JU.NG 4, 1914. 



The Florists' Review 



21 



them too much. By ruuning your 

 rows five feet apart you would get 

 better results and you could, if you 

 wished, plant some ten weeks' stocks, 

 gladioli, double feverfew or candytuft 

 for a Memorial day crop. Either 

 tomatoes or cucumbers would be the 

 best crop to follow the peas. C. W. 



AMERICAN SWEET PEA SOCIETY. 



SWEET PEAS DROPPING BUDS. 



I am writing to you for information 

 regarding my sweet peas. The house, 

 30x100, is planted with Countess Spen- 

 cer, Blanche Ferry, Florence Nightin- 

 gale and White Spencer. The rows 

 are four feet apart and run north and 

 south. The trenches are about two 

 feet wide and two or two and one-half 

 feet deep and contain large quantities 

 of well rotted cow manure. As the 

 soil was new and not particularly 

 good, I mixed in some old night soil, 

 which was hauled into pits ten or 

 twelve years ago and is thoroughly 

 decomposed, being like fine loam. I 

 have always had good success on other 

 plants with it. The peas are thrifty; 

 in fact, I never have seen any others 

 grow as rapidly as these. They now 

 are about six feet high. About two 

 weeks ago they began to throw buds, 

 but these never developed, as prac- 

 tically all turn yellow and fall off. 

 Can you suggest anything to develop 

 the buds instead of the plant? Would 

 you suggest a shading on the house 

 these bright days, or later, and, if so, 

 what is the best color? As it is some- 

 times almost impossible to get good 

 manure, would you recommend using 

 pulverized sheep manure? If so, about 

 how much should be used with good 

 soil? 



Planting four feet apart leaves con- 

 siderable waste space on each side of 

 the row, in which I have been growing 

 lettuce. What would you advise plant- 

 ing instead of vegetables, either in 

 flats or in the beds? I kept the tem- 

 perature of the house about 42 to 45 

 degrees at night until the buds began 

 dropping, when I changed it to about 

 50 degrees. I have given ventilation 

 whenever possible, carrying a fire with 

 ventilators open on dark, damp days. 



P. E. M. 



I am inclined to think that the use 

 of night soil, which has given you such 

 vigorous plants, may also be respon- 

 sible for the plants dropping their 

 buds. This bud dropping is common 

 in winter, when we get long spells of 

 dark weather, but is less common at 

 this season. It will occur, however, 

 even on outdoor plants. I have had 

 such experiences and have been some- 

 what discouraged about the outcome, 

 but the bud dropping never lasted 

 long; neither, I think, will yours. As 

 soon as your plants have used up the 

 rather excessive amount of nitrogen in 

 the soil the dropping should cease. 



I would keep the temperature at 50 

 to 55 degrees at night. At this season 

 it is not easy to keep it as low as 

 this, but leave plenty of air on. A 

 light shade of kerosene and white lead 

 will keep the house cooler in the day- 

 time and make the flowers hold their 



color better. Let it be quite light, 

 however. Apply either with a brush 

 or syringe. If your plants a little 

 later show signs of partial exhaustion, 

 top-dress with sheep manure and 

 lightly fork or rake it in before water- 

 ing. As you cannot get good barn- 

 yard manure, I would use pulverized 

 sheep manure. For a house 30x100, 

 broadcast two and one-half to three 

 tons and work it well down in the 

 soil when preparing the ground. I 

 would prefer cow manure, however, if 

 you could obtain it. at a reasonable 

 rate. Spade the ground all over and 

 go down a couple of feet. 



For a winter crop you could run 

 violets for a time between the peas, 

 pulling them out when the peas shaded 



Schedule of Annual Show. 



The American Sweet Pea Society has 

 issued the preliminary schedule of its 

 annual exhibition, to be held in the 

 Museum of Natural History, New York, 

 June 27 and 28. We hope to publish 

 the final schedule about June 20. This 

 will be sent out with entry blank. If 

 additional copies are wished for 

 friends, kindly let me know. 



We have just received, from Cornell 

 University, bulletin No. 342, upon 

 sweet peas. This is the most am- 

 bitious monograph, to my knowledge, 

 upon the sweet pea, containing a list 

 and description of nearly 700 varieties. 

 This will be sent to all members in 

 good standing. It contains about 150 

 pages and comprises much valuable in- 

 formation apart from the descriptions 

 and history of the different sweet peas 

 above mentioned. 



Harry A. Bunyar.l, Sec 'y. 



LEAF SLIGHT ON PEONIES. 



A customer of ours complains about a 

 disease or germ destroying the leaves 

 and blooms of his peonies. Yellow spots 

 appear on the leaves and in a short 

 time the whole plant dies down, hav- 

 ing yielded little or no bloom. This 

 is the first instance in our experience 

 where a peony has been affected in 

 any way, either by insects or disease. 

 We are mailing you a few leaves that 

 show the disease in an early stage. 

 Can you explain the trouble and give 

 a remedy? C. F. C. 



Next year start spraying as soon as 

 growth commences and keep it up until 

 the buds show color. Of course you 

 may not have this trouble again, but 

 prevention is better than cure. 



C. W. 



THE CHICAGO PEONY SHOW. 



Peonies are usually pretty free from 

 both diseases and insect foes, but 

 there are occasional cases where leaves 

 are affected similarly to yours. Prob- 

 ably some climatic condition peculiarly 

 favorable to the spread of fungoid 

 diseases is responsible for the condi- 

 tion of your plants. I would recom- 

 mend spraying with Bordeaux mixture, 

 Fungine, Sulphocide, or one of the 

 other standard fungoid preparations. 

 This would, of course, be of no avail 

 the present season towards saving your 

 crop, but it would be good policy to 

 spray your plants two or three times 

 during the present growing season. 



Dates Advanced Three Days. 



Because of the heat wave that has 

 hastened the blooming season, the 

 peony show at the Art Institute, Chi- 

 cago, will be opened June 9 instead 

 of June 12, continuing through the fol- 

 lowing day. 



This is the annual exhibition of the 

 American Peony Society, held this year 

 at Chicago in conjunction with the Hor- 

 ticultural Society of Chicago and the 

 Chicago Florists' Club. C. W. John- 

 son will act as manager and all ex- 

 hibits should be addressed to him in 

 care of the Art Institute, Chicago, to 

 arrive during the morning of June 9. 



The premium list was issued late. 

 It offers the A. P. S. gold medal for 

 best collection of not less than 100 

 named varieties, one bloom of each, 

 with liberal second and third prizes. 



