12 



The Florists' Review 



Seftbhbsb 12, 1912. 



WHITE ANTS ON MUMS. 



Can you tell us what to use for white 

 ants at the roots of chrysanthemums? 

 They work on the stems, just above the 

 roots, and cause us much annoyance 

 here, in central Tennessee. M. B. 



The only remedy I know of for white 

 ants on mum plants is tobacco dust, 

 profusely applied to the foliage and 

 soil. The white ants never trouble us 

 in New Jersey, but I have heard that 

 in certain sections of the south they 

 are a great plague. The local agricul- 

 tural station of Tennessee, if there is 

 such a station, would possibly be best 

 able to assist you to a solution of your 

 difficulty. Chas. H. Totty. 



YELLOW MUM FOLLAGE. 



The^oliage of my mums is of a yel- 

 lowish color. The leaves look like wax. 

 I have planted them in half soil and 

 half manure, just as I have always 

 grown them, and I have never seen 

 tbem act like this before. Is there any 

 way of growing them so as to restore 

 them to their natural color? S. B. 



I assume that the mums are yellow 

 because they have been overwatered, 

 and the only way to get them back into 

 their proper condition will be to keep 

 them on the dry side until they make 

 successful new roots to enable the 

 plants to get back their natural color. 

 It would seem to me that half soil and 

 half manure is too much of a percent- 

 age of manure for mums or any other 

 plant, unless the manure is unusually 

 old and well decomposed. I find that 

 a proportion of one to four is plenty. 

 Even where the fertilizer is well de- 

 composed, the presence of so much 

 humus in the soil causes the retention 

 of too much moisture, which is the 

 cause of the plants getting yellow and 

 weakly. 



Plants, like men, are more healthy 

 when they have to work hard for a 

 living, and it will always be found 

 that when the mum has to spread its 

 roots in all directions to look for 

 moisture it is far more healthy than 

 when bloated with fertilizer immedi- 

 ately at hand. Chas. H. Tottv. 



PARASITIC GROWTH ON MUM. 



I am sending, under separate cover, 

 a Jeanne Nonin mum plant with a cer- 

 tain growth on it, which seems to choke 

 the plant or draw the life out of it. 

 It is the only plant so affected and the 

 growth comes from the plant as a 

 fungous growth would. Please give us 

 some information as to where it comes 

 from or how it originated, as it does 

 not grow out of the soil, but comes on 

 the stem of the plant. Any informa- 

 tion will he much appreciated. S. P. 



The Jeanne Nonin mum was received. 

 The growth on it, which is by no means 

 a common one, is the dodder plant, bo- 

 tameally known as Cuscuta Qronovii. 



As you have only one such plant, you 

 will not need to bother regarding it. 



The dodder is an annual and is botan- 

 ically described as a genus of degener- 

 ate, parasitic climbers. The seed of 

 the plant is germinated in the ground, 

 but as soon as the young plant finds an 

 acceptable host on which it can twine, 

 the root in the ground dies and the 

 dodder attaches itself to the host plant, 

 eventually throttling it, in most cases. 



Varieties of dodder cause consider- 

 able trouble in some sections on clover 

 and flax, but you will not need to 

 bother much about your plants, as I 

 have never seen more than an isolated 

 dodder in a greenhouse. 



Chas. H. Tottv. 



DISEASED WINTER CHEER. 



I am sending you some Winter Cheer 

 mum plants that are diseased. Will you 

 please let me know what the disease 



is and a remedy for it? It started 

 about a week ago. They were in fin© 

 growing condition until this disease 

 took them. I have never sprayed them 

 with anything except To-bak-ine and 

 they have never been fertilized with 

 anything. They were planted in new 

 soil from the field. This is the only 

 variety that is affected. I have 10,000 

 mum plants; the rest have had the 

 same treatment and are looking fine. 

 This is 'the first time I ever saw this 

 and I am at a loss to know how to treat 

 them. The disease looks like rust ta 

 me. If you will let me know at once, 

 I shall appreciate the favor. J. K. 



The Winter Cheer mum plants were 

 practically rotten when I received them 

 and I can not state whether they were 

 affected with rust or not. There ap- 

 peared to be traces of some fungoid 

 disease, however, and I would suggest 

 that if they are sprayed with a solu- 

 tion of sulphide of potassium (liver of 

 sulphur), one ounce to two gallons of" 

 water, this will kill all the spores of 

 fungoid diseases and keep the plants 

 from getting any worse. The potassium 

 can be procured at most drug stores,^ 

 or you can use the new preparation, 

 Fungine, which is a sulphur solution 

 that is readily applied without the 

 staining effect that the sulphide of 

 potassium has. Chas. H. Totty. 



ac 



ac 



ac 



ac 



F SEASONABLE s^ 1| 

 \ ^ SUGGESTIONS # 



ac 



ac 



ac 



ac 



Marguerites. 



Old plants of marguerites in the field 

 should now be lifted and potted. Cut 

 around each carefully with a spade and 

 be sure to have a moderate ball at- 

 tached. Plants will no doubt live if the 

 soil is all shaken away from the roots, 

 but they will wilt severely and lose a 

 large part of their foliage. With some 

 soil adhering to the roots they will soon 

 recover from the check of lifting, pro- 

 vided they are sprayed freely and given 

 some shade from bright sunshine. These 

 old plants are the best for early flower- 

 ing and the small flowered sorts will 

 give a good crop as early as Christmas. 

 Plants carried over in pots should be 

 shifted before they become too matted. 

 They can be left outdoors for some time 

 yet. If a sufficient batch of cuttings 

 has not yet been taken, lose no time 

 in getting them in, as there is now an 

 abundant supply of good cuttings pro- 

 curable. The variety Mrs. F. Sander 

 should not be omitted. This has proved 

 a satisfactory bedding plant the last 

 summer and has also done well in win- 

 dow boxes. It is noted that while a 

 great proportion of the flowers come 

 .single under glass, all are double when 

 grown in the open ground. 



Calceolarias. 



The herbaceous calceolarias are not 

 yet making much headway. They dis- 

 like hot weather, but as soon as we get 

 really cool weather they seem to grow 

 apace. There is no place equal to a 

 coldframe for them for some time yet. 



Plunge the pots in coal ashes, shade 

 from bright sunshine and give them an 

 abundance of air night and day. Spray 

 overhead so that the foliage will be dry 

 at nightfall. In potting use a light but 

 fairly rich compost. Three parts fibrous 

 loam to one part old cow manure, with 

 sand, broken charcoal and some soot 

 added, will grow good plants. The soot 

 is useful, as it helps to keep the soil 

 clear of worms and makes the foliage 

 a fine, rich green color. 



Cuttings of the shrubby or rugosa 

 section are now procurable in abun- 

 dance and root readily in any ordinary 

 cutting bench. These make desirable 

 pot plants for spring trade. The flow- 

 ers are smaller than those of the herba- 

 ceous type, but are tougher and come 

 in useful some years for Memorial day 

 trade. There are crosses between the 

 herbaceous and rugosa section now to 

 be had. C. Stewarti, yellow, is a good 

 thing, with flowers as large as those of 

 the herbaceous varieties. 



Nerines. 



The nerines, or Guernsey lilies, as 

 they are popularly called, require sim- 

 ilar treatment to the Belladonna lilies, 

 and are now starting to send out their 

 flower spikes. Unlike them, however, 

 they flower most freely in comparative- 

 ly small pots and pans, and while any 

 repotting of overcrowded plants may be 

 done now, it is unwise to pot too many 

 in any one season, as they will flower 

 but sparsely until the pots are a ^^eri- 

 table mat of roots. 



