

20 



The Florists^ Review 



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AUGUST 24, 1916. 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS 

 FOR SOUTHERN FLORISTS 



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POINSETTIAS IN THE SOUTH. 



In the more northern sections of the 

 south the last layers of poinsettias 

 should have been made. Along the 

 gulf coast the first week of September 

 is time enough to make the last batch. 

 The middle of September is a good time 

 to give the final shift, or make up the 

 pans. Use rather a light compost for 

 the final shift, but see that it is rich 

 enough in manure. I am of the opinion 

 that most of the dropping of the foliage 

 ip due more to lack of nourishment 

 than any other cause. When the plants 

 are established in the last pots they 

 should have a mulch of old cow manure, 

 and this should be renewed every ten 

 days until the bracts show good color. 

 The plants should be carefully watered, 

 tending rather to the dry side. Given 

 these two conditions, poinsettias "are not 

 touchy as to temperature; 50 degrees at 

 night is sufficient. 'Last year our 

 poinsettias stood a temperature of 44 

 degrees for three nights in succession — 

 before we got the fires started — with- 

 out showing any harmful effects. L. 



MUMS IN THE SOUTH. 



Chrysanthemum plants in the south 

 require considerable attention at the 

 present time. The side growths shoot 

 out quickly and they must be kept 

 down, if the best results are expected. 

 Keep the shoots neatly tied and do not 

 fail to spray the plants once a week 

 with one of the tobacco extracts. The 

 time for taking the bud on some of 

 the early varieties is almost at hand. 

 It is well to bear in mind that you can- 

 not take a bud in the south as early 

 as you can in the north, and get a 

 first-class flower. It is never safe to 

 take any bud before September 1, with 

 the possible exception of Mrs. IT. W. 

 Eobinson, among the reliable varieties. 

 After that date almo.st any bud will 

 flower satisfactorily. 



As soon as the bu'd is taken is the 

 time to begin to feed some liquid fer- 

 tilizer. Manure water made from fresh 

 cow manure, varied with nitrate of 

 soda or ammonia sulphate, a 4-inch 

 potful to fifty gallons of water, ap- 

 plied twice a week, is the usual method 

 of feeding. On pink varieties use the 

 commercial fertilizers rather sparingly, 

 or the color will fade. Always discon- 

 tinue feeding as soon as the buds show 

 color. Use a fine spray of clear water on 

 the buds and top foliage as long as 

 the color does not show, to keep down 

 red spider, and also spray the plants 

 regularly twice a week with a tobacco 

 extract, to keep thrips at a distance. 



A SNAPDItAGON CATECHISM 



As I intend to grow snapdragons and 

 am somewhat uncertain about the best 

 way of growing them to obtain good 

 results, I should like to get some in- 

 formation. 



1 — Can as good results be obtained 

 from cuttings as from seed! I bought, 

 late last fall, some cuttings from a 

 good grower in New York. I kept them 



in 3-inch pots for a time and then 

 planted them in the bench, in soil that 

 had been used for chrysanthemums. I 

 have been feeding them with cow ma- 

 nure water and get the quality, but per- 

 haps not the quantity. As the plants 

 did not show a tendency to send out 

 many root shoots, I planted them rather 

 closely, about eight inches apart. I am 

 getting an average of four to six spikes 

 from each plant, with stems one- third 

 inch in diameter, and have at present 

 two spikes with blooms closely set, 

 measuring eighteen inches. I think I 

 will keep these for seed and see how 

 long they will grow. 



2 — When grown in the proper man- 

 ner, do snapdragons need tying up? 



3 — Js disbudding merely beneficial, or 

 necessary! 



4 — Is crushed bone the best food to 

 mix with the soil, or is there something 

 better? 



5 — When must I sow the seed to ob- 

 tain plaints to give me blooms for 

 Christmas? 



6 — Is Nelrose a good variety to flower 

 in the winter, or is the much advertised 

 Silver Pink a better sort for winter 

 blooming, although it is a taller and 

 more spindly grower, with blooms 

 farther apart on the stem than Nelrose? 

