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To Preserve Flowers

Flowers may be preserved for many months by dipping them carefully, as soon as gathered, in perfectly limpid gum water; after allowing pot, to ensure their flowers coming blue. If them to drain for 2 or 3 minutes, arrange them the soil itself will not make the flower blue, in a vase.

The gum forms a complete coating they should be watered with a solution of on the stems and petals, and preserves their shape and color long after they have become dry. alum for some time previous to flowering.

The solution may be made by mixing at the rate of 1 ounce alum to a gallon of rain water.

1837. Preservation of Flowers with The plants should be struck from small cuttheir Natural Colors. The mode in which tings of the soft wood, from February till the operation is effected is this: A vessel May, that are required to flower in those with a movable cover and bottom is provided, months the following year. They should be and having removed the cover from it, a piece potted in time enough for their roots to fill of metallic gauze of moderate fineness is them before winter. It is advisable to flower fixed over it, and the cover replaced. A them the following spring in the pots, allowquantity of sand is then taken, sufficient to ing the plants to produce only one cluster of fill the vessel, and passed through a sieve into an iron pot, where it is heated, with the addiflowers each, and taking off all the suckers and side shoots to strike for flowering the follow- Or: ing spring, as old plants cannot be depended 1848. To Destroy Black Ants. Boil upon to produce blue flowers. If part of 4 ounces quassia chips in 1 gallon water, for iron filings be mixed with the earth in which 10 minutes, and add 4 ounces soft soap. This the plant is grown, it will frequently, although is excellent to destroy black ants. Or: destroy black ants. not always, change from its original pink Sprinkle pulverized borax over the plants or color to a light blue. A cutting, however, places infested by these vermin. (See No. taken from the plant thus changed, and grown 1909.) without iron filing, reverts to its previous color. 1843. To Prevent Damping or Fogging Off. Cuttings in heat, and seedlings pricked out, are very liable to damp off, if in 1849. Το Prevent Mildew on Trees.

The best preventive against mildew is to keep the plant subject to it occasionally syringed with a decoction of elder leaves, which will prevent the fungus growing on them. a confined air, with too much moisture. The 1850. To Remove Mildew from Roses, best mode of treatment is, as soon as evidences Pelargoniums, Etc. Mildew has been sucof damping appear, to give more air, and in- cessfully removed from roses and pelargoncrease the temperature 5 degrees, and, at the iums, by dissolving 1 ounce nitre to 1 gallon same time, to sprinkle the surface of the soil water, and watering the plants with it occathe plants with it occawith a mixture of silver-sand and powdered sionally; another way is to wash the diseased peat, crumbled to the fineness of snuff.