34 



The Florists^ Review 



OCTOBKU 20. 1U21 



dozen borers being found in southeast- 

 ern Michigan. "The insect is confined 

 to perhaps three townships in the ex- 

 treme southeastern corner," he said. 

 "Considering the great expense of the 

 quarantine and of inspection, if the 

 quarantine could be confined only to the 

 county where we know it to exist, it 

 would be sufficient for all purposes and 

 give far better results than including 

 the whole state." 



"Personally, in this particular case," 

 explained Chairman Marlatt, "I am ab- 

 solutely in sympathy with the localized 

 quarantine of the infested area, and 

 speaking personally, I am not at all in 

 sympathy with the idea of including the 

 vast territory in a general quarantine 

 and letting that territory take care of 

 itself." 



PHLOX FBOM CUTTINGS. 



I wish to inquire concerning the prop- 

 agation of hardy phlox from root cut- 

 tings. When is the best time to propa- 

 gate from root cuttings? If it is in the 

 fall, how long before freezing must the 



root cuttings be put in the soil? Can 

 they be planted just before freezing? 

 I wish to propagate them in a cold- 

 frame. Is this feasible? 



N. A. S.— "Wis. 



Spring is the best time. Cover the 

 roots with sand and keep them well 

 watered. You will get fine plants the 

 first season, but for stronger plants 

 root soft-wood cuttings in spring. This 

 latter method is the one generally 

 adopted and it insures strong plants in 

 the fall, fit for selling. C. W. 



SEND ANOTHER SPECIMEN. 



Will you tell us the name of the en- 

 closed flower? D. F. C. — Minn. 



Is this an indoor or outdoor flower? 

 Is it from a tree or shrub, or is it her- 

 baceous? It is impossible to tell what 

 it is for a certainty from the specimen 

 sent. Can you mail a good leaf as well 

 as a flower? C. W. 



CARNATION DRY-ROT. 



Within the last three weeks we have 

 noticed a condition among our carna- 

 tions that we do not understand. The 

 carnations were planted the latter part 

 of July and the houses were shaded at 

 the time of planting. For the first few 

 weeks the plants seemed to do fairly 

 well. Then they began to die with what 

 apparently was stem-rot. There is no 

 disease above the roots, but the plants 

 die in the benches and the roots are 

 rotted oflf right in the ground. The roots 

 are invariably soggy and in a rotted con- 

 dition. One of these plants in a semi- 

 dying condition is being sent. We would 

 be grateful for information as to how 

 we can combat the disease. 



J. H.— Kan. 



culture designated to promote a sturdy 

 growth and prompt removal of the af- 

 fected plants is about all you can do. 



A. F. J. B. 



Your carnation plants are affected 

 with carnation dry-rot. This disease 

 attacks the plants anywhere along the 

 stem and differs from the common wet 

 etem-rot in that it progresses more 

 slowly and, in many cases, it destroys 

 the plant a branch at a time until the 

 entire plant is dead. Its presence mani- 

 fests itself after the damage is done 

 and, once a plant begins to go, nothing 

 can save it. A bench which is badly 

 affected had better be thrown out and 

 planted with fresh stock after the soil is 

 renewed. If, however, only here and 

 there a plant is affected, the bench can 

 be saved by promptly pulling up the 

 affected plants and burning them. 

 Sometimes a branch will be affected well 

 above the main stem of the plant and, 

 if it is severed below the affected region, 

 the rest of the plant may be saved, but 

 such cases are rare. The mushy roots 

 are merely the result of decay after the 

 stem-rot had destroyed the plant above 

 and had cut off the flow of sap, which 

 then stagnated in the roots. Careful 



CURING BUD-ROT. 



Will you kindly examine the speci- 

 mens of Matchless carnations mailed to 

 you by parcel post and determine what 

 is the disease they have and advise us 

 how they can be cured? 



The center of the bud is found to be 

 rotten before the bud has opened. This 

 condition will disappear about Decem- 

 ber 1 and will reappear around April 1. 

