1883.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



169 



pipe is just as good and much cheaper than a 

 larger one, except where the pipes are very long 

 and there is danger of the steam condensing be- 

 fore it reaches the end. Second: Where it takes 

 a five-horse boiler to heat one house it will not re- 

 quire more than an eighteen-horse boiler to heat 

 four such houses. Third: I prefer the radiators to 

 receive the steam from the upper end, as in case of 

 very long radiators the condensed water may in- 

 terfere with the steam. 



It is possible to have steam-heating so arranged 

 with automatic valves that we need only attend to 

 it once in six hours. I have done this myself. 



DECORATED NAPKIN RINGS. 

 BY WM. McR., RAPIDAN, VA. 



At a dinner party given by my employer, the most 

 admired decoration was floral napkin rings. The 

 rings were formed of loops of the green wire used 

 in making artificial flowers; through the loops 

 sprays of smilax and stems of cineraria blooms 

 were twined. They were very pretty, and were 

 nearly all carried away by the guests as souvenirs. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Hot Water to Kill Insects. — In the first 

 volume of the Gardeners' Monthly, probably 

 one of the most valuable papers published was 

 one on the use of hot water in destroying plant 

 lice. Many have thanked us since for giving 

 them such a simple and effectual plan. The fol- 

 lowing details have recently appeared in the Lon- 

 don Gardeners' Magazine, and as there are some 

 suggestions in it, not noted in our original paper 

 where 130^ was given as the degree of limit, it 

 will be useful to reproduce it here : 



"Water is a cheap insecticide insufficiently ap- 

 preciated, but capable of more extended use than 

 the majority of those who already believe in it are 

 aware. It is quite certain that the best cultivation 

 will not prevent the occurrence amongst plants of 

 such pests as aphis, red spider, mealy bug, and a 

 few of their near relatives. Therefore it will not 

 do to dismiss the subject of plant vermin by say- 

 ing that good cultivation is a sufficient preventive, 

 though it is unquestionably true that the most 

 natural conditions for vigorous growth are also 

 just those which keep vermin at a distance. We 

 do not intend here to enter upon a general consid- 

 eration of the subject, but to relate a few particu- 

 lars of experiments that have been made at Stoke 

 Newington, with a view to determine the extent to 

 which hot water may be employed for the destruc- 

 tion of the insects that most commonly infest 

 plants. The few experiments made have been 



attended with such promising results that we shall 

 hope to find opportunity soon for repeating them 

 in a more extended and systematic manner. For 

 the present we shall speak of aphis only, and as 

 that is the most prevalent of plant posts, we trust 

 that these remarks will be useful to many readers. 

 It appears, then, that aphides quickly perish if 

 immersed in water heated to 120^ Fah. We ob- 

 tained from various sources plants infested with 

 green fly, and cleansed them by the simple pro- 

 cess of dipping. As the experiments were made 

 in the month of February, we thought it probable 

 that aphis might endure in June a temperature 

 many degrees higher than that which proved fatal 

 to them in the earlier and colder season. Hence 

 it became desirable to ascertain the degree of heat 

 the plants could endure in the dipping process. 

 A number of herbaceous and soft-wooded plants 

 were therefore subjected to the process of immer- 

 sion in water heated to various degrees above 120°. 

 We found that fuchsias were unharmed at I40°^ 

 but at 150° the young leaves were slightly in- 

 jured. Calceolarias suffered at 140-, but the 

 plants were not killed, though their soft tops per- 

 ished. Pelargoniums were unhurt up to 150^, but 

 the slightest rise beyond that figure killed the soft 

 wood and the young leaves completely. Chinese 

 primulas were injured by any rise beyond 140"^, 

 and this at last proved to be the most general 

 maximum, and may be cited as a rule for observ- 

 ance. Centaureas, sedums, saxifragas, thyrsacan- 

 thus, justicias, ferns, heliotropes, petunias, be- 

 gonias, mignonette, and many other plants of soft 

 texture, were unhurt by being dipped in water at 

 140'-, but the slightest rise beyond that point was 

 j followed by blackening of the leaves, and conse- 

 quent disfigurement of the plant, and at 150"^ the 

 process of killing commenced. About ten years 

 ago we reported in the Floral World that Fairy 

 or Lawrence roses, which are grown in quantities 

 in pots for market, could be best kept clean by 

 dipping in hot water, as at 120^ the plant is not 

 injured, and every aphis upon it is destroyed. 

 This simple method of removing vermin from 

 plants is, we are quite satisfied, capable of very 

 general adoption, in place of more troublesome 

 and more expensive plans. We shall be glad of 

 any aid our readers can afford towards the reduc- 

 tion to system of the facts of the case. To what 

 extent can we carry on an offensive warfare 

 against scale, red spider, and all the rest of the 

 little foes that plague us in the garden ? The 

 question can be better answered by many than a 

 few. It is eminently a question for those who 

 have opportunity and a liking for experiments,, 

 and who can afford to kill a few plants, if need be, 

 to make a sure test of the respective powers of 

 endurance of high temperatures by various orders 

 and genera. 



Leea amabilis. — Leaf plants, or those which 

 are valuable chiefly on account of beautiful foliage, 

 are still popular, and we have here one of the most 

 beautiful additions that have been made for along- 

 time. It was introduced by Messrs. Veitch of 

 London, who give us the following account of it: 



