

12 



The Florists^ Review 



July 1, 1015. 



WORMS IN ROSE SHOOTS. 



Will you please give us some infor- 

 mation in regard to a small worm that 

 is working on our roses? The worm i» 

 about half an inch long, light in color 

 at each end and dark at the center. It 

 bores into the stems of the soft shoots, 

 then goes down through the center of 

 the shoots and the shoots die. The only 

 plants on which we have found them 

 are Hoosier Beauty and Ophelia, and 

 these are in stock that we bought. We 

 shall greatly appreciate it if you can 

 tell us how to get rid of these worms. 



W. P. & S.— Ind. 



PESTS ON GARDEN ROSE BUSH. 



; I enclose herewith a curiosity from 

 one of my garden rose bushes. Upon 

 opening a similar bunch from the same 

 bush, I found a small white worm in- 

 side and have burned it. Can you in- 

 form me what is the cause and remedy? 

 The affected bush is close to a Boston 

 ivy vine, but some little distance from 

 any other rose. F. G. — 111. 



, This abortive growth is certainly a 

 curiosity and is only occasionally seen. 

 As there is no caterpillar or other in- 

 sect enclosed, I am unable to say what 

 the trouble-maker is. A spraying of 

 arsenate of lead, one pound to ten gal- 

 lons of water, will effectually clean out 

 these and any similar pests. C. W. 



YOUNO PLANTS WHEN RESTING. 



I should like to have your advice on 

 how to handle my roses. When is the 

 best time to give them a rest and how 

 long should I let them rest? Would it 

 be best to let them stay in the bench 

 after they have rested, giving them a 

 good top-dressing before starting them 

 again, or to rebench them? I had an 

 unfortunate experience some years ago 

 with roses that I rebenched; nearly all 

 of them died. 



The roses I am now speaking about 

 are young plants which I benched last 

 July from 3-inch pots. Last winter 

 they did not seem to make much root 

 growth for some reason; yet I got a 

 considerable number of flowers from 

 them. They averaged from nine to 

 twelve flowers per plant. If you ad- 

 vise me to leave them in the same 

 bench for another season, after they 

 rest, how shall I top-dress them? I 

 shall greatly appreciate your advice. 



W. J. H.— Kan. 



The best way to treat these plants 

 would be to leave them where they are. 

 Keep the water off for two or three 

 weeks, no longer. After giving them 

 several good waterings, to saturate the 

 soil thoroughly, scrape off about two 

 inches of the top soil. Then give them 

 a top-dressing of bone meal, about one 

 pound to five square feet of bench 

 space, and on top of this place a good 

 layer of compost consisting of two parts 

 of good, clayey loam and one part of 

 manure, preferably cattle manure. Next 

 give them another thorough watering, 

 eo as to pack the soil well and combine 

 the new compost with the old. After 

 that dampen down the plants on clear 

 days until they have started to make 



new growth, when they should be treat- 

 ed the same as usual. 



As these plants have not done much 

 so far, they will need only a little 

 trimming at the time they are rested. 

 Merely trim out any weak shoots and 

 cut the longer ones back to three or 

 four good eyes. 



Plants that are only 1 year old, and 

 have not made a great deal of growth 

 (luring the year, are often run over 

 the second year without resting, and 

 with good success. In that case take 

 off the top soil, as already directed, 

 and give them a top-dressing of bone 

 meal and fresh soil, but trim out only 

 any weak or dead wood around the 

 bottom of the stems, leaving on all the 

 top growth. In this way you can keep 

 cutting flowers all through the year. 



W. J. K. 



The worms referred to usually attack 

 the young, soft shoots, boring along the 

 center and eating th^ soft part. The 

 first sign of their presence is the wilt- 

 ing of the affected shoots. They seem 

 to attack Beauties more than any other 

 roses, though I have found them on 

 Killarneys at times. So far as I know,, 

 these worms have never done any great 

 damage and therefore we have not 

 heard much about them, but if they 

 should ever become a serious menace 

 they would be difficult to fight, for they 

 attack the plants in a place where nei- 

 ther poison nor fumigation would have 

 much effect on them. ' The only remedy 

 or preventive that I know of, is to cut 

 off all affected shoots as soon as no- 

 ticed and burn them. As they probably 

 lay their eggs in the cavities, this would 

 ])revent them from multiplying to any 

 great extent. W. J. K. 



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Asters. 



From the earliest sowings of Early 

 Wonder and Queen of the Market, buds 

 are well advanced and some flowers 

 will be open by the middle of July. 

 With the passing of carnations, these 

 asters will prove especially valuable 

 and, in order to have them of the best 

 possible quality, the cultivator or hoe 

 should be in almost constant use among 

 them, pulling out all weeds of large 

 size by hand. Eecent thunder showers 

 have wonderfully improved asters, but 

 it is astonishing how much drought 

 they will stand if the soil about them 

 is kept frequently stirred. 



It is somewhat late to make any ad- 

 ditional sowings of asters unless the 

 protection of coldframes can be 

 afforded them, but late asters do not 

 pay, as there are usually early in 

 October numbers of chrysanthemums 

 on sale. Take advantage of" cool, 

 cloudy and moist weather to plant out 

 late batches. If such weather condi- 

 tions do not exist, lift them with a nice 

 ball, water after planting, later stir 

 the soil well about them and they are 

 tolerably certain to do well. 



GladioU. 



If there are any left-over gladiolus 

 bulbs they should be planted without 

 delay. Dig out a trench six inches 

 deep and, if the soil is quite dry, pour 

 enough water over them to wet the 

 soil about them. They will then start 



much earlier. Always cover gladioli 

 five to six inches deep. If planted 

 shallow, the plants are sure to fall over 

 with every wind and heavy rain. The 

 earliest batch set out from pots is now 

 giving some fine spikes. We find it 

 pays well to start a few hundreds in 

 this way. Sometimes these will give 

 spikes fit to cut early in June, and their 

 quality is much superior to those grown 

 under glass. 



Sweet Williams. 



Sweet Williams are rather stiff bufe 

 easily grown, fragrant and excellent 

 plants for the hardy garden. An old- 

 fashioned garden is not complete with- 

 out them. Seed sowing must not be 

 put off any longer if strong clumps are 

 desired. When transplanted to the 

 field, place the seedlings a foot apart 

 in the rows. They make most of their 

 growth from August 1 to October 10. 

 The auricula-eyed sweet williams are 

 great favorites in Europe, but are not 

 much seen here. There are some good 

 self-colored varieties, of which Pink 

 Beauty is fine for massing. Even a 

 mixed bed is effective. While sweet 

 williams can be treated as perennials, 

 it is more satisfactory to sow each 

 season and discard after one flower 

 crop. 



Marion, la. — Mrs. L. W. Alt has a 

 good business in bulbs and perennials 

 in addition to her cut flower trade. 



