor female plants of it, nor male or 

 female flowers in the same plants, each 

 flower is perfect in itself. So that has 

 nothing to do with the non-flowfring of 

 your laburnums, and what has we, not 

 knowing theexact condition ol the plants 

 and their surroundings, cannot tell, but 

 we will suggest a few salient points. 



The laburnum is perfectly hardy but it 

 should have deep moist ground to grow 

 in and shelter from sweeping winds and 

 scorching sunshine, in your locality an 

 eastern or northern slope or aspect pro- 

 vided it is sheltered from sweeping winds 

 should suit it well. Don't let it be shaded 

 overhead or in front, don't disturb its 

 its roots, that is don't dig about or over 

 them. If over-luxuriance is the matter 

 with them, dig a deep narrow trench 

 around them, a few feet away from the 

 bole, to shorten in the roots and set the 

 trees to forming flower buds rather than 

 wood buds, and do it now. Don't prune 

 them in winter and the less pruning you 

 do to them the better; but if they must 

 linve some pruning to keep them in shape 

 ilo it now. .\lthough the laburnum likes 

 a cool moistish soil, like the mountain 

 ash, the soil should be well drained such 

 as we get on a slope more than in level 

 liottom land. 



OftK TREES AND SCALE. 



J. H. S., St. Joseph, Mo , writes: "1 

 send you by express some leaves from my 



oak trees. The leaves and stems are con- 

 stantly falling off and it .seems to be due 

 to the small round foreign substances 

 which you will find adhering both to the 

 leaves and twigs. I had the same trouble 

 last year but to a less extent, and I am 

 afraid serious consequences will result 

 unless we can get an efficient remedy." 



The twigs sent are very badly infested 

 with scale insects. If the trees are large 

 it will be almost impossible to rid them 

 of the vermin. Kerosene emulsion is 

 about as good and safe an insecticide to 

 use as any. In the early spring before 

 the wood buds burst spray with a strong 

 emulsion; when the buds are bursting 

 spray again usinga weakeremulsion, and 

 again about a fortnight later. This is to 

 reach the young scales when they emerge 

 from under the old parent shell; they are 

 easier killed then than at any other time. 

 Kerosene emulsion, ordinary strength, 

 applied now and once or twice between 

 now and fall should destroy many of the 

 scales. In the winter season the rough 

 bark of the trees may be painted with a 

 solution of kerosene, say one-half kero- 

 sene and one-half skimmed milk, and the 

 little twigs with one-fourth kerosene and 

 three-fourths milk, bu": this strength 

 would ruin bursting buds or foliage, so 

 must not be used in summer. But in 

 winter the old scale shell forms an almost 

 impervious barrier to the kerosene, so 

 that the main dependence lies in killing 

 the scales as they hatch and begin to 

 spread out from the mother shells. 



to branches of trees with a brush 

 remedy for bark li 



as 



THE YULflN IHflONOLIfl. 



( Magnolia conspicua. ) 

 Perhaps among hardy Japanese and 

 Chinese magnolias this is the widest 

 known and most prized of all, both in 

 this country and Europe. Over fortv 

 years ago there stood on the grounds of 

 the late A. T Downing, Newburgh, N. Y., 

 a magnificent specimen of this tree, per- 

 haps it may be there yet. So attractive 

 was this grand tree when in bloom that 

 travellers on the Hudson were enchanted 

 by its beauty, many of whom could not 

 understand what tree it could be. It is a 

 very early and profuse bloomer, of the 

 purest white, with a strong peculiar fra- 

 grance. The specimen herewith shown is 

 growing in my nursery here and is 18 feet 

 high. ToHN Saul. 



Washington, D. C. 



A very pretty tree of the Vulan magno- 

 lia as grown at Dosoris was shown in 

 Gardening, May 15, '94, page 289, and 

 a pretty full reference is given there to 

 garden magnolias in general. In that 

 article we credited several species to 

 Japan, for instance Magnolia ohovata, 

 M. Watsoiii, M. parvlffora, and M. stel- 

 lata, but now comes Prof Sargent in his 

 "Forest Flora of Japan" and tells us that 

 these are found in Japan onlv as garden 

 plants, and that they properly belong to 

 China or Corea. In japan there are only 

 three magnolias that are indisputablv 

 native of that country, they are Magno- 

 lia hypoleuca, a timber tree from the 

 "damp rich forests which cover the low 

 rolling hills of Yezo." There are some 

 fine specimens of it in cultivation in this 

 country, and probably the finest is that 

 of Dosoris. Magnolia Kobus, often 

 known in gardens as M. Tburheri "is ex- 

 ceedingly common in the forests that 

 clothe the hills in the neighborhood of 

 Sapparo." Although a vigorous and 

 handsome tree in our gardens it doesn't 

 take a front rank among "flowering" 

 magnolias, for its blossoms are smallish 

 and not very numerously produced. The 

 third species isMagnolla sallclfolla." On 

 Mount Hakkoda it is a common plant 



