Jolt 16, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



i', . ;.l 



Eretnurus Robustus at Home of W. E. Kelley, Oconomowoc, Wis. 



dry out, and the more time one can allow 

 for this purpose the better. 



It is almost useless to try to apply 

 whitewash with a brush and expect to 

 get into every corner and crack where it 

 is really most important to get the liquid 

 if you wish to destroy the breeding places 

 of insects. A bucket spray pump will be 

 found a most useful article around a 

 place. Such a pump, with a * ' Bordeaux ' ' 

 nozzle, makes whitewashing an easy task 

 and saves a lot of valuable time. 



The important thing about whitewash- 

 ing is to apply the liquid hot or freshly 

 prepared. Then it is most effective. Do 

 not keep a lot of slaked lime around the 

 place for some future job. Dump it and 

 prepare a fresh lot each time. It pays. 

 There is no use in applying to a bench a 

 heavy, thick paste, in order to do an 

 extra good job. A thin coat of fresh, 

 hot material does just as well and better, 

 but care should be taken to have the sur- 

 face where the whitewash is to go on 

 clean. There is no doubt but what a lot 

 of trouble with insects and fungous dis- 

 eases could be avoided if more care was 

 used in keeping corners clean. 



Give the house at least once a year a 

 thorough cleaning, and what is almost as 

 necessary, a thorough drying out. The 

 soil in the walks and under the benches is 

 bound to become sour from the constant 

 drip of the benches, and this, in time, is 

 certain to have a bad effect on the health 

 of the plants. Lime, properly and freely 

 enough used, is of the greatest value to 

 the man who runs greenhouses, but in 

 many places it is not enough appreciated, 

 and this is especially the case in old 

 places, where most needed. 



Fritz Bahk. 



EREMURUS ROBUSTUS. 



Eremurus robustus is a stately plant, 

 native in the deserts in Turkestan, Asia 

 Minor, Persia, Siberia and the Hima- 

 layas, and a striking object in the her- 

 baceous garden when in flower. The ac- 

 companying illustration will be of special 



interest, as it shows, also, W. E. Kclley, 

 who was recently elected president of the 

 Horticultural Society of Chicago. The 

 two plants shown, with seven spikes, are 

 blooming on Mr. Kellcy's grounds at his 

 summer home at Oconomowoc, Wis., 

 where James A. Wilson is gardener. As 

 Mr. Kelley is full six feet tall, it can be 

 seen that the eremuri like the treatment 

 they receive on the shores of Lac La 

 Belle. 



September is a good month in which 

 to plant the eremuri, but they can be 

 moved with safety while the ground is 

 open. Great care is needed in lifting 

 them, as the large, octopus-like roots are 

 easily broken. While the plants appear 

 to thrive in any good garden soil, a com- 

 post containing a good proportion of 

 meadow muck, leaf-mold and well rotted 

 cow manure seems especially suitable. 

 The land should be well drained and the 

 crowns buried eight to ten inches deep. 

 A coating of leaves should be placed 

 over the crowns after the ground freezes, 

 and as growth commences early in the 

 spring and the young shoots are liable to 

 injury from late frosts and cutting 

 winds, it is well to leave a mulching 

 round the plants until early in May. A 

 few short pine or spruce boughs also may 

 be stuck in the ground around the plants 

 for protection. 



The tall, naked flower scapes are ter- 

 minated by racemes two to four feet 

 in length. The leaves are long and 

 linear, dying down a few weeks after 

 the plants have flowered. The flower 

 scapes need no supporting unless the 

 plants are in a wind-swept location. 

 W. N. Craig says the plants produce 

 seeds with great freedom, which, if sown 

 when ripe, germinate readily. It takes 

 five to seven years to flower them from 

 seed, however, and few have the patience 

 to wait so long. Division of the root is 

 the usual means of propagation. 



While the price of the roots remains 

 moderately high, due to the slow propa- 

 gation of the plant, it has declined con- 



siderably (luring t*he last few years, and 

 whereas five years ago eremuri were 

 looked upon as novelties, they are now 

 to be met with in many gardens and are 

 listed by a good number of American 

 dealers. They are worthy a place in 

 every well regulated garden, and the com- 

 mercial grower who can show his cus- 

 tomers flowering plants cannot fail to 

 have orders for them. 



MASTICA FOR LEAKY ROOFS. 



My houses are old and leak badly when 

 it rains. I want to tighten the roofs 

 before cold weather and want to know 

 if Mastica is better than putty on old 

 roofs, where the paint is off badly. 



S. M. 



Mastica is useful on leaky roofs and 

 I always like to have some of it on 

 hand, but if you are reglazing the roofs 

 of your house, I would prefer to use 

 good putty, as it will give you a per- 

 fectly tight roof if properly bedded. Of 

 course, a coat of white lead should be 

 given after glazing. Do this work now, 

 as time will permit, rather than wait for 

 cool weather. c. W. 



FREIGHT CLASSIFICATION. 



Carl Ickes, vice-president and treas- 

 urer of the A. Dietsch Co., Chicago, 

 writes : 



"We note in the Review of June 25 

 an article about the freight rates to the 

 western states. In reference to this, we 

 beg to inform you that several months 

 previous, we had already entered a re- 

 quest for the readjustment of the classi- 

 fication, our letter to the Western Classi- 

 fication Committee being dated April 13. 

 Our main point, however, was the ap- 

 parent discrimination by the railroads 

 against car lots of greenhouse material 

 containing other items than strictly the 

 wood parts. While they apply car lot 

 rates on shipments containing bars, ven- 

 tilators, etc., they apply less than car 



