April 2?, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
551 
supplies of water during the summer months, and 
as soon as their flower scapes make their appearance 
manure water may be given with advantage. 
Acalypha musaica. —This is an exceedingly 
bright and useful foliage plant, and is also very easy 
of culture. In order to obtain as much colour in 
the leaves as possible the plants should be well 
exposed to the light, for if shaded too heavily it 
loses a great portion of its brilliant colouring. 
Aphis is particularly fond of this Acalypha, more 
especially to its young leaves, which it invariably 
cripples unless steps are taken to stay its depreda¬ 
tions. 
Greenhouse and Cool Conservatory. 
Free and abundant ventilation must be the order of 
the day in this department, and nothing like a con¬ 
fined or a close atmosphere should be tolerated. 
Shading, too, will now need the closest attention, 
although the blinds must be pulled up as soon as 
the sun becomes obscured by clouds. Many of the 
plants that have been making a fine display through¬ 
out the early months of the year will now be getting 
scarce, and will need removal to other quarters. 
Primulas which have got shabby, and from which 
no seed is desired, may be thrown away at once and 
the pots they fill thus set at liberty. Those plants, 
however, from which it is desired to obtain seed 
should be placed on a shelf near the glass and be 
kept supplied with water. Hyacinths, Tulips, etc., 
may be stood outside, where they will take no hurt. 
A like plan should be adopted with Richardias, from 
which all the flowers have been cut and which show 
no signs of throwing up more. This will allow of 
the admittance of much of the later flowering 
material such as Pelargoniums, Franccoas, etc., 
which should be arranged in batches in the lightest 
parts of the house. 
Campanulas. —Not ODly do these look exceedingly 
well in the hardy flower garden, but many, such as 
C. Media, C. M. calycanthema, and the rather later 
flowering C. pyramidalis are exceedingly useful and 
handsome subjects when grown in pots in the green¬ 
house. As they begin to throw up their flower 
stems copious supplies of liquid manure must be 
given them, for not only are they thirsty subjects but 
they like rich feeding as well. Treated thus, some 
surprisingly noble and beautiful plants may be 
obtained which will produce their flowers in a few 
weeks' time with luxuriant profusion. 
Pits and Frames. 
Here the work of hardening off all kinds of bedding 
stuff will be actively in progress, for the time is now 
not far distant when a great portion of it may be 
planted out. Dahlias in pots or those which have 
been started in baskets must be looked after to see 
that their tops are not being injured by coming in 
contact with the glass, as they grow very quickly and 
damage is soon done. 
Balsams.— These are exceedingly useful plants 
for the greenhouses and conservatory and batches of 
seed should be sown at intervals to supply a 
succession. The earliest batch which were potted 
off into sixties a few weeks backs should now be 
shifted into their flowering pots. Thirty-two’s will 
be found to be a handy size ; whilst a compost of two 
parts of good loam, one of leaf-soil, and one of well- 
dried manure, with a good sprinkling of silver sand 
will suit them well. The plants may be potted 
rather firmly, as this conduces to the production of 
short-jointed and stocky growth. The same treat¬ 
ment will also suit the golden and crimson varieties 
of Celosia pyramidalis, but for Cockscombs the 
plants must be potted very firmly, and subsequently 
kept very close to the glass or they will become 
" leggy ” and worthless. 
Clerodendron fallax.— These bright and 
beautiful plants should find a place in every 
garden, blooming as they do during the dull days 
of autumn. It is always best to grow on young 
plants each year, for although old plants will 
bloom well onough they are never of so good a shape 
as the young ones. Two methods of obtaining young 
stuff are commonly practised by cuttings and by 
seed, the latter plan being perhaps the better of the 
two. Seed which should have been sown a few 
weeks ago in heat should now have produced plenty 
of nice young plants which must be potted up singly 
into small pots before the roots get matted together 
in the seed pans, shifting them on as occasion 
requires. 
