October 10, 1901. 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



575 



Bed of Grasses at the Pan-American Exposition. Exhibit of Henry A. Dreer. 



turning them out of the pot and examin- 

 ing the ball; 



Ventilating ought to be strictly at- 

 tended to. When the weather will per- 

 mit a small crack kept on all night keeps 

 the air sweet and healthy and gives the 

 foliage a hardness that cannot otherwise 

 be obtained; it also prevents moisture 

 from condensing on the leaves. It is 

 false economy to shut down tight to save 

 a few loads of coal. In the morning the 

 ventilation ought to be increased grad- 

 ually as the day warms and reduced 

 with the same care in the afternoon. 



Mildew. 



Any sudden change of temperature is 

 detrimental to the rose, causing a check 

 to the growth which makes them very 

 susceptible to the attacks of disease and 

 other pests, one of the first to show up 

 under such conditions being mildew. This 

 vegetable parasite (the germs of which 

 are ever present in the house and ready 

 to embrace the first favorable condition 

 to germinate) appears in the form of a 

 minute fiiiiL'iia. the filaments of which 

 peiMiiiir !|h |,,,r,.s of the leaves, inter- 

 iu|iiiiij ir-pii,iiiuu and robbing the 

 phiiii it it- |iii r^: if not checked in its 

 first >tage it soon creates havoc with 

 tlic foliage, ending in the ruin of the 

 plant. 



A dusting of flowers of sulphur is a 

 good preventive; this is applied by blow- 

 ing on with a bellows. The best instru- 

 ment I have seen for this purpose is Me- 

 Michael's Peerless blower; it distributes 

 evenly and expeditiously. But the best 

 preventive is to induce a good, vigorous 

 growth by giving proper attention to 

 ventilating and watering, stock of this 

 quality in an ordinary tight house be- 

 ing nearly immune. 



If once mildew has got a hold in a 

 hcuse dusting has little or no effect in 

 checking its ravages. Fumes of sulphur 

 properly applied will soon remedy the 

 evil. Two parts of sulphur and one part 

 air -IjiK.mI IIuk. mixed with water to 

 tlic :> ii-i-irn. y ,,f paint and put on the 

 hciitiu^ I'il"^ •'' distances of a yard or 

 so a|iail, ami the house shut tight for 

 an hour and a half during the coldest 

 part of the night; this done once or twice 



a week will soon stop it. If steam is 

 used it should not be put on the hottest 

 pipes as the sulphur will fuse; the re- 

 turn pipe will generally raise all the 

 fumes necessary. 



Sulphur is sometimes mixed with lin- 

 seed oil and painted on the pipes. This 

 is a permanent and easier way of having 

 fumes in the house, but this practice 

 cannot be too strongly condemned. Apart 

 from the disagreeable smell raised in the 

 house the oil retains the sulphur too 

 long, giving oil fumes every time the 

 pipes are heated, and as sulphur fumes 

 are very destructive to plant life, no 

 rose can long retain its health under 

 such conditions. 



Careful examination of stock every 

 day being a most important duty, eveiy 

 young grower ought to cultivate the 

 habit of close observation. It will save 

 him many an hour's hard work and 

 worry, as'trouble detected in its earliest 

 stages is so much easier to contend with. 

 Red spider and green fly will be sure 

 to put in an appearance and if not de- 

 tected and exterminated will soon give 

 lots of trouble. EiBES. 



PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION. 



The grass bed now illustrated is the 

 exhibit of Henry A. Dreer. It is of an 

 irregular shape, about 100 feet long. For 

 the past two months it has been extreme- 

 ly handsome and much admired. It 

 seems to me that in large grounds you 

 cannot very well overdo it with these 

 beautiful grasses and if constantly be- 

 fore the eye they are a relief to our more 

 showy or gaudy colored flowers. They 

 are, of course, more suited as a back- 

 ground than in the center of a lawn. 



This bed. as will be seen, is near a 

 path which borders the canal. They 

 were all planted this spring about the 

 last week in May. The outer row is pen- 

 nisctura. There are clumps of Eulalia 

 japonica variegata, Eulalia japonica ze- 

 brina, Eulalia gracillimum univatata, 

 Arundo donax and Arundo donax vari- 

 egata, Erianthus ravennfe (often called 

 American Pampas grass). They were 



])lanted luider the direction of Mr. J. D. 

 Eisele, and the effect is most pleasing. 



The aquatic basin here illustrated has 

 been a success. It is situated immediate- 

 ly south of the Liberal Arts Building, a 

 portion of which is seen in the back- 

 ground. The basin is 120 feet in diam- 

 eter. In the photograph there was no 

 chance to include all of it. Great dif- 

 ficulty was encountered up to the first 

 of July. On four occasions we found 

 the basin dry, and only saved the grow- 

 ing nympheas by the use of a wagon load 

 of Florida moss, which was thrown over 

 the plants, and the men were kept with 

 a hose keeping the moss damp. The last 

 time this occurred the nympheas had 

 made considerable growth, and it was 

 a sad setback for the plants. From 

 early in July the basin has not leaked 

 more than one inch in twenty-four hours, 

 so very little water is needed to keep it 

 up to the proper level. 



Tlirough July, August and September 

 the temperature of the w^ater was 70 to 

 To degrees. There is three feet of water 

 from 111,' li.ill-iii t.i the nxniln-.v. The 

 boxr- . ■ iiliuiiiirj llie ill, ml- ".-n- made 



ei.nlll IrrI -,|U:,lr :.ll.l Illl.'rH UhlirS deCp. 



Tills leiL iiciiiy iuu ictt uf ualcr above 

 the surface of the soil. The nelumbiums 

 are planted in brick basins, irregular 

 ovals. That was done to keep the roots 

 from spreading beyond their allotted 

 bounds. Each box of nympheas con- 

 tained from eight to twelve plants, ac- 

 cording to the strength of their growth. 

 We have often counted fifty open flow- 

 ers on some of the groups. On account 

 of so much cold water having to be put 

 into the basin, the nelumbiums were 

 very slow to flower, but during the month 

 of September they flowered profusely. 



Before I mention the varieties con- 

 tained in this beautiful group I would 

 like to say that had I been consulted I 

 could have suggested a much cheaper 

 way of making the lily basins. For in- 

 stance, excavate but fifteen inches, and 

 then where each group of nympheas 

 were to be planted excavate another fif- 

 teen inches and fill in w-ith the compost. 

 In this case the material from the ex- 



