40.S 



HORTICULTURE 



September 12, 1914 



SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FLORISTS 

 Annual Report of Entomologist. 



As entomologist to your society, I 

 fully expected to receive from plant 

 growers all over the country inquiries 

 and specimens relating to insect trou- 

 Ijles. Such inquiries during the past 

 year have been given due attention, 

 but they have been few outside of my 

 own State of Connecticut. 



Permit me to call your attention to 

 a few troubles, which, though fortu- 

 nately still uncommon, may at any 

 time cause considerable damage. 

 General Injury From Mites. 



The common red spider (Tetrany- 

 chus telarius Linn.) of the greenhouse 

 often causes considerable damage to 

 plants outdoors, particularly conifer- 

 ous trees and shrubs. 



Choice specimen trees on the lawn 

 and in the nursery are now frequently 

 sprayed with such materials as kero- 

 sene emulsion, soap and water, and 

 with nicotine solutions to kill the red 

 spider. 



A sister species, the two-spotted 

 mite. (Tetranychus bimaculatus Harv.) 

 also greatly injures Chestnut and 

 other broad-leaved trees. Both are 

 worse in dry seasons, as wet weather 

 is unfavorable to mites. Nevertheless, 

 during the present season in Connec- 

 ticut, with an almost unprecedented 

 amount of rainfall, certain kinds of 

 mites have flourished outdoors. 



These mites are not insects but be- 

 long to the family acarina. and, like 

 the true spiders, have eight legs and 

 belong to the order Arachnida. Many 

 of the mites are pests of plants and 

 animals. 



Mite Attacking California Privet. 



A short hedge of California Privet 

 In my own garden this season was at- 

 tacked by a mite of the genus Phyllo- 

 coptes. Apparently it is a new species, 

 and it is doubtful if any mite has been 

 previously recorded from California 

 Privet unless, perhaps, red spider. 



Nothing unusual was noticed on this 

 bedge in 1913. but the first growth in 

 1914 had peculiar slender shoots with 

 narrow leaves curled backward. On 

 examining them with a hand lens the 

 under side of each leaf was found to 

 be literally covered with very small, 

 elongated, crawling mites. 



Up to July 1 apparently all terminal 

 leaves on this hedge were infested and 

 curled. On my return from a vacation 

 late in July the hedge presented a 

 changed appearance, as a number of 

 the stronger shoots had the normal 

 appearance, and the mites had disap- 

 peared from all the leaves. 

 A Mite (Tarsonemus Pallidus Banks) 



Attacking Cyclamen, Chrysanthe- 

 mum and Snapdragon. 

 This mite was first brought to my 

 attention on Nov. 12, 1912. when an 

 assistant who was inspecting imported 

 stock at a florist's in Bridgeport, Conn., 

 brought to the laboratory some chrys- 

 anthemum flowers which, though fresh- 

 ly cut, had many dead and brown pet- 

 als scattered through the blossom. 

 These flowers were carefully examined 

 by both botanists and entomologists, 

 and the only parasites found were 

 numbers of very small white or trans- 

 parent mites at the bases of the pet- 

 als. These mites seemed to be the 

 cause of the trouble. 



On Dec. 12. 1913. anotlier assistant, 

 -nhilc inspecting imported stock at a 



private place in Hartford, was shown 

 cyclamens which had produced no blos- 

 soms, with leaves badly curled and 

 buds distorted. These plants were al- 

 so attacked, especially the leaves and 

 buds, by this same mite, T. pallidus. 

 Later, other infested cyclamen plants 

 were received from Branford. Conn. 



On Jan. 5, 1914, a New Haven florist 

 brought to my laboratory some snap- 

 dragon plants, with leaves badly 

 curled. His whole crop for the season 

 was threatened. The plants were bad- 

 ly infested with Tarsonemus pallidus. 

 Now these mites have a very primitive 

 respiratory system and it is often diffi- 

 cult to kill them by fumigating, even 

 with hydrocyanic acid gas. Conse- 

 quently I arranged to carry on some 

 spraying experiments in his green- 

 house to control this pest, and on Jan. 

 7 Messrs. B. H. Walden and Q. S. 

 Lowry, two assistants, made the first 

 treatment. 



These treatments were repeated on 

 Jan. 14, 22 and 30. A portion of the 

 plants were left untreated as checks; 

 a portion was sprayed with tobacco 

 preparation sold as "Black Leaf 40," 

 in two dilutions. (1 teaspoonful in 1 

 gallon, and 1 teaspoonful in I'.j gal- 

 lons of water), the remainder were 

 sprayed with fir tree oil in two dilu- 

 tions (2 oz. in 1 gallon and 3 oz. in 1 

 gallon of water). 



To the tobacco preparation, naptha 

 soap at the rate of 1 lb. to 25 gallons 

 of water was added for a spreader. 



