STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 173 



Mr. Cook — I have been putting them about three feet, but 

 after this I shall put them four feet. Too close, they shade one 

 another too much. 



• President Dunlap — What do you do with the rose slug? 



Mr. Cook — I do not pay any attention to that until the buds 

 fall, and then when I see any indications of slug, I take a spoonful 

 of white hellebore and put it in a bucket of water and sprinkle 

 the bushes with it. The slug has been very bad this year; last 

 year there were not a half dozen bushes affected with it. It 

 takes a year or two to get rid of it. 



Mr. Gaston — Our Central Horticultural Society meets at Lacon 

 next summer, and we invite all the ladies of the Mississippi Val- 

 ley to come over there and see Mr. Cook's roses. 



Mrs. Lyons — I have had little trouble with my flowers; never 

 have them frosted. I keep a great many in pots, and bury them 

 in pots. 



Mr. Riehl — I find that as to the rose slug, Paris Green will dispose 

 of it. One other point is the matter of water. It is often thought 

 necessary to water them. As it is usually done it is worse than 

 useless. If done at all, it should be done thoroughly. Ten times 

 the water that is usually applied is what should be applied. This 

 summer I struck a plan that was a success. We had a lot of as- 

 ters suffering for water, and I took a light drill and punched the 

 bed full of holes six or eight inches apart, and that let the water 

 down about a foot, and the ground showed moisture on the top 

 for several days, and the plants did not need more water for a 

 week. 



Mr. Cook — As to watering roses, you want to wait until the 

 ground is real dry, and then drench it. Ladies often water their 

 flowers every day, and the consequence is that their flowers do 

 not develop. The fault is in too frequent watering. My objec- 

 tion to the Paris Green and London Purple is that they discolor 

 the roses. The preparation I use does not hurt them. 



Mr. Shank — I think an emulsion of kerosene and milk is bet- 

 ter on roses than any poison. It has no effect on the pollen, 

 but is death to the slug. Simply take about half a pint of coal 

 oil in a gallon of milk and put it in a pail of water, and apply 



