mo 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



OCTOBEB 13, 1004. 



gins its attack below the surface of the 

 ground the lower portion of the corm 

 frequently rots away, causing the plant 

 to fall over without having previously 

 given any indication of disease. An ex- 

 aminatiou of the decayed corm shows 

 that only a small part of the upper 

 portion of the corm, with a few side 

 roots, remains. The latter become less 

 and less numerous as the disease ad- 

 vances, until at last they are unable to 

 support the weight of the leaves and 

 flower stalks. 



Spread of the Disease. 



If the yonditions for the develop- 

 ment of the disease are unfavorable 

 after the corms are affected, the softened 

 spots will dry down, sinking below the 

 surrounding portion of the corm and 

 becoming darker colored. In these spots 

 the disease will often remain dormant 

 until the conditions for the development 

 of the organism again become favorable. 

 In this way the disease is carried over 

 from season to season, and it may be 

 transported long distances. 



The spread of the disease from plant 

 to plant in the same house seems to be 

 accomplished mainly through the soil. 

 Usually the first season that the disease 

 appears only a few of the plants are 

 actually destroyed, but the millions of 

 organisms which are produced during the 

 process of decay remain in the soil, and 

 some of them reach corms that were 

 perfectly healthy when planted. 



The nature of the soil apparently has 

 much to do with the spread of the dis- 

 ease in the bed. A soil that is rich in 

 vegetable matter is a better medium for 

 the organism to grow and spread in than 

 a soil that is poor in such material. 

 Furthermore, a soil filled with humus 

 retains the moisture better than one that 



fected. The partly decayed corms were 

 treated with two parts air-slaked lime, 

 with one part sulphur, Bordeaux mix- 

 ture, copper sulphate solution, etc. 

 None of the treatments, however, was 

 entirely successful. The lime and the 

 lime and sulphur retarded the progress 

 of the disease, but in a few cases only 

 did the disease seem to be entirely erad- 

 icated. The solutions used appeared to 

 make no impression upon the disease un- 

 less they were of sufficient strength to 

 kill the plant. A few of the plants that 

 were scraped and left without further 

 treatment did not suffer further decay, 

 but the percentage of cases of this kind 

 was very low. 



The successful treatment of the dis- 

 eased plants in the bed was considered 

 impracticable, and preventive measures 

 were then resorted to. The soil was all 

 removed from the solid bed in which 

 practically all the callas had decayed, 

 and this was replaced with fresh soil. At 

 the proper time a new set of corms was 

 obtained, but they were not planted di- 

 rectly in the bed. They were first care- 

 fully examined and all that showed sus- 

 picious dark-colored spots were dis- 

 carded. The remainder were started in 

 pots and then transplanted. This made 

 it possible to discard all plants which 

 showed any indication of the rot after 

 growth began. As a result no disease 

 appeared in the bed of 1,000 callas dur- 

 ing the entire season. The same soil 

 was used the second and third years and 

 the same precautions were taken in re- 

 gard to putting into the bed only 

 healthy bulbs, so far as possible, with 

 the result that while a few diseased 

 plants appeared successful crops of callas 

 were grown. Very little of the disease 

 has appeared owing to the precautions 

 that were taken in changing the soil and 



Boston Ferns at J, R. Johnson's, Passaic, N. J. 



is lacking in vegetable matter, a condi- 

 tion that greatly aids the multiplication 

 of the organism. It often happens that 

 the roots reach from corm to corm 

 through the soil of the solid bed. Usual- 

 ly the corms are placed about twelve 

 inches apart each way, and it is not un- 

 common for the plants to produce roots 

 from six to twelve inches in length. 



Remedies. 



Various methods have been used with 

 the hope of finding some remedy by 

 which the progress of the disease could 

 be stepped after the plants became in- 



in selecting healthy corms. 



It is safe, therefore, to state that the 

 Foft rot of the calla may be prevented 

 or held in check sufficiently for all prac- 

 tical purposes by changing the soil every 

 third or fourth year, depending upon the 

 number of cases of rot that appear, and 

 by exercising due caution in selecting 

 only healthy plants for the bed. Dis- 

 eased corms may often be detected, even 

 in the dormant state, by examining for 

 discolored spots, but it is safer to start 

 the plants in pots, even after the corms 

 having discolored areas have been re- 



jected, to insure getting as few diseased 

 ])lants as possible in the bed, since ex- 

 perience shows that some corms are so 

 slightly affected that the disease is not 

 easly detected in the dormant state. 

 Some growers prefer to keep their plants 

 in pots throughout the season as a pre- 

 ventive measure against the rot, but as a 

 rule callas grown in this manner do not 

 produce as large flowers as when grown 

 in a solid bed. 



BOSTONS AT PASSAIC 



New Jersey is noted for its rose fac- 

 tories, but none the less woithy are its 

 plant growing establishments from the 

 fact that they are less frequently spoken 

 of. At Passaic one of the most success- 

 ful, if not one of the largest growers, 

 is J. E. Johnson, who does the Boston 

 fern in first-class style. The accompany- 

 ing illustration shows one of his houses 

 of this ever more popular plant. 



PHILADELPfflA^ 



The Market 



The black frost which closed last week 

 effectually settled dahlias for the sea- 

 son, leaving only cosmos and some field- 

 grown carnations of the outdoor flowers. 

 The demand this week has been good, 

 both in and out of town. Chrysanthe- 

 mums are increasing rapidly in numbers. 

 Prices are lower, of course, but so far 

 have held exceptionally well, owing to 

 the brisk demand. Koses, carnations 

 and valley are good sellers, but the sale 

 of violets appears to depend on the 

 weather. There are quite a lot of or- 

 chids in the market. They are very use- 

 ful for the weddings; so also is cosmos 

 in a more modest way. Gardenias have 

 made their appearance in numbers, both 

 west and east of Sixteenth street, while 

 at No. li South they have sweet peas. 

 A few other features are good shipping 

 orders for wild smilax, valley, etc., re- 

 ported by the Leo Niessen Co., and a 

 good demand for Beauties and some re- 

 markably well-grown Glory of Pacific 

 reported at S. S. Pennock's. 



The Flower Market. 



The second annual meeting of the 

 stockholders of the Philadelphia Whole- 

 sale Flower Market will be held in the 

 secretary's room at Horticultural Hall, 

 Broad street below Locust, at 10 a. m., 

 on Monday, October 17. The statement 

 by the treasurer of the Market's busi- 

 ness for the past year will be made and 

 the election of three directors for three 

 years each will be part of the business 

 meeting. The directors whose terms ex- 

 pire are Alfred Burton, David Eust and 

 Herbert G. Tull. It is understood that 

 all three are candidates for re-election. 



Mr. Tull and Mr. Burton have worked 

 hard for the Market. Mr. Eust, who 

 was but recently elected to fill an un- 

 expired term, has given valuable assist- 

 ance. Immediately after the meeting the 

 stalls will be sold at auction at the 

 Market, 1235 to 1237 Filbert street. The 

 rental of each stall is $60 a year. The 

 leases will run from November 1, 1904, 

 to July 15, 1905. 



Kennett. 



The Baltimore Central Eailroad is 

 blocking the Wilmington-Oxford trolley, 

 so that the southern terminus is now a 

 country road a couple of squares outside 

 of Avondale. These trolleys run, or 

 rather whizz, along every hour, an in 

 frequent schedule, which compelled D. T. 

 Conner and Phil to omit a number of 

 places, notably Eoney Bros, and Connell, 



