rEIlllLARY 0. 1902. 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



347 



Erica Fragrans in Bloom for Christmas at the Establishment of Mr. Carl Hagenburger, 



West Mentor, Ohio. 



ERICA FRAGRANS. 



The accompanying engraving shows a 

 lot of pot plants of" heather (Erica fra- 

 grans) at the establisliment of ^Nlr. Carl 

 Hagenbnrger. West Mentor, Ohio, and is 

 from a photograph taken just before 

 Christmas. In response to our recpiest 

 for a description of liis method of grow- 

 ing this erica ilr. Hagenbnrger writes: 



"Erica fragrans in its growing season 

 in winter enjoys a cool house (tempera- 

 ture from 45 to 48 degrees), and fre- 

 quent syringing is required to keep 

 down rcii spider. In summer they should 

 be plunged outside in the open air and 

 in full sunlight, and should have a good 

 syringing twice a day. 

 ' "They should be brought inside as soon 

 as the "nights get cold, and if placed in 

 a house with a temjicrature of 50 to 55 

 degrees they will come in right for Christ- 

 mas. If wanted later in the season keep 

 in a cool, airy house till three weeks be- 

 fore they are wanted and if then brought 

 into a temperature of 55 to 58 they will 

 0])en fine."' 



THRIPS. 



Some time ago I advocated tlirougli 

 your columns the use of cayenne pepper 

 In exterminate thrips and gave direc- 

 tions as to tlie metliod of using it. Know- 

 ing it to be certain destruction to them, 

 I was somewhat disappointed to learn 

 that some growers had failed to derive 

 any benefit from its use. In one of the 

 trade journals I see that llr. M. S. 

 \'esey has been using it witli success. 

 ^Ir. Kellogg also informs me that he has 

 nearly overcome the pest by the same 

 means. By persisting with the pepper 

 success is sure to Ije attained. For a 

 considerable time I have been experi- 

 menting witli the view of finding some 

 quicker method of accomplishing their 

 destruction without doing the plants an 

 injury. 



Most growers have a prejudice against 

 tlie U'^e of kerosene because of its de- 

 structive qualities to plant life. If dif- 

 fused, as in the case of an emulsion, it 

 is one of tlie best insecticides extant. 

 If used in the following manner it will 

 destroy all the larvae in a few minutes. 

 Use one part rose soil and two parts leaf 

 mould, dry out all the moisture and 

 screen through wire mosquito netting, 

 UKiisteii with kerosene till it becomes 

 ineljiiw. ■.plead tliis tliin'y and evenly 



liver the l>ench and ruffle it lightly in 

 with the hand. This will not kill the 

 perfect insect liut will cause it to leave 

 the shelter of the mulch, and then an 

 nrdinniy smoking will reach it. This 

 (q)eratioii should be (hine during tlie late 

 afternoon and the house smoked iiuinedi- 

 ately afterwards. In the course of tiiree 

 or four days another generation will be 

 hatched out and a repetition of the dose 

 will then become necessary. 



To make certain that the labor will 

 not be in vain try one-quarter pound of 

 the compost on some part of the liencli 

 wliere the larviE are most plentiful; 

 watch them closely for a couple of min- 

 utes and note the result. There is not 

 the least danger of injury to eitlier 

 plants or bloom, EiBES, 



CARNATIONS. 



Varieties for Outdoor Blooming. 



Ill the Jan, -2?, issue of the Review 

 Mr. Haur says that Hill and Crocker are 

 I he iiest varieties of their color for our- 

 door summer bloom. We -have always 

 grown Scott and Fisher for that particu- 

 lar purpose, as he says all old timers do, 

 Crocker is a new variety with us and we 

 never tried to bloom it in the field, but 

 Hill lias been practically our only wdiite 

 for years except a seedling of our ow'u 

 which we consider even better and not 

 so liable to stem rot. But while Hill 

 grows well enough in the field the ttowers 

 soil too easily; even the dew spots them 

 to such an extent as to make them un- 

 salable. Are other growers troubled in 

 llie same way? L, G. 



