

H 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



October 8, 1908. 



looks of the mulch. It will be necessary 

 to dig into the soil here and there to 

 examine it. There will be more danger 

 of overwatering from now on than from 

 underwatering. As a rule the carnation, 

 after it is thoroughly established, likes a 

 liberal supply of water, but it must not 

 be overdone. 



Watering should also be confined to the 

 roots, except what is required by way of 

 syringing. Keep a shafp lookout for red 

 spider near the steam pipes. The old 

 adage, "A stitch in time saves nine," 

 is well applied here, except that the kill- 

 ing of one spider might sav& you the 

 killing of nine million later on, when 

 conditions are less favorable to the kill- 

 ing. 



When you begin firing drop a pinch of 

 sulphur on the hot pipe here and there. 

 This will purify the atmosphere and stop 

 a dose of leaf spot which may be devel- 

 oping without your having noticed it. Es- 

 pecially is this true in ca^e of a rainy 

 spell. Repeat it about once each week 

 under normal conditions and oftener if 

 deemed necessary. Do not overdo it, 

 however, as the fumes if too strong will 

 take the brightness from most of the 

 livelier colored blooms. A. F. J. Baxje. 



CARNATION SOCIETY^ UST. 



In looking over the list of carnation 

 names published in the Eeview for Sep- 

 tember 24, at the instance of the Amer- 

 ican Carnation Society, I was struck by 

 its woeful lack of completeness. If this 

 society has nothing better than that list 

 to guide it in avoiding duplication of 

 names, it might as well have nothing. 

 There are scores of varieties, many of 



which were widely disseminated, which 

 are not named in the list. 



It is unfortunate that the list was not 

 accompanied by some explanation by the 

 secretary as to its purport, and if any 

 names were purposely left out, the why 

 of it. Under the circumstances one can 

 only assume that it is supposed to be a 

 complete list of all varieties introduced 

 to the trade in this country to date. As 

 such it is surely a failure, to say the 

 least. 



This society should own a list of va- 

 rieties as complete as it is possible to 

 make it. Furthermore, it should not only 

 have the names of the varieties, but a 

 full, but brief, description, as well as 

 the name of the raiser and the dissem- 

 inator (if they are not the same), the 

 pedigree and the year of introduction. 

 In fact, it should be a complete author- 

 ity on carnation nomenclature as far as 

 this country is concerned. Such a list 

 would be of inestimable value to the 

 society in years to come and the sooner 

 it is compiled the less labor will be re- 

 quired to get it up; it will be a her- 

 culean task even now. 



Mr. Herr has labored many years for 

 our society with very meager compensa- 

 tion, and inasmuch as he is to lay down 

 the burden of his office at the end of this 

 'year it would perhaps be asking him too 

 much to undertake this work, which he 

 could hardly finish before his time is up. 

 It would be well, however, for anyone 

 who may aspire to that office to consider 

 well the work connected therewith. This 

 thing must come sooner or later. It will 

 entail much labor and time and some ex- 

 pense, but it will be worth the price. 



A. F. J. Baub. 



OSMUNDA FIBER. 



In the orchid notes in the Beview of 

 October 1, W. N. Craig mentions that 

 there is nothing better than Osmunda 

 fiber to pot Cattleya gigas in. My ex- 

 perience coincides with his exactly, and I 

 found during my trip to Europe this year 

 that the much heralded Belgian leaf- 

 mold has been discarded by the best 

 ■gnvten in England, and they are ac- 

 tvally importing, at great cost, the Os- 

 munda root from this country to use in 

 their oattleya growing. The home-grown 

 ' peat is finer in texture and the plants 

 do not root in it sis they do in the Os- 

 munda fiber. This has been one reason 

 why the English grower has argued in 

 favor of leaf-mold, not being informed 

 in regard to the different kinds of peat 

 as we understand the term here. 



If anyone who has a stock of the Os- 

 munda fiber on his place, and cares to 

 sell it at a fair price, will advertise his 

 stock in the Eeview, it will introduce 

 him to parties with whom he can build 

 up a profitable business, if he will live 

 up to Teddy's motto of "A square 

 deal." C. H. Tottt. 



VHITE FLY. 



