FEBRUARY 22. 1900. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



347 



Vase of "666 " exhibited at Buffalo, with some good sized blooms in the other vases around it. 



plant.s. but usually the femalf mo:h 

 finds her way into the house through 

 open ventilators. They are on the 

 wins all the fall, especially on cloudy 

 days and late in the afternoon. Like 

 the cutworm moth, they are able to 

 lay two or three hundred eggs; hence 

 one fertile moth can very thoroughly 

 distribute eggs to all parts of the 

 liouse. 



The best means of combating either 

 or both of the above pests is to hunt 

 for the caterpillars at night with lan- 

 tern, and hand-pick them. Although 

 some have recommended the use of 

 Paris green, it is impossible to get 

 enough poison on the buds of the car- 

 nation to kill the worms. After the 

 cutworms get too large to climb, a 

 poisoned bait, made by mixing one 

 part green arsenite with fifteen parts 

 of middlings or dry bran, can be used 

 to advantage. This should be dis- 

 tributed in small heaps around the 

 plants where the cutworms are at 

 work. 



THE WHITP: grub. As far as 

 known, the white grub never occurs 

 in the forcing-house, except a.s they 

 are carried in with the soil. The only 

 way to get rid of them is to dig them 

 out. 



THE ROSE-LEAF TVER (Cacoecia 

 rosaceana), and the "'Chrysanthemum 

 Leaf Skeletonizer (Phlyctaenia ferru- 

 galis), sometimes occur on carnations 

 where roses and chrysanthemums 

 have been grown in the same house. 

 These pests will attack the carnations 

 after the other plants have been re- 

 moved. When thev are found work- 



ing in a house, hand-picking must be 

 resorted to. 



A small green worm, probably a 

 tertricid. which ties a number of 

 leaves together with a web. is some- 

 times cai ried fiom the field into the 

 house v\ith plants. The adult of this 

 worm has not been bred, hence its 

 scientific name is not known, nor do 

 we know what other plant it feeds 

 upon in the field. Thus fir it ha? 

 been gotten rid of easily by hand-pick- 

 ing. 



A fly. about one-half as large as the 

 house fly. is frequently seen in car- 

 nation houses during the winter. This 

 has been reported as feeding in the 

 maggot stage on the roots of the car- 

 nation. I have seen flies very numer- 

 ous in houses, but have been unable 

 thus far to prove that they feed in 

 the larval or maggot stage on the liv- 

 ing roots of the plants. It seems more 

 probable that they feed on the decay- 

 ing roots only. 



WHITE ANTS, OR TERMITES. 

 (Termes flavipes.) This pest is apt 

 to occur in old-style houses in whiih 

 the woodwork has been allowed to be- 

 come partially rotten, especially if 

 worm-eaten locust posts are used to 

 support the benches. White ants have 

 the peculiar habit of keeping away 

 from daylight. They always make 

 covered runways, and usually find 

 their way to the bench through a rot- 

 ten or worm-eaten post. Houses that 

 have brick or stone foundations and 

 iron posts for the benches are not 

 troubled with "White Ants," unless 

 the latter are accidentally carried into 



the hou.-c ill ilir- Mill II I liiii^ 1 l.i I !! • 

 ly happens. When once established iu 

 a bouse, the only method of getting 

 I'lil of them is to throw out the soil 

 ■uid remove all rotten woodwork. 



Crcosoteji and other wood preKcrv- 

 iis can be used on the posts and bol- 

 icinis of the benches, but such 8ul>- 

 .■^lances should be use<l with ciu-e on 

 I lie out-sides of the benches. 1 have 

 : ecu houses of chrysanthemums se- 

 verely injure<l by fumes given oft by 

 '•\<)od preservers. Probably this would 

 only occur where such treated wotxl is 

 subjected to considerable heat from 

 too close contact to pipes. 



KILLER'S ROSE BEETLE. I Uiink 

 111 is insect has never been reported as 

 feeding upon carnations. In October 

 of isyy 1 received spe.imens of this 

 beetle from Little Falls. N. Y., ac- 

 companied with the statement that 

 tlicy were feeding on carnations. At 

 fust it appeared a difflcult matter to 

 aci ount for their pre.5ence in the 

 carnation house, and at that season of 

 the year. Inquiry developed the fact 

 that in lS!)7-98 the hoiLse had con- 

 tained roses in solid beds. During the 

 fall of 189S the ruses were taken out, 

 six inchc'S of the old dirt removed and 

 replaced with new soil, after which 

 carnations were planted in the beds. 

 In 1899 benches were built over the 

 old beds without removal of soil from 

 latter. 



When first noticed the beetles were 

 always found feeding on the plants 

 along the margin of the benches. 

 I'robably the beetles fed during the 

 grub stage on the roots of the roses, 

 tliis being their proper food plant. 

 In 1899, when they is.^ued as adult 

 beetles, they found nothing but carna- 

 tions to feed upon. From all reports 

 they were satisfied with the change. 

 It was found that the beetles fed prin- 

 cipally at night and hid away under 

 the foliage of the plants during the 

 day. They were gotten rid of by hand- 

 picking at night. 



When the reading of the paper vras 

 concluded, Mr. Scott asked if the for- 

 mula given tor hydrocyanic acid gas 

 (Which was much weaker than another 

 he had seen recommended) was just as 

 effective when the gas was left in the 

 greenhouse over night as the stronger 

 gas was when left in for only a short 

 lime. Prof. Sirrine answered that it 

 was. Mr. Scott was glad to know this, 

 as it made the use of the gas easier. 

 He had found it quite a task to open 

 the ventilators fiom the outside so 

 as to allow the gas to escape at the 

 expiration of the 30 minutes usually 

 allowed, and it would simplify mat- 

 ters materially when the gas could be 

 allowed to gradually dissipate and en- 

 able the operator to open the venti- 

 lators from the inside in the morning. 

 The professor thought this would be 

 safe if the doors were first left open 

 for a while before a workman entered, 

 but took occasion to again warn his 

 hearers that the gas was deadly and 

 that no chances should be taken. 



