April 22, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



167 



odoriferous. A good plant of Aristolocliia Sipho was also 

 showing its usefulness as a greenhouse climber as well as 

 being a hardy one. Cobpea scandens occupied the end of 

 another house and was bearing hundreds of its purple, cup- 

 shaped flowers. 



In a house devoted to Cacti and other succulents, was a 

 large specimen of Pereskia aculeata, the Barbadoes Goose- 

 berry, which covered a space of about ten feet by fifteen. 

 Pereskias belong to the Cactus family, but this species is so 

 unlike any of the other members, that, except for the flowers, 

 which are of a creamy white color, one would almost fail to 

 see the connection. It produces true leaves in abundance of 

 a bright green color, and the stem is round and woody. 



A good specimen of the noble Cereus triangularis was also 

 doing well in this house. These greenhouses have been built 

 several years, and the climbers have become so well estab- 

 lished that they are now displaying the best effect which can 

 be produced by intelligent cultivation, persisted in for a series 

 of years. 



Botanic Garden, Northampton, Mass. Edward J '. Canning. 



Ouvirandra fenestralis. 



THIS plant has been too long regarded as an aquatic freak 

 difficult to grow and apt to die without any apparent rea- 

 son. This is not true. Like many other plants, when their 

 peculiarities are understood, the cultivation is simple, and this 

 singular and interesting plant ought to be found in every col- 

 lection of stove plants, and, of course, no aquatic house is 

 complete without it. It grows in Madagascar on the borders of 

 streams, the leaves being merely a network of vascular tissue 

 resembling lace, or, as its specific name implies, a lattice 

 window. In well-grown plants they are from twelve to eigh- 

 teen inches long and about one-third as broad, oblong, with 

 an obtuse apex, and spreading out almost horizontally beneath 

 the surface of the water. When young they are light green, 

 but they change to a deeper color as they mature, when the 

 midrib is a bright yellowish green. The plant grows freely at 

 a temperature of from seventy to seventy-five degrees, Fah- 

 renheit, or from a little lower in longer days. During a cold 

 spell, when the temperature is likely to fall below the mini- 

 mum, warm water can always be added, and the top of the 

 tank covered with shading material, or even paper, to retain 

 the heat. Little shading is needed during the winter, although 

 some may be needed after the first of March. There is no 

 necessity of covering the water with such plants as Azolla or 

 Salvinia, because they grow densely and would hide the plant, 

 even if too much shade, with high temperature, did not weaken 

 its growth, so that the leaves would become drawn, narrow 

 and soft. 



The Ouvirandra is not particular as to soil. I have grown it 

 with success in different composts, and it surely will thrive in 

 any mixture consisting of fibrous loam, rotted manure and 

 sand. My preference is to have the soil rather heavy ; in fact, 

 the greatest success I have achieved has been with soil like 

 that used for Nymphseas — that is, turfy loam, well-decayed 

 manure and a little sharp sand. Any wooden tub or kerosene 

 barrel cut in two makes a good receptacle, only, of course, this 

 latter should be burned out before it is used. Glass aquariums 

 are well adapted to the cultivation of these plants, and they 

 afford the best opportunity for inspecting them. When the 

 tubs or other receptacles are clean there is no need of chang- 

 ing the water when any scum arises or dust settles upon it. 

 Pure water can be added with a hose to flush the tub, and the 

 plants themselves will keep the water clean as they are good 

 furnishers of oxygen. They do not suffer from insects, and 

 they are no more difficult to grow than the well-known Apon- 

 geton distachyon, with which genus Ouvirandra is now 

 included. 



Riverton, n. J. William Tricker. 



Cyanide of Potassium as an Insecticide in 

 Glass Houses. 

 A N interesting series of experiments has lately been car- 

 ■**• ried out at the Department of Agriculture, under the 

 direction of Professor Galloway, Chief of the Division of Vege- 

 table Pathology, in the way of checking the ravages of the 

 black-spotied mealy bug, Orthezia insignis. This pest is a 

 native of South America ; it was first noticed, I believe, in 

 some greenhouses in the state of New York about five 

 years ago. Since that time it has spread in all directions, 

 and is getting to be quite as troublesome on certain plants as 

 the mealy bug and green fly are on others. It was described at 

 length in a bulletin issued last year by the Match Experimental 

 Station. Some time ago Professor Galloway was impressed 



with the idea that the method in use in Florida and elsewhere, 

 whereby the Orange-trees are fumigated under tents with this 

 cyanide, could, with certain modifications, be utilized in 

 checking the devastations of the Orthezia, and the results, as 

 seen in an exhibition at the propagating-gardens last week, 

 have proved highly satisfactory. A house containing 15,580 

 cubic feet of space, which is used at present for storing 

 Coleus for bedding purposes, was selected for the work. 

