OCTOBM 4, 1917.' 



The Rorists^ Review 



25 



Vegetable Forcing 



HOBSE-RADISH FLEA-BEETLE. 



An insect that now menaces the grow- 

 ing of horse-radish, a $400,000 crop in 

 the United States, is also threatening 

 other more important members of the 

 cabbage 'and mustard family. This in- 

 sect, introduced from Europe, has been 

 named the horse-radish flea-beetle by 

 F. H. Chittenden, an entomologist in the 

 U. 8. Department of Agriculture, who, 

 with Neal F. Howard, has described the 

 pest and discussed its habits and control 

 in Bulletin 535 of the Department of 

 Agriculture. If efforts are made to sup- 

 press it now, say the specialists, future 

 damage, should the insect adapt itself 

 to other crops, may be prevented. The 

 beetle does not yet occur generally, but 

 it has been found in parts of the coun- 

 try from New York and New Jersey to 

 Quebec, Canada, and westward to Ne- 

 braska. 



The horse-radish flea-beetle is oval in 

 outline, about one-eighth of an inch 

 long, and has light yellow or cream-col- 

 ored wing-covers bordered with black. 

 A black band running the length of the 

 back of the adults also enables this bee- 

 tle to be distinguished from other spe- 

 cies in this country. The larvae mine 

 the petioles or midribs of leaves, while 

 the adults, which hop, feed on the leaves, 

 causing the characteristic flea-beetle in- 

 jury — withering and dying — or gouge 

 deep pits in the midribs. 



No systematic control program has 

 been adopted as yet. Bordeaux mixture, 

 a powerful repellent against flea-bee- 

 tles,^ applied on the first appearance of 

 the insect will prevent much injury, and 

 if arsenate of lead is used later it should 

 hold the insect in check. 



AMERICAN EOSE SOCIETY. 



Hartford Test Garden. 



The committee composed of John F. 

 Huss, W. B. Pierson and Alex. Cumming, 

 Jr., visited the Hartford test garden, 

 July 7, 1917. Few new varieties had 

 been entered in the two previous years, 

 owing, doubtless, to the unsettled exist- 

 ing conditions. J. F. Huss, whose duty 

 it is to secure new entries, is constantly 

 in touch with foreign introducers and re- 

 ports that, while it is almost impossible 

 to secure entries at present, he is dis- 

 tinctly encouraged by the general atti- 

 tude towards the test garden movement 

 and expects that better results will come 

 with better conditions. 



The following preliminary report cov- 

 ers the entries: 



Seedling No. 512. — Not In condition to warrant 

 final judgment, but the most promlsinR variety 

 among the new entries. Habit, color and growth 

 excellent. Worthy of commendation. 



Seedling No. 77. — Not in condition to warrant 

 tnal judgment: color and trusses good: habit 

 evidently climbing, but not well enough defined. 



Mrs. Oeorge Gordon. — Not In condition to war- 

 rant final Judgment, but promising. Color, rosy 

 pink, flushed silver pink. Growth, robust and 

 healthy. Habit, good. 



Mrs. Bertrand J. Walker. — Not in condition to 

 warrant final judgment. Color, cerise-pink. 

 Growth, vigorous and healthy. Habit, good. 



Among those previously judged it was 



interesting to note that the varieties 



which received high scores were in fine 



condition, fully confirming the judgment 



of the committee. 



Lady Pirrie — Reddish salmon in color, although 

 past its best; looked vigorous and healthy, and 

 evidently made a profuse showing a week earlier. 



Robin Hood. — Rosy scarlet. Noted last season 



as one of the few roses which improve in color 

 as the season advances. Shows the sturdy 

 obaracterlstics of a hybrid perpetual. It was In 

 fine condition, the bed being one of the best in 

 the garden. 



Panama, Crimson Champion and Killarney 

 Queen were also prominent among the kinds In 

 good condition. The latter is evidently the best 

 of the Killarney type for garden purposes. 



Arnold Janssen. — Although not entered in com- 

 petition, a bed of the new Arnold Janssen im- 

 pressed the Judges so favorably that it was con- 

 sidered worthy of recording as a decided acquisi- 

 tion among hybrid tea roses. In color it is a 

 deep carmine, attractive, and appears to have 

 all of the points essential to a good garden rose. 



A few of the earlier entries show 

 signs of deterioration. Mrs. Hugh Dick- 

 son, which was of considerable promise 

 last season, is weak in constitution and 

 did not winter well. 



Varieties of Note. 



In the rose garden proper, the roses 

 were at their best. Hybrid perpetuals 

 are depended on for the chief display, 

 but the hybrid teas must eventually dis- 

 place them. A bed of Eadiance, at its 

 best, was a feature of the entire garden, 

 Gruss an Teplitz being a close second. 

 Other hybrid teas, good enough for more 

 extensive culture, were: Koningin Ca- 

 rola. Captain Christy, Kaiserin A. Vic- 

 toria, Augustine Guinoisseau, Mrs. 

