298 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



June, 1909 



Fumigating with Hydrocyanic Gas 



I MAY be mistaken, but I fear that through 

 generations of fumigating, the ordinary green- 

 house pests have become habitual smokers! It is 

 amusing to read some of the directions given at 

 times for killing the pests of the greenhouse — such 

 as spraying with ivory soap, kerosene emulsion, etc. 

 for the destruction of the white fly. 



There is one surely effectual remedy, hydro- 

 cyanic acid gas, but it is a dangerous poison, and 

 must be handled with all caution. Give an appli- 





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Always pour tlie sulphuric acid into the water — 

 never tne reverse 



cation to a house infested with white fly and in the 

 morning the soil will look as though snow has fallen. 



I use it and nothing else on everything — toma- 

 toes, lettuce, beans, carnations, roses, chrysanthe- 

 mums. This method of treatment is very econom- 

 ical and convenient and all the houses can be fumi- 

 gated at the same time. It is excellent for use in 

 chicken houses and other buildings. 



It is claimed that hydrocyanic gas will kill any 

 breathing insect or animal in a fraction of a second, 

 as it paralyzes a nerve at the back of the neck which 

 is in direct connection with the brain. The proper 

 way to use it is to figure up the cubic capacity in 

 feet of the house to be fumigated, and to every 

 3,000 cubic feet use 4 ounces water, 2 ounces sul- 

 phuric acid, and 1 ounce of cyanide of potassium. 

 Ascertain the capacity by multiplying the length by 

 the width and the result by the average height. 

 For instance, a house 50 feet long, 10 feet wide and 

 10 feet peak would give about 5,000 cubic feet. 



When all calculations are made and everything 

 is ready at hand for the work, see that no one is left 

 in the house, which must be shut up tight. Close 

 all ventilators, etc., and as a precaution lock all 

 doors from the inside, if possible, leaving one open 

 for your exit. Take the vessel containing the water 

 to the centre of the house and pour in the acid — 

 never the reverse. Then, putting the vessel on the 

 ground, take the cyanide in your hand, and keeping 

 your face turned away, preferably, drop the cyanide 

 into the mixture and at once walk briskly from the 

 house, closing the door tight. It is most important 

 that you get out of the house promptly. Do not 

 tarry to look at doors, ventilators, and don't wait for 



any visible fumes, as there will be none. Having 

 locked the door, put the key in your own pocket, and 

 allow no one to go into the house for at least ten 

 hours. 



The following morning the house can be entered 

 and the ventilators opened, but an excellent plan is 

 to arrange one ventilator sash so that it can be 

 raised from the outside, or else throw open the doors 

 for about half an hour before entering the house. 

 Used as directed there will be no injury to the plants 

 but no living insect will remain. 



Long Island. W. C. McCollom. 



Ten Bushels of Potatoes From 

 One of Seed 



FROM a plot of land 48 x 60 feet our returns 

 last year were ten bushels of potatoes, the 

 seed for which cost us $1.25. Potatoes had not 

 been grown in the patch since 1895; the soil was 

 friable and loamy and had been heavily manured 

 every season until about four years ago, when it 

 was allowed to become overgrown with sod. 



On May 5th, when the patch was plowed 

 and harrowed (at a cost of $1), the soil was found 

 to be a rich brown in color, nearly two feet in 

 depth, with a gravelly subsoil. Furrows were 

 made two and a half feet apart and the seed was 

 planted the following day, May 6th. They were 

 set not over six inches apart. 



Instead of hoeing, we used the spading fork 

 between the rows shortly after the plants had 

 appeared above the ground, and once again only, 



The Pleasures of Having a Fern 

 Garden 



ONE often reads of formal gardens, water 

 gardens, herbaceous gardens, rose gardens, 

 etc., though rarely of fern gardens; but for a 

 garden which will return the maximum of pleasure 

 for the minimum of expense and labor, a fern 

 garden certainly heads the list, provided, of course, 

 there is a piece of unused woodland that can 

 conveniently be used. 



Early spring is the very best time to plant ferns, 

 just before the fronds begin to appear, but they 

 may be transplanted in midsummer almost as 

 easily by simply removing all the large fronds. 

 This relieves the plants of the strain of keeping 

 up transpiration until the roots have become estab- 

 lished in the soil again. When once planted they 

 require but little care afterward. 



The soil should be an ordinary loam to which 

 some well decomposed stable manure and leaf- 

 mold has been added. The paths and pockets 

 are formed with boulders and stones picked up 

 in the woods and adjoining fields. The cost of 

 a fern garden is very small, being practically all 

 in the making, digging up the soil, and adding 

 the manure. 



One would naturally begin by transplanting 

 to his garden the choicest ferns which grow in the 

 woods in his immediate neighborhood. On every 

 trip to a new locality there may be a new fern to 

 bring home, or the collection may be added to 

 through correspondence with friends or ex- 



This fern garden in the vicinity of Hartford, Conn., is composed entirely of native ferns, which thrive 



under the partial shade 



Do not drop the cyanide into the water as shown 

 here, but keep the face turned away. Then leave 

 the house immediately 



to make the plot look even. I found that the 

 sun did not bake and cake the soil as it 

 did when the hills were made with a hand or 

 wheel hoe. 



Last season seemed to be a bad one for potatoes 

 in this section, the drought being severe, and 

 many farmers complained of dry rot and of the 

 tops of the plants dying. However, we were 

 troubled only once with potato beetles; a large 

 dose of Paris green dissolved in water utterly 

 destroyed them. 



We began to dig tubers for table use about 

 August 1 st. They were of good size. The middle 

 of September the final digging and sorting were 

 done and in the whole crop of ten bushels, there 

 were not over two bushels of small tubers. I 

 sorted them myself, and there was not one rotted 

 or scabby potato. 



I am going to try growing potatoes again this 

 season in an unused chicken yard. I will, how- 

 ever, plant the seed farther apart. 



Connecticut. Jui.ie Adams Powell. 



changes with collectors in different parts of 

 the country. 



The picture shows a fern garden in the vicinity 

 of Hartford, Conn., in which the ferns are all 

 native. The common, or large growing kinds, 

 such as the ostrich fern, lady fern, cinnamon fern, 

 Christmas fern, etc., are planted in masses by 

 themselves; while the rarer kinds — those of 

 slender or diminutive growth, or those of which 

 there are but a single specimen — are planted in 

 pockets by themselves and labeled. 



It is surprising how the pleasure of collecting 

 grows upon anyone who attempts it, and what 

 an authority on ferns it is possible to become. 

 There are some 170 species native to North 

 America. The new edition of Gray's Manual 

 (which covers only the Central and Northwestern 

 United States and adjacent Canada) enumerates 

 twenty-four genera, seventy-three species, and 

 thirty-four varieties and named forms, which do 

 not include the water ferns. 



Massachusetts. Edward J. Canning. 



