178 



HORTICULTURE 



February S, 191!> 



DISEASED SWEET PEAS. 

 A corri'simiuliiil in .\lurri>il(iwii, N 

 J., sent to this ufTici' ctuiiu' ditifiiscd 

 8wc«t pea shoots mid iiskiiiK for In- 

 (orniation and iidvlco concorninK same. 

 Tho shoots were subnilttod to Prof. 

 Osmun of the .Massachusetts Agricul- 

 tural ColloKo, who diagnosed the trou- 

 ble as jirobjihly the "mosaic" disease, 

 but asked for further details as to the 

 history of the trouble and the sur- 

 rounding conditions. As the case 

 seems to Involve much of direct Inter- 

 est for the numerous growers of sweet 

 peas we give space to the resultant 

 correspondence in full. Following Is 

 the statement of the grower. 



Sirs:— 



Kcfprrlnu t<i yuur rocniesi f.ir ii fuller 

 <Irsrrl|»tlini of swi'CI jm-ii shouts. I lifg to 

 8iiy tli:it 1 si'iil prrfirlly hniUIiy slioota 

 niont; wllli iI1sims<><) for ronlriist. They 

 wcro .sown cnilsiilo In lioxps on Sept. 9tfa 

 In ;i doplh of .1 Inihis c'O'l soil. No dls- 

 i.nse was notlt*<';iblo when we housed them 

 aliont the nildille of Noveuilier. They nre 

 In <'luuips nf nine pinnts. one foot lietween 

 eneh eluuip. The (liseuse seems to he con- 

 flnetl to eertiilu p;irts. three perfectly 

 henltliy phinis or ilunips ;;rnwlns l)esl(le 

 Ihrii" illseiiseU in the s;inie hox. The fo- 

 llnge does not develop or e.xpnnd, although 

 the plants continue to grow, hut have a 

 curled up appearance as If affected by 

 caterpillars, but no sign of vermin Is to be 

 seen. The lesives have yellow streaks run- 

 ning down them and look as If overwatered. 

 bui I don't think they are. I have applied 

 lime to no purpose. The seed was tiought 

 at a reliable store. Night temperature Is 

 50 degrees, with 15 to 20 degrees higher 



In daytime. 



Sincerely yours. 



.r. B. 



The foregoing letter was forwarded 

 by advice of Prof. Osmun to Prof. J. 

 J. Taubenhaus, associate pathologist 

 of Delaware College Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station for further confirm- 

 ation of his conclusions. Prof. Tau- 

 benhaus' reply follows: 

 HoRTicfi.TiRE Publishing Co: 



I received your letter as well as the 

 communication from Mr. B. and the 

 correspondence of Prof. Osmun of the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural College. I 

 have also received today, the specimen 

 of diseased sweet pea plants which 

 came to us in good shape. Prof. Os- 

 mun was correct in diagnosing the 

 trouble as mosaic. Although very lit- 

 tle is known of the cause of this dis- 

 ease, much is known in the way of 

 prevention. This disease is carried 

 with the green aphis. It is also very 

 contagious; that is. it may be pro- 

 duced to a healthy plant by the mere 

 contact with a diseased one through 

 aphid punctures. Tho very fact that 

 your grower has planted the seeds out 

 of doors explains its appearance in 

 the greenhouse, as no doubt seedlings 

 were infected out of doors which 

 brought the disease indoors. The 

 trouble does not make its appearance 

 on very young seedlings but seems to 

 break out all of a sudden when the 

 plants obtain the height of about 6 

 inches. As these plants grow, the dis- 

 ease keeps pace, and becomes worse 

 and worse. 



Sweet pea plants which grow un- 

 der greenhouse conditions and which 

 are, therefore, more tender than those 

 grown outdoors, show the disease in a 

 more severe form than is shown on 

 the same plants when planted out- 

 doors. We do not know as yet whether 

 the disease is communicated with the 

 seed. It is probable that it is carried 

 with the soil. 



In the way of a remedy, spraying 



will Ix^ of no avail. However, since 

 the deseuse Is carried by green aphlds, 

 every ellorls should be made to keep 

 down this ptst as this really means 

 complete suppression of the mosaic 

 There are sonie other biting Insects 

 such as the cucumber leaf beetle and 

 other insi'ct feeders which prey on the 

 sweet pea and these are also carri<Ts 

 of mosaic. It is, therefore, always ad- 

 visable to keep these pests down by 

 spraying with Paris tTceii or any 

 other standard iDBectlclde. 



In starting the seedlings outdoors, 

 it seems almost impossible to prevent 

 Infection. If your correspondent has 

 a cold house wherein he could start 

 his plants. I think he would be mak- 

 ing quite some steps towards the con- 

 trolling of that trouble. 



I am here enclosing several franked 

 tags which you can use In sending to 

 any of your subscribers, so that they 

 may send us diseased specimens free 

 of charge. This Department will be 

 very glad to offer its services to any 

 of your readers and cheerfully answer 

 any question or give advice wherever 

 possible. 



Yours very truly, 



J. .7. T.MBENII.M'S, 



Associate Pathologist. 

 Newark,, Del. 



PACIFIC COAST NOTES. 



Roy Endsley. who recently built a 

 large hothouse at Colfax, Wash., has 

 opened a retail store there with a nice 

 line of cut flowers and potted goods. 



