THE GARDEN WEEK BY WEEK 



Feb. This tiny enemy is peculiar to the Eucharis, and when 

 15-28 it finds the plants out, and establishes itself on them, it 

 may destroy them. Steeping the bulbs in hot water in 

 which paraffin oil has been stirred at the rate of a wine- 

 glass per quart will not hurt them, and will make things 

 extremely uncomfortable for the mite. It will be found 

 easier to mix the paraffin and water if half a pound of soft 

 soap is first dissolved in the latter by boiling. 



The Draught-enduring Palm or Aspidistra. — It is a 

 truism with gardeners that plants are as subject to injury 

 from draught as human beings, but a lot of cold currents 

 are required to overcome the Aspidistra. One could 

 imagine it thriving in the passages of tube railways — 

 those modern institutions where, to avoid walking half a 

 mile through the streets, we plunge into the bowels of 

 the earth, and battle with fierce winds through inter- 

 minable corridors. Likewise, where we sometimes get* 

 electric shocks, like Mr. De Morgan's hero in Somehow 

 Good. Yes, it takes a great deal to kill an Aspidistra. It 

 is so tenacious of life that it grows on and on until the 

 pot becomes crowded with growth. It will live even so, 

 and it is a fact worth remembering that the Variegated 

 Aspidistra will retain its variegation better when it is half 

 starved than when it is grown in a good deal of rich soil. 

 But increase is desired sometimes, in order to get more 

 plants, and the present season of the year is as good as 

 any for splitting up large plants. It will help the plants 

 to re-establish themselves if they can be given the un- 

 wonted luxury of a warm greenhouse. The draughty 

 corridor will not suit them in their unfledged state. 



Hydrangeas. — Readers have read of the wonderful 



Hydrangeas that grow around the late Mr. Cecil Rhodes' 



Cape home, Groote Schuur. I am told by the people 



who know the plants and the man that they were a 



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