28 



ThcWcekly Florists' Review. 



Mat 18, 1011. 



A BAD CASE OF THBIPS. 



I am sending you some samples of 

 carnations. Plase tell me what is the 

 matter with them. Last year the 

 trouble developed about the middle of 

 May and ruined the crop. It first ap- 

 peared when the buds began to show 

 color. The stock now is in fine shape. 

 There is a heavy crop of buds, with 

 nice, stiff, long stems, but those spots 

 are beginning to show on the petals. 

 The carnations are planted in a house 

 30x90, with side and ridge ventila- 

 tion, and the air is fully turned on in 

 fair weather. They are planted in 

 about five inches of soil. When I 

 benched them I used well rotted sheep 

 manure and bone meal; I have used 

 no fertilizer since then. I water when 

 the soil becomes dry — about every third 

 day. Now, what causes the petals to 

 decay or turn brown and how can I 

 prevent it? J. E. J. 



The cause of your trouble is one 

 of the most common ones that con- 

 front the carnation grower; indeed, it 

 probably gives us more concern than 

 any other. There is perhaps no pest or 

 disease which we have to combat so 

 continually and persistently as we do 

 these thrips. They are undoubtedly at 

 the bottom of your trouble; the brown 

 edges of the petals show that most con- 

 clusively. 



This late in the season, with warm 

 weather right upon you, you will find 

 it an uphill job to get the pest under 

 control. With a good foothold in a 

 carnation house, they multiply by the 

 millions after warm weather sets in, 

 and it takes heroic measures to get rid 

 of them. By spraying or fumigating 

 throughout the winter we keep them 

 down, and afterward, with a little in- 

 crease in the doses applied, we are able 

 usually to keep the plants fairly free 

 from them. Persistence is certainly 

 the key to success in combating thrips. 

 Get a supply of one of the standard 

 nicotine solutions and use it both as 

 a spray and as a fumigant; alternate 

 between the two and skip one day 

 between applications. Keep this up 

 until you can see that you are getting 

 the upper hand; then gradually dimin- 

 ish until you are making two applica- 

 tions each week. 



Bear in mind that the spots will 

 not disappear as soon as you have de- 

 stroyed the insects. They puncture 

 the petals when these are young and 

 tender, and perhaps two weeks or more 

 pass before the damage is really ap- 

 parent. You should, however, begin to 

 see an improvement in about three 



weeks if your efforts are successful. 

 Tear open a bud occasionally and look 

 for a tiny insect, about one-sixteenth of 

 an inch long and of a yellowish-brown 

 color. I found plenty of them in the 

 specimens you forwarded. These punc- 

 ture the petals, destroying the tissue, 

 which turns brown or a dead color 

 when exposed to the sun. When you 

 can find no more of these insects, your 

 trouble will disappear. A. F. J. B. 



THE BRITISH CABNATION SHOW. 



The annual spring show of the Per- 

 petual Flowering Carnation Society was 

 held in the Eoyal Botanic Gardens, Lon- 

 don, May 2 and 3. The display of 

 blooms was fully up to the average and 

 in several classes the quality has never 

 been surpassed. Richness in color and 

 size of blooms were especially com- 

 mented upon. Gold medals were award- 

 ed to artistic arrangements of choice 

 collections from Young & Co., Chelten- 

 ham; C. Engelmann, Saffron Walden, 

 and H. Burnett, Guernsey. There was 

 only one new variety before the floral 

 committee, Edith Waters, bright cerise, 

 from C. F. Waters, Balcombe, and it 

 received an award of merit. 



The American challenge cup for three 

 vases of American varieties distributed 

 since January 1, 1909, was won by B. 

 Bell, Guernsey, with J. Whitcomb Eiley, 

 Bay State and Gov. Deneen. It was 

 acknowledged that all three were 

 shown better than ever previously seen 

 in England. W. E. Wallace, Eaton 

 Bray, was second with Scarlet Glow, 

 May Day and Delight. The Brunton 

 challenge cup for three vases of Brit- 

 ish raised varieties was won by C. 

 Engelmann, with Eex, Eegina and 

 Carola. The Covent Garden challenge 

 bowl for two varieties, sixty blooms of 

 each, went to W. E. Wallace with 

 White Enchantress and Eose-pink En- 

 chantress. A silver gilt medal for the 

 best vase in the show was carried off 

 by B. Bell with magnificent blooms of 

 Mrs. C. W. Ward. 



In the color classes the competition 

 between professional growers was keen, 

 most of the varieties winning being of 

 American origin. In the classes for 

 amateur growers there was spirited 

 competition, and eight dinner table 

 decorations were a splendid feature of 

 the show. 



At the dinner, the chairman, J. S. 

 Brunton, in proposing the toast of the 

 king and queen, alluded to the great 

 satisfaction that existed in the minds 

 of all carnation growers at the choice 

 of her majesty in selecting the carna- 



tion for the coronation banquet. No 

 doubt it would prove a boon to grow- 

 ers, as it would go a long way towards 

 still further raising the popularity of 

 the flower. Messrs Brunton, Engel- 

 mann and Wallace reported on their 

 visit to the National Show at Boston, 

 Mass., and to the annual meeting of the 

 American Carnation Society. The re- 

 ports were listened to With much inter- 

 est. The society's winter show will be 

 held December 5 and 6. Bee. 



CULTURAL NOTES. 



[A paper by Ferdinand Kolbe, of North Detroit. 

 reaJ before the Detroit Florists' Club, continued 

 from The llevlew of May 11.] 



All-the-year Indoor Culture. 



For the method of growing carna- 

 tions in pots all summer, or for the all- 

 season indoor culture, I have no use, as 

 I think both methods are too expensive. 

 In the first method the plants do not 

 get branched enough to make it pay at 

 the prices we are realizing for them. 

 The watering with the hose all summer 

 and shifting from one size of pot to 

 another are also big items against this 

 plan. The indoor culture tends to 

 weaken the constitution of our stock. 

 I think that if this method were kept 

 up every year with the same stock, our 

 favorites would run out in a few years 

 and there would be a good deal more 

 opportunity for the seedling raiser. Is 

 it any wonder that poor Lawson went 

 to the bad, considering the treatment 

 to which it was subjected? It seems 

 to me my Lawson family is today in as 

 good health and vigor as ever. An- 

 other variety that would not stand 

 much abuse is Beacon. The propagator 

 can not be too cautious in the selection 

 of stock, as it is. Many of you prob- 

 ably have noticed how some plants 

 have more split flowers than others. It 

 can be detected by examining the 

 plants closely, when you will easily no- 

 tice the weak constitution of some of 

 them. As far as I can judge, the na- 

 ture of the carnation, unlike that of 

 the rose, has not yet been sufficiently 

 transformed to adapt it to all-year in- 

 door culture. 



Preparations for Housing. 



Now as to housing the stock. In the 

 first place, I should not have neglected, 

 of course, to prepare my soil. I think 

 the easiest way is to plow a piece of 

 sod land in fall, with a liberal coat of 

 manure on it. The frost does the chop- 

 ping during the winter. In the spring 

 repeat the operation several times. In 

 this way we can save a man's wages 

 for several weeks. If it can not be- 



