230 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AXD  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
ilarch  17,  1904. 
Insecticides. 
(C ontiHued  from  i.acje  215.) 
Bisulphide  of  C'ap.ijon.  -  .4  thin  liquid,  volatilises  at  a  low  tem¬ 
perature,  the  vapour  being  very  destructive  to  animal  life.  It 
IS  exceedingly  inflammable,  and  in  using  it  great  care  must  be 
taken  that  no  fire  comes  near  it.  On  exposure  to  the  air  the 
liquid  evaporates,  and  as  the  vapour  is  heavier  than  air  it  settles 
rather  than  rises.  It  also  has  a  disagreeable  odour,  which  soon 
completely  disappears.  It  is  used  for  many  root  insects,  such 
as  ants,  grape  phylloxera,  and  other  pests  that  may  be  reached 
by  a  vapour.  It  is  poured  into  a  hole,  or  holest,  which  is  imme¬ 
diately  closed  up,  causing  the  fumes  to  permeate  the  soil 
in  all  directions,  and  in  loose  soils  is  very  destructive  to  insects. 
It  is  also  used  for  destroying  grain  insects,  such  as  grain 
weevils  and  pea  weevil,  the  grain  being  placed  in  air-tight 
receptacles,  and  the'  charge  (loz  bisulphide  to  lOOlbs  of  grain) 
made,  closing  securely.  Ihe  vapour  descends  between  the  grain 
and  destroys  all  the  weevils  it  reaches.  The  bisulphide  does  no 
harm  to  the  grain,  as  regards  its  colour,  smell,  or  cooking  pro¬ 
perties,  bnt  it  is  liable  to  injure  seed-gram,  too  much  being  used 
and  its  action  continued  too  long. 
Gas  Liquor. 
Thi.s  is  an  impure  solution  of  the  sulphides  of  ammonium 
obtained  as  a  bye-product  in  the  manufacture  of  gas,  and  is 
valuable  as  a  manure  as  well  as  an  insecticide.  It  varies  coii- 
Mderably  in  strength,  and  on  that  account  less  used  than  formerly. 
It  has  been  used  successfully  for  destroying  American  blight  on 
Apple  trees  diluted  with  two  parts  water,  applied  by  means  of 
a  brush  as  soon  as  the  leaves  had  fallen  in  the  autumn,  reaching 
well  into  the  “nests”  of  the  woolly  aphis.  The  liquid  should 
also  be  applied  to  the  soil  so  as  to  destroy  the  pests  on  the  roots. 
For  applying  to  grass  land  or  lawns  for  the  destruction  of 
cockchafer  and  other  grubs,  the  ammoniacal  gas  liquor  should  be 
diluted  with  at  lea.st  two  parts  water.  At  that  strength  it  will 
probably  brown  the  grass,  but  this  will  soon  recover  and  become 
thick  and  deep  green.  If  applied  during  the  growing  season  the 
gas  liquor  should  be  diluted  with  five  times  its  bulk  of  water, 
applying  as  much  of  the  diluted  liquor  as  in  an  ordinary  watering. 
For  use  over  foliage  it  must  be  diluted  with  twelve  times  its 
volume  of  water.  It,  however,  is  hardly  safe  to  use  on  foliage,  or 
at  least  not  until  a.scertaining  a  safe  strength. 
Gas  Lime. 
In  the  manufacture  of  gas  quicklime  is  used  to  remove 
impurities,  and  the  gas  lime  thus  produced  is  a  mixture  of  lime 
carbonate  anjl  hydrate,  with  sulpliite  and  sulphide  of  calcium, 
the  last  two  compounds  injurious  to  vegetation  and  also  poisonous 
to  pest.s,  such  as  Mollusca  (slugs),  Myriapoda  (millipedes), 
Crustacea  (woodlice),  Insecta  (insects,  their  larvae  and  pupae), 
Arachnida  (mites),  and  Tenues  (worms,  including  eelworms), 
IMyxomycetes  (slime  fungi),  and  Fungi  (vegetable  parasites  in 
mycelial,  spore,  or  resting  spore  stage). 
