8 



The Weekly Florists' J^view. 



July 8, 1909. 



SPIDER ON VIOLETS. 



1 planted my Princess of Wales iu the 

 open about May 15, in a rather heavy 

 piece of land, with a good coat of horse 

 and eow manure plowed in. I divided 

 the old clumps about the end of March 

 and planted the rooted runners in a cold- 

 frame, where they made good, fresh 

 roots and nice, green foliage. Now they 

 are all turning yellow with the red 

 spider^ I would be glad if you could 

 advise' me of a spraying solution to ex- 

 terminate that pest. I have tried nico- 

 tine, the same strength as for green and 

 black fly, but it does not seem to do any 

 good. My water tank is only fifteen 

 feet from the ground. I guess I would 

 not get enough pressure to dislodge the 

 spider. I have heard of a solution of a 

 certain amount of salt in water, for 

 killing spider. How strong should it be 

 used? "CM. 



It is a difficult, if not impossible, task 

 to clean out red spider on violets and 

 carnations grown in the open. Under 

 glass some carnation growers spray their 

 plants once a week with salt and water, 

 two tablespoonfuls of salt to three gal- 

 lons of water. The same has been tried 

 on violets, with good results. It is neces- 

 sary to wet the under side of the leaves, 

 which is no easy task in the case of 

 violets. Another remedy recently recom- 

 mended for red spider is a solution of 

 sulpho-naphthol, at the rate of a wine- 

 glassful to three gallons of water. There 

 would be no harm in trying both reme- 

 dies. Neither will injure your plants 

 and each may prove helpful. While the 

 appearance of your plants may now be 

 discouraging, your case is by no means 

 an exceptional one, and there is ample 

 time for them to grow into good clumps 

 before housing time. The real growth 

 of violets is not made until the cool fall 

 nights come along. C. W. 



PECKY CYPRESS. 



Philip J. Foley writes the Review 

 as follows: 



"It has been called to the writer's 

 attention that there is being offered for 

 sale pecky cypress which comes from 

 the middle states, and which has not the 

 lasting qualities of the Louisiana red or 

 gulf pecky cypress. 



"As to the lasting qualities of the 

 Louisiana red or gulf pecky cypress there 

 is no question. Such concerns as Bassett 

 & Washburn, Hinsdale, 111.; Poehlmann 

 Bros. Co., Morton Grove, 111. ; Emil 

 Buettner, Park Ridge, 111.; Peter Rein- 

 berg, Chicago, 111.; J. F. Wilcox, Coun- 

 cil Bluffs, la.; A. Graham & Sons, 

 Cleveland, O. ; J. Breitmeyer's Sons, Mt, 

 Clemens, Mich.; Wm. L. Rock Floral Co., 

 Kansas City, Mo.; Griswold Greenhouse 

 Co., Ashtabula, 0.; Geo. F. Hartung, 

 Sandusky, O., and hundreds of others too 

 numerous to mention, have used Louis- 

 iana red pecky cypress for years, and 



can attest to its lasting qualities. Some 

 of the above named have used it ten 

 years oi" more. 



"Geo. P. Hartung, Sandusky, O., miade 

 a statement at the gardeners' convention 

 in Cleveland last year that, after haying 

 been in use in his benches five yearsy he 

 turned over Louisiana red pecky cypress 

 and found that it did not start to jrot 

 anywhere, even at the cro$s supports.; 



"Within the last week florists hiave 

 advised us that when they departed f?om 

 using Louisiana red peck, and bouight 

 that which was offered at a, little Jess 

 money, and in some cases not at a jess 

 price, they, got a very inferior article, 

 which did not last. It would be a great 

 injustice to any florist to induce him to 

 invest his money in lumber for benches, 

 only to find that instead of lasting ten 

 or fifteen years, it would only last two 

 or three. Experience has taught that 

 Louisiana red peck is the stock that 

 lasts. Can you beat it? If so, we want 

 to know what i? better, as the best is 

 none too good to offer to our friends. 

 We believe that florists in buying pecky 

 cypress should insist on getting a guar- 



antee that it is the genuine Louisiana 

 gulf red cypress, or refuse to buy it. 

