February 8, 1913 



HOETICULTUKE 



183 



THE RED SPIDER QUESTION. 

 Editor HORTICULTURE: 



Dear Sir — Under the heading of 

 "Red Spider vs. Damping Down" I 

 would lilie to say that I agree with 

 George H. Penson that damping down 

 will to a certain extent keep down the 

 pest. Edwin Jenkins asks what pos- 

 sible effect moisture can have upon 

 red spider. I say it does have an ef- 

 fect. If not, why do they always go 

 to a dry spot in the house and breed 

 there faster than where it is always 

 damp? I hold that if no dry places 

 are allowed in a house it will be much 

 more difficult for them to breed. Two 

 years ago this month I cut down tho 

 damping in my cypripedium house and 

 I got a dose of red spider. 1 fumi- 

 gated at once but it did not seem to 

 effect them much, but maybe it beljied. 

 But I also damped down to such an 

 extent that not a dry spot was to be 

 seen on a w'alk or anywhere else all 

 day and also I gave a heavy damping 

 when I made my last round at night, 

 about half .past ten, and I claim that 

 to have been the chief cause of their 

 eradication. Last year and this I 

 have kept up the damping and I have 

 not seen a sign of the pest. At the 

 time I did have it so bad I would like 

 to state that it was not brought into 

 the house on any other plants as non" 

 had been taken in there for months 

 previously. I 'further agree with Mr. 

 Penson when he says spider always 

 makes its first appearance on a peach 

 tree right where the foliage touches 

 the pipes or hangs over a main. These 

 places are very difficult to keep moist 

 on account of the heat. But with a 

 little special care at these points a lot 

 of trouble can be saved. Mr. Jenkins 

 claims that heated air has a greater 

 capacity for moisture, and I agree 

 with him there, but when he says that 

 the chances are that there is a greater 

 amount of moisture at the above men- 

 tioned places I beg to differ, as heat 

 rises and you will find that the mois- 

 ture settles on the roof when the 

 walks are quite dry. The above is a 

 very interesting topic amongst most 

 gardeners and I would like to see some 

 more opinions expressed under this 

 heading. 



I notice in the account in your 

 Feb. 1st issue of the Nepenthes hous? 

 at Kew that you spell the name of thi- 

 "Cats Head Flower" wrongly, accord- 

 ing to what I always understood, ami 

 I think you will find that instead oi 

 Tacca cristata it is Ataccia cristata. 

 Yours sincerely, 



MERLIN HARRIS. 



Pittsburgh, Pa. 



Nicholson ;:lves Ataccia cristata as a 

 synonym of Tacca cristata. tlip latter name 

 being given the iirefereuce. — ED. 



JOHN N. MAY RETIRES. 



John N. May. the veteran rose 

 grower of S'.mmit, N. J., announces 

 that on February 1 he transferred to 

 his son Harry 0. May the business 



A PARK CONSERVATORY FOR 

 BOSTON. 



A new horticultural building to cost 

 at least $100,000 will be erected on the 

 Fenway or some other public grounds 

 in Boston as soon as Mayor Fitzgerald 

 can get the City Council to transfer 

 the necessary money from the Park- 

 man fund income, according to a re- 

 cent announcement. At the next meet- 

 ing of the Council, the mayor will call 

 upon that body to provide $5,000 for 

 plans and specifications for a new 

 structure, and it is hoped to get the 

 building under way at once. 



JOH.N N. Mav 

 which he has conducted for so many 

 years on Pine Grove avenue. Harry 

 O. May is well qualified to take up th^ 

 business and conduct it with success. 

 He has been trained in rose-growing 

 from his boyhood and knows it from 



Hakry O. Mat 

 A to Z. As our readers know, he has 

 for a number of years held the office 

 of treasurer of the American Rose So- 

 ciety. A host of staunch friends will 

 join us in wishing John N. May many 

 years of health and comfort in his 

 well-earned leisure. 



TO LENGTHEN LILY STEMS. 



We noted an experiment at Julius 

 Roehrs' last week which seems to 

 promise success. To obviate the 

 short stalks which are so common to 

 the Easter lilies of late the stubby 

 plants were caged over with a shading 

 of paper about a foot above the pots. 

 The semi-darkness causes the stems 

 to draw up raiiidlv before formin,.; 

 buds, after which they are gradually 

 exposed to full light. 



BRITISH HORTICULTURE. 



The Sweet Pea Annual. 



The new annual issued by the Na- 

 tional Sweet Pea Society is filled with 

 informative matter dealing with this 

 increasingly popular flower. Growers 

 will w-elcome the inclusion of the sci- 

 entific paper by Major Hurst on 

 "Rogues in Sweet Peas," read at the 

 society's conference, together with the 

 instructive discussion which followed. 

 \V. Cuthbertson (Dobbie and Co.) has 

 some interesting comments on the rais- 

 ing of new varieties, a subject on 

 which he is well qualified to express 

 opinion. Some American impressions 

 on last year's show are given by Lester 

 L. Morse, of San Francisco. The writer 

 is very enthusiastic on what he de- 

 scribes as a "marvelous" show. "'I 

 had heard and read," he writes, "much 

 about the wonderful results the Eng- 

 lish sweet pea grower secures in size 

 of bloom, length of stem, breadth of 

 leaf, etc., but I was not prepared for 

 the impressions these giants would 

 make on me." Mr. Morse comments 

 on the confusion of names caused by 

 the placing of synonymous kinds on 

 the market. "A hundred varieties I 

 thought I easily recognized were 

 shown under names I had never heard 

 of, and frequently one variety bore 

 four to six names." Some useful hints 

 on tackling streak disease are given 

 in an article by J. A. Bull, who ad- 

 vises special manurial treatment. The 

 book is well up to the high standard 

 previously reached. 



W. H. ADSETT. 



GARDENER AND GRADUATE. 



Dear Editor: — If in my letter I im- 

 plied that Mr. Jenkins thought it was 

 necessary for gardeners to go to col- 

 lege, then 1 apologize, but what I 

 really meant to convey was that gar- 

 deners have very little reason to fear 

 the invasion of college graduates into 

 the field of estate management, and I 

 am still of the same opinion, lacking 

 convincing testimony to the contrary. 

 The mere quoting of the fact that one 

 or more graduates hold positions as 

 superintendents is no more convincing 

 than the fact that I know a man who 

 is neither a graduate or a gardener, 

 who is also a superintendent of an 

 estate; he is a retired sea captain. 



I must disclaim that I said the analy- 

 sis of a soil can be had by "feel and 

 look." Mr. Jenkins alters the word 

 feel to touch, a far different word. 

 There are means of telling whether a 

 fleM lacks either lime or nitrogen 

 without analysis as possibly Mr. Jen- 

 kins is aware. There are places where 

 the college graduates have woefully 

 failed, and ether places where the col- 

 lege graduate superintendent has been 

 compelled .to recognize the gardener 

 under him as being a worthy competi- 

 tor. I wish to thank Mr. Jenkins for 

 opening the way to a discussion, for 

 it is thus we learn. 



VERNON T. SHERWOOD. 



February 3, 1913. 

 HORTICULTURE: 



Enclosed please find $1.00, my sub- 

 scription for your valuable paper; 

 should feel lost without it. 

 Yours very truly, 



O. A. H. 

 Greenwich, Conn. 



