54 



The Florists^ Review 



Apbil 18, 1916. 



its own later in the season. Avalanche, 

 Mme. Mouillere, La Lorraine, Radiant, 

 General de Vibraye and Mme. Chautard 

 are a splendid commercial half-dozen. 

 Remember that the flowers of the 

 French type are more susceptible to in- 

 jury from sun and moisture than those 

 of Otaksa, and they are not, for that 

 reason, to be recommended for outdoor 

 uses. For pot culture they are the 

 finest introductions of late years. Thoy 

 bloom with wonderful freedom and 

 make a rapid growth, and no florist who 

 grows or sells pot plants can afford to 

 be without them. 



Hard-Wooded Plants. 



The season is a little late for many 

 hard-wooded plants, but Erica Caffra 

 densa, an easy doer, is available; so 

 are some melantheras carried along in 

 cold houses. Acacias are fewer than 

 usual; even A. paradoxa has been hard 

 to keep back. Once the little flowers 

 on this variety turn brown, the plants 

 become unsalable. Faded flowers can- 

 not be shaken off, and it is a task 

 to pick them off a number of well 

 bloomed plants. Keep all the hard- 

 wooded plants as cool as you can with- 

 out exposing them to actual frost. Re- 

 member that their pots are crowded 

 with fine, hair-like roots, and that one 

 good drj'ing out will cripple and may 

 even kill them. Therefore water them 

 carefully and tell all purchasers to do 

 likewise. 



Bulbous Plants. 

 As Easter is late, there is a smaller 



variety of Dutch bulbous stock in pans 

 available than usual. Few of the single 

 early tulips are in good condition except 

 Pink Beauty. Others become too leggy. 

 Murillo is the popular tulip. Some 

 White Hurillo and Brimstone Beauty 

 also are available, but Murillo is the 

 tulip par excellence for pans. It is a 

 sturdy grower and never needs any 

 supports. The same holds good for Vic- 

 toria, which is easily the best narcissus 

 for Easter. It is late for 'Golden Spur, 

 which has become too much drawn, 

 even when retarded as much as pos- 

 sible. Hyacinths kept quite cold are 

 all right and will open sufficiently in a 

 cold greenhouse or even in a coldframe. 

 These also are better if not too fully 

 flowered. Where hyacinths are in full 

 bloom it is sometimes necessary to stake 

 the spikes to prevent them from break- 

 ing. Use light and inconspicuous stakes 

 where this has to be done. 



Rhododendrons and Kalmias. 

 Fink Pearl is the rhododendron par 

 excellence for Easter trade. White 

 Pearl is good, but often arrives with 

 poor foliage. The flowers of these two 

 varieties are so much larger than those 

 of the ordinary hybrids that the latter 

 are hard to sell in competition with 

 them. Kalmia latif olia is another ever- 

 green flowering shrub that is seen more 

 than usual this season. It is a hardy 

 shrub and can be planted out after 

 blooming, but do not tell any customers 

 that Pink Pearl or White Pearl can be 

 planted and left outdoors, as both are 

 quite tender. 







^^^ 



STEM-ROT ON GERANIUMS. 



We are -sending you by parcel post 

 two geranium plants that have become 

 affected with some trouble. These 

 plants were* from cuttings that were 

 bought sometime in January. They were 

 fine plants, well rooted, and have been 

 doing nicely until recently, when this 

 trouble started. You will note the 

 plants have a good, firm root growth, 

 but that at the end of the stem, where 

 the roots start to grow out, a sort of 

 rot has started. This rot spreads until 

 the entire plant is destroyed. It is 

 going through our ^ntire geranium 

 stock. These plants *Tire grown in a 

 temperature of about 56 degrees, and 

 we doubt if they have been watered 

 too much, as we have really kept them 

 a little on the dry side. We have given 

 them plenty of space. The loam used 

 is a light, black soil, with little, or 

 perhaps no, clay, but it contains a small 

 quantity of rotted cow manure. We 

 tried to avoid getting the cow manure 

 in, but a little is sure to slip through 

 the screen. We can see no reason for 

 this condition of the plants, as they 

 ha^ been fine stock until now. 