In answer to L, G,'s inquiry regarding 

 carnations for sumnier blooming I would 

 say that we have experienced no trouble 

 with Flora Hill spotting unless they 

 were left on the plants too long and got 

 wet and dry several times before they 

 were picked. This, however, will be 

 found in most varieties out of doors and 

 most likely it is caused more by the hot 

 sun diirinrr the day than bv the dew at 

 uiglit. We' find Floia Hill by far the best 

 white summer bloomer up to date, and 

 would not think of going back to Mrs. 

 Fisher or ilcGowan. Louise C. Haettel 

 was another white variety we grew for 

 summer blooms several years ago. 



Scoff has for several vears been the 



main summer blooming pink variety, 

 and as far as quantity goes it would be 

 hard to beat, but the' blooms are small 

 and often too single to command a fair 

 price, I would not say positively that 

 E. Crocker will come into bloom quite as 

 early as Scott does, but it comes in quite 

 early enough to suit us. You can cut 

 lari;c (|naiitities of blooms from it by 

 August if you plant out strong plants 

 and only pinch them once soon after they 

 are potted out of the cutting bench. One 

 bloom of Crocker will make about three 

 Seotts, and it fully makes up in that 

 way what it may lack in numbers, ,, 



it seems to me that Dorothy ought to 

 make a fine summer bloomer, as it is so 

 very early and so free. The color should 

 a No be better in smnmer than it is in 

 winter. If you have anv' stock of it I 

 would recommend a trial of as many as 

 you can spare. 



Stem Rot. 



Is there any lotiim or spray to be used 

 as a iireventive of stemrot? Last year 

 we didn't lose a dozen plants out of 

 aliout (i.OdO with stemrot. This year 

 we have lost as many hundred, Usxially 

 with us it has confined its ravages to 

 Hill. This year it seems equally fond of 

 McGowan and Scott, Our own seed- 

 lings and the newer varieties seem to be 

 entirely free from the disease. We have 

 used that alleged sovereign remedy, air 

 -hiked lime, freely in the field and un- 

 der glass without any perceptible benefit. 

 \\'onld Bordeaux mixture be a good 

 filing to spray with? L. G. 



A. bad dose of stemrot at this time of 

 the year is about a- mean a thing to 

 liandle as 1 know of. The most essential 

 thing is to kee]) the plants as dry as 

 pcissible and esjiecially the stem, so there 

 must be very little syringing unless it is 

 absolutely necessary on account of red 

 s])ider or ^ome such reason. When water- 

 ing turn on the water so it will flow 

 from the hose without any force and run 

 the end of the hose between the rows just 

 above the soil and be careful that you 

 do not splash any water on the plants. 

 If the water will soak away ,without 

 lunning over to the plants it will be all 

 the better. The roots will get to it down 

 below, A good plan would be to make 

 a furrow about two inches wide and one 

 inch deep and only water in that. Ex- 

 amine your jilants and see if they have 

 been set in the -oil too deep and if so 

 you can scrape some of the soil away 

 from around the plant. Sprinkling lime 

 ov any other disinfectant will do no 

 good if the plants are set too low. 



The Boi'deaux mixture is a good solu- 

 tion to check all kinds of fungus and it 

 might help L. G,'s carnations. It ap- 

 pears to me from his statement ( that 

 they have had trouble with Flora Hill 

 several seasons and that now all the old 

 varieties are giving trouble) that their 

 sfCK'k is badly infested with the disease 

 and it would be advisable to burn up all 

 the old plants after the blooming season 

 is over and either buy young cuttings 

 this spring or else field-grown plants 

 next fall, thus changing his stock of all 

 the varieties that had any of the disease. 

 Also jilant no more carnations in the 

 field where they were planted in the last 

 five years or more, an entirely new field 

 would be the best place for them, Tlie 

 fungus is apt to remain in the soil for 

 -'everal years in a dormant condition, 

 ready to attack the plants at the nex^ 

 opportunity. That is where the benefit 

 of rotation in crops comes in and all 



