CHARCOAL 



202 



CHEIMATOBIA 



In 1894, several of the southern counties of Scotland 

 got ravaged by the caterpillars of this moth. Cold and 

 heavy showers of rain are the most effective means of 

 destroying the caterpillars, and when they come into the 

 garden or pleasure-ground destroying the grass, repeated 

 soakings of cold water would serve to destroy them, as 

 the wetting of their food causes violent purging. Rooks 

 and starlings should be encouraged, and fowls might be 

 allowed to forage for a time on the grass, as they would 

 devour large numbers of the caterpillars and thereby 

 reduce the pest. 



CHARCOAL. Soot, a chief constituent of which is 

 charcoal, has long been known as a very effective fer- 

 tiliser ; and burning has still longer been known as a 

 mode of reducing stubborn soils to prompt productive- 

 ness. But both these sources of fertility might owe 

 their efficiency to other causes than their affording 

 carbon to plants ; and, comparatively, it is only lately 

 that anything like a general knowledge has been diffused 

 that mere charcoal is a good manure. Charcoal is a 

 most efficient manure to all cultivated plants, especially 

 to those under glass. Heaths, rhododendrons, cucumbers, 

 onions, roses, orchidaceous plants, hydrangeas, camellias, 

 melons, and pineapples, have been the subjects of ex- 

 tensive and most successful experiments. We think no 

 cultivated plant would be unbenefited by having charcoal 

 applied to the soil in which it is rooted. It should be 

 broken into small pieces, about the size of a nut, and, 

 for potted plants, may be mixed in the proportions of 

 one part charcoal to twenty parts earth. If applied to 

 the open ground, one-fourth of a bushel may be sown 

 over a square rod or perch, and dug in just before insert- 

 ing the crop. The reason of charcoal being so useful as 

 a manure is very apparent. MM. Sennebier, Ruckert, 

 Saussure, and others, have demonstrated that plants are 

 rendered much more luxuriant and productive by having 

 carbonic acid applied to their roots, than other plants 

 to whose roots no such application was made. Now, 

 charcoal kept moist, as when buried in the soil, slowly 

 combines with oyxgen, and emits carbonic acid ; in fact, 

 it slowly dissolves. We do not agree with Liebig, who 

 broadly asserts that " carbon never combines, at common 

 temperatures, with oxygen, so as to form carbonic acid." 

 This was long since shown to be otherwise by Count 

 Rumford, and may easily be demonstrated to be in- 

 correct, by confining a few ounces of fresh and moistened 

 charcoal-powder, mixed with earth, in a glass receiver 

 full of oxygen, over lime-water : carbonate of lims will 

 form, showing the gradual evolution of carbonic acid. 

 For draining, pieces of charcoal, about the size of filberts 

 and walnuts, are among the best that can be employed. 



CHARD. See ARTICHOKE. 



CHARDINIA. (Named after Jean Chardin, a 

 traveller in Persia. Nat. ord. Composite.) 



A hardy annual that may be sown in the open garden 

 in April. 



C. xeranthemoi'des (Xeranthemum-like). i. White. 

 July. Asia Minor. 



CHARDOON. See CARDOON. 



CHA'RIEIS. (From charieis, elegant. Nat. ord. 

 Compositae.) 



Hardy annual. Seeds may be sown in the open 

 garden in April or in a gentle heat in March and planted 

 out after being hardened off. 



C. heterophy'lla (various-leaved), i. Blue. June. S. 



Africa. 1819. 

 atrocaru'lea (dark blue). Rich dark blue. 



CHARLES'S SCEPTRE. Pedicula'ris Scc'ptrum-Caro- 

 li'num. 



CHARLOCK. Bra'ssica Sinapi' strum. A troublesome 

 weed. 



CHARLWOO'DIA. New Holland Dragon-tree. Now 

 referred to Cordyline. 



CHA SCANUM CUNEIFO'LIUM. See BOUCHEA CUNEI- 



FOLIA. 



CHEESE-RENNET. Ga'lium ve'rum. 



CHEILA'NTHES. (From cheilos, a lip, and anthos, a 

 flower ; in reference to the form of the seed-organs. 

