Calendar of Operations 



GREENHOUSE. 



If the repotting of the general collection of plants rec- 

 ommended last month is not finished, that work should 

 be attended to as early this month as possible. As the days 

 lengthen, more ventilation should be given, the ventilators being 

 closed early in the afternoon and the temperature allowed to 

 reach eighty-five or ninety degrees Fahrenheit by sunheat. Should 

 greenfly, scale or other insects have appeared, boil one pound of 

 whale-oil soap in one gallon of rain water (or larger quantities 

 in the same proportion) and use one-half pint of this mixture in 

 four gallons of rain water for syringing twice weekly; if mealy- 

 bug is troublesome, add eight ounces of petroleum. When it is 

 necessary to use the petroleum mixture, it should be done about 

 five or six o'clock in the evening on dull days only. By using 

 this petroleum emulsion occasionally, much labor will be saved 

 in checking the spread of mealy-bug and the leaves will become 

 glossy. 



Ferns growing freely should be afforded abundance of mois- 

 ture at the roots, and a moist atmosphere must be maintained at 

 all times, this being, for successful fern culture, an absolute neces- 

 sity. Ligodium scandens, a climbing fern suitable for covering 

 walls, trellises, etc., requires frequent attention at this season. 

 In order to display the plant effectively, each frond should be 

 secured to a fine wire; the plants should be given abundance of 

 water at the roots and syringed frequently. Where it is desir- 

 able to increase the number of plants, in the fern family, divide 

 the old plants into sections, and pot them in suitable sizes, care 

 being taken that the plants are put into the smallest sizes of pots 

 in which they may be comfortably placed, in soil composed of 

 one-third mellow loam, one- third leaf-mold and one-third peat 

 with enough sand to keep the whole open for free passage of 

 water. Place them in a shaded portion of the greenhouse, syring- 

 ing morning and evening, keeping the temperature at sixty 

 degrees Fahrenheit at night, allowing it to rise to seventy-five 



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