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Juno 3, 1916 



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WEED KILLER 



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P.-L CHEMICAL CO., 507-509 W. 19th St., New York 



I llKKI ^I'llMUM I Mil 11 I I I l> 



REPORT OF THE FLORICULTURAL 

 PATHOLOGIST, UNIV. OF ILL. 



Before llio III. Sliilc Florists' Abbo. nt Mo- 

 llii,-, l.y i;«-o. I* IVllliT. 



Branch Rot of the Carnation. 



Branch rot o( carnations was much 

 more serious this past spnson than 

 formerly. This condition was due In 

 part to peculiar weather conditions. 

 The excessive rains produced plants 

 that were large, bushy and soft. As 

 they made such rapid growth, a large 

 amount of topping was necessary 

 which Increased the number of 

 wounds and so increased branch rot. 

 Also, the plants being bushy prevent- 

 ed them from drying out completely 

 after the rains, and this factor also 

 Induced this trouble. 



The fungus causing branch rot can- 

 not attack a healthy plant below the 

 surface of the soil like stem rot, but 

 it is more in the nature of a wound 

 parasite, attacking branches where 

 the flower stems and shoot.s have been 

 broken off and slowly working its 

 way down into the stems and finally 

 killing the entire plant. The fungus 

 is also able to get in at the nodes and 

 kill the young shoots even before they 

 are visible. In bad cases of node in- 

 fection, the nodes become discolored 

 and split and in a short time the 

 whole branch dies. It was observed, 

 for the first time, this season that the 

 fungus is the principal cause of the 

 dying off of the lower leaves of the 

 plant, especially in cases where the 

 plants have yellows. 



Methods for Control. 

 To control this trouble, I would 

 make the following recommendations; 



1. It is better, for several reasons, 

 to use a medium sized, sturdy plant 

 than a large, bushy one to set in the 

 bench. 



2. In planting, do not set-the plants 

 too close together. Overcrowding will 

 Increase branch rot considerably. 



3. As in the case of the control of 

 stem rot, keep the temperature down, 

 especially during the first three 

 months. 



4. It is always better to syringe 

 early in the morning of a clear day, 

 BO that the plants will dry out by even- 

 ing. 



5. In topping, be careful not to 

 leave stubs and broken parts on the 



plants, for these are i-i, n .loors for 

 branch rot to enter. 



6. In gathering flowers, experi- 

 ments have shown that carefully 

 breaking off the flower stems at the 

 node is to be preferred to cutting the 

 stems between the nodes. Branch rot 

 will enter a stub easier than It will at 

 the nodes. 



7. Of the utmost Importance in the 

 control of branch rot, as well as other 

 diseases, adopt for your slogan, "keep 

 the houses clean," which means under, 

 as well as on top of the bench. 



Carnation Yellows. 

 Carnation yellows appears to be In- 

 creasing in seriousness rapidly and is 

 now to be found on all the standard 

 varieties on the market. While the 

 cause of this disease still remains un- 

 known, I would make a few sugges- 

 tions, which if carefully followed out 

 will help eliminate this trouble from 

 your greenhouses. 



1. Always bear in mind that any- 

 thing that will lower the vitality of 

 your plants will increase the amount 

 of yellows. Also, that any check the 

 plants receive will, likewise, tend to 

 increase yellows. 



2. Before making cuttings, select 

 and mark the strongest and healthiest 

 plants in the benches. Watcli them 

 closely and if they develop yellows do 

 not take cuttings from them. 



3. Make your cuttings from plants 

 in bloom in preference to stock plants. 

 In this connection, when you grow a 

 new variety remember the plants are 

 generally propagated from stock 

 plants and in many cases weak cut- 

 tings, due to overpropagation, are 

 used. Therefore, it is well worth your 

 while to select the best and strongest 

 plants of the new varieties the first 

 year and watch them closely and then 

 make cuttings in the manner I have 

 outlined above. 



4. Root your cuttings early in the 

 season and do not leave them in the 

 sand after they have rooted. It is bet- 

 ter to put up cuttings with the root 

 system fairly developed than to wait 

 until the cuttings have a great mass 

 of roots. From my observations, I 

 have found that the later cuttings are 

 made, the longer they take to root. Also, 

 that the late rooted cuttings will be 

 troubled with yellows much more than 

 the plants rooted early in the season. 



5. Although the more plants are 

 shifted, the more yellows will increase. 



never let the young plants become pot- 

 bound, or stunted. 



Antirrhinum Ruit. 



Antirrhinum rust, like the carna- 

 tion rust of old. has spread over the 

 whole country and la now found In the 

 east as well as the west. Like carna- 

 tion rust, it will run its coiirse and 

 llie ultimate result will be that the an- 

 tirrhinum breeder will give us rust- 

 resistant varieties as in the case of 

 the carnation. However, the question 

 now before the grower is to know how 

 to control It at the present time. 



This rust as well as anthracnose, 

 another disease of the snapdragon, 

 can be prevented by applying Bor- 

 deaux mixtures every two weeks from 

 the seedling stage until the spikes 

 form, followed by a weekly application 

 of ammoniacal copper carbonate dur- 

 ing the rest of the growing season. 

 Bordeaux mixture discolors the foliage, 

 so that it cannot he used through the 

 season. 



In my former reports I recommend- 

 ed the use of seeds instead of cuttings. 

 However, I have learned from expe- 

 rience, that suitable plants for com- 

 mercial purposes cannot be obtained 

 from seeds. Therefore, I would mod- 

 ify my recommendation to this extent 

 Do not use cuttings if you must send 

 for them. Start your first batch from 

 seed and then select cuttings from the 

 most promising plants. Rust cannot 

 be introduced in your estab'ishment 

 through seed, but infected cuttings can 

 be easily overlooked. It has been 

 proven rather conclusively, that the 

 rust was spread over this country In 

 the last three years, on infected cut- 

 tings. 



Aster Wilt and Yellows. 



Last summer, work was started on 

 aster wilt and yellows, two of the most 

 serious troubles of this crop. About 

 ten thousand plants were used in the 

 experiments. Twenty-five varieties, 

 representing all the commercial types, 

 were grown from seed obtained from 

 various states in this country and dif- 

 ferent localities in Europe. All the 

 plants used were more or less infect- 

 ed with yellow's, showing that the va- 

 riety or origin of the seed has no in- 

 fluence on the amount of yellows. The 

 more young seedlings were shifted, 

 the more loss from wilt occurred. This 

 was true to some extent with yeSlows 

 also. The lowest percentage of loss 

 occurred where the seeds were sown 

 directly in the field, although the 

 plants bloomed later. Disinfecting the 

 seed with mercuric chloride (1 part to 

 1.000 parts of water) for ,^-10 minutes, 

 and the use of clean seed beds, with 

 a minimum of shifting or transplant- 

 ing, will materially decrease the loss 

 from wilt. Xo recommendation can 

 be made for the control of yellows at 

 this time. 