 The Coleus is one of the favorite plants of the pest, 

 although it is frequently found on a number of others, among 

 which are the Chrysanthemum, Lantana and Alternanthera. 

 The plants in the house selected were infested to such an 

 extent that they were considered almost unfit for use this sum- 

 mer. The fumigation of the house took place after seven 

 o'clock in the evening, as the presence of light nullifies to a 

 certain extent the influence of the liberated gas. The ingre- 

 dients used were three pints of water, the same quantity of 

 sulphuric acid and five and a half pounds of cyanide of potas- 

 sium ; this was divided into three equal parts and placed in 

 three two-gallon jars placed at equal distances along one of 

 the side benches and close to the ventilators ; the water was 

 first poured in the jars, then the sulphuric acid, and through 

 the open ventilator from the outside the cyanide was added. 

 In less than two minutes the gas had evidently reached to all 

 parts of the house. Twenty minutes later the ventilators, 

 both top and bottom, were raised from the outside, provision 

 having previously been made for this, as the presence of the 

 gas after that period among the plants is considered hurtful to 

 them. After careful inspection that evening and next morn- 

 ing not a live Orthezia was to be found, and after strong sun- 

 shine not a leaf appeared injured; even, tender fronds of 

 Adiantum cuneatum were uninjured. The common mealy 

 bug and one or two species of scale insects were also killed. 



Botanic Garden, Washington, D. C. G. W. 0. 



Ksempferia rotunda. — Although a very old and well-known 

 plant, this is usually grown for its foliage, but its exceedingly 

 beautiful flowers are really its greatest charm. The flowers 

 are borne in spring or summer before the leaves, which 

 should be allowed to die down late in fall, and the plants may 

 be kept in a dry state until January or February, when they 

 should be placed in moss in flat pans with the roots but slightly 

 covered. Or they may be planted and grown from year to 

 year in an ordinary light compost and allowed to rest in win- 

 ter. When brought into a brisk heat the leaves and flowers 

 soon begin to grow. The flowers, not unlike Meadow Saffrons 

 in form and color, are almost sessile, and produced directly 

 from the root in great profusion. They are sweetly fragrant 

 and of a bright rosy red color, or sometimes paler, each one 

 lasting only a day, but succeeded by new ones for a long pe- 

 riod. Kajmpferias look best in masses when a number of 

 flowers show at the same time. The leaves when fully de- 

 veloped are about two feet long, erect, broadly lanceolate and 

 narrowed to a broad petiole at the base. The color is a dull 

 olive-green, with one or two brownish longitudinal bands, so 

 that the plant is quite effective even when out of Hower. 



Eranthis hyemalis.— There is, perhaps, no brighter and har- 

 dier spring flower than the little Winter Aconite, which flowers 

 here much later than in Europe. It is a very dwarf perennial 

 with fleshy tuberous roots which produce a couple of pel- 

 tatcly divided leaves each and a solitary flower of a bright 

 yellow color early in spring. Eranthis is nearly related to the 

 Hellebores. The flower is about an inch across, with six 

 petal-like sepals and inconspicuous petals and nice little 

 bunches of yellow stamens in the centre. The flowering stem 

 is simple, and has three deeply lobed involucral leaves. It is 

 much used in Europe in rough places among trees and 

 shrubs, especially on sunny southern slopes ; unfortunately.it is 

 not always easy to naturalize in such places here. When grow- 

 ing and flowering in masses in early spring the effect is very 

 rich and beautiful. It will grow in any moderately rich garden 

 soil, but prefers one that is light, loamy and will drained. 



Adonis vernalis.— This is one ot the early spring flowers that 

 ought to brighten every garden, whither large or small, at this 

 time of the year. It is, however, hardly known, and the coun- 

 try homes which should now be gay with flowers have hardly 

 a bud to show that spring has come. Adonis vernalis is not 

 unlike a large Anemone in shape, but the color is a very bright 

 yellow. The flowers are set oil' by light feathery foliage. The 

 species grows to a height of eight or ten inches and fo 

 masses of foliage and flowers as early as the Kilter part of 

 March in favored localities. It is a very desirable plant tor 

 naturalizing in bare places in shrubberies and among rocks. 

 As it is perfectly hardy, it will generally look out tor il 



