J46 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



Dece.mbeu 10. IWiT. 



bator kept at blood heat. The resultant 

 growth was a ramifying or interlaced 

 mass of fil)rous threads whose ends were 

 terminated by little protul)erances or 

 lieads, apparently spore cases. An at- 

 tempt to reinfect healthy leaves from this 

 culture, however, gave negative results, 

 though indicating the fungoid nature of 

 the disease. 



He next tried another way: Taking 

 some diseased leaves and pounding them 

 up he secured another culture with which 

 he was successful in infecting healthy 

 leaves. From a leaf so infected a section 

 was taken and the resultant appearance 

 as seen under the microscope be e.xplained 

 with the aid of a large diagram, held up 

 to the view of those present. In this he 

 pointed out the thread growths, like 

 white films permeating the inter-cellular 

 spaces of the leaves, w^hilst round the 

 edges of the all too-familiar dead spot, the 



cell walls appeared broken down and the 

 chlorophyl appeared as a thick con- 

 gested mass, which the microscopic rays 

 could not penetrate, though the leaf sec- 

 tion was less than one thousandth of an 

 inch in thickness. Where the actual 

 spot appeared to the naked eye the mi- 

 croscope showed hundreds of thread-like 

 growths all turned upwards quite erect, 

 eacli terminated by a small inflation 

 which contained the spores or germs. 



He understood there were other vio- 

 let diseases but his investigations had 

 been confined to the "spot" alone, and 

 such as they were he placed them at the 

 disposal of those present in the hope that 

 they might assist in the elucidation of 

 the mystery. 



Dr. J. !M. W. Kitchen opeued the dis- 

 cussion by remarking that a distinct 

 point had been gained in that the lectur- 

 er's experiments clearly demonstrated it 



was a specific organism at the root of the 

 evil and to know this must be material 

 assistance in seeking out and applying - 

 preventive measures. 



Prof. Byron D. Halsted, of the New 

 Jersey Experiment Station, next- re- 

 sponded to a unanimous call and gave a 

 lucid account of the workings and effects 

 of other forms of disease, but his explana- 

 tions of their subtle character though en- 

 tertainingly and instructively given, fore- 

 shadowed no relief measures the afflicted 

 growers could rely upon. 



The discus.sion was continued by 

 Mes.srs. Bird, Duckham, Manda, Withers, 

 Atkins, Herrington and others, covering 

 the varied details of violet culture, but the 

 prolonging of the discussion only served 

 to multiply the vagaries of the violet as 

 exemplified by the experiences and prac- 

 tices of the different growers near and 

 far. Viola. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM NOTES. 



Spring Flowers. 



The "mum" is essentially a fall flower, 

 that being of course the time when it 

 flowers naturally, though it can also be 

 induced to become one of the flowers that 

 "bloom in the spring, tra la la." The 

 way we have accomplished this is here 

 given. 



Good cuttings that had not been allowed 

 to get hard and stunted were rooted the 

 first week in December, potted on as they 

 needed it, the last shift being into a 7-inch 

 pot. They were kept in a temperature of 

 about 50° and grown to one stem. The 

 buds appeared and were taken toward the 

 end of February and the flowers devel- 

 oped end of April. The flower had neither 

 the depth nor substance of autumn blooms 

 but were nevertheless very good, and the 

 stem was about two feet long. It is true 

 they seemed to jar on the nerves in a 

 vague, indefinite manner, and could not 

 in my mind be reconciled to the eternal 

 fitness of things, flowering at that season, 

 but the average man soon gets over that 

 if there is anything in it financially, and 

 who knows but that in a few years we 

 shall all be growing a batch for the Eas- 

 ter trade, and spring flowering kinds be 

 so common as to escape conmient. 



Do not, gentle reader, after reading 

 this get to work and put in a bench or 

 two by way of an experiment. Experi- 

 ment by all means, but with a few only, 

 and see if your treatment and location 

 are favorable. Varieties I would recom- 

 mend to use are Bonnaffon, Glory of the 

 Pacific, and Sunderbruch. We had J. H. 



Troy last year as a white, l)ut the flower 

 damped so badly it was useless. There 

 would be lots more money in "mums" at 

 Easter than there is in October and No- 

 vember, till everybody caught on, and 

 then — well, try something else. The 

 florist is accustomed to seeing good 

 things worked to death these days. 



Early Propagation. 



It has been oftentimes asserted that 

 cuttings rooted in December and grown 

 right along without any stopping will next 

 fall produce flowers that will beat the 

 earth. Personally we don't see nuich in 

 it, unless it be in the case of very slow 

 growing kinds, such as Mrs. Jerome 

 Jones or Bonnaffon. The florist could not 

 afford the time or room anyway, and gen- 

 erally leaves such things to the private 

 grower. When plants are struck so early 

 they generally pass through a season 

 when they are neglected more or less 

 and this is fatal to a free growth, the con- 

 sequence being that cuttings struck in 

 February will oftentimes catch up and 

 overtake the earlier rooted ones. We 

 have got as good flowers from June 

 struck plants as any other, for the whole 

 secret of an exhibition flower is in well- 

 ripened wood, but as before stated slow 

 growing kinds need earlier propagation 

 so as to get the necessar}- length of stem 

 to sell well. 



Specimen Plants. 



These are a weariness to the flesh for 

 many long months in summer, as they 

 need unremitting care, but in the fall 

 they are a fine advertisement (if they are 

 done good) for you at the local shows, 



and in your window. They come high 

 but if you must have them now is the 

 time to get them rooted, and }-ou will 

 find it will pay later on if the eyes that 

 will be below ground are carefully 

 picked out with the point of a knife. 

 They will not need nearly so much atten- 

 tion then as regards suckers. .\s to varie- 

 ties the famous old Lincoln is the best 

 yellow, and Ivory the best white for this 

 purpose. C. ToTTY. 



THE EXHIBITIONS. 



Mr. E. G. Hill's able article in the first 

 number of the FXoRi.STS' Review should 

 bring out ideas from others that will help 

 solve the problem of how to make our 

 shows fairly successful. The shows are 

 indispensable to the advancement of hor- 

 ticulture and a great help towards arous- 

 ing public interest in our profession at a 

 time when interest is nnich needed. Will 

 not at least one active worker in each of 

 the large cities where shows have been 

 held give his views on where the results 

 at his particular show might have been 

 improved financially? 



Looking at the matter from a purely- 

 business point of view, the question maj- 

 be put in two parts: First, how to in- 

 crease the receipts; second, how to de- 

 crease the expenses. 



The fir.st is undoubtedly the more difii- 

 cult of the two to solve. I am inclined 

 to think that entirely too much reliance 

 is placed on newspaper advertising. Peo- 

 ple look in the papers for a play or a sale, 

 but not for a flower show, and when 

 seen it makes little impression. Much 

 more hopeful, it seems to me, is the plan 



