JlLY 7, 1921 



The Florists* Review 



23 



::* 





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BOOTING LADDIE. 



Last season was the first time that 

 we have grown Laddie and we did not 

 have the success in propagating that 

 we should have liked to have. We were 

 able to root but a small percentage of 

 the cuttings we made. 



Will you please give us all the advice 

 that you can regarding the taking of 

 these cuttings and the rooting of them. 

 Do they require any special treatment, 

 particularly in the matter of heat? 



E. G.— N. Mex. 



Your experience in rooting Laddie 

 is not unusual. We know of no one who 

 has been able to propagate it as suc- 

 cessfully as other varieties. It is one 

 of the most diflScult varieties to propa- 

 gate we have ever come across. We 

 have struck many good batches, but 

 about the time we think we know just 

 how to handle it, we lose a batch. Others 

 report the same experience. We find 

 that good-sized cuttings, if fairly well 

 hardened, will root beet. After select- 

 ing such cuttings, give them just a little 

 closer attention than the other varieties 

 need and you will fare about as well 

 as the rest of us. Small side shoots 

 from the blooming stems do not root 

 well. Laddie cuttings will never sell 

 as cheaply as those of other varieties, 

 on account of the difficulty in rooting 

 them. A. F. J. B. 



FAIRY RING ON CARNATIONS. 



I am sending you four carnation 

 plants, two of White Wonder and two 

 of Matchless. Two of these plants are 

 badly infected with a disease of some 

 kind, while two are in their, earlier 

 stages. 



This disease started in the center of 

 the Matchless bench. It seemed to 

 have covered the entire width of the 

 bench and a space about four feet in 

 length before I noticed it, and then, for 

 about a month, it did not seem to go any 

 farther. However, I now notice a 

 sprinkling of it in different parts of 

 the bench and it has also spread across 

 to the bench on each side of the one in 

 which it originally started. 



Can you advise what this is and what 

 can be done for it? J. I. — U. 



The plants submitted are badly af- 

 fected by fairy ring. This disease is 

 usually brought on by excessive humid- 

 ity. Too much overhead watering or 

 spraying in hot weather is frequently 

 the cause. It belongs to the spot dis- 

 eases and should be treated the same 

 way, but it is one of the worst of this 

 class of diseases, as it spreads rapidly 

 if conditions are favorable to it. It 

 would probably not pay to combat it 

 on your old stock now, as the season is 

 too far gone. Better rip out the worst 

 affected plants and burn them, unless 

 you are ready to tear out the whole bed 

 or house. In case you decide on the 

 latter, it will give you a chance to 



disinfect the house thoroughly before 

 refilling. Bordeaux mixture is the 

 standard remedy for this type of dis- 

 ease. A. F. J. B. 



and spray the plants thoroughly. Re- 

 jieat after a good rain or in a week if 

 there is no rain. If your plants need 

 topping, carry along a basket and take 

 the tops away from the field. In that 

 way you will eliminate a large per- 

 centage of the spiders, as they usually 

 keep rather close to the tip leaves. 



After benching these plants, put on 

 the supports immediately, so you can 

 syringe them thoroughly right from the 

 start. The plants will need spraying, 

 anyway, and they will take hold better 

 if freed from this pest. A. F. J. B. 



SPIDER ON CARNATIONS. 



The carnation plant which I have 

 sent is an example of how my carna- 

 tions are affected. They are growing 

 all right, but some of the foliage seems 

 to curl. They are growing in the field. 

 Will you tell me what is wrong with 

 them? O. G.— O. 



Your carnations are infested with red 

 spider, caused by the continued hot, 

 dry weather, which seems to have been 

 general through a large part of the 

 middle west. There may have been a 

 few stray spiders on the plants when 

 they were set out. Ordinarily, the 

 spring rains will destroy any that are 

 brought out from the greenhouse, but 

 the absence of rains this wear gave the 

 spider an opportunity to multiply. 

 There will be much red spider brought 

 into the greenhouses this summer. 



It is difficult to combat this pest in 

 the field, due to the absence of water 

 for syringing as is done in the house. 

 Spraying with salt water is about the 

 next best course. Put a 3-inch potful 

 of ordinary salt in two gallons of water 



TREATING BROWN SCALE. 



I am sending you two fronds from a 

 Boston fern. These are badly affected 

 with some sort of scale. The affection 

 starts with a sticky substance the color 

 of water and later these brown-colored 

 scales appear. Will you please tell me 

 what this trouble is and how I can 

 guard against it in the future? 



D. F. C— Colo. 



The fern fronds are badly infested 

 with the common brown scale, an in- 

 sect that spreads rapidly at almost all 

 seasons of the year. The worst fronds 

 should be cut off and burned and then 

 a regular course of spraying carried on. 

 One of the nicotine extracts advertised 

 for treating plants may be used in solu- 

 tion for spraying, using the prepara- 

 tions as directed by the makers, but, 

 whatever is used, it is safest to do the 

 spraying on a cloudy day or in the 

 evening, for strong sunshine sometimes 

 injures the tender tips of the fern 

 fronds after they have been spraved. 



W. H. T. 



PRECOCIOUS CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



My chrysanthemums outdoors arc 

 blooming now, in June. They were 

 taken out of the ground in the early 

 part of March and the promising 

 sprouts cut off and put out in well pre- 

 pared trenches to grow roots, which 

 they did rapidly, and then were trans- 

 planted to beds to remain there. These 

 cuttings are now, with few exceptions, 

 in bloom or budding to bloom. I 

 never had it happen before and am at a 

 loss to understand it. We had mild 

 weather in March and April and every- 

 thing grew rapidly. T. W. — Tex. 



Will you please tell me what is the 

 matter with my mums? I planted them 

 June 10. They arc budding and I took 

 off the bud and all the new breaks have 

 buds. Chieftain and Oconto are the va- 

 rieties. I have some just as early and 

 they are all right. I liad to buy all the 

 stock. This has never happened to me 

 before and I have grown mums for a 

 good many years. Would it be advis- 

 able to keep pinching them until proper 

 time to take the bud? J. A.— Kan. 



hard, will run into bud in nine cases 

 out of ten. Conditions in the spring 

 seem to be just about the same as con- 

 ditions in the fall so far as bringing 

 mums into bloom is concerned. 



We have on occasions had a good 

 batch of mum flowers in the early part 

 of May, but the natural blooming time 

 of the mums is fall and I must confess 

 that the spring flowers we had were 

 not a commercial proposition and there- 

 fore I have never bothered repeating 

 the operation. 



The only thing I can suggest is to 

 keep the buds tightly pinched off and 

 cut the plants down to within a few 

 inches of the ground and most kinds 

 will almost immediately produce one 

 or two suckers from the ground, which 

 will grow up and give entirely satis- 

 factorv flowers next fall. C. H. T. 



SHADING IS NEEDED. 



Do chrysanthemum cuttings require 

 shading during the whole time they are 

 rooting? W. G. — O. 



It is by no means unusual to have 

 mums run to bud in May and June; in 

 fact, stock that is rooted in February 

 and grown along, if permitted to get 



Yes, the chrysanthemum cuttings 

 should be shaded during sunshine until 

 they are rooted. There are some cut- 

 tings, geranium, for example, which 

 root much better if given no shade at 

 all. C. W. 