Our pelargoniums are infested with a 

 little white fly or miller, about the size 

 of a half-grown green aphis, and with 

 what appears to be the larvae of this fly 

 — little, white, egg-like bodies, sticking 

 to the under side of the leaf. We have 

 not seen the eggs or larvsB on anything 

 but pelargoniums, but the flies frequently 

 light on chrysanthemum and other leaves. 

 Can you tell us what they are and how 

 to kill themf This insect is entirely new 

 to us and we find nothing like it men- 

 tioned in Scott 's Manual. D. F. C. 



The pest which is troubling you is the 

 white fly, Aleyrodes vaporarionim, which 

 does an immense amount of damage an- 

 nually, especially under glass. The little 

 adult fly has a yellowish body and is 

 quite lively wl^n disturbed. The eggs 

 are laid on the under side of the foliage 

 and the tiny young insects suck the juices 

 from the leaves, causing them to grad- 

 ually become brown when badly attacked. 

 These pests breed rapidly. About six 

 weeks elapse from the laying of the eggs 

 until the insects are full-grown. Many 



generations will be produced during the 

 growing of any single crop. 



While spraying with cold water, warm 

 water, soap and water and sundry other 

 mixtures acts as a partial remedy, there 

 is no form of fumigation which will ef- 

 fectually clean out this destructive little 

 pest but hydrocyanic acid gas. Great care 

 is necessary in using this fumigant, but 

 it is now in quite general use; in fact, 

 on many places all others have been 

 abandoned. To secure the cubic area of 

 your house, multiply the length by the 

 breadth and this again by the average 

 height. Use stone jars for fumigating. 

 The acid will speedily eat away any 

 metal ones. 



Procure some cyanide of potassium of 

 ninety-eight to ninety-nine per cent 

 strength. Insist on this brand, for the 

 general run of drug stores carry a gfrade 

 of fifty per cent strength. This will cost 

 about 50 cents a pouiid in sealed cans. 

 Ordinary commercial sulphuric acid is all 

 right. It will cost 9 to 10 cents per 

 pound. To kill white fly, we have found 

 that in a tight house one-half ounce of 

 cyanide per 1,000 cubic feet, added to 

 double that weight of sulphuric acid and 

 left in all night, sufficed. To each 1,000 

 cubic feet weigh out one ounce water ; add 

 to this slowly an equal weight of sul- 

 phuric acid. Pour the latter in slowly, so 

 that it will not heat much. Wrap the 

 preparation of cyanide in paper. Drop 

 this into the liquid and then leave the 

 house quickly.' Lock the door and allow 

 no one to enter before morning. 



Remember that breathing the fumes 

 from this gas means a rather speedy 

 death to humans as well as insects, so on 

 no account stay around to note the effects 

 of it, as you might were nicotine being 

 used. Of course, all ventilators should 

 be closed tightly and any crevices 

 stopped. The floors should be dry and 

 eveniiig should be chosen for the fumiga- 

 tion. Cool nights are also preferable to 

 warm ones. One fumigation will destroy 

 the fly, but the eggs will not be harmed. 

 To insure the complete killing out of the 

 pest, therefore, give three successive doses 

 at intervals of a week. 



Gas is really a cheap fumigant and, 

 once you have tried it and have mastered 

 the little details pertaining to it, you 

 will be able to use it on practically every 

 kind of plant. Allowance, of course, must 

 always be made for the tightness of the 

 houses. In loose structures double the 

 dose named may be necessary. A little 

 careful experimenting will soon satisfy 

 you on this point. C. W. 



FUCHSIAS. 



When is the proper time to rest 

 fuchsias, and at what time should they 

 be started f Should they be pruned back 

 before starting? Give me some knowl- 

 edge of handling them after starting. 



E. G. 



Gradually reduce the water supply after 

 the middle of October. The plants will 

 soon commence to drop their foUage. Do 

 not. discontinue the supply entirely, or 

 the wood will shrivel instead of taking 

 on a firm, nutty-brown hue. The plants 

 will winter in any dry atmosphere just 

 clear of freezing. Do not allow them to 

 become absolutely dust-dry at the root 

 or they will die. Treatment similar to 

 that given hydrangeas will suit them. 



In starting the plants, avoid heavy 

 waterings until they, are breaking freely. 

 Place them in a warm, moist house, and 

 spray two or three times a day. Re- 



