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8 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Fbbbuarv 24, 1910. 



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FERN FRONDS TURNING BROWN. 



I am sending you leaves of my ferns. 

 Can you tell me why the leaves turn 

 brown? They commence at the roots and 

 turn brown all the way down. The plants 

 look healthy. I sometimes think perhaps 

 I water them too much, but the soil is 

 always dry on the top before I water 

 plants. C. H. 



Poor drainage, causing soil stagnation, 

 dryness at the root, or a too arid atmos- 

 phere, are causes of the fronds dying in 

 this manner. Sometimes, also, if they 

 are much potbound, the same dying off 

 will occur. You cannot prevent some of 

 the older fronds from going off in this 

 manner, but provided your drainage is 

 good the plants can scarcely be overwa- 

 tered. If much matted with roots, try the 

 effects of some weak liquid manure, or 

 some soot water to tone up the plants. 

 Use this once a week. C. "W. 



MILLEPEDS IN FERN HOUSE. 



I have lately been troubled with mille- 

 peds, or thousand-legged worms. They 

 have a hard shell and are about one inch 

 long. I wrote to the state zoologist, but 

 he could not tell me what to do with 

 them. I sprayed the benches, both above 

 and below, with nicotine solution, but 

 that, of course, only killed them when it 

 came in contact with them. I also used 

 Slug Shot, but with no better result. The 

 pests seem to harbor around the adian- 

 tum plants, which we grow on raised 

 benches. I am now thinking of trying 

 tobacco dust and salt. It is not prac- 

 ticable for us to use hydrocyanic acid 

 gas. If you can suggest any remedy, I 

 shall be greatly obliged. E. W. 



The best remedy I have tried for 

 millepeds is fumigation with Nico-fume 

 paper, but whether the fumigation will 

 be strong enough to injure the young 

 fronds of the adiantums or not, is an 

 open question. I have used this paper 

 in a fern house in the proportion of 

 twelve sheets of the paper to a house 

 20x100 feet, without injury to the plants, 

 the house in question being filled with as- 

 sorted small ferns. W. H. T. 



THE SPORE CASES ON FERNS. 



Enclosed you will find a frond of 

 maidenhair fern. I notice little brown 

 scales on the edges of the under side of 

 each leaflet. Are these a species of brown 

 scale, or are they little seeds? They are 

 80 uniform that they seem to be a nat- 

 ural growth rather than a disease. I got 

 a lot of these ferns from Pennsylvania 

 and am afraid to put them in my fern 

 house until I know what is the matter. If 

 this is a disease, will dipping the foliage 

 in a weak solution of tobacco water once 

 or twice get rid of it? To make this so- 

 lution, I boiled the leaves of plug tobacco 

 and then diluted the liquid. 



I have seen this same scale on native 



ferns from the woods, but I notice that 

 all the ferns I get from a certain old, re- 

 liable wholesale grower are free from it. 

 The maidenhair ferns are in fine condi- 

 tion with the exception of this scale. 



S. F. C. 



There is nothing the matter with the 

 maidenhair frond in question, the brown 

 spots or scales being only the sori, or 

 spore cases. If S. F. C. will carefully 

 lift one of these sori with the point of a 

 knife and then place it under a magnify- 

 ing glass, the spores or seeds may be 

 readily seen, though those upon the spec- 

 imen sent are not yet ripe. 



W. H. Taplin. 



PROPAGATING. 



It is a good plan to take advantage 

 of the many nice runners now appearing 

 on the double violets and root them in 

 sandy loam, which we prefer to clear 

 sand. Avoid propagating from any 

 which have been affected by spot, or 

 which are of a weakly appearance. Care- 

 ful selection of stock materially improves 

 violets, as, indeed, it does every other 

 class of plants, and you can greatly im- 

 prove your plants for another year by re- 

 jecting all but the most vigorous stock 

 for propagating purposes. On the singles, 

 runners are also now becoming more 

 abundant, A great many growers wait 

 until their plants are done blooming, then 

 tear the plants to pieces for propagating 

 purposes, and, truth to tell, we have 

 found that this plan gives just as good 

 results as where runners were carefully 

 rooted in sand two months earlier. 



