Decembbb 25, 1019. 



The Florists' Review 



» 



taken from these plants would be trou- 

 bled the following year; probably not. 

 Neither do I know whether the cyanide 

 would destroy the galls on the roots, al- 

 lowing the plants to resume a normal 

 growth. Your entomologist will prob- 

 ably become interested enough to work 

 ^out these various phases. Unless you 

 treat your soil in the field or change to a 

 field that is not infected, you will have 

 a recurrence of this trouble each season. 



A. F. J. B. 



CABNATION PLANTS ABE DYINO. 



Under separate cover we are mailing 

 you a sample of soil and one dead car- 

 nation, over which we shall thank yoU' 

 to hold an autopsy. "We thought the 

 trouble was stem-rot, but you will note 

 that the stem is sound, while the roots 

 are rotten. The plants were fine and 

 were benched last month. There has 

 been a great deal of rain and cloudy 

 weather. The soil consists of bottom 

 land, leaf-mold and manure and was 

 used last season, but was dumped out 

 and exposed to the weather all summer. 

 The soil was limed a few days ago. 

 Some of the buds are eaten out, but we 

 have been unable to find any worms. 

 "We shall greatly appreciate your opinion 

 and advice. Y. F. C. — Tex. 



Your statement that the soil was used 

 last year probably answers your query 

 as to the cause of your troubles. "When 

 soil is used a* second season, carnations 

 do not take hold of it as readily as if it 

 were new soil and there is more danger 

 of root-rotting unless extreme care is 

 exercised during the period of reestab- 

 lishment. Adding manure, lime, etc., 

 has never been known to make new soil 

 out of old and a few months' exposure 

 to the weather is not sufficient. It is 

 too late, now, to make a. new start and 

 you will just have to make the best of a 

 bad beginning. "Water carefully, but not 

 stintingly. Give all the ventilation that 

 weather conditions will permit and keep 

 the temperature as near 50 degrees as 

 possible. The buds are probably eaten 

 by one of the common cutworms. These 

 are sometimes difficult to detect, as they 

 feed mostly at night. A poison mash 

 made of bran, molasses and Paris green 

 will get them. A. F. J. B. 



EOOT-OALL ON CAENATIONS. 



I am sendieg^you under separate cover 

 a carnation/plalJt which has some kind 

 of knots on it. I would be pleased if 

 you will give me any information as 

 to what is the matter with the plant. 



In digging my carnations out of the 

 field last year 1 found about 500 out of 

 over 10,000 plants were thus infected. 

 These were burned. I would like to 

 know how to get rid of the trouble. The 

 first time I sa\v it was two years ago, 

 on some Begonia Erfordii; I destroyed 

 them on seeing it. My soil is good black 

 sandy material. "Will the plants be af- 

 fected if planted in the same field as 

 last year? I have rye on the ground 

 now. My plants are not much aJffected 

 now and I do not want them to be. 



"W\ E. P.— Okla. 



The root galls on your carnations are 

 probably similar to, if not identical with 

 those which at one time caused great 

 loss to rose growers. We have come 

 across a limited number of cases of this 

 trouble in the last few years, mostly in 

 the southern states. I know of no rem- 



edy for it. Several theories were ad- 

 vanced by rose experts at the time it 

 was causing them trouble, but it was 

 not eliminated until about the time 

 grafting on Manetti was adopted by the 

 growers of forcing roses. "Whether they 

 have any connection, I am not sure. The 

 United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture has been using cyanide for destroy- 

 ing insect life in the soil with good re- 

 sults and if these root galls are caused 

 by eelworms, as in the case of roses, 

 cyanide may be the means of ridding 

 your soil of them. Inquire of your state 

 entomologist, who will be able to get 

 the necessary data from "Washington and 

 who will inform you how to apply cyan- 

 ide properly. Cyanide ^s dissolved in 

 water in certain proportions and the soil 

 is thoroughly saturated with it. It is 

 supposed to destroy all insect or animal 

 life in the soil without being injurious 

 to the plants, if used at the proper 

 strength. Usually plants that are at- 

 tacked will become stunted and worth- 

 less. I do not know whether cuttings 



CITRYSANTHEMUM SOCIETY. 



"Work of the Committees. - 



The examining committees of the C. 

