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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



plants infested with aphis may even be dip- 

 ped for a few seconds in the solution with- 

 out any danger of injury to the plant. 



Where raw tobacco leaves or leaf stems 

 cannot be readily obtained, a good solution 

 of tobacco can be made by unrolling two 

 cigars and place them in a dish and pour a 

 quart of boiling water on them, and treat as 

 recommended for the raw leaf tobacco so- 

 lution, 



A quarter of a pound of quassia chips 

 boiled for five or ten minutes in a gallon of 

 rain water, allowed to cool, and when 

 strained off the liquid can be used very ef- 

 fectively as an insecticide, and is less dis- 

 agreeable to use than the tobacco solution. 

 Soapy water made from common soap, free 

 from chemicals, can be used for making 

 either of the above solutions. The soapy 

 water causes the solution to adhere more 

 readily to the foliage, thus increasing its 

 effectiveness. The plants should afterwards 

 be syringed with clear water as before re- 

 commended. 



Chrysanthemums. The early flower- 

 ing varieties will soon be in bloom. If 

 large blooms are required, some of the 

 smaller late buds should be pinched off. 

 This disbudding process means fewer flow- 

 ers, but flowers of ver ymuch better quality 

 both in size and color than if the buds re 

 left crowded thickly together. Disbudding 

 should be commenced as soon as the buds 

 are large enough eo be pinched off easily 

 with the thumb and finger. The flowers of 

 chrysanthemums will be improved if the 

 plants are given a little liquid fertilizer once 

 or twice a week whilst the buds are swell 

 ing. The plants should be lifted indoors 

 on cold nights, as two or three degrees of 

 frost will injure the bloom. 



The black aphis or black fly is often very 

 troublesome to chrysanthemums, and are 

 very hard to get rid of when once they ob- 

 tain a hold on the plants. I have found 



that by dissolving about an ounce of whale 

 oil soap in one gallon of the tobacco solu- 

 tion before mentioned, these pests can be 

 better kept under control. Dipping the in- 

 fested tips of growth in this solution is the 

 best method of using it. Soapy water 

 made from 'ordinary common soap, mixed 

 with the tobacco solution, will answer near- 

 ly as well as whale oil soap. 



Bui,B Culture. October is the best 

 month for planting spring flowering bulbs 

 in the garden, as well as for putting varie- 

 ties for flowering in the window or conserva- 

 tory during winter. Roman hyacinths and 

 almost all varieties of the narcissi, as well 

 as Dutch hyacinths, succeed splendidly un- 

 der pot culture. The Roman hyacinths 

 and narcissi can be planted three bulbs in a 

 four or five-inch pot in fairly rich loamy 

 soil. The tips of the bulbs should be just 

 under the surface of the soil after they are 

 potted. Dutch hyacinths should be planted 

 either singly in a four or five-inch pot, or 

 three in a six-inch pot. After potting, the 

 soil should be thoroughly watered, and the 

 pots either buried two or three inches deep 

 in coal ashes or light sandy soil in a cold 

 frame out of doors, or treated the same way 

 in a cool cellar, where they can remain for 

 at least three or four weeks, when they can 

 be taken into the window or greenhouse as 

 required. If left outside during severe 

 weather they should have a covering of 

 straw or strawy manure or some similar 

 material, so that the pots can be got at easily 

 during severe weather. The principal 

 point to be considered in the successful pot 

 culture of bulbs is to keep the bulbs dark, 

 moist and cool until they hav« well rooted 

 in the soil. Water is seldom required after 

 the first watering until the pots are un- 

 covered and taken indoors, when they will 

 require to be kept quite moist (but not sod- 

 dened) at the roots, until they have done 

 flowering. 



