10 



c Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Mabch 19, 1908. 



mence at one end of the house, digging 

 up, cleaning out old loam, throwing in 

 new and resetting at one time. We do 

 not like to do more than necessary of 

 this, for it takes five men a month to 

 go through 10,000 square feet of bench 

 and thoroughly overhaul it, and costs 

 $1,000. 



Three years seems to be about the 

 limit of age for profit. It has been said 



that Richmond should be replanted every 

 year, but this is not necessary with us, 

 and others report the same. A feature 

 of Richmond is that while grafted stock 

 makes a larger plant in the fall, giving 

 one or two crops before the own-root 

 plants come into bearing, in the middle 

 of the winter the self-rooted stock is 

 livelier than the grafted, and will throw 

 (Oontlnoed on pas:e 50) 



CHRYSANTHEMUM LINTON. 



Elmer Smith calls it ' ' very good ' ' and 

 Charles Totty says "it is a splendid 

 thing," so ther^is really no use of any 

 further endors^ent, but many varieties 

 which come wml recommended take some 

 time to find their way into the places of 

 the smaller growers. In Linton we have 

 a most desirable single chrysanthemum. 

 It is a light pink on a white, or rather 

 cream ground — a beautiful combination, 

 fit to be used for all occasions outside of 

 a bride's bouquet. You can grow this 

 variety for pots or cut flowers. If for 

 the latter, allowing three to six stems to 

 the plant will give you flowers which will 

 retail at $1.50 to $2 per dozen. It is re- 

 markable how popular the single mums 

 have become of late. It seems that there 

 is a great future for this class, and there 

 will be an increa^ng demand for them 

 if the public sees more of them. There 

 is no doubt but what they are at least as 

 well adapted for house decorations as the 

 big fellows. They are excellent keepers, 

 and for pot plants ideal. Every retail 

 grower should at least have a few of 

 them, and while the chestnut, terra cotta 

 or crimson bronze colors are not desira- 

 ble, the clear pink, white and yellow are 

 bound to sell, and will bring as good re- 

 turns for the bench room they occupy as 

 the biggest Eaton or Appleton grown. 

 F.B. 



THE GREENHOUSE LEAF-TIER. 



We are sending you by mail today a 

 few specimens of a small, triangular, 

 brown miller or moth, and ask for some 

 suggestion as to ridding the house of 

 these pests, which are doing considerable 

 damage. 



Their eggs produce a green worm that 

 eats the foliage from the sweet peas, 

 chrysanthemums and carnations. We 

 have tried the hydrocyanic acid gas fumi- 

 gation, but it did not kill the moth, 

 while it did do a little damage to the 

 sweet peas that were nearest the jars. 

 Possibly we did not have enough jars, 

 using but four to a house 28x100 feet, 

 with two ounces and a half of cyanide 

 of potassium to a pint each of sulphuric 

 acid and water. W. H. & C. B. 



The small, triangular, brown miller, or 

 moth, which W. H. & C. B. send and 

 about which- they desire information, is 

 the greenhouse leaf-tier, or Phlyctaenia 

 ferrugalis Hbn. This insect is one of 

 the most troublesome pests in green- 

 houses and is well known to florists. It 

 first attracted attention as a pest as late 

 as 1890, although there is no doubt that 

 it was present generally in greenhouses 

 throughout the country long before that 



time. It is, in fact, like many other 

 noxious insects, of cosmopolitan distri- 

 bution. It is also what is termed a gen- 

 eral feeder, being as nearly omnivorous 

 in its caterpillar or active feeding stage 

 as almost any insect known to science. 

 It has attracted rather more attention as 

 an enemy to violets and other ornamen- 

 tals and does not confine itself to green- 

 houses, affecting many crop plants, such 

 as celery, beets, cabbage, tobacco and 

 the like. Sometimes it does great dam- 

 age in celery fields. 



As to the habits of the insect, the 

 moths fly usually toward sundown, rest- 

 ing during the day on the lower surfaces 

 of the leaves. In the warm and equable 

 temperature of greenhouses this species 

 easily, develops from egg to adult, com- 

 pleting its entire life cycle in five weeks, 

 giving the possibility of many genera- 

 tions when breeding indoors. 



