326 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



Jantary 22, 1903. 



of the so-called salting process. I leave 

 you to be the judges. 



Now as to the convention. Mr. Baur 

 has given you wholesome advice and in- 

 struction in this matter, and I heartily 

 concur in all he says. I can only add 

 and say that his remark about "plank- 

 ing down your two dollars'' is right to 

 the point. There are always too many 

 deadheads around any kind of exhibi- 

 tion. Let us all agree to shake hands 

 with the secretary first, leaving the 

 proper tip in his hands. 



Geo. S. Osboen. 



WHITE BLOTCHES ON LAWSON. 



What is the matter with my Lawsou 

 carnations? As soon as the bud shows 

 color, white blotches appear on the pet- 

 als. Otherwise they seem to be all 

 right. S. S. B. 



Your Lawson carnations are infested 

 with thrips, which cause those white 

 blotches on the petals. This variety 

 seems to be a special favorite of thcie 

 tiny insects, as you will seldom find a 

 bunch of Lawson that does not show 

 these specks more or less. The reds 

 also are most of them favorites of theirs, 

 and they .show the blotches the quickest 

 on account of the contrast in the color 

 of the bloom and the blotch. Fumigate 

 every night for a week with tobacco 

 and then keep it up about twice each 

 week for a month and they will likely 

 disappear. -► 



A recent visitor, who is one of the 

 crack eastern carnation growers, told me 

 that a good remedy is to lake cayenne 

 pepper and mix it with enough wood 

 alcohol to make it inflammable, spread 

 it out on a pie plate and raise one side 

 a few inches, setting fire to it at the 

 lower side. He says this will kill every 

 thrips in the house, hut will not injure 

 a bloom. We shall give it a trial 

 shortly and see what it will do. 



A. F. J. Baub. 



CARNATION TROUBLES. 



I send soiiio leaves from my carnation 

 plants. Kindly tell me what is the 

 trouble and the remedy. J. S. B. 



The specimens you sent me were not 

 in very good condition. Tliey showed 

 signs of rust and a form of leaf-spot 

 fungus. I was not quite certain of the 

 particular form of the latter, so I sent 

 the specimens on to Prof. Woods at Wash- 

 ington, D. C, and he coincides vdth me. 

 In his letter he goes on to say that 

 the spot disease is likely caused by over- 

 feeding or a stagnant atmosphere, etc., 

 and I found in most cases that have 

 come under my notice that the latter 

 was the cause, "although too much feed- 

 ing will, of course, weaken a plant and 

 make it an easy prey if the disease once 

 gets started. 



The proper treatment for these plants 

 would be to pick off all the spotted 

 leaves and burn them. Give plenty of 

 ventilation and water only at the roots 

 and stop syringing for a time. A few- 

 doses of the Bordeaux mixture or the 

 copper solution would help to check it. 

 Do not propagate from these plants, but 

 lather buv fresh, clean stock. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



cate boiler room and piping for steam. 

 Boiler is 10 ft. long. 3 ft. in diameter 

 and has 28 3-inch fl\ies. Our pipes are 

 2-inch and IJ-inch. Would like to have 

 boiler room on east end. Short span to 

 the south. Pipes not to interfere with 

 the walks. Would like to have some 

 flow pipes overhead and boiler as near 

 top of ground as possible. -J. W. N. 

 Ohio. 



In reply to the inquiry of J. W. X.. 

 I would suggest for the ridge and fur- 

 row greenhouses, 22x100. which he des- 

 seribes in his sketch, an arrangement of 

 steam heating pipes, as shown in ac- 

 companying figure, with the intention 

 of using up the 2-inch and IJ-inch pipes 

 he has on hand. 



PIPING. 



We are going to rebuild our green- 

 houses and enclose a rough plan of 

 same, inside and end view. Solid beds 

 for carnations and lettuce. Please lo- 



The arrangement consists of a 2-inch 

 flow on the column under the ridge, 

 grading downward from the boiler end 

 of the houses to the farther end, then 

 branching into the several lines of 

 Ij-inch pipes indicated, these continu- 

 ing to grade down hill all the way back 

 to the boiler end of the houses; this is 

 assuming that the houses are either on 

 a level grade or that they slope down- 

 ward slightly toward the boiler or east- 

 ern end. The boiler In-ing placed at the 

 eastern end of the nortliern house, it 

 will require a 4-inch steam main until 

 the 2-inch steam pipe for the first house 

 is taken off, then reducing to .S-inch 

 until the main for the second house is 

 taken off, then re<lucing to 2inch. 



