1784 



The Weekly Florists^ Review, 



May 10, 1906. 



good for this purpose as anything we 

 have tried. There are several brands of 

 this on the market, put up ready to mix 

 with a given quantity of water. Of the 

 different makes we have little preference. 

 Where tobacco stems can be easily pro- 

 cured the cheapest method is to soak a 

 bundle of these in a pail or barrel of 

 water, according to the quantity needed, 

 and by straining off and diluting to 

 the proper strength :i cheap anil effective 

 solution can be procured. 



I am unable to lay down a hard and 

 fast rule as a guide to the exact quan- 

 tity of stems necessary to give so many 

 gallons, as the stems differ in strength 

 and tlie strength differs with age, so the 

 operator will have to conduct his own 

 experiments. Err on the safe side by 

 using a Aveak solution at first and in- 

 crease the strength as it is seen that 

 the plants will stand it. 



JScitlier this home-made extract nor 

 any other extract that 1 know of will rid 

 the plants of thrips or red spider after 

 they become badly infested, but if used 

 in time either as a preventive or on the 

 first signs of trouble, as a spray two or 

 three times a week, there should be no 

 difficulty in keeping the plants clean. 



Another insect which often proves 

 troublesome at this season is the com- 

 mon rose bug, which seems to hatch out 

 in the greenhouses before it begins to 

 move outdoors, and gets to work on any- 

 thing it can find in the Avay of vegeta- 

 tion and will often severely lacerate the 

 foliage of cucumber plants. They sel- 

 dom appear in such numbers that they 



cannot be got rid of by hand picking, 

 but it pays to keep watch of the plants 

 and where a disfigured leaf is seen make 

 a hunt for the rose bug. It is a healthy 

 feeder and in a very short time will de- 

 stroy quite a few leaves. 



Some seasons we have been troubled 

 by small caterpillars, which appear in 

 colonies on the underside of the foliage 

 and quickly work havoc wherever the 

 eggs hive been deposited by the mother 

 moth. Hand jiicking is the only remedy 

 found for these. The indications of 

 their presence is easily apparent on the 

 foliage, and if a close watch is kept they 

 can be destroyed before many leaves 

 have been destroyed. W. S. Croydon. 



VEGETABLE MARKETS. 



Chicago, May 9. — Cucumbers, 50c to 

 .*! doz. ; lettuce, heads, 75c to $1.25 bu. ; 

 leaf, 35c to 40c case; spinach, 40e to 60c 

 box. 



Boston, ]Vlay 8. — •Cucumbers, $2 to 

 $4.50 box; lettuce, 50c to $1 doz. ; 

 radishes, $1 to $1.25 box ; tomatoes, 15c 

 to 25c lb.; parsley, $1.50 bu.; bunch 

 licets, $1.50 to $1.75 doz.; rhubarb, 2c 

 lb.; mushrooms, $1.50 to $2.50 4-lb 

 basket. 



New York, May 7. — Cucumbers abun- 

 dant and demand light, Boston, $2 to 

 $5 box; cauliflower, $2 to $6 doz.; let- 

 tuce, 50c to $1.25 doz.; mushrooms, 15c 

 to 60c lb. ; tomatoes, 10c to 15c lb. ; 

 radishes, $1 to $1.75 per 100 bunches; 

 rhubarb, $1 to $1.75 per 100 bunches. 



BEST FORaNG ROSES. 



We will be very greatly obliged if 

 you will give us a list of what you con- 

 sider to be the best six or eight florists' 

 roses for forcing purposes, when grafted. 



J. & P. 



We take this to mean roses to produce 

 flowers under glass. If so, then the fol- 

 lowing have proved the best and in the 

 opinion of most florists give more flowers 

 grafted on the Manetti stock than on 

 their own roots. American Beauty is 

 undoubtedly the most valuable of forcing 

 roses, more money being spent in its 

 cultivation and more bench room occu- 

 pied than any other two or three varie- 

 ties, but it is not benefited by grafting. 

 Bride and Bridesmaid stand almost clear 

 of all other varieties, the one pink, the 

 other white. Killarney, pink, is much 

 thought of by many. Eichmond is the 

 finest red. Perle des Jardins is the most 

 profitable yellow. Golden Gate is large 



and free, a combination of delicate col- 

 ors. Mme. Chatenay, pink, is a profuse 

 bloomer and a great keeper. 



