HORTICULTURE 



VoL XXXI 



MARCH 27, 1920 



No. 13 



THE TALK OF THE TRADE 



It is interesting to follow some 

 of the experiences of chrysanthemum 

 growers in fighting midge. I have 

 been fortunate in being able to look 

 over a lot of mighty nice chrysanthe- 

 mum stock handled by a grower who 

 uses every precaution possible to keep 

 this trouble in check. I have come to 

 the conclusion, however, that speak- 

 ing In a general way a grower is not 

 entirely safe in thinking that he Is 

 absolutely clean and free from this 

 pest. You may not see any evidence 

 of It; you may look very carefully and 

 find no trace whatsoever, but the only 

 safe thing to do is to continually 

 fumigate during the entire year. Use 

 cyanide if you wish, but don't think 

 that a good strong dose today and an- 

 other a month from now will answer 

 the purpose; it won't. Fumigate often 

 and continually. 



Tobacco paper or the nicotine ex- 

 tracts on the pipes or burned by the 

 use of lamps are very satisfactory. 

 Again I say you must keep at this 

 fumigation, and when I tell you that in 

 two or three days this insect will de- 

 velop to its mature age and be able 

 to deposit eggs, you will understand 

 that this is Important. 



I know of one grower who fumigates 

 his stock plants every second night. 

 Another interesting point is that 

 midge is easily killed, more so than 

 aphis. This is proved by the fact that 

 at times you will find the aphis on 

 chrysanthemums alive and healthy 

 and the midge killed. As I said be- 

 fore, don't think that at any time your 

 stock is entirely free. Keep up the 

 fumigation and you will keep your 

 stock in such condition that it will 

 produce results and you will not get 



into any trouble if you sell cuttings. 

 If you buy cuttings, give them the 

 same careful attention. In a nutshell 

 this all means that the midge on 

 chrysanthemums does not need to be 

 feared to the extent that you should 

 throw your stock away it you find it 

 is infested. Clean it out and keep it 

 so and you will be all right. 



Another interesting point. Some 

 have thought that growing chrysanthe- 

 mums out of doors and carrying them 

 over winter would eliminate this 

 trouble. Of course, all varieties will 

 not winter over out of doors, but some 

 will, and it Is those I have in mind. 

 This outdoor treatment will by no 

 means assure you of having no midge. 

 As this insect deposits eggs below the 

 ground as well as above, it would 

 seem that freezing does not kill the 

 eggs, so that means again the one 

 simple cure and preventative, con- 

 tinuous fumigation. 



A House of Cattleyas 



