The Florists' 



OCTOBW 8, Itli. 



LEAF-SPOT ON MUMS. 



The diseased mum leaves enclosed 

 come from Polly Rose. No other variety 

 seems affected. Of these, we had two 

 lots of plants benched, one older and 

 from 3-inch pots, the other from 2-inch 

 pots. The older and larger plants are 

 badly affected; the younger but little, 

 if any. Can you tell us what is the 

 trouble f The plants have daily been 

 given stiff sprayings of water and have 

 also been sprayed with nicotine and 

 fumigated with Nicofume. Can it be 

 thripsf 



We are also having trouble with a 

 small spider. Is there any way to get 

 rid of it except by stiff spraying with 

 water t It looks much like red spider, 

 but seems lighter in color. W. V. F. 0. 



The leaves sent are affected with 

 septoria, one of the fungoid diseases, 

 commonly known as leaf -spot. This al- 

 ways appears at the bottom of the plant, 

 to a greater or less degree, as the wood 

 ripens in the fall, and is caused largely 

 in the first place by crowding the plants, 

 which does not permit sun and air to 

 penetrate, rendering the leaves an easy 

 prey to disease germs, and as the wood 

 of the stem ripens and begins to * * bark 

 up," as the growers call it, the nourish- 

 ment being withdrawn from the bottom 

 leaves causes them to die. If it does 

 not become too bad, leaf-spot is rather 

 an advantage than otherwise, because 

 it compels the grower to take off the 

 bottom leaves and give the sun and 

 light a chance to get in. Where the 

 disease appears in pot plants that are 

 isolated, it is an indication that the 

 plant htis been receiving too much water 

 or sprayed too late in the day. Plants 

 in the hot summer weather can hardly 

 get too much spraying, but conditions 

 are different when cool nights come. 

 Polly Rose and Pacific both make heavy 

 foliage, which accounts for their being 

 affected when other varieties under 

 similar conditions are not. The only 

 remedy for leaf-spot is one of the fungi- 

 cides sprayed carefully on the underside 

 of the leaves in order to kill the spores 

 and prevent the disease spreading to 

 the other plants. One of the best fungi- 

 cides is sulphide of potassium applied 

 at the rate of a quarter ounce dissolved 

 in a gallon of water. A simpler way 

 to get this preparation is to use Fungine, 

 which can be bought at any seed store. 

 Bordeaux mixture is good also, but has 

 a tendency to disfigure the foliage. 



Regarding the small spider, this tiny 

 pest, which would almost seem to be a 

 cross between a red spider and a 

 thrips, is prevalent some seasons, work- 

 ing on the underside of the leaves. 

 There is nothing I know of any better 

 than water applied with a fine spray 

 with some force, which washes away 

 the pest, or at least makes things so 

 unpleasant that it goes elsewhere. Tliis 

 spraying, of course, should be done on 

 bright days, as at this time of year 

 snrj^TW water should be avoided in the 

 mum houses. C. H. Totty. 



BOBEBS IN MUM PLANTS. 



Under separate cover I am sending 

 you the root and part of the stem of a 

 chrysanthemum that is attacked by 

 what Herrington, in his book on chry- 

 santhemum culture, describes as a borer. 

 As this pest gives no sign of the havoc 

 until the plant is done for, I thought 

 that perhaps you could suggest some 

 remedy that would at least prevent its 

 harming the stock in another season. 

 I wrote to a florist who is a reliable 

 grower of mums, but he could give me 

 no satisfaction, only stating that the 

 trouble begins in the early stages of 

 the plants' growth and. that the larvae 

 must be deposited in soft wood. This 

 seems to be true, as I have another 

 bench of mums that are unharmed, 

 though only five feet from the ones 

 affected. Not a single plant of my own 

 cuttings or plants is affected — only this 

 one bench, bought last spring, as I did 



not have enough of the kinds I wanted. 

 It is discouraging to see a plant, when 

 just r^ady to put out its buds, suddenly 

 become wilted without apparent caude. 

 The pest enters the stem just at the 

 surface of the ground, eats its way into 

 the heart and goes quickly on to the 

 top. An entomologist of Baton Rouge, 

 La., was here, and advised me to use 

 tobacco dust, but so far it has not put 

 an end to the pest. Up to this time 

 about twenty-five fine mums have been 

 destroyed. We remove all the soil and 

 fill the hole with quicklime, so as to try 

 to kill the borer or whatever is left. 