The Kirkman .\ursery of Fresno has 

 just opened a branch at Madera with 

 a large line of ornamental stock as 

 well as fruit trees. B. H. Wood will 

 have charge of the stock. 



H. Plath of San Francisco is still 

 delivering a great many palms to the 

 Exposition grounds, and is now getting 

 in additional orders for some of the 

 buildings of foreign nations, which 

 will require considerable material of 

 this kind. 



With the assessment of the first 

 tree-planting district created in Oak- 

 land, Cal., under a new state law, the 

 work of placing trees on both sides of 

 various streets will start within a few 

 days. The first work will be done 

 along Grand avenue, from Perry street 

 to the Piedmont boundary. Sycamores 

 will be planted, and will be spaced 40 

 feet apart. 



Arrangements have been made to 

 have the S. A. F. Convention Garden 

 in Golden Gate Park, a large plot of 

 ground having been allotted for the 

 purpose near the band stand, where 

 the exhibits should attract a great deal 

 of attention. The garden will be in 

 the hands of competent men. with 

 ample facilities, so that all exhibits 

 will be assured proper care and atten- 

 tion. The Convention will be held in 

 the new Auditorium in the Civic Cen- 

 ter, plans of which are being for- 

 warded to the S. A. F. officers in the 

 East. The various local committees 

 are getting actively to work on plans 

 for the Convention, and the program 

 committee, of which A. J. Rossi is 

 chairman, is preparing a handsome 

 souvenir program. 



PHILADELPHIA NOTES. 



!•;. .1 h':iiuiiun 111 the S S. I'eiinock- 

 .Meehan Co. has Just returiie«l from 

 the carnation convention and reports 

 the meeting a good success. Tho qual- 

 ity of tho exhibits was the best ho had 

 ever seen at a similar occasion. A 

 distinguishing feature was the splen- 

 did showing made by the New Eng- 

 land growers. For form, size, substance 

 and keeping qualities, their exhibits 

 carried all before them. Pembroke. 

 Goddard, Strout, and others deserve 

 great credit. Ho Ihiiiks St. Louis a 

 good selection for the' next convention 

 and predicts a line meeting. 



.January trade among the leading 

 houses like Ureor, .Mlchell, Burpee and 

 others — who had their catalogues out 

 early and who do a nation-wide busi- 

 ness — is reported to have been better 

 than expected, and considerably ahead 

 of the same month last year. This Is 

 good news, considering thi' heavy fall- 

 ing off in November and December. 

 People seem to be getting over their 

 scare, and getting back to normal 

 again. Besides this, the fanners have 

 money to spend! They have been get- 

 ting better prices for several years 

 back, and are now coming into their 

 own! 



Hoiyoke, Mass. — The banquet of the 

 Florists' and Gardeners' Club, planned 

 for .January 27 at the Marble Hall 

 Hotel, was indefinitely postponed. 



VISITORS' REGISTER. 



San Francisco. — Mark H. Ebel. Sac- 

 ramento. Cal. 



Boston: — Louis Hanfling, of Russin 

 & Hanfling, New York. 



Pittsburgh, Pa.— .lack Swart, repre- 

 senting Van Meerbeek, Ltd., Hlllegom, 

 Holland. 



Washington, D. C— Robert Shock, 

 representing M. Rice & Company, Phil- 

 adelphia, Pa. 



Pittsburgh, Pa.— Roger Paterson, 

 Cincinnati; Mr. Smith, of the Boas Co., 

 (whoever they are) Phila. 



New York: R. F. Tesson, formerly 

 of St. Louis, but now a Texas farmer; 

 .los. H. Hill. Richmond, Ind.; Michael 

 Barker, Chicago. 



St. Louis— M. Adler and Julius Dill- 

 hoff, New York; Martin Reukauf, rep- 

 resenting H. Bayersdorfer & Co., Phil- 

 adelphia; J. J. Karins, representing H. 

 A. Dreer, Philadelphia. 



Philadelphia— C. B. Coe. D. .M. 

 Ferry & Co.. Detroit, Mich.; Wm. 

 Penn, Boston. .Maste.; Watson Wood- 

 ruff, Orange, Conn.; W, J. GuUett. 

 Lincoln, III.; B. E. Brothers, Detroit, 

 Mich. 



Cincinnati: M. L. Holland, repre- 

 senting Vaughan's Seed Store, Chica- 

 go; G. Van Bochove, Kalamazoo, 

 Mich.; H. A. MoUer, representing The 

 American Foil Co.; L. E. Ruch, Rich- 

 mond, Ind. 



Chicago. — .Jos. Edmandson. of Cali- 

 fornia Seed Growers' C'ompany, San 

 Francisco; Wm. Fosgate, Santa Clara. 

 Cal.; Mr. Chisholm, representing 

 Braslan Seed Growers, San Jose, Cal.; 

 Mr. Kimberlin. of Kimberlin Seed Co., 

 Santa Clara, Cal.; Paul Palos, Little 

 Rock, Ark.; J. O. Kemble, Marshall- 

 town, la.; Wni. Moore, with the Mox- 

 ley Nurseries, Delaven, Wis.; E. E. 

 Stewart, Brooklyn. Mich.; Mrs. Ennis 

 of the Wisconsin K'loral Co.. Milwau- 

 kee, Wis.; W. F. Duntemann, jBenson- 

 ville. 111. 



