14 



The Florists' Review 



March 24. 1921. 



Bobbink & Atkins' Garden, Featuring Azaleas and Flowering Shrubs. 



till! t'ollowiiij; jioiiits, us tuii<l;iiiu'nt III 

 principles in violot culture: 



1. Mix tli<' fntili/cr thoroughly with 

 the soil. . 



'2. (ipt s;uiil nxit I'd ciittiii^is I'roiii :i 

 reliable grower. 



3. Water only wlini iicccsv.-ny .nnl 

 not too nnu-h ;it ;i time. 



4. Never allow runner.-, to rciuair. on 

 the plants during tlH< siininier. iStir the 

 surf.-ice of the .'^oil 'Vcry tin 'hi\s with 

 a five finger. 



T). Il.nve the liousi's well veiitilateil 

 from the toji, but never allow strong 

 winds to blow ONcr tlie plants. 



<■). Keeji the plants firi" from red 

 spider tiy spraying witii cdIiI w.iter. 

 Keci) the plant.s free from green and 

 black aphis i)y using tobacco fiiniiga 

 tion or hyrlrocyanic acid gas. 



7. Last, but not least, in;iiut.iiii eter 

 n;il vigil;nii-r. 



the (lay promises to be hot and sunny, 

 spray the plants over before the sun 

 hits them, to prevent burning. ('. W. 



DALLAS IN BENCHES. 



I'lease give me some information abVit 

 c-all;i lilies. 1 havt,' some growing \n 

 benches and another lot growi)ig in 

 pots. The ones in the bene lies are^ot 

 flowei-ing h;iH' so W(dl ,is those in the 

 pots. i gi\e thrin Imne me;il about 

 every ten days or two we(d<s. Those 

 in the benches .'ire .'ilxiiit two and one- 

 half feet high and ,iri' from large bulbs. 

 The' le;i\i's are of a good color and in 

 growth thc'y ,ire e.xccdb'nt. Terhajis 

 they were planted too late; it was about 

 .November 1, 102(1. The ones in the 

 l)ots are Godfrey callas. What could 

 be the cause? A. L. — Mo. 



VIOLETS IN COLDFRAMES. 



1 am growing a limited iiuantity of 

 violets ;ind, having no tight house in 

 which to fumigate them, ;im keeping 

 them in the open in coldframes. Ifow 

 would vou fight the insect pests.' 



N. K.— Del. 



You can fumigate the violets in cold- 

 frames as well as in greenhouses. If the 

 sashes are not tight, lay some mats or 

 cloth on them. Tobacco dust or one 

 of the tobacco papers will clean out 

 aphis. As the cubic space to be fumi- 

 gated is small, it will take little paper 

 or dust to finish the aphis. Ventilate 

 early the day after fumigating, and if 



('alias in pots or boxes with a rather 

 limited root run will flower nnu-li more 

 abundantly in winter than when they 

 arc planted out in benches or solid 

 beds. Perhaps your plants in the bcncli 

 arc the old variety, iethiopic.i. This 

 x'ariety does not flower nearly so freely 

 as the newer .and jnirer (iodfrey call.a. 

 November was r.ather .a late date to 

 start your pl.auts. Another season rest 

 your callas from the end of May until 

 the middle of August ;ind then pot up. 

 Started this early, you will get flowers 

 <|uite early in winter and by feeding 

 with bone, one of the best stimulants 

 for callas, you should be able to cut 

 flowers foi a period of at least six 

 months. Three of the largest bulbs in 

 0-ineh pots and three somewhat smaller 



in 8-inch pots give much better results 

 than when they are grown singly in 

 smaller pots. G. W. 



BEST ISMENE BULBS. 



Kindly give me information regard- 

 ing ismene bulbs. I purchased 100 

 2-inch bulbs last year and not one of 

 them ever showed a sign of a flower. 

 C. B. C. — Mass. 



Ismene calathina, also called hymeno- 

 callis and Pancratium calathinum, is a 

 native of Peru and Bolivia. It is a 

 summer or late-blooming variety in your 

 latitude and needs pot culture in a 

 fairly warm greenhouse. The plants 

 must be rested and kept quite dry in 

 winter. Perhaps you have not given 

 your plants the necessary rest, or, as 

 seems more probable, the bulbs have 

 been of insufficient size to flower. 



C. W. 



SOUR COMPOST. 



What is the matter with my potting 

 soil that I am using in the greenhouse? 

 It is made by rotting June grasssfi 

 .and horse manure together in jfpile. 

 This is thoroughly mixed and then 1 

 add a little tobacco dust and hydrated 

 lime to it before using. It seems to 

 lie sour just the same, because the soil 

 on top of the pots turns green shortly 

 after the plants are potted up. I have 

 been told that at some large establish- 

 ments the soil is sterilized by heating 

 or baking it. I shall be thankful for any 

 information vou can give me in regard 

 to the matter. H. S. H.— Mich. 



Your potting compost seems to be 

 jirepared all right. If you had a heavy 

 mat of June grass and used fresh horse 

 manure it would have :i tendency to 

 sour, even if some lime were added. 

 Mow the grass off closely before cutting 

 or plowing up your "sod. Use well 

 decomposed, rather than fresh horse 

 manure in layers through the sod and 

 do not use the compost for at least six 

 months, by which time it should, when 

 chopped down, be in fine condition for 

 jiotting. If you add some coarse sand 

 or fine charcoal to your soil, it will helj) 

 to sweeten it. Sterilization of the soil 

 kills weed seeds and all fungoid af- 

 fections. It helps to improve old soil, 

 but its application should not be neces- 

 s.ary for new compost. (". W. 



FOR PRIMULA POISONING. 



In The Review for March 17 I s;iw 

 several remedies for primula poisoning. 

 The remedy I use is simple and effective 

 ;md it is always easily procured. 



If I have to handle the plants or 

 flowers, I wet my hands in clear w.ater 

 and, while they are wet. rub common 

 baking soda on them thoroughly and 

 plentifully, letting it dry on. If this is 

 done soon after handling the plants, 

 there will bo no sign of poisoning. 



Minnie E. Ruckman. 



T have tried many remedies for 

 primula poisoning, among them some of 

 those mentioned in last week's Review. 

 All failed to effect a cure for me. My 

 only remedy is a few applications of 

 any laundry soap rubbed on when wet 

 enough to lather. Before using the soap 

 remedy I had both hands and both arms 

 poisoned to the shoulders. The soap 

 remedy cured me at once. 



Mrs. M. E. G. AVntres. 