We are of the opinion that it is our 

 water supply. We use water from our 

 city water plant, which is pumped from 



. n*^ •<-.>%:«,■ 



Lake Michigan and then put through. a 

 filtering plant to purify it. Our city 

 chemist here has pronounced the water 

 to be perfectly pure, but the condition 

 of the water is such that we can hardly 

 drink it, for the taste and the odor are 

 bad. When we boil the water there is 

 an odor somewhat similar to that of 

 creosote. We understand that a con- 

 siderable amount of alum is used to 

 filter the water. What do you think? 

 Could this be the cause of the trouble? 

 C. P. & S.— Mich. 



It is barely possible that the water 

 may have something to do with your 

 trouble; still, if you have gro^n gera- 

 niums during previous years and they 

 have been healthy, that can hardly be 

 the cause. At -the state experimental 

 station they may be able to give you 

 some useful information on this point. 

 You are keeping your plants quite warm; 

 56 degrees is a high temperature for 

 growing stock. It would be much bet- 

 ter for them if the temperature was 8 

 degrees lower at night. I think it prob- 

 able that your geranium cuttings, while 

 they may have looked well and carried 

 plenty of roots, perhaps were too long 

 a period in the cutting bench and be- 

 came somewhat drawn. If at potting 

 time you buried the stems somewhat to 



improve their appearance, you would do 

 the best thing to start stem-rot. If your 

 black soil had some sharp sand added 

 to it, a little fine bone and one-fourth 

 as much spent hotbed manure finely 

 screened, it should prove ideal for gera- 

 niums. Can you not grow your own 

 cuttings another year and thus prevent 

 any danger of infection from bought in 

 stock? C. W. 



GREEN WORMS ON GERANIUMS. 



On my geraniums there are little 

 green worms, which eat the under side 

 of the leaves, but do not eat entirely 

 through them. I have used nicotine 

 without success. Can you advise me 

 what to use? S. R. F.— Neb. 



It will be necessary to use a poison 

 spray of some kind on your geraniums 

 if the pests are too numerous to be 

 killed by hand. Arsenate of lead whit- 

 ens the foliage and makes the plants 

 more or less unsalable. Therefore, it 

 is better to give them a weak dose of 

 Paris green, one ounce to eighteen gal- 

 lons of water. Also add a little lime 

 to the water, to prevent any burning 

 of the foliage, although it is not likely 

 that the strength advised will burn any 

 foliage. Spray on a cloudy day or on 

 the evening of a clear day, being sure 

 to direct the liquid below the leaves. 

 Give the plants a good spraying of 

 clear water early the following morn- 

 ing. Repeat the spraying if more 

 worms appear. C. W. 



BONE FLOUR FOR GERANIUMS. 



Some time ago you advised feeding 

 geraniums bone flour. Will you please 

 advise how much to give plants in 3- 

 inch, 4-inch and 5-inch pots? I used a 

 3%-gallon pail to measure the soil, 

 using four pails of field soil and one 

 of rotted cow manure. The plants do 

 not make any growth. They bud and 

 bloom all right, but have a pale yel- 

 lowish green color instead of a dark 

 green. B. P. M. — Kan. 



On a 5-inch pot use a teaspoonful of 

 fine bone. On 3-inch and ' 4-inch pots 

 use half this amount. Apply it once in 

 two weeks. In addition, if your plants 

 are well rooted and lack color, give a 

 watering with soot water or weak ni- 

 trate of soda water. One pound of 

 nitrate of soda will suffice for fifteen 

 gallons of water. It is a strong fer- 

 tilizer and do not give the plants more 

 than one application. C. W. 



GERANIUMS FOR MEMORIAL DAT. 



Will you please advise me as to the 

 latest date at which geraniums may be 

 cut back to have blooming plants at 

 Memorial day? Also, how far apart 

 should geraniums be planted in the bed 

 for stock, planting out of 2-inch pots? 



M. G. F. C— O. 



No topping or heading back should 

 have been done after March 1. Set the 

 plants twelve to fifteen inches apart 

 each way. C. W. 



Danbury, Oonn. — While working with 

 a circular saw recently, Theodore H. 

 Judd, of the Deer Hill Conservatories, 

 almost completely cut off two fingers of 

 his right hand. The wood Mr. Judd 

 was sawing slipped out of his grasp 

 and carried his hand to the teeth of 

 the spinning saw. 



