942 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



MAY 19. 1898. 



changing to pure white. It is unsur- 

 passed for a low hedge and nothing 

 could be more desirable for that 



purpose, especially for cemeteries 

 where lots are still enclosed. As a 

 forcing rose where small Howers are 

 not objectionable, it is worthy of a 

 trial. Plants grown In pots under 

 glass are excellent for winter bloom- 

 ing. P. J. B. 



A ROSE PEST. 



Growers in various sections of the 

 country have of recent years suffered 

 considerable damage from a little 

 white worm that attacks the flower 

 buds ot' the rose when they are quite 

 small, and puncturing the ste;ii just 

 at the base of the bulb cause? the bud 

 10 turn black and drop off. With one 

 large grower the pest has been espe- 

 cially destructive on his Meteors. 



The government entomologist, at 

 Washington, tells us that the worm is 

 the larva of a new species of the 

 genus Cecidomyia, which has not yet 

 received a specific name. It is the 

 habit of these little larvae or maggots 

 to leave the buds, flowers and stems 

 when they are full grown and to drop 

 to the ground, which they enter, and 

 there undergo their transformations, 

 issuing eventually as delicate little 

 two-winged flies. 



Kerosene emulsion is recommended 

 to be sprayed on the plants as a rem- 

 edy, one part ot kerosene to twenty 

 parts of water. As some of the larvae 

 may drop on to the paths and make 

 their way to the ground under the 

 benches it would probably be wise to 

 spray there also. Possibly persistent 

 fumigation during the time the little 

 flies are emerging from the soil would 

 be effective. As the pest can so com- 

 pletely destroy a crop of roses it is 

 one that should be most vigorously 

 combatted. and no effort spared to 

 eradicate it. If the flies are killed be- 

 fore their eggs are laid of course there 

 will be no larvae and it is the larvae 

 that do the damage. 



SOME ROSE QUESTIONS. 



I have one house, 20x120, shed roof, 

 facing the south. There are two over- 

 head 2-inch steam pipes running along 

 the two purlins and four 1%-inch re- 

 turn steam pipes hung on the sides and 

 ends. I have never yet been able to 

 grow Meteors satisfactorily. The house 



has a glass partition across the middle. 

 Will you please locate where I should 

 place lUi.i Meteors. For the first 00 feet 

 at the end near the boiler are two 

 solid beds. In the east i:o feet, or the 

 end farthest from the boiler are three 

 raised benches and four paths. I want 

 to grow roses and carnations in this 

 house — about ."iiMi carnations, the re- 

 mainder of the space to roses. I grow 

 La France, Wootton, Bride, Brides- 

 maid, Gontier, Perle, Beauty and Kai- 

 serin. We have a bench 0x50 in a 

 house running north and south that 

 we use for roses. 



If you will instruct me where to 

 place the various varieties where they 

 will give the best returns, and where 

 I can grow good Meteors, I will con- 

 sider it a special favor. E. C. N. 



South Dakota. 



It is not quite plain to me whether 

 this house runs north and south or 

 east and west. The latter for growing 

 roses and carnations is much pre- 

 ferred, but if built the other way and 

 the glass is of a good size and there 

 are no deep rafters, you can get along 

 all right and grow roses. I say the 

 above with confidence as good roses 

 have been well and profitably grown in 

 a house with the ridge north and 

 south and the glass only SxlO inches, 

 but no one would think of building 

 such a house nowadays for either 

 roses or carnations. 



The number and size of pipe is suf- 

 ficient to keep up the desired temper- 

 ature, only I do not approve of the 

 overhead pipes. It is a waste of heat. 

 Hung on the side walls is the place for 

 them, the top pipe as near the glass as 

 possible. Always spread the pipes as 

 much as possible. The farther the 

 pipes are from one another the more 

 heat you will get from them. If not 

 too much of a job put all your steam 

 pipes on the side walls. Plant the Me- 

 teors in the partition nearest the boil- 

 er, as in that case there will be no 

 gable end to be cooled off by cold 

 winds. 



Roses are grown to such perfection 

 on raised benches in four inches of soil 

 that it is useless to discuss solid beds. 

 American Bea\ities are grown in solid 



benches very largely now by some 

 Eastern growers. I could not see that 

 they were more healthy or bore more 

 or better flowers than those on raised 

 benches, but they were just as good 

 and there is one big item saved — the 

 continual building and repairing of 

 benches. These so-called solid benches 

 are not two or three feet of soil: they 

 are simply six inches of soil on top of 

 coal ashes or some other material that 

 gives perfect drainage. You had bet- 

 ter stick to the benches with four 

 inches of soil and see that the planks 

 of the beds are not over six inches wide 

 and a space of three-quarters of an 

 inch between them. It is understood 

 by all rose growers that Meteor re- 

 quires !<• degrees higher temperature 

 by night and day than our other roses, 

 or you will get less buds and they will 

 be useless. Sixty-eight degrees at night 

 is the correct thing for Meteor: an oc- 

 casional drop to (;.3 degrees won't hurt. 

 Fifty-five to -"lS degrees is considered 

 by all good gi-owers as the proper tem- 

 perature for nearly all the other varie- 

 ties. For the two most valuable roses. 

 Bride and Bridesmaid, it is high 

 enough. You will get more buds if the 

 temperature is kept steadily at 38 to 

 00 degrees, but at ."iJ or 55 degrees you 

 will get the finest flowers. 



I have read somewhere about carna- 

 tions being grown in a night tempera- 

 ture ot OO degrees, which is absurd. 

 You might force out a lot of flowers in 

 that heat and spoil your plants, but 

 that is not growing carnations; .50 de- 

 grees at night will grow any carna- 

 tion from October to June, and that 

 still most valuable kind. Daybreak, will 

 be far better in a night temperature of 

 45 degrees: in fact, that is abundantly 

 high. Many make the mistake of firing 

 hard at night and then let up during 

 the dark winter days. If your carna- 

 tions have been at 50 degrees at night 

 they should at least be 65 degrees in 

 the day time, with ventilation, if possi- 

 ble, every day. Maintain the tempera- 

 tures I have given above and mix a 

 liberal amount of brains with your 

 watering and you will get flowers. 



WM. SCOTT. 



FERNS FOR DISHES. 



Mr. A. McAdams, Chicago, has quite 

 a large trade in fern dishes and grows 

 himself the larger portion of the ferns 

 he uses. For lasting qualities he places 

 Cyrtomium falcatum at the head and 

 another point in its favor is that it is 

 very easily propagated. From a cou- 

 ple of stock plants he can get all the 

 spores he needs. These are sown in 

 May and June, which brings the young 

 plants to a tiseful size for the holidays 

 and later. It is some trouble to carry 

 the plants through the hot summer, 

 but it is well worth the trouble. They 

 can be carried through the summer in 

 a shaded house in which a damp atmos- 

 phere is maintained. If propagated in 

 the fall they are slower to come to a 

 useful size and are apt to attain that 

 size at a time when there is a surplus 

 of ferns. From the seed pans he 

 pricks out little clumps into flats on 



