1208 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



April 28, 1904. 



and quality to the flowers, but should be 

 used sparingly. 



' ' The geranium is the oldest, best 

 known and most popular of all bedding 

 plants. It is easy of cultivation and 

 will stand more hard usage than any 

 other, therefore it is often despised 

 and put in 'any old place' and neglected, 

 and then abused because it does not 

 flower well. If given a good location 

 with proper environments it will reP^J" 

 the gardener better than any other bed- 

 der Though the geranium does fairly 

 well in a partially shaded location it 

 should, if possible, have the full benefit 

 of the sun. Plant them about a foot 

 apart and give plenty of water. Keep 

 them weU watered through the summer 

 and all faded flowers pinched off and 

 there will be a mass of bloom aU sum- 

 mer and fall, till frost comes. 



"The best kind of geraniums to plan„ 

 are young stock which are propagated by 

 cuttings from September to February. 

 They are vigorous, healthy, stocky and 

 will grow lapidly. They have the finest 

 flowers and foliage and bloom more free- 

 ly than old stock. Old, saved-over plants 

 that have been stowed away in the cellar 

 all winter or in some window exposed 

 to the hot, dry atmosphere of the house 

 never give satisfaction as bedding plants. 

 They are too large and lean-looking, 

 bearing small clusters of small flowers. 

 They have but few leaves, which are usu- 

 ally small and far apart. If one cuts 

 them back before planting it will be 

 half the summer before one gets any good 

 from them. The only place where an 

 old 'saved-over' can be used is in an 

 urn out in the cemetery. The best varie- 

 ties for bedding are, among the doubles, 

 S. A. Nutt, a bright crimson, and very 

 thriftv grower and great bloomer; Brii- 

 ant, a scarlet, a good, standard variety, 

 but rapidly giving place to the Alphonse 

 Bicard, a very bright vermilion scarlet; 

 Beaute Poitevine, a salmon pink shaded 

 very light at the outer edge of petals; 

 Jean Viaud, a soft,' pure pink; Frances 

 Perkins and Montmort; La Favorite, 

 the standard double white. 



"There are but few single geraniums 

 used for bedding.- The best are Queen 

 of the West and General Grant, scar- 

 lets. Nearly all the whites are good. 

 There is one single geranium that stands 

 high up in the list of bedders, E. G. Hill, 

 a salmon pink. No bed of geraniums is 

 complete without a border and I know 

 of no plant better than the pretty little 

 silver leaved geranium, Mme. Salleroi. 



"The next in importance is the coleus. 

 Though they do well in a shady place, 

 in order to bring out the beautiful colors 

 they must have the full benefit of the sun 

 and plenty of water. They are propa- 

 gated by cuttings in March and April 

 and grow very rapidly, especially as the 

 weather grows warmer, for they are a 

 hot weather plant. 



"I put cannas and caladinms together 

 as caladiums are seldom used except with 

 cannas. A bed of cannas with two or 

 three castor beans or . an African ba- 

 nana in the center and surrounded 

 with caladiums is indeed a very fine bed. 

 It gives a tropical appearance and a 

 cooling effect in hot weather. When ona 

 has a large lavrn they are one of the 

 finest beds to be had." 



in Great Britain will be of interest. 

 The extract is from an article in the 

 Gardeners' Magazine for April 12, 1902: 



"During February and March the 

 work of dahlia propagation is in full 

 swing. The large ground roots kept 

 through the winter, and such pot' roots 

 as may be required of some varieties, 

 are half buried in soil over pits in propa- 

 gating houses, through which pass hot- 

 water pipes. Growths are thrown up 

 from a circle of eyes formed round the 

 base of the previous year's main stem. 

 As soon as they are three inches or so 

 in length, they are taken off and placed 

 round the sides of small pots in a pre- 

 pared suitable compost, plunged in a 

 heated dung or hot-water frame, where 

 they make roots in from three to five 

 weeks, according to the time of year; 

 they are then potted singly in thumb 

 pots, returned to a close frame till root 

 action commences, gradually hardened 

 off, and in April placed in a cold frame 

 for the execution of orders. 



"It is usual for the green plants un- 

 sold or retained to be stood close to- 

 gether on an ash bottom in a cold 

 frame; they are abundantly watered 

 overhead in dry weather, and in the 

 autumn cut down, turned out of the 

 pots, and dried; they are then known 

 as 'pot roots,' and are very useful for 

 sending long distances during the winter 

 months, and for the execution of orders 

 at that season of the year." 



DAHLIA PROPAGATION. 1 "" 

 In view of the recent discussion with 

 regard to dahlia propagation, the fol- 

 lowing from the pen of Richard Dean, 

 descriptive of "The Dahlia Industry" 



SOMETHING FOR THE STREET. 



