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March 4, 1920 



The Horists' Review 



27 



AMEBICAN CARNATION SOCIETY. 



Plants for Allies. 



The American Carnation Society has 

 continued the committee which was to 

 look after the welfare of Belgium, 

 France and possibly England insofar as 

 new varieties of carnations are con- 

 cerned. It is herewith requested that 

 our leading growers send the introduc- 

 tions of the last two years insofar as it 

 is possible to either W. E. Wallace, 

 Eaton Bing, Dunstable, England, or C, 

 Engelmann, Saffron Walden, Essex 

 county, England. These gentlemen will 

 see that any plants which arrive in their 

 care will be properly distributed and 

 have made arrangements for same. Also 

 please see that the information with re- 

 gard to the sending is mailed to the 

 committee. Since the American Car- 

 nation Society has undertaken this 

 kindness, every prominent grower of 

 carnations ought to do his part. 



Irwin Bertermann, 

 Theodore Dorner, 

 J. H. Dunlop. 



CABE OF CABNATIONS. 



I am sending you samples of soil and 

 carnations. The bed is full of buds and 

 there are several blooms, but they do 

 not come out full. I have given them 

 sheep manure twice, but only lightly, 

 and have kept the temperature at about 

 50 to 52 degrees at night. Please tell 

 me what the trouble is. E. E. — 111. 



The specimens submitted were well 

 covered with red spider and fairy ring. 

 It is quite evident that your watering 

 and syringing have not been done prop- 

 erly. Had you syringed properly, your 

 plants would be free from spider "and, 

 had you kept the foliage dry most of 

 the time, you would not have the fairy 

 ring. Go over your plants first of ail 

 and pick off all the spotted leaves. 

 Then put a cake of Ivory soap in your 

 salt sprayer and wash the plants' off 

 thoroughly. Select a bright dav for 

 this and repeat it two days after. 'Then 

 spray the plants with Bordeaux mixture. 

 Repeat this in about ten days unless 

 you see a decided improvement. Keep 

 Mie spotted leaves picked off right along. 



The soil submitted was all gone ex- 

 cept a few pieces of decayed wood. 

 Without seeing a whole plant and a 

 liberal sample of the soil, I cannot ad- 

 vise you in regard to it. Your plants 

 probably do not need feeding, at least 

 not until they start into active growth. 

 Your temperature is all right. 



A. F. J. B. 



SOW BUGS ON CARNATIONS. 



Our carnations are troubled with sow 

 bugs. We have used brown sugar mixed 

 with Paris green with little success. We 

 have also placed boards with raw po- 

 tatoes beneath the benches and have 

 scalded the bugs under them evcrv few 



days. But the amount of space devoted 

 to carnations is so big and the bugs 

 are so many that we must find some 

 more effective and less tedious way. 

 I have found that sow bugs and snails 

 prefer cabbage heads above everything 

 else, but I know of no poison that will 

 penetrate the cabbage leaves so as to 

 make them fit to kill the pest. Please 

 tell me some effective way to get rid 

 of the pest. A. W. S.— Mont. 



Our favorite remedy for sow bugs up 

 to the last few years was granulated 

 sugar and Paris green. This we found 

 quite effective in destroying them. Re- 

 cently we have used Hammond's Slug 

 Shot with splendid success. It has the 

 advantage of being ready for use with- 

 out mixing. While it is not always pos- 

 sible to keep the place free from de- 

 cayed wood, on account of aging bench 

 lumber, all other rubbish, etc., should be 

 kept cleaned up, especially under the 

 benches. That will go a long way to- 

 ward controlling this pest and you will 

 find it impossible to control them unless 

 you do keep the place clean. 



A. F. J. B. 



TO FILL THAT EMPTY SPACE. 



Growers who usually find themselves 

 with a large amount of empty space In 



the houses after the chrysanthemums 

 are cleared out in the fall and wish to 

 fill in quickly with a useful and profit- 

 able crop will find the following desir- 

 able subjects: Hardy pinks, often 

 called grass pinks; sweet williams; 

 Canterbury bells; delphiniums; An- 

 chusa italica, Dropmore variety. These, 

 with the exception of delphiniums and 

 anchusas, should be sown about the end 

 of February or during March. When 

 they are large enough to be handled, 

 transplant the seedlings into flats and 

 keep them in a cool house till weather 

 and conditions are satisfactory. 



They may then be planted in the 

 field and treated just as one would treat 

 carnations, being kept clean and culti- 

 vated during the summer months. Be- 

 fore the ground is frozen in the fall, 

 they should be lifted and planted in 

 the beds or benches, or if desired, could 

 be carefully, but not too thickly, heeled 

 in a frame till required. Campanulas 

 and sweet williams may be placed in 

 pots just large enough to contain the 

 roots. Hardy pinks are excellent for 

 use in designs, making a dainty appear- 

 ance and holding up well. 



Anchusas have made roots large 

 enough in one season, but the 2-year-old 

 plants are better, while delphiniums 

 should be 3-year-old clumps with good 

 crowns. 



A great advantage in hardy pinks is 

 that they do not occupy the space for a 

 long period and do not cause much 

 work, as no staking or tying is needed. 

 Also a large number of blooms are 

 cut at one time. Certainly the same 

 value in flowers would not be cut from 

 carnations for the same period they oc- 

 cupy the space. E. E. R. 



ORCHID HYBRIDIZINQ. 



When I cross Cattleya Trianae, shall 

 I get them true to name? When C. 

 Dowiana is crossed with C. labiata, 

 would the seedlings be called C. Fabiat 

 Which of the parents is the seeding 

 parent and which one was the pollen 

 taken from? Please give per cent of 

 seedlings which would be true C. Fabia 

 and what the balance would be. 



J. D.— Pa. 



Cattleya Trianae x C. Trianae should 

 come true provided care is taken t) 

 cover the flowers to be used with gauze 

 before they open, in order to prevent 

 insect pollination. So far not much has 

 been done in crossing species with 

 themselves and results have been less 

 satisfactory than where different spe- 

 cies were used. C. Dowiana aurea x C. 

 labiata gave us C. Fabia; the first- 



named is the seed parent and all crosses 

 carefully made should give 100 per cent 

 Fabia seedlings, but there would prob- 

 ably be considerable variation in the 

 seedlings, some being much superior 

 to others. C. Fabia has been crossed 

 with a number of other hybrids. C. 

 Fabiata, which I have, is the result of 

 a cross with C. Portia, the latter being 

 a cross between C. labiata and C. Bow- 

 ringiana. 



If the Federal Horticultural Board 

 decides to continue its embargo on or- 

 chid importations, seedling raising may 

 boom a little here, but it is a slow, 

 uncertain and expensive business and 

 hybrids never prove so popular com- 

 mercially as species. I should advise 

 going slowly in seedling raising; I have 

 had twenty years' experience with it 

 and would not put too much reliance 

 on the extravagant claims made by one 

 or two seedling raisers who hope to see 

 the bars against orchids remain up. 



C. W. 



