AQUARIDil. 



22 



ARABI3. 



they appear immediately. The 

 tenth generation usually appeai-s 

 about September, and these insects 

 lay eggs for the first brood the 

 following spring. The best way of 

 preventing the attacks of these 

 insects is washing the branches of 

 the Rose-trees with soft soap and 

 water in January or Febiiiary ; or, 

 in short, any time before the buds 

 begin to swell. When they have 

 appeared, the best way to destroy 

 them is to lay the infested branches 

 on the hand, and gently to brush ofi" 

 the insects with a soft brush and 

 plain water. Or if this be not found 

 sufficient, to make a decoction of 

 quassia, in the proportion of an 

 ounce of quassia chips to every quart 

 of water, and to dip the infested 

 branches in it. Quassia is not in- 

 jurious to plants, though it is instan- 

 taneously destructive to animal life. 

 Some gardeners employ tobacco- 

 water, but when this is used, the 

 shoots should only remain a few 

 seconds in the tobacco-water, and 

 then be washed immediately in clean 

 cold water, or they will become so 

 blackened and withered, that the 

 remedy v^-ill be worse than the in- 

 sects. Snuff and lime-water are 

 liable to the same objections, as 

 both greatly disfigure the plants. 



Aqua^rium. — A pond, basin, or 

 cistern of water, for the growth of 

 water-plants. In a pond in the 

 open garden, the plants may either 

 be grown in pots, plunged to the 

 depth of one or two feet in the water, 

 or they may be planted in the bot- 

 tom of the pond. The former is 

 generally the best mode, because the 

 plants are by that means kept 

 distinct, and the stronger cannot 

 overpower the weaker. At the same 

 I time very strong ground plants, 

 ' such as the white and yellow Water- 

 lilies, do not flower freely unless in 

 the free soil, or in very large tubs. 



I There are few greenhouse aquatics, 

 but a number of stove plants which 

 require to be grown in Avater ; such 

 as the Indian Lotus, or Nelumhium, 

 dx., and these are necessarily grown 

 in pots of moderate size. The most 

 suitable soil is a rich loam. The 

 Victoria Regia, being a river ^plant, 

 requires the water to be gently 

 agitated, to keep it in a healthy 

 state ; and this effect is produced 

 either by awheel continually turning, 

 as at Chatsworth, or by a bucket 

 moved by machinery so as to empty 

 itself w^hen it rises to a certain 

 height, and then descend to be re- 

 filled. The plant is grown on little 

 hillocks of loamy soil under the 

 surface of the w\ater, so that the 

 root and stem is in shallower water 

 than the leaves. If this plant be 

 kept in stagnant water, the leaves 

 will rot when about half grown. 

 The Papyrus, though properly 

 speaking it is a marsh plant, is also 

 grown on mounds of earth in an 

 aquarium, — See Marsh Plants. 



Aquile^gia. — JRanunculacece. — 

 The Columbine.- — Perennial herba- 

 ceous plants, gi-owing from one to 

 two feet high, of v/hich several 

 species are very ornamental ; more 

 especially the common dJumbine, 

 A. vulgaris, and its varieties, A. 

 alpina, A. canadensis, A. glan- 

 dulosa, and A. glanduldsa grandi- 

 flora. They grow in any common 

 soil that is dry ; and the species are 

 increased by seeds, which wdll keep 

 a long time, and the varieties by 

 division of the root. 



A'rabis — Cruclferce. — Wallcress. 

 — Herbaceous plants, chiefly an- 

 nuals and biennials, natives of 

 Europe, many of which are remark- 

 able for their early flowering. A. 

 alp)nahaii v/hiteand yellow flowers, 

 which appear in March, and A. 

 dlbida flowers the greater pai-t of 

 the year, commencing in mild winters 



