192 THE PRACTICAL GARDEN -BOOK 



these facilities may use whale oil soap, fir-tree oil, good 

 soap suds, or Persian insect powder. 



Roses in Winter. Although the growing of 

 Eoses under glass is a business which would better be left 

 to florists, as already said, the following advice may be 

 useful to those who have conservatories : 



When growing forcing Roses for winter flowers, florists 

 usually provide raised beds, in the best-lighted houses 

 they have. The bottom of the bed or bench is left with 

 cracks between the boards for drainage; the cracks are 

 covered with inverted strips of sod, and the bench is then 

 covered with four or five inches of fresh, fibrous loam. This 

 is made from rotted sods, with decayed manure incorpo- 

 rated at the rate of about one part in four. Sod from any 

 drained pasture -land makes good soil. The plants are set 

 on the bed in the spring or early summer, from 12 to 18 

 inches apart, and are grown there all summer. 



During the winter they are kept at a temperature of 58 

 to 60 at night, and from 5 to 10 warmer during the day. 

 The heating pipes are often run under the benches, not be- 

 cause the Rose likes bottom heat, but to economize space 

 and to assist in drying out the beds in case of their becom- 

 ing too wet. The greatest care is required in watering, 

 in guarding the temperature and in ventilation. Draughts 

 result in checks to the growth and in mildewed foliage. 



Dryness of the air, especially from fire heat, is followed 

 by the appearance of the minute red spider on the leaves. 

 The aphis, or green plant louse, appears under all condi- 

 tions, and must be kept down by syringing with tobacco-tea 

 or fumigation with tobacco stems. 



An effectual and preferable method now employed for 

 destroying the aphis is to fumigate with the vapor arising 

 from a pan containing a gallon of water and a pint of strong 

 extract of tobacco. To generate the vapor, a piece of red- 

 hot iron is dropped into the pan. From one to three or four 

 pans are required to a house, according to its size. For the 



