JULY 27, 1S99. 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



191 



Dracaena Lindenii. 



which add one-fourth pint of the 

 Rose Leaf extract of tobacco. Niko- 

 teen is more powerful and will kill the 

 fly quicker, and should be diluted wnh 

 water at least 200 times, but it hasn't j 

 the sticky qualities of the Rose Leaf, 

 which is a help in making the solu- 

 tion stick to the leaves, and unless 

 the solution sticks on the leaves it 

 won't reach the stomachs of the 

 "chewers." 



Some florists don't distinguish be- 

 tween their enemies the "chewers," 

 and their enemies the "suckers." The 

 worms are of course "chewers," and 

 when they eat the leaf they swallow 

 the dressing that you have kindly 

 spread for them. The "suckers" are 

 the aphides who can push their suck- 

 ing apparatus through a layer of paris 

 green with impunity and draw out the 

 juices of the plant. But the breathing 

 apparatus of the aphis cannot endure 

 the fumes of nicotine which they get 

 from the tobacco extract. Fumigat- 

 ing is the best of all where only the 

 aphis troubles you. All aphis will 

 succumb to it after two or at least 

 three smokings. 



Japan Lilies. 



The Japan lilies are just coming in 

 with us and very beautiful and use- 

 ful they are. They also want an occa- 

 sional smoking, for greenfly is very 

 fond of them. They are much better 

 when shaded and cool. 



The Tussock Moth. 

 In many of the cities of our land the 



shade trees have been sadly disfigured 

 by the attacks of the Tussock moth. 

 Perhaps, Mr. Florist, your customer 

 has sent to you for a remedy, as you 

 are the best informed man of his ac- 

 quaintance and it is somewhat in your 

 line. Tell him that to attempt to 

 spray a large elm and wet all its 

 leaves thoroughly is futile and ab- 

 surd. It can't be done without the aid 

 of a city steam Are engine, and if this 

 could be done there is no need of it. 



Send a boy up the trees to jar the 

 branches. The worms will fall at 

 once to the ground where you can kill 

 them, and if any escape they will at 

 once make a bee line (or rather worm 

 line) for the stems of the trees. The 

 same authority taught these short- 

 lived worms their first journey to the 

 tree stem that taught the humming 

 bird to build its tiny nest the counter- 

 part of that its parents built. A band 

 of cotton batting around the tree just 

 below the first branch will arrest 

 their ascent and they will soon go into 

 the cocoon state on the bark of the 

 tree where they are easily destroyed 

 by a rub with a wire brush. The 

 cotton batting is not a necessity but 

 it will help. The worms never go 

 high in the tree to spin their cocoons. 

 If this method was faithfully carried 

 out during the months of July, August 

 and September our cities would soon 

 be rid of this picturesque worm that 

 leaves our chestnuts and elms as if 

 they had been through a fire. 



WM. SCOTT. 



PALM SEEDLINGS. 



Would you be kind enough to let me 

 know how I should treat my kentia 

 seedlings as I have not much exper- 

 ience in this line. 



I sowed two months ago 5,000 Ken- 

 tia Belmoreana and Forsteriana in 

 boxes about 20 inches long and a part 

 of them are just coming up. Could I 

 leave them in boxes until a year from 

 now to save room? H. B. 



The kentia seedlings may be left in 

 the boxes for some months if neces- 

 sary, without much injury to the 

 plants unless they are quite close to- 

 gether. But in the latter case the 

 young plants will be liable to draw 

 up, and become rather spindly. 



The best practice with kentia seed- 

 lings is to pot them off into 2-inch or 

 2%-inch pots by the time the second 

 leaf is formed, using good, rich loam 

 for a compost, and placing them in 

 a shaded greenhouse where a night 

 temperature of 60 degrees can be 

 maintained during the winter. Do not 

 allow them to become very dry at any 

 time, and syringe freely every bright 

 day. 



Owing to the long and stiff roots 

 formed by most seedling palms it is 

 more convenient to use deep pots 

 when potting them off, many growers 

 using 2x3 inch pots for this purpose. 

 W. H. TAPLIN. 



ROSE NOTES. 



Insects are more numerous with us 

 this season than usual and if they are 

 not persistently hunted down do a 

 great amount of damage. Caterpillars 

 have given us a great deal of trouble. 

 It is aggravating to come into the 

 rose houses in the morning and find 

 that several colonies of these insects 

 have stripped the leaves from the best 

 shoots and eaten the buds, or have 

 lain up against some fine plump bud 

 which would otherwise have produced 

 a perfect specimen and chewed into 

 the side or the top off as though some 

 one had cut into it with a knife. Hand 

 picking is the only way to get rid of 

 them, but a preventive is to catch 

 every butterfly that appears and place 

 him in a collection, either in a case 

 or in a pile on the greenhouse walk 

 minus his head. 



The lively grasshopper will help 

 you to disbud a great deal of the 

 stock. He'll sit upon a tender shoot 

 about four inches from the end and 

 chew it near enough through for the 

 end to lop over, but his work is rarely 

 thorough, as the end usually hangs to 

 the stock; so with all others who do 

 not do their work properly, he should 

 be banished from the rose houses. 

 When you see a hopper don't let h'm 

 get away, but chase him relentlessly 

 till you capture and decapitate him. 



There is no excuse for red spider 

 now, as one can syringe every day and 

 oftener if necessary during this hot 

 bright weather. Thrip is causing a 

 great amount of damage in some 

 places. I see the effects of much of 



