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The Weekly Florists^ Review* September 17, 1908. 



CARNATION NOTES.- WEST. 



Stem-rot. 



Before you put on your carnation sup- 

 ports you will find it' a good plan to re- 

 place whatever plants may have died out 

 on account of stem-rot or for some other 

 cause. If you were wise you potted 

 up a few plants of each variety at bench- 

 ing time. You can always count on a 

 few plants dying out, and plants lifted 

 at the time the benches were planted 

 will be well established now and will 

 plant without a check, while plants from 

 the field will wilt quite badly and will 

 lag behind those originally planted for 

 a long time. 



It is a strange thing, the experiences 

 one hears about from different growers. 

 For instance, a few days ago the intro- 

 ducer of one of last season's novelties 

 inquired as to our experience along that 

 line with his variety. On our place, as 

 well as his own place, the variety has 

 done unusually well so far ; not more than 

 two per cent have been lost from vari- 

 ous causes since the rooted cuttings ar- 

 rived last February. Another grower 

 has replanted more plants of this va- 

 riety than he originally planted. This 

 same introducer, however, complains of 

 the same trouble with Beacon, he having 

 replanted about as many as he first plant- 

 ed. Now, why do these things occur? 

 The soil used on both benches is the 

 same, I understand. The more one 

 studies this disease the more perplex- 

 ing it seems to become. Recent observa- 

 tions convince me that this fungus at- 

 tacks the stem of the plant and not 

 the roots, as is claimed by some. A 

 strong and conclusive proof was found 

 in plants which rotted off well above the 

 ground and sprouted afterward from eyes 

 below the rotted place. Plants like this, 

 when lifted, showed no unhealthy con- 

 dition of the roots, they being as plump 

 and white inside as any other. Of 

 course, where there is a complete suspen- 

 sion of growth, as where no eyes break 

 into growth, the roots will soon become 

 clogged and unhealthy, giving the im- 

 pression that they are probably the cause 

 of the trouble. I find that other grow- 

 ers have made the same observations. 



But to get back to the replanting. 

 The safest way is to remove most of the 

 soil immediately around where a plant 

 stem-rotted, and fill up with new soil 

 before replanting. I have seen two and 

 three batches of plants destroyed where 

 the soil was not removed; but, on the 

 other hand, I have seen hundreds of 

 plants set right in the same soil where 

 plants had died out and go right ahead 

 as though it was new soil. That would 

 indicate that a plant must be in proper 

 condition to take the disease. Plants es- 

 tablished in pots will be less liable to at- 

 tack than plants lifted from the field just 

 prior to being set in the vacancies. Air- 

 slaked lime sprinkled around will help 

 some, too. A. F. .1. Hair. 



GRUBS IN CARNATION BEDS. 



About four weeks ago — August 6 — 

 I planted a solid bed of large, fine 

 Enchantress. They never wilted, but 

 started finely and are coming on nicely. 

 About ten days ago I found grubworms 

 in the bed. Will you please tell me how 

 to get rid of them? H. W, 



them. For full information on using 

 it, send to the United States Department 

 of Agriculture for Farmers' Bulletin No. 

 145, "Carbon Bisulphide as an Insecti- 

 cide," by W. E. Hinds. That will tell 

 you all about it better than I could da 

 it. 



We have seen slaked lime used with 

 good effect. Either sprinkle it on the 

 beds and water it in, or else make lime 

 water and saturate the beds with it. 

 Use a peck of lime in fifty gallons of 

 water. A. F. J. B. 



I suppose the grubs you complain of 

 are the common white grub, which is 

 usually found in sod soil. This grub 

 is generally found in limited numbers, 

 but they are very destructive if allowed 

 to work 'unchecked. We usually dig up 

 the soil under a wilted plant and destroy 

 the grub, which is easily found if the 

 trouble is caused by that pest. We have 

 never had them in any great numbers, 

 and have not found it necessary to resort 

 to any other method of destroying them. 

 I have been told that the poisoned bait 

 recommended for cutworms is quite ef- 

 fective against this grub. This bait is 

 made of bran, molasses and either arsenic 

 or Paris green. 



If they have become very numerous 

 and a menace to your crop, I would 

 advise you to use carbon bisulphide 

 against them. That will surely destroy 



SCALE ON OLEANDER. 



I have an oleander tree that has scale 

 on it. What shall I do to get rid of 

 them? Is there any solution I can use 

 to destroy them? A. R. 



The only way to entirely remove scale 

 from your plant is to sponge it over. 

 This is, of course, slow and tedious work. 

 To make it presentable it will, however, 

 be better to do this. If you want to kill 

 the scale, put a wineglass of kerosene 

 to each three gallons of water. Keep 

 it agitated with the syringe and wet 

 every part of the tree with it, or you 

 can use such special insecticides as fir 

 tree oil, or lemon oil, which are soluble 

 in water diluted in thirty to fifty times 

 their own bulk. Once you get your plant 

 clean, use a good force of water on it 

 frequently, and to make sure that no 

 scale, bug or other pests harbor in it, 

 give it a syringing every three months 

 with one of the soluble oils mentioned. 



C. W. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



I 



Mignonette. 



Seeds of mignonette sown in beds or 

 benches early in August will now be mak- 

 ing rapid headway. Any necessary thin- 

 ning out of the seedlings should have 

 been done while the plants were small. 

 If neglected, it is better even now to 

 attend to it. You cannot get fine spikes 

 where the plants are left too close to- 

 gether. 



Some of the shoots will now be run- 

 ning up to flower. It is better to let 

 these show the flower buds before pinch- 

 ing them back quite hard. If done 

 while the shoots are short and tender, the 

 new breaks will be somewhat weak. The 

 lana; of the white butterfly are trouble- 

 some at present and a careful search 

 should be made for these green pests at 

 least once a day, or they will soon ruin 

 a lot of plants. 



Keep the surface soil scratched over 

 and, as mignonette resents anything in 

 the nature of coddling, leave on full 

 ventilation at all times until frost threat- 

 ens and even then, if a minimum of 40 

 degrees is maintained, it will be suffi- 

 ciently high. 



CaJceoUrias. 



The cool September nights are needed 

 to galvanize life into the herbaceous 

 calceolarias. They simply refuse to grow 



satisfactorily in hot weather, such as we 

 have experienced a large part of the 

 summer. A frame where the little plants 

 can be shaded from direct sunshine, with 

 ample ventilation all the time, is what 

 calceolarias require. 



Do not on any consideration let them 

 become potbound before giving them a 

 shift. The compost in the early stages 

 may be largely leaf-mold and loam, but 

 for the later pottings some well pulver- 

 ized cow or sheep manure should be 

 added. Finely broken charcoal and sharp 

 sand are also helpful ingredients, and pot- 

 ting should not be done too firmly. If 

 packed in fresh tobacco stems, the arch 

 enemy of this useful spring flowenng 

 plant will not be able to get a foot- 

 hold. 



Freesias. 



The present is a good time to get iu 

 a furthe?' batch of freesia bulbs. Noth- 

 ing is to be gained by delaying the latest 

 plantings after October 1. These late 

 batches never seem to produce the vig- 

 orous spikes of the earlier ones, the 

 bulbs, no doubt, losing much of their 

 vitality from being out of the soil so 

 long. 



Where Christmas flowers are wanted, 

 the earliest batch should now be placed 

 on a shelf in a light, sunny house kept 

 at 52 to 55 degrees at night. Remember 