 Nat. ord. Ferns [Filices]. Linn. 2^-Cryptogamia, i- 

 Filices. Allied to Adiantum.) 



Division of the roots, just when commencing to grow, 

 or from spores (see FERNS). Peat and loam. Summer 

 temp., 55 to 80 ; winter, 45 to 55. 



HARDY. 



C. fr a' grans (fragrant). Brown. June. S.Europe. 1819. 

 gra'cilis (slender). See C. LANUGINOSA. 

 lanugino'sa (woolly). Brown. August. N. Amer. 



1812. 



odo'ra (sweet-smelling). See C. FRAGRANS. 

 vesti'ta (clothed). See C. LANUGINOSA. 



GREENHOUSE. 



C. arge'ntea (silvery). Siberia. 

 calif o'rnica (Californian). Fronds four times divided. 



California. 1882. 

 cauda'ta (tailed), j. Brown. June. N. Holland. 



1824. 

 hi'rta (hairy). J. Brown. June. Cape of Good 



Hope. 1806. 

 macrophy'lla (large-leaved), i. Brown. August. 



W. Ind. 



mysure'nsis (Mysore). Japan. 1862. 

 pteroi'des (pteris-like). J. Brown. July. Cape of 



Good Hope. 1775. 



suave' olens (sweet-scented). See C. FRAGRANS. 

 tomento'sa (felted), ij. N. Carolina to Mexico. 1841. 



STOVE. 



C. alabame'nsis (Alabaman). . United States. 

 angustifo'lia (narrow-leaved), i. Brown. Mexico. 



1831. 



br achy' pus (short-stalked). J. Mexico. 

 chlorophy'lla (green- leaved). Fronds thrice divided. 



Brazil. 1884. 



crenula'ta (scolloped), i. Brown. 1824. 

 cunea'ta (wedge-leaved). See C. ANGUSTIFOLIA. 

 dicksonioi' des (Dicksonia-like). 4. Brown. August. 

 ,, farino'sa (mealy). Brown, yellow. Isle of Luzon, 

 ferrugi'nea (rusty). \. Brown. June. 1816. 

 fra'gilis (fragile). Moulmein. 

 fri'gida (frigid). i. Trop. Amer. 

 glau'ca (sea-green). Chili. 



hirsu'ta (hairy). Fronds scaly beneath. Chili. 1871. 

 lendi'gera (maggot-bearing) . \. Brown. June. New 



Spain. 

 micro'mera (parted-small). See C. MICROPHYLLA 



MICROMERA. 



microphy'lla (small-leaved) . Trop. Amer. and W. Ind. 



,, micro'mera (parted-small). Mexico. 



micro 'pteris (small- winged). . Brown. September. 



1838. 



multi'fida (multifid). S. Africa. 



myriophy'lla (myriad-leaved), i. Trop. Amer. 1841. 

 e'legans (elegant). i. Trop. Amer. 

 preissia'na (Preissian). See C. SIEBERI. 



, profu'sa (dangling), i. Brown. September. 



, pulvera'cea (dusty). See NOTHOCHL^ENA SULPHUREA. 



, re'pens (creeping), i. Brown. July. W. Ind. 1824. 



, ru'fa (reddish-brown). J. Reddish-brown. Mexico. 



, rufe'scens (brownish-red). 4. Brown. September. 



1838. 



Siebe'ri (Sieber's). i. Australia. 

 sinuo'sa( wavy-edged), i. Brown. August. W. Ind. 

 specta'bilis (showy). ij. Brown. September. 



Brazil. 1829. 

 ,, tenuifo'lia (slender-leaved). Brown. September. 



Ceylon. 

 visco'sa (clammy). Brown. Mexico. 1841. 



CHEIMATOBIA BRUMATA. Winter Moth. This is 

 the cause of more destruction to our fruit and other trees 

 than almost any other insect ; for no weather is suffi- 

 ciently severe to injure either them or their eggs ; and 

 the caterpillars, in the early spring, will feed upon the 

 opening buds and leaves of almost every kind of tree. 

 The females, being without wings, may be prevented 

 ascending our standard fruit-trees by grease-banding ; but 

 this must be renewed, as it dries, every two or three days. 

 The male moths begin to fly about just after sunset 



