70 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



December, 



1,471. NastOTtiams. Presuming that you refer 

 to the climbing varieties, or Tropsuolum Lobbia- 

 num, I would say yes, if given a light sunny 

 situation, and a temperature of from 50 to 60 

 degrees.— C. E. P. 



1,486. Eose Seedlings. A light coTering of 

 Evergreen branches, applied as soon as the 

 ground becomes frozen in the fall, will be all the 

 care they require this season.— C. E. P. 



1,484. Cranberry Caltnre, Tou can procure 

 plants of most nurserymen. For directions as to 

 their management consult White's Cranberry 

 Culture.-C. E P. 



1,48.5. Tartarian Honeysackle. This shrub 

 can be readily increased by layers, cuttings, or 

 from 'seeds. If you desire a few plants only, lay- 

 ering will answer your purpose best.— C. E. P. 



The cats usually come back to the same 

 spot, but they soon leave when their feet 

 come in contact with the sharp points of 

 the device. Should they go to another place, 

 we follow with the contrivance, and soon 

 the cats learn that our premises are not a 

 pleasure resort for them. 



Cat Nuisance About Gardens and 

 Greenhouses. 



W. N. SUMMERS, WORCESTER CO., MASS. 



I have no special love for cats at any time; 

 but perfectly detest them ever since we have 

 had them in our greenhouse on several oc- 



TWO AT THE GAME. 



casions. And what mischief a cat can do in 

 a greenhouse in a single cold night, the 

 average reader who merely glances at the 

 sketch given which shows one cat in the 

 act of climbing a plant pot, and another cat 

 ready to jump down, will hardly appreciate, 

 unless he happens to think of the broken 

 lights, the escape of warm air, and the ten- 

 der plants in that part of the house exposed 

 to a nipping draught, and perhaps to actual 

 freezing. Cats generally select the nights 

 of lowest temperature and most piercing 

 winds for exploits of this character, and 

 that part of a greenhouse which contains 

 the choicest and tenderest plants, for the 

 point of entrance. 



I am plain to assert that at present we are 

 at war with all cat kind. Xo member of 

 the treacherous race finds a welcome in our 

 home on the plea that it may catch a mouse 

 once a month, or a rat once a year. (We 

 have good traps, and know how to set them.) 

 But there are plenty of cats in the neighbor- 

 hood—pets of people with whom we try to 

 live in peace— and (pests for us) know how 

 to climb the garden wall. We have patience 

 to endure the nightly concerts, but how to 

 protect our greenhouses we hardly know. 



To keep cats from digging up borders and 

 beds in the garden is comparatively much 

 easier. 



An English gardener has hit upon the 

 contrivance shown in the engraving at right- 

 hand corner of page. He cuts strips of 

 tin, about one-eighth in width and two 

 inches long (see b fig. 1), and arranges each 

 two in the form of a cross. They are then 

 soldered on a flat piece of tin two or three 

 inches wide and of any length desired, and 

 in this form may be seen at c rf fig. 2. The 

 ends are now turned up in the manner 

 shown at c, and cut to a sharp point. 



As soon as we find the soil on our beds 

 disturbed by cats, we put one or more of 

 these contrivances on the ground, points up- 

 ward, and cover the flat pieces with earth. 



Water Plants and Fish. 



Live tish and live water plants— this is a 

 combination which wherever seen, hardly 

 ever fails to excite the interest of old and 

 young. Any large glass bowl, globe or jar, 

 says the Philadelphia Press, may be used 

 for an aquarium. The larger the receptacle 

 the better, for then plants may be grown in 

 it which will not only add to its beauty, but 

 also lessen the necessity of changing the 

 water often. A good sized glass tank, well 

 constructed and containing both animal and 

 vegetable life, will certainly prove a most 

 desirable ornament for the room. The 

 builders of those large aquariums in Lon- 

 don aimed to expose the largest possible por- 

 tion of the water to the air, in order that it 

 might absorb oxygen therefrom. This may 

 be a hint to those who would construct 

 smaller aquariums. The difficulty seems to 

 be that animals that breathe by gills absorb 

 oxygen much more slowly than lung-breath- 

 ing animals do; hence they require that 

 about the normal proportion of free oxygen 

 be contained in the water. This diflicultv 

 is overcome in small vessels by changing 

 the water frequently; which is easily done 

 by drawing it off by a rubber siphon and 

 pouring in fresh water when the contents 

 have been nearly emptied. 



If the aquarium is to be more than a fish 

 bowl it might be well to arrange some small 

 rock work the first thing and fasten it solid 

 with cement. This will afford a retreat for 

 the flsh and an anchor for the water plants. 