 C. V. r. N.— Can. 



I will answer your several questions 

 to the best of my ability, but would 

 say that cultural methods have a great 

 deal to do with successful snapdragon 

 growing, no matter whether seedlings 

 or cuttings are used. 



1 — Seedlings unquestionably possess 

 more vigor than cuttings and are more 



disease-proof. Cuttings are much more 

 subject to fungoid affections than seed- 

 lings, but to perpetuate special varie- 

 ties, propagation by means of cuttings 

 is much practiced. An objection to 

 seedlings is that they do not come true 

 to color, but if carefully selected seed 

 from a reliable source is used the num- 

 ber of rogues is comparatively small. 

 If you are growing one variety only, 

 it will pay you to save the seed, but 

 as some plants are superior to others 

 in quality of flowers, I would protect 

 the spikes with gauze to prevent fer- 

 tilization by insects. It is well to 

 note that pink varieties are not good 

 winter bloomers, as are the white and 

 yellow sorts. I have not yet secured 

 a true winter-blooming pink snap- 

 dragon. 



2 — Tall varieties do need tying up, 

 but the intermediate "type usually 

 grown commercially is best supported 

 by means of wires and cross strings in 

 the same way as carnations. 



3 — Disbudding improves the quality 

 of the spike. It is not necessary. Some 

 varieties make weak side shoots, need- 

 ing no disbudding. 



4 — Well decayed cow or horse ma- 

 nure is decidedly preferable to bone in 

 the soil. Fine bone is useful as a top- 

 dressing when the plants are in active 

 igrowth. A. mulch of old manure, well 

 pulverized, is also beneficial. Add a 

 little bone to the manure, and after 

 one or two waterings you will find the 

 mulch alive with active roots. 



5 — Plants from seed sown in early 

 May, if planted early in August, will 

 start flowering in October and will give 

 a nice Christmas crop. Of course these 

 plants will throw a flower spiKe before 

 being planted, which should be broken 

 off, not pinched off, leaving it until the 

 flowers start to open. If you pinch 

 while the wood is soft, the plants will 

 break weakly and many of the shoots 

 will not flower at all. 



6 — Nelrose is a splendid pink snap- 

 dragon; so is Virginia, but Silver Pink 

 is most widely grown. C. W. 



LEAP-MINER ON MUMS. 



Enclosed you will find two leaves 

 taken from mums attacked by some 

 kind of insect. It appears to me to be 

 the leaf-miner. Please let me know 

 what to do to kill it. B. B. — Mass. 



the plants are sprayed with soot water 

 it will often discourage the industry 

 of this particular pest. If B. B. has any 

 celery in his vicinity he is almost cer- 

 tain to find the leaves affected in the 

 same way as those of his chrysanthe- 

 mums. Chas. H. Totty. 



The trouble is caused by the leaf- 

 miner, tephritis, an insect commonly 

 seen in celery leaves. The insects lay 

 their eggs between the infter and outer 

 layers of the leaves, and the larvae eat 

 their way around without puncturing 

 the skin, thereby rendering themselves 

 almost immune to tobacco extracts, in- 

 secticides or any of the poisons. The 

 only really efficient remedy is to pick 

 off all the leaves affected and burn them. 

 The larvsB may be crushed in the leaf 

 by the thumb and forefinger, but the 

 process is slow and it is almost impos- 

 sible to get all of them that way. If 



CUSCUTA, KILLER OF MUMS. 



Enclosed you will find a sample of a 

 peculiar growth that is killing our 

 Smith's Advance chrysanthemums. This 

 vegetation wraps itself around the roots 

 of the mums and does not seem to come 

 above the surface of the soil. So far 

 we have only found it on Smith's Ad- 

 vance. What is the parasite, and how 

 may we exterminate it? 



J. C. A.— Tenn. 



While the growth as yet has not 

 shown itself above ground, I am in- 



