1 1 6 Notes and Gleanings. 



If the pots are plunged, the soil is apt to become too wet at times. For the plant 

 to bloom well, it requires a temperature of from 50° to 55°, and an abundance of 

 air and light after the growths have been made, in order to ripen them thoroughly. 



" Salt and Lime as Manures. — To garden soil of the usual staple, about 

 fifty bushels of lime per acre are a sufficient quantity. If the soil be clayey, the 

 quantity may be doubled. A very excellent manure is formed by mixing one 

 bushel of salt with every two bushels of lime. Lime cannot be applied to the 

 soil too fresh from the kiln ; for, if allowed to absorb carbonic acid from the air, 

 it is rapidly converted into chalk. 



" When crops are devastated by the slug, dress them some evening, so as to 

 render the surface of the soil quite white, with caustic lime, during the promise 

 of a few days' dry weather. It is instant destruction to every slug it falls upon ; 

 and those that it misses are destroyed by their coming in contact with it when 

 moving in search of food. 



" Mixed in the proportion of one bushel of salt to two bushels of lime, it is 

 an excellent manure for potatoes, dug into the soil at planting-time. Twenty 

 bushels of lime and ten of salt would be enough for an acre sown over the 

 surface. 



" Salt, applied in the spring at the rate of twenty bushels per acre, has been 

 found very beneficial to asparagus, broad-beans, lettuces, onions, carrots, 

 parsnips, potatoes, and beets. Indeed, its properties are so generally useful, not 

 only as promoting fertility, but as destroying slugs, that it is a good plan to 

 sow the whole garden every April with this manure, at the rate above specified. 

 The flower-garden is included in this recommendation ; for some of the best 

 practical gardeners recommend it for the stock, hyacinth, amaryllis, ixia, 

 anemone, colchicum, narcissus, and ranunculus ; and in the fruit-garden it has 

 been found beneficial to almost every one of its tenants, especially the cherry and 

 apple. On lawns and walks, it helps to drive away worms and to destroy moss.'' 



GOODYERA DISCOLOR CULTURE. — The pot Ought to be one-third filled with 

 crocks ; and the compost should consist of turfy or fibrous peat and chopped 

 sphagnum, with a free admixture of silver sand and broken charcoal from which 

 the dust has been sifted out. The sand and charcoal together may form one- 

 third of the compost. If cocoa-nut refuse can be had, it may be used in place 

 of the sphagnum. The goodyera should be potted when it recommences growth ; 

 and water must be somewhat sparingly given at first, but increased with the 

 growth, abundance being afforded both at the root and in the atmosphere when 

 the plant is growing freely. In potting, press the compost firmly. Free ventila- 

 tion should be given day and night; and a temperature of from 60° to 85° in 

 summer, and from 45° to 50° in winter, will suit it. It should be shaded from 

 bright sun. When at rest, but little water is needed ; yet the plant should not be 

 allowed to suffer : it should have a little now and then over the pot, — a gentle 

 bedewing to keep it plump and fresh. Avoid cold currents of air ; and do not 

 allow cold air to come in contact with the leaves whilst wet, as they may thus 

 become discolored. 



