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24 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



AUOUBT 24, 1911. 



OERANIUM STEMS EATEN. 



I notice^ in The Keview of August 

 3, page 12, the inquiry by A. P. in 

 regard to the wilting of his Alphonse 

 Bicard geraniums. He says that on 

 examining his plants to ascertain the 

 cause, he found the stems eaten com- 

 pletely hollow and scores of little, 

 white, ant-like insects in them. Now, 

 whatever may be the name of the pests 

 that have thus been eating the stems, 

 The Review's reply to A. P. 's inquiry 

 suggests remedies that will probably 

 answer the purpose and my experience 

 may not throw any additional light on 

 the matter. However, last April and 

 May I had the same trouble with my 

 Bicard geraniums as A. P. had. Upon 

 examination, I found some small white 

 'mtrms, about a quarter of an inch long, 

 which work in the decayed boards of 

 the wooden benches and also tunnel a 

 passage down the posts to the ground. 

 The worms that worked on my gerani- 

 ums finally got wings. These pests 

 liave bothered me considerably, though 

 they did not molest the plants a great 

 dead till last year, but worked around 

 mostly in the soil of the pots and in 

 the sand on the benches. B. K. S. 



DISEASED OEBANIUM LEAVES. 



Enclosed you will find some leaves of 

 geraniums. Will you please tell me 

 what is the trouble with themf They 

 are from plants growing inside on raised 

 benches, in soil composed of a clay 

 loam mixed with a little thoroughly 

 rotted cow manure, with some sand 

 scratched into the top to keep the soil 

 from crusting over. I have been over 

 them twice and picked off- all the af- 

 fected leaves I could find, and they 

 seemed to do nicely for a time, but 

 after a little they commenced to show 

 spots on the leaves and the affected 

 leaves dried right up. I wish you would 

 also tell me what is the proper distance 

 apart in benches to set stock plants for 

 cuttings. G. L. E. 



It is difficult to diagnose the cause of 

 the geranium leaves becoming so much 

 diseased, without knowing something of 

 the cultural conditions. Probably you 

 have attended to them carefully. Even 

 with the best of care these plants, con- 

 sidered so easy of culture, will some- 

 times ■grive us trouble, both under glass 

 and outdoors. Your soil would seem to 

 be suitable and you have no doubt 

 given water whenever needed. No 

 great harm^is done in allowing the soil 

 to dry out well. This prevents the 

 growths becoming too soft and cuttings 

 from such wood root more freely. I 

 wonder if you make a habit of hosing 

 your plants overhead once or more 

 daily, and especially of having them 

 damp at nightfall. This is not good for 

 them and will cause leaf-spot to de- 

 velop quickly. Do any syringing early 

 in the day. As a general rule, gera- 

 niums do not need any damping over- 

 head, but under glass red spider and 



thrips will frequently attack them 

 where this is not done at least two or 

 three times a week during hot weather. 



I do not look upon this as a serious 

 trouble. Pick off the affected leaves. 

 Give the benches a good watering with 

 soot water, using soft coal soot, or use 

 nitrate of soda, one pound to fifty gal- 

 lons of water, to brace them up, or give 

 a light top-dressing of fine bone, 

 scratching it into the soil before water- 

 ing. Ventilate freely, but during hot 

 days the atmosphere will be better with 

 the side ventilators closed, or nearly 

 so, unless the house is a small one. 



You will find 12x15 inches a suitable 

 distance apart in benches for the stock 

 plants, if you are taking cuttings as 

 fast as they are sizable enough. If you 

 take the cuttings closely, 12x12 should 

 answer well. Where you allow them to 

 develop for several months, however, 

 without doing any propagating, as in 

 the hot months, it would be better to 

 allow them 15x15 inches. C. W. 



WINTEB INjMIDSXTMMEB. 



During the scorchingly, stiflingly, 

 overpoweringly hot weather in the early 

 part of this summer, many sufferers 

 undoubtedly sighed, with more or less 

 sincerity, for "a lodge in some vast 

 wilderness" of snow, for a temporary 

 dwelling place near — but not too near 

 — the arctic regions. Or they may have 

 longed for a perch on some icy moun- 

 tain peak, where change of altitude, 

 not latitude, would produce the desired 

 effect. Comparatively few, however, 

 were able to gratify this wish as liter- 

 ally as did Sydney B. Wertheimer, of 

 Wertheimer iBros., as shown in the 



photograph here reproduced. The 

 scene, as pictured, formed a part of 

 Mr. Wertheimer 's experience last 

 month, during his European trip. The 

 peculiar mingling of summer and 

 winter conditions in the incident are 

 sufficient explanation of the mingling 

 of summer and winter styles in Mr. 

 Wertheimer 's garb; the combination of 

 overcoat ana straw hat is exactly in 

 accord with the circumstances of the 

 case. _,~^ 



With reference to the Ifi^otogTaph, 

 Mr. Wertheimer writes: "Mer de 

 Glace, Switzerland, July 30, 1911.— 

 This is no pipe drettm, but real ice. 

 The intrepid explorer is seen crossing 

 the glacier accompanied by Pierre, his 

 faithful guide. (All moving piclnire 

 rights reserved.) Pierre is a local 

 florist; he gathers edelweiss. Will re- 

 turn in August and will be at the 

 convention. Kind regards." 



And, in accordance with his plans, he 

 sailed for America a few days later, ar- 

 rived at New York August 14 and at- 

 tended the convention — fresh from the 

 ice, as it were, and full of fresh ideas 

 for the trade. 



TIME TO WATEB PLANTS. 



Is it beneficial or injurious to water 

 mums or carnations in the evening, say 

 at 5 o'clock, at this time of the yearT 



J. A. ft S. 



During June and July the afternoon 

 or evening is an excellent time to 

 water carnations, mums and other crops 

 under glass. The nights then are warm, 

 with little moisture in the air. Dur- 

 ing August, while many of the nights 

 may be warm, the average is consider- 

 ably lower than in July; the nights are 

 also damp from heavv dews and it is 

 not good policy to delay watering any 

 of the greenhouse crops until late af- 

 ternoon or evening; morning is the 

 best tiipe to water. Whenever it is 

 done, the foliage should be quite dry 

 before nightfall. If the leaves lie wet 

 over night on the mums, bacteria wiD 

 appear on the foliage and similar 

 trouble is more than likely on your 

 carnations. C. W. 



SydatY B. Werthdmer, and Guides Cronfaf a Glader in Switzcrlaod 



