34 



The Florists^ Review 



Afbil 13. 1922 



GET AFTER THE MIDGE. 



If pimple-like swellings appear on the 

 leaves of your chrysanthemum plants, 

 and these swellings, when pricked open, 

 reveal a tiny white worm, you know you 

 have the midge on your plants. When 

 it is discovered, proper measures will 

 exterminate the pest. The great danger 

 lies in the fact that few growers recog- 

 nize its presence until the infestation 

 has become strong. If growers will care- 

 fully examine their plants, they can de- 

 terinine whether or not the measures 

 for control described below need be 

 taken. 



If a few points regarding the life his- 

 tory of the midge are clearly in mind, 

 greater success is likely to follow efforts 

 to exterminate the pest. First, several 

 generations are always present in green- 

 houses during the spring and fall occur- 

 rences; second, the adults emerge and 

 mate during the early morning hours, 

 and egg laying quickly follows; third, 

 experiments show that the egg stage 

 may be controlled by means of spraying 

 or dipping the cuttings or plants; 

 fourth, it has been demonstrated that 

 the adult can be killed easily at the 

 time of emergence by consistent spray- 

 ing; fifth, the adult is easily killed by 

 fumigation either with nicotine papers 

 or hydrocyanic acid gas. 



By adherence to a definite control 

 program, involving any of the above 

 cit«d measures, either singly or in com- 

 bination, the insect can be readily con- 

 trolled. In case of a light infestation 

 daily picking of gall-infested leaves will 

 hold the pest in check. Should this 

 practice prove ineffective, nightly fumi- 

 gation for a period of two or three 

 weeks may be resorted to. When a se- 

 vere infestation is encountered the 

 most heavily infested plants should be 

 taken out immediately and burned. 

 This should then be followed by either 

 fumigation or spraying as outlined be- 

 low. 



Fumigate every night, with either 

 nicotine papers or hydrocyanic acid gas, 

 for a period of at least six weeks. This 

 will kill all the adults that emerge dur- 

 ing such a period and at the same time 

 will prevent the further laying of eggs 

 for future generations. The dosage need 

 not be heavy in either case. When nico- 

 tine papers are used, one sheet to every 

 1,000 cubic feet of space will sufifire. 

 If hydrocyanic acid gas is employed, 

 one-eighth to one-fourth ounce per thou- 

 sand cubic feet will kill all of the 

 adults. The use of hydrocyanic acid gas 

 is not recommended unless in the hands 

 of a competent fumigator, owing to its 

 deadly poisonous effects. 



Too much emphasis can not be laid on 

 the fact that the fumigation must be 

 set off after midnight to be effective. 

 It is preferable to start generation be- 

 tween the hours of 12:30 a. m. and ,2 

 a. m. Any fumigation done before mid- 

 night would be useless, for it has been 

 pointed out that the adult does not 

 emerge until after midnight. On the 

 other hand, if it is started 'later than 



2 a. m. many adults will have emerged 

 and laid their eggs. 



In case fumigation is not advisable, 

 especially where chrysanthemum plants 

 are isolated or when other varieties of 

 plants are present in the houses, spray- 

 ing is recommended. This must be done 

 consistently for a period of four to six 

 weeks, a forty per cent solution of nico- 

 tine sulphate extract diluted (1-800) 

 being used, and soap added at the rate 

 of one-half to one ounce per gallon of 

 solution. The application should be 

 made late in the afternoon in order that 

 the best results may be obtained. In 

 this manner practically all adults can 

 be killed at the time of emergence and 

 any eggs present will be destroyed. 



It has been proved that the means of 

 disseminating this insect has been the 

 shipment of infested chrysanthemums, 

 both plants and cuttings. It is there- 

 fore imperative that only clean plants 

 and cuttings be brought into commercial 

 houses where chrysanthemums are grow- 

 ing or to be grown. Growers should 

 carefully examine all chrysanthemums 

 received aijid see that all material in- 

 tended for shipment or distribution is 

 free from this pest. 



