Wr- 



8 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



July 23, 1907. 



CYPRIPEDIUM LANGVATERENSE. 



This charming hybrid cypripedium, the 

 result of a cross between the well-known 

 C. tonsum and C. x Miss Minnie Ames, 

 flowered last year for the first time in 

 the orchid collection at Langwater, North 

 Easton, Mass., where it was raised. The 

 variety C. x Mies Minnie Ames, also 

 raised at North Easton, rather resem- 

 bles the beautiful C. x Olivia, but is less 

 vigorous in habit, the flower stalks es- 

 pecially being short and the flowers hav- 

 ing a tendency to produce deformed 

 pouches. In the case of the new hybrid, 

 which is quite vigorous in habit, due 

 to the blood of C. tonsum, the 

 foliage, which is prettily variegated, 

 resembles that of C. x Miss Minnie 

 Ames. The dorsal sepal of the flower la 

 whitish, with lines of a soft rose color. 

 The lower sepals, which stand out boldly, 

 are white, dotted with delicate rose, 

 while the pouch is of a pure ivory white. 



W. N. Ceaig. 



Take a close-wired steel brush and rub 

 it off, taking care not to bear too heavily 

 on the glass. Any specks left will be re- 

 moved by the action of frost. 



A good and serviceable preparation for 

 the purpose of temporary shading, and 

 easily removed, is as follows: Kerosene, 

 five gallons ; white lead, two pounds ; com- 

 mon whiting, three pounds, and Epsom 

 salts, one pound. Apply either with brush 

 or syringe. Eibes. 



TO REMOVE LIME SHADING. 



We used, as a shading on our green- 

 houses last spring, a solution of live lime 

 and water and are unable to get it off, 

 either by using washing powder or by 

 scrubbing it with a brush and water. 

 "What do you think would remove the 



WALLFLOWERS NOT BLOOMING. 



I lifted some wallflowers last fall that 

 had been grown from seed. Last fall 

 the plants were from five to six inches 

 high and I kept them in my greenhouse 

 all winter. Now I have planted them 

 out in the garden and they are big, 

 thrifty plants, but they have not yet 

 bloomed. I would be glad if you could 

 tell me the reason for this. I have 

 about fitty and not one bloomed. 



J. W. J. 



"While there is an annual strain of wall- 

 flowers, the varieties usually grown are 

 biennials, seed being sown during the 

 spring of one year and flowered a year 

 later. If your pladts were small and 

 weak they might not bloom at all the 

 first season. Probably they were not 



Cypripedium X Langwaterense. 



shading without removing all the paint 

 from the sashbars? J. G. 



There is no preparation, that I know 

 of, which will remove hot lime shading 

 from glass without at the same time re- 

 moving paint and destroying putty. 



sown until late in the summer. Your 

 plants are well worth taking care of. 

 We would advise lifting them about the 

 end of October and either potting them 

 or placing them in boxes six to eight 

 inches deep. Keep them outdoors until 

 sharp frost sets in, then place in a cold 



house. They can be flowered in Febru- 

 ary and March or may be kept back until 

 Easter. Your plants, being- strong, can- 

 not fail to give a splendid lot of bloom. 

 For best success another season, sow 

 seeds not later than May, prick out in 

 the open ground and cultivate well all 

 summer, lifting in the fall. Wallflowers 

 will stand considerable frost, but we do 

 not care to let them go below 20 degrees. 



C. W. 



QUASSIA FOR APHIS. 



Will you please inform me what pro- 

 portion of quassia chms to water is 

 needed to make an effective tea, and 

 whether it ip to be steeped or boiled and 

 how long? When should it be applied? 

 Will it answer for indoor as well as 

 for outdoor purposes, in destroying 

 greenfly and aphis? L. V. E. 



The bitterness of quassia wood is due 

 to the presence of quassin to the extent 

 of one-tenth of one per cent. This is a 

 neutral crystalline substance, soluble in 

 200 parts water. The chips should be 

 steeped in water for twenty-four hours 

 and then brought to the boiling point. 

 The decoction should be used when it 

 has cooled to 95 degrees or 90 degrees. 

 Add about one-sixtieth of soft brpwn 

 sugar. There are so many effective rem- 

 edies for aphis indoors, and so easily 

 applied, that quassia is seldom used for 

 this purpose, but no doubt it would also 

 be effective under such conditions. 



BiBES. 



SWEET PEAS. 



When is the proper time, either in the 

 fall or spring, to plant sweet peas out- 

 doors to secure early crops, say in the 

 first week of June or earlier, on a level 

 piece of rich soil? J. M. J. 



We cannot recommend fall sowings of 

 sweet peas on level ground. Have seen 

 fairly good results from seed sown on 

 sloping land, but on the whole we pre- 

 fer spring seeding. Prepare the land 

 this fall by heavily manuring and deep- 

 ly plowing it. As soon as the land dries 

 sufficiently to be workable in the spring, 

 get your seed in without delay. Sweet 

 peas should be sown, while the ground 

 is cool and moist. This insures good 

 roots before the growth commences. Our 

 earliest sowings of sweet peas were made 

 on March 10, while in an exceptionally 

 late spring seed could not be sown until 

 April 5. W. N. Craig. 



THE READERS' CORNER. 



Flower Bed* and Window4x>zes. 



I would like to mention the feeling of 

 regret at the absence of flower beds 

 and window-boxes in the environs of 

 Boston. The excuse of great heat seems 

 feeble when one remembers the great 

 heat and the lovely flower beds of the 

 south of France. Even in the Ghent 

 district of Belgium the heat is as intense 

 in July and August as that experienced 

 here. 



Surely a few beds of geraniums are 

 well worth a little extra attention in 

 regard to watering, when the effect is so 

 pleasing. Can anything be more de- 

 lightful than a bed composed entirely of 

 Henri Jacoby, particularly when sur- 

 rounded with grass? Possibly this va- 

 riety is not well known, but it is, one 

 might say, a single S- A. Nutt, with 