Violets. —The time has now arrived when Violets 
which have been grown in frames should be seen to 
for division, as by cutting them up now a nice long 
season of growth is allowed them, and thus good 
strong plants ready for planting into frames by the 
end of September will be obtained. The young 
crowns should be dibbled out on a prepared spot on 
a north border where they will soon make themselves 
at home. A distance of about nine inches between 
the plants and fifteen inches between the rows will 
be sufficient, a good watering is being given after 
planting, and at subsequent intervals until they 
become established. The beds may be given light 
scufflings with the Dutch hoe now and again to keep 
down weeds, after which littletrouble will be needed. 
—A. S. G. 
-- 
Epidendrum Parkinsonianum.— It is not often that 
we find this rather curious Orchid growing and 
flowering well, for the simple reason that we do not 
as a rule afford it sufficient light and air. The thick 
fleshy leaves tell one as plain as if they could 
speak that in its native habitat they get a long season 
of rest Basket culture perhaps is preferable to pots, 
as they can then be more easily suspended close to 
the glass. An ordinary plant stove, where the 
shading is not quite so thick as is used for the 
Cattleyas, would be a most suitable place for them. 
Moss and peat with plenty of pieces of crock inter¬ 
mixed is what they like. They are just now opening 
their flowers, which come mostly in pairs, but 
where the growths are extra strong they have three 
flowers to a spike. They last a good time in bloom, 
which is something in their favour. 
Mesospinidium sanguineum. —Not so attractive 
as some other Orchids, and therefore no: so popular, 
on account of the individual blooms being small, this, 
if grown into large plants, which in their season will 
produce ten or twelve spikes, forms objects of great 
beauty, and on account of the colour of their 
flowers looks well arranged with Odontoglossum 
crispum. During the hot summer months they 
should be given a light place with the cool Orchids, 
but during autumn and winter they require rather 
warmer quarters, such as in the cool end of the 
intermediate house; otherwise they should be treated 
like the Odontoglossums. 
Seedling Orchids. —If raising Orchids from seed 
is slow it is extremely interesting, and especially 
so when the hybridiser has an object in view, for it 
is little use—in fact, it is a waste of time unless you 
are going to get something which is a decided im¬ 
provement on the parent plant. It is not difficult 
to get fertile seed of Cattleyas, Dendrobiums, Cypri- 
pediums, &c., but Odontoglossums are with us as yet 
a failure; whether it is because our cool houses are 
too shady or too cold for them I do not know, but, on 
the assumption that that is the cause of failure, we 
have this season sown the seed on our Laelia 
anceps, and hope to be able to report favourably 
later on, for there are signs of their germinating 
already. We always sow the seed on plants that 
have been freshly potted, being then sure that the 
compost is sweet, and that there are no woodlice to 
eat off the little fellows when they make a start. 
Once up, with care they will go on all right : one 
thing we have found out is that it is much better to 
shift them into new and sweet material when in a 
very small state than to leave them where they were 
sown for two seasons. They hardly require a small 
pot to themselves until the third season, unless it is 
a strong growing kind, and then the pots should be 
plunged in pans of moss, so that they will not dry 
up too quickly. Give them sweet material and a 
genial atmosphere; keep them free from insects and do 
not coddle them, and success is assured.— C. 
-4.- 
©leanings fttont IDurlti 
uf Cn'inuT. 
