Dhcbmbbb 5, 1818. 



The Florists^ Review 



17 



MIDGE ON MUMS. 



I am sending you a box of chrysanthe- 

 mum buds and foliage from plants which 

 I bought last year. I would like to 

 know what the disease is which is affect- 

 ing them, the cause and the remedy for 

 it. I never have seen anything of the 

 kind before, but this fall all varieties of 

 mums in my house are affected by it. 

 E. S.— Mich. 



The mums submitted are badly in- 

 fested with midge, which has been re- 

 ported this season from practically all 

 sections of the country. The origin 

 of this midge is in doubt; no one seems 

 to know where it came from. Some 

 growers seem to think it was imported, 

 but I never heard of its being on mums 

 in any other country, so I doubt if it 

 was brought into this country on stock. 



There is just one way of getting rid 

 of this midge, and that is by fumigating 

 with tobacco dust. In most cases this 

 will clean the stock, providing the 

 tobacco dust used is of sufficient 

 strength. It kills the pest as it hatches 

 out every day. 



The specimens submitted were badly 

 infested and I question if you would 

 be able to cut any flowers from such 

 plants. I doubt if it would pay to 

 keep the stock. I would simply place 

 it on the rubbish heap. C. H. T. 



CHBYSANTHEMUM SOCIETY. 



Work of the Committees. 



The examining committees of the C. 

 S. A. have submitted reports on new 

 varieties as follows: 



At Cincinnati, November 16, Titanic, white, 

 Japanese Incurved, submitted by Elmer D. 

 Smith & Co.. Adrian. Mich., scored as follows 

 on the commercial scale: Color, 18; form, 13; 

 fullness, 9; stem, 14; foliage, 12; substance, 14; 

 size, 10; total, 00. 



At Cincinnati, November 16, Silver Ball, white, 

 Japanese incurved, submitted by Elmer D. Smith 

 & Co., Adrian. Mich., scored as follows on the 

 commercial scale: Color, 18; form, 13; fullness, 

 9; stem, 14; foliage, 12; substance, 14; size, 10; 

 total, 90. 



At Chicago, November 16, Robert E. Mills, a 

 yellow sport of William Turner, Japanese in- 

 curved, submitted by Robert L. Dunn, St. Cath- 

 arines, Ont., scored as follows on the commercial 

 scale: Color, 18; form, 13; fullness. 9; stem, 12; 

 foliage, 13; substance, 13; size, 0; total, 87. 



At Boston, November 16, Robert E. Mills, a 

 yellow sport of William Turner, Japanese in- 

 ^^^urved, submitted by Robert L. Dunn, St. Cath- 

 arines, Ont., scored as follows on the commercial 

 Kcale: Color, 18; form, 14; fullness, 9; stem, 12; 

 ^^'liage, 13; substance, 13; size, 10; total, 89. 

 '•n the exhibition scale: Color, 13; stem, 4; 

 tallage, 4; fullness, 13; form, 14; depth, 14; size, 

 -7; total, 89. 



At Chicago, November 23, Victory, white, In- 

 'iirved, submitted by Elmer D. Smith & Co., 

 \'lrian, Mich., scored as follows on the commer- 

 'ial scale: Color, 18; form. 14; fullness, 8; stem, 

 H; foliage, 13; substance, 12; size, 8; total, 87. 



At Chicago, November 23, Loyalty, yellow, 

 ■ ncurved, submitted by Elmer D. Smith & Co., 

 Adrian. Mich., scored as follows on the com- 

 :aerclal scale: Color, 18; form, 13; fullness, 9; 

 ^tem, 14; foliage, 13; substance, 13; size, 8; 

 "otal, 88. 



Department of Registration. 



November 27, 1918, the Davis Floral Co.. Daven- 

 port, la., registered the new chrysanthemum, 

 Mary Louise, a bronze sport of Patty, incurved. 

 Chas. W. Johnson, Sec'y. 



eat mums as well as asters. If you 

 will tell us how to get rid of them 

 we shall be grateful. Half of our mums 

 are spoiled by this pest, in both early 

 and late varieties. F. H. — Que. 



flowers. If they are not caught at that 

 time it means a great deal of work to 

 keep the flowers clean. In the last three 

 or four years we have not heard much 

 about this pest and were under the 

 irhpression it was not so much in evi- 

 dence as formerly. It is practically 

 immune to tobacco dust and it is im- 

 possible to smoke the house when the 

 flowers are fully open without injuring 

 the blooms. Nothing is better than 

 hand-picking early in the morning. 



C. H. T. 



This pest is much more troublesome 

 some seasons than others. It seems to 

 like white varieties of flowers better 

 than any other color and on white flow- 

 ers its ravages are serious. There is 

 little that can be done after the buds 

 are showing color, but previous to that 

 time a spray of dilute solution of Paris 

 green will kill many of these insects. 

