Febbdahv 17, 1010. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



-r* 



J5 



Some of the **^1 Varieties" at the Heinz Pickle Factory, Pittsburg, January 26, 1910. 



FLATS. 



Noticing tne Eeview's advice to grow- 

 ers to get their flats ready for spring 

 trade, I will describe my method of 

 making flats. For the ends I use pieces 

 of inch lumber, twelve inches long and 

 three inches wide. The sides and bot- 

 toms are of common plaster lath, cut in 

 two, making the length of the flat two 

 feet. This form of flat, 12x24 inches and 

 three inches deep, makes a nice size for 

 handling and gives two tiers for 4-foot 

 benches. 



In transplanting into these flats, we 

 place in each flat fourteen rows of eight 

 plants each, or 112 plants in all, which 

 we sell as 100 plants. We have used this 

 kind of flats for over pfty years and find 

 that they give the best of satisfaction. 



H. C. Geeen. 



FORCED VALLEY PIPS. 



I have forced some valley in boxes 

 four feet long, eleven inches wide and 

 twelve inches deep, the valley being 

 planted in about five inches of sand in 

 the bottom part of the box. I am cut- 

 ting them now. Can I use these pips 

 next season? If so, please state what 

 treatment they should have. S. S. 



After forcing, lily of the valley pips 

 are of no value whatever and it would 

 not pay you to attempt to use them 

 again. C. 



WHITE FLY. 



I enclose herewith a sample leaf with 

 egg deposits. When hatched, this is a 

 small white fly. Can you tell me what 

 it is and how to exterminate it? 



C. L. 



The egg deposits are those of the white 

 fly. The only sure way to exterminate 

 it is fumigation with hydrocyanic acid 

 gas. We have found that for a house 

 20x100 and twelve and one-half feet to 

 the ridge, two jars, each containing two 

 ounces of sulphuric acid and six ounces 

 of water, into which one ounce of cya- 

 nide of potassium is dropped, will kill 

 most of the fly. A second application 

 two or three days later will finish the 

 job. Select cool evenings for the opera- 

 tions. Drop in the cyanide and beat a 

 hasty exit. Lock the door and allow no 

 one to enter until next day. Leave the 

 house closed tight. It will be perfectly 

 safe for anyone to enter the next morn- 

 ing. A host of formulas have been 



given for killing this fly, some much 

 stronger than others. You will find the 

 above proportions will clean it out. Ee- 

 raember the deadly nature of the gas and 

 run no risks with it. C. W. 



TO EXTERMINATE MILLEPEDS. 



I certainly do not agree with the cor- 

 respondent who said that noillepeds are 

 not injurious to plants, as I have had 

 some costly experience with them. I 

 have known the pests to clean out, or 

 almost clean out, a whole box of seed- 

 lings in one night. They have also eaten 

 some of my plants, which they prey upon 

 about the same way as wood lice and 

 some other bugs do. 



The remedy is a simple one and applies 

 to both the millepeds and the wood lice. 

 Get five or ten cents' worth of brown 

 sugar and some Paris green. I always 

 buy the latter by the pound, so as to 

 have it on hand. Mix the quantity re- 

 quired; there is no need of being exact 

 as to the proportions, so long as you put 

 in enough Paris green to color the sugar. 

 Drop a pinch of the mixture here and 

 there between the plants and seed boxes, 

 and in a short time you will find Mr. 

 Milleped lying dead on his back. This 

 recipe, I think, is simpler and cheaper 

 than most others, and is not dangerous; 

 but you must keep the mixture covered, 

 lest your favorite cat have access to it, 

 and you must place it beyond the reach 

 of children. F. J. Fillmore. 



ASPARAGUS PLUMOSUS NANUS. 



What is the proper distance to plant 

 Asparagus plumosus in solid beds? WiU 

 2 V^ -inch stock, bought now, plunged in 

 a hotbed in 3-inch pots and planted in 

 June, produce good results by fall? I 

 would build over the plants and keep a 

 night temperature of 60 degrees. I have 

 had good success with them when planted 

 8x9 inches in ten inches of soil, placed on 

 three inches of cinders. E. W. Q. S. 



Planted 8x10 or 8x12, plumosus does 

 well. You will have to wait about a full 

 year after planting before strings are 

 ready to cut. This means two years from 

 seed sowing to the first cutting. An aver- 

 age temperature of 65 degrees is better 

 than 60 degrees. If you will make your 

 bed eighteen to twenty-four inches deep, 

 with good sod and cow manure, it should 

 produce profitably for seven to nine 

 years. In ten inches of soil its lease of 

 life will be much shorter. Ample drain- 



age by means of broken bricks, stone or 

 coarse cinders must always be provided. 

 Leaves one year old and only partially 

 decayed may be added to the soil; the 

 asparagus seems to like them. A too 

 close compost may cause yellowing of the 

 foliage. C. W. 



GARDENIAS. 



The demand for gardenias in winter 

 seems to grow steadily each year. While 

 there are occasional periods of glut even 

 at this season of the year, prices as a rule 

 hold up well, and those who are able to 

 make gardenias bloom freely during the 

 coldest months will find them a paying 

 crop. We still havie complaints of loss of 

 buds and yellowing foliage, due to too 

 wet or dry root conditions, cold drafts or 

 extremes of temperatures. Those who 

 would succeed with gardenias in winter 

 must watch them carefully and keep as 

 even a temperature as possible, particu- 

 larly at night. The idea that they are 

 tropical plants and can be forced ad libi- 

 tum is responsible for many failures. 

 They are not hard plants to grow after 

 we have mastered their requirements. A 

 night temperature of 65 to 70 degrees 

 just now is right for those which are 

 blooming. A fairly moist atmosphere is 

 indispensable, as is a porous soil. Water 

 should pass quickly through the benches 

 when applied. If it does not, the condi- 

 tions are wrong and yellow foliage and 

 dropping buds are certainties. 



Now that fire heat is at its maximum 

 and the propagating benches are con- 

 stantly warm, it is a good plan to put in 

 a batch of cuttings. They should have a 

 bottom heat of 75 to 85 degrees, with a 

 top heat 10 degrees lower. It is entirely 

 needless to put each cutting in a pot and 

 plunge them in fermenting material. An 

 ordinary sand bench with the necessary 

 heat will answer just as well. The cut- 

 tings can hardly be overwatered. Let 

 them get once dry and they are gone. If 

 enclosed in a case, the roots may appear 

 a little earlier, but cuttings will root 

 easily in any house where the necessary 

 heat and moisture can be afforded. As 

 soon as they are rooted, place them in 

 small pots and stand them in a close, 

 warm house until established, after which 

 they can be gradually inured to cooler 

 conditions. 



Everett, Mass. — The boiler house at 

 the greenhouses of the Woodlawn ceme- 

 tery was recently destroyed by fire, 

 caused by an overheated boiler. 



j: ii'M 



