October ii, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



427 



in allowing this to take place, we are burninf^ the candle at 

 both ends, time alone will tell. One of the best English growers 

 has just asserted that the average life of a Cattleya there, in 

 full vigor, is about six years ; after this it taxes the skill of the 

 best cultivators to keep them in vigor, especially if they have 

 Howered freely. One thing is fairly certain, that the system 

 practiced there of keeping Cattleyas dry for a long period to 

 induce rest, would here cause their deterioration, as the male- 

 rial we use for potting holds far less moisture than the peat 

 used almost entirely abroad. This question of premature 

 growth has been a source of anxiety to me and also to others, 

 but on mentioning it recenily to one of the largest importers 

 of Orchids he told me that Cattleya Trianae in Colombia was 

 found in Hower almost every month in the year, and that their 

 collector had noticed this variety in bloom whenever he had 

 passed through that region. This in part explains the appar- 

 ently erratic behavior of newly established plants in our glass 

 houses. So far as my observation goes, it takes Cattleyas of 

 the Trianae section about six years to settle down to a normal 

 season of rest and growth. Perhaps some will call this a sign 

 of deterioration, but let us be hopeful, at least, until a wider ex- 

 perience shatters our belief that the American climate is better 

 suited to Orchid life than that of the Old World, even if tem- 

 peratures do get beyond our control in summer-tune. 



South Lancaster, Mass. E- O. Orpet. 



Lawn Notes. 



A WELL-KEPT LAWN is an essential element in a garden of 

 any pretensions, but to maintain such a feature in a highly 

 finished condition requires constant care. In a recent num- 

 ber of Garden and Forest attention was called to the 

 white grub and its ravages in greensward. This pest I have 

 been fighting for many years and have tried the lamp and the 

 tub of water, with many other remedies, but when I find the 

 beetles making havoc with the leaves of my medium-sized 

 purple Beech-trees, I take a lantern at night and' a pail of water. 

 A vigorous shake of the trees will dislodge the beetles and 

 they fall to the ground in great quantities, where they are 

 picked up and readily drowned in the water. One of the most 

 effective remedies against the white grub which I have chanced 

 to find is a natural enemy of the larvae, which is generally 

 as bad as the disease. Finding some moles on the sod that 

 was infested with the grub I let them have the right of way for 

 a time and they soon cleared out the larvae, and with very little 

 trouble the part of the lawn where the grass had been killed 

 was renovated and soon showed as good condition as ever. 



In this region the killing of the grass is not the only evil 

 which comes to the lawns from the ravages of the white grub. 

 The bare patches are bad enough, but they are soon clothed 

 with Crab Grass, which is as great an eyesore as the stretches 

 of dead grass. I once tried the experiment of plowing up a 

 piece of the infested land, exposing the grubs to the weather 

 and giving a chance for the crows and fowls to pick them, but 

 this was simply vexation and loss of time. When I sowed 

 Grass-seed the weather was unfavorable for a good stand, and 

 I had instead a heavy yield of Crab Grass. After allowing this 

 to grow until panicles of bloom were shown, which is early in 

 September, it was cut with a scythe and raked over. When it 

 reaches its full size a much cleaner cut can be made with a 

 scythe or mowing-machine than when it is cut at intervals with 

 the lawn-mower, as is customary. Under these conditions 

 Crab Grass spreads and roots at each joint so as to form an 

 impenetrable and wiry mat, where it has to remain an un- 

 sightly object until it dies naturally, and then the ground is 

 covered with seed ready to germinate at the proper season. 

