26 
THE MANUAL OP GARDENING. 
Japonica , will probably be in full bloom, and the expanded 
flowers may be preserved in beauty, by shielding them from the 
direct rays of the sun ; indeed, the same may be said of all flow- 
ers; and in order to secure their bloom for the greatest length 
of time, and screen the foliage from the full force of the sun, act- 
ing through the glass, it is usual to give a thin coat of whiting 
on the under surface of the glass. A mode still better would be 
to provide the sash with curtains of cheap muslin, arranged on 
rollers, so as to be let down or drawn up at pleasure. 
The warm weather may now bring into action numerous 
insects, which have lain dormant during the winter, or hatch 
eggs, which were deposited on the plants during the preceding 
summer. Most of these may be destroyed by fumigating the 
house with tobacco smoke; or, what is safer under certain cir- 
cumstances, by syringing such as may be affected with a solution 
of tobacco, or very weak whale-oil soap; which may be rinsed 
off with clean water, after a few hours have elapsed. For the 
red spider, see observations, article Camellia Japonica. Another 
insect, popularly termed the scale, ( coccus ,) will frequently show 
itself in formidable numbers, especially on the stems and under 
surface of Orange and Lemon trees, the Acacia, Oleander, and 
other evergreen plants. The best method to exterminate them 
is to take leaf by leaf, and rub on a strong decoction of warm 
tobacco juice, or a solution of whale-oil soap, judiciously applied ; 
this latter article is powerful in its effects, and we would advise 
the operator to make some experiments on a small scale, to test 
the strength with which it may be safely applied, before using it 
generally. This is the season when many plants, especially 
those with evergreen or persistent leaves, may be shifted, though 
most of them may be done equally well at mid-summer. Gera- 
niums, and plants generally which have soft wood, as well as 
Roses, shift better when in a more inactive state, say late in 
autumn; but it may be done at any time, by using necessary 
caution. — Of course, when a plant is in full growth, and it be 
deemed advisable to remove it to a larger vessel, no person would 
be so destitute of reflection as to probe the roots severely, or re- 
move any considerable portion of the old soil, thereby disturbing 
the tender fibres. 
It has not been deemed necessary to append to each and every 
plant described, a minute description of the soil best adapted to 
it; and here we would take occasion to remark, there is a great 
degree of arbitrariness connected with the modus operandi in 
this branch of Floriculture. To observe the precise details laid 
down by some for the critical compounding of soils, is not less 
amusing than the prescriptions of many of our young practitioners 
ip medicine — a more simple combination would answer equally 
well ; but then there would be less display of wisdom. Presum- 
