Dbckmbbb 8, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



I2J 



Bordeaux mixture, even before there 

 was any sign of the spot, as an ounce 

 of prevention is worth many pounds 

 of cure in this case. E. A. Vincent. 



ARAUCARIAS. 



Kindly inform me how to root arau- 

 carias that were raised from seed. They 

 are now about eight inches high, and I 

 should like to root them, by your direc- 

 tion. G. W. F. 



It is taken for granted that the seed- 

 ling araucarias in question have formed 

 at least one tier of branchlets, and the 

 cuttings may be taken off below that tier 

 of branchlets, using a sharp knife and 

 cutting the stems about two inches below 

 the branches. Do not attempt to remove 

 the leaves from the stem of the cutting, 

 as such action would result in more in- 

 jury than benefit on account of excessive 

 bleeding. 



Plant the cuttings singly in 2% -inch 

 rose pots, in either pure bar sand or in 

 cocoa fibre. The large European growers 

 more frequently use sand alone for this 

 purpose, the sand being pressed down 

 very firmly in the pots and the cuttings 

 well watered in after planting. 



The cutting pots should then be 

 plunged in sand in a propagating frame, 

 but the frame should not be placed in a 

 very warm house, nor given strong bot- 

 tom heat. About the same temperature 

 as that given to carnation cuttings will 

 answer for the araucaria cuttings. They 

 . must not be allowed to get dry. Keep 

 the frame rather close and well shaded 

 during the day, and sprinkle the cuttings 

 lightly with a syringe on nearly every 

 bright, dry day, but give air to the 

 frame every night, the object being to 

 keep the cuttings fresh and healthy dur- 

 ing the slow process of callusing. 



The operation of rooting araucarias is 

 one that usually occupies from three to 

 four months, and cannot be specially hur- 

 ried by extra heat, the deliberation of 

 the process having rendered it unpopular 



Chrysanthemum Dora Stevens. 



with the majority of American growers. 

 The cuttings should be potted off as soon 

 as the roots show through the sand, and 

 will require careful handling at that 

 time as the roots are very brittle. 



W. H. Tapun. 



WEAKENED GROWTH. 



Can Mr. Baur tell us what is the mat- 

 ter with our carnations? The enclosed 

 tips speak for themselves. The plants are 

 planted in a solid bed and have been 

 throwing off a good crop of blooms, but 

 now we see that some of the young 

 growths are covered with brown spots 

 and streaks. The plants have been kept 

 on the dry side and 50 to 52 degrees at 

 night. We noticed the trouble about 

 four weeks ago. Since then we have 

 given them a top dressing of bone, 



The variety is Queen Louise. We have 

 Joost planted alongside of it and see 

 nothing the matter with it and gave it 

 the same treatment. We would like very 

 much to have Mr. Baur's opinion of it. 



A. B. C. 



Your plants are suffering from what 

 might be termed a sour stomach. This 



might be brought about by a number of 

 causes. The most common cause is over- 

 watering at a time when the plants are not 

 in proper shape to stand it: Too soon 

 after planting, or right after a heavy 

 crop has been taken off and the plants 

 have not started into a vigorous growth, 

 or during a rainy spell. Overfeeding 

 will also bring it on and I am inclined 

 to think that in your case the top dress- 

 ing you gave them was responsible for 

 most of it. At the Carnation Society's 

 convention at Baltimore, Prof. Woods 

 read a paper on carnation diseases and 

 he stated that he has found that the 

 cause of this diseased condition is punc- 

 tures by insects, usually aphis or thrips. 

 I have no doubt that in many cases you 

 wiinfinH" tETs^traB. Theji pu n ctur o th e 

 leaves and suck the vitality from the 

 plants, so that they are ungble to take 

 up as much nourishment as the soil con- 

 tains, causing the plant to sicken and 

 show it in this way. I am not prepared 

 to say whether they are always responsi- 

 ble for the trouble or not. These in- 

 sects are so small that often they are 



present without the grower being aware 

 of it. At any rate it proves a breaking 

 down of the plant and stimulants in- 

 variably make it worse. 



The fact that other varieties planted 

 alongside do not show the same disease 

 does not signify anything except that 

 the one is a heavier feeder or a hardier 

 grower than the other. You will find 

 that some varieties will invariably show 

 traces of this trouble during midwinter, 

 but as soon as warm weather comes on 

 all signs of the trouble disappear. Queen 

 Louise, Flora Hill and Innocence are 

 fair examples. It shows that these vari- 

 eties like warm, bright weather; the 

 darker the winter, the worse the trouble. 

 They will show this trouble less in a 

 temperature of 54 degrees than they 

 will at 50 degreefi. Run them a little 

 on the dry side and keep the stimulant 

 away from them. A little air-fclaked 

 lime dusted on the soil will help them 

 some. 



When propagating avoid the diseased 

 plants as much as you can, as the cut- 

 tings are sure to be weak. You will 

 find, though, that the young plants of 

 these varieties will almost always show 

 some traces of it until warm, bright 

 weather comes and strong growth com- 

 mences. Selection of cuttings will not 

 prevent it the next winter unless the prop- 

 er- culture is given. A. F. J. Baur. 



MIXED CARNATIONS. 



The raisers of seedling carnations in 

 quantity a few years ago found it a very 

 great loss of revenue to give space to so 

 many varieties as they desired and in 

 such small quantity that they had no 



