16 



The Florists' Review 



June 7, 1917. 



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OUR ALIBI ESTABLISHED 



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RECITING THE TACTS. 



Why Blame the Trade? 



On page 23 of The Review for May 

 17, you printed an article from Prof. S. 

 B. Fracker, of Wisconsin, under the 

 caption ' * Our Alibi Is Established, ' ' in 

 which the correspondent seeks to prove 

 that The Eeview was mistaken in stat- 

 ing that the insect pests and plant dis- 

 eases wliich afflict our forests and 

 crops were not imported on commercial 

 shipments to nurserymen and florists. 

 But the correspondent really proves 

 your case; he confirms your "alibi." 

 What are the facts with regard to the 

 pests given? 



First, the learned professor mentions 

 the chestnut bark disease, and tells us 

 it was introduced from Asia by a Chi- 

 cago nursery firm. But, according to 

 the best authorities, it was first discov- 

 ered at (Queens, N. Y., and its origin Avas 

 unknown. Anyway, no commercial 

 shipments of nursery stock come from 

 Asia. 



Second is the gypsy moth, which, how- 

 ever, was not introduced by a nursery- 

 man or florist, but by a professor, an 

 entomologist. And it should be noted 

 here that the present agitation for an 

 embargo on horticultural importations 

 comes only from a small group of en- 

 tomologists and forestry men. 



Third on the list is the brown-tail 

 moth, but the best authorities state that 

 its origin is unknown, so why blame the 

 nurserymen and florists? The way the 

 last two pests have been allowed to 

 spread in the New England states is 

 certainly no credit to our large force 

 of entomologists and inspectors, who 

 are maintained at public expense. 



The Pine Blister Rust. 



Fourth is the white pine blister rust. 

 For this pest we must blame the Ger- 

 mans and the forestry men, for it was 

 imported on shipments of pines from 

 firms near Halstenbek, Germany, that 

 produce stock only for forestry pur- 

 poses. If any nurseryman ever bought 

 this class of stock it was because it was 

 misrepresented to him, for it is quite 

 unsuitable. 



On the pine-shoot moth I have no 

 authoritative information, but all com- 

 mercial varieties of pines have been 

 under quarantine during the last five 

 years, except to the Department of 

 Agriculture. 



The correspondent frankly states 

 that the origin of the citrus canker is 

 unknown. All citrus plants also have 

 been under quarantine for some years 

 from all foreign sources. The origin of 

 the red scale is also unknown. The San 

 Jose scale came from Japan, from which 

 country practically no commercial ship- 

 ments of nursery stock are received. 



But why continue? Does not the 

 worthy professor know that practically 

 all commercial nursery stock shipments 

 come from Europe, where are the clean- 

 est nurseries in the world; that each 

 nursery is under the closest inspection 

 and that each shipment i?; most care- 

 fully inspected by trained nion at the 



shipping point and again at its destina- 

 tion, and that if any lonely bug should 

 smuggle its way in, it ia a known one 

 and the method of handling it also is 

 known? The contention of the trade 

 is that any pests that have been im- 

 ported have come from remote parts of 

 the world, from which no commercial 

 shipments come. 



Experts Often Mistaken. 



We are reminded of the reports made 

 to Washington of the discovery of in- 

 sect pests on shipments. Of course, if 

 men are hired to find things, and their 

 living depends on finding them, they 

 usually do find them. How many times 

 have the calluses at the base of Man- 

 etti cuttings been mistaken for crown 

 gall or root knot by overzealous inspec- 



tors, or the fibrous roots of French- 

 grown apple seedlings for hairy root? 

 Given a long scientific name, these 

 things look really vicious. Yet they are 

 no more harmful to the vitality of a 

 tree than a wart on his hand is to a 

 man. 



An entomologist's leanings should be 

 destructive only as applied to bugs and 

 helpful and constructive as applied to 

 business. His job is to kill bugs, not 

 business. In the legitimate field of the 

 entomologists every nurseryman and 

 florist is only too happy to cooperate, 

 since his existence depends upon keep- 

 ing his stock absolutely clean. Why 

 blame the nurserymen or florists for all 

 the insect pests and plant diseases that 

 affect our forests and crops? Why do 

 not the entomologists cooperate with 

 our nurserymen and florists instead of 

 advocating panicky and ill-considered 

 laws that, if passed, would ruin trade 

 without lessening to any appreciable 

 degree the damage done by pests to our 

 vegetation ? 



James McHutchison, 

 Member Legislative Committee, S. A. F. 



MIQM 



CULTURAL NOTES FOR JUNE. 



Disbudding and Thrips. 



The late spring, with its cool weather, 

 has not been an unmixed evil by any 

 means. While all vegetation is from 

 two to three weeks behind schedule time, 

 and while some of the flowers we 

 usually count on having for Memorial 

 day will not be in for some time, these 

 losses perhaps will be more than offset 

 by the benefit of the cool weather to the 

 indoor crops. 



The carnations are now as good as 

 they were early in March, and with 

 proper care should continue fine 

 throughout this month. If you were a 

 little forehanded, you went over your 

 blooming carnations before the spring 

 rush started and disbudded everything 

 closely. In that case you will be cutting 

 nice stock now, and a few hours now 

 and then will suffice to keep the plants 

 disbudded until the season is over. 

 Spraying or fumigation, too, should not 

 be neglected, no matter how busy you 

 are. These are operations one is apt to 

 let slip by during the rush of spring 

 work, simply because the need of them 

 is not so apparent as some other things, 

 until the damage has been done. The 

 weather until now has been ideal for 

 keeping thrips in check, but unless you 

 have continued to apply preventives, 

 thrips will increase rapidly as soon as 

 warm weather sets in, and they can ruin 

 a crop of blooms in short order. 



Quality in June Worth While. 



The same is true as regards the dis- 

 budding. One does not notice the need 

 of disbudding until one cuts sprays of 

 small, button-like blooms, and then it 



is too late to increase the size to any 

 extent by removing the half -grown buds. 

 There is no time when quality counts 

 more than during the month of June. 

 With thousands of inferior blooms com- 

 ing into the market, it will pay hand- 

 somely the grower who has made an 

 effort to preserve his quality. You per- 

 haps will find here and there a bed that 

 will not pay for the necessary water- 

 ing and care from now on. If so, better 

 discontinue such beds and concentrate 

 your efforts on the plants which carry a 

 fair crop of buds. 



If you mulched any of these beds 

 weeks ago, the plants will appreciate a 

 little food occasionally, to help keep up 

 the size of the blooms. You are giving 

 the plants much water, and thereby 

 leaching out the soil and the manure 

 you applied as mulch, which makes it 

 necessary to replenish the food by 

 means of either liquid manure or a top- 

 dressing. We prefer the latter method. 

 If you have on hand a balanced carna- 

 tion fertilizer, use it in moderate doses 

 every two or three weeks. In the 

 absence of this, mix some sheep manure 

 and finely ground bone, using four 

 parts of the manure to one part of the 

 other. Sprinkle it over the surface and 

 water it in. 



Formula for Shading Mixture. 



A little shade on the glass will pre- 

 vent the pinks from bleaching out. Do 

 not make the shade too heavy, as you 

 merely want to break the extreme heat. 

 You will find whiting preferable to 

 slaked lime for this purpose. Mix the 

 whiting and water to the consistency of 

 thick cream. Then dilute it to the de- 

 sired state and mix a 3-inch potful of 

 linseed oil with each three gallons. We 

 spray this on the outside with a hand 

 syringe, a method we find quite satis- 



