January 18, 1913 



HOETICULTUKE 



73 



Fallacies and Axioms 



Then gently scan your brother man. 

 And gentler sister woman; 

 Though they may gang a kennin wrang, 

 To step aside is human. 



Burns. 



Bums here beautifully expresses the same thought as 

 Pope when he said, ''To err is human, to forgive di- 

 vine.'" The writer must confess that it affords him a 

 certain amount of pleasure to prick bubbles and to see 

 them burst when filled only by the wind of error. Ar- 

 nold Bennet in that splendid little book of his, "How to 

 Live on Twenty-four Hours a Day,'"' deplores the modern 

 lack of the contemplative mind, and it is deplorable in- 

 deed. For how much better we should be in our work, 

 did we but contemplate a little more, look a trifle deeper, 

 beyond the surface, and oftener question ourselves of 

 the reason for doing this and that, or the why and the 

 wherefore of things. Were this the general habit of us 

 all there would be less fallacies to write about and per- 

 haps less mistakes in our work. 



It would be easy to write many pages about the falla- 

 cies connected with the practical side of horticulture and 

 agriculture, but it will sufBce for our present purpose if 

 we go over some of the most common. 



Atmospheric Moisture, or — in Greenhouse Parlance — 

 " Damping Down " 



In my article of two weeks ago this matter was treated 

 in regard to its utter inadequacy in keeping red spider 

 in check, and now we attack it from another angle. 

 Damping down is a mistake (fallacy) in any houses 

 other than stove or orchid houses, except occasionally, 

 as when a grapery is starting into growth, or on an ex- 

 tremely hot parching day in the summer when the roots 

 of the roses, chrysanthemums, or carnations are unable 

 to send up water fast enough to take the place of that 

 evaporated from the foliage, when the damping of walls, 

 floors or any part of the house is necessary to prevent 

 wilting. 



That this attack on the damping-down idea will be a 

 terrible heresy in the eyes of some of my good friends, 

 I fear, and so I hasten to give the reasons for the faith 

 that is within me. It is generally conceded that, given 

 the right crop to suit the soil and temperature there is 

 nothing better under the sun in the way of quality and 

 quantity than the crops grown in those hot arid regions 

 where nothing grows without irrigation and, providing 

 there is a plentiful supply of water at the root, atmos- 

 pheric moisture (as affected by our damping down) is 

 not a factor in the matter. A damp atmosphere certain- 

 ly appears to favor black spot on Beauties and all the 

 rust diseases on carnations and chrysanthemums. It 

 has ever been a matter of personal observation with me 

 that a relatively dry atmosphere is at all times produc- 

 tive of fruitfulness and floriferousness. And how many 

 thousands of cuttings are lost annually by cutting bed 

 fungus, the growth of which is favored, if not caused, 

 by too damp an atmosphere? 



Plants get all their mineral food in a watery solution 

 from the soil. Now, if the atmosphere is heavily charged 

 with moisture less water is transpired by the leaves and 

 less food of a mineral nature is brought up; therefore, 

 it is axiomatic that the best condition of atmospheric 

 moisture is that which causes the most rapid transpira- 

 tion of water by the foliage without producing wilt. 



A Fallacy In Regard to Watering 



Under glass there is no one operation of greater im- 

 portance than watering, and yet we have often heard 



this fallacious statement, "Always let the plants get dry 

 before watering them" (of course the writer uses the 

 words wet and dry in the relative sense as always under- 

 stood by gardeners and florists). I would change this 

 to — never let a growing plant get dry, and it seems to 

 me that less harm would be done by inexperienced men 

 than by the same men with the advice given above, for 

 I have seen men who considered themselves experienced 

 growers, who thought that it was nothing to see a plant 

 wilt from getting dry, because, after watering it ap- 

 peared to pick up and be as good as ever ; but this is a 

 grave error — in fact another fallacy, as it is very doubt- 

 ful if a plant ever does just as well after having wilted 

 once. 



Axiom : — A healthy growing plant should never be 

 allowed to get dry at the root. 



Next week I shall deal with fallacies of greenhouse 

 heating or temperatures, land drainage, and of book- 

 knowledge, supplying in each case the appropriate axiom. 



Lenox, Mass. 



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Red Spider 



It gave me great pleasure to read Mr. Jenkins' cOm- 

 monsense article on Tetranychus telarius in your issue 

 of January 4. As he states, there has been much non- 

 sensical talk about damping the floors and keeping a 

 moist atmosphere to keep down this unconquered foe 

 of the florist. In my experience I have observed that 

 a humid hot amosphere is an ideal breeding place for 

 them. I remember reading somewhere recently that 

 wetting the plants overnight will be a sure cure. I was 

 rather skeptical of the remedy when I read it ; because I 

 once made an experiment on a badly affected plant by 

 dipping it overhead in a tank of water and allowing it 

 to remain all night. I found in the morning Mr. Spider 

 seemed as thick on the plant as ever, being observed 

 moving around, and after being placed in the sun until 

 the leaves dried he was as lively as ever. As Mr. Jenkins 

 states, the nozzle with a good pressure of water behind 

 it is the only safe remedy so far. We have had very 

 good success keeping crotons clean by using a pint of 

 kerosene and' a half-cake of Ivory soap to a barrel con- 

 taining thirty gallons of water, keeping the mixture well 

 stirred with an agitator attached to the barrel while ap- 

 plying to the plants. This remedy we use once every 

 two weeks, selecting a dull day for the operation, and 

 next morning before the sun gets at the plants we spray 

 them over with clean water. We have used this remedy 

 for many years on crotons, eucharis, ixoras, and other 

 shiny leaved plants, and very seldom see the plants af- 

 fected by insect pests unless the wind be blowing hard 

 from some elm trees that are near the greenhouse, and 

 then we are sure to find our enemy the spider on the 

 plants under the ventilator. 



I think our friends at the experiment stations have 

 something to work upon to give tis a quick sure remedy, 

 such as a fumigant that will not injure plant Ufe, and 

 will rid us of this annoying little insect. 



Medford, Mass. 



