8 



Wm^m The Weekly Florists' Review. 



DBCEMBEn 19, 1907. 



SHASTA DAISIES. 



I would like to hear from some one 

 ■who has had experience with Shasta 

 daisies. I have about 300 plants in the 

 field ready for next year's blooming 

 outdoors. This year, the first year from 

 seeds, they gave me some fine flowers, 

 many measuring four and five inches. 

 These were shipped with, my other flowers 

 and were given X grade, but some com- 

 plaints came to me that sometimes they 

 withered on their journey and could not 

 be revived. They were usually cut in the 

 morning, put in a cool cellar in water 

 until evening before being shipped, reach- 



ing their destination early next morning. 

 Now, is there any special treatment 

 which could be given them which would 

 prevent them from withering, or which 

 would insute their shipping in better con- 

 dition? Will Queen Alexandra winter 

 outdoors, in New York, and will it give 

 as fine flowers and as good returns as 

 the Shasta daisy, marketed during the 

 summer months? L. J. B. 



Probably if your daisies were cut in 

 the evening and kept in cold water 

 twenty-four hours before shipping they 

 would carry better. There is no good 

 reason why these flowers, if fresh and 



allowed to remain in water that length 

 of time, should not travel perfectly for 

 any reasonable distance. 



If you refer to Marguerite Queen Al- 

 exandra, the only daisy of that name v 

 of which I have knowledge, this is 

 not a hardy plant and any flowers 

 produced in summer are of inferior qual- 

 ity. Grown under glass it is one of the 

 best marguerites and may be had in 

 bloom in succession from Thanksgiving 

 until Memorial day. The flowers are 

 smaller than those of the Shasta daisy, 

 but sell well in bunches in winter and 

 early spring. Its principal value, how- 

 ever, is as a pot plant. C. W. 



BUD-ROT IN CARNATIONS. 



In answer to the query of F. R. H., 

 on page 7 of the Review of November 

 28, I wish to say that the so-called eggs 

 found in rotting carnation buds are 

 mites and they are associated with a 

 fungus which is the direct cause of the 

 rotting. The large, white, egg-like body 

 is the abdomen of the female mite and 

 is filled with eggs. The rest of the body, 

 including the head and legs, is very 

 minute. The only method of eradicat- 

 ing this mite and disease is by the pick- 

 ing and destruction of the infested buds. 

 The mite itself, which is probably the 

 means of transmitting the disease to 

 other buds, spreads very slowly when in 

 the greenhouse and, if the above method 

 is employed, the premises should be 

 made free from this pest within a month 

 or so at the most. The mites are prob- 

 ably in the sod soil when brought into 

 the houses, and from there they get 

 upon the carnations. 



I have already found this bud-rot in 

 some Chicago greenhouses. I would like 

 to hear from those who have found it in 

 their carnations and especially from 

 florists outside of Chicago, with regard 

 to the amount of injury it is doing. 



John J. Davis. 

 State Entomologist's OflSce, 

 Urbana, 111. 



WATER FOR CARNATIONS. 



Is well water good to water carna- 

 tions with, or should it be of the same 

 temperature as the house! H. B. 



Well water, which is free from alkilli, 

 such as we find all through this section 

 of the country, is as good to water plants 

 with as any you can get. As to the 

 temperature, I will say that unless it 

 is icy cold it will need no tempering. 

 For syringing roses, however, most grow- 

 ers prefer it warmed to about 50 de- 



grees, not because it would hurt the 

 plants, but because at that temperature 

 it will not lower the temperature in the 

 house so much as it does when it is 

 40 degrees or colder. The sudden change 

 is apt to bring on mildew, etc. Carna- 

 tions being run cooler, the drop in tem- 

 perature would not be so noticeable, and 

 a cooler water can be used even for 

 spraying. A. F. J. B. 



CARNATIONS GO TO SLEEP. 



I am perplexed at the way my carna- 

 tions act this year. I gave them a lib- 

 eral top dressing of wood ashes and they 

 never before were so beautiful, large and 

 brilliant, but they do not keep so long. 

 In two days after picking, they go 

 gently to sleep. Now, were they over- 

 stimulated or is this a general state this 

 year? JVill some of the experts come 

 forward and give us their opinion? Was 

 it the ashes, or, as a Christian Science 

 lady told me, want of harmony? She 

 says she practices that art and her plants 

 do beautifully. Dr. Review, give us 

 your version and thus oblige, perhaps, 

 a good many of your readers, and most 

 of all yours truly, J. W. 



Your liberality with the wood ashes 

 is, no doubt, the primary cause of your 

 carnations being of poor texture, though 

 the trouble might not have become so 

 serious if it had been supplemented with 

 proper treatment. Any feeding at this 

 time of the year should be accompanied 

 by a corresponding amount of ventilation 

 to begin with. This will do more to 

 counteract the bad effects of an overdose 

 than anything, because it helps to build 

 up the plant and promotes vigorous 

 growth as much as the food does, only 

 it works for sturdiness, while the food 

 promotes size mainly. By this I do not 

 mean a lowering of the temperature. In 

 fact, a rise of 2 degrees would be pref- 

 erable. But extra steam should be sup- 



plied to keep the temperature at the 

 proper level, and it should be kept regu- 

 lar, even more so than is customarj-. 

 Watering, also, should be done more care- 

 fully and the soil kept very uniform in 

 moisture and not too wet. A plant which 

 is growing at a moderate gait is able to 

 stand more or less variation in these 

 matters without serious harm, but a 

 plant which is being pushed to the 

 very limit is easily unbalanced and 

 quickly ruined. Perhaps that is what 

 your lady friend meant by harmony. 

 It is the only kind of harmony I know 

 of. Harmony with the laws of nature 

 must be practiced in the cultivation of 

 plants under gla^s as well as out o^ 

 doors. A. F. J. BAxni. 



USE OF HORN DUST. 



I should like to ask your opinion on 

 using buffalo horn dust, and also deer 

 horn dust, in top dressing for carna- 

 tions. I can get a lot of it in my 

 locality and should like to know whether 

 it is good or not. H. B. 



You will find horn dust a splendid 

 material to use on your growing crops. 

 The finer it is ground the better it is, 

 because, like bone meal, it is slpw in de- 

 composition. Use it in quantity about 

 as you would bone and you can use it 

 very largely in place of the bone. I 

 would suggest that you cut down the 

 bone to one-half and use the horn dust 

 in place of the other half. A. F. J. B. 



ONE LINE OF VENTILATORS. 



I have an even-span greenhouse, twen- 

 ty feet wide. The walls are four feet 

 and a half high, with two feet of glass. 

 The house runs north and south, with one 

 line of continuous ventilation on the east 

 side, hinged at the ridge, eighteen inches 

 deep. I have a compartment sixteen 

 feet wide next the boiler-room in opera- 



