PARK AND CEMETERY. 
235 
during this time. While the mixture is still 
hot from the heat thus generated, the po- 
tassium cyanide is added. In fumigating 
a greenhouse it is well to have the cyanide 
divided into several different portions and 
placed in several different crocks, so as to dis- 
tribute the gas evenly throughout the whole 
house. The best way to do this is to have 
the sulphuric acid and water mixed in the 
crock and the cyanide in a manilla paper 
bag suspended by a string over the top of 
the house. This string is connected in 
such a way that the cyanide can be low- 
ered into the jars from the door of the 
greenhouse, thus eliminating all danger of 
the person being poisoned by the cyanide 
gas. The ventilation of the house should 
always be fixed in such a way that they 
may be opened from the outside to venti- 
late the house after the fumigation is com- 
pleted. The mixture is made in the pro- 
portion of one ounce of potassium cyanide 
to one fluid ounce of sulphuric acid and 
three fluid ounces of water. The amount 
of cyanide used in a house, per thousand 
cubic feet, will vary according to the in- 
sects which it is desired to kill. Plants can 
usually stand a strong charge of cyanide 
for a short time or a weak charge for a 
longer period of time without injury. 
Plants can also stand more cyanide at a 
lower temperature, such as 60 degrees, 
than at a higher, such as 80 degrees. For 
fumigation against the white fly, the violet 
aphis, mealy bug, etc., from three to five 
ounces of cyanide is used to each thousand 
cubic feet of space to be fumigated, and 
the charge is left in for from twenty min- 
utes to two hours or longer. For scale 
insects, it is usually necessary to use a 
stronger charge, as high as six ounces per 
thousand feet. Different plants can stand 
different amounts of cyanide, but much de- 
pends upon the condition, and the smaller 
dose of cyanide should be first tried. If 
the cyanide has killed some of the insects, 
but not all, and has not injured the plants, 
a stronger dose may be used. 
In fumigating for scale insects, it might 
be well to use six ounces of cyanide, but 
in this case one should pick out the plants 
having scale insects and try a few in a 
separate portion of the house or in a fumi- 
gation box before using the cyanide for all 
the plants. 
Three ounces of cyanide to a thousand 
cubic feet has been used successfully on 
ferns, while the double English violets will 
stand a dose of six ounces to a thousand 
cubic feet without injury. Single violets 
like the California or the Princess of 
Wales are slightly injured by six ounces 
to a thousand cubic feet and it would 
be advisable to use four ounces to a 
thousand cubic feet in the case of single 
violets. The temperature of the house 
should be about 60 degrees or very little 
above 60 degrees. Five ounces to a thou- 
sand cubic feet have been used over night 
for cucumbers without injuring the plants. 
One ounce to a thousand feet has been 
used for tomatoes without injury. One- 
third ounce to a thousand cubic feet has 
proved beneficial for aphids on lettuce, 
radishes, etc., without injury to the plants. 
Roses, carnations and chrysanthemums have 
in most all cases been injured by cyanide, 
and so little is known about the proportion 
which these plants will be able to stand 
that it is advisable not to use cyanide 
where they are present. Cyanide will be 
found beneficial for the aphis on violets, 
since we cannot fumigate them with to- 
bacco fumes. When fumigation is com- 
pleted, the house should be opened from 
the outside before anyone enters, as the 
gas is deadly. 
Cyanide does not always kill the red 
spider, but rather recently some investi- 
gations by Mr. Parker, of the U. S. Bureau 
of Entomology, which has resulted in the 
discovery of a spray for the red spider, 
has proved to be both cheap and effective. 
This spray consists merely of flour paste. 
It is prepared from a cheap grade of wheat 
flour, making a thin batter without lumps, 
using cold water and diluting this until 
there is one pound of flour to each gallon 
of the mixture. This mixture is cooked 
until a paste is formed, stirring constantly 
to prevent caking or burning of the paste. 
