October 19, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
107 
not only by night but a good part of the day as 
well, for the cold, saturated atmosphere that has 
prevailed for the last week or two are sufficiently 
harmful. Syringing overhead must now only be 
practised in the mornings of bright days, the even¬ 
ing applications being discontinued. Indeed, after 
the expiration of October, the syringe my be laid 
by—at least, in so far as its regular use night and 
morning goes. The presence of more fire heat will 
necessarily mean a somewhat drier atmosphere than 
has hitherto obtained, and this must be kept moist 
and kindly by means of sprinkling the floors and the 
spaces between the pots on the plant stages. A 
damping down of this kind given as it begins to get 
dusk will last through the night, and is, moreover, 
not open to the objection that it overloads the 
atmosphere with moisture. 
Shading.— As no further necessity will arise for 
some time for the giving of shading, the blinds may 
be taken down at once. The usual plan of fastening 
them to the rollers is by tin tacks. These may be 
easily extracted now, the blinds taken down, dried 
thoroughly, neatly rolled up and put away in readi¬ 
ness for another season. Some advocate leaving 
them out all through the winter, letting them down 
on frosty nights to help keep up the internal heat of 
the house But this system is not a truly economical 
one, as blinds so treated soon rot and spoil, although 
they Certainly preclude the necessity, to a very large 
degree, for such hard firing. If protection of this 
kind is required, however, a length of tarpaulin or 
other waterproof cloth will be found to resist the 
action of the weather far better than does the 
tiffany, and it may be rolled neatly up of a morning 
with equally great facility. Permanent shading of 
all kinds that has been placed on glass in places 
where blinds could not be made to work properly, 
must be washed off without delay, if it has not been 
already seen to. 
Euphorbia pulcherrima. — Nothing can be 
brighter than the large flower heads with their 
plenitude of brilliant scarlet bracts, produced by 
these plants. As the earliest batch are commencing 
to develop theirs, weak liquid manure of some kind 
should be given them as required. For the present 
the main stock of plants may be kept in somewhat 
cooler quarters than the stove affords, bringing a 
few of them in at intervals, so as to distribute their 
flowering periods over as long as a season as 
possible. 
Alocasias.— Although during the summer months 
these fine foliage plants may have the water poured 
into them without stint, a little more care must be 
exercised now. Do not let them get dry, but watch 
them closely in order to see that they do not get 
water till they really want it. Too much moisture 
at the root during autumn and winter will k kill off 
the thick fleshy roots wholesale, and leave the plants 
in a sadly crippled condition in spring. 
Tropical Water Lilies.— Where the stove is 
roomy enough to admit of the introduction of a 
tank, aquatic subjects such as these are well worth 
growing. The water in the tank may now be suffered 
to decline a few degrees in temperature, and may 
also be lowered in depth, so as to bring on gradually 
that state of rest which Nymphaeas love during the 
winter months, and which is, indeed, so beneficial to 
their welfare. 
The Greenhouse. 
Owing to the influx of material that has been stand¬ 
ing out of doors all the summer this department will 
be fairly crowded, and room a correspondingly 
valuable consideration. Every advantage must be 
taken of fine bright days to give an abundance of air, 
which should be left on till night-time, taking it off 
then for fear of a sudden fall of the mercury. Fire 
heat will have to be employed at intervals, not only 
to keep up the requisite temperature when it 
threatens to drop too low, but also to expel damp. 
On foggy days particularly, a little fire-heat is of 
great service. Watering must now be conducted in 
the mornings only, and will need to be looked after 
with a deal of care and judgment. 
Clerodendron fallax. — Although a stove 
temperature is necessary to grow this plant, once it 
commences to flower an ordinary greenhouse 
temperature will suffice. As soon as flowering is in 
full swing the plants may therefore be taken out of 
the warm pits in which they have been grown on, 
and transferred to the greenhouse. The same 
remarks will also apply to the pretty little Scutel¬ 
laria Mocciniana, which likewise has its flowering 
period considerably extended by a shift into a cool 
house. 