Field Mice in a Beehive.—A monthly periodical 
named Biology Notes is issued by the County Council 
of Essex, and, besides being the medium for the 
dissemination of the subjects taught at the Central 
Laboratory, Chelmsford, it is open for short notes of 
observation upon various natural history subjects 
made by the students attending the classes and 
others. Mr. G. Godfrey, Chigwell, records the 
finding of a nest of field mice in a bar frame hive on 
the 17th February. The discovery was brought 
about by the remains of comb, bees, and other 
matter strewed about the mouth of the hive. The 
discoverer on opening the sliding door caught sight 
of a mouse, and, having procured the assistance of a 
neighbour to kill the mice as they came out, he 
lifted the hive from the floor board In this way 
four out of six mice were killed. The remains 
of the nest in which the family of young ones had 
been reared was found between two of the frames, 
and had been made partly from the carpet covering 
the hive. After having been comfortably lodged 
here, the old pair and their young afterwards fed 
upon the combs containing honey and pollen, and 
must no doubt have been comfortable during the 
wimer months till discovered. Few bees were found 
in the hive, and they died afterwards, owing possibly 
to the disturbance. Another question arises whether 
the bees shewed about the door of the hive had 
been killed by the mice, or whether they had been 
eliminated because troublesome to the illegitimate 
possessors of their home and the fruit of their 
industry. It would be interesting to know whether 
mice could act in the same way while the bees are 
active in summer. It is scarcely likely however. A 
similar case occurred at Great Baddow, where a 
long-tailed field mouse robbed a hive. 
Preparation of Bouillie Bordelaise.—The 
materials used by the Wilts County Council in the 
preparation of this fungicide consist of two pounds 
of sulphate of copper and one pound of lime to ten 
gallons of water. The sulphate of copper is obtained 
in the form of crystals. For small quantities it is 
dissolved in three-fourths of the water, while the 
lime (which must be of good quality and quite fresh) 
is slaked in a separate vessel and mixed up with the 
remaining portion of the water. The lime is then 
poured into the solution of copper, stirring it the 
vhole time. On a larger scale a different method is 
pursued. Some days before the Bouillie Bordelaise 
is required, one or two paraffin casks (according to 
the requirements) are obtained, and one end taken 
out. A short canvas bag is na'led to two strips of 
wood, in order to suspend it in the barrel, which is 
filled up with water after the bag has been filled 
with crystals of sulphate of copper. The latter 
dissolve in a few days, till the water is almost at 
saturation point. This solution is diluted as required. 
A hydrometer is used to test the strength of the 
solution, and this is indicated by degrees which 
correspond to certain degrees of specific gravity. 
By these means is ascertained the necessary quantity 
of wa'er to dilute the solution for use. For instance, 
if Twaddle's hydrometer is employed, and it indicates 
13 degrees when dipped in the solution, it means 
that there is a specific gravity of 1 065, which is 
equal to the same amount of pounds per gallon of 
the sulphate of copper solution. To make 40 
gallons of the Bouillie Bordelaise, 7 5 gallons of 
the solution are used. 
Amount of material for spraying an acre.— 
About 150 to 160 gallons of Bouillie Bordelaise will 
be required for spraying an acre of Potatos. If the 
solution of sulphate of copper in stock is of the 
strength of 32 0 according to Twaddle's hydrometer, 
about twelve gallons of it will be necessary, and this 
may be taken to the field in a water barrow. Wooden 
vessels only must be used for this solution. About 
fifteen pounds of lime or fresh quicklime will bn 
required. The man who mixes the material, according 
to the method adopted by the Wiltshire County Coun¬ 
cil, first slakes about four pounds of lime in a bucket 
for about half an hour Then, supposing a forty 
gallon cask is used, thirty gallons of water are put 
into it, and, after measuring the requisite quantity of 
the copper solution, that is added and the whole well 
stirred up. The lime in the bucket is stirred up till 
like cream and is then poured into the cask amongst 
the other ingredients in solution and thoroughly 
stirred up. Be careful that no lumps of lime or other 
hard sediment gets into the mixture, otherwise the 
spraying apparatus will get choked up. The 
remainder of the cask is then filled up, stirred, and is 
ready for use. It would be well however to test the 
mixture with ferrocyanide of potassium to see 
whether sufficient lime has been used to precipitate 
the copper. A drop of the former put in the mixture 
will cause a dark brown colouration where it falls, if 
sufficient lime has not been used, so that more lime 
may be applied until the copper has been precipitated 
and rendered innocuous to the Potato foliage. 
