16 



The Florists' Review 



June 8, 1916. 



spells of warm, dry weather. The best 

 preventive or remedy is 'to spray your 

 plants freely with the hose, using a 

 spray nozzle, so as to secure a good 

 force, and directing it below as well as 

 above both foliage and buds. Once 

 the thrips have appeared, it is diflScult 

 to clear them out. Bed spider is an- 

 other small pest which is liable to at- 

 tack your roses during hot weather, if 

 the plants are indoors and if too arid 

 an atmosphere prevails. C. W. 



FORCED BOSES IN THE FIELD. 



Would you consider discarded stock 

 of forcing roses, grafted or budded, as 

 being of any value for outside ground 

 if the stock is well ripened off and 

 planted out about April 1 to 10? Can a 

 good crop of blooms be expected the 

 first summer? L. S. K. — Mass. 



Forced roses, if gradually cooled off 

 and planted out in your latitude about 

 April 20, will give a good crop of flow- 

 ers the same season. They prefer some- 

 what light but rich soil and, if given a 

 summer mulch of old manure and an 

 occasional watering, will well repay you 

 for the additional labor. C. W. 



BOSE SLUG AND LADY BUG. 



My roses are being infested by a 

 small green bug that simply takes pos- 

 session of the buds, which soon turn 

 black and die. I also am bothered with 

 lady bugs, which give me considerable 

 trouble in shrubbery, etc. Can you 

 give me a formula for making an effec- 

 tive solution with which to spray? 



W. S. E.— Fla. 



The pest referred to is probably the 

 rose slug, which is destructive to leaves 

 and buds of outdoor roses. It is best 

 to anticipate its arrival and spray a 

 short time before its appearance. Use 

 a generous tablespoonful of white, 

 powdered hellebore to three gallons 

 of warm water, stir thoroughly and 

 spray when the liquid has cooled. 

 Direct the sprays below and above the 

 foliage. Usually one application will 

 suffice. Lady bugs are friends and de- 

 stroy great quantities of aphis; do not 

 destroy them on any account. C. W. 



A MIXED BENCH OF BOSES. 



Can the Mrs. Charles Eussell rose be 

 grown in the same house with Killar- 

 ney, Richmond and Sunburst? I am 

 to start resting my plants early in 

 June. Can I bench the Russells in the 

 same house and start them while the 

 others are resting? I would like any 

 information you can give in regard to 

 growing a mixed bench of roses. 



A. J. P.— la. 



While the temperature for Killarney 

 is all right for Russell, the man whose 

 space compells him to grow a "mixed 

 bench" of roses will do well to use 

 space for some other crop and order his 

 roses from larger source of supply. The 

 day has gone by when it will pay any 



man to grow a few scores, or even a 

 few hundreds, of several varieties of 

 roses. Be he ever so expert he can not 

 cut enough to maintain a supply; he 

 might as well buy all he needs, as he 

 must buy most of them anyway. 



Mrs. Russell is a rose for a specialist, 

 not for a "mixed bench." In the 

 hands of the average grower it is slow 

 and the quality nothing to brag of. 

 The specialist gets both quantity and 

 quality by the judicious use of extra 

 heat, extra fertilizer and extra water 

 after a fashion impossible to the man 

 with a "mixed bench." 



PBIMULAS FOB IDENTIFICATION. 



Under separate cover I am sending 

 a leaf and blossom of three primulas. 

 Please give me the correct botanical 

 name of each. W. H. G. — Wis 



The flowers were much withered, but 

 one variety, with the largest flowers, 

 appears to be a form of Primula Poly- 

 antha. Another, with small yellow 

 flowers, looks like P. veris. The third 

 variety may be P. eortusoides or P. 

 rosea, but is too withered for positive 

 identification. C. W. 



INSECTS IN THE BOSEBXTDS. 



My roses are infested with tiny, mite- 

 like insects which cause the flowers to 

 blight. The plants are luxuriant and 

 they bud well, but about the time the 

 buds should mature they begin to 

 blight, and when they are examined and 

 torn to pieces it is seen there are nu- 

 merous white-looking, mite-like insects 

 at the base of the petals. Please tell 

 me what to do. B. D. C. — Ark. 



Probably the mites you refer to are 

 the white thrips or hoppers which 

 often attack roses, particularly during 



Anaconda^ Mont. — A ccording to 

 Charles Blank, Anaconda is not the 

 best place in the world to grow stock. 

 Said he one day last ^ week, perhaps 

 while feeling a little blue or out of 

 sorts: "After having grown stock suc- 

 cessfully at Anaconda for four years, 

 I feel quite safe and competent to 

 tackle floriculture anywhere outside of 

 Hades. The winds from the west mean 

 frost and snow; the winds from the 

 east bring smelter smoke. Between the 

 two of them it's an uphill job winter 

 and summer. I shall be glad to get 

 back to some country where things will 

 grow of their own accord, at least part 

 of the year." At the time of writing 

 Mr. Blank expected to visit his home at 

 Orange, N. J., and then locate on a 

 place of his own in the central west. 



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 §g SUGGESTIONS 



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Gloxinias. 



Gloxinias are among the most beau- 

 tiful of our summer tuberous-rooted pot 

 plants. The erect-flower types are far 

 the best and have ' all but displaced 

 the old drooping varieties. Gloxinias 

 are more tender than tuberous be- 

 gonias. They will do well in an ordi- 

 nary greenhouse in summer, but they 

 appreciate a little more warmth than 

 the begonia. They must not have di- 

 rect sunshine, or they will burn badly. 

 Be careful not to wet the foliage. If 

 the foliage is damp and the sun strikes 

 it the plants are likely to become dis- 

 figured. In order to secure strong 

 tubers the first season, try the plan 

 of planting out any seedlings you may 

 have in a coldframe, placing them in 

 a light, but well enriched compost. An 

 old hotbed will be ideal. Shade the 

 sashes and keep them tilted at top and 

 bottom. Fumigate the plants occa- 

 sionally to keep down the thrips. Much 

 finer tubers may be had by this method 



of culture than b]^ pot culture alone. 



Cyclamens. 



This is a busy season and cyclamens 

 and other plants needed for early win- 

 ter blooming are liable to be neglected 

 under the pressure of other duties. Try 

 to find time to keep them potted 

 along, using a compost of equal parts 

 fibrous loam and fiaky leaf-mold, with 

 one-fifth or one-sixth of the whole of 

 dried cow manure. Cyclamens can be 

 successfully grown either in green- 

 houses or coldframes through the sum- 

 mer. If kept in greenhouses, spray 

 them freely in hot weather, fumigate 

 them once a week to keep down aphis 

 and thrips and ventilate the houses 

 freely. If placed in coldframes, tilt 

 the sashes at both ends and use lath 

 shades during bright sunshine. The 

 sashes can be removed on dark days or 

 on nights when there seems no likeli- 

 hood of heavy rain. Be sure to spray 

 the plants freely with the hose on all 

 clear days. 



