The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1882-12-27
DECEMBER 81.
Insect Powder Plant.
u M1rphu in American Florist.

There seems TO be great interest
taken in this new plant and as there
is not much knowledge in regard to
the cultivation of it / will give what
little experience l have had with it;
and in order to finish my article, l
will copy some from a circular issued
by the Department of Agriculture in
reference to the Pyrethrum.
There seems to be two species of
this plant, Pyrethrum roseum and
Pyrethrum cinerariaefolium, but az
my experience has been confined to
the roseum species | will confne my
article to it. This plant is very easily
grown, and now will tell you how l
managed mine. Last winter bought
one ounce OF seed, tor which / paid
ST., and as ! did not know anything
about the cultivation of the plant, I
concluded to Try several ways; so I
sowed in boxes very early IL the
house, and some in cold frame
little later, and the last / sowed in
the open ground the 9th day of
March.
The seed that was sown liz the
cold frame did not come up for six
weeks; that which was sown in boxes
in three weeks, and that which was
sown in the open ground came up in
two weeks. Now, as the last plan
was the best with me, l will tell you
how 1 managed it. This plan was
taken from Peter Hendersons "Prac-
tical Horticulture" and is the best
way to start seeds. Before spading
your ground give it good coat OF
black leaf mold from the woods; now
spade this ground deep and get this
Leaf mold thoroughly mixed in with
the earth and then rake it as fine as
you can. Now pat it down with
smooth board until it is as smooth
and level as it we'll can be, then sow
the seed over the surface, distributN
ing it evenly, then take common
kitchen seive and sift Just so much
earth evenly over the seed as will
cover 1t and no more; then take a wa.
tering pot with the finest kind OF rose
and shower the earth with spray and
then give it a shower OF spray when
ever the surface appears dry; but few
seeds will fail to terminate under
such conditions; and in few weeks
the plants will be large enough to
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. apart, and
Iii we'll 5ellel ed a good many OF
them will have flowers the first sea-
son, the largest crop is produced the
second season. My plants have a
good many flowers on now. l also
took notice that my plants did bet
ter in wet weather than in dry wea-
ther.
In regard to manufacturing the
powder the flower heads should be
gathered during fine weather when
they are about to open, or at the
time when fertilization takes place,
as the essential oil that gives the in
secticide quality reaches, at this time,
its greatest development. When the
blossoming has ceased the stalks may
he cut within about four inches from
the ground and utilized being ground
and mixed with the flowers in the
proportion of one>third OF their
weight. Great care must he taken
not to expose the flowers to mois>
ture, or the rays Of the sun, or still
less to artificial heat. They should
be dried under cover and hermetl>
caly closed up in sacks or other yes
sells to prevent untimely pnlveriza-
ton. The finer the fower>heads are
pulverized the more effectually the
powder acts, and the more economi-
cal is its use. The best vessels for
keeping the powder are trnit jars,
with patent covers, or any other per-
iectly tight glass vessel or tin box.