The caterpillar, or larva, has a habit 

 not unusual with similar species, of con- 

 cealing itself on its food plant by draw- 

 ing together portions of a leaf with silk 



portK 



and feeding chiefly on the lower surface. 

 Injury is most noticeable, as a rule, in 

 secluded locations and upon terminal 

 leaves, which are frequently eaten full 

 of holes. The insect operates chiefly at 

 night, and by day rests in the same loca- 

 tion. 



As to remedies, the greenhouse leaf- 

 tier is usually controlled by hand picking, 

 or trimming away and destroying the in- 

 fested leaves or other portions of plants 

 as frequently as detected. This is labori- 

 ous but effective, as the experience of 

 many correspondents bears witness. 

 Paris green, applied either dry, mixed 

 with about twenty parts of flour, or in 

 the form of a spray, would undoubtedly 

 effect the destruction of the caterpillars, 

 or ' * worms, ' ' and the spray should be 

 applied so as to reach the under surface 

 of the leaves. In some cases it would 

 be well to leave the arsenicals on the 

 plant for some time, not giving them 

 their usual syringing of water. The ar- 

 senicals should not be applied with a 

 syringe, but by means of a knapsack or 

 other sprayer, particularly adapted to 

 this purpose. Directions for using the 

 arsenicals are given in Farmers' Bulle- 

 tin No. 127, a copy (ff which will be sent 

 to anyone upon request addressed to the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



Hydrocyanic acid gas will not kill this 

 moth when used at a strength which will 

 not also injuriously affect the plants. It 

 is possible, however, that the very young- 

 est caterpillars, and other ones just as 

 they are molting or immediately after- < 

 wards, will be killed. Additional experi- 

 ments are necessary to verify this opin- 

 ion. It is advisable not to place the jars 

 too close to plants such as sweet peas, 

 which W. H. & C. B. state have been 

 injuriously affected by the application 

 of this gas. I would advise the use of 

 six large jars, such as large slop jars. 

 F. H. Chittenden. 



SOIL AND 

 THE FLORIST 



4i 



Moisture and Drainage. 



As I have noted, the mechanical con- 

 aiuon of the soil determines to a very 

 great extent its moisture-holding prop- 

 erties, or, in other words, its drainage. 

 This is a very important consideration, 

 for upon the moisture content of the soil 

 depends the soil solution, which is the 

 minute quantity of water which sur- 

 rounds the soil particles and which car- 

 ries in solution the plant foods which 

 have been derived from the soil par- 

 ticles, either organic or inorganic, by 

 means of fermentation, decomposition 

 and bacterial action. In many agricul- 

 tural operations, including greenhouse 

 work, proper moisture conditions for the 

 plant determine more than any other 

 factor the resultant crop, for if every- 

 thing else is satisfactory — temperature, 

 sunlight, food supply — and moisture alone 

 lacking, none of these have any benefi- 

 cial effects. In fact, as soon as the 



A paper by L. C. Corbett, of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, read before 

 the New York Florists' Club, March 9, 1908, 

 and continued from the Review of March 12. 



moisture supply is withheld the beneficent 

 action of the sun becomes deleterious, 

 the heat which we attempt to supply to 

 stimulate growth becomes injurious, and 

 the large amount of available plant food 

 in the soil, instead of proving a benefit, be- 

 comes a factor of unrest. The plant suf- 

 fers, declines and dies, but by the proper 

 regulation of the moisture supply the 

 plant thrives. Its functions can be main- 

 tained to a high degree, and, in fact, 

 many of the injurious pests and organ- 

 isms with which we have to contend in 

 our greenhouse work can be controlled 

 through a proper use of water. There 

 is no more effective agent in the control 

 of the red spider than water. 



Agriculturists, and particularly truck 

 gardeners, are alive to the importance 

 of an adequate supply of water, to -be 

 used just at the proper time. Where ex- 

 tensive garden operations are conducted, 

 a heavy expense is often incurred in or- 

 der to provide an adequate supply of 

 water, which may be used only two or 

 three times during the whole growing 



