2 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July 3. 1884. 
most effective for massing; while the single-stemmed young¬ 
sters are the best for dotting among or mixing with groups 
of other plants. To transfer them when at their best to a 
cooler house under the impression that this prolongs their 
season is quite a wrong notion, as we find they last much 
longer and also retain their foliage much better if kept in 
the same house as grown in, provided the atmosphere is dry 
and a little ventilation is given when possible. If it is 
necessary to transfer them to cooler quarters more care 
should be taken with the watering than is often the case. 
In a cool house or in a dwelling house they require much 
less water than heretofore, or otherwise they quickly lose 
their leaves. Plants kept in a dry warm house will some¬ 
times perfect seeds, and these, if sown in heat directly they 
are ripe, will germinate in about ten days; but the seedlings 
are apt to become taller than the plants raised from cuttings. 
The Poinsettia is a noble plant for covering the back 
walls of plant stoves, and in these positions it affords a long 
succession of blooms, small heads being produced throughout 
the length of the stems after the principal head has been cut, 
the season lasting till late in April. Where a border is 
provided for climbers on the back walls a few Poinsettias 
may be planted. Any good loamy soil will suit them, and 
they will cause little further trouble in this respect for years, 
always supposing they receive some kind of fertiliser occa¬ 
sionally. Under this treatment they quickly furnish a wall, 
forming grand foliage, and also, if not unduly shaded, 
immense whorls of bracts. Some of the largest heads ever 
cut, measuring 24 inches in diameter, were grown in this 
manner. They have been trained to the roofs of houses, but 
are rather heavy for this position, and there are other ser¬ 
viceable climbers that may be thus grown without injuring 
Poinsettias and other plants either underneath or on the 
back walls. 
It is not generally known that there are two varieties of 
Poinsettia pulcherrima besides the white and double forms. 
Both have scarlet bracts, but one is much brighter in colour 
than the other. The dullest-coloured is rather shorter- 
jointed and is the earliest by fully eighteen days. Possessing 
these two sorts gives us a decided advantage, as we are not 
under the necessity of dividing the stock into batches in 
order to retard the one and hasten the other, as may be 
advisable for others to do in October, when a succession is 
required. The white variety I care but little for, and neither 
this nor the double variety are often seen in a presentable 
condition. A group of the scarlet single sorts margined with 
well-flowered plants of Begonia semperflorens grandiflora is 
remarkably grand; while moderate-sized whorls of the 
former are strikingly effective for dinner-table decoration.— 
W. lOGULDEN. 
THE HOME CULTUEE OE TOBACCO FOR 
FUMIGATING. 
I HAVE often felt somewhat surprised that growing Tobacco 
is so rarely adopted by gardeners, even where space and appli¬ 
ances could readily he found, and especially so when I consider 
the high prices which are charged for, and the very variable and 
often very inferior qualities of tobacco paper sold, the use of 
which is frequently the cause of much injury to valuable plants. 
I have for many years past made it a practice to grow annually 
from lOO to 200 plants, which with a very small quantity of 
tobacco paper to assist in combustion, seiwes me for the fumi¬ 
gation required in our greenhouses. 
Our mode of fumigation is to use (according to the size of 
the house to be tilled) one or more utensils made of sheet iron 
rivetted together, somewhat like a large saucepan, about 9 inches 
in diameter and 12 inches deep, the lower part perforated with 
holes half an inch in diameter, and with three short legs rivetted 
on to support it about 6 inches above the floor. A long iron 
handle is also rivetted on for convenience in carrying it about 
when in use. Into this we place 3 or 4 inches in de^Fh of live 
coke, and upon this, in the first place, a few small pieces of 
tobacco paper, then next a handful or two of home-grown Tobacco, 
and again a few pieces of paper, repeating this until sufficient 
has been thus put together to well fill the house with smoke, and 
so dense that I am unable to discern plants through it that are 1 
standing more than 3 feet away from me. I usually find one 
such fumigation as this effectual in destroying all aphides, and 
is not injurious to even tender plants, such as Cinerarias, pro¬ 
viding their foliage be dry at the time. 
