HORTICULTURE 



Vol. XXXI 



JANUARY 17, 1920 



No. 3 



THE TALK OF THE TRADE 



would do well to try this out. I be- 

 lieve it would be a good seller. 



Growers of snapdragons in all parts 

 of the country are confessing to much 

 trouble with rust, which in some In- 

 stances seems very hard to deal with. 

 Recently I asked Mr. G. S. Ramsburg 

 of Somersworth, N. H., who is con- 

 sidered one of the most successful of 

 antirrhinum growers, how he regarded 

 this problem. Mr. Ramsburg ad- 

 mitted that the question was a per- 

 plexing one under average conditions, 

 but seems to have learned how to 

 keep clear of the rust. He said: 



"There has not been found a chemi- 

 cal cure for antirrhinum rust, but It 

 may be checked by maintaining a 

 temperature of 58 to 60 degrees, void 

 of moisture. We have seen plants 

 which were badly affected with rust 

 recover when placed In a rose house, 

 though the quality of blooms was not 

 so good as when grown in lower tem- 

 perature. 



"Snapdragon plants may be had 

 practically free from rust if seedlings 

 are started and grown in houses 

 where snapdragons have not been 

 grown for a year or two. Do not 

 crowd seedlings while in pots, so that 

 watering may be done without wet- 

 ting the tops. Keep the foliage 

 covered With powdered sulphur until 

 the buds appear, and never wet the 

 when watering. If houses are free 

 from red spider no difficulty will be 

 had from this pest, as spiders do not 

 particularly care for healthy, free 

 growing plants. 



"Summing up therefore," concluded 

 Mr. Rumsburg, "I advise growers to 

 avoid syringing, side drafts, and low 

 temperature. These three don'ts will 

 go far towards success with antir- 

 rhinums.' " 



I believe that the smaller flowered 

 type of Primroses such as malacoides 

 and Kewensis are being raised in larg- 

 er quantities for the past few years. 

 Of the malacoides type, the growers 

 are all particularly interested in the 

 improvement brought out lately in 

 such varieties as Rosea, Towendsii 

 and Rohrerii. 



I was talking with one of the good 

 plant growers around New York re- 

 cently and he placed as the best for 

 Christmas the variety Rosea, and to 

 follow that Towendsii. If I am not 



mistaken, Towendsii was Introduced 

 by A. L. Miller of Jamaica, Long Is- 

 land. It follows in nicely after Rosea, 

 which is the good strain that F. H. 

 Lemon & Co. introduced. In this class 

 of Primroses, Towendsii stands above 

 all. The color is deep enough to make 

 a very pretty showing and the flowers 

 are larger and in heavier trusses than 

 in any of the others of that type. 



Then we also have Primula Kewen- 

 sis, which is sometimes called the 

 Buttercup. The variety has the mealy 

 foliage which Is considered quite an 

 asset by many. Some of the retail 

 trade are very fond of this Primrose 

 when It is well coated with that shiny, 

 flowery powder. 



To get away from the malacoides 

 type of Primrose, I am reminded of a 

 mighty pretty Chinese Primrose which 

 I saw recently at the Webster estate 

 in Brookline, Peter Arnott, gardener. 

 Mr. Arnott had the prettiest shade of 

 bright satin pink Chinese Primrose 

 that I have ever seen. He raised it 

 from seed called Sutton's Coral Pink, 

 and I think the commercial grower 



In connection with the high price of 

 lily bulbs this year, I am sure it will 

 be interesting to the florist who has 

 bought lilies to know that at an ad- 

 vertised auction sale in London, Eng- 

 land, on December 10th, 490 cases of 

 giganteums were struck off under the 

 hammer at an average price of very 

 nearly $55.00 per case. This indicates 

 that the American grower is not pay- 

 ing so mtich in proportion for bulbs as 

 our English friends. 



It may also be interesting to listen 

 to what one well-known importer has 

 to say about the future for lilies. I 

 will speak for the sake of simplifying 

 the statement of giganteums. Other 

 varieties will figure in the same pro- 

 portion. This importer says that it is 

 doubtful if lily bulbs will ever again 

 sell below 10c. to the florist, and it may 

 take three years before they can get 

 down to that point. We are apt to 

 forget that very much the same condi- 

 tion exists in Japan as in our own and 

 other countries; that is. high wages 



Well Grown Primula Kewensis 