As a preventive measure, it is recom- 



mended that cuttings be dipped in tho 



following solution at the time they aii^ 



taken: 



Nicotine sulphate, forty per cent part i 



Water parts 8<:ii 



Laundry soap ounce per gallon V^ i 



Another satisfactory method of s. - 

 curing chrysanthemum cuttings fn .j 

 from midge when the previous season's 

 stock has been infested is to plant tlu> 

 stock in benches or coldframes directl - 

 after the season 's crop has been n ■ 

 moved. This should then be followed bv 

 thorough treatment with a mixture con- 

 sisting of equal parts of dry or air- 

 slaked lime and tobacco dust. It is 

 advisable to keep all new growth co\- 

 ered with the mixture until furthtr 

 operations in the spring. 



HAIL AT PITTSBXTSGH. 



A heavy hail storm visited Pitts- 

 burgh and vicinity Monday evenin}j, 

 April 10, and caused considerable dam- 

 age at the range of the Pittsburgh Cut 

 Flower Co. The company suffered a 

 heavy loss, which will undoubtedly cur- 

 tail the production of stock for Easter. 

 This will seriously affeet many florists 

 in Pittsburgh and vicinity, who largely 

 depend upon this company's large range 

 foi!^ their cut flower supply. 



Auburn, Ala. — W. C. Cook has re- 

 signed his position as manager of the 

 college greenhouses and instructor in 

 floriculture and landscape gardening at 

 the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, at 

 Auburn, and has assumed the manage- 

 ment of the Bose Hill Greenhouses, at 

 Columbus, Ga. 



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HEATING BY WIRE 



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ELECTBIC HEAT AGAIN. 



The electrically heated Kenwood 

 Greenhouse, at Tacoma, Wash., has at- 

 tracted considerable attention among 

 greenhouse men. The experiment of 

 lieating a greenhouse by electricity has 

 been carried on for two winters, and a 

 concrete basis for computing the cost of 

 this enterprise has been arrived at by 

 the manager. 



While the rate per kilowatt hour for 

 electric current in Tacoma is one-half 

 cent, it may be possible for the large 

 greenhouse ranges to develop their own 

 electric power at less than the cost 

 mentioned above. 



In the 18x50-foot greenhouse where 

 the experiment was carried on, the 

 growth of plants was marvelous and 

 the results obtained have called forth 

 expressions of wonder from experienced 

 greenhouse men. Experiments have 

 been made with varieties of plants num- 

 bering 100 or more for two consecutive 

 winters and no failures have occurred 

 so far. In addition to the good results 

 obtained, the greenhouse has been kept 

 clean of all pests, and the roses have a 

 clear, glossy, vigorous appearance. No 

 attempt has been made to regulate the 

 temperature so as to accommodate any 

 kind of growth. All of the plants have 

 been compelled to take their chance in 

 45 degrees to 50 degrees at night, and 

 58 degrees to 65 degrees on cold, dark 

 days. 



Some of the most prominent plants 



seen growing in the greenhouse are de- 

 scribed as follows: The cinerarias have 

 huge foliage and solid heads of flowers 

 fifteen inches across. Leaves four to 

 five inches long are seen on young cal- 

 ceolarias. Hyacinths in 4-inch pots are 

 above a 12-inch stick in height. One 

 cyclamen bulb in an 8-inch pot had 

 twenty perfect flowers at one time. Pe- 

 tunias, fuchsias, pelargoniums, daisies, 

 callas, ferns, calendulas and snapdrag 

 ons all show splendid growth. 



Accurate figures on the cost of this 

 method of heating, from a carefully 

 kept record for two winters, are avail- 

 able. The temperature average for the 

 first winter was about 12 degrees above 

 zero and for the second winter approxi- 

 mately 10 degrees above zero. The rec- 

 ords show the cost for heating to be 

 $1.80 per thousand cubic feet of spacf 

 for thirty days in December, the cold- 

 est month. The house has 6,500 cubi'' 

 feet of space. The cost for heating thi' 

 entire house was $11.70 for that month. 

 If your house is 200 feet long and con 

 tains 46,000 cubic feet of space, th.- 

 heating cost will be $82.80 for a perio ' 

 of thirty days, paying at the rate o , 

 one-half cent per kilowatt hour, wit! 

 the minimum outside temperature at 1' 

 degrees above zero. Cold ends or ex- 

 posed sides of the house are easily kep. 

 at normal temperature by pressing th ' 

 button. One watchman and a man t ■ 

 shovel coal can keep any heating plan" 

 in operation, where the current is ger. 



