18 



The Florists- Review 



MabcH 31, 1921. 



BEST BEGONIAS 



WINTER-FLOWERING BEGONIAS. 



Discussed by Expert. 



At the autumn exhibition of the Mas- 

 sachusetts Horticultural Society, last 

 November, a remarkable exhibit of 

 forty-three varieties of the winter-flow- 

 ering begonia was made by Thomas E. 

 Proctor, of Topsfield, Mass., for which 

 the society 's gold medal was awarded. 



As this comparatively new lace of 

 flowering plants is likely to prove of 

 great value in greenhouse cultivation, 

 some notes on their history and culture 

 are presented in the latest issue of the 

 society's bulletin, the cultural notes be- 

 ing supplied by James Marlborough, gar- 

 dener to Mr. Procter. 



The Parent Plant. 



Begonia socotrana, from which the 

 winter-flowering varieties have been 

 evolved, was introduced in 1860 from the 

 island of Socotra, in the Bed sea, by 

 Prof. Isaac Bayley Balfour, of Edin- 

 burgh, Scotland. John Heal, of James 

 Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, England, recog- 

 nized the possibilities of this species for 

 hybridizing and to him belongs the 

 honor of raising the first hybrids of the 

 winter-flowering begonia which are the 

 results of crossing Begonia socotrana 

 with several large-flowered, tuberous- 

 rooted varieties. 



The first of these varieties to receive 

 recognition from the Royal Horticultural 

 Society was the John Heal, exhibited 

 by James Veitch & Sons in 1885. Little 

 was heard of them again until 1902, when 

 James Veitch & Sons exhibited a group 

 of these plants and about this time listed 

 twelve varieties in their catalogue. 



In later years the work was taken up 

 by Clibran's, Manchester, England, who 

 have now listed about fifty varieties in 

 their catalogue. The flowers are large, 

 single, double and semi-double, some over 

 three inches in diameter, and vary in 

 color from scarlet to light salmon pink. 

 A pure yellow or a pure white has not 

 yet appeared. They are produced in late 

 autumn, when showy flowers are desir- 

 able. The flowers are sterile, which ac- 

 counts for their long duration, and with 

 ordinary care a plant will last in full 

 bloom from six to eight weeks. 



Greenhouse Culture. 



After flowering, the plants are placed 

 where they get some light and a tem 

 perature of 5.1 degrees. They should be 

 kept moderately dry until about March 

 1, when most oif the old stems will have 

 fallen off and the young growths will 

 have developed from the axils of the 

 leaves. Following the directions of 

 Clibrans, when these new growths are 

 about two and one-half to three inches 

 in length they should be taken off as 

 cuttings, inserted singly in thumb pots, 

 and placed in a propagating case or in a 

 close house in a temperature of 70 de- 

 grees. 



Many of them have small tubers and 

 the old stems should not be cut off too 

 near the crown. Let them fall off, which 

 they vnll do as the new growth starts. 



When they show new roots they should 

 be potted into small pots, using a light, 

 sandy mixture of loam and leaf -mold in 

 equal parts, and placed in a temperature 

 of 60 degrees at night. Do not syringe 

 the plants or water them overhead, but 

 keep the house moist. Fumigate about 

 once a week, somewhat stronger than 

 with other plants, to prevent insect 

 pests, of which the mite is the worst. 



These will make good flowering plants 

 in the autumn, but for large exhibition 

 plants it may be necessary to start leaf 

 cuttings in November in the same way 

 as with Gloire Se Lorraine. In this way 

 many of the varieties can be grown to 

 specimens three to four feet in diameter 

 in one year. 



Varieties. 



The following is a list with a brief 



description of the forty-three varieties 



shown in the exhibit of Mr. Proctor: 



Altrinchara Pink — Double, bright pink. 



Apricot — Double, orauKe pink. 



Aureania — Single, greenlKh yellow. 



Beacon — Double, red. 



Beauty of Hale— Double, salmou-plnk. 



Britannia — Double, scarlet. 



Bowdon Beauty — Double, rose-pink. 



Charming — Double, pink. 



Clibran's Crimson — Double, crimson. 



Clibran's Pink— Double, bright pink. 



CUbran'B Red— Single, red. 



Comjuest— Single, salmon-pink. 



Dazzler — Semi-double, crimson. 



Display — Single, salmon. 



Duchess of Westminster — Double, light pink. 



Eclipse — Single, sulmon-red. 



Elatlor — Semi-double, rose-carmine. 



Emily Cllbran — Double, salmon-pink. 



