254 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



January 8, 1903. 



will penetrate into the favorite places 

 of thrips better than the dust, and in 

 fact even tlie smoke will not reach them 

 all. The two together will do more good 

 than either one alone, because when a 

 bud opens up into a bloom and Mr. 

 Thrips is obliged to shift his abode into 

 another bud, he will find his path cov- 

 ered with his most deadly poison, nico- 

 tine, whereas if you only smoke he can 

 shift his dwelling place from one bud to 

 another in between times, and when he 

 is tucked away between the close laying 

 petals of a bud you can never reach him 

 with your tobacco smoke. You have to 

 catch him when he is exposed to your at- 

 tacks. 



Yes, cuttings can become infested just 

 as well as blooming plants. \ou are 

 quickest to notice their presence in the 

 blooms because their work comes to light 

 as soon as the bud opens up, while the 

 growth does not show the effects so 

 quickly. They will usually be found in 

 the buds when there are any, but they 

 will not starve when there are no buds 

 to feed on. A. F. J. Baur. 



fall. Had he signed his name I could 

 have written to him for more data, etc., 

 to work from. A. F. J. Baub. 



BURSTED CALYXES. 



My White Cloud carnations bear 

 many flowers with bursted calyxes. The 

 calyx seems short and round and it 

 bursts before the flower is fully open. 

 Other carnations in same house are all 

 right and all the plants are in fine con- 

 dition. 



I keep well ventilated, in fact venti- 

 lators have not been closed this season. 

 Temperature of house is about 45 de- 

 grees night, sometimes 48 degrees. 

 Davs, just heat of sun. On damp days 

 I lire a little. L. H. W. 



You are keeping your carnation house 

 too cool and I wonder that you do not 

 have trouble with all your varieties 

 bursting the calyx. We find that 50 

 degrees is just about right for White 

 Cloud and if your soil is extra hea\'y 

 they will stand 52 degrees without 



Carnation House of Mr. J. F. Ammman, Edwardsville, 111. 



CARNATION TROUBLES. 



I send some leaves taken from my car- 

 nations, which are affected by some dis- 

 ease. Please tell me what it is and the 

 remedy. J. J. C. 



I am unable to tell much about J. J. 

 Co.'s case for lack of data. The speci- 

 mens he sent were all dried up and re- 

 vealed nothing in the way of disease, and 

 his letter does not state whether the 

 plants were housed early or late, nor 

 whether the trouble came on just late- 

 ly or soon after planting. The speci- 

 mens looked like you often find a few 

 weeks after planting in your carnations 

 in the fall — the lower foliage dies and 

 turns yellow. Some varieties will nearly 

 always do this to some extent, while 

 others will come through the ordeal 

 without losing a leaf. 



We go over all our carnations about a 

 month or six weeks after planting and 

 clean off what dead foliage there may be 

 and there is usually no more trouble 

 along that line. J. J. C. may not have 

 done this, and if he planted his carna- 

 tions in the house late it is likely to Ije 

 worse than it usually is earlier in the 



weakening the stems. They should 

 have from ti to 10 degrees more in day- 

 time according to the weather. Try 

 them at alxive temperatures and I think 

 your trouble will disappear. 



A. F. J. BAtm. 



ZONAL GERANIUMS. 



L. H. W. asks, 'What time should 

 geraniums that were rooted in 2-ineh 

 pots in October be pinched back so as 

 to have them in good bloom by May 1, 

 and kept in a day temperature of 50 

 degrees and 45 degrees at night?" 



I don't know where L. H. W. is doing 

 business, but if he wants his bedding 

 geraniums in flower by the first of May, 

 it is three weeks earlier than we do 

 here. And for flower gardening it is 

 better to have plants just coming into 

 flower than to have them exhausted 

 from flowering. Perhaps, however, 

 these plants are intended for sale at 

 some public market where it is always 

 desirable to have them early and with 

 many blooms. 



Our method is to shift these 2 inch 

 pot plants into .3-inch just as soon af- 

 ter New Year's as we can get at it. 



Then about February 1 we give them a 

 stand over and take the tops off all of 

 them, and about 75 per cent will giye 

 us a cutting. Of those that would be 

 cut down too low b,y getting a cutting 

 we just pinch out the top. They have 

 all February and March, and this year 

 the half of April, to break and grow. 

 After Easter we shift into 4inch pots 

 and from middle to end of May they 

 are in flower and in a healthy, vigorous 

 growing state. 



To get them in flower two or three 

 weeks earlier than we do, I would say 

 pinch them at once and don't look for 

 a cutting. Let them remain in the 2- 

 inch pots until the middle of February 

 and then shift into 3.J or 4-inch. You 

 will save the shift from 2 to 3-inch 

 and they should be in good order by 

 May L If all our zonal geraniums sold 

 the first week of May the latter meth- 

 od would do, but it's a month later be- 

 fore we put them out, and I like our 

 method the best. \\''illiam Scott. 



SOUPERT ROSES-CAPSICUM. 



"Subscriber" asks "How long does it 

 take to force Soupert roses in flower for 

 Easter? Will they not come into flower 

 quicker than hyurid perpetuals, which 

 take thirteen weeks, six weeks in 40 

 to 45 degrees and seven weeks in 58 to 

 00 degrees f 



Possibly "Subscriber" has been suc- 

 cessful with forcing the H. P. roses in 

 the time and temperature he quotes, 

 which in my opinion would be just 

 about right for plains lifted from the 

 ground in November, and which when 

 l)rought into the house after New Years 

 would have no active roots. If they 

 have been grown in pots the previous 

 summer, ten weeks in the same tem- 

 perature would be time enough. 



But to the question. These Soupert 

 roses have doubtless been lifted from 

 the ground in November, potted and 

 plunged in cold frame. A slight trim- 

 ming back should be given them, just 

 a shortening of the shoots and the very 

 weak ones cut out. Yes, they will be in 

 flower a week or two before the H. P. 

 but give them eleven weeks; the longer 

 they are in the 45 degiee temperature 

 the" better. 



The same subscriber asks for time for 

 sowing and best treatment of Capsicum 

 annuum to have it in good order for 

 Christmas sales. I will confess my ig- 

 norance on the specific names of many 

 of the peppers. If C. annuum is the very 

 ornamental one that has been grown 

 largely for the past three or four years 

 and whose fruit is most ornamental, not 

 only when colored red, but when some 

 are white or yellow, and the plant never 

 grows large, then I know the plant very 

 well and grow it. 



The seed is often sown too early. 

 The middle of May is time to sow it, 

 as the temperature of our houses then 

 is warm. You will soon have plants 

 in 2-inch pots. If planted out in the 

 open ground by the first of July it will 

 be early enough. It should be good, 

 rich ground and within reach of the 

 hose in case of a long dry spell. Lift 

 and pot into 4 or 5-inch pots before 

 there is an,y danger of frost and from 

 then on keep in a light house where the 

 night temperature is about 55 degrees. 

 They lift quite easily and soon get es- 

 tablished without losing a leaf. We 

 tried growing them in pots under glass 

 all summer and it was a failure. 



WiLUAM Scott. 