MARIE LOUISE VIOLETS. 



What is the trouble with our Marie 

 Louise violets? We set them out in solid 

 benches September 10 in a soil com- 

 posed of the top of an old pasture, with 

 about one-third well rotted cow and 

 horse manure. In the center bed of the 

 same house wc grow sweet peas, which 

 are doing well. The average night tem- 

 perature is 48 degrees. The violets did 

 well at first, but for the last month we 

 have not been able to cut an average 

 of over one bloom to twenty-five plants. 

 The_j)lants seem to be healthy and quite 

 fulj of buds, but they do not mature. 

 We keep the runners off. We have not 

 fed them, because the plants do not seem 



to need it, nor are they bothered with 

 insects, so far as we can see. 



W. C. F. C. 



You are growing your violets al .. 

 gether too warm. The temperature y u 

 name, 48 degrees at night, suits swt t 

 peas well, especially when flowering, t ; 

 it is too high for violets. The b- . 

 violets, both double and single, we ha ■ 

 grown were given a night temperature c 

 40 degrees, and while doubles will star. 

 a slightly warmer house than singles, y 

 would not care to have it rise over 4:- 

 degrees at any time. In soil prepare 

 as yours was, the plants should not ye^ 

 require any feeding. The fact of their 

 doing poorly is undoubtedly due to tc 

 warm treatment. C. W. 



DARK DOUBLE VIOLET. 



Can you give me information as to tho 

 name of the dark double violets, whicli 

 are now being grown so largely? I have 

 grown Marie Louise, but cannot get the 

 dark color. W. F. S. 



Marie Louise is still more largely 

 grown in Poughkeepsie and other violet 

 centers than any other dark double 

 violet. Another fine dark variety is 

 Farquhar, introduced from Boston fif- 

 teen to twenty years ago. When well 

 grown, as it is to be seen in the Ehine- 

 beck district, there is no other double 

 violet to compare with Marie Louise. Of 

 the lighter colored varieties. Lady Hume 

 Campbell is the most generally reliable. 



W. C. 



MULCHIP G GLADIOLL 



I grow gladioli outdoors for the mar- 

 ket, and our sandy soil in this part of 

 Michigan gets rather hot during the 

 summer. This was especially so during 

 the last season, when we had but little 

 rain. I planted them far enough apart 

 for cultivation and I cultivated well; 

 yet the spikes did not grow to perfec- 

 tion. For the coming season I have been 

 thinking of planting them about twenty 

 inches between the rows and not culti- 

 vating them, but mulching them, instead, 

 with straw or leaves. Do you think the 

 latter method would be all right? How 

 would a small irrigating system do, to 

 sprinkle in the morning over the mulch- 

 ing? W. E. 



Regarding the mulching of gladioli, 

 this can be done with good results where 

 the soil is unusually sandy, but if the 

 soil contains considerable loam I would 

 prefer to keep the top of the soil pul- 

 verized, which is in itself a mulch. Straw, 

 leaves or litter of any kind may be used 

 and water applied once or twice a week 

 at evening. 



In small plantings for cuttings, 1 

 would advise that the rows be from 

 eighteen to twenty inches apart, giving 

 just room enough to pass between the 

 rows for cutting. I would not advise 

 application of water to any extent until 

 the spikes begin to show bud. 



Arthur Co wee. 



Beloit, Wis. — John Rindfleisch is 

 ready to begin work in the erection of ad- 

 ditions which will cost approximately $6,- 

 000. The new buildings will comprise 

 four greenhouses, each 25x100 feet, be- 

 sides an office, potting room and boiler 

 room, whose combined area vfill be 20x 

 120 feet. 



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