February 16, 1895. THE GARDENING WORLD. 391 
3 in. long, inserting them singly in thumb pots, 
and covering them with a bell glass or placing them 
in a propagating frame having a temperature similar 
to that advocated for the seed pans. 
Chrysanthemums. —Rooted cuttings of these 
should be potted off singly as soon as circumstances 
permit, for if left too long the roots become matted 
together, and great difficulty and not a little danger 
is incurred in separating them. After potting keep 
them rather closer than before until they have 
recovered from the check consequent on shifting, 
subsequently keeping them cool and airing liberally 
to insure dwarfness and sturdiness of habit. 
--f.- 
HE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
Forcing. 
Seldom have we had the winter hold out as it has 
done this season ; fortunately the weather up till 
Christmas was favourable for pushing on with 
ground work, so that much of this was got well in 
hand before the frost set in, and a good supply of all 
kinds of roots for forcing was stored away for use. 
Knowing the difficulty we have experienced in this 
respect in previous years, due care was taken to get 
a good stock of Seakale, Rhubarb, Asparagus, etc., 
put in a cool cellar to be drawn from as required. 
Where room can be found for storing such roots in 
moist soil there is no danger of them suffering 
through getting too dry, and if the winter should be 
favourable these will be found very useful for a late 
supply when kept till spring, particularly the 
Seakale. 
With the thermometer at zero it is not easy to lift 
such roots unless the ground were covered with 
litter so as to exclude the frost. Hot beds in such 
weather as that experienced during the past week do 
not bring things on very fast as the cold penetrates 
so far, and those who are depending on them for 
supplies have much difficulty in keeping up the 
necessary heat. Carrots, Radishes, and such like 
growing in frames on hot beds must have all the 
light possible, for the moist heat generated by the 
fermenting material would otherwise soon cause 
them to become drawn. Potatos whose foliage is 
near the glass must be well protected at night, for if 
the leaves are caught by the frost they will receive a 
serious check which will injure the crop. Asparagus 
will also require constant care as the young growth 
is very tender. All the light and air possible should 
be admitted, at the same time sufficient heat must be 
maintained to cause a free growth, otherwise it will 
be tough and of little use. 
As soon as there is a change in the weather get in 
other batches for succession, or start some of the 
permanent beds in the open ground by putting tem¬ 
porary frames over them and covering the outsides 
with fermenting material to assist in generating a 
little warmth. Asparagus does not require a strong 
heat to induce it to start into growth, therefore if a 
frame be put over some of the beds the heat from the 
sun would soon warm the soil, and if the glass was 
covered at night to husband the heat generated in 
the daytime growth would thus be hastened. 
French Beans. 
Those growing in heated pits must have every care 
as red spider will soon make its appearance unless 
kept in check. It has been necessary to heat the 
hot-water pipes to a greater extent lately, and as 
such is always the means of producing these trouble¬ 
some pests, due precaution must be taken to keep 
them under. The plants, unless in bloom, should 
be well syringed and the soil in the pots never be 
allowed to get dry. Keep the plants growing by 
supplying them occasionally with liquid manure, and 
should spider make its appearance dip those affected 
in soft soap water. Make another sowing to succeed 
those already advanced in order that there may be 
no blanks. 
Stakes and Labels. 
Owing to the long-continued abnormal weather 
much of the outside work has been brought to a 
standstill; but where Pea stakes have yet to be 
sharpened this work should be proceeded with. 
They should be tied in bundles of different sizes 
ready for use. Bean stakes should also be prepared, 
for by getting all such work done while the cold 
weather lasts less time will be taken up with it when 
that of a more pressing nature presents itself. 
Everything should be done in due season if a place 
is to be conducted in an orderly manner. Have a 
good stock of labels of different sizes ready ; those 
to be used in the open ground ought to be at least 
18 in. long so that they may not be lost sight of 
when the crops become fully grown. If the bottom 
part have either two or three coats of paint, or be 
dipped in boiling tar, this will preserve them so that 
they may be taken up with the crop, or stored away 
for future use. It often happens that labels are lost 
by being trod upon and the crop left without a 
name; this, however, should be avoided if proper 
care be taken .—Kitchen Gardener. 