Evidence from these tests seems to 

 show that this pest may be controlled 

 by spraying the under surface of the 

 leaves with the stronger mixtures here- 

 in mentioned, of either fir tree oil or 

 ■'Black Leaf 40." The mites entirely 

 disappeared from the treated plants, 

 but continued to cause injury on the 

 check plants even though they were 

 cut back. 



1 am indebted to Mr. Nathan Banks, 

 of the Bureau of Entomology, for the 

 identification of these mites. 



White Ants and Geraniums. 



Another i)est which may become 

 serious is "white ants." On May 23 

 I received from a Hartford florist a 

 letter describing a trouble of bedding 

 geraniums. (Pelargonium zonale, or 

 other species) in the field of a custom- 

 er in New Rochelle. N. Y. More than 

 200 plants had been ruined by some 

 insect which tunneled out the inside of 

 each stem and root. The plants, of 

 course, wilted and died. 



As I failed to recognize the trouble 

 from his description. I asked for speci- 

 mens, and in due time received a stem 

 from one of these plants together with 

 some of the soil in which it was grown. 

 White ants were the cause of this 

 trouble. They had devoured the en- 

 tire inner portion of the stem and 

 main root, leaving only a thin layer of 

 the woody tissue and bark. 



The insects received were all imma- 

 ture, and have not yet been specifical- 

 ly identified, but probably belong to 

 the genus Termes. 



Termes flavipes Kollar is our most 

 common species and often breeds in 

 woodwork near the ground, such as 

 construction timbers of bridges. 

 trestles, buildings, fences, etc. We 

 have even fonnd it in old stumns. in 

 the board walks of greenhouses, and 

 the strips of wood along the edges of 

 tar walks. 



At New Rochelle. however, the white 

 ants could not be traced to any wood- 



work but seemed to be all through the 

 soil. It may, therefore, be a different 

 species. There are several destructive 

 kinds in the tropics, and at least six 

 species in the Southern United States. 

 On a visit to the Bussey Institution, 

 Forest Hills, Mass., on July 7, I was 

 shown a geranium stem which had 

 been hollowed out by white ants in 

 exactly the same manner as those in 

 New Rochelle. 



A possible remedy is carbon disul- 

 phide u:,ed in the soil in the same 

 manner as for ordinary ants, but many 

 tests must be made of various materi- 

 als, before any treatment can be rec- 

 ommended. 



CHILDREN'S GARDENS EXHIBIT 

 AT BOSTON. 



The annual display of products 

 grown by children was opened at Hor- 

 ticultural Hall on Saturday, Sept. 5. 

 More room than ever before was taken 

 up with flowers, plants, vegetables 

 and fruits brought there by boys and 

 girls in competition for a generous 

 list of money prizes, including an ap- 

 propriation of $200 from the State to- 

 ward the encouragement of agricul- 

 ture among the children of the Com- 

 monwealth. The hall presented a 

 beautiful appearance, not only by rea- 

 son of the bright-hued specimens 

 which Nature has brought forth, but 

 because of troops of children, all eager 

 to arrange their own specimens to the 

 best possible advantage and on tiptoe 

 of expectation while waiting for the 

 judges to come around with the mag- 

 ical cards telling of the awards. 



On the steps leading from the main 

 hall to the balcony there was a very 

 pretty arrangement giving an idea of 

 what the South Bay Union has accom- 

 plished on its roof garden. Three lit- 

 tle sisters, with tlieir little brother 

 who have developed a taste for 

 .gardening through the teacher at 

 Elizabeth Peabody House, exhibited 

 some fine things which they planted 

 and tended on their own house top. 

 The South End Industrial School was 

 represented by a splendid collection of 

 vegetables and fiowers, also the Ja- 

 maica Plain Neighborhood House, the 

 Roxbury Neighborhood House. Em- 

 manuel House Garden and the chil- 

 dren of Manchester by the Sea. Mrs. 

 H. H. Kitson, chairman of the chil- 

 dren's gardens work of the Quincy 

 Woman's Club, had a long table filled 

 with splendid specimens, besides quan- 

 tities of cut flowers. The Women's 

 Municipal League vacant lot garden, 

 where nearly thirty boys work daily, 

 was entered in several classes. One 

 child had not only a large and varied 

 collection of vegetables, but a glass- 

 covered case divided into compart- 

 ments filled with dried vegetables and 

 spices, the work of her own hands. 

 She bad drawn a plan of her little 

 plot which yields a wonderful crop. 

 Another contributed 84 specimens of 

 native flowers, plants and grasses, of 

 which 70 were named. A boy from 

 Arlington sent 194 specimens includ- 

 ing berries and leaves. One table 

 was taken up by 92 specimens of dried 

 M'ild flowers made by a West Rox- 

 bury boy. 



The public school gardens. Cam- 

 bridge Waltham. West Groton, Isling- 

 ton, South Natick, Brockton, Lynn, 

 Marlboro, Milton and many more 

 places sent an array of products well 

 worth seeing. 



