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July 12, 100«. 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



461 



The Artificially Refrigerated Cut Flower Display Case in the Brdlmeyer Store, Detroit. 



CALLA LILIES IN SOLID BEDS. 



We are building a new house 20x100, 

 running north and south. We will plant 

 carnations on the side benches, thirty 

 inches from the ground, and think of 

 planting calla lilies in the center bed, 

 making it a solid bed ten inches high. 

 Would they do well in a j)lace like that? 

 Our idea is not to have the center bed 

 as high as the side benches, as the lilies 

 may grow too high and shade the car- 

 nations. Please let us have your opin- 

 ion of it. A. R. & S. 



Your plan is the very best arrange- 

 ment you can make of a house that 

 runs north and south. The callas will 

 not grow so high that they will shade 

 either the east or west bench of carna- 

 tions. Remember that the calla needs a 

 high temperature to make it i)n)fital)k', 

 so you should plant varieties of carna- 

 tions that thrive best in a night tem- 

 perature of .'55 degrees. If the natural 

 surface of your house is dry, or a grav- 

 elly soil, you will not need any drain- 

 age, but ten inches is waste of material 

 and if you give the callas eight inches 

 of good soil it is all they need. It is 

 best to lift the roots in .Tune or July, 

 give them a complete rest for two 

 months, and replenish the soil. 



W. S. 



SIX BEST GERANIUMS. 



We wish to grow only six varieties 

 of geraniums. T'lease name the six best 

 • ommercial varieties and state what per- 

 centage of each to grow. S. & Y. C. 



Your correspondent does not state for 



what purpose the geraniums are wanted; 

 and that makes some difference. For 

 instance, if for bedding I should ven- 

 ture to include several single varieties; 

 notably Mrs. E. G. Hill, the large sal- 

 mon, and Dryden are excellent single 

 bedders, and even old single General 

 Grant is unsurpassed where a brilliant 

 mass of scarlet is desired. 



Then there is the market grower who 

 wants his plants to make a great show 

 at the time the public is buying. I 

 would put Jean Viaud in this class. 



Again, there are a few semi-double 

 varieties that are especially good for 

 vases because they are particularly free- 

 flowering and can withstand the hard 

 treatment that all vase plants are called 

 upon to endure. I commented this 

 spring on what 1 thought was the too 

 l)revalent use of the crimson semi-dou- 

 ble S. A. Nutt, yet if we had attempted 

 to fill all the vases and beds with N'utt 

 that were ordered we should have needed 

 at least seventy-five per cent of all the 

 geraniums we grew to be of that vari- 

 ety, such is the jniblic faith in its hardy 

 constitution and free-flowering quality. 

 Still it has a fault. The florets are so 

 crowded that after a shower they rot. 

 making the center of the truss black 

 instead of crimson or scarlet. 



The question is, which are the best 

 six geraniums? You are wise not to 

 grow a great number of varieties. Here 

 then is my opinion on the best six vari- 

 eties for all purposes: S. A. Nutt, fifty 

 per cent; Marquise de Castellane, ten 

 per cent: Alphonse Ricard, ten per cent; 

 Beaute Poitevine, fifteen per cent; Mrs. 

 Frances Perkins, ten per cent; La Fa- 

 vorite, five per cent. W. S. 



THE SMALL WHITE FLY. 



I am sending you a leaf containing 

 the egg of a small white fly that is caus- 

 ing trouble in our greenhouses. It is 

 particularly fond of ageratums, helio- 

 tropes and moonvines, and is now on the 

 chrysanthemums. The usual remedies 

 for other insects do not seem to ex- 

 terminate it. What can we use to get 

 rid of it? M. L O. 



This little insect, known to florists as 

 the white fly, repeatedly has been written 

 up in the columns of the Review. Strange 

 to say. it has never invaded the green- 

 houses of the writer, yet we have 

 noticed its ravages in the h()ii.«es of 

 neighbors. It is omnivorous — not that 

 it will cat a sausage, ire cream, Lim- 

 burger cheese or potted corned beef, — 

 Init few things in tlio vegetable king- 

 dom docs it disdain. Fumigation with 

 tobacco in any form is futile and as 

 for li(jui<l forms of nicotine, it ia im- 

 possible to cover every ]»art of a plant. 

 The simple and eff'ectual use of hydro- 

 cyanic acid gas seems the only sure de- 

 stroyer of this troublesoue creature. 

 Many florists are afraid to explode this 

 gas in their houses, having read of some 

 losses. The formula I recommend is 

 perfectly safe, will injure no plant and 

 is death to all creatures that have lungs. 

 Scale or mealy bug it has no eff'ect on. 

 The formula I submit is largely my 

 own, the conclusion of many experi- 

 ments. Learned professors of agricul- 

 tural and horticultural colleges will give 

 it to you more scientifically, but it will 

 serve the purpose no better. 



Here is what we have found the best : 



