109 
THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
several years, and for three winters it has stood the 
test, underneath ice six inches thick. I have it natur¬ 
alized in one corner of a mill-pond, where, could you 
have visited me last summer, I could have shown you 
a charming bit of Nile scenery, consisting of a fine 
mass of this ancient plant, with abundance of noble leaves. 
One hundred buds in diiferent stages of development, 
and twenty expanded flowers at one time. 
I find it an easier plant to manage than the American 
species, being easier to transplant and establish, grow¬ 
ing more rapidly, and flowering more freely. With me 
it begins to bloom early in July, and produces a constant 
succession of flowers until late in October. At least 
* this is the case as grown in my largest artificial basin, 
where last summer it produced some leaves thirty 
inches in diameter, on foot-stallcs five to six feet in 
length, and flower-stalks of the same measurement. 
One of the latter attained the height of seven feet 
from the root. Many of the flowers were eleven and 
twelve inches across when fully expanded, and one 
measured thirteen iuches from tip to tip of petals. The 
first day that they begin to open, they appear like 
gigantic rosebuds of a bright rose-color. The second day 
they open like a Tulip, the base of the petals being 
creamy white, beautifully shaded off into bright pink. 
The third day the flower expands more widely, and is 
still lighter in color. They are also delightfully fra¬ 
grant. The month of May is the best time to plant the 
tubers, though I have transplanted them successfully 
much later. If you wish to plant it in a pond, choose a 
sunny place where the mud is very rich, and the water 
about twelve or fifteen inches deep. It will soon spread 
into deeper water, and bloom the first season. If you 
wish to grow it in the garden and have no large basin 
devoted to a general collection of Water Lilies, then 
you may grow it in a large lialf-liogshead; but a better 
plan would be to make a basin of brick and cement 
about two feet deep and six feet across. A mixture, 
consisting of equal parts of good garden loam, and the 
best stable or hot-bed manure, should be put in to the 
depth of one foot. The basin may be kept covered with 
boards and litter in winter. E. D. Stortevast. 
HOT WATER AS AN INSECTICIDE. 
Water is a cheap insecticide insufficiently appre¬ 
ciated, but capable of more extended use than the 
majority of those who already believe in it are aware. 
It is quite certain that the best cultivation will not pre¬ 
vent the occurrence amongst plants of such pests as 
aphis, red spider, mealy bug, and a few of their near 
relatives. Therefore it will not do to dismiss the sub¬ 
ject of plant vermin by saying that good cultivation is 
a sufficient preventive, though it is unquestionably true 
that the most natural conditions for vigorous growth 
are also just those which keep vermin at a distance. 
We do not intend here to enter upon a general con¬ 
sideration of the subject, but to relate a few particu¬ 
lars of experiments that have been made at Stoke 
Newington, with a view to determine the extent to 
which hot water may be employed for the destruction 
of the insects that most commonly infest plants. The 
few experiments made have been attended with such 
promising results that we shall hope to find opportunity 
soon for repeating them in a more extended and sys¬ 
tematic manner. For the present we shall speak of 
aphis only, and as that is the most prevalent of plant 
pests, we trust that these remarks will be useful to 
many readers. It appears, then, that aphides quickly 
perish if immersed in water heated to 120° Fall. We 
obtained from various sources plants infested with 
green fly, and cleansod them by the simple process of 
dipping. As the experiments were made in the month 
of February, we thought it probable that aphis might 
endure in June a temperature many degrees higher 
than that which proved fatal to them in the earlier and 
colder season. Hence it became desirable to ascertain 
the degree of heat the plants could endure’in the dip¬ 
ping process. A number of herbaceous and soft-wooded 
plants were therefore subjected to the process of im¬ 
mersion in water heated to various degrees above 120. 
We found that Fuchsias were unharmed at 140°, but at 
150° the young leaves were slightly injured. Calceo¬ 
larias suffered at 140°, but the plants were not killed, 
though their soft tops perished. Pelargoniums were 
unhurt up to 150°, but the slightest rise beyond that 
figure killed the soft wood and the young leaves com¬ 
pletely. Chinese Primulas were injured by any rise 
beyond 140°, and this at last proved to be the most 
general maximum, and may be cited as a rule for ob¬ 
servance. Centaureas, Sedums, Saxifragas, Thyrsacan- 
tlius, Justicias, Ferns, Heliotropes, Petunias, Begonias, 
Mignonette, and many other plants of soft texture, 
were unhurt by being dipped in water at 140°, but the 
slightest rise beyond that point was followed by black¬ 
ening of the leaves, and consequent disfigurement of 
the plant, and at 150° the process of killing commenced. 
About ten years ago we reported in the Floral World 
that Fairy or Lawrence Roses, which are grown in 
quantities in pots for market, could be best kept clean 
by dipping in hot water, as at 120° the plant is not in¬ 
jured, and every aphis upon it is destroyed. This 
simple method of removing vermin from plants is, we 
are quite satisfied, capable of very general adoption, in 
place of more troublesome and more expensive plans. 
We shall be glad of any aid our readers can afford 
towards the reduction to system of the facts of the 
case. To what extent can we carry on an offensive 
warfare against scale, yed spider, and all the rest of the 
little foes that plague us in the garden? The question 
can be better answered by many than a few. It is 
eminently a question for those who have opportunity 
and a liking for experiments, and who can afford to kill 
a few plants, if need be, to make a sure test of the re¬ 
spective powers of endurance high temperatures by 
various orders and genera.— Gardeners’ Magazine. 
The Aspen. 
Every country place should have that very coquette 
among trees, the Aspen, It seems never to sleep. Its 
twinkling fingers axe playing in the air at some arch 
