July 8, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



277 



Cultural Department. 



Seasonable Work. 



THE various insect pests with which we have to battle now 

 •*■ indoors make quite a catalogue, among the most common 

 being white, black and brown scale, and various intermediate 

 forms of these insects, red spiders, thrips (both black and yel- 

 low) and mealy bugs of several varieties and degrees of 

 fecundity. For the latter a hot-water bath may be used suc- 

 cessfully in some cases, at least with plants having sufficiently 

 tough foliage to endure such treatment, but careful experi- 

 ments should be made before submitting valuable plants to 

 this ordeal. A method I have used for this operation was that 

 of placing a metal vessel — for example, a large galvanized iron 

 pail — on an oil-stove, the pail to be filled with clean water 

 heated to a temperature of 130 degrees, Fahrenheit, and by 

 proper regulation of the oil flame this temperature may be 

 maintained without a variation of more than two degrees. A 

 thermometer should be suspended in the bath in order that 

 any material variation of temperature may be at once cor- 

 rected. 



Immersion in water at this temperature (130 degrees) for a 

 period varying from thirty to ninety seconds resulted in no 

 injury to the foliage of the plants thus treated, and in some 

 instances every mealy bug on the plant was killed, while in 

 others an occasional insect escaped, possibly by being pro- 

 tected from contact with the water by a surrounding air-bubble. 

 The plants thus treated were Palms, and included Areca Iutes- 

 cens, Latania Borbonica, Kentia Forsteriana and Cocos Wed- 

 delliana. 



At a slightly higher temperature, ranging from 135 to 138 

 degrees, Arecas and Latanias did not seem to suffer in the 

 least, but Cocos and Kentia were both injured, the latter 

 most severely. The plants subjected to the second experi- 

 ment were apparently in the same condition as to growth and 

 health as the specimens used for the first, and the injury was 

 not at once apparent, but became quite noticeable five or six 

 days afterward. Some forms of scale were also killed by a 

 water-bath at 135 degrees, but others appeared to be but little 

 affected thereby. Of course, these simple experiments do not 

 prove hot water to be a panacea for the insect-ills of plants, 

 but they may encourage further research for information on 

 this line. 



The so-called fumigation of plants by means of a mixture 

 of dilute sulphuric acid and cyanide of potassium has been 

 reported in some horticultural journals within the past three 

 months, but is a process that should only be attempted with 

 extreme precaution, The reaction from this admixture (if I 

 am not mistaken) is a strong solution of hydrocyanic acid, one 

 of the most deadly poisons even by inhalation. Some idea of 

 its strength may be had from the fact that the medicinal solu- 

 tion of this acid as prepared by chemists only contains two per 

 cent, of the pure drug, while the solution procured by the pro- 

 cess above noted probably contains from twelve to fifteen per 

 cent, of the pure acid, anil is, therefore, extremely dangerous. 



Holmesburg, Pa. VV. H. Tafilin. 



Perennial Peas. 



"P VERLASTING or Perennial Peas are capital garden sub- 

 - 1 — ' jects where low-growing or trailing vines are desired. 

 They are mostly vigorous, making a rapid and strong growth 

 each season and flower freely. The best known of these are 

 varieties of Lathyrus latifolius, of which the pink and red forms 

 are most common. The white variety, however, is the better ; 

 the flowers have perfect purity of color, but are not fragrant! 

 These forms are grown from seed, which germinate too freely 

 in the borders. The white variety does not always come true 

 from seed, and is better propagated by the side-shoots, which 

 may be torn off early in the year when the plants start, or it 

 may be propagated from the old vines used as cuttings in the 

 fall. There are named kinds with bright-colored flowers which 

 have been selected and propagated, but L. rotundifolius (or 

 Drummondii) is the best of the colored kinds. This is also a 

 vigorous species with vines of about the same length as those 

 of L. latifolius. The flowers, which have smaller standards 

 than these, are of a pleasing garnet hue. It docs not seed very 

 freely. L. tuberosus is a small-leaved, fine-stemmed plant, 

 desirable as a trailer, and has dark red flowers. The tuberous 

 roots are perfectly hardy and the plants are inclined to wander 

 in the border. 



The California Perennial Peas, Lathyrus splendens, L. bacti- 

 florus, L. violacea and L. sulphureus, do not make much 

 progress here, and as yet have not flowered. They are of thin 



rather delicate growth, but with slight protection may prove 

 hardy, as those left outside survived last winter. 

