14 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



February 17, 19lo. 



are millions of wild roses in close prox- 

 imity to our place and one can hardly 

 kill them with an ax; so I propose to 

 experiment with some this summer. The 

 worst feature I see, is the thorns, which 

 vary in numbers from a few to thick 

 clusters, but could easily be rubbed off 

 with a heavy leather glove. H. C. S. 



That many of our wild rosea can be 

 and are used as stocks for budding and 

 grafting is certain, but with what 

 amount of success. I am unable to say. 

 The wild rose of Britain, Bosa canina, is 

 used almost exclusively for outside work 

 there, especially for standard and half 

 standard grades. The reason why 

 Manetti isi preferred is because it pos- 

 sesses so fine a ' mass of fibrous roots, 

 which gather and supply more food to 

 the plant than do the less fibrous roots 

 possessed by most varieties. Some vari- 

 eties of wild stock have also the unde- 

 sirable habit of taking a long rest in 

 winter, making them unfit for using for 

 greenhouse purposes. 



Experimenting with different stocks 

 which are native to your section, and 

 comparing results with those on Manetti, 

 will certainly give you desired informa- 

 tion. ElBES. 



WHITE FLY ON PRIMULAS. 



I am sending you a primula leaf with 

 white fly and eggs. They seem to breed 

 by the thousands. Smoking with to- 

 bacco stems seems to have no effect on 



have found from repeated trials that the 

 above quantities suffice if a calm evening 

 is chosen for the work. C. W. 



HYAaNTHS AND NARCISSI. 



How soon ought we to bring our hya- 

 cinth and narcissus bulbs to the heat to 

 produce blooms for Easter? The aver- 

 age night temperature is about 50 de- 

 grees, W. C. F. C. 



27. 

 your 

 four 

 they 

 them 

 them 

 w'hen 

 ,C. 



' Easter Sunday comes March 

 House your hyacinths March 1, and 

 narcissi, if of the Trumpet family, 

 or five days later — that is, provided 

 are well started. It is well to start 

 in good season, as it is easy to hold 

 a few days in a cold house or shed, 

 open. W. 



PLANTS TURN YELLOW. 



Will you kindly inform me what is the 

 trouble in my greenhouse. I am a young 

 florist, located in Greenville, 111., and just 

 started the business for myself eight 

 months ago. I have only one greenhouse, 

 15x50, heated by a small steam boiler, 

 and one 2 V^ -inch pipe runs up in the 

 middle from the boiler to the end of 

 the house and comes back by three 

 2 -inch returns under each side bench. 

 The house runs from north to south. I 

 have cut a nice lot of carnations since 

 last September, but my geraniums, 

 asparagus, ferns, etc., do not grow well. 

 I have my propagation bench covered 



of air on the top ventilators all nifriij 

 Have you painted your pipes with ;uiv 

 of the patent metal paints on the m n'- 

 ket? These sometimes do great dama .>^! 

 especially if some turpentine has b< !;n 

 mixed in them. A safe paint is laii) 

 black and linseed oil, if you want ; o 

 cover any heating pipes as a rust p ,■ 

 ventive. 



If your well water is so very hard, it 

 will be better to use the soft rain waUr 

 for the plants. Write to the Agric. 1 

 tural College of your state, send a sam- 

 ple of your well water and ask the in 

 their opil^on of it. They will analyze U 

 and adiige you if unsuitable, and may 

 be able to suggest a way to improve it. 



For so small a house I think hot 

 water would be better for you than 

 steam. The latter heat is strong and 

 drying and temperature fluctuations 

 must be more violent with it. The heat 

 ing expert of the Review would be 

 glad to tell you how to change from 

 steam to hot water. Do not get dis 

 couraged. Write again for information, 

 it is difficult without knowing exact con 

 ditions to advise you, but the Review 

 will help you in every possible, practical 

 way. W. N. C. 



PALMS WITH SHALLOW ROOTS. 



Kindly tell me if there is any way of 

 preventing palms from pushing up out 

 of the pots. All of ours are doing this 

 more or less. They are not potbound. 

 They stand above the soil on their roots 



IMPORTANT NOTICE 



Every reader of this paper can find somethiiig of interest among the Review'! 

 ClasBified advertigementfl. . Almost every day you want something. Yon keep on 

 wanting it because yon do not realize yon can fill almost any want through the 

 Classified pages of this paper. 



For a small expenditure you can advertise to thousands of readers. You 

 will find someone, and often very many, who will buy the stock you want to sell, 

 or sell you what you want to buy. 



10 cents per line of six averas:e words. 



them. They just ruin the plants. What 

 is the simplest and best method of fight- 

 ing them? Ik A. D. 



Spraying with soap and water helps 

 to keep white fly in check. Fumigation 

 with tobacco stems has no effect on them 

 whatever; in fact, they seem to revel in 

 a smoky atmosphere. One form of fumi- 

 gation only will clean them out and that 

 is hydrocyanic acid gas. This must be 

 very carefully used, as it is a deadly gas, 

 but hundreds of successful florists now 

 rely on it exclusively. Always use it in 

 the evening, and the lower the tempera- 

 ture the better. There is little liability 

 of injuring the plants at this season of 

 the year; in hot weather the foliage is 

 more liable to be hurt. 



For a house 20x100 we use two jars, 

 each containing two ounces of sulphuric 

 acid and six ounces of water, dropping 

 one ounce of cyanide of potassium in 

 each. We find two doses, given two or 

 three nights apart, will exterminate the fly 

 andA aH^night exposure will no*t hurt 

 the most tender plants in the le^t. We 



with glass, so the cuttings do fine, but as 

 soon as I put them on the bench they 

 start to turn yellow, as you see by the 

 sample leaves enclosed. I have a wood 

 wall between the boiler room and the 

 greenhouse, the cracks being covered 

 with paper. I give as much ventilation 

 as possible, ^o you think that I ought 

 to put something on the pipes while they 

 are hot? Please tell me what to do. I 

 also would like to have your advice 

 about watering my stock. I use cistern 

 water, but I like to use the well water, 

 but it is so hard that it kills my young 

 plants. Can I put something in that 

 water so it can be sweet? E. C. 



If your carnations have bloomed well 

 since last September, the house evidently 

 suits them. It is possible that you are 

 allowing gas to escape from your boiler 

 room to the greenhouse. This would' ac- 

 count for the Asparagus Sprengeri 

 dying, as your sample shoots have done. 

 Close up tightly every possible crevice 

 where this can come in. If the trouble 

 still continues, try leaving a little chink 



and get wabbly. We have to push 

 stakes down in the pots to hold them 

 upright. This spoils the looks of theni 

 and also their sale. What can I do to 

 them? A. H. W. 



It is natural for the majority of 

 palms to have the base of the plant 

 above the surface of the ground, though 

 the roots are usually stiff enough to sup- 

 port them without need of staking. The 

 plants in question, however, may have 

 been potted unnecessarily high, with 

 the result that they are unsteady in the 

 soil. When repotting, keep the base of 

 the plants just below the surface of the 

 soil and then there is not likely to be 

 a recurrence of this trouble. 



When growing naturally, many of 

 the palms are found with the base 

 raised up from one to three feet above 

 the soil, according to the age and size 

 of the plants, but they are enabled to 

 stand strong winds by means of ithe 

 foundation of stout roots that supports 

 them. , W. H. T. 



