314 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



and leaves taken oft when disbudding 

 should be taken out of the house and 

 destroyed, and light and frequent fumi- 

 gation put in force. This has n ■ ef 



feet if applied during the earh morning, 

 before Bunrise, as the fumes fill the house 

 more evenly at that time than at anv 

 other. Fumigating every alternate day 

 till we begin to take our first cut will 

 make a sure job "t this, and will ill no 

 wav injure the plants. Once a week 

 afterwards will keep the stock .lean. 



\ii.t crops are ready to cut the means 

 (it destroying these pests become more 

 limited as persistent use of fumes of any 

 kind has a deleterious effect on the color 

 matter in the petals, bleaching them so 

 that however line the bud and stem may 

 t>e. their value i- destroyed, and conse- 

 quently our most strenuous efforts should 

 In- hum directed to their eradication, es- 

 pecially in the Beauty hqjjses, where the 

 ravages, if unchecked, are likely to cause 

 a financial loss, and where the chagrin 

 and worn consequent on their presence 

 add- more weight to the burden which i- 

 already heavy enough. Eibes. 



FUMIGATION METHODS. 



I have just read an article by Wm. 

 Scott, in a recent issue of the Review, 

 and have been very much interested in 

 hi- description of Mr. Marquisee's 

 method of burning tobacco dust. We 

 have given t hi- method a trial for some 

 months and have found it to lie very 

 effective in destroying both aphis raid 

 thrips. It must, however, be systemat- 

 ically done for we have found that once 

 these pests get a hold it is hard to rid 

 the houses of them by this met!, ml. or 

 in fact, by any method we have tried. 



There are a few points in connection 

 with this method which have not been 

 touched upon and these may also be of 

 interest. There is often something 

 lacking in the dust and we have found 

 that by moistening the dust slightly with 

 Rose Leaf, or some other good extract 

 of tobacco, that the fume- will be more 

 effective. 



In the construction of the pans we 

 have not found it necessary to rivet a 

 piei e on the end to hold them in a slant- 

 ing position; we merely bend back the 

 -trip cut from the bottom and then double 

 this with a hammer, and the extra work 

 of riveting can he dispensed with. 



In connection with both burning and 

 steaming tobacco stems, the addition 

 nf -nine extract is also of bene- 

 fit, as it adds to the strength. 

 I'.\ arranging a system of valves 

 so that steam can be carried through the 

 water pipes.and this steaming done before 

 the sun is up. is also a satisfactory 

 method and if good dust cannot be pro 



cured and g ! -Inn- arc available it 



will be worthy of a trial. In this ease 

 we use narrow boxes about three feet 



in depth and h\ an- of a -leu I ho 



introduce the steam into the hut'., mi of 

 the box, from each faucet. We use six 

 boxes for each 300-foot House and allow 

 I lir -team to completely till the ln.i -e. 

 which requires from ten to twenty min- 

 utes, depending on the steam pressure. 

 The tobacco in these boxes should be 

 fresh at least every other time they are 

 used. 



Of the two met hods w e .1 re now 11-- 

 ing the pans and dust by preference. 

 and will 11.1 doubt a- long a- we can get 

 good dust. 



W. R. FlERSOX. 



EASTER LILIES IN THE U. S. 



In his pamphlet on growing Easter 

 lilu- from -cc.l. George W. Oliver, the 

 novel 11 mi 11 1 expert, -ivs that for some 

 year- efforts have been made to cultivate 

 the lily in the southeastern states, but it 

 I, a- not been demonstrated that, with 

 the methods used, it can be grown to 

 compete with the foreign product. The 

 cultivation of the lily in the southern 

 states 1,;,- evidently been conducted with 

 a view to producing bulbs which would 

 ripen in July, or early enough to com- 

 pete with the Bermuda grown product. 

 So far, practically nothing has been done 

 in experimental work with a view to 

 giving the bulbs the most favorable con- 

 ditions to develop, leaving out of consid- 

 eration altogether early ripening for 

 forcing the following fall. It is the in- 

 tention of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture to work with this end in view, not 

 only in the south, hut in the middle and 

 northern states and also in the west. 

 A knowledge of the proper time to plant 

 the bulbs in the various sections of the 

 country in order to produce ;, bulb of 

 maximum size in as short a time a- pos 

 sible but in a thoroughly ripe condi- 

 tion before being haivc-ted is most im- 

 portant and this knowledge is to be 

 gained only by carefully conducted trials 

 Every florist who is interested should 

 experiment in a small way to ascertain 

 how the bulbs will succeed out of doors 

 in his section. 



The soil problem does not present 



di\ weather this is found to be an ex- 

 cellent provision for supplying the grow- 

 ing roots with moisture until a fresh 

 supply is received from rains and until 

 the roots penetrate deeply into the 

 ground. In trials of this nature the 

 bulbs should be allowed to stay in the 

 ground as long as possible after the 

 tops decay. They should be harvested 

 just before growth would commence 

 again, because interference that tends 

 to cause premature decay near the base 

 of the bulb provides ready means for the 

 ingress of fungi and bacteria. 



Batches of lilies for experimental 

 work in ascertaining localities favorable 

 to the production of bulbs should be 

 planted late or early, according to the 

 particular section of the country in 

 which the experiment is to be conducted. 

 In the north it may he considered safe 

 to put them in the ground during the 

 latter half of September. Farther south 

 the planting should be delayed so that 

 there may be no danger of the growth 

 showing above ground previous to freez- 

 ing weather. 



In the north, as hard freezing weather 

 approaches, the ground in which the 

 bulbs are planted should have a heavy 

 mulch of such a nature as to be easily 

 removed in spring. The mulch will serve 

 several purposes; it will help to keep 

 the soil around the bulb at an equable 

 temperature and prevent rapid thawing 

 and freezing at and near the surface of 

 the soil. Throughout the south, es- 

 pecially in the districts within the frost 

 belt, the mulch need not be heavy, and 

 should consist of half decayed leaves or 

 very old manure, so that there will ex- 

 ist no necessity for its removal when 

 the growths are making their way 

 through the soil. It should not be ap- 

 plied too soon, as there is then a danger 

 of the soil being kept too warm, thus en- 

 couraging the shoots to push above the 

 soil before the advent of cold weather. 

 In all cases a mulch should be spread 

 over the soil during hot, dry weather. 



So far as the requirements of the 

 lilies are understood, correct conditions 

 would not be supplied by repeated cul- 

 tivation between the rows. These con- 

 ditions could be secured best by a system 

 of mulching to keep the sun from warm- 

 ing the soil too much near the surface 

 or else by the substitution of some kind 

 of .1 shade crop to protect the soil from 

 the sun's rays. This crop would, of 

 course, have to he of such a nature as 

 not to rob the soil of too much of the 

 food and moisture necessary for the 

 growth of the lilies. 



Again, the bulbs may be grown in 

 bed-, a- in the Bermudas, and close 

 enough together to shade the ground to 

 a certain extent. In any event, .the cool 



Greenhouse Establishment of August Swanson, St. Paul, Minnesota. 