The return main starting from the 

 southern house shoiild l)p IJ-inch, in- 

 creasing at the second house to 2-iiuli 

 and at (he northern house to 21-iruh 

 into tlio lx>iler. If the outer liouses of 

 the range have glass on their outer ver- 

 tical side, an additional IJ-inch pijic 

 should be added on these .sides either at 

 the eaves or in the path, as preferred. 

 The water line of the boiler must be be- 

 low the floor line of the greenhouses. 



I do not approve of short span to the 

 south houses, but if your correspondent 

 has a preference for that form, the ar- 

 rangement of construction and benches 

 is good. The short span to the south 

 house will not warm tip in the day time 

 as will one having a longer southern ex- 

 posure, and on account of the long 

 northern exposure more fuel is required 

 for heating. Henry W. Gibbons. 



New York. 



MOVING AND BUILDING. 



H. E. B. writes from a town in Kan- 

 sas that he intends moving his green- 

 house "to a better location" and has 

 acquired a lot 94 feet front. Depth of 

 lot is not given. Can he build a house 

 100 feet long by 16 feet wide and put 

 in two partitions, making three com- 

 partments, one for carnations, one for 

 roses and one for general stock, using 

 the middle portion for roses? He also 

 asks whether one flow and three returns 

 of 3-inch pipe on side will heat this 



house, or would it be better to make the 

 four pipes go up one side and return to 

 heater on the other side. He also men- 

 tions that he wants to build so as to 

 have as "little waste ground on his lot 

 as possible," 



Now it's quite likely there is to be 

 a dwelling house on his lot and he can 

 afford no more room for greenhouses, 

 for just as sure as this town grows he 

 will want to add to his houses. Florists, 

 however, especially beginners, can't af- 

 ford acre lots on "Main street." I would 

 make the house 18 feet wide, 16 feet 

 necessitates two paths that makes the 

 benches very narrow. The extra cost of 

 another two feet will be but a little 

 more glass on first cost, but will give 

 you 200 square feet more of bench room 

 as long as the house lasts. 



One partition is, I believe, enough, for 

 this reason : The compartment devoted 

 to "general stock" cannot suit every- 

 thing, and as bedding plants and green- 

 house flowering plants are most likely 

 to be the leading articles wanted, then 

 a carnation temperature — say 50 to 65 

 at night in winter — will be the best suit- 

 ed for the general stock, so that no par- 

 tition will be needed between the carna- 

 tion and the plant house. Supposing 

 you make the house 18 feet wide then. 

 To be safe in the coldest weather — and 

 remember you should always pipe a 

 house to be at the right temperature in 

 the coldest days of winter, not the mod- 

 erately cold — then four 3-inch pipes on 

 each side will do for the carnation divi- 

 sion, and five 3-inch on each side for 

 the roses. By all means let the flow and 

 return be on both sides of the house. 

 You will get much better results than 

 if you carried the pipes all around the 

 house. One flow and three returns of 

 equal size is not good. Make it two 

 flows and two returns, and in the rose 

 house two flows anu three returns. 



If the house runs east and west the 

 boiler shed will shade one end slightly, 

 but I am not informed anything about 

 aspect. I would rather make the end 

 farthest from the shed the rose com- 

 ]iarlincnt. as this end would be glass and 

 would be lighter. In the bright winter 

 days of Kansas a house running north 

 and south would be about as good as 

 one running east and west and cooler 

 in the summer, which is quite a consider- 

 ati<m in the almost torrid spells that 

 pass over Kansas, so I am told. In 

 either case I should build equal span 

 with 30 inches of upright glass on both 

 north and south walls, or east and west, 

 as the case may be. This side light is 

 a wonderful help whatever plant you 

 grow, WiLj-iAM Scott, 



ASPARAGUS PLUMOSUS SEED. 



At what stage sliould the seeds of 

 Asparagus plumosus be picked? I have 

 a bed full of seeds. In the green pods 

 the seeds look to me perfectly ripe and 

 ])lump. while some where the pods have 

 turned blue and shriveled the seeds ap- 

 pear to be shriveling also. Also let me 

 know if the seeds can be sowed with the 

 pods on, as where there are several 

 thousand, hand-picking them all is quite 

 a task. A Stjbsckiber, 



The seed pod or covering of the seeds 

 of this plant is quite variable in color. 

 Always green at first, it is sometimes 

 white or red and then blue and finally 

 black. No harm comes of the pod shriv- 

 eling; it is only perfectly natural and 