Kaiserin Augusta Victoria and Souve- 

 nir du President Carnot are two most 

 valuable roses for the florist, but are 

 classed as hybrid teas and consequently 

 they will rest during the months of 

 December and January, yet for summer 

 blooming under glass they are most valu- 

 able, keeping their size and vigor dur- 

 ing the hottest weather, which the true 

 teas do not. 



At first glance it appears very easy to 

 mention half a dozen of the more popu- 

 lar roses, but in choosing that number it 

 leaves outside not a few which are very 

 desirable and favorites with many. 



W. S. 



PROPAGATING RAMBLERS. 



Can I propagate rambler and other 

 roses from layers and cuttings? If cut- 

 tings, how many eyes? Can I use green 

 wood or one-year-old wood? 



W. E. B. 



The wood from ramblers that have 

 stood the Avinter is unfit for propaga- 

 tion. From unsold plants that you have 

 forced you might try the green wood, 



but not too green and succulent. The 

 conditions in the ordinary propagating 

 bed are the reverse of favorable at this 

 time, there being little bottom heat and 

 the air being often very warm. In the 

 fall, say November, the wood of the pre- 

 vious summer roots readily. 



A better plan is to make a mild hot- 

 bed with a foot or two of fermenting ma- 

 terial, with three or four inches of soil, 

 and top off with three inches of sand. 

 In late June or early July the growth of 

 the spring will be in the right condition 

 to make cuttings of three or four eyes 

 and insert in the sand half their length. 

 Keep the sand moist and the frame close 

 and well shaded until the cuttings are 

 rooted. In two weeks you can admit air 

 and gradually increase. In five or six 

 Aveeks you can lift and pot. Almost all 

 our real shrubs will propagate freely the 

 same Avav, as well as H. P. roses. 



W. S. 



ARSENIC FOR FUMIGATING. 



The use of arsenic for fumigating in 

 greenhouses has become a quite common 

 practice. It is used by many growers 

 for combating all sorts of leaf-gating 

 greenhouse pests. The usual method of 

 applying is to burn the powder upon a 

 heap of tobacco stems. The result is 

 that a aeposit of arsenic is spread upon 

 the foliage of all the plants in the 

 house. That this is not an altogether 

 safe practice is shown by an experience 

 related by Tnomas Allen, one of the 

 well-Known growers of Beauties for the 

 Chicago market. 



Mr. Allen has had trouble with a 

 small worm which finds an entrance to 

 Beauty buds and is next to impossible 

 to exterminate. It is believed to come 

 from a very small fly for which various 

 fumigants have been tried. Mr. Allen 

 burned tobacco stems on which arsenic 

 had been placed. A day or so later he 

 cut out some blind wood on his Beauty 

 plants and gave the cuttings to some 

 Belgian hares, which are very fond of 

 the young tips of the rose growth. In 

 this case it killed them. 



THE IDEAL EMPLOYER. 



[A paper by W. D. Abbott, Auburn, R. I., 

 submitted In the S. A. F. prize contest.! 



Just what constitutes an ideal em- 

 ployer is a question likely to bring forth 

 a variety of opinions, numerous almost 

 as the persons who advance them. To 

 understand ourselves let us see what 

 ideal means. In the first place it deals 

 with the ideas. This meaning is ex- 

 tended in ordinary thought to mean an 

 ultimate object or aim conceived to be 

 most desirable if not, at the time, a 

 reality. Thus we consider the ideal em- 

 ployer as the highest type of that class 

 to which he belongs. He is what we aim 

 at in developing further the best con- 

 ceivable employer. He is the kind of 

 man we want if there is to be the high- 

 est industrial efficiency, social and moral 

 progress. 



From the individual laborer gaining a 

 livelihood for himself and those depend- 

 ent on him, we find developed an indus- 

 trial organization entirely different. 

 The laborer saved part of his^ earnings 

 and let others use this surplus in con- 

 sideration of certain values agreed upon. 

 So has developed the custom of men 

 doing work for others on an increasing- 

 ly larger scale until we have today our 

 modern corporations with large numbers 

 of employees. 



Most of us have an idea of the way 



