Septbmbhb 27, 1006. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



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CARNATION NOTES.- VEST. 



Importance of Good Compost. 



I had intended this week to remind 

 you of getting in your carnation soil for 

 next season, but Mr. Scott gave you 

 such a good article, on. that subject in 

 last week's issue that there is very little 

 more I could say except Amen. What 

 he says is to the point and .true, and 

 I can heartily indorse every word of it. 

 Let me urge you again to get your soil 

 in this fall before bad weather begins. 

 I take it for granted that you belong 

 to that class of growers who believe 

 in doing everything in good time, and 

 getting their plants housed early enough 

 to be profitable early in the season. If, 

 on the other hand, you belong to that 

 class of growers who never house their 

 carnations until everybody else begins 

 cutting blooms, then you had better let 

 the soil go until next summer when you 

 want to use it. You wouldn't feel right 

 to have it piled up so long; it would 

 worry you. 



Disease in Lawson. 



A number of cases of the new disease 

 which has been attacking Mrs. Lawson 

 in some sections have come under my 

 notice recently, and I have been asked 

 by one grower, to give what I would 

 consider the best method of dealing with 

 the trouble. Now, to start with, I must 

 state that I have had no personal ex- 

 perience with this disease, and, there- 

 fore, can give only my impressions as 

 derived from the experience of others 

 .as they have been given me from time to 

 time. I have been much interested in 

 the subject from the start and had con- 

 cluded some time ago how I would pro- 

 ceed against it in case it appeared on 

 our place. 



In most instances it seems to come 

 with a heavy, saturating rain which 

 has a tendency to make the growth soft. 

 Mrs. Lawson, being a rather fleshy- 

 leaved variety, is affected quickly in that 



way and naturally would be one of the 

 first to be attacked. 



That the disease is a fungus and be- 

 longs to the same class as the common 

 leaf spot and others, I have no doubt, 

 and it must be met with much the same 

 remedies. The time of its appearance, 

 however, necessitates a change in the 

 method of eradication from the one that 

 waa followed in most of the cases com- 

 ing under my notice. The tendency on 

 the part of the growers seems to have 

 been to lift the plants, clean them off, 

 and plant inside where conditions are 

 supposed to be under control at all times. 

 This plan has invariably miscarried, and 

 I will endeavor to show you why. The 

 trouble was started by an excess of 

 moisture, both at the roots, and in the 

 atmosphere. The latter started the fun- 

 gus into activity, while the former weak- 

 ened the plant by making it soft and 

 unable to fight off the disease. When 

 the plants are housed, the same condi- 

 tion in the atmosphere is maintained, 

 while the plant is further weakened by 

 being transplanted. The plant does not 

 take hold readily as a healthy one would 

 and the disease has all the more chance 

 to get in its work, growing weaker as 

 the disease gets stronger, until it suc- 

 cumbs entirely. 



Now, I assert that, inasmuch as it is 

 necessary to keep the atmosphere heav- 

 ily charged with moisture for several 

 days after planting in the carnations, 

 it is folly to house any plants that show 

 much if any of the leaf spot diseases. 

 The conditions are too highly favorable 

 to their development. The proper meth- 

 od, in my opinion, is to gej; rid of the 

 disease before housing the plapts. Then 

 they will be in better condition to re- 

 cover quickly from the disturbance, and 

 the disease will not be present to ravage 

 the plants whil« they are weak. 



The task of cleaning off the plants 

 while they are growing in the field is, 

 of course, a laborious one, but it will 

 pay to do it when so much is at stake. 

 After that, spraying with formaline or 

 Bordeaux mixture, or dusting with lime 



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Men's Race at the Milwaukee Picnic September 16. 



and sulphur or grape dust can be don« 

 just as well as it can be done in the 

 house. These remedies can not be ap- 

 plied inside until the plants have re- 

 sumed growth, which stage was nevw: 

 reached by those I have noticed. Out- 

 side you .iiave the full sun and fresh 

 air to aid you in drying. It seems to 

 me that if this plan is followed, there 

 should be no great amount of trouble in 

 eradicating disease wherever it makes 

 its appearance. A. F. J. Baue. / 

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SPRAYING FOR ANTS. t' 



I have been spraying my plants once 

 every week for the last month with a 

 pressure of thirty to thirty-five pounds 

 through a hose pierced with a small 

 needle, and find red spider inereas^ing. 

 Is this sufficient pressure and Often 

 enough to destroy them? The stock was 

 planted in the house August 4, in four 

 inches of fresh soil, with about one inch 

 of rotted manure at the bottom. They 

 are growing spindly. Would a top-dress- 

 ing of equal parts, well-rotted horse and 

 cow manure bo desirable to use now, 

 and how much to a row on a bench four 

 feet eight inches wide? F. O. P. 



A nozzle such as you describe will not 

 allow enough volume of water to pass 

 through it to produce a sharp, cutting 

 spray such as is needed to dislodge red 

 spider. The best nozzle to fight red 

 spider with, is a plain coupling at the 

 end of the hose, and your index finger. 

 Turn on the water full force if your 

 pressure is not over thirty-five pounds, 

 and then shoot it against the plants in 

 a spray as hard as possible. At this 

 time of the year, when the days are 

 bright and evaporation is so rapid, you 

 need have no fear of wetting the soil 

 too much when syringing, even if you 

 spray every day. You will have to water 

 some, besides. 



In the winter, when the days are short 

 and dark, you must be more careful 

 about the volume of water you use. 

 Then you must turn on just enough to 

 make a strong, cutting spray. You 

 should bend every effort toward getting 

 rid of thisr^^pest before the middle of 

 next mont^, else they are liable to be 

 with you the rest of the season. You 

 cannot fight them after that as you can 

 now. Syringe every bright day until 

 you are rid of them. Once a week is 

 not enough, i 



A pound of any. pure soap, shaved 

 into a gallon of boiling water, and when 

 cooled diluted in four gallons of clear 

 water, will help you to get rid of them. 

 Spray this on the plants early in the 

 morning of a bright day, and before 

 noon wash it off with the hose. If con- 

 ditions are any way near what they 

 should be, your plants ought not be 

 making a spindly growth at this time, 

 I am inclined to tMnk that the trouble 

 lies not in a lack of food in the soil. 

 During these early fall months that 

 ought to result in nothing more serious 

 than a less vigorous growth than is de- 

 sirable. 



Have you removed all the shade from 

 the glass? If not, then do so at once 

 and you will soon see a difference. Per- 

 haps the ventilation has been insufficient, 

 too. Crowd on all the air you can dur- 

 ing the day, and all that you consider 

 safe at night. We lower our ventilators 

 about half way in the evening, to guard 

 against sudden windstorms during the 

 night. If you have a night man, this 

 need not be done, and the plants will be 