 S. A. have submitted reports on new 

 varieties as follows: 



At Philadelphia, December 12, December Beau- 

 ty, light pink, Japanese incurved, submitted by 

 Elmer D. Smith & Co., Adrian, Mich., scored as 

 follows on the commercial scale: Color, 18; 

 form, 141 fullness, 9; stem, 13; foliage, 13; 

 substance, 14; size, 0; total-, 90. This variety 

 scored as follows on the exhibition scale: Color, 

 14; stem, 4; foliage, 4; fullness, 14; form, 14; 

 depth, 13; size, 25; total, 88. 



At New York, December 13, December Beau- 

 ty, light pink, Japanese incurved, submitted by 

 Elmer D. Smith & Co., Adrian, Mich., scored as 

 follows on the commercial scale: Color, 17; 

 form, 13; fullness, 10; stem, 14; foliage, 12; 

 substance, 14; size, 8; total, 88. 



At Chicago, December 13, December Beauty, 

 light pink, Japanese incurved, submitted by 

 Elmer D. Smith & Co., Adrian, Mich., scored 

 as follows on the commercial scale: Color, 16; 

 form, 14; fullness, 10; stem, 14; foliage, 14; sub- 

 stance, 14; size, 10; total, 92. 



At Cincinnati, December 16, December Beauty, 

 light pink, Japanese incurved, submitted by 

 Elmer D. Smith & Co., Adrian, Mich., scored as 

 follows on the commercial scale: Color, 19; 

 form, 14; fullness, 10; stem, 15; foliage, 14; 

 substance, 14; size, 9; total, 95. 



Chas. "W. Johnson, Sec'y. 



POINTERS ON PANSIES 



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PANSIES KEPT TOO WET. 



October 23 we set 500 pansy plants 

 in black muck soil, mixed with about 

 one-third sand and treated with lime 

 and acid phosphate. The plants when 

 set were large, healthy and in bud and 

 bloom. "We have kept the ground on 

 the wet rather than on the dry side. 

 They are in a greenhouse, well venti- 

 lated and kept at an average of 55 de- 

 grees. They have stopped blooming. 

 The larger leaves turn yellow and die. 

 New ones grow, but also turn yellow 

 and the plants do not gain any. They 

 are free from aphis. "What is the trou- 

 ble, and how can we remedy it? 



"W. K. P. F.— Mich. 



but stopped watering them and most 

 of them recovered by spring and had 

 a few flowers. Yet I considered them 

 a dead loss. So I think if your plants 

 are bad, you had better chuck them out 

 and plant something else. The next 

 time you plant pansies, keep them drier. 

 There is a wrong impression about 

 pansies. Some people seem to think 

 they can stand and want any amount 

 of water, but that is erroneous, as I 

 have seen them get sick from too much 

 rain when growing in the field, in light 

 soil at that. Although they do best in 

 a cool, moist situation, the watering can 

 be overdone, particularly in the green- 

 house. Chas. Frost. 



It seems to me that your pansy plants 

 have had too much water. Of course, 

 the soil might have too much lime or 

 phosphate. I have not had any experi- 

 ence growing pansies in muck soil, so 

 I cannot say anything about that. I 

 saw some pansies last fall in a green- 

 house; a man was going to show me 

 how to grow pansies. As they were 

 from some of my seed, I was interested 

 in them and went to see them. They 

 were fine plants, coming into flower, 

 but I told him they were too wet. He 

 said, "Pansies want plenty of water." 

 Some time after he said they were all 

 turning yellow. They were the sor- 

 riest looking lot of pansies I ever saw, 

 not a green leaf on them. I advised 

 him to pull them up; he did not do so, 



PANSIES FOR SPRING SALES. 



Please tell me if pansy seed can be 

 sown now in flats in the greenhouse, the 

 seedlings to be transferred to flats or 

 pots. At what stage should they be 

 planted in the coldframes, to be ready 

 for the spring sales? How much should 

 the sashes be covered in hardening off? 



J. K. H.— Pa. 



Pansy seed can be started in the 

 greenhouse and the plants put in flats 

 or benches and planted in the cold- 

 frames as early as possible in the 

 spring; it can be done in March if the 

 frames have been covered up through 

 the winter. It would hardly pay to pot 

 them. Pansy plants are grown this way 

 in some places where people will pay a 



