14 



The Florists^ Review 



March 4, 1915. 



tions to this plant will soon be forth- 

 coming. 



We gather here today for the tenth 

 annual meeting and exhibition of our 

 association. I am sure we shall all be 

 much interested in the reports of our 

 secretary, treasurer and the advisory 

 committee; also the reports by the mem- 

 bers of the department of floriculture 

 on subjects of vital interest to all flo- 

 rists. 



.Florists' conventions and exhibitions 

 are becoming more popular and profit- 

 able each year, a fact demonstrated by 

 the large attendance at the flower shows 

 throughout the country. The grower 

 who exhibits a novelty of merit at these 

 shows is worthy of success, on account 

 of the ever-increasing demand of the 

 flgwer buying public, for something new, 

 something different. A great many flo- 

 rists invest each year in enough plants 

 of new varieties to give them a thor- 

 ough test, and claim the better returns 

 rfeeeived from the ones that make good 

 always offset the loss on varieties that 

 are not adapted to their soil and condi- 

 tions. 



The originators of new varieties of 

 roses, carnations, chrysanthemums and 

 novelties in the plant line, the inveu- 





fit to bis neighbor, and, after the two 

 days' meeting is over, may we return 

 to our homes feeling well repaid for 

 the short time spent in delibetation. 



My thoughts are ever with the asso- 

 ciation, and I trust that what I have 

 failed to express in words has been, or 

 will be, accounted for by my deeds. 



CABNATION DISEASES. 



[Tlie report of Geo. L. Peltier, florlcultural 

 patbologist, University of Illinois Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, presented before tlie conven- 

 tion of tlie Illinois State Florists' Association at 

 Urbana, March 2.] 



We now have in the process of pub- 

 lication, as a bulletin, the results of 

 the last three years' work on the 

 fungus causing the stem-rot of carna- 

 tions. This bulletin will be of a more 

 or less technical nature, but will be of 

 value to the florist. 



The fungus rhizoctonia has been re- 

 ported in the United States as causing 

 more or less trouble to 164 species of 

 plants. About one-half of this number 

 include florlcultural and ornamental 

 plants commonly grown by the florists. 

 The fungus is extremely serious in the 

 cutting bench, not only to carnations, 

 but to practically all cuttings made 

 from herbaceous plants. In the seed 



i 



Frank L. Washburn. 



(Treasurer of the Illinois State Florists' Association.) 



tions and improvements in greenhouse 

 building and labor-saving devices, etc.. 

 should have the hearty support of all 

 florists. Often years of patient labor 

 bring results that are of more benefit 

 to the trade in general than to the 

 originator. 



One of the objects of the association 

 is to promote in all possible ways the 

 art of floriculture. Let us get together, 

 get better acquainted, exchange ideas 

 and experiences; perhaps some one has 

 some new method that may be of bene- 



beds it will attack seedlings of a large 

 number of plants, causing the well 

 known symptoms, of damping off. It is 

 from the seed bed and cutting bench 

 that the fungus is carried, to a large 

 extent, into the field and benches, caus- 

 ing more or less loss throughout the 

 year. 



Cross inoculation experiments show 

 that one species of rhizoctonia is the 

 cause of all the trouble. As I have 

 stated before, this fungus has been 

 found to attack a large number of 



plants, including field and vegetable 

 crops, florlcultural and ornamental 

 plants, and many weeds. The funguy 

 has also been found growing-*- in tho 

 sell on dead plant material, so that it 

 is probably present, to a certain ex- 

 tent, in most fields. It is quite clear, 

 then, that rhizoctonia is present in al- 

 most every carnation field, as well as 

 the soil that is put in the benches. 



You may inquire then, why are not 

 all carnation plants destroyed in the 

 field? Ehizoctonia is what we call a 

 facultative parasite; that is, under or- 

 dinary conditions it is a saprophyte, 

 living on dead plant parts, but under 

 certain conditions it becomes an active 

 parasite and can attack and kill plants 

 of all ages readily. As I have men- 

 tioned in previous reports, the condi- 

 tions necessary for its parasitic devel- 

 opment depend on a high temperature 

 and, to some extent, on moisture. 



It is hoped that by next fall another 

 bulletin taking up more specifically the 

 work on the carnation stem rot will 

 be ready for distribution. 



Branch Bot of Carnations. 



Branch rot of carnations has been 

 under observation again this season. 

 The fungus is able to attack the cut- 

 tings easily, and it is by the use of 

 infected cuttings that the disease is 

 spread in the field and house. 



The completion of. the work on stem 

 rot will allow us to take up the study 

 of the fungus and methods of control 

 more fully in the greenhouse. 



Carnation Yellows. 



As I have suggested in past reports, 

 the only way the yellows may be con- 

 trolled is by the selection of cuttings 

 from plants showing no signs of this 

 trouble. During the current year, a 

 large number of selections were made 

 from a number of varieties, and the 

 results have come out surprisingly 

 well. Cuttings taken from plants show- 

 ing yellows badly, produced plants of 

 the same type. Cuttings taken from 

 slightly diseased plants, produced only 

 a few healthy, a number with yellows, 

 while the majority of plants showed 

 only slight attacks of yellows. When 

 cuttings were taken from apparently 

 healthy plants, they developed, in the 

 majority of cases, into more vigorous 

 plants, showing no yellows. Occasion- 

 ally cuttings taken from an apparently 

 healthy plant would all produce plants 

 with yellows, which tends to show that 

 great care must be exercised in the 

 selection of cuttings from healthy 

 plants. 



Another selection from the first 

 year's work has recently been made, 

 together with a further selection from 

 the stock now in the greenhouse. 



Antirrliinum Bust. 



Due to the serious nature of the 

 snapdragon rust, Mr. Rees has devoted 

 his entire time, during the last 'year, 

 to this problem. It has been reported 

 in nearly all the middle western states, 

 in Massachusetts, and again in Oregon 

 and California. 



The rust appears on the plants in 

 the field about the last of July. The 

 uredo (summer) stage persists until 

 fall, when the teleuto (winter) pustules 

 are found on the stems and branches. 

 The uredo, and to some extent the 

 teleuto stage, is also found in the 

 greenhouse throughout the winter, on 

 cuttings, seedlings, and later on the 

 mature plants. During spring the rust 



