790 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



slacked lime, which is distributed with bellows made lor the purpose 

 into the atmosphere of the greenhouse to be operated upon. This ef- 

 fective mixture above described has been in use for some time, and 

 its beneficial results were found out by accident. Florists and others 

 who use sulphur in large quantities buy it by the barrel. Durinu a 

 rainy sjjell, which, by the way, is a good time to keep the mildew- 

 killer active, the sulphur works sluggishly, on account, I presume, of 

 its possible alJinity for moisture; so in order to make it distribute 

 more freely, some air-slacked lime, passed through a fine sieve, 

 was added in about equal its bulk to the sulphur. This was found to 

 be equally as effective as sulphur alone and more economical. 



Many a careless hand wastes much of this material. The best way 

 to apply it because the most effective and economical way, is to use the 

 bellows referred to, fill same with the mixture and with the outlet 

 pointing upwards and the operator working the bellows and walking 

 backwards, the atmosphere of the structure will become well tilled 

 with this mildew antidote, and in settling ,w^hich it will do gradually, 

 it does so quite Evenly and not unsightly as it is likely to do if the 

 spout of the bellows is allowed to point downwards and the ma- 

 terial irregularly distributed as is too often done. Another preven 

 tive for mildew, is to mix sulphur with linseed-oil to the consistency 

 of a paste and apply with a brush to the heating pipes. The fumes 

 of the sulphur are by this method believed to kill the fungous germs 

 which are always more or less present in the atmosphere, awaiting 

 favorable conditions to develop. 



^'Black spot," actinonema rosae, among diseases is the worst 

 enemy the rose has to contend with, and this applies to those grown 

 both indoors and outdoors, especially among that class of roses 

 known as the "Hybrid Tea," which has for its parentage the Hybrid 

 Remontant, or June rose, on the one side and the Tea-scented rose 

 — a native of China — on the other. The Tea rose gets its title from 

 a peculiar tea-like fragrance and not because it resembles tea in 

 any other way. The LaFrauce and Meteor, and possibly the cele- 

 brated American Beauty, belong to the Hybrid Tea class. 



The American Beauty appears to be the most susceptible of all 

 roses grown under glass to black spot, and when a bad case develops 

 it is very, very hard to get rid of. Bordeaux mixture, the same as 

 recommended for fruit trees, is said to cure it, also copperdine; but 

 1 must confess that I have never yet found much if any benefit from 

 the use of either. Potassium sulphide is also recommended. Any 

 of the above might be used systematically as a prevention, and doubt- 

 less with more or less gratifying results. 



It has been found, in practice, that no matter how badly affected a 

 rose may be wuth "spot," at the end of the cut flower season, say the 

 latter end of June or early in July, if all the branches are cut close 



