Jui-Y 8, 1905 



HORTICULTURE 



Vandas in Tokio 



Referring to the issue of your No. 28 "Vandas in 

 Chicago" I thought it might interest tlie readers of 

 Horticulture to learn something about vandas in 

 Tokio, more so as the name of the owner is men- 

 tioned so frequently in our public prints. 



Having had occasion to visit Japan quite frequently, 

 I became well acquainted with Count Okuma, who, 

 at his residence at Waseda, Tokio, has a handsome 

 collection of orchids well housed. In fact, besides 

 his growing-houses he has a beautiful conservatory 

 where he is always pleased to show his friends or 

 visitors whatever there is in bloom. While again 

 visiting him in July last, I found in flower a Vanda 

 Sanderiana of the Froebeliana type which is darker 

 in coloring than the ordinary Sanderiana. This 

 plant — full five feet in height — had two flower 

 spikes, one with eleven and the other with thirteen 

 flowers, each flower measuring full four inches; it 

 was a grand sight and I requested Count Okuma to 

 send me a photograph of same, which only recently 

 came to hand accompanied by some plants of the 

 same variety and which now have been placed with 

 my collection of Vanda Sanderiana in the Phalanopsis 

 house at Alameda, Cal., where they are doing well. 



At Waseda, the collection of orchids is quite large, 

 but besides these the count has numerous other 

 plants that are most interesting. While he is a very 

 busy man, I always found whenever I visited him he 

 had plenty of time to spare to have an interesting 

 conversation about plants and matters in general. 



The accompanying photograph will not quite give 



an exact idea of the lieight of the plant, as fully two 

 feet of the stem extending below the aerial roots as 

 shown, is not visible. 



John C. Siegfried. 

 Alameda, Cal. 



Chrysanthemum Diseases 



I. RUST. (PUCCINI.\ CHRYSANTHEMl) 



Typical rusts have three stages which follow one 

 another in succession during the spring, summer, 

 and fall. The uredo stage appears to be the only 

 one infesting the chrysanthemum. This comes in 

 the summer, attacking the leaves and shows as 

 brown, blister-like spots from which a powder is 

 given off. This powder is the spores (seeds) which 

 propagate the disease. They are short-lived, lasting 

 only about a fortnight, the disease passing the winter 

 on infested leaves. The rust is of recent introduc- 

 tion, appearing first in i8g6 when it was probably 

 imported on Japanese stock, but it is spreading. 



Treatment. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture, or 

 Sulphide of Potassium, one ounce to two gallons of 

 water, applied every two weeks, will check the dis- 

 ease, but hand picking the diseased leaves every day 

 and burning them is better. At the end of the season, 

 destroy all parts of the plants above ground if the 

 fungus has not been stamped out. 



New stock should be examined when purchased, 

 and kept by itself for a month in case the disease 

 appears. 



Give the plants plenty of light and keep water off 

 the leaves. 



2. MILDEW. (an ERySIPHE.4C ?) 



The chrysanthemum is also liable to the attacks 

 of a white mildew. This fungus attacks the upper 

 sides of the leaves but in severe cases will spread to 

 the lower. In extreme cases the leaf looks as if it 

 were dusted over with flour, but in slight attacks it 

 appears as irregular spots, the threads of the fungus 

 being plainly seen with the naked eye. The appear- 

 ance is decidedly woolly, due to the inmiense numbers 

 of spores. 



All mildews have two stages (i) the summer, and 

 (2) the winter stage. In the greenhouse we have 

 only the first stage, as a rule, although the second 

 may develop, when it can be recognized by the small, 

 black spots in the white mycelium. 



Treatment. Plants grown entirely in the green- 

 house are not likely to have the disease, as it is con- 

 tracted in the field. Good cultural conditions, and 

 plenty of light and air will check the trouble. If the 

 fungus is very bad, dust the plants with flowers of 

 sulphur, or evaporate it by painting it on the pipes. 



