THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 245 



their proper season. We may force the' growth by various means ; 

 but a sharp frost on the 20th of May (or thereabouts), may be 

 expected four years in ten, and when it occurs, all the previous new 

 growth of the outdoor roses is destroyed, and the plants are also 

 very seriously injured in general health. Hence, it is not prudent, 

 as a rule, to begin to give water copiously and regularly, until the 

 dangerous date is past ; but from the 20th of May to the 20th of 

 July, water should be given without stint, to insure a fine bloom 

 and a free growth, and make the fly afraid to touch them. On 

 soils of a particularly dry nature, the rose beds should be somewhat 

 below the level, and enclosed, if possible, by broad margins of turf 

 cut from clay land, so as to prevent hasty departure of water, and 

 economize every drop of the rainfall. 



But the green-fly will sometimes come in spite of these pre- 

 ventives. Now, good rosarian, take your choice of a thousand 

 remedies that you can obtain, like patent medicines, at 13|d. per 

 box or 2s. 9d. per bottle, or at a price per hogshead or ton, by 

 inquiring of the manufacturers. It is with pleasure we confess that 

 we have tried all the plant-cleansing preparations that have been 

 advertised during the past thirty years, and found them equal to 

 the professions of their promoters. Therefore, the novice who buys 

 a preparation described as an infallible destroyer of green-fly on 

 roses, is likely enough to secure all he wants, and may at least give 

 it a fair trial without trembling for the result. Having, in the' 

 capacity of advisers, to make choice amongst them, particular 

 attention is now directed to three distinct preparations. Fowler s 

 Insecticide, the Aphis Wash of the City Soap Company, and Poolers 

 Tobacco Poivder, are the cheapest, safest, most potent, most cleanly, 

 and most convenient, of the many preparations we have fairly tried 

 for the eradication of fly from roses. As to the mode of applying 

 them, the best advice we can give is to follow the printed directions; 

 but when you are told to dilute the preparations with water, take 

 care to use soft water as hot as the hand will bear. This mode of 

 procedure we have determined to be the best by repeated experi- 

 ments, and many careful observations. The tobacco powder is the 

 most simple remedy of all. It must be dredged on from a pepper- 

 box or flour-dredger, covered with coarse muslin, when the trees 

 are wet with dew, or when they have been wetted for the purpose 

 with the garden engine. In any case of waging war against fly, the 

 operator must bear in mind that they usually locate themselves on 

 the tenderest part of the young shoots, and the undersides of the 

 young leaves. On such parts apply the remedy with engine, syringe, 

 or dredger ; and as the preparation used costs money, catch as much 

 of the waste as you can, and where the shoots are pliable and 

 manageable, draw them down and dip them in your can of hot 

 mixture, keeping them in it a few seconds, and the waste will be 

 reduced to a minimum. 



The immense value of pure water as an insecticide remains to be 

 remarked upon. At pic^ent, very i'aw cultivators believe in it; but 

 the day will come when reason will prevail, and the preparations of 

 the Bhops will be less sought after than the water engine and the 



Anguit. 