 The plants have suffered from this di- 

 sease for several years, but this year 

 it is more severe than it has ever been 

 previously. In the same house and 

 growing under the same conditions is 

 Enchantress Supreme, but it is totally 

 free from the disease. 



These Matchless were planted July 1 

 in soil in which there was a liberal sup- 

 ply of horse manure with a sprinkling 

 of bone meal. Eight weeks after plant- 

 ing they received a top-dressing of tank- 

 age. They receive no overhead water- 

 ing. W. W. H.— N. Y. 



Your Matchless plants are affected by 

 a disease which is known as carnation 

 bud-rot, to which some varieties are 

 more susceptible than others. Match- 

 less seems more susceptible than any 

 other variety grown at present. It is a 

 fungous disease and is usually accom- 

 panied by a mite, which may or may not 

 have anything to do with starting it. 

 It does assist in spreading it, without a 

 doubt. The cool, damp nights, before 

 yon begin firing, may be the cause of 

 its appearance about this time and the 

 fact that it disappears after you have 

 kept the temperature steady for a while, 

 and reappears in the spring about the 

 time you cease firing regularly, justifies 

 this suspicion. These facts should give 



you your cue for controlling it in the 

 future. 



Run a steam pipe in each house and 

 open the ventilators, if necessary, to 

 keep the temperature at the proper 

 point. Paint the pipe with a mixture of 

 sulphur, lime and water. Cut every af- 

 fected bud and burn it. Fumigate or 

 spray at least twice weekly until you 

 have the mites eradicated. Spray over- 

 head only enough to keep away red 

 spider. A. F. J. B. 



NEMATODES ON CARNATIONS. 



Under separate cover I am sending 

 several carnation plants which are bad- 

 ly affected with a root disease. What 

 is the disease and what is the best 

 method of treating the soil in order 

 that the disease may be eradicated be- 

 fore another year? Would it be safe 

 to bench plants from the same field if 

 the plants are apparently free from the 

 disease? J. T. F.— Okla. 



Your carnation plants are seriously 

 affected with nematodes and there is no 

 cure for the plants that are affected. If 

 a large percentage of the plants in the 

 field show these knots in the roots, we 

 would not advise you to bench any 

 plants from that field. If, however, the 

 percentage is small, you could probably 

 use the unaffected plants with good re- 

 sults, provided that you will be ex- 

 tremely careful to eliminate all those 

 which show the least sign of the disease. 

 Sterilization is probably the best 

 method for destroying the nematodes. 

 This can be employed in treating the 

 soil in the benches, but is not practical 

 to use in the field. We would avoid that 

 field in the future, until you can be 

 sure it is no longer infested. 



INFESTED CARNATIONS. 



What can be done with carnations 

 troubled with stem-rot and rust and in- 

 fested with thrips? L. N. W.— Tex. 



Any of the nicotine preparations, if 

 used regularly and at the strength rec- 

 ommended, will keep thrips in check. 

 If the plants are badly infested, give 

 more frequent applications until you 

 have them under control. 



There seems to be some doubt among 

 the scientists as to the value of Bor- 

 deaux and kindred preparations for pre- 

 venting and curing stem-rot on carna- 

 tions. However, in the absence of any 

 other remedy and in view of the fact 

 that no harm can come from its use, we 

 suggest that you spray your carnations 

 thoroughly with Bordeaux mixture, 

 shooting it right into the crown of the 

 plants. We have also found Bordeaux 

 effective in keeping rust in check. 



A. F. J. B. 



POTTING HYDRANGEAS. 



I have about 300 French hydrangeas 

 in 4-inch pots, well branched and ready 

 for a shift. Is there any special treat- 

 ment that is necessary to bring them 

 into flower for February and later? 



J. R.— Okla. 



It would not be advisable to shift 

 these plants at present, but run them 

 gradually on the dry side and store 

 them in a dry pit or cold greenhouse 

 before the weather gets too cold. It 

 will not be easy to flower French hy- 

 drangeas as early as February, but you 

 can get them into bloom in March and 



