THE TANADTAN HOTITTC TT l/P T RT S T 



February, iqi4 



A Collection o( Wild Flower* ■* Gathered, near Peterboro, by an Enthusiast 



Owing to the ignorance and oarelessneee of the public many of our native wild flowers are 

 already almost extinct- Can not the Ontario Horticnltnral Association and the local horti- 

 cultural societies take steps to preserre them? 



those species which produce a copious 

 flow of honey dew, quassia is a most 

 useful ingredient to add. It acts as an 

 astringent to the leafage and cleans it 

 of all the honey dew and excreta formed 

 by aphides. The quassia chips should 

 be boiled and the extract added to the 

 soft soap wash. 



For those aphides which attack the 

 roots of plants, there is no better cure 

 than bisulphide of carbon. Inject about 

 one-quarter ounce to every four square 

 yards. This substance being both a 

 deadly poison and highly inflammable, 

 care must be taken in its use. The va- 

 por of bisulphide of carbon liquid used 

 in the beekeeper's "smoker" is another 

 good remedy for green fly, and does not 

 injure even delicate flowers. 



In all cases aphides should be attack- 

 ed directly they show themselves, espe- 

 cially when the species of aphis has the 

 habit like the plum aphis of curling up 

 the leaves and so protecting themselves 

 from the spray. 



For the destruction of mussel scale, 

 woolly aphis, mealy-bugs, thrips, and 

 red spider in glass houses, there is no 

 more effectual remedy than fumigation 

 with hydrocyanic acid gas. Nursery 

 stock will be freed from insect enemies 

 at all stages if fumigated with this 

 poison . 



The materials used for fumigation with 

 hydrocyanic acid gas are: First, potas- 

 sium cyanide of ninety-eight per cent, 

 purity; second, sulphuric acid of a sjje- 

 cific gravity, not less than one decimal 

 eighty-three; third, water, four jars and 

 a glass measure. The following propor- 



tions of cyanide of potassium, sulphuric 

 acid, and water to be used, and the 

 amount of space jjer unit of cyanide are 

 recommended, viz., One ounce of cyan- 

 ide of ninety-eight per cent, purity to 

 every two hundred, or three hundred or 

 five hundred cubic feet of space respect- 

 ively . 



The amount of cyanide to be used 

 necessarily depends to some extent on the 

 character of the plants to be fumigated, 

 and their strength, whether they are dor- 

 mant or active, evergreen, or deciduous, 

 and on the season. With tender plants 

 one ounce of cyanide will serve for five 

 hundred cubic feet of space, while hardy 

 plants may be treated with one ounce 

 of cyanide to two hundred cubic feel of 

 space. 



The first step is to render the glass 

 house or other place to be treated as 

 air-tight as possible. The sulphuric 

 acid must then be very carefully and 

 slowly poured into the water, which may 

 be put into a jam jar or disused crock. 

 Wrap the cyanide of potassium in thin 

 blotting paper, which should then be 

 dropped into the sulphuric acid. The 

 vessel containing the solution should be 

 placed within reach of a window so that 

 the operator can drop the cyanide of 

 potassium into the diluted sulphuric acid 

 at the end of a long stick or lower it 

 by means of a string and pulley. The 

 window must be immediately closed so 

 that the operator escapes the fumes. See 

 that the door is already closed tightly, 

 and all chinks filled with raps or paper, 

 and that the window shuts close. It is 

 important that the fumes should be dis- 



iributed into .ill parts of the house. This 

 can be effected by an arrangement of 

 l.ins which can be worked from the in- 

 side. 



Fumigation should be carried out in 

 the evening and not in a strong sunlight. 

 The plants should be dry and the tem- 

 perature between fifty to sixty degrees. 

 The work must be done by a skilful 

 operator, for the fumes of cyanide are 

 deadly jX)isonous. 



The place which has been fumigated 

 should be kept closed for an hour. Th>- 

 windows and doors should be opened 

 from the outside and no one should enter 

 until another hour has elapsed. When 

 opening the windows after fumigation, 

 be careful that no escaping fumes of the 

 cyanide are inhaled. It is safer not to 

 fumigate plants which are in bloom. 



OUTDOOR PLANTS 



It is of the utmost importance to re- 

 member that both cyanide of potassium 

 and hydrocyanic acid gas are highly dan- 

 gerous fX>isons. The cyanide should be 

 kept in a stoppered bottle labelled "poi- 

 son." The gas generated must on no ac- 

 count be inhaled. 



Fumigation with cyanide wUl destroy 

 all forms of insect life, except the eggs 

 of the woolly aphis. Where there has 

 been previous trouble with these pests, 

 the treatment should be repeated in about 

 ten days. Eggs of the apple mussel 

 scale are also unaffected by gas of the 

 strength mentioned. 



Fumigation with tobacco is a simple 

 and effectual means of exterminating 

 many kinds of insect pests, and has the 

 advantage of being harmless to those us- 

 ing it. In employing this method of 

 fumigation, procure first of all a wire 

 basket about twelve inches wide and say 

 six inches deep, and fasten to each cor- 

 ner a strong wire with which to suspend 

 it. Into the bottom of the basket throw 

 a few hot cinders, and over them a hand- 

 ful of charcoal. Swing the basket about 

 for a few minutes until there is a good 

 red fire. The best tobacco to use is 

 common shag. When using it get a 

 handful of wet litter from the stable and 

 chop it into pieces about an inch long, 

 and fix well with the tobacco. Then place 

 the whole on the fire and give the bas- 

 ket a good swing in the air. The smoke 

 will fill the greenhouse in a few seconds. 

 Hang the basket in the house, and 

 should it burst into flame, damp it. All 

 plants in flower should be removed. Re- 

 peat this exterminator in two or three 

 davs in the evening, and in the morning 

 give plants a thorough syringing with 

 clean water. 



Moss roses are, if anything, hardier 

 than most of the hybrid perpetual bush 

 roses, almost as hardy as the Japanese 

 or Rugosa roses.— Wm. Hunt, O.A.C., 

 Guelph, Ont. 