When  land  become.s  foul  with  any  of  the  pests  named,  nothing 
is  so  drastic  and  effective  as  a  dressing  of  gas  lime  as  fresh  as 
possible  from  the  gas  purifiers,  and  the  best  time  to  apply  it  is 
in  the  autumn,  always  when  the  ground  is  cleared  of  crops,  and 
never  over  the  roots  of  fruit  or  other  trees.  From  3  to  5  tons  per 
acre,  l^qr  or  421b,  to  2iqr  or  701b  per  rod.  It  should  be  spread 
evenly  on  the  .surface,  and  left  there  for  a  month  or  six  weeks 
before  being  dug  or  ploughed  in. 
Carbolic  Acid. 
This  article  is  a  well-known  corrosive  poison,  prepared  from 
coal-tar,  and  very  injurious  to  plant  life,  hence  used  for  destroy¬ 
ing  weeds,  but  it  has  been  found  valuable  for  various  insecti¬ 
cidal  purpo.ses,  especially  as  a  wash  for  preventing  the  attacks 
of  tree-borers.  The  wash,  called  carbolic  acid  and  soap  mixture, 
is  made  by  mixing  one  quart  of  softsoap,  or  lib  of  hard  soap, 
with  two  gallons  of  water,  and  dissolving  by  boiling,  then  adding 
a  pint  of  crude  carbolic  acid,  and  mixing  thoroughly  so  as  to 
form  an  emulsion.  This  is  applied  to  the  stems  and  branches 
of  trees  by  means  of  a  brush,  diluting  with  hot  water  if  neces¬ 
sary.  As  a  wa.sh  dilute  to  25  gallons  with  hot  water.  Carbolic 
acid  soaps  are  not  only  valuable  for  scrubbing  floors  to  kill  flea 
larvie,  and  as  general  household  disinfectants,  also  for  destroy¬ 
ing  vermin  on  dome.stic  animals,  but  for  freeing  plants  from 
aphides  and  other  “sucking”  insects.  A  solution  of  carbolic 
soap,  loz  to  2oz,  to  a  gallon  of  water  is  very  effective  when 
sprayed  on  bushes  or  trees,  so  as  to  reach  the  pe.sts  on  the  under 
side  of  infested  leaves,  this  being  a  very  important  matter  in 
the  case  of  Currant  and  other  bushes  or  trees  infested  with 
aphides. —Experience. 
(To  bo  continued.) 
I  8  to  12  inches  deep  and  2  feet  apart,  pouring  into  each  hole  2  ozs.  of  the 
liiiulphide. 
Royal  Eotanic  Society's  Arrangements. 
The  preliminary  arrangements  for  the  coming  summer  and 
autumn  are  now  announced,  and  particulars  are  obtainable  on 
application  to  the  Secretary,  Boyal  Botanic  Gardens,  Regent’s 
Park,  London.  The  spring  exhibition  was  held  yesterday. 
Our  Spring  Number. 
We  trust  that  the  following  note  from  Dublin  voices  the 
opinion  of  all  our  readers;  and  we  have  had  no  complaints! — 
“Much  interested  in  your  ‘Spring  Number.’  Eh,  mon,  but  tak’ 
it  a’  round  it’s  fine.  .  .  .  Thine,  with  compliments  on  its 
general  excellence. — K.” 
Obituary :  Mr.  David  Drummond. 
Mr.  David  Drummond,  J.P.,  head  of  the  well-known  firm  cf 
Drummond  and  Co.,  nurserymen,  died  at  Dublin  on  Tuesday  last, 
aged  91.  Mr.  Drummond  founded  hi.s  firm  sixty  years  ago. 
He  was  honoured  and  respected  for  his  high  commercial  integritjq 
and  took  a  keen  interest  in  philanthropic  movements,  with  a 
number  of  which  he  wasi  prominently  a.ssociated. 
