Dbcember 2, 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



27 



$8,000, this firm employs three expert 

 landscape architects and a score of as- 

 Bistants, five expert decorators and a 

 dozen designers and assistants, in addi- 

 tion to its staff of growers and helpers. 

 Officers of the Lang Floral & Nursery 

 Co. are: President, Otto Lang; vice- 

 president, B. L. Edwards; secretary- 

 treasurer, J, C. Walvoord, and assistant 

 general manager, H. J. Fuhlbrigge. The 

 directors are E. L. Lucas, W. H, Flippen, 

 C. D. Pratt and H. W. Schafer. 



SUBDXnNO SNAPDRAGON BUST. 



Can you give us a sure remedy for 

 rust on snapdragon plants? Wo have 

 tried everything we knew of, with no 

 results. W. A. L. — Va. 



It seems doubtful, to say the least, 

 whether this inquirer's hopes can be 

 fully realized. A "sure remedy," such 

 as he asks for, seems to imply a briefly 

 stated rule of action, with sure and 

 swift results, and such a remedy for 

 snapdragon rust has not yet been dis- 

 covered. Experience has proved, appar- 

 ently, that the use of fungicides, such 

 as Bordeaux mixture or ammoniacal 

 copper carbonate, is of no avail. Only 

 preventive measures, in the form of 

 cultural precautions, are effective. Even 

 after a house of the plants is badly in- 

 fected with the disease, still the only 

 resource is the prevention, if possible, 

 of the further spread of the germs. 



To begin at the beginning, the disease 

 can be avoided, or eliminated in time, by 

 the propagation of plants from seed. 

 It appears to have been definitely proved 

 that antirrhinum rust is not carried 

 or propagated by seed. Perhaps the 

 only disadvantage in growing the plants 

 from seed is the fact that few strains 

 are fixed, and selection must therefore 

 be practiced in order to secure desirable 

 strains. On the other hand, the disease 

 is extremely liable to be transmitted by 

 cuttings. 



Excessive moisture, created by fre- 

 quent syringing and the use of heavy 

 shade, tends to promote the disease. Not 

 only is the moisture favorable to the 

 germination of the rust spores, but the 

 syringing also carries the spores from 

 one plant to another. Hence the spread 

 of the disease may be checked by water- 

 ing only from below, so as to avoid 

 wetting the foliage, and also by limiting 

 the number of stems on a plant, so as to 

 prevent too great density and conse- 

 quent dampness of the foliage. 



In brief, then, the necessary procedure 

 seems to be: Grow the plants from seed, 

 or be sure — if that is possible — that the 

 cuttings are free from the disease germs; 



Lang's Ross Avenue Office and Store Is Generously Decorated with Florists' Products. 



remove and destroy diseased plants; let 

 the habit and the distribution of the 

 plants be sufficiently open to permit a 

 good circulation of air; if practicable, 

 discontinue overhead watering. If the 

 inquirer has saved his back numbers 

 of The Eeview, he will find a fuller 

 treatment of this subject in the issues 

 for December 11 and 25, 1919. 



grow such varieties as Easter Greeting 

 and Wurtembergia, you should be able 

 to flc^ver them for Easter by giving 

 a slightly warmer house early in Febru- 

 ary. Pot along before the roots have 

 become too much matted. C. W. 



OBOWINa PEIiABaONIXTMS. 



Please give me some information on 

 growing pelargoniums. I have about 

 1,000 3-inch plants which could stand 

 a shift; I have been keeping them on 

 the dry side for the last few weeks. 

 Is it best to keep them growing or dry 

 them off, and what is the best way of 

 doing this! W. W.— Okla. 



It will be better to keep your plants 

 on the dry side and rest them. They 

 should be laid on their sides outdoors; 

 this will allow them to become well ma- 

 tured. When the wood has become brown 

 and well hardened, prune them back 

 somewhat and, after they have started 

 to break, shake out and repot them, 

 using the same size of pots. You can 

 keep the plants in a frame, protecting 

 it as cool weather comes along, later 

 placing them in a cold house. If you 



GBOWING GEBANIUMS. 



We should be pleased to receive some 

 information regarding the growing of 

 geraniums. How long does it take from 

 the time the cutting is put in the sand 

 until it is a blooming plant, ready for 

 the market? N. D. B. — la. 



Cuttings rooted after the arrival of 

 autumn root with a smaller minimum 

 of loss than those put in while the 

 weather is warmer. Put them in clean, 

 sharp sand, do not shade and after first 

 watering keep somewhat on the dry side 

 until they are well rooted. Cuttings can 

 be taken and put in sand as late as 

 March 1 and still make nice 3-inch pot 

 plants for Memorial day sales. The fall 

 and early winter cuttings are usually 

 sold in 4-inch pots and they may be had 

 of salable size within four or five 

 months. Smaller plants can be had in 

 much less time. It all depends on how 

 large a plant is wanted. The standard 

 sizes for bedding and for window boxes 

 are 3% and 4-inch. C. W. 



The 200,000-foot Range of the Green Floral & Nursery Co., Recently Added to Otto Lang's Holdings at DaUas, Tex. 



