222 



THE FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



danger of the houses going below 40 

 degrees at night, but a little fire with 

 the ventilators open will do good in 

 a wet, cool time. By fire heat we like 

 to keep the houses about 40 to 42 de- 

 grees at night and 55 degrees in day 

 time. If sun heat goes up to 60 or 65 

 degrees no harm is done. Green fly 

 does not trouble the violets in summer 

 but appears often in September or Oc- 

 tober. For that we vaporize with to- 

 bacco extract, being careful not to 

 make it too strong. 



End of October we clean the beds 

 carefully, sprinkle on some bone flour 

 and stir it into the soil, and then put 

 on half an inch of rotten leaves or 

 very rotten manure. 



The chief trouble with the violet is 

 the spot, which is probably a mould or 

 fungus, and has been proved to be 

 spread by syringing. I know of noth- 



fly that punctures the leaf and lays an 

 egg that destroys the tissue. We have 

 seen the fly. Tobacco in any form has 

 no effect on it. As a preventive we 

 have used the hydrocyanic acid gas, 

 and it had nothing but the very best 

 results on violets. And it destroys all 

 kinds of aphis or anything that has 

 lungs. 



A little experience with this deadly 

 gas very recently may be of interest. 

 We generated the gas to kill the black 

 fly on chrysanthemums, but brought 

 into the house a plant each of Adian- 

 tums cuneatum and Farleyense, both 

 of which had young, tender fronds. 

 After the operation we found that a 

 few of the very tips of the chrysan- 

 themums were touched, mostly near 

 where the jars stood, but the ferns the 

 next day or since have not shown the 

 slightest effects from it. The formula 



The California does not want its run- 

 ners cut off after November, as from 

 the runners you soon get flowers. A 

 few plants should always be grown 

 for their leaves, which are always in 

 abundance, and fine, small green galax 

 leaves are much used with the double 

 violet; it is better than robbing our 

 plants of their leaves. 



WATERING. 



No subject connected with horticul- 

 ture is more difficult to handle than 

 this. You cannot give any specific di- 

 rections; you can only give general 

 ideas. Watering occupies much of the 

 labor of a florist and its proper execu- 

 tion is of the greatest importance. 

 Plants in the ground are assisted occa- 

 sionally by artificial watering, but 

 with our entirely artificial way of 

 growing them on benches and in pots 



ing else but picking off the affected 

 leaf the moment you see it. It ap- 

 pears first as a little black speck and 

 then radiates out, killing the tissue. 

 Some application of sulphur or Bor- 

 deaux mixture might destroy it, but 

 either will destroy every leaf of the 

 violet. We have tried the Bordeaux 

 mixture and had a most convincing 

 experiment. We do not consider the 

 spot at all dangerous if you keep your 

 foliage dry and maintain a genial dry 

 atmosphere, and destroy the leaves 

 whenever you discover it. 



The violet is subject to a small 

 green slug which appears in the au- 

 tumn. Perhaps this small half-inch 

 long worm is the larva of some beetle. 

 It riddles the leaves sadly. I have 

 never been troubled with it, but have 

 frequently seen it, and saw it destroy- 

 ed by an application of flour and paris 

 green dusted thoroughly among the 

 leaves. 



What we most dread is what we call 

 "curled leaf," when the young leaves 

 curl and wrinkle up. An authority in- 

 forms me that it is caused by a minute 



House of Violets. 



for this gas is in article on Fungicides 

 and Insecticides. 



We are often asked for pots of vio- 

 lets, and it is quite an Easter plant. 

 They would not last long in a living 

 room, however well established, and 

 we cannot grow a plant so satisfacto- 

 rily as by lifting a few of the best 

 budded a week or ten days before they 

 are wanted. 



There are several varieties of this 

 sweet flower, but we cannot find one 

 to suit the public, or so satisfactory 

 to grow and flower, as Marie Louise, 

 the beautiful blue with more or less 

 white eye; the better grown the less 

 eye. Farquahar is no improvement. 

 The old Neapolitan is a beautiful vio- 

 let and is still grown by some, but its 

 color is not liked by the many. You 

 don't want many white violets; about 

 a tenth of your stock. All of the above 

 want the same treatment. 



The strong growing single flowered 

 California can be grown in the same 

 way, or it does very well planted out 

 and lifted in September. They sell 

 very well, but not equal to the double. 



and tubs they are entirely dependent 

 on our attendance to their most im- 

 portant element, water. 



I remarked some years ago that 

 good waterers, like poets, are born not 

 made. Here again is the most truly 

 mental part of our business. The me- 

 chanical application is considerable, 

 but not near as important as the 

 knowledge and judgment required to 

 know just when to water. A gentle- 

 man at the Canadian Horticultural 

 convention, lately assembled at Ot- 

 tawa, expressed his admiration for the 

 exclusive use of the watering pot in 

 the European gardens. 



The writer has had a good deal of 

 practice with the watering can, both 

 here and in Great Britain, and has 

 not the slightest veneration for the 

 watering pot or its use. We don't be- 

 lieve that the production of fine plants 

 has anything to do with the use of 

 them and believe the hose has many 

 advantages and no disadvantages that 

 we can see. It is simply a matter of 

 who is handling it. The hose in the 

 hands of a careless man may be dan- 



