August 30, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



929 



superior. The other method allows the 



Sower to sell more cheaply, which suits 

 e general trade. The bushes are brought 

 in during the early autumn months and 

 potted at once* in 5-inch pots. Some 

 growers plunge them in ashes, while 

 others stand them closely on a bed of 

 ashes. They become well rooted before 

 Christmas, and can then be forced or 



plants are pruned hard so as to obtain 

 good dwarf plants. Successional crops 

 are obtained by placing the plants in 

 heat in batches. After this they do not 

 require more cultural skill than the ma- 

 jority of market plants. When in act- 

 ive growth a little feeding is resorted to. 

 As soon as the blooms show color they 

 are put on the market, and, generally 



speaking, prove to be a paying crop. 

 Greenfly and mildew are treated in the 

 usual way. 



No doubt our market roses will be 

 added to largely in the near future, for 

 the best growers are always on the look- 

 out for new varieties that are suitable, 

 so as to place them on the market first. 

 — Gardeners ' Magazine. 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS. 



Feeding. 



Stock that was benched in May, and 

 also plants that are being grown con- 

 tinuously in pots, will now be greatly 

 benefited by feeding lightly to keep 

 them on the move, and nothing is better 

 to start with than a light mulch of well 

 rotted manure. This mulch keeps the 

 soil uniformly moist and cool, and before 

 it is applied the beds should have a 

 coat of either fine bone or Scotch soot 

 spread over them. Make this coat very 

 thin, and remember that it is better to 

 apply it .at three or four diflferent times 

 than to give one strong dose and kill 

 the young, delicate fiber of the roots. 



Do not use fresh manure for the 

 mulch. If I could get nothing but fresh 

 manure I should use nothing at all, be- 

 cause it will do more harm than good. 

 I have before now seen the foliage killed 

 half-way up the stem by the ammonia 

 rising from fresh cow manure, and when 

 it burns the top growth in such a man- 

 ner, the disastrous effect on the roots 

 may easily be imagined. 



It is a safe rule never to feed a plant 

 unless it is well established. Feeding 

 a newly potted plant is altogether wrong. 

 In the first place, the plant does not 

 need it, since the new soil gives ample 

 food for present needs, and until the 

 roots have reached the sides of the pot 

 again any liquid applied will only sour 

 the soil and retard root action, instead 

 ■of encouraging it. In the second place, 

 it is only a waste of time and good 

 material. 



Chemical fertilizers are invaluable 

 aids to the up-to-date cultivator, and 

 while there are several others that are 

 used more or less, I pin my faith to 

 sulphate of ammonia and nitrate of 

 potash. The quickest and safest way 

 I know of to use either of these is to 

 put two 4-inch potfuls of the chemicals 

 into a 50-gallon kerosene can, and use 

 through the Kinney pump. This makes 

 a safe proportion, and will harm noth- 

 ing. If chemicals are used one week 

 and liquid made from natural manures 

 another w^eek, the plants will be greatly 

 benefited by it. 



The chrysanthemum will stand almost 

 anything in the way of feeding after 

 it has been gradually introduced to it, 

 but always begin weak and gradually 

 make the liquid stronger. Keep on the 



safe side, anyway, till we get the cooler 

 weather. It is not wise to be dosing 

 a plant to the limit with the temperature 

 in the nineties. September is the month 

 when feeding tells the most. Then the 

 bud is swelling and the food is not 

 being diverted to making growth, and 

 as the plant is preparing for its final 

 effort in flowering it is in a more recep- 

 tive mood. 



Every year we see or hear of some one 

 who has overfed his plants and lost a 

 good part of the crop. This makes it 

 seem to a beginner as though it is play- 

 ing with fire to use chemicals on mums, 

 and yet the fact remains that all our 

 best cultivators use them. Once a man 

 has gained sufficient experience in their 

 use to know when to feed and when 

 not to feed, he is on the highroad to 

 success. 



Disfoucldin£. 



Disbudding now occupies a large part 

 of the time, and it is safe to take most 

 any kind of a bud from now on. This 

 work should be done in the early morn- 

 ing, because then the shoots are brittle 

 and will easily snap out, reducing the 

 chances of injuring the bud to a min- 

 imum. After a hot day the tips of the 

 plants are in a more or less wilted con- 

 dition and the buds cannot be handled 

 nearly so quickly. 



Insects. 



After the bud begins to swell there 

 is frequently some fiy to be seen around 

 the covering. Before the bud shows 

 color, this fly can be cleaned out by 

 dusting with tobacco dust. Don't be 

 afraid of putting on too much. If the 

 dust is good it will injure nothing but 

 the fly, and will save you some heart- 

 burning later on. There is nothing much 

 worse than a dirty chrysanthemum 

 flower, and the present time is none too 

 soon to begin to keep it clean. The most 

 common insect next to the fly is the 

 grasshopper, which some seasons will do 

 much damage by eating through the 

 tender shoot just below the bud, making 

 the plant a total loss, or eating half the 

 bud away and causing the plant to pro- 

 duce a malformed flower. Either way 

 the grasshopper is a nuisance and must 

 be reckoned with. This year I have not 

 seen many in this section up to date, 

 owing doubtless to the quantity of rain 

 that we have had, but other places report 

 about the usual crop. When they are 



particularly numerous and hand-picking 

 is of no avail, Paris green mixed with 

 water and sprayed on will be found ef- 

 fective; only don't get the mixture 

 strong. Just enough to see the color in 

 the water is all that is necessary; a 

 stronger dose will bum the foliage. 



This dose will also clean off caterpil- 

 lars quicker than anything else, though 

 this year I have seen fewer caterpillars 

 on tne plants than for a long time past. 

 For this relief we are thankful. 



Cleaninp Out Suckers. 



As the plants get disbudded, the 

 suckers and side shoots will appear in 

 increasing numbers, and these must ;be 

 taken in hand, both literally and figura- 

 tively, early in the game. In cleaning 

 out the suckers don't let the help use 

 a knife around the plants. Suckers 

 should be pulled out and not cut, as 

 the careless use of the knife will resuii; 

 in cutting many roots, and may cause 

 a serious check. 



Getting in Plants from Outside. 



The first week in September is about 

 the best time to dig up the plants that 

 have been growing outside, and transfer 

 them to pots and boxes. Take up the 

 plants carefully, and don't attempt to 

 squeeze them into a pot that is too small, 

 as they will make considerable growth 

 yet, both in root and top. If you chop 

 around the plants with a spade a few 

 days before they are lifted, the check 

 will not be nearly so severe, as new fibers 

 will be in course of formation and will 

 take hold quicker in the new soil. 



Shade the plants after they are potted, 

 and spray over several times a day 

 to keep them from wilting. Handled in 

 this manner, they hardly lose a leaf. 

 Charles H. Totty. 



RUST ON CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



Will you please tell me a remedy,, if 

 there is one, for rust on chrysaftibe- 

 mums? It is not bad, only a leaJf or two 

 now and then that look like rust. 



c.t.f.V 



The best thing for rust, in my opiin- 

 ion, is sulphide of potassium, commonly 

 called liver of sulphur. This can be pro- 

 cured at a drug store, and should be 

 used in the proportion of one ounce to 

 two gallons of water. Use a sprayer that 

 will throw a fine spray, and be sure thbt 