Will you or some of your readers kind- 

 ly make some helpful suggestions. A 

 customer wants a row of plants out near 

 the curb on a prominent street. Cannas 

 were tried last year but were not en- 

 tirely satisfactory. Direct sun does not 

 reach them tUl about 11 a. m. and be- 

 tween 3 and 4 p. m. they are in the 

 shade of trees on the other side of the 

 street. Something showy without being 

 very elaborate or expensive is wanted. 

 What will serve the purpose! Also, is 

 the water hyacinth safe or satisfactory 

 for an aquarium? We get many helpful 

 hints from the Review and always look 

 through the classified list when in need 

 of plants. F. A. F. 



From the limited amount of sunlight 

 that this row of plants would get it is 

 not easy to suggest any shovry flowering 

 plants. It is too shady for geraniums or 

 salvias, and, as cannas were tried, it is 

 supposed that something rather tall is 

 wanted. Why not plant a row of some 

 free-flowering herbaceous plant? Rud- 

 beckia Golden Glow, the dwarf double 

 sunflower, Tritoma PfitzerU, or still bet- 

 ter, the perennial phlox, either of these 

 would make a fine show and last a long 

 while in bloom. 



Now, I can scarcely imagine a row of 

 flowering plants "out near the curb" 

 of the street; that would be outside the 

 property line and would, I should imag- 

 ine, have a ginger bread sort of appear- 

 ance unless the whole street was so em- 

 bellished. If this row of plants is put 

 there to define the property line, as 

 fences are, then I should decidedly say 

 don't pnt either bedding or herbaceous 

 plants there, because they would be out 

 of place. Plant a row of the beautiful 

 little shrub, Berberis Thunbergi, pretty, 

 neat and attractive in flower, foliage and 

 fruit. Left to its own free growth it is 

 compact and graceful, or it can be kept 

 to a smaller or more formal shape with 

 shears. It is there all the year and far 



more pleasing, as well as suitable for the 

 position, than any of our summer-flower- 

 ing tender plants. 



The water hyacinth is all right for an 

 aquarium, but it is a most rampant 

 grower, as the conditions of the rivers 

 of Florida testify. As it spreads throw 

 away the older plants or it will soon 

 cover the entire surface of the water. It 

 is safe in every other way. W. S. 



HYDROCYANIC FUMIGATION. 



Results of Various Experiments. 



The most widely used insecticide for 

 greenhouse fumigation is tobacco in its 

 various forms. In many instances it is 

 without doubt the cheapest and safest 

 insecticide to use against plant lice and 

 a few other greenhouse insects. Its ef- 

 fectiveness, however, under the best con- 

 ditions is not great, as it requires re- 

 peated use at short intervals. Moreover, 

 it may cause serious injury to the plants. 

 In the case of violets it has been found 

 to be of only slight value against plant 

 lice working in the bud, and while it may 

 destroy the so-called green aphis when 

 exposed it is not effective in killing the 

 brown aphis. On the other hand, tobacco 

 may prove injurious to the foliage and 

 flowers, bringing on epidemics of spot. 

 Tobacco is also useless against scale in- 

 sects in general and mealy bugs. The de- 

 sirability of some insecticide as easy to 

 use as tobacco but more penetrating and 

 effective and less likely to injure plants 

 was apparent and became absolutely 

 necessary in our study of the diseases 

 of certain crops, write A. F. Woods and 

 P. H. Dorsett in their bulletin on the 

 use of hydrocyanic acid gas. 



Hydrocyanic acid gas since its intro- 

 duction by the United States Division 

 of Entomology in 1886 as a remedy 

 against scale insects of the orange has 

 proved of great value as an insecticide. 

 Previous to our experiments early in 1895, 

 though it had been occasionally tried in 

 greenhouses, hydrocyanic acid was not 

 recommended on account of its injurious 

 effects upon plants. As a result of a 

 series of careful experiments we found 

 that, as a rule, plants were less injured 

 by a short exposure to a relatively large 

 amount of gas than they were by a long 

 exposure to a relatively smaU amount. 

 On the other hand, a strong dose for a 

 short time was the most effective in kill- 

 ing insects. Different species and va- 

 rieties of plants, however, were found to 

 vary remarkably in their power of with- 

 standing the poison. This in many cases 

 appeared to depend upon the open or 

 closed condition of the breathing pores, 

 as well as upon peculiarities of the cell 

 contents. Fumigation an hour or two 

 after sundown, with the temperature as 

 low as practicable, was found to give 

 the best results. In all cases the foliage 

 must be perfectly dry or it may be in- 

 jured by the gas. In each case the 

 proper amount of gas to use and the 

 length of exposure must be determined 

 by experiment. It is impossible at pres- 

 ent to give a general rule applicable to 

 all plants in ail stages of development. 

 When the conditions are once determined 

 fl;ey must be strictly followed to insure 

 the g-reatest success. The cyanide, as well 

 as the gas made from it, is exceedingly 

 poisonous, and both must be used with the 

 trreatest care. 



TliO following are some of the crops 

 en vhich the gas has been successfully 



Ferns — For Davallia Mooreana infested 



