10 



The Florists^ Review 



September 4, 1913. 



against hail damage will, of course, vary 

 in cost in different localities. The fol- 

 lowing is Mrs. Kramer 's itemized state- 

 ment of the materials and cost at Mau- 

 kato, Kan.: 



Ten rolls Viiueli mesh hall screen I12O.O0 



Kigliteen 12- foot telephone poles 15.30 



20tj feet %-inch iron pipe 8.24 



loa feet %-lnch galvanized pipe 7.21 



Twelve 2-foot lion posts 3.50 



Twelve 5-foot Iron bars. 4.50 



Stove-pipe wire .70 



Sundries ,75 



Labor, nbont 25.00 



Total $183.20 



Whether or not this would prove a 

 practical ])roposition for a man with an 

 acre of glass, or for one with half a 

 dozen acres, is not readily apparent, but 

 Mrs. Kramer feels sure it solves the 

 hail problem for the small floyist. 



The discussion of methods of protec- 



tion against the losses inflicted by hail 

 will be of special interest to those lo- 

 cated in the "hail belt," as the states 

 of Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and 

 Texas have come to be known, for the 

 Florists' Hail Association has found it 

 necessary to raise the rate on all those 

 who suffer more than one loss in five 

 years, and in the year ending August 

 1, 1913, the association, out of total 

 losses of $16,432.69, found $6,757.47, or 

 forty-one per cent, going into tho^e four 

 states. The showing numerically was 

 even worse for these four hail states, 

 as out of 128 losses paid by the associa- 

 tion seventj'-four, or fifty-seven per 

 cent, were in Colorado, Nebraska, Kan- 

 sas and Texas. Tfie two big losses of 

 the year, moreover, were in adjoining 

 states, $1,650 at Council Bluffs, la., and 

 $1,149.36 at Mary villa, Mo. 



WHITE COCHETS FOE WINTEB. 



Please tell me whether Wliite Co- 

 chet roses can be forced in "winter in 

 this Tennessee climate. 1 have a nice 

 lot of them and should like to try some 

 for winter blooming. C. M. W. 



Though White Cochet may do fairly 

 well in winter in Tennessee, White Kil- 

 larney will give so much better satis- 

 faction as a winter bloomer that it 

 would be false economy to ]ilant Co- 

 chet indoors, since it gives so much 

 better satisfaction i)laute(l outdoors 

 for summer blooming. Besides, the 

 flowers are apt to be bull-headed in 

 winter. W. .1. K. 



KILLARNEY LOSING FOLIAGE. 



Under separate cover we are sending 

 you a plant of Double Killarney, which 

 we bought of a leading <irower. A good 

 percentage of the plants are acting like 

 the sample. Please tell us the cause 

 and remedy. Maryland is doing finely 

 under the same conditions and in the 

 same soil, while Killarney is thus dis- 

 appointing us. M. A. B. 



The Killarney jdant received was a 

 good, strong plant, out of a ,214-inch 

 pot. It had strong roots and three good 

 leads from the bottom, but the foliage 

 was lying in the bottom of the box, 

 jiartly dried uj). It is a difficult matter 

 to say what is the troul)le with a jilant 

 received under such circumstances, 

 without knowing anything about the 

 conditions under which the ])lant was 

 grown. If the foliage is dropping off 

 while green, the troul)le is probably 

 caused bv an o% erdose of ammonia, 



which would quickly act that way on 

 Killarney, though Maryland would not 

 show such effects. Killarney wants lots 

 of feed to do well, but it wants it a 

 little at a time, or it will drop the 

 leaves more quickly than any other 

 rose. W. J. K. 



BOSE PLANTS DYING. 



I am sending you today, under sepa- 

 rate cover, a sample of my roses. They 

 are young plants, benched in April in 

 new benches, in black, heavy soil, con- 

 taining one-fourth rotted manure. They 

 all made a fine growth until about July 

 1, when they began to die in spots in 

 all the beds. They have had plenty 

 of ventilation, both day and night, and 

 plenty of water. The varieties are 

 Hillingdon, Killarney, Rhea Reid, My 

 Maryland and Bulgarie. Please let me 

 know as soon as possible what you 

 think is the cause of the trouble. My 

 location is southern Kansas. 



