20 



The Florists^ Review 



Jandaby 11, 1917. 



heard they will not bloom. I had the 

 same trouble with this variety last year. 

 Can you give me any information on 

 the subject f H. M. M.— 111. 



GEEANTDM CUTTINGS. 



How late can geranium cuttings be 

 taken from a sand propagating bed to 

 produce good 4-inch plants by the mid- 

 dle of May? How late can geranium 

 cuttings be taken to produce 4-inch 

 plants by the middle of May? 



W. D. T.— O. 



If you put in late fall cuttings these 

 would have been well rooted some time 

 ago and now should go into 2i/4-inch 

 pots. If left too long in a propagating 

 bench, the plants become stunted and 

 more easily fall a prey to bacterial dis- 

 eases later in the season. 



If cuttings are taken at once they 

 will make good 4-inch stock in a carna- 

 tion temperature by the middle of May. 

 Do not postpone putting in the cuttings 

 any longer than is absolutely necessary. 

 Stock for 3-inch pots can be propagated 

 as late as the middle of February. 



C. W. 



SOIL FOR GERANIUMS. 



What would be the best soil for potting 



rooted geranium cuttings? My soil is 



somewhat new. Also, what soil would 



be best for potting 4-ineh stock later? 



H. P. S.— Pa. 



For potting rooted cuttings of gera- 

 niums, your soil, even if rather new, 

 would answer nicely if a little old, well 

 rotted manure and a little sand were 

 added to it. For 4-inch stock add a 

 4-inch pot of fine bone to each bushel of 

 soil; also one-fourth of well decayed 

 manure. Spent hotbed manure, after it 

 has been dried somewhat and screened, 

 answers well. If you have a heavy soil, 

 add a little leaf-mold at the first potting. 

 Bench soil which has been used for chry- 

 santhemums will do well for geraniums. 

 C. W. 



GERANIUM FOLIAGE BLIGHTED. 



Under separate cover we are mailing 

 you a geranium plant. Can you tell us 

 what is the matter with it? A great 

 many of our plants are affected in a 

 similar manner. Any advice you can 

 give us will be appreciated. 



T. N. G.— O. 



The roots and stem of the geranium 

 plaint seemed perfectly sound, but the 

 foliage was quite withered and seemed 

 to have suffered from a fungoid affec- 

 tion. This trouble is common this sea- 

 son, due chiefly to the peculiar climatic 

 conditions. I would suggest that you 

 keep the plants in pots well picked over. 

 Destroy any badly affected ones and 

 spray with Fungine or Bordeaux mix- 

 ture.' Cleanliness will help a great deal 

 in keeping fungoid affections in check; 

 therefore do not throw any debris below 

 the benches. On outdoor stock, spray- 

 ing with the same fungoid remedies is 

 all you can do. Clearer skies will help 

 to get rid of the disease. C. W. 



GERANIUMS FOR MEMORIAL. 



Please tell me the right time to pot 

 rooted cuttings of geraniums to have 

 4-inch pot plants in bloom Decoration 

 (lay. If rooted cuttings were potted 

 now, how long would it be before they 

 were good, strong 2i/4-inch pot plants? 



L. K. M.— Pa. 



The geraniums should have gone into 

 2 14 -inch pots as soon as they were 

 rooted. The plants should be well rooted 

 in their pots and ready for a shift into 

 3-inch pots about January 1. They can 

 be moved into 4-inch pots about two 

 months later. Some growers shift from 

 2 14 -inch to 4-inch pots, but you will 

 find that you have better results by 

 giving two shifts in place of one. 



C. W. 



GERANIUMS DOING POORLY. 



