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762 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Febbuabt 23, 1905. 



wind, however, had already sapped out 

 all of the moisture the plants could 

 muster; consequently quite a few never 

 revived, some only partially revived, and 

 others kept dying from time to time 

 throughout the summer, and even after 

 they were housed. Perhaps a week later 

 we had plenty of rain but those planted 

 in the dry ground without being watered 

 until the third day kept on dying just 

 the same, while those planted after the 

 rain, and those watered as they were 

 planted, did not suffer. 



Rot Enters at Surface. 



Just a word concerning the theory ad- 

 vanced by Prof. Hasselbring that the 

 fungus enters the plant through the 

 roots. I have never yet been led to be- 

 lieve this could be the case and, instead, 

 I have invariably noticed that the fungus 

 operates upon the surface of the sand 

 or soil, and any dead roots are the re- 

 sult of curtailed breathing of the plant 

 through a loss of foliage. The same 

 thing happens if we use the pruning 

 shears too freely upon our roses or other 

 growing plants. A portion of the roots 

 die through a lack of something to do. 



We have all noticed young plants and 

 even old plants carried off by quick rot 

 just at the surface of the soil, and some 

 time later see numerous small new 

 growths coming out of the old stem, in- 

 dicating that the old root is still alive, 

 and doing away with the idea that the 

 disease enters the plant by way of the 

 roots. The slow form of stem-rot would 



too far. We can cite many illustrations 

 of this kind. 



We have also noticed that plants par- 

 tially affected with stem-rot have lived 

 for months, and in the meantime pro- 

 duced a partial crop of good blooms. 

 We do not attribute this entirely to the 

 resistant power of the plant, to the dis- 

 ease, but rather to the absence of favor- 

 able conditions for the growth of the 

 fungus. 



I am willing to go on record as differ- 

 ing with Prof. Hasselbring that the 

 fungi are the prime cause of disease. 

 In my humble opinion they are the effect, 

 and conditions unfavorable to plant life 

 and favorable to the rapid growth of the 

 fungi are the immediate causes. In 

 other words, the fungi bear the same re- 

 lation to vegetable matter that th? 

 green bottle fly and its larva do to 

 carrion — nature 's method of disposing of 

 dead matter where sufficient moisiur© 

 and heat exist to make the growth of 

 these organisms possible. 



The proof of Mr, Weber's paper was 

 submitted to Prof. Hasselbring, at the 

 University of Chicago, when he made 

 the following comment: 



There still seems to be some miscon- 

 ception regarding stem-rot. This dis- 

 ease is caused by a fungus known as 

 Fusarium. Unfavorable conditions may 

 predispose plants to attacks of the fun- 

 gus, but if the fungus is not present 

 no condition of light, heat or moisture 

 can produce stem-rot. These are not 



speculative considerations, but experi« 

 mental facts. H. Hasselbring. 



House of Bride Roses at A. C Brown's, Springfield, IlL 



AT ILLINOIS' CAPITAL. 



Springfield, the capital city of Illinois, 

 is rather out of the beaten track and 

 we do not hear as much of the florists 

 there as we do of some in smaller places 

 and doing less business. Springfield is 

 a city of upwards of 40,000 people and 

 there are several nice ranges of glass 

 and some rather good stuff grown in 

 them. There axe nearly a dozen places 

 and every one of them worth a visit. 

 Nearly aJl are located on the outskirts, 

 so that one gets a chance to see the 

 city in going from one to the other. In 

 summer it is a very pleasant trip but 

 just now there is more snow on the 

 groimd than in many years previous. 



One of the largpit and best kept places 

 is that of a Imght eyed, quick witted 

 young woman, Miss Bell Miller, whose 

 business ability is not less than her per- 

 sonal popularity. A widely known place 

 is that of the W. T. Buckley Co., 

 which does a large wholesale plant busi- 

 ness. The late Louis Unverzagt did a 

 good trade and Carl Eauth, David 

 Wirth, H. L. Phelps, and Wm. Bier- 

 stadt & Son are each keeping up with 

 the procession. 



One of the ranges which has attracted 

 most local attention of late is that of 

 A. C. Brown. A year ago Mr. Brown 

 was located practically in the center of 

 the city but last season he undertook the 

 very large task of moving to a new 

 stand a mile farther out. For many 

 years Mr. Brown had been a partner of 

 A. C. Canfield. When they separated 

 each continued in business for himsolf 

 Mr. Canfield has a large and growing 

 place in the south part of town and 

 grows cut flowers for the St. Louis mar- 

 ket. Mr. Brown retails most of what 

 he produces at his store on South Fifth 

 street, so that the old partners can 

 hardly be said to be in competition. 



Mr. Brown's new plant is a modern 

 cne and already there are preparations 

 for extending it in the spring. Two 

 ninety horse-power boilers lie just out- 

 side the boiler room and inside are two 

 of eighty horse-power in operation. 

 Boses and carnations are grown in con- 

 siderable quantity and violets have done 

 so well this season that more will be 



indeed, give this impressiog, but knowing 

 the facts as already stated, I believe this 

 view to be erroneous. Cutting bench 

 fungus and stem-rot will cease when the 

 conditions favoring its growth cease, and 

 not before. 



No Immunity in Prospect. 



It is true that some varieties are car- 

 ried off much quicker than others, but 

 this does not indicate that we may hope 

 for varieties which will remain immune 

 under conditions favorable to the growth 

 of fungi, but rather that those varieties 

 of a rather soft or fleshy nature, such as 

 Daybreak, Uncle John, Flora Hill, En- 

 chcntress and others similarly consti- 

 tuted, need special care. As a rule such 

 varieties must be kept a little dryer 

 than those of a more firm and solid 

 growth. 



While there is no hope of ridding a 

 plant of the disease when once attacked, 

 I know that in the case of valuable 

 plants, such as first year seedlings, cut- 

 tings may be taken with entire safety, 

 providing the disease has not progressed 



Plant House at A. C Brown's, Springfield, IIL 



