THE RURAI) NEW-YORKER 
1353 
RURALISMS 
House Plants and Insects. 
By the time house plants are finally 
arranged in the places they are to occupy 
during the Winter, the plant lover is very 
likely to discover that some annoying 
forms of insect life have been brought in 
with them. There are many destructive 
insect pests that thrive under greenhouse 
conditions, and some are likely to be ex¬ 
tremely troublesome on window plants, 
because preventive measures are not 
taken as promptly as in the greenhouse. 
It is a wise precaution to dip house 
plants in tobacco tea or whale-oil soap 
solution before they are brought in. as a 
sort of quarantine precaution. 
Scale Insects. —These are trouble¬ 
some on ferns, palms and a variety of 
decorative plants. A badly-infested Bos¬ 
ton fern is almost hopeless to clean, and 
shows its weakened condition by yellowed 
fronds and general lack of thrift. Where 
there are only a few of these insects, 
hidden under their shell covering, they 
can be rubbed off with a bit of sponge 
attached to a small stick, and dipped in 
soapsuds, but as a rule a dip in whale- 
oil soap emulsion is advised. Dissolve 
the soap in hot water, and dilute so as to 
have one pound of soap to six or seven 
gallons of water. There are several ex¬ 
cellent commercial preparations for the 
extermination of scale sold by seedsmen. 
Aphides. —Both green and black aphis 
(green fly and black fly of the florists) 
are a nuisance on plants under glass. 
Florists fumigate by burning tobacco 
stems, or evaporate tobacco extracts, to 
control these insects. A useful decoction 
of tobacco is made by boiling stems or 
dust for about one hour, straining and 
diluting, so as to use one pound of to¬ 
bacco to two gallons of liquid. Spray or 
dip the plants. 
Bed Spider. —This minute insect con¬ 
gregates on the under side of the leaves, 
and is often unnoticed until yellow foliage 
and stunted growth calls attention to the 
trouble. It increases rapidly in a hot 
dry atmosphere, hence is often trouble¬ 
some on house plants in stove-heated 
rooms. Persistent syringing with cold 
water, directed with some force against 
the under side of the leaves, will usually 
dislodge them; tobacco water is also used. 
Mealy Bug. —This insect hides under 
a mantle of fluff, so that it looks like lit¬ 
tle specks of white cotton dotted on 
leaves and stems. It is very destructive 
to soft-wooded plants, such as geraniums 
and Coleus; the latter is so often a host 
plant that we do not advise it for window 
culture, as the insects spread from it to 
other plants. Whale-oil soap solution is 
the best remedy; the insects should be re¬ 
moved from tender plants with a small 
brush. There are some commercial prep¬ 
arations for greenhouse use that are very 
satisfactory. 
Pruning Climbing Roses. 
I have Baltimore Belle and Dorothy 
Perkins roses. They have run to the 
roof of our. porch, and thrown up four or 
five leaders and branches or laterals ga¬ 
lore. Should they be trimmed this Fall 
or next Spring? I low much should re¬ 
main for next season’s bloom? Last 
Winter I removed roses from trellis and 
laid them down and covered with leaves 
and bits of boards on top to hold the 
leaves. This Spring I raised them up to 
their trellis again, but for all of my care 
I never had the first bloom, while my 
neighbors who left theirs unprotected 
had plants covered with beautiful roses. 
I thought this year I would leave them 
up and protect their roots well with rot¬ 
ten manure. f. ii. p. 
Eaton Itapids, Mich. 
Do not do any pruning this Fall. Bal¬ 
timore Belle requires very little pruning 
at any time; in the Spring you may cut 
out dead shoots, and some weak interfer¬ 
ing growth, if that seems wise, but very 
little trimming will be needed. Baltimore 
Belle is generally considered a little more 
tender than the other Prairie roses 
(though enduring ordinary Winter tem¬ 
peratures) owing to an admixture of del¬ 
icate blood (Noisette), and if the coming 
Winter is extra severe you are likely to 
give all the pruning required in cutting 
out winter-killed shoots. The same rules 
apply to Dorothy Perkins—prune spar¬ 
ingly in the early dormant period of the 
Spring. Your plan of root protection is 
wise; it may be that soil or situation are 
responsible for your lack of bloom. 
Lilies from Seed. 
I am interested in trying to raise some 
meadow lilies (Canadense) from seed. 
Can you tell me how this is done? 
Windsor, Conn. E. P. 
Lily seeds should be sown as soon as 
ripe in well-drained pans of sandy peat. 
Slightly cover the seed with the same 
soil, and then with a layer of sphagnum 
moss; place in a cool frame. Some lilies 
do not germinate until the second year; 
we have had no experience with L. Can¬ 
adense from seed. Usually bulbels or 
offsets are used for the propagation of 
these lilies, except where an effort is 
being made to procure new varieties. 
Meritorious Nut Trees. 
The Department of Agriculture desires 
to secure information concerning indi¬ 
vidual nut trees, either native or intro¬ 
duced, which bear nuts of such superior 
excellence as to justify special consider¬ 
ation. The nuts which are of special in¬ 
terest at this time are the pecans and 
other American hickories, Black walnuts, 
butternut, chestnut, and hazels, as well 
as foreign walnuts, chestnuts and hazels 
(filberts). It is also important to locate 
beechnut, chinquapin, and Japanese wal¬ 
nut trees of especial merit. To be 
worthy of the attention of the Depart¬ 
ment, trees must be hardy in the section 
where found, vigorous, prolific, and bear 
annually ; nuts of medium size or above; 
uniorm in size and shape; thin-shelled, 
easily cracked; kernels plump, rich in 
quality, pleasant and agreeable in flavor, 
and easily removed from the broken shells 
in unbroken halves. 
If you are the owner of such tree or 
trees and are willing to co-operate in 
this inventory of nut trees, the under¬ 
signed will be glad to send franked pack¬ 
ing boxes in which to forward samples of 
the mature nuts from trees considered 
worthy of record. If you know of trees 
not your own, will you give the name 
and address of the owner or party from 
whom a description of the tree and sam¬ 
ples of its nuts may be obtained? We 
shall greatly appreciate any information 
you may be able to give regarding thp 
size, character, age and bearing habits of 
the tree, and especially your opinion of 
what its points of superiority are. 
c. a. reed. Nut Culturist. 
U. S. Dept, of Agriculture. 
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MFC. 
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Dept 
DOMESTIC 
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