Chrysanthemums. —It is high time that these 
were indoors now. Those whose buds were the 
forwardest will of course have been brought in first, 
but none, even the latest, must be left out any 
longer. As a rule the early Peach house, or orchard 
house is turned into an improvised greenhouse for 
the benefit of these ever-popular flowers. If these 
erections are of the lean-to fashion, the wires on the 
back wall will come in very handy as a means of 
supporting the taller ones, those of dwarfer stature 
being arranged according to size and the slope of the 
roof in front. By this means all are brought close 
to the glass and thus the plants are prevented from 
becoming drawn and spindly. It is perhaps 
necessary to add that no coddling must be tolerated ; 
for after the open air discipline such treatment can 
scarcely fail to be injurious in the first 'degree. 
Such abundant supplies of water as were needed 
whilst the sun was exercising his tropical strength, 
will no longer be required, although the plants must 
be looked over daily at least. Weak manure water 
may be given whenever the plants are dry, except 
to such as are in flower, in which case it must not 
be given, as it only shortens the life of the blooms. 
A little attention in the way of picking off dead 
leaves and of staking out bush plants more fully 
will be amply repaid by the enhanced appearance 
of tidiness that will prevail. 
Pits and Frames. 
At no time of the year, perhaps, does a more hetero¬ 
geneous collection of plants find a refuge within the 
limits of the frame yard than at the present. It is 
obvious, therefore, that a good deal of discretion 
will be needed in dealing with them. Watering, 
particularly, must not be entrusted to a novice,[unless 
of course he is well looked after. Air abundantly 
the cold frames on all possible occasions, blocking 
the lights up at the back if showery weather pre¬ 
vails. 
Paths.— A word of advice may be of service here. 
The paths running round the frames have to bear 
a good deal of traffic, and as the season is fast 
approaching when mud will be pretty plentiful 
some steps must be taken to give a clean foothold. 
In the absence of gravel, ashes form the best and 
cleanest material for making up paths of this kind. 
Covering.— All unheated structures will soon 
have to be covered up regularly each night in order 
to exclude frost. Russian mats should therefore be 
overhauled at once, and the stock replenished by 
new ones, where wear and tear has rendered this 
necessary. It is advisable to order these some 
weeks before they are likely to be wanted, as the 
ragged ends will need to be trimmed and tied, and 
this will form a “job in the dry ’’ during wet days, 
when work outside is impossible. A heap of 
bracken should also be stored in a vacant shed in 
readiness, as this forms valuable covering material, 
being light and dry, and moreover inexpensive, as it 
can be had in most places for the trouble of cutting 
and carting. 
Border Carnations. —It is now high time that 
the layers of these were lifted from the open ground. 
If they have made good roots so much the better, 
but even if they have only formed a callus they may 
be lifted without fear. Almost any soil will do, pro¬ 
vided there be mixed with it a quantity of finely- 
crushed bricks or crocks. After potting, the plants 
should be plunged to the rims of the pots in ashes in 
a cold frame, where they will remain in safety 
through the ensuing winter. 
Alpines.— Where it is the custom to put some of 
these beautiful plants in shallow pots and pans for 
use in the conservatory in spring, care must be 
exercised now in order to see that they do not get 
water-logged, as this state of things is extremely pre¬ 
judicial to them. The frames in which they are 
placed must, however, be aired well and free, pulling 
the lights entirely off on fine days. 
Freesias. —The earliest batch of these must be 
kept on a shelf near the glass in a pit where the 
temperature ranges about 55 0 Fahr. by night and 
about 6o° by day. The growth is always stronger 
when the use of too much fire-heat is avoided as far 
as possible in the earlier stages of their growth. 
Attend to staking and tying as growth calls for it, 
using either thin stakes painted green or light twigs 
cut from a birch broom. 