L. B, S. 



The ])lants received showed good, 

 healthy roots and the lower part of 

 the wood was green and healthy, but 

 all the tips were dead, and what foliage 

 was left on the plants showed a brown 

 edge around each leaf. The soil that 

 had been left on the plants was a good, 

 heavy cla^', an ideal soil for roses. 

 Hence, if the plants otherwise have 

 had good treatment, the only cause to 

 which I can attribute this trouble is a 

 strong alkali in the water, which usually 

 causes the leaves to turn brown on the 

 edges as the leaves of your roses have 

 done. When this is the cause, it is 

 generally found that the largest plants 

 in the benches, or those nearest to the 

 ventilators and on the south edge of 

 the benches, show the effect first, as 

 they take the most water and dry out 

 most frequently. 



II the condition of your plants is due 

 to the water, the only way to overcome 



the difficulty would be to dig reser- 

 voirs and catch as much rain water as 

 possible, with which to water the 

 plants. When you must use the alkali 

 water, never allow the plants to become 

 at all dry. At least, that is according to 

 my experience with alkali in the water; 

 the plants seem to suffer as soon as they 

 get dry, but as long as they are kept 

 wet the alkali does not seem to affect 

 them seriously. W. J. K. 



SULFHUB AND OTHEB BEMEDIES. 



Please inform us how to use sulphur 

 on roses. Should it be used when the 

 foliage is wet? Are Slug Shot, Grape 

 Dust and tobacco used in the same 

 way? S. G. 



, Sulphur and Grape Duai, when ap- 

 plied to roses, should be dusted on with 

 a sulphur blower while the foliage is 

 perfectly dry, making a fine dust, which 

 settles over the leaves and dries up the 

 fungous growth, preventing it from 

 spreading. Slug Shot and tobacco dust 

 may be applied while the foliage is wet, 

 so as to stick better to the plants and 

 kill any insects that may be on them. 



W. J. K. 



. TO KILL WOBMS AND GRUBS. 



Do you think Vermine will kill 

 worms and grubs in the soil? One sea- 

 son I lost nearly all my crop of violet 

 plants with grubs, the kind that eat the 

 roots of the plants, and now there are 

 small worms eating the roots. I should 

 like to know whether Vermine will 

 hurt violet plants or not. Shall I use 

 300 gallons of water to one gallon of 

 Vermine? I should like to know how 

 much to use in a house 20x150, to kill 

 the grubs. 1 could wet the soil first 

 and then use the Vermine, as less of 

 it would then be needed. Please let me 

 know how to use it. F. M. 



Vermine will not harm violets or any 

 other plants. For a house 20x150, in 

 which the soil is moist, I would use 600 

 gallons. The Radix worm eradicator 

 will also destroy all similar pests. You 

 can also kill grubs by using carbon 

 bisulphide, boring holes twelve to fif- 

 teen inches apart each way, pouring a 

 teaspoonful into each hole and imme- 

 diately covering it. This is a sure 

 remedy. Do not use any naked lights 

 while applying the carbon, as it is 

 explosive in its nature. Steam steriliza- 

 tion would, of course, be the best rem- 

 edy when your house was empty, if 

 you could apply it. C. W.* 



DISEASED ANTIBB^^UpMS. 



There is some kind of diseaW^attack- 

 ing our snapdragons. It starts-^ with 

 .brown or grayish spots on the l^yes 

 and later attacks the stems, completely 

 ruining the plants. Our stock was at- 

 tacked in the greenhouse last winter, 

 especially in places where the roof 

 leaked badly, and we^ lost quite a lot of 

 plants. This spriqg' our young stock 

 was also^ffected cemsiderably outdoors, 

 but after they had been set out in the 

 field and all affected leaves and parts 

 had been removed, they appeared to be 

 perfectly free from the disease until 

 lately, when frequent showers set in; 

 then the disease made its reappearance 

 and some of the plants were badly af- 

 fected. I would have sent you some 

 leaves and affected parts of the plants, 

 but I think you must be familiar wifh 

 the disease and its. nature. Is there 

 any kind of fungicide that will keep 