Unless it is well cooked, the spray will not 
be effective. If overcooked, the paste will 
harden when the paste is cooled, but gen- 
erally this is not a disadvantage, for it is 
generally used when first prepared. The 
paste should be used at the rate of eight 
gallons, which equals eight pounds of 
flour, to every hundred gallons of water, 
and has proved very effective against the 
red spider and some of the very delicate 
aphids. It may spot the leaves of chrys- 
anthemums if used too near blossoming 
time. It has been found, however, to be 
effective on beans, hops, cucumbers, pump- 
kins, roses and violets, but has been found 
not to be effective upon greenhouse roses, 
greenhouse carnations or sweet peas in the 
field, in which cases it did not seem to 
spread well. The flour paste spray can be 
also used with nicotine sulphate and lime 
sulphur spray, in which cases ’t acts as a 
spreader. 
This flour paste spray has been found 
to be particularly good, inasmuch as it 
spreads well over the foliage of the plants, 
apparently smothering the red spider. 
Later, when it has become quite dry, the 
film formed on the leaf cracks and partly 
scales off, leaving the leaf free to perform 
its functions. This spray is very cheap, 
costing about 18 cents per hundred gallons 
of the spray mixture. 
BOOKS REVIEWED. 
The fourth revised edition of “The Im- 
provement of Towns and Cities,” by 
Charles Mulford Robinson, has recently 
been issued, bringing down to date this val- 
uable standard work on the problems of 
modern town and city building. The steady 
demand which the earlier editions of the 
book enjoyed has justified this new re- 
vision, chronicling the accomplishments of 
the twelve years since the first edition was 
published. The work still stands pre- 
eminent in its field and reveals a striking 
development in popular progress in im- 
provement work. The author has brought 
many years of practical study and world- 
wide travel to his aid in here outlining and 
tracing in systematic form practically every 
avenue of modern city making. A few of 
the chapter titles that will be of particular 
interest to Park and Cemetery readers 
and that will give some idea of the scope 
of the work are the following : The site 
of the city; the street plan; the tree’s im- 
portance; possibilities of gardening; parks 
and drives ; squares and playgrounds ; func- 
tion and placing of sculpture ; work of in- 
dividuals and societies. 
[“The Improvement of Towns and Cities, 
by Charles Mulford Robinson; G. P. Put- 
nam’s Sons, New York; price $1.25.] 
The Harvard University Press announces 
the issue of “City Planning: A Compre- 
hensive Analysis of the Subject Arranged 
for the Classification of Books, Plans, Pho- 
tographs, Notes and other collected mate- 
rial; with Alphabetical Subject Index; by 
James Sturgis Pray, Chairman, School of 
Landscape Architecture, Harvard LTniver- 
sity, and Theodora Kimball, Librarian, 
School of Landscape Architecture, Harvard 
L’niversity. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard 
University Press, 1913. 103 pages; paper; 
price, $1, postpaid.” City planning has 
come to be widely recognized as of funda- 
mental importance to the best development 
of our municipalities and to the health, ef- 
ficiency and happiness of our citizens. This 
classification is the first comprehensive set- 
ting forth of the scope and varied character 
of this field. It aims to be useful either 
for the classification of collected material, 
for the indication of relations between spe- 
cial parts of the whole field, or for a com- 
prehensive presentation and systematic 
analysis of the subject — alike to the munic- 
ipal official, the business administrator, the 
civil engineer, the sanitary expert, the 
transportation engineer and others. 
The Massachusetts Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station has just issued its fertilizer 
bulletin, No. 147. It contains the analysis 
of all fertilizers and lime compounds sold 
in the state during the year. Interesting 
data are given regarding the economy of 
purchasing high-grade fertilizers. A dis- 
cussion is made of the quality of plant 
food found in the mixed goods as well 
as in the unmixed materials. The bulletin 
also contains the results of a field experi- 
ment to show the value of ground rocks 
as fertilizers. The bulletin will be sent to 
anyone upon request. Address communica- 
tions to Director, Agricultural Experiment 
Station, Amheist, Mass. 
