July 23. 1903. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



311 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



The Aster Beetle. 



One of the seasonable visitors of the 

 midsummer time is the aster bug — prop- 

 erly, of course, beetle — but the word bug 

 is sort of a generic name for every in- 

 sect or worm that attack* the vegetable 

 kingdom. And further, if you have a 

 strong and active idea on any subject 

 your friends say "You have a bug," and 

 if the ideas are numerous and somewhat 

 mixed ynu .uc then "bug house." so it's 

 quite a word. But to the point, or rath- 

 er the bug. A subscriber, H. A. C, asks 

 "What remedy is there for destroying 

 blister beetle, the black bug that destroys 

 asters, etc., that can be used with no 

 danger?" I must confess not to know 

 the aster beetle by the prefix of blister. 

 We have had some trouble with the beetle 

 in former years, but this season there is 

 a full crop and it is doing much damasc. 

 particularly on Semple's and Yick's 

 Branching varieties. They seem to go 

 for them in preference to Boston Market 

 and Victoria, because they are large 

 stemmed, meaty and juicy. 



It will do no harm to repeat what all 

 florists should know, yet a few don't, 

 that there are chewing insects and suck- 

 ing ditto, and the means to destroy each 

 are entirely different. Any beetle or 

 worm that chews the surface of the leaf 

 can be easily destroyed by poison. Paris 

 green, London purple, black death, helle- 

 bore, slug shot and perhaps many other 

 mixtures will kill the chewers. The suck- 

 ers, so called, put their beaks through 

 the surface of the leaf and suck out the 

 juices of the plant, as do the aphis and 

 red spider. Poison has no effect on them. 

 because they don't swallow any of it. 

 Now, this aster beetle with which we 

 have the trouble just now, seems to be 

 half way between' the two. I am open 

 and glad to receive some expert advice 

 relative to his extinction. Just let me 

 say that the beetle we have is about the 

 size of a small house fly. He flies read- 

 ily when disturbed and has a little yel- 

 low spot on each wing and under a mag- 

 nifying glass is most beautifully marked. 

 Not being an entomologist, I cannot de- 

 scribe him further, but like the present 

 comet, he has two tails and several deli- 

 cate nose pieces and delicate hair-like 

 appendages, doubtless most useful when 

 diving into the stem of the aster. His 

 attack is mostly on the leading young 

 growth at the axil of the leaf, where he 

 just files a hole and then bores into the 

 stem. That's why I say that this beetle 

 cannot be classed strictly as either a 

 chewer or a sucker 



Within a few days we have smothered 

 some aster plants with tobacco dust with 

 no effect at all. Then we tried Paris 

 creen and no more beetles have been seen 

 on the plants. We svrinsed and now we 



will give all the plants a sprayim 



with 



Paris green. The principal thing to ob- 

 serve is to thoroughly wet the plants 

 and not to use the solution too strong. 

 A good sized teaspoonful of the poison to 

 three gallons of water is strong enough. 

 If you use it too strong you can easily 



burn the aster leaves. Onee more, let's 

 hear from some large aster grower as to 

 his method of killing this beautiful little 

 pest. 



Some Useful Plants. 



Just a word about a simple little plant 

 or two. The sweet alyssum, the double, 

 of course, comes very useful in designs, 

 and it is a plant that you can grow on 

 the edge of a carnation bench without 

 any, or very slight, detriment to the ear- 

 nations. If you have any old plants in 

 the house now, put in some cuttings in a 

 shady, cool house and keep thein well 

 watered and you will have young plants 

 to put on the bench by the end of August. 



Don't forget some time while the 

 weather is warm to put in rut tings of 

 some of the more desirable kinds of al- 

 ternantheras. A flat three inches deep 

 and of convenient size, say 24x12 inches, 

 filled with light, sandy soil, will hold a 

 lot of them. In a shady place in warm 

 weather they root like chiekweed, and 

 the sooner you get them in, the stronger 

 plants they will be before cold weather 

 comes and'the better they will endure a 

 low temperature and rough usage during 

 winter. Leave them in the flats until 

 next spring. 



It is time to sow pansy seed for those 

 who grow large quantities and don't pro- 

 tect them by sash during winter, and I 

 must confess that the earliest and finest 

 pansies I saw this spring, about half an 

 acre of them, had no protection from the 

 dav the seed was sown, at the end of 



and you will have fine, stout plants. It 

 takes a little longer, but it is more eco- 

 nomical of seed to sow thinly in drills, 

 the drills two inches apart. I have noth- 

 ing to say about the many fine strains 

 advertised, but be sure to have plenty of 

 purple and blue and yellow, as people 

 ask for these in separate colors for filling 

 vases and beds. 



Poinsettias. 



Keep on rooting poinsettias. The 

 plants put in now and for the next 

 month are just as useful as those rooted 

 earlier. In fact, cuttings put in the last 

 of August and early September are just 

 the thing for pans, and it's all pans that 

 the people want now as a Christmas 

 plant. In rooting these, as with chrys- 

 anthemum cuttings at this season, they 

 must be soaked twice a day in the sand 

 it the weather is bright, and have no sun 

 mi them. With shade and water they 

 must be kept from wilting, and there is 

 n.i trouble in rooting them. If you grow 

 poinsettias just for cutting, by all means 

 plant them out in six inches or more of 

 soil, either on a bench or in the ground. 

 As I have often remarked, it's not al- 

 ways the low temperature that takes the 

 leaves off this tropical plant; it's far 

 oftener that the roots are exhausted. 

 We had many plants in pots last De- 

 cember that lost their leaves in a night 

 temperature of 60 degrees, while a lot 

 of old plants in a solid bed kept their 

 foliage green until February and many 

 rights they were down to 45 degrees. 



Young primroses now want the coolest 

 and at the same time the airiest place 

 you can give them. A shelf in a shaded 

 house does very well, or a frame with 

 the sash shaded and raised a few inches 

 back and front. Try to get some real 

 leaf mold when you shift these into 3- 

 irch pots. It helps them very much, as 

 it does cyclamen. 



Violets. 



Perhaps you haven't planted your vio- 



July. If sown under shaded glass or 

 boards the bed is easily kept moist by an 

 occasional watering, but by this method 

 the little seedlings quickly draw up. 

 You can sow them in the broad sun if 

 you will be sure to keep the bed moist, 

 and to do this a sprinkling may be nec- 

 essary four or five times a day. Never 

 let it" be dry until the plants are well up 



lets yet. If so, don't delay if they are in 

 pots'or flats. Those who still believe in 

 planting them outdoors for the summer 

 will, of course, be in no hurry for a 

 month or two. If you plant on benches 

 in six inches of soil, you can give them 

 only that amount of soil, but if you have 

 the advantage of solid beds you can give 

 the roots more depth and they will. I 