The severity of the weather during the past week 
has put to the test the boilers in use, the fuel, and 
the watchfulness of the stoker. Never in my time 
have I experienced such cold weather as we had on 
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights, and it was 
with great difficulty that we managed to keep the 
temperatures anywhere near the mark. On Tuesday 
night we registered 38'’ of frost, and at a place not a 
few miles from here 40°was recorded. Those that took 
the hint given in a previous calendar to cover the 
sides and roof where practicable with mats or blinds, 
must have found with what ease the tempera¬ 
tures can be kept right in comparison with houses 
fully exposed to the weather, especially so will this 
have been the case where the piping is inadequate. 
Unfortunately there are still plenty of structures 
insufficiently heated, necessitating hard driving of 
the fires all the night through—a state that can be 
anything but beneficial to plant life, for do what you 
will to counteract it, the atmosphere is bound to be 
arid, and consequently harmful to plant life. 
Fuel. —There is no getting away from the fact 
that Anthracite coal is the best fuel, not only is it 
clean to use, but is far and away the best for keeping 
up the temperature besides being cheapest in the 
end. It requires a good draught, and the less it is 
stirred about with the poker the better. We use 
Anthracite cobbles which are of a suitable size and 
require no breaking ; the first cost is a little more but 
you save it in labour alone, and there is no dust to it. 
Potting.—U ntil the weather becomes milder this 
work must be suspended, for it is asking the plants 
too much to disturb them just now when everything 
is against root action. 
Masdevallias. —When possible this interesting 
family will be the first to be either top dressed or 
re-potted as the case may direct. They do not 
appreciate being turned out of their pots too often, 
for such a proceeding is sure to damage the points 
of a lot of roots, and as I have in a previous article 
pointed out, they do not like most Orchids throw 
out rootlets should the points get damaged. When 
potting elevate the plants as much as possible above 
the rim of the pots : they will probably require 
staking to keep them firm in position, which is very 
important, for if they are allowed to sway about the 
roots gets damaged, but only where absolutely 
necessary should stakes be used, for at best they are 
an eyesore. 
Compost. —This should consist of the best pos¬ 
sible to obtain—Good fibrous peat and live points of 
sphagnum moss should be used ; for unless the moss 
grows the plants rarely do well. Bits of crocks or 
charcoal may be mixed with it as the work goes 
on. 
Temperatures. —East Indian house, 6o°; Cattleya 
house, 50^ ; cool house, 45^. These are night 
temperatures whilst the severe weather lasts ; should 
the welcome change come, of course, they may be 
allowed to rise a few degrees higher.— C. 
-- 
©leanings from flic JDnrlti 
of Selena'. 
A New Constituent of the Atmosphere.— 
It may be within the memory of some of our 
readers in reading the account of the doings of the 
British Association in August last, at Oxford, that 
Lord Rayleigh informally announced his discovery of 
a new element in the atmosphere. At intervals since 
then it has been pooh-poohed by various scientific 
writers, who endeavoured to laugh it out of exis¬ 
tence, or to suggest that the discoverer had made a 
mistake by finding some obnoxious and gaseous 
impurity in the atmosphere formed by a hitherto un¬ 
noticed combination of other well-known gases. 
However, the discoverer, Lord Rayleigh, and Pro¬ 
fessor Ramsay have now introduced the new element 
to the scientific world, under the name of "Argon.” 
1 his took the form of an elaborate communication 
to the Royal Society, which, contrary to the usual 
custom, held a meeting in the theatre of the London 
University, which was crowded to excess. 
