14 



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The Floifets^ Review 





SeptembEb 10, 1914. 



common in the field, and increase the. 

 amount of roguing necessary to grow 

 good seed, but we must hive it even if 

 we have to sit up nights. .' 



D. C. Lewi-. 



LETTEnd-^^ fiEADBRB 



A LESSON OF THE WAR. 



The Review has received the follow- 

 ing communication from areader at Los 

 Angeles, whosfe signature is, unfortu- 

 nately, illegible. However, the thought 

 is so pertinent that the letter is printed: 



' * The last two weeks *rhe Review has 

 been full of war talk and many people 

 in the trade seem to be all as mad. 

 Now, why haven't we all we need in 

 our own vast country? And if not, why 

 haven't we? I have seen araucarias 

 twenty feet high and palms the same, 

 but still araucarias and palms come 

 from Belgium, and there they do not 

 grow in the streets, as they do here. 

 Why not have our own nurseries? And 

 for all the rest of the needed stock it 

 will be the same. There is enough land, 

 enough money, and thousands of unem- 

 ployed men. Therefore, take the lesson 

 war gives — grow your own stock. 



EXTERMINATOE FOR ANTS. 



"We noticed in The Review for August 

 27 an article on white ants as a pest 

 to geraniums and other plants. The 

 writer has been fighting these pests 

 and, until recently, with poor results. 

 The fact is they were so numerous they 

 attached themselves to everything we 

 were sending out. They ate up our 

 flower seeds and tomato seeds; in fact, 

 there was nothing immune from their 

 ravages. Our seed trays and pans had 

 to be set up on stilts and a contrivance 

 fixed so the ants could not get into the 

 seed. All of this precaution had to be 

 taken or all of our work would be 

 ruined. 



Nor did our trouble end when 

 plants went into the field, as the ants 

 were there ready for the plants. This 

 was a different kind of ant. The ones 

 that troubled us in the houses were both 

 the small black and the small red va- 

 riety. The ones we found in the field 

 were the large red ones, and they are 

 bad neighbors and awfully destructive. 

 They make many large beds and will 

 destroy everything in a radius of from 

 sixty to eighty feet. We used to pour on 

 coal oil, gasoline and bisulphide of car- 

 bon and would then apply a match to 

 the hole and, after it had burned a 

 minute or so, we would cover the hole 

 with soil. This killed out a great many 

 of the pests, but only gave a partial 

 relief; in a few days they seemed to 

 be as numerous as ever. 



We finally found a powder manu- 

 factured in Fort Worth, called Talbot 

 Insect Exterminator. We used this 

 powder in our greenhouses; sprinkled 

 it along the edges of the bench and in 

 our packing shed, and we soon found 

 that we had a fine remedy and truly an 

 exterminator, as the name implies. If 

 the ant gets one foot into the powder, 

 it seems to be all that is necessary. The 

 acid in the powder and the formic acid 

 in the body of the insect combine and 

 set up hydrofluoric acid, which spreads 

 over the body of the ant, which closes 

 the breathing cells. The ant dances 

 the tango and cuts all kinds of antics 



and in about fifteen to twenty minutes 

 he 18 dead, but while he is affected he 

 travels and every ant he meets and em- 

 braces is affected and in this way the 

 whole colony is exterminated. 



This powder will kill all kinds of 

 insects in the same way, and, strange 

 to say, while it kills by contact all 

 membraneous insects, it is non-poison- 

 ous and may be used in your homes, in 

 the ice-box and in the bread-box and 

 cupboard, but it must not be placed in 

 damp places. 



I write this in the hope it may help 

 some of the fraternity to rid them- 

 selves of these pests. 



R. Drumm. 



THE ASTER GROWER'S TROUBLES. 



The summer of 1914 will be one to be 

 remembered here in New Jersey all 

 right. No rain in the latter part of 

 May and during all of June prevented 

 the setting of asters in the field until 

 July. The result is short plants and 

 stems. Blooms are now about normal 

 in size, but fewer in number. 



