20 



The Florists^ Review 



Febeuaey 10, 1916. 



SNAILS PERFORATE VIOLETS. 



Today, when picking violets, I found 

 many blooms eaten or punctured with 

 small holes. What caused this? Those 

 standing upright were not so apt to be 

 in this condition as those near the 

 ground. Do you think fumigating with 

 tobacco papers would remedy this? 

 What do you think of pulverized pig 

 manure as a fertilizer for violets, mixed 

 with the soil in the fall? Would dried 

 blood used as a top-dressing during the 

 winter be desirable? 



E. M. H.— N. Y. 



Probably small shell snails are re- 

 sponsible. If you look closely and find 

 this to be the cause, give the soil a 

 dusting of fine air-slaked lime after 

 your flowers are picked. Let it lie for 

 a day and it should clear out the pests. 

 If they lodge in the crowns of the 

 plants, dust a little in those. The lime 

 will not harm the plants and can be 

 washed off clean with the hose. Fumi- 

 gation with tobacco papers would not 

 kill these or other leaf -eating pests. 1 

 have never tried pulverized pig manure 

 for violets. Perhaps some readers who 

 have done so can give us their opinion. 

 I do not think it would be equal to 

 either cow or sheep manure. Rotted 

 cow manure, if procurable, cannot be 

 beaten. Do not use dried blood on 

 violets as a top-dressing. I have seen 

 disastrous results on both violets and 

 sweet peas from its use. Sheep manure, 

 pulverized, scratched in, makes a good 

 top-dressing and probably pig manure 

 would be perfectly safe. Liquid cow 

 or sheep manure is excellent. C. W, 



MR. CAHILL'S RETURN. 



William E. Cahill, who was reported 

 in The Eeview for February 3 as re- 

 turning to New York to join the staff 

 of Roman J. Irwin, formerly was with 

 the Stumpp & Walter Co., but recently 

 he has been with the Fottler, Fiske, 

 Kawson Co., Boston, and has made his 

 home at Dorchester, Mass. Mr. Cahill 

 is only 35 years of age. In his new 

 position he will cover the territory for- 

 merly covered by Mr. Irwin personally. 



SNAPDRAGONS AND GLADIOLI. 



What temperature is required for 

 snapdragons and gladioli, and can they 

 be brought into flower for Easter and 

 Memorial day if started March 1? What 

 size of pots would you recommend for 

 snapdragons for benching at this date, 

 or what is the latest date to be safe? 



L. S. K.—Mass. 



must not, on any consideration, be grown 

 warmer than 50 degrees if good, stocky 

 spikes are wanted. Neither snapdragons 

 nor gladioli, even if started at once, will 

 be in flower for Easter, although it 

 comes unusually late this year, but 

 each may be had for Memorial day. 

 Plant out the snapdragons from 2^-inch 

 or 2%-inch pots as soon as possible, and 

 the gladioli by the middle of February. 

 C. W. 



MOLD ON BOXWOOD. 



We are experiencing difficulty with 

 mold in the storage of our boxwoods 

 this winter. The stock in question is 

 planted in tubs and the disease at- 

 tacks the center, working toward the 

 outside of the tree. Can you instruct 

 us as to the proper method of handling 

 this class of nursery stock in winter 

 storage? Any information on this 

 matter will be appreciated. 



D. H.— m. 



This is undoubtedly due to lack of 

 ventilation. You cannot successfully 

 keep any evergreens unless they are 

 freely ventilated. Give them air every 

 day unless it is severely cold. Never 

 mind if the temperature is a number 

 of degrees below freezing. Boxwood 

 will withstand zero weather without 



William E. Cahill. 



injury. You will find that with plenty 

 of fresh air your mold will soon dis- 

 appear. There are few days in the 

 winter when some ventilation cannot 

 safely be given to this class of stock. 

 C. W. 



GOOD EXTERMINATOR OF MICE. 



Some kind of animal, either mouse or 

 rat, is . destroying the buds on my 

 plants. The rodents nip off the buds 

 and eat them, and have practically 

 ruined one of my houses. I have set 

 traps and used poisoned bait without 

 getting rid of them. I think they are 

 mice, but is it possible for them to get 

 up on a plant? I can see where they 

 have dug holes in the bed. Kindly ad- 

 vise me what to do. J. H. S. — Conn. 



arsenic through it. Lay this around on 

 small pieces of paper. The mice will 

 eat it greedily and it will make short 

 work of them. C. W. 



HYPNUM; USED FOR PACKING. 



I am sending you a sample of moss 

 that I picked in the woods some time 

 ago. Please give me the name of it. 

 Do you think it is valuable commer- 

 cially? This moss is beautiful and some 

 of it has small, light blue flowers. 



C. A. H.— Ohio. 



The plant in question is one of the 

 mosses, the botanical name being hyp- 

 num, a group containing many different 

 species, all of which are interesting. 

 This plant is not of much value commer- 

 cially, though several of the species are 

 gathered and dried for use as packing 

 material by European nurserymen, the 

 hypnums also being found in Europe, 



The blue flowers mentioned belong to 

 some other small plant growing among 

 the hypnum, the latter being one of the 

 cryptogams, or flowerless plants. It is 

 allied to the fern, W, H. T. 



CROPS FOR MEMORIAL DAY. 



I would like to find out about grow- 

 ing stocks for Memorial day. What 

 variety is best to grow and when should 

 the seeds be planted to allow for giv- 

 ing one pinch, or is it advisable to pinch 

 them back? When should I buy snap- 

 dragons from 2%-inch pots to plant and 

 have in crop for Memorial day? 



J. H,— R, I. 



Sow ten weeks' stocks from February 

 15 to 20 for a Memorial day crop. Pot 

 off the seedlings singly and discard 

 such as throw single flowers. These are 

 of little commercial value. The plants 

 do not need any pinching. 



Snapdragons from 2i/^-inch pots 

 should be planted early in March to 

 ensure a good Memorial day crop. 



C. W. 



HYACINTHS DAMPING OFF. 



We have a contract to deliver about 

 15,000 hyacinths and we purchased the 

 miniature Dutch hyacinth bulbs and 

 are growing them in 3-inch pots. They 

 are being sold at 10 cents each. We 

 are having some trouble after bringing 

 these hyacinths from the beds, well 

 rooted. They shoot up about two inches 

 and then damp off, and in a great many 

 eases the entire bulb is soft, or prac- 

 tically rotted. What is your advice 

 on how to handle these bulbs success- 

 fully? We have used a large quantity 

 of water on these plants, inasmuch as 

 a 3-inch pot cannot carry a large 

 amount of soil. We have endeavored 

 to keep th^ water from the bud as 

 much as possible in jvatering tho 

 plants. We maintain a temperature ol 

 about 60 degrees at night, 



G, G.— S, C. 



Both snapdragons and gladioli succeed 

 well in a minimum temperature of 48 to 

 50 degrees at night. The snapdragons 

 will do well 5 degrees cooler. They 



This is probably the work of mice. 

 They are especially destructive on car- 

 nation buds. Use some burnt meal. 

 Dampen it a little and mix some white 



While your hyacinths may have goo<i 

 roots, seeing they are in such small 

 pots, they should not be started until 

 they have made a top growth at least two 

 inches long, and if three inches all th". 

 better. These bulbs should have been 

 covered with sand, coal ashes or even 

 loam in a cold cellar, in which case 

 they would have made an ample top 

 growth before now. If you have had 

 them outdoors they will be later. Yon 

 have started your bulbs before they had 



