APRIL 



1S98. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



773 



Winter in Mexico. 



at different seasons of the year and 

 have never yp* '--'^-i to have some 

 strawberries for breakfast. Some of 

 the horticultural wrliers in the States, 

 however, are inclined to ridicule the 

 idea of an everbearing strawberry 

 plant. But they will see stranger 

 things than this in Mexico. 



Leaving Irapuato it does not take 

 very long to get into the midst of the 

 orange and banana groves that line the 

 way to Guadalajara. I do not attempt 

 to name the trees shown in the photo, 

 although everybody will readily recog- 

 nize the banana, which is the ordinary 

 banana of commerce. The tall tree 

 near the bnnana is a beautiful tree 

 and looked decidedly graceful when 

 swayed by the wind. The little um- 

 brella shaped tree seemed like a kind 

 of gnarled mountain oak in form, al- 

 though its odd appearance made it all 

 the more a curio.5ity to me. The three 

 youthful representatives of Mexico did 

 not seem to care whether school kept 

 or not; and by the way they were 

 dressed it will be readily seen that 

 "the night fireman" is there an un- 

 necessary article, as well as the day 

 fireman for that matter. However, 

 this is just as well, because a bouquet 

 which would cost in the states from 

 ?1 to $2 American money would cost 

 in Mexico 37^,2 cents Mexican money, 

 or about 18 cents of our money. 



Talk about camellias! Just go to 

 Mexico City if you want to see them 

 in all their glory. The florists get a 

 decent price for them also. The 8.000 

 feet above the sea level seems lo be 

 just the ideal place for the camellia, 

 and they are to the Mexican young 

 maiden what long stemmed Beauties 

 are to the young girl of the states; 

 but I believe the young man of the 

 States gets off easier financially, be- 

 cause in Mexico in addition to the 

 opera, birthday, etc., there is the pa- 



tron saint's birthday for whom she 

 may be named which must be remem- 

 bered, as well as the many, many 

 feast days in the course of the year. 

 I. A. BARNES. 

 El Paso, Tex., March 10, 1898. 



ROSE LEAVES TURNING YELLOW. 



Can you explain the cause of the en- 

 closed rose leaves turning yellow and 

 dropping from the plant? The leaves 

 dropped from plants of K. A. Victoria 

 that were in good growth and bearing 

 well. Have had the same trouble with 

 Perle and Bridesmaid, but not nearly 

 so much with the latter as the former. 

 Is it due to too much water, not 

 enough, or is it simply a case of old 

 leaves near the bottom dropping off 

 from age? M. B. 



The rose leaves have been examined, 

 but in themselves they give no clue to 

 the precise nature of the trouble. If 

 they were growing upon the lower por- 

 tion of the plant they may have be- 

 come yellow with age, having served 

 their day. Should these leaves have 

 occupied a higher position and been of 

 recent growth they would indicate that 

 the plant is suffering from one or more 

 of many things. There might be an 

 insufiicient root action due to the rose 

 root gall. This is easily determined 

 by removing the plant from the soil 

 and noting the presence or absence of 

 minute galls that when in considerable 

 numbers will cause the whole plant to 

 take on a yellow, sickly color. It is 

 possible that the roots are not suffi- 

 ciently active and not Infested with 

 galls, as is true of all plants. It is not 

 to be presumed that there is lack of 

 food and that the discoloration is due 



to partial starvation. A similar state 

 of things could be brought about by 

 overwatering or by having the soil too 

 dry. It is possible that the leaves 

 have been scalded or injured by the 

 sun or too hot a temperature in the 

 house. It is not probable that the in- 

 jury is due to any poisonous fungia- 

 tion. 



One would need to know more of the 

 antecedents in the case before suggest- 

 ing any remedial measures. 



BYRON D. HALSTED. 



RECIPROCITY IN PLANTS. 



There are tw'o systems in every well 

 established plant, namely, that of the 

 roots and that of the leaves. Th?. chief 

 function of the former is to absorb the 

 liquid of the soil, the soil water, and 

 that of the leaves to condense the liq- 

 uids absorbed by the roots and make 

 them over, under the influence of the 

 sun, into the substances that may be 

 used thereafter for the growth of the 

 plant. 



It goes without lengthy explana- 

 tion that there must be a direct rela- 

 tionship between the amount of root 

 surface and that of the leaves, the 

 one for taking up water, the other for 

 exhaling it. Should there be any rea- 

 son for an increased loss of water at 

 the leaves due to a dry atmosphere 

 and a hot sun, it is easy to see that 

 there would be greater demands made 

 upon the roots. If these demands are 

 not honored it only remains for the 

 leaf surface to be diminished or the 

 evaporation be checked in some other 

 way. A smaller exposed surface in 

 the foliage is brought about by a fold- 

 ing of the leaves or leaflets or a coil- 

 ing or rolling as in long narrow blades 

 like those of grasses. A substantial 

 check upon the escape of water is 

 brought about by the closing of the 

 millions of stomates or breathing 

 pores found in the skin of the leaves. 

 As the water in the leaves diminishes 

 below a certain amount the leaves are 

 wilted, and these "mouths," before 

 wide open, become closed. This, with 

 the increased root action, enables the 

 plant to get through the hot day, and 

 as soon as the night comes the roots 

 are able to fill up the leaves again, and 

 by morning all are plump and ready 

 for work. 



But it is with a newly set plant that 

 we are most interested when vegeta- 

 ble reciprocity is considered. We 

 sometimes forget how delicate is the 

 relation established between the roots 

 and the soil, and when a plant is 

 transplanted the roots may be broken 

 and thousands of the fine root hairs 

 destroyed. The whole absorbing ap- 

 paratus in short has been upset, and 

 only time under the most favorable 

 circumstances can bring order out of 

 chaos that has resulted from the 

 transfer. New root hairs need to be 

 made in order that the required inti- 

 mate relation may be restored between 



