332 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
fowls, or crosses of both. He thinks the 
Poultry Shows have been an injury rather 
than a gain to the English people, for the 
decisions are more for fancy than for real 
value, and this, unfortunately, is to some ex¬ 
tent true of the poultry judging in America. 
Cape Bulbs.—The Freesias. 
Among recently introduced plants, none 
appear more likely to become popular than 
the Freesias. While the best results will no 
ed in February, and they will be produced in 
rapid succession. The engraving shows the 
habit of the plant, its abundant foliage, and 
tubular flowers, which are produced on one¬ 
sided spikes. The species and varieties we 
have tried are: Freesia Leichtlinii, F. re- 
fracta alba, and F. major. The first and last 
named are of a very delicate creamy-yellow 
color, while F. refracta alba is pure white, 
with a shade of yellow and sometimes with 
streaks of lilac. The flowers last a remark¬ 
ably long time, and will be popular with 
sene is in a fine emulsion with milk, made 
by a process of churning, and afterwards di¬ 
luted to any desired strength. The emulsion 
can be applied through a fine rose of a water¬ 
ing-pot, or on a large scale by a force pump 
with a spray nozzle. The kerosene, thus 
showered upon the plants, is very pene¬ 
trating, and will destroy the insects in all 
stages of developments, even to the eggs. 
Two parts of kerosene to one of sour milk is 
a proper proportion. If fresh milk is not at 
hand, condensed milk, diluted to the same 
strength, may be employed. This mixture 
is successfully used for the scale insect in 
the orange groves of Florida, and can be, it is 
thought,employed to destroy Chincli-bugs. A 
mixture of water and three per cent of kero¬ 
sene is deadly to the bugs, and does no harm 
to the growing com. By spraying a few 
outside rows, nearest a ripening field of 
wheat, the whole area of corn can be pro¬ 
tected from the second brood of the destruc¬ 
tive Chinch-bug. The apparatus for the 
cheapest and best application of the emulsion 
is yet to be devised. Doubtless a sprinkler 
drawn by two horses could be made, that, by 
passing between the rows of corn, would 
spray them quickly and effectively. 
All farmers seriously troubled with insects 
should give kerosene a trial. By using a 
cheap grade of petroleum, the expense is 
small, and, with the necessary apparatus for 
applying the emulsion, a safe and successful 
war may be waged against the insect ene¬ 
mies. Much depends upon promptness and 
energy : therefore, the farmer should be pre¬ 
pared to act at the earliest warning. A bar¬ 
rel of kerosene, and a garden force-pump, 
with necessary attachments, ready for use, 
may come to be as essential a part of a well- 
equipped farm, or fruit and vegetable gar¬ 
den, as fire extinguishers in a city. Try the 
mixture on a small area, to determine the 
proper strength. It may be that one propor¬ 
tion is best for the Potato-beetle, and another 
for the Cabbage-worms, etc.; but the emul¬ 
sion must never be so strong as to injure the 
plants upon which it is sprayed. 
Experiments with Potatoes. 
Among other observations on the growth 
of the potato made by Dr. Sturtevant, Direc¬ 
tor of the New York Agricultural Station, 
we note the following : The method of cut¬ 
ting the tuber is one of the important factors 
determining the yield. Whole potatoes 
proved better than pieces with single eyes, 
improperly cut, but not equal to those so cut 
that each eye carried with it the whole of its 
“ vegetative zone,” which runs from the eye 
obliquely toward the center of the tuber. 
When shoots were broken from the potato 
and planted, they failed to continue their 
growth, but buds formed in the axils of the 
young leaves, from which both serial and 
underground stems grew. Only three or 
four eyes developed stems in an ordinary po¬ 
tato planted whole, but similar ones, when 
injured by scalding water, produced thirty 
or more. With longer scalding, small pota¬ 
toes, up to twenty-five, grew at the eyes in 
place of, or intermixed with, the numerous 
shoots. When the scalding was more pro¬ 
longed, stems developed beneath the skin of 
the potatoes, and upon cutting open the 
tubers, they offered the striking phenomenon 
of new potatoes growing within the sub¬ 
stance of the old ones. 
the white freesia (Freesia refracta alba). 
doubt be obtained in greenhouse culture, they 
are so easily managed that they must be¬ 
come favorite plants in window gardening. 
The bulbs, which are rather small, may be 
planted, half a dozen together, in a six-inch 
pot. If for winter blooming, tliis should be 
done in July. They require a rich soil, made 
loose by adding sand, so that it will not be¬ 
come packed and hard by watering. The 
bulbs should be put at least two inches be¬ 
low the surface, and the pots kept in a cool 
and shaded place, and not allowed to dry 
out. After a few weeks the leaves appear, 
when more water will be needed, and 
before cool weather has checked the growth, 
the pots should be taken in and placed in a 
sunny window. The flowers may be expect¬ 
l florists in bouquet work, for which their de- 
| lightful fragrance will make them especially 
acceptable. The engraving shows F. refrac¬ 
ta alba, of about half the real size. 
Kerosene as an Insecticide. 
Paris Green, London Purple, and other ar¬ 
senical compounds are deadly poisons, and 
even when used on plants with the greatest 
care, are dangerous to both man and beast. 
Pyretlirum is effective and safe, but costly. 
The many experiments with kerosene as an 
insect destroyer, during the past two years, 
convinces leading entomologists that this 
well known and cheap fluid meets a long-felt 
want. The best method of applying kero¬ 