 Elizabeth, N. J. J. N. G. 



Strawberry Culture. 



A NUMBER of varieties of Strawberries are regarded in 

 -**- different sections as standard kinds, and it is puzzling to 

 find some growers condemning sorts that others consider 

 indispensable. The reason is that Strawberries are extremely 

 local in their behavior, and soil and exposure have a great deal 

 to do with the result ; and the returns from a given variety 

 vary as much as the localities in which the fruit is grown. In 

 this climate a soil that has a clay bottom is not regarded suita- 

 ble for Strawberry culture, as the plants suffer in spring from 

 upheaving after the frosts. Our subsoil is gravel, and though 

 it makes watering and mulching necessary, we get the best 

 possible results each year. We plant a new bed m the sum- 

 mer months as soon as the runners have strong roots, and 

 then destroy the bed that has borne for two summers. It does 

 not pay to attempt to get a third crop from the plants ; they 

 lose vigor, many die out entirely, and the soil seems to be 

 exhausted by the end of the second season. It is economy to 

 plant at least a few every year so as to keep up the fertility of 

 the varieties and to make sure of a good supply of the fruit. 



We have tried many kinds, mainly to find out those best 

 suited to our purpose, and each grower should experiment for 

 himself if the varieties he has do not give satisfaction. We 

 have sifted down to Michel's Early for the earliest, Parker Earle 

 for second, and Gandy for late varieties, and these are suffi- 

 cient for our needs. The Marshall has not been a success in 

 this section ; it winter-killed severely and made a poor crop 

 this season. We shall not plant more of it this year. 



As soon as all the fruit is gathered we clean the beds of all 

 weeds and mulch. The soil in each alternate row is then 

 lightly forked over and three-inch pots of soil plunged about 

 the plants to receive the runners as soon as these are large 

 enough. The runners will soon root, and when a wet season 

 starts in, as usually happens in early August, we have the 

 new ground ready and set out the young plants two feet apart 

 in the rows and three feet between the rows. All runners 

 should be kept off the young plants during the fall growing 

 time. When setting out the plants care should be taken to set 

 the cut ends of the runners of every two rows pointing toward 

 each other. The next year all the runners will be thrown into 

 one alley, and each alternate alley will be left free for use in 

 watering the pots in dry weather. This plan involves little 

 trouble at planting time and will save a great deal of time and 

 labor the next year. A slight mulching in fall is necessary in 

 this latitude, and we leave the mulch on late in spring to pre- 

 vent the plants starting too early and having the early bloom 

 killed by late spring frosts. It must, however, be taken off later, 

 so that the surface may be well stirred up and a little fertilizer 

 strewed round the plants. The lawn clippings should then be 

 used as they are raked up ; no better material can be had as a 

 mulch to keep the earth cool and moist and to keep the fruit 

 clean and free from grit. We get a good crop the first sum- 

 mer after planting, and this is when the largest fruit is gath- 

 ered. In the bed that is bearing the second season the greatest 

 quantity is produced. This ends the usefulness of the beds, 

 which are afterward made over for fall Cabbages. The ground 

 that will be planted later with young plants is now occupied 

 with early vegetables, such as Spinach, Lettuce, Beans, beets 

 and others that will be past when the ground is needed for the 

 Strawberry plants. In this way no time is lost nor ground 

 wasted, as happens when spring planting is practiced. The 

 plants are great feeders, and it is wise to provide liberally for 

 them when starting a new bed. It should be dug or plowed 

 deep to induce the roots to go down. Deep cultivation is one 

 of die best possible remedies for dry periods, and each year 

 seems to bring just such experiences with it. 



Soulli Lancaster, Mass. E. 0. 0>f>ct. 



Browa'lias. — These are among the most satisfactory of the 

 annual flowering plants. They seem to revel in our hot, dry, 

 summer weather. Nosoil appears to be too poor for (hem to 

 make a creditable showing in, although they grow and [lower 

 more freely in that which has been enriched. Browallia Roezli 

 is probably the most showy of the genus, and, next to 1'.. speci- 

 osa major, has the largest flowers ; these are lavender-colored 

 on the outer part of the corolla and whitish near the centre, 

 with a yellow eye, a most pleasing combination of color. This 

 species has the further merit of producing a large number of 

 flowers at one time. B. elata purpurea has much darker 

 flowers than the' type ; they are quite 1 dark shade of purple 

 with a white eye. In lading, howi v r, (lie flowers assume a 



