34 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



February , 1912 



caused that is very beneficial to the 

 plants as well as helping to keep down 

 the insect pests most common and injur- 

 ious to them, viz., thrip, red spider, and 

 mealy bug. The floors and heating 

 pipes can also be dampened at closing- 

 up time to increase the humidity. If 

 foliage plants are sprayed in the morn- 

 ing, except perhaps in very cold wea- 

 ther in winter, ventilation must be given 

 before the hot sun strikes the house, or 

 the plants must be shaded in some way 

 to prevent "scald" or "burning" of the 

 foliage. Many fine palms and similar 

 plants are often ruined, especially in 

 early spring, for want of shade or venti- 

 lation to prevent this scalding or burn- 

 ing of the foliage. 



An angle nozzle with a fine spray for 

 attaching to a hoee or syringe, is an in- 

 valuable adjunct to the equipment of any 

 greenhouse, if judiciously used. 



LIQUID INSECTICIDES 



It becomes necessary to spray plants 

 with liquid insecticides sometimes as a 

 remedy or preventive of insect pests or 

 disease. Spraying has to a very great 

 extent superseded fumigation in green- 

 houses for this purpose, being more di- 

 rect in its effect on many insect pests 

 and diseases, more economical to use, 

 and often less injurious to many forms 

 of plant life than fumigation. 



/ For the application 



of liquid insecticides 

 for large greenhouses 

 a knapsack sprayer is 

 best. For smaller 

 greenhouses a brass 

 garden syringe or a 

 "S c o 1 1 a y Rubber 

 Sprinkler" is the best 

 appliance. 



For aphids, thrip, 



red spider, white fly, 



and mealy bug, spray 



frequently with clear 



tepid water under 



pressure as a preven- 



ScoUay's tive. The following 



Rubber Sprinkler with j; ;j insecticides are 



Nozzle , 



To fill the sprinkler ^'^o good remedies 



imacrew the rose or for these pestS : Nico- 



eprinkler at 1. Press .. .- 



the air out of bulb, tme preparations or 



hold it undeo- the wa- t-trnncr tnK-if-nn cnln 

 ter in an horizontal Strong toDacco SOIU- 



poeition and allow the tions of anv kind : 



bulb to fill and! ex- , , ., •' , 



pand gradually. Clear whale Oil SOap St)lu- 



liquid or water is de- <.• _ /„„„ «,,„„„ ^f 



fiirable. One of the tion (one Ounce ot 



best . appliances for soap thoroughly dis- 



sprajnng a small col- , ', . ,, 



lection of plants. solved in one gallon 



of water is very beneficial) or sulpho- 

 tobacco soap. This last is sold in seed 

 stores and is also a good insecticide. 



The whale oil soap solution applied 

 with a soft brush so as to move the scale, 

 and a spraying with clean water after- 

 wards, is the best remedy for scale in- 

 sects that infest palms, ferns, rubber 

 plants, oleanders, English ivy, and simi- 



lar plants. "Move the .scale and it will 

 die" was one of the axioms or rules that 

 used to be, years ago, always impressed 

 on young florists. It applies now with 

 equal force, especially to amateur plant 

 growers. 



For mildew and black spot disea.ses, 

 that attack roses and chrysanthemums, 

 and also for the mycelium or "damp- 

 ing off," there is no better remedy than 

 finely powdered flowers of sulphur, dust- 

 ed on when the foliage is damp, not wet. 



All of the foregoing remarks will 

 apply with more or less force to the care 

 of window and house plants. Due re- 

 gard should be had to the changed con- 

 ditions and surroundings, such as tem- 

 perature and facilities for spraying. 



In spraying operations, as vvith every- 

 thing else in connection with horticul- 

 tural operations, do not neglect doing it 

 until it is too late. "An ounce of pre- 

 vention is better than a pound of cure." 

 And when spraying, spray thoroughly. 