The proportion of Tobacco I use is about two-thirds home¬ 
grown to one-third paper. Thus mixed I find them to possess 
several important advantages over the use of paper alone. First, 
it is necessarily much less costly, and apparently equally effective 
in the destruction of insect pests; secondly, it is much less 
injurious to the plants; and thirdly, it is much less offensive 
and unpleasant work for the operator, as it does not require that 
he should stay in the house until it is consumed, as it burns 
steadily without in any case breaking into a blaze, and also the 
smoke produced is much less nauseous. 
The cultural details are very simple. About the end of April 
seed should be sown in a pan of a light sandy compost, and 
thinly covered, the pan to be placed in a warm house or frame 
near the glass. As soon as the plants are large enough to 
handle they should be pricked out in boxes, or under a spare 
light of a cold frame, kept safe from frost, and grown till the 
end of May, when they should be gradually hardened and planted 
out towards the middle of June. I plant on ground which has 
been dug and liberally manured the previous winter, forking it 
over, but not deep enough to bring up the manure, immediately 
before planting. The plants are put in with a trowel in rows 
2 feet apart, and 18 inches apart in the rows. 
After planting they require to be carefully watched, as slugs 
appear to be very fond of the young succulent leaves. After 
they commence growing freely, however, they are soon safe from 
these troublesome pests. All the further attention then required 
until they are ready for cutting is one or two hoeings to keep 
down weeds. I allow the plants to grow until the first blooms 
begin to expand, when I cut them off close above the ground 
and spread them thinly in the full sun on the edge of the garden 
walks, where they remain for one or two days, turning them 
once. 
When sufficiently dry they are collected and piled in a heap 
under a covered shed with open sides. The heap is closely 
covered with mats, and is left thus covered for four or five days, 
during which a little fermentation takes place. The plants are 
next tied in bundles of six or eight each, and suspended head 
downwards under the roof of the shed, where they hang until 
dry and brown, which takes several weeks to accomplish. They 
are then taken down, the leaves stripped off the stalks, and the 
stalks chopped into lengths of 3 to 4 inches, when leaves and 
stalks are all packed tightly together in empty barrels such as 
Apples arrive in from America. The barrels are then stored in 
any convenient place where they are safe from damp, and the 
Tobacco can be taken out in small quantities as required.— 
W. K. W. 
MANURING ROSES IN SUMMER. 
All Rose bushes are benefited by an application of manure at this 
season. Where the buds have not yet opened copious supplies of liquid 
will cause them to develope to their fullest extent, and at the same time 
strong wood will be formed which will produce many tine blooms in 
autumn, and the plants will also be benefited for next season. When 
Roses are wanted to open and bloom freely now liquid alone will 
assist in this, but for the future benefit of the plants a good top-dressing 
of rich manure is better than anything. 
Some people always like to see the surface of their Rose beds raked 
fine and smooth, but where blooms of the finest quality and in the 
greatest quantity are desired the requirements of the plants must be 
taken into consideration. In heavy rich soils top-dressings are not much 
wanted, but in poor light materials nothing great will ever be accom¬ 
plished without plenty of rich surface dressings. A good layer of rich 
manure round the stem of each plant is always beneficial, especially in 
hot dry weather, and where the improvement of Rose bushes is desired 
we would urge the adoption of the plan at once. After putting on the 
manure it should be well watered to take the nourishment down to the 
roots, and this may be repeated when necessary ; but besides being bene¬ 
fited by the manure in this way the mulching keeps the soil cool and 
moist, and these are conditions most agreeable to Roses in summer. 
Of liquid manures we prefer that made of cow or pig droppings given 
freely.—M. 
UTEICULA,EIA VULGARIS. 
This comparatively unknown water plant is attracting con¬ 
siderable attention on account of the recent discovery of young 
fish in the vesicles, bladders, or hollow bags with which the plant 
is so abundantly supplied. In addition to the interest that 
attaches to this plant as a destroyer of our feeble fresh-water 
fry, together with its accredited power of absorbing minute 
insects, it is by no means the least beautiful of our indigenous 
aquatics. To those who are in the least apprehensive that the 