 These plants will be helpful, for they will 

 utilize the carbon dioxide of the animals by 

 appropriating the carbon and giving back 

 the oxygen, thus simulating the interchange 

 that goes on in nature. A variety of plants 

 should be chosen, and the only qualification 

 necessary is that it grows in water. The 

 most interesting part of the aquarium will 

 be the fishes. These may be dipped from 

 the creek, and any variety will probably live 

 for some time with fair treatment. It will 

 add to the interest to introduce other small 

 water animals, such as snails, young cray- 

 fishes, tadpoles, etc. Doubtless everyone 

 knows that nothing is handsomer for the 

 aquarium than gold fish. Unfortunately 

 these often fail to do well with inexperi- 

 enced persons. Greater care is necessary 

 than for other fish. The receptacle must 

 not be too small. They must not be caught 

 with the hands, but with a net, and never 

 touched unless strictly necessary; they must 

 not be fed every variety of food, and doubt- 

 less a few pieces of chopped beef is all that 

 is needed. Change the water frequently 

 and do not frighten the fish. 



Thus far our contemporary. We have on- 

 ly to add, that the aquarium will be all the 

 more interesting, if stocked instead of with 

 common gold fish, which are apt to become 

 monotonous and tedious after a while, with 

 Chinese macropodes, or with .Japanese gold 

 fish. The macropodes with their brilliant 

 and ever changing hues, and their playful 

 habits, and the Japanese gold flsh with 

 their enormous swallow tails, are always 

 objects of admiration and attention. 



The Insect Powder Industry. 



Insect powder is oue of the great bless- 

 ings of the age; it gives us control, more or 

 less complete, over some of the worst pests 

 that the people have to fight against. Its 

 only drawback is the difficulty of getting a 

 fresh article (which alone has full strength), 

 or rather the prevalence of stale, weak pow- 



ders. The latter can be had at almost every 

 drug store, while the good and effective 

 powder has to be hudted up. This is the 

 reason why we have watche<l with so much 

 interest the beginning and gradual growth 

 of the insect powder industry in this country. 

 The "Persian " insect powder, which is the 

 product of the Pyrethrum roseum, and the 

 Dalmatian, which is that of the Pyrethrum 

 ciueraria?folium, are imported at the rate of 

 several hundred tons a years. For the 

 reasons stated, however, it is very question- 

 able whether the aggregate amotint of ben- 

 efit and satisfaction resulting from this 

 importation is as large as that from the 50 

 tons of "Buhach " now annually produced 

 in California. 



The imported insect powder has served as 

 basis tor the "insect killers" put up in 

 pepper-box-like packages, and sold under 

 various more or less fanciful names. While 

 these enterprises smack a little of humbug- 

 gery, on the whole, they have aided in 

 making the people acquainted with the 

 merits of insect powder, as usually the goods 

 when first put up were fresh, and the small 

 size of the packages made it unlikely for 

 much of it to become stale in the consumer's 

 hands. But after all, the powder produced 

 in California from the flowers of Pyrethrum 

 clnerariaefolium, and known under the trade 

 name of "Buhach," Is so much stronger 

 than even the best of the imported article 

 that we hope the time will come when the 

 American product will take entire possession 

 of the home market. In the light of our 

 own personal experience with both kinds 

 we would rather take one pound Buhach 

 than flve of the Persian or Dalmatian insect 

 powder of the drug stores, even it " war- 

 ranted fresh." 



Mr. G. N. Milco, a native of Dalmatia, 

 first introduced the Pyrethrum cinerarife- 

 folium into California in 1877. Now about 

 300 acres near Atwater are devoted to its 

 cultivation. The fields are irrigated, and 

 from the sowing of the seed three years of 

 care and of constant supervision are required 

 before a paying crop is insured. The plants 

 are most productive at the age of four or 

 five years, but continue to produce paying 

 crops for several years more. The Pacific 

 Rural Press gives the following account of 

 the manner of harvesting the fiowers: 



It grows to a height of about 30 inches 

 and is planted in rows four feet apart and 

 from 1.5 to 24 inches apart in the row. The 

 flowers are generally harvested in the latter 

 part of May. The stalks are cut at the roots 

 of the plant, and the flowers broken off by 

 passing the stems through a sort of comb, 

 which detaches the flowers, and they are 

 then carried to 

 the drying- 

 ground, where 

 they are spread 

 upon sheets and 

 exposed to the 

 rays of the sun to 

 dry. During the 

 day they are often 

 turned, and at 

 night they are 

 covered to pre- 

 ""'ii 2 vent them from 



GUARD AGAINST CATS. absorbing any 

 moisture. The perfect drying of the flowers 

 is a most important operation, as, in order 

 to retain the volatile oil which gives to the 

 powder its insect-destroying properties, it 

 is very necessary that the flowers should 

 be dried quickly and thoroughly, and be 

 protected during the process from all mois- 

 ture. A light dew falling upon the flowers 

 during the drying process will color them 

 and reduce their value as an insecticide. 

 In this respect the California-grown flowers 

 are better cured, and consequently more 

 valuable than those grown in Dalmatia. 



