The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1906-01-03

right and rich SOIL TO us means cOm-
mon earth with enough sand in it
to make it porous, and enough manure
to store it with plant food for the
plants use. A fourth of manure is
enough to do this. Our beginner
reasons that if fourth is good, more
would be better, and the result is
fiery, strong soil that eats up the
roots and makes the leaves spot and
fall off and the flowers wither. Re
member that all manures are cOncen-
trated food and need to be used in
measured proportions. Another thing
that beginners make mistakes about
is that of using fresh manure. 1t is
surprising how reckless well-infOrmed
people are in regard to this matter. l
have heard farmers daughters call
manure i'm great cakes and chunks
"rOtted'' manure Better no fertilizer
at all than such fiery stuff as this.
1t should be rOtted until a touch pull
verzes it and it falls apart loose,
black earth.
Stalk BOrerS.-There is no remedy
for the stalk bOrers that tunnel through
the stems of Asters and Dahlias un-
less they are taken i'm hand at an early
stage. BY the use of a fine wire the
worm can be hooked and drawn out
if it has only commenced its opera
TONS When a stalk by its whitening
shows a stalk bOrer's presence the only
thing that can be done is to cut out
the stalk and burn it, thus killing the
larva so that much of the race IS cut
off
Scilla Maritima.-A bulb that never
blOOmed was thrown away in disgust.
An eXperimenter then took it i'm hand
Thinking it Crinum from the great
size of the bulb the lady read up Mr..
Pipes AmarylliS article. Reading
there that Crinums would enjoy siz-
Zling on red-hOt grid-irOn.' she put
the bulb i'm its pot on top of the heat
ing stove, and forgot it, 1t stayed
there day before she thought of it.
But it was not baked, no indeed, and
i'm ten days flower bud showed.
Alas! it developed into a tall spiked
thing with insignificant starry green
and-white flowers. not half so pretty
as the long sweeping leaves which
were several feet long and two inches
wide. The lady has at least learned
how to bring refractory bulbs to time
Her plan is the old Sea Onion (Scilla
Maritima) and its beauty lies i'm its
clear green bulb and it's long leaves.
Some ladies have a fancy for looping
up its leaves and tying them with knots
of bright ribbon. Most of us can find
better plants for basket and save
our ribbons for our children's hair,
unless we are so unlucky as to have no
children.
ClematiS From Seed.-DO not try to
grow the large-fiOwered Clematis from
seed. Not one attempt in a hundred
will succeed with the ordinary grower
Brugmansia|Thi is more often cal
led Wedding Bells Or Angel Trumpet.
1t is royal plant when healthy and
full of bloom. An average blossom
by the tape-line is a foot long and
over eight inches wide at the mouth
of its faring tubular flower, while
the texture is as smooth as ivory.
Its futed, creamy blossoms will never
be common, for the Brugmansia will
not rough it. Keep in cold or
draughty room it chills, usually to its
death. In a very warm atmosphere
red spiders put i'm their deadly work
upon it. A moderate temperature, but
an even one, fits it best in winter.
Give it rich SOIL for it is gross feed
er. an abundance of water when
growing fast, and much more
moderate allowance when at stand
ctiI1 n