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October 5, 1005. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



1099 



it is severely cold and you can not raise 

 the ventilators for days at a time. 



Watch the watering, too. Do it early 

 in the day so that the plants may dry 

 off well before evening. Reduce the 

 syringing to once each week if that will 

 keep down the red ppider. Don't wet 

 down the walks any more. In fact, you 

 want to encourage a sound, sturdy 

 growth. A. F. J. Baur. 



THE RUST. 



Enclosed find some ■«»rnations. Please 

 tell us what is the matter and what to 

 do for them. Mc. B. 



Your carnations are affected with the 

 common carnation rust. In the Eevibtvv 

 of September 14 I explained fully the 

 cause and the cure for this disease and 

 if you will look up in that number my 

 answer to "W. L. K." you will find 

 all the information you are looking for. 

 However, in case you may have mislaid 

 that number of the Review, I will just 

 say that you should pick off the leaves 

 that are spotted and burn them. Then 

 dust the plants with air-slaked lime and 

 keep the foliage and atmosphere dry ex- 

 cept for the weekly syringing to keep 

 down red spider. Give all the air you can 

 whenever practicable. 



I hope that you save all the numbers 

 of the Review and lay them away where 

 you can get at them. If every grower 

 would do this there would be fewer in- 

 quiries sent in for information about 

 disease, etc. The Review is always ready 

 and anxious to help its subscribers and 

 to give space to any information anyone 

 has to offer, but how much better it is 

 to be able to look up in a few minutes 

 about something you want to know than 

 to write and wait a week or two to find 

 out, and the trouble growing worse each 

 day. Nearly every issue contains some 

 information that is worth saving, even 

 for old, experienced growers and in the 

 course of two or three years you will 

 find articles on nearly all the more com- 

 mon diseases and insect pests, by men^ 

 who are well informed and up-to-date, and' 

 written from a practical standpoint. I 

 consider my back numbers of the Review 

 as valuable as any reference book I 

 know of. A. F. J. Baur. 



STEM-ROT. 



I watch with much interest the dis- 

 cussion in the Review, especially that 

 which has to do with stem-rot of carna- 

 tions. I see that it is not positively 

 known what causes it, except that it is 

 that awful floating germ. I have been 

 pestered with the thing but I feel that I 

 have been more fortunate than some of 

 those who have told their troubles in 

 the Review. I have a house containing 

 1,500 and have had to replace only about 

 seventy-five. Most of my plants were 

 benched in April and May. I have been 

 studying to find out the cause of the 

 trouble and I have come to the conclu- 

 sion that the first cause is that too much 

 sand was left on the fine roots when 

 planting; resulting in the water passing 

 quickly through and away from the 

 roots; hence to give the plant enough 

 water it made it necessary to put on so 

 much that the surrounding soil became 

 soggy and sour. Then came the stem- 

 rot. R. S. 



Marshalltown, Ia. — A greenhouse to 

 ''ost $2,500 is being erected at the Iowa 

 Soldiers' Home. 



Thomas B. Meehan. 



(PreBldert Floristt.' Club of PhlladelphlH.) 



ROSE LEAF BLIGHT. 



I send some cuttings of roses that are 

 injured in some way and would be 

 pleased if you can tell me the trouble 

 with same. My rose grower has been 

 using Bordeaux mixture on my plants, 

 which I think is the trouble, but I am 

 not sure; I never saw this on roses be'- 

 fore. He thinks it is an insect; so told 

 him I would try and find out the trouble. 

 Any information about this that you can 

 give will be much appreciated. J. K. 



After receiving the foliage on these 

 cuttings and carefully inspecting under 

 a microscope I could see no evidence of 

 injury by Bordeaux mixture. The foli- 

 age is, however, a little soft, but tlie 

 main trouble is the parasite with which 

 they are infested. The blotches on the 

 leaves are caused by the rose leaf blight 

 (Sphat^la rosigena). At first glance 

 this applars very much like black spot, 

 but a closer inspection shows a marked 

 difference. 



It usually manifests itself in irregular 

 blotches of gray color, surrounded by a 

 purple margin, both on the leaves, young 

 wood and bud stem. It is more preva- 

 lent on teas than on hybrids. The prin- 

 cipal cause is a low temperature, with ex- 

 cessive humidity, which should be guarded 

 against by free ventilation and a tem- 

 perature of not less than 56 degrees at 

 night. 



The same precautions and same reme- 

 dies should be applied as recommended in 

 the case of black spot. This pest is not 

 nearly so virulent or so hard to extirpate 

 as the last mentioned and generally dis- 

 appears after a short season of steady 

 firing such as will now soon be at hand. 



Rises. 



EXTERMINATING BUGS. 



Will you please inform me how to get 

 clear of sow bugs, and worms and bugs; 

 in the rich ground in my greenhouse and 

 in the gardeu adjoining? They cut up 

 and destroy plants and entail much loss. 



J. B. R. 



It is difficult, if not impossible, to 

 entirely clean out sow bugs or wood lice. 

 They can, however, be kept in check by 

 mixing a decoction of powdered sugar, 

 bran and white arsenic, or one of pow- 

 dered sugar, bran and Paris green, near 

 their haunts. The same dose will answer 

 for cockroaches or cut worms. The lat- 

 ter are particularly destructive in May 

 and June, as they feed at night and hide 

 at the base of the plants in the day time. 

 They must be sought at night with lan- 

 terns or picked out of the soil during 

 the day. 



The word "bug" has such a wide 

 significance that it embraces in common 

 phraseology everything attacking plants. 

 It would need columns of the Review 

 to give anything like a complete list of 

 these and how to fight them. The larv89 

 of the May beetle, or June bug, were very 

 destructive this year in the east, and it 

 does a great deal of damage in green- 

 houses, especially to roses, carnations 

 and violets, living, as it does, on the 

 roots of these plants. It attacks lawns, 

 and hundreds of acres in New England 

 are destroyed by it this season. Straw- 

 berries and other plants also suffer. Cow 

 manure is a fertile spreader of this pest. 

 It can be destroyed by injecting a little 

 bisulphide of carbon in the soil at inter- 

 vals. If it is bad on the outside land, 

 dress it with kainit and nitrate of soda 

 at the rate of 500 pounds of the former 