 Ther.e is nothing cheaper on the market 

 today, considering the lasting quality of 

 Uhe wood, than Louisiana red pecky 

 ] cypress, so why use a cheap substitute 

 that will not last half as long? No mat- 

 ter whom you buy it from, insist on hav- 

 ' ing Louisiana red gulf stock. There are 



■ plenty of people to buy it from, and 

 ' gulf red stock is practically free of sap. 



■ Sap will rot out in a very few years, 

 'while heart red lasts many years. 



' * We would like this letter published 

 if it meets with your approval, as we are 

 • writing you at the request of people who 

 are interested not only in the welfare of 

 themselves, but of the other florists as 

 well.", 



The Review would add that lumber 

 dealers not familiar with florists ' needs 

 sometimes deliver what the lumber trade 

 lyiows as random widths; that is, boards 

 of uneven width. Such lumber would 

 be CQstly if the price were only half 

 that of the uniform 6-inch boards sup- 

 pjied . by the firms that make a specialty 

 of florists' trade. 



I 



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SHOULD PARKS 



GROW STOCK? 



K^:^ 



PLANTS FOR BEDDING. 



Park Men Discuss Cost. 



At the last meeting of the American 

 Association of Park Superintendents 

 someone raised this question: 



"Is it more advisable for a park in a 

 small city to own its own greenhouse 

 than to purchase its tender plants from 

 local florists?" 



The discussion was of m"uch interest 

 to the park men and their views will nat- 

 urally be good reading for the florists 

 who grow bedding stock. 



"I think it is advisable for any park 

 having a floral display to liave its own 

 greenhouse," said Theodore Wirth, of 

 Minneapolis, "and I think every such 

 park ought to have one. In small park 

 systems they ought to have a superin- 

 tendent who is a good gardener and who 

 knows how to make use of the plants. 

 He can grow what he wants and keep up 

 with the times; he does not need to wait 

 until the local florist wakes up. The local 

 florist will only grow what he is sure to 

 sell, and the progressive park man will 

 grow what is pleasing to the public — 

 something new. They don't want to 

 plant coleus and geraniums every year, 

 and the only way to get out of that is to 

 have a greenhouse. ' ' 



"Cedar Rapids," said H. S. Keffer, 

 of Cedar Rapids, la., "bought its plants 

 and flowers and the last year paid $670. 

 The commissioners built a greenhouse 

 18x80 feet and raised $1,400 to $1,500 

 worth of plants. I believe it is a paying 

 proposition for any city to have its own 

 greenhouse for its parks. ' ' 



A Decided Difference of Opinion. 



"Mr. Wirth and I have never agreed 

 on that question," said C. E. Keith, of 

 Bridgeport. Conn. "I believe it is better 



for a small city or a small department to 

 go out and buy its flowers. In our little 

 town we have all the flowers we want; 

 we have so many that we are the envy of 

 those little suburban towns about us, 

 like Hartford and New Haven. We se- 

 lect the flowers we have and the cost does 

 not exceed $300, and it stands to reason 

 you can't hire a man to grow your flow- 

 ers for the department for $300. You 

 go to big florists that grow them in large 

 quantities and you can buy them cheaper 

 than you can grow them, and for that 

 reason I have never agreed with Brother 

 Wirth. Brother Wirth has put out as 

 pretty formal work as can be found in 

 the New England states and spent more 

 money than small departments can afford 

 to appropriate." 



' ' It seems to be a settled fact, ' ' the 

 president remarked, "that if the amount 

 exceeds $300 it pays better for a park 

 system to have its own greenhouse." 



Superintendent Should be Florist. 



"I believe I would take issue with 

 Mr. Keith on that subject," said J. W. 

 Rodgers, of Cincinnati. "The proper 

 thing for a small park department to do 

 is to employ as head of the department 

 a thorough florist, and he can bring out 

 more beautiful features in the way of 

 bedding and planting flowers and more 

 or less formal gardening, and if he is a 

 competent gardener and florist he can 

 certainly grow the flowers cheaper than 

 they can be purchased. I have had con- 

 siderable experience, and I know you 

 have to depend on 100 per cent profit to 

 make a success of the florists' business. 

 The city could save money if the super- 

 intendent was also a florist." 



"Springfield spends several hundred 

 dollars in buying flowers," said Arthur 

 Hay, of Springfield, 111. "We are now 

 going to erect a greenhouse, for which 