Royal  Horticultural  Society. 
The  next  fruit  and  flower  show  of  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society  will  be  held  on  Tue.sday,  March  22,  in  the  Drill  Hall, 
Buckingham  Gate,  Westminster,  at  1.5  p.m.  A  lecture  on 
“  Heredity  of  Acquired  Characters  ”  will  be  given  by  the  Rev. 
Professor  G.  Henslow,  V.M.H.  At  a  general  meeting  of  the 
society  held  on  Tuesday,  March  8,  fifty  new  Fellows  were  elected, 
amongst  them  being  Sir  Henry  Pottinger,  Bart.,  Lady  Lyall, 
and  Lady  Slacke,  making  a  total  of  351  elected  .since  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  present  year. 
Birmingham  Gardeners’  Association. 
At  the  last  foi’tnightly  meeting  Dr.  A.  H.  Reginald  Buller, 
The  University,  Birmingham,  was  respomsible  for  an  able  and 
interesting  es.say  on  “  Parasitic  Flmvering  Plants,”  illustrated 
by  lantern  slides.  The  chairman  (Mr.  Walter  Jones)  read  a 
letter  from  Profes.sor  W.  Hillhouse  (the  president)  regretting 
his  unavoidable  absence.  Dr.  Buller  (who  is  not  a  stranger  at 
the  gardeners’  meetings)  gave  a  lucid  and  interesting  de.scrip- 
tion  of  numerous  parasitic  plants.  Some  notes  on  this  address 
we  shall  print  next  week. 
Cyclamens  from  Ke'ghley. 
Writing  from  Devonshire  Park,  Keighley,  Yorkshire,  Mr. 
F.  R.  Hayes  says  he  has  had  a  good  show  of  blooms  from  Novem¬ 
ber  up  to  the  present  time.  “  Some  of  the  plants  are  carrying 
a.s  many  as  seven  dozen  well  developed  flowers.”  Mr.  Ha5’es 
enclosed  a  bunch  of  the  flowers  with  some  foliage.  They  are  of 
the  “Giant”  type,  and  the  blooms  before  us  are  equal  to  the 
finest  we  have  had  the  privilege  toi  see  this  season.  They  are 
indeed  creditable,  and  the  foliage  is  large,  thick,  leathery,  and 
dark. 
Sweet  Pea  Society :  Provincial  Prizes. 
The  committee  of  this  society  has  arranged  with  the  Wilt¬ 
shire  Horticultural  Society  to  include  in  the  schedule  a  special 
class  for  Sweet  Peas,  for  which  the  National  Society  will  provide 
the  prizes.  The  show  will  be  held  on  August  10.  The  class  i.s 
identical  with  the  Audit  class  on  page  19  of  the  N.S.P.S. 
schedule,  and  all  members  of  this  society  may  exhibit  free ; 
others  on  paying  the  usual  fees  of  the  Wiltshire  Society,  of  which 
Mr.  Leonard  Sly,  Salisbury,  is  the  .secretary.  The  total  prize 
money  offered  by  the  N.S.P.S.  is  £3  2s.  6d.,  and  a  silver  medal 
to  the  winner  of  the  premier  place.  Mr.  Sly  will  send  full  parti¬ 
culars.  The  society  has  akso  been  able  to  arrange  with  the  Gala¬ 
shiels  Horticultural  Association  for  a  cla.ss  on  behalf  of  northern 
growers,  the  prizes  being  identical  with  those  in  the  previous 
case.  The  class  here  is  similar  to  the  Classification  class  on  page 
19  of  the  N.S.P.S.  schedule,  and  it  will  be  conte.sted  on  Septem¬ 
ber  10.  Members  of  the  N.S.P.S.  are  entitled  to  exhibit  free  of 
special  entry  fee.  The  secretary  of  the  Galashiels  Horticultural 
Association  is  Mr.  James  Mallen,  Galashiels,  N.B.,  who  will  be 
pleased  to  send  complete  details  of  the  class. 
