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12 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



... »; ■ ■ •• ■ ' - 1 ■ • 



August 1, 1907. 



BONE MEAL OR BONE FLOUR? 



Would pure bone meal be as suitable 

 as bone flour for mixing in potting soil 

 for geraniums? M. W. W. 



Bone meal is safe to use wherever 

 bone flour is safe. The difference is 

 that the flour acts with its full strength 

 more quickly, while the meal is more 

 lasting because it takes longer for the 

 larger particles to decay. For quick- 

 growing, short-lived crops use the flour, 

 but for long-seasoned crops use the meal, 

 as the food is released more moderately 

 and more steadily. A. F. J. B. 



DAMPING OFF. 



According to the Kew Bulletin, ex- 

 tended observations made in the Jod- 

 rell laboratory strongly suggest, and in 

 many instances provo, that, apart from 

 the rusts (Uredinea;), smuts (Ustilag- 

 ineffi), and certain other truly parasitic 

 forms, fungi are not so frequently the 

 primary cause of disease as they are 

 generally supposed to be. For example, 

 the minute fungus called Pythium De- 

 baryanum is considered the primary 

 cause of the damping off of seedlings. 

 In reality this fungus can only grow in 

 a damp situation, and consequently only 

 destroys seedlings that are growing in 

 damp, badly ventilated and badly lighted 

 places. When seedlings are growing in 

 open ground exposed to light and air 

 they resist infection by the fungus. 

 Hence, damping off is primarily due to 



that is favored, but there are double and 

 single varieties. They come into flower 

 earlier than the ordinary yellow mar- 

 guerites, and are also easier to grow. 



If raised from seed, they are inclined 

 to run up rather tall, but where dwarf 

 plants are wanted the tops may be taken 

 off and rooted. And if sown in the au- 

 tumn and the cuttings taken early in 

 spring, the tops will flower much earlier 

 than plants which have to be stopped or 

 raised from spring sown seeds. They 

 succeed best in a light, cool house, yet 

 though considered hardy annuals, they 

 should have just sufficient warmth to 

 keep out frost when grown through the 

 winter, but plenty of air and light is 

 necessary. There are few plants which 

 are so easily spoiled by warmth, and they 

 cannot be forced into flower by giving 

 heat. 



TROUBLE VITH BEGONIA RUBRA. 



We send plants of Begonia rubra 

 which are diseased at the root. Please 

 let us know the cause and remedy of 

 same. Plants are not affected when 

 young, but get the disease when a year 

 old, or older. The stem of the plant 

 turns black, leaves fall off and the plant 

 slowly dies. S. & S. 



The plants sent seem to be small for 

 year-old specimens, but the trouble you 

 have is not exceptional. Begonia rubra 

 is perhaps the most robust growing va- 

 riety of the whole genus. Have your 

 i 



A Quartet of Well-Knowa Washiagton Florists* 



bad cultivation. The host of fungi 

 known as wound parasites are all sec- 

 ondary agents in promoting disease, the 

 primary cause being the agent causing 

 injury to the tissues, and thus enabling 

 the fungus to enter. According to the 

 bulletin, the punctures made by mites, 

 greenfly, scale insects, etc., serve as 

 starting points through which fungi gain 

 an entrance to the living tissues. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM SEGETUM. 



There are now some much improved va- 

 rieties of Chrysanthemum segetum which 

 are extensively grown for the Covent 

 Garden market in London. They may 

 not be the true segetum, the native Corn 

 Marigold, for they appear to be hybrids 

 of segetum and coronarium. Most of 

 those now grown are propagated from 

 cuttings, and it is only the deep yellow 



plants not been kept cramped in too 

 small pots and allowed to become quite 

 dry at the root at times? There is no 

 reason whatever why this begonia, of 

 all others, should have a trace of disease 

 if kept potted along and carefully 

 watered. IJse a compost of fibrous loam, 

 old dried cow or horse manure and a 

 little leaf-mold and sand. The plants 

 will be better outdoors in the summer, 

 where they can obtain a little shade, 

 such as would be afforded by the high 

 branches of a tree. This begonia should 

 grow with anyone, but if your stock is 

 in poor shape, why not get cuttings or 

 plants from someone whose plants are 

 clean? C. W. 



Columbus, O. — Superintendent John 

 Drohr is urging the city to issue .$6,000 

 of bonds for a range of new greenhouses 

 in Schiller park. 



BULBOUS IRISES. 



We wish someone familiar with the 

 cultivation of the various kinds of bulb- 

 ous irises, such as alata, histrioides, Cau- 

 casica, Pavonia, Persica and others, 

 would give us some information regard- 

 ing them. Are they as hardy as the Eng- 

 lish and Spanish kinds? T. K. C. 



With one or two exceptions the bulb- 

 ous irises named are not as hardy as Iris 

 Hispanica or Iris Anglica. I consider 

 Iris Hispanica perfectly hardy and one 

 of the finest bulbs we have for massing 

 purposes. The English iris. Iris Anglica, 

 seems to do better in a rather drier 

 location. It is less reliably hardy than 

 the Spanish section. 



Of the other bulbous irises, those from 

 South Africa, such as I. alata and 

 Juncea, are not hardy in New England, 

 but will succeed in a frame or cool 

 greenhouse. I. histrioides, pale blue, we 

 find succeeds well on a bank where the 

 soil is light and gravelly and where the 

 ground gets fairly dry in summer. It 

 receives some shade from overhanging 

 trees. This pretty iris flowers very 

 early, being in bloom this year before 

 April 1. Iris Lusitanica is a robust va- 

 riety, resembling a Spanish iris, flowers 

 bronze with gold cup. It succeeds well 

 treated Uke the Spanish iris. 



I. Pavonia (Peacock iris) is uncertain, 

 but I. Persica, with sky blue and yellow 

 flowers, grows well treated the same as 

 I. histrioides. I. reticulata, violet 

 blotched with yellow, is a fairly reliable 

 sort, doing well in a rock garden and in 

 locations where the ground gets well 

 baked in summer. This section flowers 

 as soon as frost leaves the ground. I. 

 tuberosa does well in an open border 

 for a year or two; then runs out. 



If desirous of trying one or two bulb- 

 ous irises in addition to the Spanish 

 and English varieties, I would suggest 

 planting I. reticulata, Lusitanica, his- 

 trioides and Persica. The culture of the 

 majority of the bulbous irises is some- 

 thing of a lottery, but those last named 

 will be found tolerably reliable. 



W. N. Craig. 



OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS. 



Among the so-called old-fashioned 

 flowers the hardy phlox is now coming 

 to be used commercially perhaps fully as 

 extensively as any other. There are 

 great numbers of phlox, in different 

 colors and varieties, grown by florists and 

 by growers for florists for summer use, 

 and there are but few flowers more sat- 

 isfactory for various purposes. 



Just as soon as fresh hollyhock seed 

 is obtainable it should be sown, either 

 in flats or in the open ground in cold- 

 frames. If the seedlings are 'got well 

 started before fall and transplanted, they 

 will grow enough during the winter, if 

 they are given a growing temperature, 

 to warrant their transplanting again, 

 thus insuring their ability to flower the 

 following summer. There is a good deal 

 of difference in the value of plants that 

 will flower and plants that will not, 

 when offered for sale in the spring. 



Delphiniums are among the most ef- 

 fective perennials grown. These are also 

 used in large quantities by florists. Sow 

 seed of these now also. 



Seed of canterbury bells, sown now or 

 even a little later, will produce splendid 

 plants by next spring and summer. Sown 

 in flats and the seedlings transplanted 

 when large enough to handle and then 



