286 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



sickly cuttings and plants is nothing 

 but taking the road to disappointment. 

 Geo. M. Kellogg. 

 Pleasant Hill, Mo. 



GREEN MOULD. 



I am having trouble with a green 

 mould or fungus forming on the soil 

 around my seedlings. What causes it? 

 1 use a loam soil lightened with leaf- 

 mould. Has the ventilation of the green- 

 house or overwafering the general run 

 of plants in the house anything to do 

 with it? J. C. Morgan. 



J. C. M. is not alone in his troubles. 

 Seed pans where the seeds germinate 

 slowly and the soil has not been previ- 



ously sterilized will invariably become 

 covered with some low plant organism. 

 If the house is damp and close the quick- 

 'Jr will these minute plants germinate 

 and flourish, for light and air are not 

 congenial to their growth. 



Without going into a long story of 

 their growth, which would not be profit- 

 able, for the prevention of this fungus 

 is what is needed, 1 would say that any 

 spores of fungus or mosses or weeds that 

 exist in the soil either that you sow in 

 or the material you cover with can be 

 easily killed by baking the soil, which 

 can be done in several ways. Or if you 

 use steam you can put some soil in a 

 tight box and turn in a jet of steam. 

 Either plan will rid the soil of all germs 

 and weed seeds. Wm. Scott. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Lilies. 

 From the present outlook the .Japan 

 longiflorum lilies will want a high tem- 

 perature every day between now and the 

 0th of April. Others may have obtained 

 an earlier start, but they never arrive 

 here for any waste of time. Each indi- 

 vidual bulb has its own quality and some 

 are earlier than others. Particularly is 

 this so with the Bermuda type. There is 

 usually one end of a house warmer than 

 the other or you have a still warmer 

 position to srive them, so you should not 

 delay in L'ivint' the li.Tfkward plants a 

 still "in,!.. i.iii|M i;,iiii. . You have now 

 two li i:i i- !■ I'i ilii-. and it is easier 

 done III I lia I 1 iinr 1 1 III n 1 1, ling it all in the 



last 



fks. 



The Bermuda lilies are always in time 

 or there is no excuse in their being late, 

 but Easter (April 7th) being rather 

 early the large bulbs forced for that date 

 will by no means want anything but a 

 good warm house. So much depends on 

 weather it is impossible to give definite 

 time, and two weeks bright weather end 

 of March will do more to hasten flower- 

 ing than a month of cold, cloudy 

 weather. 



The lily lasts in flower so well that it 

 is much better to be on the early side. 

 We have often thought that people 

 would be satisfied with two flowers open 

 and three or four buds to come, but the 

 great majority are not. They want a 

 show. For church purposes, where most 

 of them go, this is reasonable and 

 proper, but for a present you would 

 think they preferred a plant that would 

 longest be in flower, but it is not so ex- 

 cept in a very few instances. So my 

 humble advice is, be in time and have a 

 little time to spare. 



The Bermuda lilies have with us 

 just about the average number of former 

 years that are diseased and useless, yet 

 if you lose 50 per cent and have the 

 sense to throw out the diseased plants 

 the moment you detect it, tliey are yet 

 as profitable as anything we grow, for 

 they do not, compared with the price, oc- 

 cupy much space on the bench and are 

 all out of the way in time for most of 

 our bedding plants. The lilies, particu- 

 larly the Brrniudas, are often seen with 



the tip of every leaf brown. I have 

 never heard a satisfactory explanation 

 of the cause. 



Nothing is more troubled with the 

 green aphis than the young, crowded 

 leaves of the lily and sufficient fumiga- 

 tion to kill them down among the 

 crowded leaves would be more smoke 

 than is healthy for any green leaf. 

 While a weekly smoke will easily keep 

 down the green fly on any expanded 

 leaves it is much better to rely on an ap- 

 plication of tobacco water tO' destroy 

 those that are deep down in the crown of 

 leaves and buds. If you use the Rose 

 Leaf Extract dilute it 75 to one of water. 

 If the Nikoteen, then dilute 200 to one. 

 You will often see a lily bloom twisted, 

 "busted" and distorted on a perfectly 

 healthy plant and it is usually the first 

 flower on the stem. This I believe is 

 caused by the puncture of the aphis 

 when the bud was a very small afTair. 