 But if the grass is cut while in blossom and a good top-dress- 

 ing of rich compost is applied, Grass-seed can be sown 

 at once and a good stand can be secured before winter. Lawns 

 that are weedy and patchy and infested with coarse grasses 

 and perennial weeds ought to be dug up and cleaned out 

 thoroughly and then seeded down. In top-dressing great care 

 should be exercised. Stable or barnyard manure should not 

 be used until it has been composted for a season or two and 

 turned often so as to be thoroughly sterilized, or it will be sure 

 to introduce Daisies. Docks, Orchard Grass and other coarse 

 grasses. The question, what material to use for top-dressing, 

 will be answered in various ways, according to different loca- 

 tions and materials at command. The so-called complete com- 

 mercial fertilizers, when made by trustworthy firms, are 

 always good. Wood-ashes, too, are excellent, if they are not 

 leached, and so is lime in places where the soil needs it. This 

 last can be used either when slacked or wlien mixed with com- 

 post, the latter mode being preferable, as in a tine dry state it 

 is difficult to spread and disagreeable to workmen. In every 



garden there is an accumulation of rubbish which is greater 

 or less according to the extent of the grounds, including dead 

 leaves, grass, branches, superfluous vegetable matter, sweep- 

 ings, dead plants and soil from greenhouses and pofting- 

 benches. All this rubbish should be collected separately, and 

 as much of it as will burn should be placed in one pile and 

 the part that will be composted placed in another pile. This 

 last should be turned over with fresh slacked lime, and the 

 former should be burned, and the resulting ashes and soil 

 should be kept dry. Chicken droppings, with finely screened 

 coal-ashes or dry soil placed under their roosts, should be gath- 

 ered, stored in barrels in a dry place, and covered with soil to 

 prevent the escape of the ammonia. With all these substances 

 combined a good home-made fertilizer can he. made. Care 

 should be taken that the chicken manure shall not be more 

 than one-third of the entire compost. If the ashes and soil 

 are run through a screen to keep out stones and coarse matter 

 this will make an admirable lawn dressing. 



The kinds of Grass-seed recommended on page 357 are 

 superior to any mixture I have ever found, although I add a 

 small proportion of white Clover-seed. Where there are trees, 

 and it is desirable to have a sod under their shade, I usually 

 make an addition of wood Meadow Grass. I use two parts of 

 Kentucky Blue Grass to one of Rhode Island Bent Grass, and 

 add one pound of white Clover-seed to a bushel of Grass-seed, 

 and use the same amount of wood Meadow Grass as I do Rhode 

 Island Bent Grass for shaded grounds. However clean the 

 seed may be. Dandelion, Plantain and coarse weeds and 

 grasses will appear, and then the laborious process of weeding 

 is often resorted to. I have found it easier to use sulphuric 

 acid diluted with twice its bulk of water. As this is a very 

 acrid substance, great care must be exercised in mixing and 

 using it. I take a preserving-jar of two-pound size, or larger, 

 with a wide neck, and securely fasten to it a stout wire with 

 which to carry it. The acid should be put in the jar first and 

 the water added afterward. It should never be poured into 

 the water, nor should the material be mixed in metal or 

 wooden vessels. To make the application I take a stout stick, 

 some eighteen inches long, dip it in the diluted acid, and with the 

 point of the wet stick touch the crown or centre of the plant 

 only, and then repeat it with the next plant, and so on. Noth- 

 ing further remains to be done. The plant so treated will in- 

 variably die, nothing is left to pull out or clear away, but great 

 care should be taken not to wet anything but the plants to be 

 destroyed, and not to touch the shoes or clothing. If weeds 

 are so thick that this treatment is impracticable, the best way 

 to proceed is to dig the whole thing up, clean out and sow 

 down afresh. 



West New Brighton, N, Y. Will. Tricker. 



To Kill Grubs and Seeds in Greenhouse Soil. 



THE last number of The American Florist states that 

 Mr. W. N. Rudd, Mount Greenwood, Illinois, never 

 has any vi^eeds in his greenhouse until after he has used a 

 mulch or has otherwise fertilized his plants on tlie benches. 

 This is because his soil is free from weed-seeds, and it is 

 also free not only from grubs, but from all other insect 

 larvae and the germs of fungus. The reason is that all his 

 soil is treated with live steam before it is used, and the fol- 

 lowing description of his method is given : 



In the frame-yard he has a big box or bin twenty feet long, 

 six feet wide and four and a half feet deep, well braced. In the 

 bottom is a run of three five-quarter-inch steam pipes, in the 

 sides of which three-sixteenth-inch holes are drilled every eigh- 

 teen inches. The soil is thrown into this bin, and when full it is 

 covered with hot-bed sash and the steam turned on. About 

 two hours of this is sufficient to kill all animal or vegetable 

 life in the soil. It is the general habit to put a few potatoes on 

 top, and when these are cooked the soil is in condition. One 

 would imagine that this cooking would make the soil soggy, 

 but it has no such effect, and, indeed, the soil seems in better 

 condition afterward than before tiie steam has been applied ; 

 and the fine condition of plants growing in soil that has been 

 so treated proved that the soil has not been injured in the 

 least. 



After the bin has been built, and the expense of it is slight, 

 the only cost of treating the soil is the two handlings, one in 

 and one out of the bin, and in view of the frequency with 

 which serious loss is caused by grubs and fungi, etc., in the 

 soil, the precaution is one that no grower should fail to 

 take. 