 We have found, however, that the only 

 efficacious method is to watch the buds 

 closely early in the morning, just before 

 they open, when the bugs will be found 

 apparently waiting for the petals to 

 show color so they can commence their 

 work. Thousands of bugs can be killed 

 at this stage of the development of the 



FORCING SHASTA DAISIES. 



Kindly advise me what is the proper 

 method of forcing Shasta daisies. Is it 

 profitable to have them in the green- 

 houses? K. P. & T. F.— Pa. 



Shasta daisies are not of much value 

 for forcing. Marguerites are much more 

 satisfactory and can be depended upon 

 to give flowers through the winter. If 

 you want to give the Shastas a trial, 

 leave them outdoors until they have 

 had one or two hard freezings. Then 

 plant them in a bench in a cold green- 

 house. A violet temperature is suffi- 

 ciently high. Let them come along nat- 

 urally in this temperature. Any at- 

 tempt to force in strong heat will re- 

 sult in failure. C. W. 



PEST ON MUMS. 



I am enclosing two small bugs which 

 we call "aster bugs," although they 



OUB SOLDIER FLORISTS. 



The many hundreds of Ohio florists 

 now with the Expeditionary Forces in 

 France, or in the various cantonments, 

 soon will be returning to their former 

 places in the trade, solving the trained 

 labor shortage of the last year and en- 

 abling overworked proprietors to get a 

 little rest. Undoubtedly they will come 

 back better men in consequence of their 

 military training and expanded knowl- 

 edge of life in general. This infusion 

 of new vim and efficiency into the chan- 

 nels of the trade cannot fail to redound 

 to its ultimate benefit. Fortunately, but 

 few of the boys were incapacitated; and 

 as they fought for us who could not go, 

 let us see that they are given the con- 

 sideration upon their return to which 

 their sacrifices justly entitle them. 



Mac. 



NO SEX IN BUSINESS. 



That modern business permits no 

 sex distinctions is well illustrated by the 

 presence of so many successful women 

 florists in the Sixth City and its en- 

 virons. As a general thing, women em- • 

 bark in the business because they love 

 to work with flowers, which, perhaps, is 

 the secret of their signal success. In- 

 dulgence in this line of thought brings 

 to mind perforce the names of such high 

 types of business women as Miss Hester 



A. Getz, Mrs. G. W. Mercer, Mrs. Chris- 

 tine Cares, Mrs. L. C. Chott, Mrs. A 

 Nosek, Mrs. Frank Rigo, Mrs. P. J 

 Bauer and Miss Emily Dunn, of Cleve 

 land; Mrs. J. B. Freeman, of Toledo, O. 

 Mrs. Helen M. Schluraff, of Erie, Pa. 

 Mrs. Harriet Van Meter, of Springfield 

 O.; Mrs. J. G. Crites, of Uhrichsville, O. 

 Mrs. Henry Matern, of Sandusky, O. 



B. S. Fearn, of Elyria, O., all of whom 



preside over nicely appointed places of 

 business and are a decided credit to their 

 chosen profession. In the past little has 

 been heard in organized trade councils 

 from women members, but doubtless in 

 the future their influence will be feltj 

 and now, with the dawn of a new busi- 

 ness era, perhaps the time is opportune. 



Mac. 



COST AND PRICES. 



Close contact with the florists of 

 northern Ohio discloses an increasing 

 tendency to consider the actual cost of 

 production in its proper relationship to 

 selling prices. It is a well known fact 

 that florists have been indifferent to this 

 absolute business necessity, and it is 

 one of the most salutary signs of the 

 times that they have begun to recognize 

 it as the vital factor in their success 

 or failure. In the past there has been 

 too much selling of flowers at a figure 

 twenty-five per cent less than cost. 

 Man}' florists regarded as successful 

 have done this, other things, such as 

 rises in property values, serving to keep 

 them financially intact. Their output 

 being extremely perishable, the law of 

 supply and demand operated powerfully 

 upon it, but perhaps sufficient attention 

 was not given to the matter of supply. 

 Bulbous stock might be cited in illustra- 

 tion of this point. At the prevailing 

 prices of narcissi, daffodils and tulips, 

 there should be no flowers from these 

 bulbs at $10 or $15 per thousand this win- 

 ter. Instead of forcing enough stock to 

 flood the market, the better plan would 

 be to grow sufficient stock to supply it 

 at a legitimate price, devoting the dif- 

 ference in time and money to the pro- 

 duction of other things that the market 

 would absorb readily at profitable fig- 

 ures. At times, in the small towns, a 



