10 The Florists^ Review 



August 10. 1916. i'-'f 



i" • 



to regulate their periods of blooming. 

 They are exceedingly accommodating in 

 this respect. By planting them sue- 

 cessionally or by removing batches 

 from coldframe to greenhouse as 

 wanted, or by a combination of the two 

 expedients, they may be had in flower 

 from Christmas till June, if such late 

 blooms are really desired. If the spikes 

 are cut when only two of the five to 

 seven flowers are fully open, the others 

 will usually expand satisfactorily. 



Such of the freesia bulbs as are in- 

 tended for flowering at Christmas or 

 New Year's should be placed in pots, 

 flats or pans as soon as the first bulbs 

 are received. Let the planting be 

 shallow; just cover the bulbs with 

 soil. Then set them in a coldframe or 

 on a cool cellar floor, to remain there 

 till September, when they should be re- 

 moved to greenhouse shelves and grown 

 in a temperature of 50 to 55 degrees 

 at night. If the flowers are not wanted 

 until after the holidays, a lower tem- 

 perature will be advantageous. Water 

 moderately until the foliage and roots 

 are 'well developed; then let the supply 

 of moisture be liberal. 



Planting In Pans. 



The practice of growers differs con- 

 siderably with reference to the size and 

 shape of the receptacles used and the 

 number of bulbs planted in them. A 

 common suggestion is to plant from 

 six to nine bulbs in a 5-inch pot. Some 

 of the most successful growers, how- 

 ever, prefer 8-inch and 10-inch pans, 

 placing twenty-five to thirty bulbs in 

 8-inch pans and about forty in the 10- 

 inch size. At least one expert grower 

 puts as many as fifty bulbs in a 10-inch 

 pan and he declares that he gets just 

 as good spikes as when half that num- 

 ber are grown. Thick planting of the 

 bulbs is also conducive to the lengthen- 

 ing of the stems. 



The Compost. 



The compost should be a good loam, 

 fairly well enriched. The following 

 proportions are suitable: Two-thirds 

 well decayed fibrous loam and one-third 

 cow manure, well dried and passed 

 through a %-inch screen; add some flaky 



leaf-mold and a good dash of sharp 

 sand. 



In planting the bulbs it is advisable 

 to see that those placed together, in 

 the same pan, do not vary too greatly in 

 size, for if the bulbs are of approxi- 

 mately the same size and quality the 

 plants will be more uniform in strength 

 at flowering time. 



Perhaps it is scarcely necessary to 

 state that freesias do not come true 

 from seed. The production of blooming 

 plants from seed is not only a tedious 

 process, but an utterly unreliable one. 

 It is equally certain that few florists 

 would find it profitable to grow their 

 own freesia bulbs; it is more economical 

 and satisfactory to purchase them from 

 ■specialists. 



A COMMON PBIMULA DISEASE. 



Destructive to P. Malacoides. 



About this time every year we hear 

 of numerous complaints of a wilting 

 and rotting of Primula malacoides. The 

 writer has had this trouble under ob- 

 servation ever since this beautiful 

 plant was introduced, and so has had 

 an opportunity of making notes on the 

 diseases of this plant from season to 

 season. 



As a rule the disease appears when 

 the plants have reached their best, 

 which is about the time when the warm 

 spring days are coming. You may go 

 over your plants one day and find them 

 apparently healthy, and in a few days 

 one or more are wilted and dead. The 

 first evidence of the trouble is the yel- 

 lowing of a few of the lower leaves, 

 followed in a day or so by the com- 

 plete collapse of the plant, as seen in 

 the accompanying illustration. If the 

 affected plant is pulled apart, you will 

 find that the lower leaves are rotted oflf 

 and that the crown is beginning to rot. 

 When the diseased plant is left for sev- 

 eral days in the bench, small tufts of 

 a mold will be noticed on the rotting 

 plant. 



Cause of the Disease. 



This trouble is caused by a funguq, 

 Botrytis cinerea, found everywhere 

 about a greenhouse establishment. You 





will find it in the cutting bench and 

 seed pans, on fallen branches and flow- 

 ers. It is perhaps the most common 

 fungus found about a greenhouse. The 

 peculiar thing about this fungus is 

 that, as a rule, it will live only on dead" 

 plant parts, but under certain condi- 

 tions it is able to cause a serious loss 

 to apparently healthy plants. 



What are the conditions under which 

 this fungus is able to cause a serious 

 rotting of Primula malacoides? They 

 are, in the main, high temperatures, too 

 much moisture and humidity, lack of 

 ventilation and lack of vigor in the 

 plant. To control this trouble, we mu^t 

 overcome these conditions as far as pos- 

 sible. 



Preventive Measures. 



Let us take the question of high tem- 

 peratures. These can be avoided in the 

 first place by not sowing your seeds 

 until late in July. By the time cold 

 weather sets in, you will have fine 

 young plants. If these plants have not 

 been troubled with damping off by this 

 fungus, you are reasonably sure they 

 will not be attacked during the winter. 

 Dispose of the plants before warm 

 weather. 



Lack of ventilation ranks next to 

 temperature in importance in the spread 

 of this disease. The habit of Primula 

 malacoides is such that the lower leaves 

 cover to a large extent the top of the 

 pot, thus making a fine place for the 

 fungus to obtain a start. A bushy 

 plant is more liable to be attacked than 

 a smaller one. 



I think most growers will agree with 

 me that careless watering is one of the 

 best aids to fungous diseases in the 

 greenhouse. Careful watering will help 

 in the control of this trouble. 



A Precaution in Potting. 



In potting the plants it is a good 

 plan to set them in a little high. Never, 

 under any conditions, set them in too 

 low. When the plants get larger, those 

 set in quite high will not be so bushy 

 near the base and so will allow more 

 air to pass under the leaves. The larger 

 plants should not be crowded in the 

 bench and should be set on pots. This 

 treatment will allow for a maximum of 

 ventilation and so will tend to keep the 

 plants clean. 



As I have often stated, anything that 

 will tend to lower the vitality of the 

 plants will make them more subject to 

 fungous diseases. This statement holds 

 for the disease under discussion. You 

 will find that as the plants reach ma- 

 turity their vigor appears to decrease 

 and so this disease is especially severe 

 in the case of the older plants. 



Other species and varieties of primu- 

 las are also subject to this trouble, but 

 not to so great a degree. The precau- 

 tions here suggested will be helpful in 

 all cases. Geo. L. Peltier. 



TIME NEEDED TO FOBCE Bni.BS. 



Will you kindly tell me the length 

 of time it will take to bring narcissi 

 into bloom in South Carolina at Thanks- 

 giving; also, hyacinths for the middle 

 of December, and Easter lilies for the 

 middle of March? M. S.— S. C. 



Primula Malacoides Attacked at Crown by the Fungus Botrytis Cinerea. 



The only narcissi which could be 

 flowered with you at Thanksgiving are 

 the Paper Whites. Bulbs of these 

 usually arrive about the end of Au- 

 gust, when they should be placed in 

 flats containing four to five inches of 

 soil, or, if preferred, they can be 