General Work. —Late batches of Hyacinths, 
Crocuses, Narcissi, and Liliums may be potted off as 
soon as they come to hand. Others which were 
potted up about six weeks ago, must be taken out of 
the ash-bed at once and placed in a cold frame The 
first batch of Roman Hyacinths may be introduced 
into heat for furnishing very early blooms. Pots of 
tender bedding stuff that were plunged in a hot¬ 
bed at the beginning of September may now be 
removed to a shelf in the greenhouse as the 
cuttings should now have rooted. Lobelias must be 
kept well on the dry side or they will be extremely 
liable to damp off. Alternantheras, it will be found, 
pass through the winter better if given a little more 
heat, say a minimum night temperature of 55' Fahr. 
rising to 6o° by day.— A. S. G. 
-- 
©leanings j trout fhq IDorlti 
of Science 
Poisonous Peas.—At the annual meeting of the 
South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire Insti¬ 
tute of Mining Engineers, on Monday last, Mr. F. G. 
Meachem read a paper on " Lathyrus Poisoning 
amongst the Horses at Hamstead Colliery.’’ He 
said that some time ago, owing to the high price of 
horse feed, they decided to use Peas in place of Oats 
or Beans, and this they continued for twelve months 
without any ill effects. Early in November last, 
however, it was noticed that some of the horses 
seemed to be getting out of health, and the attention 
of the veterinary surgeon was directed to them, but 
he could offer no explanation. The horses became 
rapidly worse, and towards the middle of the month 
one died, six others were badly affected, and three 
died four days afterwards. A sample of the food 
was sent to Professor W. Williams, of the New 
Veterinary College, Edinburgh, and he wrote that he 
detected the poisonous Pea, or Vetch, Lathyrus 
sativus, amongst the food. In all twelve horses died, 
and others that had eaten the poisonous Vetch, and 
which showed symptons of poisoning, partially 
recovered, but were permanently injured. The Pea 
came from various places, and was of a variety of 
colours. The Great Western Railway Company had 
lost twenty-four horses from the same cause, and 
there were many losses by other companies .—Midland 
Counties Hevald. 
A Fire-resisting Tree.—The persistent burning 
of the savannahs and hills of Colombia for crops of 
renewed pasturage plays desperate havoc with all 
other vegetation, trees, and brushwood. Isolated 
Palm trees, with their intensely hard trunks and 
endogenous structure, together with groups of brush¬ 
wood in sheltered or humid spots, sometimes with¬ 
stand the fury of the flames. Mr. R. Thomson, in a 
consular report, says that there is, however, one 
phenomenal exception to this subversive power of 
the fires. A humble tree with contorted and rugged 
trunks and branches and scabrous leaves, a tree pre¬ 
senting the most subdued and weird aspect con¬ 
ceivable ; this pigmy tree not only resists the fury of 
the flames, but fire is actually congenial and sub¬ 
servient to its existence, for the tree, instigated by 
the conflagrations, forms itself into great plantations. 
The name of this tree is Chaparro (Roupala obovata), 
indigenous to Colombia and other South American 
countries. It attains a height of 15 ft. to 20 ft., 
and its distorted trunks measure from 9 in. to 12 in. 
in diameter. It is widely distributed in Colombia, 
for I have found it at the Sierra Nevada of Santa 
Marta, and dispersed inland 1,000 miles from the 
sea. In contact with great forest fires it maintains a 
precarious existence. But, as already explained, it 
usurps dominion in places where no other tree can 
grow. In Tolima it abounds on the slopes and 
ridges of the hills at elevations from 1,000 ft. to 
3,500 ft. In this department alone hundreds of 
square miles of the lower hills which have been 
reduced to sterility by incessant burnings are 
occupied by this diminutive tree, and it assumes the 
aspect of vast systematically-formed and well-kept 
plantations. This is more than a triumph of the 
“ survival of the fittest." It is very remarkable that 
these fire-begotten plantations are nowhere crowded 
to excess ; on the contrary, the trees are so regularly 
placed that their aspect vies with that of the most 
carefully formed plantations. There is a popular 
belief in Tolima, where alluvial gold abounds, that 
this tree flourishes only on those seductive lands, 
serving as a guide to searchers after the precious 
metal. 
