-•■•r •', ' •*, 



October 29, 1908, 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



u 



The Delivery Department of Pennock Bros., Philadelphia. 



centimeters of the^ insecticide, there were 

 eight cubic centimeters of pure nicotine. 

 This gave one part nicotine to 480 parts 

 of water. In the latter experiments, out 

 of the seven and a half centimeters used, 

 about three were nicotine in each gallon 

 of spray material, or one part nicotine 

 to 1,250 parts of water. 



From the foregoing it will be seen that 

 the amount of the insecticides usually ad- 

 vised is not sufficient to kill thrips ex- 

 cept under the most favorable conditions. 

 However, in order to determine accurate- 

 ly just how much of any of the nicotine 

 preparations now on the market should 

 bo used for the extermination of thrips 

 it is necessary to know the per cent of 

 nicotine in them. 



All the insecticides used in my experi- 

 ments for the repression of thrips were 

 analyzed by the Department of Chemistry 

 of the University of Illinois. Their re- 

 port may be of interest to florists. 



The Percentage of Nicotine in Insecticides. 



: : ^ £ : 

 a a I S : 



•rm •« • 00 f . 



Insecticide. <« K« f^X, «E 



£| £l S-2 IS 

 •no "Co xa< go 



M M w S 



Nlco-Fume Liquid 38.15 41.52 41.70 40 



Nlcotlclde 39.78 40.04 40.09 No claim 



Nlkoteen 26.75 28.62 28.66 30 



Rose Leaf Insecti- 

 cide 2.25 



To-bak-ine Liquid 42.23 40.47 39.14 40 



XL All Liquid... 3.47 



XL All Vaporli- 



Ing Compound . . 30.99 



Nlco-Fume paper, total nicotine, 2.1884 grams 



per sheet. To-bak-lne paper, total nicotine, 

 28.51 grains per sheet. 



XL All Vaporizing Compound analyzed 6.83% 

 camphor. 



J. K. Haywood, in Bulletin No. 68, U. 

 S. Division of Chemistry, reported Niko- 

 teen to coi^tain 26.01 per cent nicotine. 

 Rose Leaf Extract of tobacco, as an- 

 alyzed by the chemists of the Kentucky 

 Experiment Station, contained 2.00, 1.54, 

 1.91, 2.07, 2.14 per cent nicotine respec- 

 tively in the different samples. This lat- 

 ter insecticide cannot be called a high 

 strength nicotine insecticide in compari- 

 son with the other compounds named in 

 the table, except the XL All Liquid. 

 Even though it is advised to use for 

 fumigation six times, and for spraying 

 eight times as much as is advised for the 

 other insecticides, it is apparent that we 

 cannot get the same amount of pure 

 nicotine in the vapor or spray when it 

 contains less than one-sixth as much nico- 

 tine. When the nicotine content is 

 known it is possible to liberate as much 

 nicotine from a low strength compound 

 by using proportionately larger quanti- 

 ties. 



In spraying with large amounts of low 

 strength nicotine preparations there is 



danger of discoloring flowers and of 

 coating the leaves with a gummy res- 

 inous deposit which some of them con- 

 tain. Such preparations are valuable for 

 use outdoors and for evaporation in the 

 greenhouse, especially from pans on the 

 steam pipes. 



The point to keep in mind is that the 

 value of these insecticides depends on 

 the amount of nicotine in them and th« 

 price should be governed accordingly. 

 An insecticide containing two per cent 

 nicotine at $1 a gallon is more expensive 

 than a forty per cent preparation at $10 

 a gallon, when we consider it in relation 

 to the cost of the pure or absolute nico- 

 tine. 



It is essential that the nicotine of an 

 insecticide be uniform, not only because 

 the florist is entitled to full value for his 

 money, but because it is only possible to 

 secure positive results, without danger, 

 from the use of insecticides of definite 

 and uniform strength which the grower 

 has become accustomed to using. An ex- 

 ample may be cited in the injury pro- 



employees, will doubtless explain the 

 cases of injury to ordinary greenhouse 

 plants. 



Nicotine is a powerful poison and all 

 its preparations are poisonous. If not 

 so designated they should be, as well as 

 the per cent of nicotine they contain. If 

 these things were done and the standard 

 maintained the best nicotine preparations 

 now on the market for use in greenhouses 

 against sucking insects, would leave little 

 to be desired in this line. 



A. C. Beal. 



HARDWOOD ASHES. 



Please let me know how to use hard- 

 wood ashes as a palm and fern fertilizer. 

 Kindly state how strong and how often 

 to use it to get results. L. H. 



The most satisfactory fertilizer for 

 palms and ferns is one that is rich in 

 nitrogen and phosphoric acid, and these 

 manures are lacking in wood ashes, the 

 latter being rich in potash instead. For 



Automobile Delivery of Pennock Bros., Philadelphia. 



duced by one of the best known insecti- 

 cides used for spraying carnations in one 

 of the largest establishments near Chi- 

 cago. The analysis of this insecticide 

 material revealed the fact that it con- 

 tained from eight to nine per cent more 

 nicotine than any other sample of this 

 preparation that we have examined. This 

 fact, taken in connection with that of the 

 rather inexact measurement of insecti- 

 cides frequently practiced by greenhouse 



this reason wood ashes is less beneficial 

 to plants of this character than stable 

 manure, dried blood, soot or bone dust, 

 though a moderate quantify of the ashes 

 may be mixed in the potting soil to some 

 advantage. W. H. T. 



Bowling Geeen, O. — The Mercer Flo- 

 ral Co., which purchased the Rode green- 

 houses, has now added two new houses to 

 the establishment. 



