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14 



The Florists' Review 



AUGUSX 31, 1016. 



friends had seen this they surely would 

 always remember the words of our pres- 

 ident, of our big chief, E. C. Kerr, de- 

 scriptive of Texas, "The land of sun- 

 shine and flowers." The watermelons 

 were ripe and they gladdened the flo- 

 rists' hearts. The auto ride was post- 

 poned on account of the storm, of 

 which warning was given several days 

 ahead, but the florists would take no 

 heed until it was on its way across the 



plains and then our Houston friends 

 had to give in. Our Galveston trip 

 would have been a most charming one, 

 but it, too, was called off on account 

 of the storm and the glorious conven- 

 tion came to an end with a kind of 

 nightmare. It seems our prayers for 

 our dear Houston friends were heard 

 and the storm took a different road and 

 spared them. Mrs. G. Jung. 



San Antonio, Tex. 



TO THE OBOWEBS OF BOSES. 



This is to iaform you that members 

 of the American Rose Society have been 

 raising money to cooperate in employ- 

 ing a trained plant pathologist to in- 

 vestigate diseases of roses. Sufficient 

 money has now been obtained to assure 

 this work, which is already under way. 

 Dr. (L. M. Massey, of the New York 

 State College of Agriculture, Cornell 

 University, Ithaca, is conducting the 

 investigations. It is hoped that all 

 growers of roses will now take advan- 

 tage of this arrangement, not only to 

 obtain what little information there is 

 already at hand, but to cooperate in 

 ways which will be suggested from 

 time to time. Through cooperation with 

 Dr. Massey, the growers will greatly 

 increase the efficiency of the investiga- 

 tion and obtain the greatest returns 

 from their investment. 



First of all it seems desirable to make 

 a rose disease survey such as will ac- 

 quaint us with the various diseases, 

 together with their range and the ex- 

 tent of injury caused by them in this 

 country. In order that this survey may 

 reach its maximum efficiency, it will be 

 necessary for the growers to cooperate 

 by sending specimens of diseased plants. 

 Franked tags will be supplied on re- 

 quest. It is hoped that each grower will 

 interest himself in this work sufficiently 

 to collect and send diseased material, 

 together with a brief statement regard- 

 ing varieties affected, nature and extent 

 of injury, time of appearance of the dis- 

 ease, and other points of interest which 

 may have been noticed. Acknowledg- 

 ment of receipt of material will be 

 made and such information as is avail- 

 able in the line of control will be given. 

 Many growers will be visited, but it is 

 hardly necessary to say that it will be 

 impossible to visit all. 



The material sent should be freshly 

 collected and should show various stages 

 in the development of the disease. 

 Where roots are sent it will usually be 

 undesirable to enclose any soil. Where 

 convenient, specimens should be mailed 



so as to reach Ithaca the latter part of 

 the week. Dr. Massey may be away 

 from the city during the early part of 

 the week and the material should re- 

 ceive immediate attention upon its 

 arrival. 



Place leaves, buds, etc., between the 

 leaves of an old newspaper, a few be- 

 tween each two sheets. Then roll into 

 a tight bundle and wrap in stout paper. 

 Tie well, attach one of the franked tags 

 on which you have written your name, 

 address and mail. It will go postage 

 free. H. H. Whetzel, 



Head of the Department of Plant Pa- 

 thology, New York State College of 

 Agriculture, Cornell University. 



OBUBS IN BOSE SOIL. 



Will you kindly advise us what to 

 use to kill grub worms? The soil in 

 our rose benches contains a great many, 

 and most of them are quite large. We 

 have used as much lime as the soil 

 will stand, thinking this would kill 

 them, but it seems to have no effect. 

 We are using about thirty-five pounds 

 of Scotch soot to 900 square feet of 

 bench space. S. A. G. — W. Va. 



Sterilization of the soil before plant- 

 ing is the best remedy for these grubs, 

 which are the larvae of the May beetle 

 and will ruin many of your roses if 

 they are not killed. They also eat 

 the roots of many other plants and fre- 

 quently destroy wide stretches of lawn 

 and pasture land. Seeing that steam 

 sterilization cannot be carried out, I 

 would secure some carbon bisulphide. 

 This comes in pound cans. Bore holes 

 four inches deep, with pointed sticks, 

 a foot apart each way in the benches. 

 Pour a scant teaspoonful of carbon in 

 each hole and immediately cover with 

 soil. The gas generated will destroy 

 the grubs and other soil pests and will 

 not harm the roses. Do not use any 

 naked lights while using the carbon, 

 as it is of an explosive nature. The 

 odor from the carbon is quite disagree- 

 able, but soon passes away and the 

 gas will certainly kill your grubs. 



On lawns heavy rolling will kill many, 

 of the grubs when the land is broken 

 up. Where they are abundant, hogs 

 and fowls will destroy them in immense 

 numbers. A heavy top-dressing of 

 kainite and nitrate of soda has been 

 found effective in destroying the pests 

 in some states. The carbon is most 

 effective when the soil is quite damp. 

 Scotch soot helps to keep away cut- 

 worms and other larvae, but I do not 

 think either lime or soot will drive 

 them away from your benches, and a 

 too heavy use of them may injure your 

 roses. C. W. 



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Schizanthos. 



Sow a batch of Schizanthus Wiseton- 

 ensis, or one of the various improve- 

 ments on this variety, now. The seeds 

 will germinate rapidly, when the seed- 

 lings should be potted off singly and 

 grown in either a coldframe or a green- 

 house, well up to the light. Give this 

 beautiful annual cool treatment all the 

 time, with plenty of fresh air. It will 

 not tolerate coddling in any form. The 

 schizanthus likes a light but rich com- 

 post, and when in active growth it 

 enjoys frequent applications of liquid 

 manure. 



Hollyhocks. 



Hollyhocks are less affected by rust 

 than was the case a decade ago, and 

 are coming much more into favor. Both 

 single and double varieties are beau- 

 tiful. Personally, I prefer the former, 

 and do not believe there can be any 

 more beautiful object in the hardy 



perennial garden than a clump of well- 

 flowered single Allegheny hollyhocks. 

 Though they are usually treated as 

 biennials, it is well to remember that 

 hollyhocks are true perennials and the 

 single varieties, especially, will last 

 eight or ten years if properly treated. 

 Sow the seeds now, outdoors. When 

 the seedlings are of sufficient size, 

 transplant into nursery rows. Planting 

 may be done in fall or spring. The 

 former season is preferable, if care is 

 taken to give the plants a light winter 

 mulch. Chater's will be found a splen- 

 did strain of double hollyhocks. 



Asparagus Sprengeri. 



Have you remembered to plant out 

 a sufficient number of Asparagus Spren- 

 geri! There are usually somewhat 

 shaded positions, where flowering 

 plants would not be in their best ele- 

 ment, which can be used for A. Spren- 

 geri; in even a narrow box it makes a 

 really surprising growth. Even if lack- 



