June 30, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



251 



Some pulverized camphor sprinkled about 

 among the plants will discourage tho 

 snails, or they may be trapped at night 

 by the use of cabbage or lettuce leaves 

 or pieces of various vegetables. 



A bed of adiantum that is properly, 

 cared for will continue to produce pay- 

 ing crops of fronds for two seasons, 

 after which it is best to replant, the best 

 results being had from young plants, in 

 preference to dividing up the old cro^^us. 

 When grown for the second year the 

 plants will need a careful trimming out 

 and cleaning through in order to remove 

 all dead fronds and rubbish, after which 

 the surface of the soil may be stirred 

 up gently and a top dressing of new soil 

 given, the latter having a slightly greater 

 proportion of manure than the original 

 compost. But at all times be careful 

 not to use fresh manure about the ferns, 

 there being the possibility of injury to 

 the plants from ammonia in such a case. 



W. H. Taplin. 



MEALY BUG. 



We have a new (to us) kind of a pest 

 and would like to know what it is and 

 what to do with it. It is worst on the 

 coleus and came where there were mealy 

 bugs. The mealy bugs are nearly gone, 

 but the new pest is on the increase. When 

 it is small it is about as large as a 

 small common pin head and is dark in 

 the center, edged with white as it grows 

 older. The back end grows longer till 

 it looks like white wings about three- 

 sixteenths of an inch long, but it does 

 not fly. We never saw it until this year 

 and we have shown it to some florists 

 and they never saw it before. 



M. G. 



We believe that the insect that has 

 fmcceeded the mealy bug on your coleus 

 is nothing more than the same thing in 

 a slightly diflferent form. The female of 

 this insect is wingless and dies after 

 fulfilling its chief function of life, lay- 

 ing a crop of eggs. The male has wings, 

 is smaller than the female and has less 

 of the cottony covering, he is also not 

 so round in form as the female. It is 

 pretty certain that you have nothing 

 but the mealy bug and if you keep the 

 coleus you will soon have another crop 

 of the genuine. 



On all such cheap plants as coleus 

 it will never pay to attempt to clean the 

 plants; burn them and start with a new, 

 clean lot in the fall. On valuable 

 plants, such as palms and dracaeuas, 

 there are numerous remedies recom- 

 mended. Washing with soft soap and 

 nicotine is a very old remedy. Gishurst 

 Compound is excellent used in the same 

 way. Washing or even syringing with 

 kerosene emulsion is practiced with suc- 

 cess by some growers. All these reme- 

 dies will effectually clean the individual 

 plant, but it will not clean the hou^'^. 

 It is asserted by high authority that 

 hydrocyanic acid gas will kill the full- 

 grown mealy bug and if this is per- 

 sistently used every two weeks for a 

 few months it will clean your house of 

 mealy bug, red spider, thrips, all kinds 

 of aphides and everything else that 

 breathes through the mouth, and minute 

 as is the red spider, it has a mouth 

 and probosis and breathes. There is 

 really little excuse for mealy bug on 

 palms, draca?na8 and cycads or any plants 

 that will enjoy a strong force of plain, 

 cold water, for that will keen them 

 down. W. S. 



Pink Peony, Modele de Perfection. 



ASPARAGUS FOR SEED. 



Please tell us a few things about 

 growing Asparagus plumosus nanus for 

 seed. Shall I plant my stock in Iho 

 ground or leave the plants in large petal 

 What soil should they have? If in the 

 bench or bed how shall I renew the soil 

 and give them fertilizer, and when? Is 

 it the old growth or the new which bears 

 the best seed? Do they need thinning; 

 or spraying? What temperature is re- 

 quired in winter when the vines are full 

 of seed? S. B. B. 



Whether the asparagus is grown for 

 cutting or for seed, it is the best plan 

 to plant it out in a deep and well pre- 

 pared bed of rich soil, for under such 

 conditions it will not be necessary tc 

 disturb it for several years, provided 

 proper care be given to its culture. A 

 bed of soil two feet deep, and having 

 a layer of broken bricks or cinders in 

 the bottom for drainage, is not too 

 much for a good asparagus bed, the soil 

 being rotted sod or top soil with about 

 one-fifth of good stable manure mixeri 

 in it. This will probably not need more 

 manure during the first season, provided 

 the soil was of good quality to begiu 

 with, but after that a top dressing of 

 manure, or manure and soil mixed, may 

 be needed twice a year. 



Asparagus does not begin to flower 

 until the plants are strong and the 

 growths are mature, and even then is by 

 no means a sure crop, for there are 

 sometimes only a few growths in a house 

 that will produce seeds. As this aspara- 

 gus is rather slow in its growth, there 

 is no need of thinning and seldom 

 any cause for spraying, unless the 

 plants are attacked by thrips or red 

 spider, it being understood that this 

 question refers to spraying with insect- 

 icides, and not to syringing simply with 

 water; the latter is a verv necessary- 

 part of the culture during bright 

 weather. 



The proper night temperature for 

 Asparagus plumosus during the winter is 

 65 degrees, and to get the best results 

 the temperature should not vary greatly. 



The depth to which the asparagtm 

 should be planted depends upon the siao 

 of the plants, the old ball being buried 

 to a depth of one to three or more 

 inches, according to whether the plants 

 are from 3-inch, 4-inch, or larger pots. 



W. H. Taplin. 



PEONIES. 



There have been a great many peonies 

 introduced since Festiva maxima was dis- 

 tributed to the trade, but there are few 

 indeed which are in any way comparable 

 to it. Festiva maxima was offered by 

 Miellez in 1851, so that it has been in the 

 trade fifty-three years, but as an early 

 white it cannot be beaten. Well estab- 

 lished plants carry their blooms sometime* 

 four feet from the ground, and this year, 

 which was a very favorable one for the 

 development of the blooms, gave flowers 

 nine inches in diameter when fully ex- 

 panded. One of the accompanying illus- 

 trations shows a single bloom of Festiva 

 maxima and in the larger illustration, 

 showing a view in the Peterson Nursery, 

 Cliicago, the plantation of this variety 

 is easily distinguishable, although in the 

 extreme background in the photograph. 

 At this great distance it can be seen that 

 it holds up its head above the nearer 

 varieties and its profusion of bloom can 

 readily be seen. At the foreground in the 

 picture is a field of iris, one variety of 

 •which is particularly worthv of note. Tt 

 is Madame Chereau. Mr. Peterson 's six- 

 year-old son, Norman, is standing beside 

 a row of this variety. The plants were 

 forty inches high when photographed. 

 The flower is pure white, very large, with 

 a frilled margin all around each petal. 



Although very many meritorious va- 

 rieties of peonies have been introduccl 

 in recent years and the list of sorts now 



