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February 5, 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



31 



ran 



FLOBIDA FEBN OATEBPILLAB. 



Hand-Plcking Too Slow. 



An article on the Florida fern eater- 

 pillar in The Review of December 4 

 mentions several methods for disposing 

 of this pest in accordance with the in- 

 vestigations of the experts of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture. The method 

 considered most effective for the aver- 

 age grower by these experts is the hand- 

 picking of the caterpillars, a process 

 that may be satisfactory to a grower 

 having but a small number of plants to 

 handle, but one that would hardly fill 

 the bill where these plants are grown in 

 quantity. 



The use of arsenate of lead as a spray 

 has been suggested, but the disfigure- 

 ment of the plants by the use of this 

 muddy solution would make them un- 

 salable. 



Poison with Pyrethrum Powder. 



There is, however, a method of poi- 

 soning the Florida fern caterpillar that 

 has been advised by the writer in 

 former issues of The Beview and for 

 which he is indebted to the careful in- 

 vestigations and practical advice of 

 Harry B. Weiss, of the New Jersey 

 experiment station. This consists of the 

 application of pyrethrum powder with a 

 bellows at regular intervals throughout 

 the months in which this pest is active. 

 The regular use of this powder will re- 

 sult in the extermination of the cater- 

 pillars as they hatch out and any sur- 

 plus powder on the foliage may be 

 readily washed off with the hose. 



A Successful Bemedy. 



In The Beview for December 18, 

 Homer L. Wiegand refers to the pyreth- 

 rum treatment as having proved en- 

 tirely satisfactory in eradicating the 

 fern caterpillar from his stock and men- 

 tions the fact that J. D. Eisele, of Henry 

 A. Dreer, Inc., recommended this treat- 

 ment to him. 



Mention has been made of the use of 

 pyrethrum in a spray with soap solution. 

 The bellows method is, however, even 

 more satisfactory, as pyrethrum pow- 

 der seems to be as much of a specific for 

 the fern caterpillar as powdered helle- 

 bore is for the currant worm. 



The fighting of this pest with pyreth- 

 rum is not a new idea, since it has been 

 practiced for at least five years. 



Parasitic Red-Tailed Fly. 



Attention may also be called to na- 

 ture's counterbalance for the Florida 

 fern caterpillar, namely, the red-tailed 

 fly, Welthemia quadripustulata, which is 

 a parasite on the fern caterpillar, de- 

 stroying it in large numbers. 



The red-tailed ny lays its eggs on the 

 skin of the caterpillar and these eggs 

 hatch out in two days; the larva imme- 

 diately bores into the body of the eater- 



spraying of nicotine, he need not lose 

 any sleep. If he does not get all the 

 caterpillars the first time, he should 

 give them another dose the next day 

 and, if necessary, a third dose the day 

 after that. Three sprayings will gen- 

 erally clean them out for the season. 

 The nicotine kills every caterpillar it 

 touches, as I have watched them curl 

 up; in less than ten seconds they were 

 stiff. For eighteeen years I have used 

 this remedy and nothing else. 



Harry V. Betts. 



pillar and feeds upon the fatty tissues 

 of the latter, with the result that the 

 caterpillar soon loses all interest in 

 ferns. It would seem that the intro- 

 duction of this parasitic fly in the south 

 would be of great assistance in combat- 

 ing the caterpillar, but, if that is not 

 practical, then the growers of that re- 

 gion from which the fern caterpillar was 

 first distributed should at least try the 

 regular application of pyrethrum. 



For the technical data relative to the 

 welthemia, the writer is glad to ac- 

 knowledge his indebtedness to William 

 O. Ellis, of the Bureau of Entomology. 



Wm. H. Taplin. 



SCALE ON BOSTON FERNS. 



Will you kindly inform us as to the 

 best method of treating Boston ferns 

 which are infested with scale f Can 

 the scale be exterminated by the use 

 of nicotine and whale-oil soap, or either 

 of these separately, without injuring the 

 ferns? If so, please give us the for- 

 mula. W. S.— Utah. 



KILLINQ FERN CATERPILLARS. 