 1 have not yet discovered whether this 

 does any good or not. M. R. J. C. 



I do not know of any means of ex- 

 terminating this pest. While we hear 

 every year of occasional cases, this pest 

 is by no means common, nor do I think 

 it will become common. Tobacco dust 

 is about as good as anything I know 

 of, but if the plants are far advanced 

 now, even were any remedies available 

 they could not be used in sufficient 

 strength to make them effective. We 

 had this borer about ten years ago, but 

 have never seen it since; therefore I 

 do not think M. R. J. C. need worry 

 about its causing any great trouble an- 

 other year. C. H. Totty. 



Sheldon, la. — Two new houses have 

 been erected at the plant of the Sheldon 

 Greenhouses. One is 25x80 feet and 

 the other 30x90 feet. The rest of the 

 range has been remodeled this last sum- 

 mer. 



Meridian, Miss. — Adolph Arp, super- 

 intendent of parks, recently sent out a 

 circular offering a surplus of park plants 

 to the trade, with the statement that 

 any left unsold October 1 would be 

 offered to the public. Naturally, the 

 trade objects. 



Norfolk, Va. — The opening of the 

 East End Floral Co., at 224 Church 

 street, September 24, was a decided suc- 

 cess. The large number of people who 

 attended were pleased with the decora- 

 tions of the store. Music and floral 

 souvenirs helped draw the crowds. 



Mt. Carroll, HI. — Edward Margileth 

 & Son say: "We have just completed 

 a greenhouse 100 feet in length, the 

 only one in our town, and have pur- 

 chased the materials and stock from 

 numerous advertisers in The Review, 

 all of whom we have found reliable in 

 selling goods as advertised. ' ' 



St. Louis, Mo. — Owing to the quarter 

 centennial celebration of the organiza- 

 tion of the board of trustees of the 

 Missouri Botanical Garden, October 15 

 and 16, the series of indoor floral dis- 

 plays will be be^n in October instead 

 of November this year, announces the 

 September bulletin of the garden. 

 Cannas, salvias, foliage plants, gladioli, 

 Torenia Fournieri and China asters are 

 among the plants to be exhibited. The 

 articles in the September bulletin are 

 on palm fruits and seeds, and the 

 banana. 



Chillicothe, O. — Louis Elsass had 

 charge of the decorations for the White- 

 Dwinell wedding September 24, which 

 was one of the important ones of this 

 season. 



Mamaroneck, N. Y. — The George 

 Baldwin Co., orchid grower, reports a 

 busy season, large shipments of plants 

 going out daily. Daily shipments of 

 cut orchids are made to the New York 

 market. The entire establishment is in 

 fine order. 



Bay City, Mich. — Smarting under the 

 sting of a double defeat at the outing 

 September 16, the Bay City florists chal- 

 lenged the representatives of Saginaw 

 to another game of baseball. The match 

 was played at Mulbun park October 4 

 and the challengers secured revenge. 

 John Marsh is authority for the state- 

 ment that the score was 20 to 8. 



Merchantville, N. J. — The first flower 

 show of the Merchantville Floral and 

 Civic Association, held September 25, 

 was well supported by the florists of 

 this vicinity and Philadelphia. Special 

 awards were made to Leonard J. Smith, 

 Merchantville, for his display of 

 dahlias, roses, palms and ferns; H. F. 

 Michell Co., Philadelphia, for hardy 

 perennials; Andorra Nurseries, Chestnut 

 Hill, Pa., for collection of mixed ever- 

 greens; Stokes Seed Farms Co., Moores- 

 town, for ferns and bulbs; Harold Ot- 

 ter, of Moorestown, ferns and cut flow- 

 ers; Pennock Bros., Philadelphia, 

 baskets and vases of cut flowers; J. J. 

 Habennehl's Sons, Philadelphia, basket 

 of cut flowers; Charles H. Fox, Phila- 

 delphia, basket of flowers, and Peacock 

 Dahlia Farms, Berlin^ N. J.^ f or dahlia 

 display. 



