62 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
closed, these red lines make it beautifully striped. 
Though not so large-flowered and showy as some 
others, this is, to our fancy, the prettiest of all, as 
it presents in its buds, its partly open and fully 
open flowers, a pleasing and everchanging variety. 
Bowie’s Oxalis, (0. Botiriei,) is one of the largest 
and finest species ; it has large, thick leaves, and 
flowers in clusters of 6 or 8 on a strong stalk; they 
are nearly two inches across, and rose-colored. 
This is the earliest flowering species, and imported 
bulbs are usually injured by having started to grow. 
Some florists furnish it in pots, and it is best to get 
it in this way. 
The Free-flowering Oxalis, (0. fioribunda,) 
has rosy-pink flowers, produced in the greatest pro¬ 
fusion, and continuing for a long time. 
The Yellow Oxalis, (0. flava,) has leaves with 
6 to 10 narrow leaflets, much like those of 0. versi¬ 
color, and large solitary flowers which are yellow, 
sometimes with a reddish edge. 
The Goat’s-foot Oxalis, (0. caprina,) so-called 
because its leaflets have somewhat the shape of the 
print of a goat’s foot, has also yellow flowers, which 
are in large clusters, and somewhat fragrant. This 
has very small bulbs, and both leaves and flowers 
are exceedingly sensitive to light. This is sometimes 
incorrectly called 0. flava. This list might be in¬ 
definitely extended, but as it gives examples of the 
different colors, it is sufficient to call attention to 
an exceedingly interesting genus of plants, and one 
which may be grown with fair success by those who 
have no greenhouse. 
A number of species are hardy in England, and 
we have most of these on trial, but as this is their 
first winter in the open ground, it cannot be said 
which, if any, will endure our winters. 
Reference has been made to the sensitiveness of 
the flowers of Oxalis to light, and it may be added 
that this is more or less shared by the leaves; 
which in almost all species take up a sleeping 
position at night; the leaflets droop and fold, and 
in some the leaf-stalk also droops. In the accom¬ 
panying diagrams, fig. 2 shows the day, and fig. 3 
the night position of a. leaf. 
Window-Gardening.— The Goethe Plant. 
Some two years or more ago we were looking 
through the greenhouse of a friend, who stopped 
before a plant much like the one shown on the pre¬ 
ceding page, as the Goethe plant, and said, “ There 
is a capital plant, which you ought to write up 
and make popular.”—He picked off a couple of the 
little offsets borne upon the pendent stems, which 
were taken home and planted. Since then they 
have been growing on quietly in the greenhouse, 
and were Dearly forgotten, until an article in the 
Gardener’s Magazine brought them to mind ; the 
plants were looked up, and as they were not so 
well grown as the one figured in the Magazine, we 
have re-produced the engraving of the English 
journal. The plant in question has for its name 
Chlorophyton Stcrnbergianvm ; chloro-phyton means 
simply green plant, not very descriptive surety, and 
a translation of the whole name would be “ Stern¬ 
berg’s Green Plant ” ; but fortunately it has re¬ 
ceived a pleasanter name than that, and it is known 
in England as the Gcethe plant, for the reason that 
it was a favorite with the poet, who admired its 
patient endurance of the dry air, dust, and other 
troubles, that beset a plant kept in a window the 
year round. The plant belongs to the Asparagus 
Section of the Lily Family, which includes the 
favorite Dracaenas, and that very beautiful and 
popular climber, Myrsiphyllum , which is so gener¬ 
ally known as Smilax. The genus is a native of 
Africa and Australia, and contaius but few species. 
This has graceful foliage of a flue green color, but 
'.lie peculiar thing about it is its flower stems, which 
are very strong and slender, one or two feet long, 
and bear small and very inconspicuous white flow¬ 
ers ; after the bloom is over, the flower-stems 
throw out young plants or offsets, as shown in the 
engraving, and these again produce flower-stems, 
which in turn bear other offsets, until on an old 
plant there is produced a perfect mass of threads 
and bright green tassels. In the moist atmosphere 
of the greenhouse the little plants form roots an 
inch or two long, and the plant propagates itself. 
The article in the Gardener’s Magazine, to which re¬ 
ference has been made, is by a correspondent, Mr. 
Trussler, who has some very sensible talk ujion 
window-plants, which we should very gladly repro¬ 
duce did space permit; he restricts the number of 
realty useful window-plants to a very few, and 
speaks of the Gcethe plant as the “ best window- 
plant in the world.” He criticises with proper 
severity those who write works upon window¬ 
gardening, and run through the whole list of green¬ 
house plants, “which are no more fit for window- 
culture than the oak-tree, the teazle, or water- 
lily,” a remark which will apply to similar works 
in this country. For the benefit of our Philadelphia 
friends, it may be remarked that the “German 
Ivy” is placed among the select window-plants, 
and is spoken of as Scnecio scandcns, and not 21ika- 
nia scandens. It is contrary to our custom to say 
much about plants that can not be readily obtained, 
though wc sometimes do, as in this case, bring for¬ 
ward a plant that our florists ought to have. Wc 
advise them to import a stock of Chlorojohyton, as 
they are very sure to have a demand for it, as it is 
one of those things which, if well grown, will sell 
itself. Our readers need not write to ask who has 
the plant, as we do not know, but any wide-awake 
florist will soon be able to supply their demands. 
The Fumigation of Plants—Its Dangers, 
BY PETEK HENDERSON. 
