854 



Gardening for Amateurs 



Something You May Not Know 



GLOXINIAS after Flowering 

 must be gradually dried off by 

 withholding water as the leaves 

 turn yellow. When the foliage has en- 

 tirely decayed remove it, and store the 

 bulbs away for the winter in their pots. 

 They must not be subjected to a lower tem- 

 perature than 45, and therefore may be 

 placed under the greenhouse staging, the 

 pots being laid on their sides. Leaves which 

 were layered in the summer for increasing 

 the stock will soon decay and the young 

 bulbils will then be seen. They must be 

 left in the pans as they are, keeping them 

 quite dry until they are started in the spring. 

 Making Quassia Extract. The quassia 

 chips are simply steeped in cold soft water 

 overnight and then heated and allowed to 

 simmer for an hour or two. The decoction 

 is then strained off and diluted with soft 

 water for application. Four ounces of 

 quassia chips make about 2i gallons of wash. 

 Quassia extract, however, is a rather doubtful 

 remedy for aphides, in that it causes them to 

 desert the infested part without actually 

 killing them. It is usual, therefore, to add 

 soft soap to the extract, 1 oz. to each gallon 

 of wash. This is best prepared as follows : 

 One pound of quassia chips steeped in cold 

 soft water overnight is then heated and 

 simmered for two hours in just enough 

 water to keep the mass liquid. The decoc- 

 tion may then be strained off and 10 oz. of 

 soft soap stirred in till it dissolves, a process 

 which may be assisted by further boiling. 

 This stock mixture should be diluted down 

 as required, T l (T part to a gallon of water. 

 This is good for flowers as well as fruit trees 

 when greenfly is present. It must not, how- 

 ever, be applied to fruit advanced in swel- 

 ling. 



Prescription for a Weed Killer. 

 There are many means of destroying weeds 

 on walks. (1) One of the oldest is salt, 

 particularly hot brine (1 Ib. of salt to 1 

 gallon of water), boiled in a copper and 

 applied with a rosed watering-pot. (2) 

 Arsenite of soda. Place 1 Ib. of powdered 

 arsenic in 3 gallons of cold water, boil and 



keep stirring, then add 7 gallons of cold 

 water and 2 Ib. of washing soda, stir well 

 while boiling. Apply with a rosed watering- 

 pot to the walks in dry weather from March 

 to May. (3) Carbolic acid. 1 oz. of the acid 

 to 1 gallon of water, sprinkled over the path 

 from a common watering-pot. If the walks 

 have Box or grass or other " live " edgings, 

 care must be taken lest they suffer from 

 contact with the weed killer. 



Black Currant Bud Mite. This pest, 

 causing the so-called Big-bud disease of the 

 Black Currant, has been known in this 

 country for at least 80 years. Ogden's 

 Black, an improvement on the Common or 

 Old Black and a useful hardy variety ; 

 Black Naples or Naples or White Bud, a 

 rather late but large and good sort, heavy 

 cropping and one of the best, are freest from 

 attack by the mite. We advise the prompt 

 removal and burning of all big buds and then 

 awaiting the migration of the mites, which 

 takes place from about the middle of April, 

 increasing in intensity during May and 

 decreasing by the middle of June ; then 

 take prompt measures against them. Two 

 preparations are in vogue, viz. (1) Dusting 

 with lime and sulphur : one part of unslaked 

 lime and 2 parts of flowers of sulphur, mixed 

 together and dusted three times on the 

 bushes when they are wet, at the end of 

 March or the beginning of April, again in the 

 middle of April, and again in the first week in 

 May. The effect of this on the trees may 

 be to scorch the foliage slightly, but there is no 

 question as to its effect on the mites. (2) 

 Spray fluid consisting of 1 Ib. of quicklime 

 and 1 Ib. of flowers of sulphur, slaking the 

 lime and adding the sulphur as it slakes, 

 forming into a cream and then diluting to 

 20 gallons with water. This must be strained 

 so that the lime and sulphur does not clog 

 the nozzle of the spray, syringe or machine, 

 and should be used at the times mentioned 

 for the dusting. The various proprietary 

 preparations, such as Niquas, and other 

 washes containing soft soap and nicotine, are 

 equally effective. Mites crawl, they have 

 only legs, and do not fly 