How it was discovered — Professor Ramsay 
read the paper, in which he stated that Lord 
Rayleigh had been engaged for many years in re¬ 
determining the densities of the various elementary 
gases. During his experiments he observed that the 
atomic weight of nitrogen obtained from chemical 
sources was 13-995, whereas that taken from the 
atmosphere was 14 073. From this he argued that 
the former might be due to its being mixed with the 
lighter gas,hydrogen.but after mixing some on purpose, 
he found that the weight of nitrogen could not be altered 
in this way. Another theory for the discrepancy was 
that lightness of the chemically obtained nitrogen 
was due to the disassociation of its molecules into 
single atoms, but the discharge of electricity through 
that obtained from both sources failed to produce 
any alteration. Lord Rayleigh and Professor 
Ramsay, in considering other interpretations, 
thought that the simplest explanation was to admit 
a hitherto unsuspected constituent in the atmosphere, 
in short, that after the separation of oxygen, and 
such impurities as moisture and carbon dioxide, 
there yet remained something besides nitrogen. 
Against this was the improbability that a gas sur¬ 
rounding us on all sides should so long have escaped 
detection or suspicion. Professor Ramsay was, 
however, aware of the investigations of Cavendish 
in the early days of chemistry, when that experi¬ 
menter was dissatisfied with the idea that atmos¬ 
pheric nitrogen was a pure gas since he failed to 
convert the whole of it into nitrous acid by means 
of the electric spark. Then, during further investi¬ 
gations, Lord Rayleigh and Professor Ramsay found 
that magnesium turnings at a bright red heat were 
the best to absorb the nitrogen. After obtaining a 
large volume of the gas by this means, the ex¬ 
perimenters passed it through various other pro¬ 
cesses, subjecting it to great heat, till at last they 
reduced it greatly in bulk, and found that the 
density of the residue was 20 0. This they consider 
is Argon, and they rely upon spectrum analysis for 
the proofs as to its genuine character. 
What is Argon capable of doing ?—The most 
notable peculiarity of Argon so far is that it cannot 
be made to combine with anything. It cannot be 
combined with oxygen in the presence of an alkali 
even when an electric discharge is made to pass 
through it. An equal apathy is maintained by it 
when tried with hydrogen, chlorine, phosphorus, 
sulphur, tellurium, sodium, potassium, and many 
others. It is, therefore, more inert and idle than 
nitrogen itself, which a certain class of students de¬ 
clared should be hanged fordoing nothing. Although 
the experimenters disclaim the idea of having ex¬ 
hausted the tests to which the Argon may be sub¬ 
jected, yet they fully believe that it is really a 
hitherto undiscovered constituent of the atmosphere, 
and that it is a new element to the scientific world. 
Why it wascalled Argon. —The discoverers make 
up the name from the Greek an privative and ergon 
signifying energy, so that by joining the two we get 
the word “Argon” which would mean without energy, 
and in reference to its extraordinary inert nature. 
The word actually occurs in the Greek Testament 
and is translated as "idle.” The Professor on 
another occasion gave it as his opinion that if Argon 
could be made to combine, it would prove the most 
powerful explosive known. The element is considered 
to be monatomic, so that, astheformulafortheatmos- 
phere used to be N2 O2, it will now be N2 O2 Ai. 
Though this is a great acquisition to the latest of 
human knowledge, we must for the present look upon 
Argon as quite useless beyond the fact that, in 
company with nitrogen it serves to dilute the oxygen 
we breathe, and that relation it holds to the vegetable 
as well as to the animal world. 
Our Health in Winter —Dr Andrew Wilson, writing in 
Lloyd's Newspaper on diet, says: " The teaching'of Nature should 
never be neglected, and in the matter of winter food let us see 
we are not wrong, and take sufficient fat, for the changes that 
result in the wear and tear of our bodies are lessened in intensity 
by the fat of food, and the need for flesh is always less when fat 
forms a due proportion of our diet.” The Doctor proceeds to 
enumerate natural products that are admirable, among them 
“ Cocoa ” with its contained Cocoa Butter. Relatively to this 
it may be said that Epps's Prepared Cocoa retains all the con¬ 
stituents of the natural Cocoa, including the oil or butter, intact, 
