i68 The Horticulturist's Rule-Book. 



Perfumery, continued. 



other handful of dried lavender flowers. This basis will last 

 for years, and petals of roses and of other fragrant flowers gath- 

 ered on dry days may be added annually. Or, powdered ben- 

 zoin, chips of sandal-wood, cinnamon, orris root or musk may 

 be added. 



LAVENDER BAG. One-half Ib. lavender flowers, y^ oz. dried 

 thyme and mint, % oz. ground cloves and caraway, i oz. com 

 mon salt, Tie up in a linen bag, which is hung in the ward 

 robe. 



Orris root is a good medium in which to place delicate per- 

 fumes for perfumery bags. 



4. Collecting and Preserving Insects. 



Flying insects are caught in a net made of musquito bar, 

 after the fashion of the minnow net. The bar is made into a 

 bag about a yard deep, and about a foot in width at the top. 

 The opening is fastened upon a wire hoop, which is secured to 

 a pole, as a broom-stick. Insects are killed by placing them in 

 a " cyanide bottle." This is prepared by placing two or three 

 lumps of cyanide of potassium the size of a quail's egg in a 

 museum bottle or glass jar, covering the lumps with dry plas- 

 ter of Paris, and then adding just enough water to make the 

 plaster set. The fumes of the poison coming through the plas- 

 ter quickly kills the insects. Keep the bottle corked. The 

 cyanide is very poisonous and the fumes should not be inhaled. 

 A very broad-mouthed bottle with glass stopple is best. Bugs 

 and beetles can be pinned and mounted as soon as they are 

 dead. It is customary to pin beetles through the right wing- 

 cover, and bugs as squash-bug through the triangular space 

 between the wings. Butterflies, moths, bees, flies, etc., must 

 be pressed to preserve the wings. This is done by placing on 

 a "setting board." This apparatus is a little trough with a 

 crack at the bottom. The sides of the trough are made of 

 thin bits of board, three or four inches wide and a foot or more 

 long. These sides have very little slant. The crack in the 



