14 



The Florists' Review 



June 26, 1919. 



be encouraged to root quickly and take 

 hold of the soil, then they will grow free- 

 ly. Vincas make their best growth late 

 in the summer, and can be left in the 

 open ground until early in October, 

 when they should be lifted, put into 

 4-ineh pots and plunged at the edge of 

 the bench along the walks of a carna- 

 tion house, where they can remain un- 

 til needed for use in the spring. 



German ivy is a much speedier-grow- 

 ing vine than the vinca. It can be 

 propagated during the winter months. 



and makes strong plants for basket or 

 box work in the spring. It is not, there- 

 fore, necessary to plant out as many 

 as of the vincas. Twenty-five plants 

 placed outside now and lifted in Sep- 

 tember will provide a good number of 

 plants for next spring. This ivy serves 

 a good purpose as a vine for baskets or 

 small vases, or as a filler with other 

 vines for larger vases, but it is not so 

 durable as English ivy, which cannot be 

 beat as a vine for window boxes, hang- 

 ing baskets or vases. M. P. 



owing to the frequent showers that wash 

 it off and the great amount of labor 

 required to replace it. Can you advise 

 us whether there is a dry powder that 

 would not burn foliage if put on with a 

 powder gun when the dew is heavy! 

 We have been told that Paris green, 

 arsenate of lead, etc., will burn foliage 

 if applied dry when dew is on. Kindly 

 let us know if this is true. 



B. F. C— Fla. 



It is understood that the insecticide 

 in question is intended as a protection 

 from the Florida fern caterpillar and, 

 if this be correct, the best preparation 

 to use for this purpose is pyrethrum 

 powder. This powder may be applied 

 with a bellows, or a revolving blower, 

 and will do no injury to the foliage. 



W. H. T. 



CATEBPILLABS ON FERNS. 



I am enclosing some fronds of Bos- 

 ton ferns and also some specimens of 

 worms which are devouring the ferns to 

 such an extent as to make many of them 

 practically worthless. In my opinion 

 the pest is Cheimatobia brumata, which 

 may have been brought into the house 

 with the soil from outside, but it is 

 possible that I am wrong. I have used 

 such insecticides as Paris green, arse- 

 nate of lead, nicotine and soap, but these 

 have all proved to be failures, so I am 

 applying to you for advice. 



J. W.— 111. 



The fern fronds were duly received, 

 but no caterpillars or worms were found 

 in the package, possibly owing to the 

 fact that the box in which the specimens 

 were mailed was badly broken in tran- 

 sit. The fern fronds — tips of leaves 

 from Boston ferns — showed indications 

 of the work of the Florida fern cater- 

 pillar, Callopistria floridensis, and the 

 best remedy for this pest is pyrethrum 

 powder, applied with a bellows in suffi- 

 cient quantity to make the plants ap- 

 pear dusty. This treatment should be 

 given in the late afternoon, when the 

 ventilators are closed, and should be re- 

 peated once or twice a week for several 

 weeks. W. H. T. 



BIBD'S-NEST FEBN CT7LTUBE. 



Will you please inform me what kind 

 of soil is necessary and what is the 

 proper temperature for bird's-nest 

 ferns? All our attempts to grow them 

 have failed. The plants appear healthy 

 and grow well up to a certain point. 

 Then they become misshapen and a 

 short time later die. Please advise us 

 also what is the proper temperature 

 and if strong light will harm them. 



A. J. W.— O. 



Bird's-nest ferns enjoy a rather open 

 soil with good drainage. A compost 

 consisting of two parts of good loam 

 to one part of well rotted leaf-mold will 

 answer well. The addition of some 

 broken pots, ground up to about the 

 size of coarse coffee, also will benefit 

 the soil. Use this in the proportion of a 

 6-inch or 7-inch potful to a barrow load 

 of soil. A night temperature of 60 de- 



grees and full exposure to the sun dur- 

 ing the winter months is best for these 

 plants, while during the summer a light 

 shading is required. It also is advis- 

 able not to water them over the foliage 

 late in the day, else the leaves may suf- 

 fer from excessive moisture throughout 

 the night. W. H. T. 



OB WHAT HAVE YOU? 



The Eeview is the market place; it 

 brings the buyers and sellers together; 

 yes, the traders, too. It seems to make 

 no difference what one oflPers, there is 

 someone watching for just that thing. 

 Like this: 



Please stop my offer of the refrigerator; it 

 was sold the first day after The Review was out. 

 — C. M. Hamilton, Kewanee, lU., June 16, 1919. 



When you hear a florist complain of 

 the cost of advertising you may be 

 pretty certain he spends a good bit of 

 money elsewhere than in The Eeview. 



ON FEENS OUTDOOBS. 



We have experienced some trouble in 

 keeping liquid insecticide on ferns, 



Bussellvllle, Ind. — Bilbs & Grimes 

 have had such a big increase in business 

 that a new house will be put up this 

 summer. 



BUD AND BOOT TBOUBLES. 



Can you tell me why some of my 

 geraniums have come blind? They have 

 been growing thriftily, but have no 

 buds. This trouble has been especially 

 noticeable in the variety Poitevine. 

 Also, please tell me why, after gera- 

 niums have been potted a while, the 

 roots sometimes turn brown and seem 

 to be dead, while there is no sign of 

 trouble in the upper part'of the plants. 

 After the plants get into this condi- 

 tion, they are extremely slow to start 

 new growth. M. W. W. — O. 



the soil; hence the new growth is slow 

 of action. As in the case of all other 

 plants, geraniums need extremely care- 

 ful watering after repotting. 



M. P. 



Blindness is a disease to which the 

 variety Beaute Poitevine and the dou- 

 ble white varieties are most susceptible, 

 especially when a large number of cut- 

 tings are taken from the stock plants. 

 The best method of overcoming the 

 trouble is to select the stock plants care- 

 fully, throwing out any that show signs 

 of the disease. 



The root trouble referred to is caused 

 by an excess of moisture or dryness be- 

 fore the plants have become thoroughly 

 established. As a consequence of these 

 conditions, the roots either rot or dry up 

 before they get a thorough control of 



DUE TO DABK, WET WEATHEB. 



I am sending you a sample of our 

 geraniums. They were apparently 

 healthy until a few days ago, when 

 they began to be affected by a disease 

 which is indicated by spots on the 

 leaves. We used a light soil, mixed 

 with bone meal. Can you tell us what 

 the trouble is, what is the cause of it 

 and whether there is any remedv for it? 



C. W. S.— 111. 



There was not much the matter with 

 the sample geraniums. The bone meal 

 may have caused a soft growth, which 

 would be easily affected by the dark, 

 wet weather which has been prevalent 

 during the last three weeks. This, I 

 think, is the cause of the spotted fo- 

 liage. The roots were in good condition; 

 so was the young growth of the plant, - 

 the older leaves seeming to be the ones 

 affected. M. P. 



