SOD 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 6, 1887. 
peat and small pieces of charcoal, and in potting leave a portion of 
the bulb exposed, and then, when it begins to make growth and 
push out rootlets at the base of the stem, I fill up the pot with 
lumps of peat. The pots are kept in a cold house, and then, when 
they have made growth, are brought up into the greenhouse. Here 
for a couple of months they continue to produce their delightful 
and fragrant blooms, and common though they be, they are deserving 
of a good deal more care and attention than they generally receive. 
— D., Deal. 
KEEPING PLANTS CLEAN. 
Keeping plants clean and free from insects is one of the 
greatest troubles of the modern gardener. Under the best con¬ 
ditions it is a task involving continual watchfulness and unceasing 
attention. Ordinarily there is not much time for watchfulness, and 
attention is chiefly devoted to keeping plants from being fairly 
overwhelmed. The extravagant employment of plants and flowers 
has added so materially to the already large number grown, that 
gardeners have found it impossible to cope with their work. The 
result is, that the work least noticeable to the ordinary observer 
goes undone, and the mischief wrought by insects up to a certain 
stage being completely out of sight, neglect is often allowed here. 
But no species of neglect shows plainer in the end than this, or 
more completely renders profitless the whole previous labour spent 
on the subject attacked. An insecticide that is at once cheap and 
quickly efficient is a desideratum that many hard-worked gardeners 
want. Efficient insecticides are not uncommon, but there is none 
so inexpensive as to allow them to be employed lavishly enough to 
do their work quickly. The great want is a preparation that will 
allow a large collection of plants to be passed rapidly through hand, 
either by dipping or syringing, and at so little expense, that the 
process may be repeated at intervals short enough to render the 
operations effective. Pure water is the cheapest of all, but in bad 
cases it is of no use. I remember having charge of a collection of 
stove plants infested with mealy bugs and other insects. The aid 
of cold water was called in, and a spreading Stephanotis attacked 
energetically. Every afternoon the nozzle of a Warner’s garden 
engine was brought to bear on the invaders, and every afternoon 
the enemy appeared to have been completely routed, but by the after¬ 
noon succeeding the old position had been regained, and in the end 
the pump had to be withdrawn discredited. In cases of red spider 
attacks the efficacy of a stream of cold water is, however, well 
known, though not always acted on. 
Next in simplicity to cold water is hot water, applied either with 
or without the addition of softsoap. Water almost boiling, when 
applied by means of a syringe, is a safe insecticide to use on plants 
with foliage not easily injured. Camellias, Peaches, and Stepha¬ 
notis, are examples of such plants. I have employed it without 
inflicting any injury on large Crotons and Ixoras which were very 
dirty, and it is well known that these plants can be kept in a 
perfectly clean condition by such simple means, repeated, of course, 
when necessary. Many plants, however, are extremely susceptible 
to injury from hot water—Gardenias, Ferns, Dracaenas, and Grape 
Vines, are common examples. About 120° is considered a perfectly 
safe temperature for syringing, but in some instances even that will 
be found too hot, the condition of the plant operated on at the 
time of application having, without doubt, a very distinct effect as 
to the heat being either hurtful or harmless. A careful and pains¬ 
taking man will kill insects quite as effectively with a solution of 
softsoap in water inclining to hot as a less careful operator will 
with a good insecticide. 
The employment of petroleum as a killing agent marked a 
great advance in this branch of practical gardening. It had, of 
course, been in use for a number of years. Here and there a bold 
cultivator had tried petroleum, and sometimes killed the insects 
together with their hosts. But it is to America that we are in¬ 
debted for the first public intimation of the only safe and effective 
method of employing petroleum. This was by mixing milk, potash, 
or soap with the petroleum, so that, while the nature of the mixture 
was unchanged so far as insect life was concerned, no harm resulted 
to the plant. A simple way of so preparing petroleum consists in 
dissolving half a pound of softsoap in a small quantity of boiling 
water, when dissolved the soap appearing as a thin piste. An 
ounce and a half or 2 ozs. of oil are then added and mixed, then 
hot water to the quantity of three or four gallons. The mixture 
is ready for use, and capable of destroying all or any insects infest¬ 
ing plants. The better method of preparing the petroleum is, 
however, more complicated, though not too much so for everyday 
use. In this method the softsoap is heated until dissolved to a 
semi-liquid condition. Petroleum and boiling water are then added 
and mixed, and more of each continued to be added until the 
softsoap is all utilised. The material, while being prepared, is 
kept quite hot, as this facilitates the operation. The addition, in 
the course of preparation, of a little spirits of turpentine com¬ 
pletely hides the scent of the petroleum, the manufactured article, 
when ready for use, having the appearance of cold cream. So 
entirely harmless to vegetation is petroleum when prepared in this 
way, that the mixture may be employed without dilution and 
employed as an ointment. I have so used it to kill what before 
had proved an indestructible scale infesting Cattleya pseudo-bulbs, 
and that without in any w r ay hurting the plants. When wanted 
for washing, the preparation is dissolved in warm or hot water, and 
is then ready for use. Mixed with clay it forms a capital winter 
dressing for Vines, and is used at the consistency of paint and 
applied with a brush. 
