With a view to meeting the needs of school garden club members Disinfecting 
who want a simple method of disinfecting small quantities of soil in Soil with 
which to start seedlings, the Department of Agriculture has been con- Boiling 
ducting investigations that point to boiling water as a simple and Water 
effective means to this end. 
The Department experts state that their tests show that boiling 
water at the rate of seven gallons per cubic foot of soil in shallow 
trenches will practically eliminate the root-knot nematode and 
various other parasitic fungi. This means that in the case of a flat 
14 in. by 30 in. by 3 in., four and a half gallons of boiling water would 
be needed. An 8-in. pot can be easily treated by an application of 
about three quarts of boiling water. 
These amounts and methods are, of course, too small to be of use 
where a whole greenhouse or even a whole bench or soHd bed needs 
treatment, but they may easily prove convenient and valuable in pre- 
paring small amounts of soil for the sowing of especially valuable 
seeds of rare or highly fastidious plants. 
O, what did they do at Dodona? Or by doctors and barbers for curing, The GreEN 
Whut did the Dodonians do} And powdering wigsf CATERPILLAR 
(/ ask as the ignorant owner 
Of oaks not a few), Whatever their use or their uses, 
When up they had given tJie ghost, 
When the hosts of the green caterpillars Whnt we want is the way that reduces 
Invaded their sacred domain? Their number the most. 
Did they call in a posse of millers, 
To grind them like grain, And, if we're unable to find it. 
If no remedy seems to be known, 
And bake them for feasts sacrificial, We musi make up our minds not to 
Or spread them like butter on bread, mind it. 
Or extract from them oil beneficial, Atid leave them alone. 
To the hair of the head} 
But, what did they do at Dodona"} 
Werethey used on the farms for manuring, I am sure, if their story is true. 
Or for feeding of fowls or of pigs, They could give to the oak and its owner 
A wrinkle or two. 
Thomas Thornley in Fen and Fell. 
Cultivators are in some seasons greatly troubled by this pest, Leaf-Miner 
which tunnels its way beneath the cuticle of the leaves, destroying the on Chrys- 
tissues and leaving behind distinct markings. The same creature anthemums 
attacks many other plants, notably Marguerites and Cinerarias. 
When attack is slight, the squeezing of the leaf at the point where the 
grub is between thumb and finger, puts an end to its work, or it may 
be picked out with the point of a penknife, pin or darning needle. If 
the leaf is badly marked, remove it and burn it. An insecticide, 
though it is useful early as a nieans of preventing females laying their 
eggs, is useless after the maggot has hatched. A careful cultivator 
39 
