The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



October 22, 1008. 



TO GET RID OF ANGLEWORMS. 



Please give me some information in 

 regard to angleworms, as there are many 

 of them in my carnation beds. Do they 

 hurt carnations, and if they do, what is 

 the best way to get rid of them? 



W. L. W. 



The presence of angleworms in the soil 

 is never desirable, and if in large num- 

 bers their presence is most objectionable. 

 I cannot say just what they f e«d on. 

 They do not, however, feed on the roots 

 of the plants, like grubworms and such. 

 The damage they do is in changing the 

 texture of the soil into a flat, sticky 

 mass, which is unfit for plants to grow in. 

 The best thing to get rid of them with 

 is lime, which can be applied either in 

 dry or liquid form. Sprinkle a handful 

 ot dry-slaked lime between each row of 

 plants and water it into the soil. If the 

 liquid 18 preferred, put a peck of fresh 

 lime into a 50-gallon barrel of water. 

 The next day take the liquid and water 

 the beds with it. The angleworms will 

 soon make themselves scarce. 



A. F. J. B. 



THRIPS AND OTHER TROUBLES. 



If you will kindly inform me as to 

 the name of the disease on the enclosed 

 carnations, with the cause and the rem- 

 edy, the favor will be greatly appre- 

 ciated. F. M. L. 



The most serious thing troubling your 

 carnations, according to the specimens 

 sent, is thrips. Those white spots on 

 the petals, which showed in each bud 

 and bloom, are always a sure sign of the 

 presence of this most destructive of 

 greenhouse pests. The cause of these 

 spots is easy to tell, but the remedy is 

 not easy, and the successful application 

 of the remedy is still less easy. 



It is a well-known fact that tobacco, 

 or rather the nicotine in the tobacco, is 

 most deadly to this insect, and when- 

 ever he is reached by it in any form his 

 execution is a certainty. But to reach 

 him — herein lies the difficulty. The eggs 

 are deposited in well hidden places and 

 the young pests work in between the 

 closely folded petals of the buds, and 

 how are you going to reach them with 

 either liquid or fumes? Under present 

 conditions it would seem that the only 

 time to catch them is when they are 

 necessarily exposed on account of the 

 loosening of the petals and blades, as 

 the bloom and the growth develop. 



Some of our scientific friends, who are 

 now busily engaged in studying these 

 pests, may evolve some method of exter- 

 mination which will be so effective and 

 deadly to them tnat it will be possible 

 to get every one of them to a certainty. 

 If we could keep the atmosphere con- 

 tinually charged with something poison- 

 ous to them for one week, we could de- 

 stroy every one of them. To do this 

 without injuring the crop is the problem 

 to be worked out, and it will be worth 

 the price of its solution. 



At present we depend entirely on to- 

 bacco and its products. These are dust- 

 ed and sprayed on the plants, and, if ap- 

 plied with persistency, they will keep the 

 pest in check quite effectively. Your ef- 

 forts, however, must be accompanied by 

 a great amount of perseverance and must 

 be kept up continuously through the sea- 

 son. If you keep atter them all through 

 the winter you can have your plants so 

 nearly clean that little damage will be 

 done by them in the spring, at which 

 time they usually do the most damage. 



Do ^ot be deceived into the belief that 

 there are none present, if during the 

 winter you do not see many of the spots 

 on your blooms. During .cool weather 

 the punctures do not produce these spots 

 so readily, and the thrips are not so ac- 

 tive either. They are present, never- 

 theless, and toward spring, when warm 

 weather sets in, they multiply at an enor- 

 mous rate. A comparatively small num- 

 ber, if left unchecked, will overrun your 

 place inside of a few weeks' time. By 

 spraying your plants once each week dur- 

 ing the winter, you can keep them down 

 pretty well, but if you find them in- 

 creasing you can increase the spraying 

 to two or three times each week, or even 

 oftener if deemed advisable. Dust the 



plants thoroughly and leave it on sev- 

 eral days before washing it off, and re- 

 peat as often as considered necessary to 

 get the upper hand. 



One of the branches of Lawson showed 

 a spot of that fungous disease which has 

 attacked and practically ruined that va- 

 riety on some places during the last 

 few years. It seems to differ somewhat 

 from the other spot diseases, in that it 

 attacks the flower stems mostly. It 

 should, however, yield to treatment with 

 Bordeaux mixture and such fungicides. 

 Only one branch showed this disease, 

 and for that reason I am led to suspect 

 that you were unaware of its presence. 

 Better get busy with Bordeaux. You 

 will find Grape Dust a splendid thing to 

 dust over the plants for any of the spot 

 diseases, and the steam pipes should also 

 be painted with sulphur. Give all the 

 ventilation possible and keep the temper- 

 ature at the proper level at all times 

 now, whether you have to fire up or not. 



A. F. J. B. 



AMERICAN CARNATION SOCIETY. 



Scheiden & Schoos, South Evanston, 

 111., register Carnation "William H. Taft; 

 color bright red, resembling Crusader, a 

 seedling of Crusader and Enchantress, 

 size of flower three to four inches ; a 

 high built and the most double flower 

 ever seen, with a long, graceful stem; a 

 free bloomer, with few splits; keeping 

 qualities remarkable ; has been kept cut 

 three weeks in good condition. 



Albert M. Herr, Sec'y. 



FALL PLANTING OF ROSES. 



It is advisable, whenever possible, to 

 plant hybrid perpetual roses in the fall 

 of the year instead of in the spring. 



In the fall or early winter the plants 

 are dormant, and, when moved and 

 planted, scarcely feel that they have been 

 shifted. In early spring, therefore, they 

 will push into vigorous growth, equaling 

 in strength of wood and flower plants 

 that had been established for years. And 

 the certainty of securing good results 

 from roses the first season after planting 

 means a good deal to growers, especially 

 to private gardeners, who in most cases 

 would hear a good deal about it if the 

 roses did not come fully up to expecta- 

 tions. 



Spring planting is safe enough if the 

 plants can be kept dormant until the time 

 comes for planting, but altogether un- 

 safe if the |)lant!s have starte<l into 



growth before they reach the planter, as 

 often happens when the plants are pur- 

 chased in spring, from growers or deal- 

 ers who are in localities of different con- 

 ditions of climate and who do not keep 

 their plants in cold storage. 



It is utter folly to expect that hybrid 

 perpetual roses will make anything at 

 all of a show the first season if, when 

 planted, they have alrea<ly made two 

 inches or more of growth. It is poor 

 business policy for any house to continue 

 •to send out roses in such an advanced 

 stage of growth, but there is proof that 

 they have done so in the past, and that 

 quite recently. I think it would be much 

 better for intending planters to procure 

 the plants in the fall or early winter 

 and keep them heeled in, even if they are 

 unable to plant them in their permanent 

 quarters. D. M. 



DOROTHY PERKINS ROSE. 



A writer in the Gardeners' Magazine 

 (Lon<lon) says that Dorothy Perkins 

 rose is unquestionably one of the finest 

 of the rambling varieties, and it makes 

 a fine companion for such splendid roses 