The quickest method of treating a collection of plants is to 
make a good size tubful of the solution. A 5-inch potful to twelve 
to sixteen gallons of water indicates roughly the quantities required. 
H the water is at 90° when ready, the hardier foliaged plants should 
be dipped first, giving each one a turn in the solution, and passing 
them without delay through a bath of clean water at a slighly 
lower temperature. When the temperature has declined to 80 
Orchids and more tender plants can be dipped, always giving a 
second bath in clean water. We have here safety, cheapness, 
rapidity, and efficiency. The only insect which such a solution 
fails to kill is mealy bug, but the external covering of this insect 
renders any insecticide powerless. The syringe is the simplest 
means of applying it. The force of the particles of water at once 
destroys this envelope, and effects the destruction of the insect. 
A collection of stove plants may be kept fairly clean in foliage and 
free from insects by such occasional dippings, the larger plants 
being syringed with the mixture. The only difficulty will be with 
mealy bug, and that for the reason explained. At the same time, 
sponging the plants is not a thing to be set aside as entirely super¬ 
fluous. If there is time for sponging, do so, and especially during 
the season of quietness that is approaching. In sponging, all that 
is needed for plants in fairly clean condition is to dip the sponge in 
the mixture, squeeze as much liquid out again as possible, then 
draw once or twice over each leaf, and when another dip is neces¬ 
sary first wash the sponge in clean water, then proceed as above. 
If plants are thoroughly well cleaned during winter it is wonderful 
how clean they remain through the summer months. 
It may be well to caution inexperienced cultivators—young 
men fond of experiments, especially — that with all insecticides 
there is a certain amount of danger in the using. I have not given 
any stated quantity of insecticide to be employed, for the simple 
reason that it is impossible to do so. I have found the quality of 
the soap differ, while the less refined the petroleum the greater its. 
killing power. But apart from that, the quality of the water itself 
has a disturbing effect on this or any other solution. If the water 
is hard a certain quantity of the soap will be used in softening 
it, and some of the mineral oil will be set free, and the mixture in 
consequence be rendered more or less dangerous. On this account 
all water of a hard nature should be well boiled before using A 
pinch of common washing soda added in the process will help to 
render the water soft and do no harm to plants. Rain water is, of 
course, much the best, but even deep well water may be used if 
prepared as recommended. The solution mixes in cold water, but 
is best mixed and used hot, being much more powerful in a hot 
state. Thrips, aphides, and red spider are readily destroyed at a 
low temperature by dipping. Mealy bug should be treated with 
hot water as high at least as 100° to 120°, and the solution forcibly 
applied with a syringe. Passing plants through clean water imme¬ 
diately after dipping is, though not absolutely necessary, a very safe 
proceeding, and should always be followed. All kinds of plants 
I have tried are perfectly safe under this treatment.—B. 
A LONG DROUGHT AND ITS EFFECTS. 
As far as my experience goes we have never experienced a more 
trying season than that of 1887. First we had a long spell of wintry 
weather which lasted till the end of March, and following this »e had 
a most uncongenial spring. The rainfall from February was exceptionally 
light or very much below the average, so that when the long spell of dry 
weather set in the ground was already in a comparatively dry state, and 
the springs far from standing at their normal height. Drought and hot, 
weather was felt everywhere, very few districts being favoured with any 
rainfall throughout the “ hot season,” so that I need not comment 
further on this, but will at once proceed to discuss its effects in this arid 
other districts that I have visited. From what I can learn very few 
wish for a repetition of the summer of 1887, but by far the majority 
would prefer it to a wet and sunless year such as we too often experience 
in this variable climate. The question which naturally arises, or ought 
to do so, is “ What would have been the result of an average English 
summer had such been experienced this year ?" In May and June we 
were all anticipating a late season, and a very late maturation of crops- 
generally would undoubtedly have resulted had we not been favoured 
with such a glorious summer. 