Yellows and black stem are not un- 



ASTERS DOING POORLY, 



Will someone kindly tell mfe what la 

 the matter wit.b my asters? I haye^-s. ut 

 some of the blooms-, under sepaiite 

 cover, for inspection. Some of he 

 blooms only half open and the plaiits 

 look as if they were burnt. I can j;ot 

 find anything on the roots or any aster 

 bugs on the plants. We fertilized with 

 hen and sheep manure and bone meal in 

 the spring. Is the trouble caused hy 

 too much fertilizer or by the hot 8i;u? 

 J. K. 



I am afraid you have given your as- 

 ters too much plant food. While tbey 

 appreciate ground which has been deep- 

 ly plowed or spaded and liberally ma- 

 nured with cow or horse manure, the 

 use of hen manure is likely to be harm- 

 ful. The best way to use the last named 

 manure is to drop a little down the 

 center of the rows when the spikes are 

 running up, later running the hoe or 

 cultivator over the soil. Hen manure is 

 the mdst likely of the three fertilizers 

 named to have harmed your plants. 

 Whatever fertilizers you use, they must 

 be thoroughly incorporated with the 

 soil. If you mixed bone or hen manure 

 in the hole while setting out each plant, 

 injury was more than likely to result. 



C. W. 



Mews from 



roQi 



TRADE INTERESTS AT GHENT. 



Just before the German invasion, 

 Consul H. Albert Johnson, at Ghent, 

 Belgium, sent to the State Department 

 a report on the nursery stock and flower 

 industry of that country, a part of 

 which will be of special interest at 

 this time and is as follows: 



"In and about Ghent there are about 

 1,500 distinct horticultural establish- 

 ments whose products are largely ex- 

 ported, the United States being one of 

 their leading markets. The industry 

 of growing flowers and ornamental 

 plants, such as palms, ferns, azaleas, 

 etc., has increased enormously in Bel- 

 gium of late years and has been largely 

 fostered by the organization of impor- 

 tant schools of floriculture in different 

 parts of the country, that of Ghent 

 being one of the leading institutions 

 of this class. The interests of this 

 industry are especially protected by 

 an organization known as the Chambre 

 Syndicale des Horticulteurs Beiges, 

 having its headquarters at Ghent. 



"According to the annual report is- 

 sued by this association, the year 1913 

 proved somewhat disappointing. It 

 was expected that, in view of the In- 

 ternational Exposition at Ghent, which 

 was inaugurated by one of the most 

 important flower, shows ever held in 

 Europe, the interest in this industry 

 on the part of strangers visiting the 

 exposition would be largely stimulated, 

 with the consequence that exports 

 would be correspondingly increased. 



The exports, however, decreased as com- 

 pared with 1912. It appears that the 

 'demand for azaleas fell below that of 

 the previous year, wi,th the exception 

 of certain special varieties. In the case 

 of palms there appears to have been 

 little or no demand for the larger vari- 

 eties, although a few plants especially 

 cultivated for collectors were disposed 

 of at fairly satisfactory prices. 



"The demand for Araucaria excelsa 

 was well maintained, sales having been 

 effected at remunerative prices. Prices 

 for bay trees remained firm, Germany 

 continuing the best market for this 

 class of plants. There was a brisk 

 demand for rhododendrons, but the 

 plants did not bud profusely. Tliei** 

 seems to have been little demand for 

 begonia and gloxinia bulbs, larji'' 

 stocks of which remain unsold, ^^itll 

 prices at an unusually low level. 



"The total exports of plants iii'| 

 bulbs to the United States during I'l-^, 

 were valued at $314,676, a decreas. of 

 $41,233, as compared with 1912." 



GOOD BYE TO THE AZALEA-^ 



According to a news dispatch, sti '";? 

 forces of Germans from Brussels ! i^*^ 

 moved in the general direction of G! t'nt 

 and the Belgian seacoast. A disp;'i<^" 

 from Amsterdam reports that !<?''; 

 monde, sixteen miles east by south ot 

 Ghent, has been hastily destroyed nnd 

 that railway communication is inrer- 

 rupted. 



Belgium has won the respect of f^"^ 



^ 