Empress — Double, salmon-red. 



Ensign — Semi-double, carmine. 



Fascination— Single, salmon-orange. 



Fireflame — Single, bright orange. 



Flambeau — Double, orange-scarlet. 



Her Majesty — Single, bright orange. 



Ideala — Single, rose-carmine. 



Lucy Clibran — Double, salmon-pink. 



Matchless — Double, salmon. 



Miss Cllbran— Double, I>te8b-pink. 



Mr. T. H. Cook— Double, light pink. 



Mrs. Clibran— Double, light pink. 



Mrs. Heal — Single, rose-carmine. 



Optima— Single, salmon. 



Orange King — Single, orange-yellow. 



Picotee— Double, orange-salmon. 



Pink Perfection — Double, blush-pink. 



Premier — Double, rose-salmon. 



Radiant — Double, cerise-crimson. 



Rosalind — Single, pink. 



Rose Queen — Semi-double, rose. 



Splendor — Double, red. 



Sunrise— Double, rosy red. 



Vulcan — Double, carmine-pink. 



Winter Cheer— Semi-double, rose-carmloe. 



JACKSONVILLE, ILL. 



Good Friday at Jacksonville saw 

 spring showers and this was followed 

 by a good rain Saturday morning. The 

 rest of the day was warm, with a little 

 sprinkle. Easter Sunday was good un- 

 til about noon, when another shower 

 came up. By Monday morning the tem- 

 perature had dropped to 15 degrees. 

 Easter business with Joseph Heinl & 

 Sons was first-class. Everything was 

 cleaned up and the delivery went on 

 without a hitch. Lilies and hyacinths 

 were the best sellers. Orders as low as 

 50 cents were taken by this firm and 

 given good service. 



POISONING ANTS 



sm 



ELIMINATING THE ANT PEST. 



Results of a Government Experiment. 



The presence of ants in greenhouses 

 is usually an indication that some of the 

 plants are infested with one or more 

 species of honeydew-producing insects, 

 such as mealy bugs, soft scales, plant 

 lice and others. It is generally recog- 

 nized that iints are much concerned 

 about the welfare of these insects. They 

 protect them from natural enemies, 

 transfer them from time to time to 

 young succulent growth and build 

 shelters for their protection. This in- 

 terest on tlie part of the ants may be 

 accounted for by the fact that they col 

 lect and transfer to their nests the 

 honeydew or sweet fluid which is ex- 

 creted by the various insects. It is this 

 habit of tlie ants which is taken ad- 

 vantage of in the use of i>oison('d bait, 

 writes C. A. Wcigel, of the l)ur('au of 

 entomology of the Department of Agri- 

 culture, Washington, D. C. 



A recent experiment, in which a syruji 

 poisoned with sodium arsenite was used, 

 definitely determined that ants can be 

 satisfactorily controlled, if not entirely 

 eliminated from infested greenhouses. 

 So convincing were the results that the 

 experiment is briefly described for the 

 benefit of those growing plants under 

 glass. 



Facts about the Greenhouse. 



The greenhouse in which this test 

 was conducted contained miscellaneous 



plants, including crotons, which were 

 infested with two honeydew-producing 

 coccids, the long soft scale Coccus 

 elongatus Sign., and the. common mealy 

 bug, Pseudococcus citri Risso. Two 

 species of ants were concerned; a small 

 species popularly known as "the crazy 

 ant," Prenolepsis longicornis Latr., 

 and a larger one, Tetranmorium 

 guineensis Fab. The ants were present 

 in such numbers that the plants, 

 benches and w.ilks were literally alive 

 with them. 



The Poison Bait Formula. 



The formula for the poison bait used 

 in this experiment was as follows: 



Granulated sugar 15 lbs. 



Water 7% pts. 



Tartaric acid (crystallized) ... % oz. 



These ingredients were slowly boiled 

 for thirty minutes and allowed to cool. 

 In the meantime three-fourths of one 

 ounce of sodium arsenite (NaAsOj), 

 was dissolved in one-half pint of hot 

 water and allowed to cool. The two 

 were then combined by thoroughly 

 stirring to insure a complete combina- 

 tion. Finally one and one-half pounds 

 of pure honey was added to increase the 

 attractiveness of the mixture. 



The Experiment and Resxilts. 



At 11 o'clock on the morning of Feb- 

 ruary 11, 1921, twenty-five pieces of 

 sponge saturated with the poison bait 

 were distributed throughout the green- 

 house. To prevent dilution of the 

 poison syrup in the sponge when the 



