QUESTION DRAWER. 



plants, to run down around them and 

 destroy the maggots in the root and in 

 the soil around them. 



Fig. 1105. — The Perfect Insect or Fly. 



Watering with the liquid from pig- 

 pens, collected in a tank provided for 

 the purpose, was found by Miss Orme- 

 rod to be a better preventive than the 

 gas lime. It is recommended to run a 

 roller over the ground a few times after 

 the seed has been sown, thus compact- 

 ing the soil so that the maggots cannot 

 make their way through it from one 

 plant to another. 



Water raised nearly to the boiling 

 point and poured along the rows from 

 a tea-kettle or other convenient vessel, 

 has proved destructive to the maggots, 

 without injury to the plants. The water 

 should be applied so as to go directly 

 to the bulbs and not to the leaves. 



Most excellent results have been ob- 

 tained in England by growing onions in 

 trenches, and as the bulbs grew, the 

 earth was worked down upon them so 

 as to keep them buried throughout the 

 season. The onion bulbs should be 

 covered with earth up to the neck, or 

 even higher, so that the fly cannot get 

 at them to lay her eggs. 



When the onions have been attacked, 

 and show it by wilting and changing 

 color, they should either be taken up 

 with a trowel and burned, or else a little 

 dilute carbolic acid or kerosene oil 

 should be dropped on the infested 



Smilax. 



934. Sir, — In your next issue of your 

 valuable .lournal will you kindly inform me 

 how to cultivate Smilax. Does it require very 

 rich soil ? I have raised several plants from 

 seed, but after reaching about a fool or more 

 in height, the foliage and stems begin to get 

 brown and they die down I water moder- 

 ately, as most other plants. 



K. H. Lkiht, KinijHton. 



Reply by John Craig, Central Experi- 

 mental Farm. 



Smilax is probably one of the most 

 useful of all plants grown for foliage by 

 the florist. It requires a full year to 

 obtain a crop. The ordinary method 

 of procedure is to sow the seed in Jan- 

 uary or February. When the seedlings 

 have grown to a height of a few inches, 

 they are set in 3-inch pots and grown in 

 this way for some months. In August 

 or September the plants are set in 

 benches, 6 to 8 inches apart. The 

 Smilax should be ready for cutting in 

 the month of January following. If it 

 is cut down at this time, a second crop 

 will be ready in March or April. The 

 best soil for growing Smilax is one 

 light, but rich in character. It is im- 

 portant that the plant should be syringed 

 frequently with water (daily), and after 

 being set in the bench, frequent appli- 

 cations of manure water are necessary. 

 Growers should remember that the foli- 

 age is unusually sensitive, and tobacco 

 smoke, such as is used to keep down 

 green fly, proves very injurious to Smi- 

 lax. It is better, therefore, to use the 

 tobacco in the liquidform. 



160 