Azaleas. 



The generally mild winter we have 

 been having is bringing along the Easter 

 azaleas rather earlier than is desired. 

 This is the case with that splendid va- 

 riety Mme. Van der Cruysscn and the 

 good white Niobe. Azaleas that you 

 grew last summer can be easier con- 

 trolled, but there is something about 

 the change of climate or the conditions 

 they are subjected to in the sea voyage 

 that starts the buds, both leaf and 

 flower. 



I have often reminded you that if you 

 want to sell them this spring and want 

 a fine show of flowers you must keep the 

 young leaf growth pinched off or it will 

 grow at the expense of the flower. You 

 must do this and in a week or two they 

 will show a great inclination to be send- 

 ing out their young growths. Now this 

 very important plant difl'ers entirely 

 from the lilies in the condition our cus- 

 tomers want it. They know that an 

 azalea that is entirely out in flower will 

 soon have many flowers dropping and I 

 have noticed they repeatedly ask for a 

 plant that has flowers enough to be at- 

 tractive and yet has buds to open. 



Now when once in full bloom they arc 

 difficult to keep in good order and color. 

 We have had 200 plants in a cellar or 



basement for 10 days before Easter and 

 although not a loss they were poor stuff 

 compared with those in the greenhouse. 

 Now is the time to do the retarding 

 with the varieties that you think will be 

 too early. A cold pit will do, or any 

 place that will not actually freeze. I 

 know from observation that our plants 

 of some of the varieties will be too 

 early if kept in the greenhouse in a 

 night temperature of 45 to 50 and it's 

 much better for them now to be put into 

 a low temperature than when showing 

 color. 



Geraniums. 

 There is sure to be as big a demand as 

 ever and in some localities a still greater 

 for the ever popular geranium. The 

 plants we shifted from a 2-inch to a 3- 

 inch at New Year's will now give us a 

 cutting from the top. Don't destroy the 

 plant for a cutting, but if you have two 

 good eyes you have enough for a good 

 plant. Pot these cuttings firmly in 2- 

 inch pots. When I say firmly I mean 

 get your thumb and finger down as a 

 wedge so that the soil is solid around 

 the base of the euttini.' lliai is im- 

 portant. They makr 1. mm ]ilanti than 

 when put in the san.l ani ii - inuali loss 

 trouble. W^e stand tlu-i mt tings on a 

 light bench and give them one good 

 soaking and after that we don't wgiter 

 again till they are decidedly dry. These 

 young plants if grown right along and 

 shifted as soon as rooted make excellent 

 bedding plants by the middle of May. 

 William Scott. 



A VISIT TO KEW. 



Vice-president Benjamin P. Ware, 

 of the Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety, Boston, recently read a paper be- 

 fore the society on "A Visit to Kew Gar- 

 dens and Hampton Court." He said in 

 part: 



Kew Garden was originally a private 

 fruit and vegetable garden of seventeen 

 acres, belonging to the Prince of Wales, 

 the father of George III., who began to 

 improve it as a botanical garden and 

 pleasure ground in 1730. It has received 

 additions from time to time, so that at 

 present it contains 270 acres. It became 

 public in 1840, and was placed under 

 the control of Her Majesty's office of 

 public works, with an annual appropria- 

 tion for its maintenance of £32,650, or 

 $163,250. It is -said to be the finest and 

 most complete botanical collection and 

 arboretum in the world. As for tree 

 planting, it can hardly be excelled. 



Kew Garden is accessible by steamboat, 

 omnibus or steam railroad. It is seven 

 miles from the center of London; the 

 surface is undulating, with carriage 

 drives around and through the grounds; 

 with broad graveled walks in various 

 directions, opening long vistas through 

 well-grown trees — some in rows, but gen- 

 erally irregularly planted with plenty of 

 room for the full development of each 

 tree. Every variety of tree, shrub and 

 herbaceous plant is plainly labeled. It 

 was intended that every variety that will 

 grow in that climate should be repre- 

 sented in its very best possible condi- 

 tion, and as the winters in England are 

 much milder than ours in New England, 

 many more varieties may be grown there 

 than here. 



It is very delightful when traveling in 

 a strairge land to meet anyone from 

 your own country, even though an entire 

 stranger at home, and I found it even 

 so to sec in this collection of specimens 



