144 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



JULY 13, 1899. 



shows unmistakable evidence of being 

 dry. The sides of a bench often need 

 water when the center is plenty wet 

 enough. Briefly, watering is just a 

 case of care and common sense, no 

 matter whether a bench contains roses, 

 mums, violets or anything else. 



Pot plants need lots of looking after 

 on a hot day to keep them watered, 

 and it is often necessary to give them 

 a ram round the sides once or twice 

 after potting, as the soil parts com- 

 pany with the pot. When this happens 

 if it is not attended to the water runs 

 all down the sides of the pot, leaving 

 the ball dust dry. 



I think I mentioned before how much 

 pots are benefited by being plunged in 

 coal ashes, old tan or some other such 

 material to keep them from drying out. 

 All plants should be got into their final 

 shift now, as soon as possible; the 

 specimens into the large sizes and the 

 small single stem stuff into 6-inch 

 pots. Probably the small stuff suffers 

 most of any in a dry time because 



their root area is so small that you 

 almost need to stand over them with 

 the hose to keep them in a soft grow- 

 ing condition. Keep the surface of the 

 soil in the benches stirred to keep the 

 weeds down and the soil sweet. The 

 same rule applies to plants put out in 

 the open ground. It is no use working 

 up a spasmodic interest in your plants 

 about September when the flower buds 

 are forming; the only way to be suc- 

 cessful is to pay attention to every lit- 

 tle detail right from the start, and al- 

 ways do things when they need doing. 

 Never let your plants get eaten up with 

 fly before you begin to fumigate, or 

 have the plants lying all over the 

 bench before you begin staking. The 

 mum loves to be fussed with, and 

 while few plants will stand so much 

 abuse, none certainly give such a re- 

 sponse to care and trouble expended on 

 them. "What is worth doing at all is 

 worth doing well." applies with fifteen 

 different kinds of emphasis in growing 

 chrysanthemums. BRIAN BORU. 



Azaleas. 



If your azaleas that are plunged out 

 in the ground or in frames are drying 

 out very fast a mulching on the sur- 

 face will not only help them to keep a 

 more even moisture, but it will greatly 

 assist them in forming wood and buds 

 for next year. It will also be of great 

 benefit to metrosideros, acacias, hy- 

 drangeas, or any plants that are car- 

 ried over summer in pots; but of es- 

 pecial value will it be to the azaleas. 

 Half an inch of sheep manure will be 

 good for the purpose, but if that is 

 not available use cow manure that is 

 not too fresh, to which add some bone 

 meal; the quantity is not of great con- 

 sequence, you can't very well overdo 

 it as the bone does not come in con- 

 tact with the roots. 



An Insect Pest. 

 We are very much troubled here, and 

 doubtless we are not alone, with a 

 small, dun-colored moth, which, when 

 resting on the wall, is a perfect tri- 

 angle with the sides about half an 

 inch long. I sent specimens of this 

 pest to an entomologist, but got no re- 

 ply. It is one of the worst enemies 

 we have. It lays its eggs on the under 

 side of the leaves of many plants, in 

 fact it is an omniverous vegetarian, 

 but has a special liking for chrysan- 

 themums. The egg is of course micro- 

 scopical in size, but soon becomes a 



worm half an inch long, then going 

 into the cocoon state to begin again its 

 cycle of existence. While in the worm 

 state it eats up and disfigures many 

 plants. Its sole virtue is that it will 

 devour the leaves of the common dock, 

 but as we don't produce a sufficient 

 number of docks our Ivory and Berg- 

 mann suffer. 



Destroying the moths at night does 

 some good and hand picking the 

 worms is sure death to those you dis- 

 cover, but tedious. We find that for 

 the chrysanthemums syringing with 

 Paris green and extract of tobacco is 

 the only way to get rid of them, and 

 it ought to be done every two weeks 

 through the season. In 30 gallons of 

 water we put % lb. of Paris green and 

 1 gallon of the Rose Leaf extract. The 

 tobacco may have no effect on the 

 worm, but it is greasy and sticky and 

 makes the solution adhere to the 

 leaves. I have tried the same solution 

 on asters in the field that are being 

 eaten by a small fly and with good ef- 

 fect. This is very much like the mix- 

 ture that is being used to destroy the 

 worm of the tussock moth, which is 

 now destroying the appearance of 

 thousands of our fine shade trees, par- 

 ticularly the horse chestnut and elm. 



Hollyhocks. 



The end of this month is an excel- 

 lent time to sow seeds of many hardy 



perennials, including hollyhocks. From 

 the difficulty in obtaining good plants 

 of hollyhocks this spring they must 

 have been in great demand, and why 

 not? What is there for a suburban 

 villa or country place, or against a 

 wall or fence in the city, that will com- 

 pare with it for stately beauty? The 

 dahlia may be more delicate in form, 

 but it is more stiff and formal, and 

 where the hollyhock has the great ad- 

 vantage is that given sunlight, manure 

 and a stake to keep the winds from 

 breaking it down, it will do the rest. 

 Any one can grow a hollyhock, but it 

 takes a gardener's care and skill to 

 produce good dahlias. And where 

 water is scarce it is useless to try the 

 latter unless we get a rainy season. 



I think I can say without egotism 

 that some twenty-six years ago I grew 

 as fine hollyhocks as ever had the first 

 prize card attached to them, and with 

 most every shade of color. The seed 

 was sown early in August, and when 

 the first character leaf was developed 

 they were transplanted into a cold- 

 frame. In October they were putted 

 into 4-inch pots and kept in the cold- 

 frames till the end of November. Dur- 

 ing the very cold winter months they 

 were kept on a shelf in a very cool 

 greenhouse. In April, or as soon as 

 the ground was dry, they were plant- 

 ed out in a stiff clay into which a lot 

 of manure had been just dug. They 

 were at their best in July, many of 

 them being 8 feet high and 4 or 5 feet 

 through. They received no water ex- 

 cept the rain. If raising a lot of them 

 I could save some labor with about 

 the same results. I would plunge them 

 into some material and keep them in 

 the cold-frame all winter. 



To those raising thousands, and who 

 keep the plants in the field over win- 

 ter, the above method may seem cost- 

 ly, but you will find your customers 

 want a good effect quickly and are 

 willing to pay for it; and if they sell 

 well it is just as profitable and much 

 more so, to grow good hollyhocks 

 as good hydrangeas. 



Other Hardy Perennials. 



The best way to manage the hardy 

 perennials which many of your cus- 

 tomers will ask for in the spring is 

 to sow them in flats and when large 

 enough to handle transplant into cold- 

 frames that you can thoroughly pro- 

 tect from very hard freezing. If sown 

 in early August you will have them 

 in the frames by middle of Septem- 

 ber. Then they will have time to 

 make a good growth and be well estab- 

 lished before hard freezing comes, and 

 will be good plants to transplant to 

 their permanent quarters as soon as 

 the ground is dry in the spring. Choose 

 a place for the frames where water 

 will not lie during the winter thaws. 

 I meant to observe above that with 

 hollyhocks in particular be careful 

 where you obtain the seed. There is 

 much rubbish being offered as holly- 

 hock seed. Get the best strain you can 

 from the best houses and sow it in col- 

 ors. You will be sure to find some one 



