58 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
until dissolved. Add enough water to make 45 gallons. Allow it to 
settle and use only the clear blue liquid. This mixture loses strength 
on standing. 
Copper Sulphate Solution. —Copper sulphate, 1 pound ; water, 
15-25 gallons. Dissolve the copper sulphate in the water, when it is 
ready for use. This should never be applied to folia,ge, but must be used 
before the buds break. For peaches and nectarines use 25 gallons of 
water. For fungous diseases. 
London Purple. —This is used in the same proportion as Paris 
green, but as it is more caustic it should be applied with two or three 
times its weight of lime, or with the Bordeaux mixture. The composi¬ 
tion of London purple is variable, and unless good reasons exist for 
supposing that it contains as much arsenic as Paris green, use the latter 
poison. Do not use London purple on peach or plum trees unless con¬ 
siderable lime is added. For insects which chew. 
Potassium Sulphide Solution. —Potassium sulphide (liver of 
sulphur), 1 ounce; water, 1 gallon. This preparation loses its 
strength upon standing ; so should be made immediately before using. 
Particularly valuable for surface mildews. 
Hellebore. —Fresh white hellebore, 1 ounce; water, 8 gallons. 
Apply when thoroughly mixed. This poison is not so energetic as the 
arsenites, and may be used a short time before the sprayed portions 
mature. For insects which chew. 
Kerosene Emulsion. —Hard soap, % pound; boiling water, 1 gal¬ 
lon ; kerosene, 2 gallons. Dissolve the soap in the water, and churn 
with a pump for 5-10 minutes. Dilute 4 to 25 times before applying. 
Use strong emulsion for all scale insects. For such insects as plant 
lice, mealy bugs, red spider, thrips, weaker preparations will prove 
effective. Cabbage worms, cun-ant worms and all insects which have 
soft bodies, can also be successfully treated. It is advisable to make 
the emulsion shortly before it is used. Kerosene and water (suggested 
for San Jose scale) may be used in all cases where kerosene emulsion is 
mentioned. Dilute to the strength recommended for the emulsion in 
each case. It must be applied with a pump having a kerosene attach¬ 
ment. 
Tobacco Water. —This solution may be prepared by placing 
tobacco stems in a water-tight vessel, and then covering them with hot 
water. Allow to stand several hours, dilute the liquor from 3 to 5 
times and apply. For soft bodied insects. 
THE BELGIAN NURSERYMAN. 
Nothing in Belgium generally, and Ghent particularly, 
strikes the British stranger more forcibly than the high social 
status of horticulturists, both amateur and professional. Many 
notable Belgian horticulturists hold high rank by reason of 
their birth or merit, and we can find parallels to these at home. 
But over there the head gardener of any importance is treated 
like a count, provided his education is good—the general 
rule ; and the nurseryman who has been diligent in business 
may not only stand before the king, but converse with him, 
while in his native town or suburb he is looked up to instead 
of being regarded as “merely the nurseryman.” Such men 
do not give themselves airs, they carry their honors modestly ; 
you meet them at the banquet or raout with the Order of 
Leopold, or some other decoration in the buttonhole of their 
swallow-rtail coat, and next day you find them at the garden 
or nursery with soft hat and blue blouse on, busy among the 
plants or in the office. Our national pride would probably 
not allow us to do this, and, perhaps, we should kick over the 
traces if honored in any way. So it may be these things are 
best as they are, through those sixty persons who can attach 
V. M. H. to their names have not given evidence of insanity 
as some considered they would after the conferment of the 
order. 
Ghent itself is the centre of an extensive nursery trade, and 
in it and its suburbs there are over three hundred nursery 
establishments of varying size, some of them very large and 
well kept. In very few, however, is there any very large 
variety of plants cultivated, the general principle is special 
culture ; and the chief subjects grown—grown well and in 
enormous quantities—are bays, palms (chiefly kentias), azaleas, 
araucarias, dracaenas (largely D. lineata and varieties), an- 
thuriums, and a few other aroids, and bromeliads (chiefly 
nidulariums caraguats, and vriesias). Huge ridge and furrow 
houses are now the order, and their contents are certainly 
wonderfully vigorous and well furnished. In a comparatively 
few establishments hard-wooded plants are largely cultivated, 
and in such are to be seen regiments of Citrus sinensis—the 
Otaheite orange, ficuses, aspidistras, and Phormium tenax and 
its varigated form. Whither go all these plants ? is the ques¬ 
tion that naturally arises. They go north, south, east, and 
west ; bays and big palms to Russia and Northern Germany ; 
palms, araucarias, and anthuriums to our islands and many 
continental countries ; azaleas go to almost every country in 
Europe, and so we might continue. Belgium does a large 
home trade in plants, but a vastly larger one abroad. 
Among those Britishers who took part in or visited the 
Ghent Quinquennial, the London nurserymen figured largely. 
Ould Oireland was well represented by Messrs. More and 
Burbidge ; Auld Reekie sent Professor Balfour, D. Laird, 
and D. Thomson, and perhaps some others. The Kers, pere 
et fils, went from Liverpool, and Kew sent its assistant curator 
and orchid expert. The horticultural pressmen were very 
evident .—Ga rdeners' Magazine. 
BLACK PEACH APHIS IN NURSERY. 
The Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station has just 
issued Bulletin No. 55, by Professor W. G. Johnson, state 
entomologist, giving an illustrated account of the black 
peach aphis, a species of plant louse which he says is doing 
great damage to young peach trees, planted this spring and 
last fall in orchards, and to young shooting buds in nurseries. 
In one instance this insect has already damaged it is said 
100,000 trees in a nursery in the midst of a block of five 
hundred thousand. The same pest is also in the heart of 
another block of young peach which contains nearly fourteen 
hundred thousand trees and is doing very serious damage. It 
is also doing considerable damage to young orchards in the 
mountain districts of Western Maryland. 
A brief account of the nature of this insect with the reme¬ 
dies for its suppression and control are given ; kerosene 
emulsion properly diluted having been found the most 
economical and best remedy for its destruction. 
A brief account of the law, with an exact copy appended, 
passed by the last general assembly for the suppression and 
control of insect pests and plant diseases in Maryland is given. 
The law has been summarized in the National Nurseryman. 
This bulletin is the first of a series issued in accordance 
with the recently passed law and is a timely one, giving general 
information on topics of considerable economic importance at 
this time. It will be mailed free of charge to any person upon 
application to the director of the experiment station or to 
Professor W. G. Johnson, state entomologist, College Park, Md. 