Orchid Growing for the Amateur 



J. A. Ellis, M.L.A., Ottawa, Ont. 



A POPULAR impression about or- 

 chids is that they are very ex- 

 pensjive. This is not entirely 

 correct. It is true that rare orchids are 

 very expensive, but that is generally on 

 account of their rarity and not on ac- 

 count of their beauty. Some of the most 

 beautiful orchids are only a dollar or 

 two. It can be taken as a general rule, 

 that the orchids that we now and again 

 hear have been bought for fabulous 

 prices are no more beautiful, and in 

 most cases not as beautiful, as the com- 

 mon, cheaper ones. 



Another popular impression is that 

 orchids are extremely difficult to grow, 

 and that only experts can manage them. 

 This, too, is erroneous to a great ex- 

 tent. The culture of orchids divides 

 them naturally into three classes, viz., 

 stove, intiermediate, and cool. The stove 

 varieties require a temperature of sixty- 

 five to eighty degrees in summer, and 

 of sixty to seventy degrees in winter. 

 The intermediate want sixty to seventy 

 desfrees in summer, and fifty-five to six- 

 ty-five degrees in winter. The cool vari- 

 eties will do with fifty-five to sixty de- 

 grees in summer, and forty-five to sev- 

 enty-five degrees in winter. 



It will easily be seen that the stove 

 orchids require a degree of heat which 

 can only be secured by special green- 

 houses and constant attention. The 

 amateur, who has other things to attend 

 to besides his plants, should not try to 

 grow this class of orchids. 



ORCHIDS FOE AMATEURS 



Nearly all the cool house orchids and 

 many of the intermediate ones can, how- 

 ever, be grown by an amateur in the 

 same greenhouse most successfully. The 

 elimination of the stove varieties cuts out 

 many lovely flowers, but the intermedi- 

 ate and cool house ones comprise a wide 

 range, and some of the most beautiful. 

 I, therefore, advise the amateur to con- 

 fine himself to the.se two latter classes. 

 If he does, he can secure exceedingly 

 beautiful flowers at a low cost for the 

 plants, and he will And that these orchids 

 are the most easily grown of all plants. 

 In fact they are easier to grow than 

 fuchsias, liegonins, or even geraniums.. 



They require very little attention, want 

 re-potting only about every third year, 

 are remarkably free from insect pests, 

 do not require pruning or clipping, are 

 always in good form and shape, and 

 even when not in bloom generally have 

 I>eautiful green leaves. In order to grow 

 them successfully, however, their simple 

 requirements must be understood. 



ESSENTIALS TO SUCCESS 



The first essential is to keep the cor- 

 rect temperature already given. Also 

 absolutely essential are, a plentiful cir- 

 culation of fresh air, shading from the 

 hot summer sun, and an abundant sup- 

 ply of moisture. These matters will 

 be readily understood when it is remem- 

 bered that in their native habitant most 

 of them grow on dead trees, where they 

 are in shade, and over swamps from 

 which a constant moisture arises. Other 

 varieties grow on swampy ground. 



Fresh air is vital to them, and should 

 be admitted on all possible occasions. 

 There should be both bottom and top 

 ventilators, so that the air can freely 

 circulate throughout the greenhouse and 

 around all the plants. 



The greenhouse should be shaded in 

 summer, either with roller blinds, or 

 which is quite as satisfactory, by heav- 

 ily whitening the glass. Orchids will 

 not stand the direct hot rays of the sun. 



Moisture is best supplied by overhead 

 watering with a hose. When the plants 

 though are forming their young flower 

 shoots care must be taken that water 

 does not lodge around these shoots else 

 they will decay. Dipping the plants in 

 water until the pots are submerged does 

 them a lot of good in summer. In win- 

 ter watering two or three times a week 

 is ample, but in summer during tlie 

 growing period watering every day, and 

 sometimes twice a day, is necessary. 

 Some liquid fertilizer given during the 

 growing season is beneficial. If the 

 plants are dipped, this is easily done. 

 Whilst plenty of moisture is desirable, 

 the plant should never stand in water. 



Orchids are generally potted in peat 

 fibre, with a little fine moss mixed with 

 the fibre, and the compost covered with 

 green growirig moss. If this green moss 