 Aaron Ward, Caroline Testout, White La 

 France. 



Hybrid perpetuals noted as worthy 

 of extensive culture are: 



Fran Earl Druscbkl. — The finest white In the 

 garden. 



A bed of Clio, in proximity to Margaret Dick- 

 son, appears the better of the two, as the latter 

 produces too much blind wood. 



Prince Camille de Rohan, Baron Bonstetten and 

 Jean Liabaud were the best of the deep crim- 

 son. 



Captain Hayward, Alfred Colomb, Oscar Cor- 

 del, Paul's Barly Blush, Oakmont, Robert Dun- 

 can, Magna Charta, Madame G. Luizet, Mar- 

 chioness of Lome, Mrs. R. O. Sharman-Crawford. 

 Victor Verdier and Charles Bonnet, thornless, the 

 latter a Bourbon hybrid, were, in the opinion of 

 the Judges, the best of the varieties composing 

 a large collection. 



1918 Exhibition. 



The Hartford rose garden at Eliza- 

 beth park, Hartford, Conn., is a popular 

 resort of the first-class for residents and 

 visitors, and the men who first devised 

 this garden for public exhibition 

 brought to more general notice the 

 beauty of the rose as a decorative shrub 

 than was commonly realized. Next 

 June, 1918, the plan is to have an exhi- 

 bition when the rose will be in its full- 

 est glory, which will be national in its 

 scope. The American Bose Society is 

 pledged to be there in full force. 



Benj. Hammond, Pres. 



SPRAY FOR STEVIAS. 



I am sending a sample taken from 

 stevias infested by an insect. I would 

 like to know what the pest is and how 

 to fight it. E. G. G.— Kan. 



The specimen was badly shriveled on 

 account of its long journey and I was 

 unable to see just what damage had 

 been done to the foliage. I would sug- 

 gest that you use a nicotine spray which 

 will kill leaf miners and which contains 

 sufficient poison to kill any insects de- 

 vouring the leaves from the outside. 



C. W. 



-^3»rjr..!k^'il^-triig=^ 



What's in a name? Well, Sam Bloom 

 and J. A. Budlong conduct ' ' flowerish- 

 ing" establishments at Chicago. 



A great sigh of relief punctuated the 

 good news last week that a Rotterdam 

 steamer had docked at New York Sep- 

 tember 25 with 26,000 cases of sure- 

 enough Dutch bulbs on board. Another 

 large batch of bulbs is reported to be 

 on the way over. The bulbs are late, 

 but better late than never, say many. 



There are knock-down boats and 

 knock-down furniture, so why not have 

 a knock-down exhibition building for 

 the 1918 National Flower Show at St. 

 Louis? At least that was the sugges- 

 tion of H. P. Knoble, the Clevelander, 

 to the S. A. P. show committeemen, who 

 stopped off at Cleveland last week while 

 en route to the St. Louis meeting. The 

 show committee is said to be having 

 difficulty in providing housing for the 

 national exhibition, -se Mr. Kmrble 

 pointed out that a spacious exhibition 

 building owned by the Cleveland Cham- 

 ber of Industry could be dismantled and 

 shipped to St. Louis for erection there. 

 The plan is said to be practical, but 

 dependent upon building regulations at 

 St. Louis. The visitors entertained by 

 H. P. Knoble, George Bates and F. C. 

 W, Brown were: Patrick Welch, George 

 Asmus, J. J. Hess, C. H. Totty, Thomas 

 Roland, Adolph Farenwald and John 

 Young. 



That hard luck comes in bunches, is 

 the opinion of J. G. Gamble, of Bowers- 

 ton, O., whose dwelling, greenhouse and 

 store room were badly gutted by fire 

 early on the morning of September 29, 

 the members of the family escaping 

 from the burning home in their night 

 clothes. In an effort to save some- 

 thing, Mr. Gamble had the additional 

 misfortune to sprain his ankle. 



A bit of shrewdness with a dash of 

 good luck has brought easy sleep o' 

 nights to John Grande, Sr., of Indian- 

 apolis. Last year Mr. Grande had a 

 contract with a coal dealer for coal at 

 $1.65 per ton at tlie mine. Foreseeing 

 the greater scarcity and higher prices 

 of coal, Mr. Grande slowly purchased 

 more of that article at the contract 

 price than he needed and soon had his 

 bins full enough for the forthcoming 

 winter. 



That study in physics known as the 

 transference of energy or ])ower was 

 neatly exemplified at St. Louis this 

 week, but all to the sorrow of the C. 

 Young & Sons Co. It chanced that a 

 wagon got in front of a street car, and 

 the street car imparted so much of ita 

 momentum to the wagon that said ve- 

 hicle cleared the street and crashed into 

 the delivery automobile of the Young 

 & Sons Co., which was standing at the 

 curb. It set back Young's about $500 

 for repairs. 