A lady has given me a “piece of her mind ”—she 
has fumigated her plants and taken off every one of 
their leaves. As I recommend fumigation, she re¬ 
gards me as the cause of her trouble, and she ex¬ 
presses herself to that effect in words that I need 
not repeat. I have insisted upon, and do still main¬ 
tain the need of fumigating with tobacco, not only 
to destroy that pest of the plant grower, the green¬ 
fly, and other insects, but to prevent their getting 
established. I have been particular in my advice 
to use it regularly twice a week, at the rate of about 
half-a-pound to every 500 square feet of glass, and 
I still adhere to this as the best and easiest way of 
keeping a gireenliouse clear of insects. If Dr. Jones 
leaves Pat Molloy some pills, of which he is to take 
one every three hours, and Pat not only takes them 
all at once, but takes also whatever other pills he 
can find about the house, he will do very much as 
my correspondent did, and the death of Pat would 
follow not less certainty than that of the lady’s 
plants. She had insects on her plants, and was bound 
to fix them, so she not only burned any quantity of 
tobacco, but,* as she writes, “ some sulphur.” Her 
success was complete, for not an insect remains to 
feed upon the green pastures afforded by the leaves 
of her plants, and so thorough was the work, that 
the pastures are as leafless and dry as a maple grove 
in December; and for this the lady thinks I am to 
blame ! While professional gardeners find fumi¬ 
gating with tobacco the readiest and safest method 
of ridding the plants of insects, it sometimes hap¬ 
pens that amateurs, from not following the direc¬ 
tions, or from want of experience, injure their 
plants. Such had better make use of tobacco in 
some other form, and we give two methods, which 
will be found quite as efficacious as smoking. One 
of these is tobacco in the liquid form, prepared by 
steeping one pound of tobacco stems, (such as are 
usually thrown away by cigar makers,) in -about 
five gallons of water, this gives a liquid about the 
color of strong tea, which, if syringed over and un¬ 
der the leaves of plants twice a week, will effectu¬ 
ally prevent any injury from that pest—the green 
fly. The other is to use tobacco dust, which 
is the sweepings of tobacco warehouses, and a very 
cheap article. This is most effectively applied on 
rose bushes or other plants out doors in the morn¬ 
ing when the dew is on, or if used upon plants in 
the greenhouse, they should first be syringed, so 
that the dust will adhere to the leaves. No special 
quantity is required, only care should be taken that 
the dust is distributed among the leaves pretty 
thoroughly, as no injury will result to the plants 
from its application, no matter how much is ap¬ 
plied.—For insects upon fruit trees, roses, and other 
shrubs, outside, tobacco dust is an excellent and 
cheap application. It is sold in quantities as low 
as $5 per hundred pounds, and is retailed in pack¬ 
ages at 10c. per lb, by most of the agricultural and 
seed warehouses. I must here enter a protest 
against the use of the fumes of burning sulphur in 
the greenhouse. When sulphur is sprinkled upon 
the hot-water pipes, or upon that part of a flue, the 
temxierature of which is not much over 200°, it 
slowly vaporizes, and may be used with benefit, but 
when set on fire, as was done by my correspondent, 
whose disastrous experience called out this article, 
the most corrosive acid fumes are given off, which, 
in even small quantities, are destructive to plant 
life. I remember a case in which the person in 
charge of a grapery, loaded with nearly a ton of 
ripening fruit, wishing to destroy the red spider that 
had begun to attack it, opened the door at each end 
of the house, put a pound of sulphur on a red-hot 
shovel, and walked through the house with it. 
Every leaf and every bunch of fruit were destroyed, 
and the vines permanently injured. Don’t burn 
sulphur in a greenhouse. 
Sparrows and Fruit-Growers. —Many Euro 
peans have predicted that the introduction of spar¬ 
rows into this country would ultimately be regrets 
ted. That they destroy insects there is no doubt, 
but their work is not entirety beneficent; and mel¬ 
ancholy accounts have been told of loss to the 
farmers by the havoc the sparrows make in their 
grain. In France the sparrow appears as an enemy 
to the pear-grower, and unless the trees are at a 
long distance from any houses, the sparrow being 
an eminently stay-at-home bird, they often have 
during the winter their fruit-buds attacked by the 
sparrows, and one case is mentioned in which the 
trees upon a place, which usually produced an 
abundance of pears, one season did not show a 
single flower, every bud having been destroyed by 
these little birds. Their attacking the buds has 
been attributed to thirst, but in this case a stream 
ran the whole length of the orchard. Prof. Lev¬ 
esque, of Cherbourg, in experimenting with meth¬ 
ods of preventing this trouble, found that when 
the fruit-buds of the trees were painted over with 
red lead and water, the birds would not touch them. 
That method will do for France, where pears are 
reckoned by the dozen, but with us who estimate 
by the barrel, it would be of no use. 
Cheap Manures for Market and Farm 
Gardens. 
BT J. B. ROOT, ROCKFORD, ILL. 
We frequently read that “ out West ” the farm¬ 
ers burn their straw, and move their barns to get 
away from the manure. I am so unfortunate as 
not to live in such a neighborhood, but on the con¬ 
trary, find my neighbors just as anxious to “ buy, 
beg, or steal ” manure, as I am, so that after get¬ 
ting all the stable manure I can, I am still short, 
and compelled to seek other fertilzers. While 
using in greater or less degree all of them, none 
have proved so cheap and so profitable as green 
manuring, i. e., growing crops to be turned under 
before maturity. 
In sections where clover does well, that is of 
