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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



(OF AMERICA) 



[NEW YUK^ 

 BOTANICAL 



Devoted to the Science of Floriculture and norticulture 



I 



Vol. XXVI 



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DECEMBEK, 1922 No. 12 | 



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Things and Thoughts of the Garden 



WILLIAM N. CRAIG 



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CllRYSAXTHEAIf^I culture both outdoors and 

 under glass is seriously menaced by the European 

 corn borer. The spread of this destructive pest is 

 somewhat slow, but steady. Like some other dangerous 

 pests it was introduced not on live plants : in fact, the 

 powers that be can merely guess as to how it landed here. 

 In addition to working on corn, it has this season de- 

 stroyed much of the celery produced for the Boston 

 market, and dahlias, gladioli, zinn'as, asters, and one or 

 two other garden favorites are conimonly attacked. One 

 chrysanthemum grower in Arlington, Alass., lost $7,000 

 worth of flowers this season, and the end is not yet. 

 What with the midge thrip, aphis, leaf miner and sundry 

 other pests and diseases, the Queen of Autumn has its 

 share of foes. A point to remember about the corn borer 

 is, that it thrives on numerous weeds ; in fact, it has been 

 found on at least two hundred different plants, and the 

 burning up of stubble and all dry refuse matter is one 

 of the best ways of preventing its spread. 



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I was pleased a few days ago to come across a batch 

 of that one-time popular flower, Thyrsacanthtis nttilans. 

 now called T. Schoinbcrgkianuiii. Xo doubt many of our 

 readers will remember this bright and pretty A\'inter flow- 

 ering plant, a native of Colombia, which is of shrubby 

 habit and produces great numbers of long racemes, the 

 flowers on which are tubular, scarlet in color and pen- 

 dulous. I cannot but think that on private estates some 

 of these might well be seen in addition to such plants as 

 Centradenias, Libonias, Sericographis (or Jacobinias). 

 Linums, Goldfussia (Strobilautlics), isophyllus, and 

 others which might be named. Not long ago hard- 

 wooded plants were in but a few hands : we see a steady 

 increase in the culture of camellias on private estates 

 while ericas. Daphne indica, and others are all coming 

 back into favor. Of course, those of us who live near the 

 seaboard or in the uplands where Summer's torridity is 

 tempered can grow these better than our friends further 

 inland, but e.xperience has clearly shown that there is a 

 much larger area than imagined where hard wood suc- 

 ceeds, and I look to see a coming: back into favor of some 

 of the softer-wooded subjects named also. 



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This has been a great year for dahlias ; never did they 

 bloom more abundantly or longer. The number of varie- 

 ties is absolutely bewildering and senseless, and those 

 catalogue men who have the courage to prune their col- 

 lection of the various types to a dozen varieties each are 



to be commended. The craze for mammoth flowers per- 

 sists. Personally. I fail to see much decorative value in 

 these monsters. In nearly every case these big varieties 

 look better cut than on the plants ; in fact, many of them 

 cannot be seen at all on the plants. What we need more 

 than anything else is a strain of dwarf or medium height 

 which will throw flowers well above the foliage. Ciive us 

 plants of such a strain as this, and it will be of some vakte 

 in the flower garden. At the same time, reduce the size 

 of the flowers. At present we have really no dahlia adapt- 

 able for culture in either a formal or natural garden, the 

 singles and cactus come nearest ,to filling the bill. It 

 looks as if there might be considerable food value in the 

 roots, and if present experiments of the government prove 

 encouraging, we may see big dahlia areas planted for this 

 purpose in the not distant future. But in the meantime, 

 call a halt on the big flowers, and give us something with 

 more grace and beauty. 



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Some thirty vears ago when we were gnnving such 

 old-time carnations as Anne Webb, Astoria, Ferdinand 

 Mangold, Portia, Grace \Mlder and Hinzes White, I was 

 much troubled with cutworms outdoors, and, after re- 

 sorting to hand picking and various sprays, I at last con- 

 cluded to try a dressing O'f gas lime amongst the plants 

 which stopped the work of destruction in short order, and 

 to any who are Ijaflly troubled with this and other soil 

 pests, I would say, apply a dressing of this gas linie now, 

 and if the soil remains open, work it in with a cultivator 

 or rake. You will not only make the soil obnoxious for 

 cutworms, the destructive white grub which is the larvae 

 of the May beetle and other pests, but there is no better 

 remedy for club root on members of the Brassica family. 

 The gas comj>anies will usually give you the lime for the 

 hauling, and if the patch to be treated covers, say, half 

 an acre, use fifteen hundred or two thousand pounds of 

 the gas lime. Trv it and be convinced. 



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Celery blight has been unsually rife this season, and 

 both private gardeners and commercial growers have sus- 

 tained heavy losses. Those who persisted in the use of 

 home-made Bordeaux Mixture, five pounds of copper sul- 

 phate and five pounds of lime to fifty-four gallons of 

 water and sprayed weekly had little disease. Those who 

 neglected to do this, lost a large proportion of their crop. 

 Celery is such an important garden vegetable that it is 

 worthy of a little extra effort to keep it healthy. There 

 is less and less celery each season kept outdoors on private 