I am sending you a plant of a Buch- 

 ner geranium. These are nice looking 

 plants, but are not good and I have 



As the geranium plant was frozen 

 solid on arrival, I could not determine 

 what the trouble was. Your sample 

 plant was quite vigorous, but seemed 

 to be too soft. I am inclined to think 

 you are giving them too rich soil. Use 

 soil in which some old and thoroughly 

 rotted manure is used and add a little 

 fine bone to it. This will help to build 

 up more stocky growths which will 

 flower freely. Do not feed the plants 

 with liquid animal manure; use a top- 

 dressing of bone instead and compare 

 results. C. W. 



REMEDY FOR FUNGUS. 



Please tell us the best remedy for 

 fungus in a greenhouse with hot water 

 heat. It is especially bad on the gera- 

 niums, affecting the blooms in the 

 spring. Would sulphur fume lamps help 

 this any? J. C. T.— N. Y. 



If by fungus you mean mildew, the 

 sulphur fume lamps, if they can be 

 guaranteed not to smoke or take fire, 

 would be useful in combating it. Some 

 dry sulphur scattered here and there on 

 the heating pipes also is helpful. The 

 fungoid troubles of geraniums rarely 

 bother the flowers and I think you prob- 

 ably had mildew on them. To guard 

 against this, avoid cold drafts and sud- 

 den temperature changes and preserve a 

 dry atmosphere in your house. C. W. 



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HERE'S ANOTHER MENACE 



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POWER TO STOP SHIPPING. 



In Appropriation Bill. 



In the Agricultural Appropriations 

 Bill now before Congress there is a 

 rider attached which, if passed, would 

 give the Federal Horticultural Board at 

 Washington arbitrary and autocratic 

 control over the business of nurserymen 

 and florists who ship plants or trees. 



It would give the board the power to 

 establish a quarantine on suspicion, 

 without calling for a hearing, as is re- 

 quired by the federal quarantine law 

 now in force. 



The matter is in cliargc of a commit- 

 tee, of which Congressman John J. 

 Fitzgerald, of Brooklyn, is chairman, 

 and measures have been taken which 

 it is hoped will induce this committee 

 to allow the nurserymen and florists to 

 express their views on a subject that is 

 of such vital importance to them, before 

 such a drastic amendment is adopted. 



Efforts to Stop Imports. 



It is not generally known that the 

 Association of State Horticultural In- 

 spectors recently advised the Federal 

 Horticultural Board to establish a 

 quarantine that would shut out imports 

 of bays, azaleas, palms, rhododendrons, 

 evergreens and all balled plants from 

 every source; or that the American For- 

 estry Association is seeking a quaran- 

 tine that would shut out shipments of 

 all kinds of nursery and florists' stock 



from every source. A conference will 

 be held in Washington, D. C, January 

 18 and 19, to promote this scheme. The 

 significance of the rider to the appro- 

 priations bill therefore will be apparent. 

 Without azaleas, Manetti stocks, bay 

 trees, fruit stocks and all raw materials 

 our growers 'could exist, but such a quar- 

 antine as proposed would put back the 

 florists' and nursery businesses to where 

 they were forty years ago. 



Louisville, Ky.— The 1917 calendar 

 sent out by the Alfred Struck Co., green- 

 house builders, carries a large halftone 

 reproduction of the group photograph 

 made at the October meeting of the In- 

 diana and Kentucky state societies of 

 florists, which was reproduced at the 

 time in The Reviev/. Accompanying the 

 calendar is a letter from August K. 

 Baumer, secretary of the Kentucky So- 

 ciety of Florists, urging all non-members 

 to ally themselves with the society. 



Columbia City, Ind. — The Wagoner 

 Floral Co., a concern established here 

 twenty years ago, and the Columbia City 

 Greenhouses have been consolidated and 

 incorporated at $25,000, with A. J. Wag- 

 oner as president and D. R. Livengood as 

 secretary and treasurer. The new firm 

 is styled Columbia City Floral Co. The 

 company produces its own stock and will 

 do a wholesale as well as retail business. 

 Mr. Wagoner will have charge of the 

 range, 50,000 feet, and Mr. Livengood 

 will be at the offices. 