The Beview of December 4 gives a 

 long article on the Florida fern cater- 

 pillar and the ways of fighting it. If 

 any grower will give his ferns a strong 



It is not an easy matter to clean the 

 Boston ferns of scale, if the plants 

 are badly affected, but continued treat-' 

 ment with whale-oil soap and Black 

 Leaf 40 will give results. Make the so- 

 lution in the proportion of half an ounce 

 of the soap and half an ounce of the 

 nicotine to one gallon of water. Dip the 

 plants in the mixture ; then lay them 

 down on the bench and cover them with 

 paper or muslin to protect the fronds 

 from the sun for at least twelve hours. 



W. H. T. 



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CORN BORER EDICT 



QUESTION ILLINOIS EMBARGO. 



New Englanders Ask Exceptions. 



Members of the trade are questioning 

 the need and application of the restric- 

 tions in the recent proclamation by 

 Governor Lowden, of Illinois, excluding 

 shipments of certain stock from New 

 York and the New England states. 



The proclamation, which appeared in 

 full on page 108 of The Review for 

 January 15, prohibited the importation 

 into Illinois after January 20, 1920, of 

 "corn, broom corn, celery, dahlias, chrys- 

 anthemums, gladioli and geraniums," 

 grown in New England and New York, 

 except seed corn under certain condi- 

 tions. S. E. Spencer, of Woburn, Mass., 

 who writes that no corn borers are found 

 in the corms of gladioli, the roots of 

 chrysanthemums or the tubers of dah- 

 lias, and that the local Maasachusetts 

 embargo does not include them, inter- 

 prets the Illinois restriction as apply- 

 ing only to the cut blooms of the flowers 

 named in the proclamation. But P. A. 

 Glenn, chief inspector of the division of 

 plant industry in the Illinois department 

 of agriculture, writes, in response to The 

 Review's inquiry, that "the governor's 

 proclamation refers to all parts of dah- 

 lias, gladioli, chrysanthemums and ge- 

 raniums, except the seeds. ' * 



F. H. B. More Liberal Than State. 



So that, just when reports from the 

 federal Department of Agriculture and 

 from other sources, as summarized in 

 The Review for January 22, indicate 

 that the danger from the European com 



borer is much less than had been sup- 

 posed, the Illinois restriction is shown 

 to be exceedingly tight. Mr. Spencer 

 also calls attention to the fact that dry 

 gladiolus bulbs of any size were shown 

 to be safe for shipment to the satisfac- 

 tion of the Federal Horticultural Board 

 and were not included in the embargo 

 placed upon the New England section. 



If the F. H. B. can be convinced, 

 surely one need not be discouraged from 

 approaching state boards. A. N. Pier- 

 son, Inc., of Cromwell, Conn., addressed 

 the following letter January 28 to the 

 entomologist of the Illinois state ex- 

 periment station, at Urbana: 



We have receired a copy of the procUmatloa 

 Isued by Oovemor Lowden under date of Jan- 

 uary 2, 1920, stating that it wiU be nnlawfol oa 

 and after January 20 to Import into the state of 

 Illinois chrysanthemums and a number of other 

 Items. 



We believe that the Illinois experiment sta- 

 tion has made a mistake in declaring this quar- 

 antine, and we believe that a quarantine on oat- 

 door chrysanthemums would, perhaps, be Justt- 

 fled, although we have little or no knowledge of 

 the com borer. We are given to understand that 

 it does not exist in the state of Connecticut. 

 We do not know of an authentic case of com 

 borer within 100 miles of us. We do not grow 

 and ship field-grown clumps and we know that 

 the majority of the New England nurseries make 

 a business of shipping goods of that character 

 for outside use. 



We have had a fight with chrysanthemum 

 gall midge, but our establishment ts free from 

 it and has been for the last fourteen months. 

 But we have continued to use cyanide gas and 

 are using cyanide regularly. We cannot see any 

 danger to the corn crops of Illinois and the west 

 from chrysanthemum cuttings from sand, that 

 are grown entirely In a greenhouse. We believe 

 that your quarantine shoOTd be modified to allow 

 cuttings which are greenhonse-grown to enter 

 the state upon the filing with you of a certificate 

 to the effect that our township, our greenhoases 

 and our own Immediate locality are not infested 

 with the European com borer. 



Modifications may be made in the HH- 



