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16 



The Florists' Review 



Sbftembbs 26, 1912. 



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TO CLEAB OUT RED SPIDEB. 



Under separate cover we send you 

 some shoots from a bench of Enchant- 

 ress carnations. These were benched 

 about August 1, but-were rather weak 

 plants. You will note that the leaves 

 are rough and a little brown. We find 

 they are full of red spider and we are 

 spraying for this. Do you think the 

 red spider has caused the trouble or is 

 there something like fairy ring on 

 themf About ten days ago we sprayed 

 with Bordeaux mixture, but do not 

 like to keep it up, as we want the 

 flowers. These are the worst shoots 

 we could find in the bench. Please ad- 

 vise us what to do. E. E. G. 



I think there is no doubt that red 

 spider is at the bottom of your trou- 

 ble, as the leaves are fairly covered 

 with them. You will likely have a hard 

 fight on your hands for the next month 

 or 80. You will find that your plants 

 will lose a good deal of foliage before 

 they get to growing strongly, but with 

 careful handling they should come out 

 all right finally. 



We have found the following formula 

 effective in destroying this pest; in 

 ■ fact, the best remedy we have ever 

 had, to dislodge them where the hose 

 was insuflScient: One-half pound ar- 

 senic, five pounds white sugar, enough 

 water to make a thick syrup. First mix 

 the arsenic and the sugar thoroughly, 

 then add the water. If the water is 

 warm it will melt the sugar and cause 

 the mass to mix better. Use one ounce 

 of this syrup to one gallon of water 

 for spraying. 



You can use this every third day, 

 but I would advise you to syringe it 

 off between each application. Two or 

 three applications ought to be suffi- 

 cient to destroy the worst case of 

 spider. One application would be 

 enough if you could reach every part 

 of the plant the first time. 



There are a few spots of stigmonose 

 on the specimens forwarded, but not 

 enough to weaken the plants. When 

 you propagate your young stock this 

 winter, be sure to pay attention to this 

 disease. A. F. J. B. 



TREATMENT FOE BENCH PLANTS. 



I am sending to you, under separate 

 cover, a carnation shoot with an af- 

 fected bud. Can you tell me what 

 caused this bud to get moldyf This 

 plant was grown in a north gutter 

 bench. The plants were benched four 

 weeks ago. They seem to be rooted on 

 pretty well and were fed with well 

 rotted cow manure this week, because 

 the soil did not seem rich enough. Was 

 it right to do this at this timef Should 

 the shade have been taken off entirely 

 from the glass, after the plants had been 

 benched for about four weeks! 



H. B. 



The moldy condition of the carna- 

 tion bud submitted discloses two 



things: First, the bud blighted from 

 one cause or another, and, second, j^our 

 atmospheric conditions were not right, 

 else the bud would have simply dried 

 up instead of getting moldy. 



I notice a good many stigmonose 

 spots on the leaves. These are most 

 likely the cause of the blighting of the 

 bud. During the first few weeks after 

 the plants have been housed, it is not 

 always easy to determine just what 

 caused this or that. There is a check 

 in the growth, caused by the root dis- 

 turbance, and during the first few 

 days the atmospheric conditions must 

 be kept in a state which would not be 

 at all right for plants which are estab- 

 lished. So that frequently disease is 

 brought on through conditions which 

 cannot be controlled just at the time. 



In your case, however, it is quite ap- 

 parent that you have not handled your 

 plants right from the time you housed 

 them up to the date of your letter. In 

 the first place, you should have made 

 your soil rich enough to start your 

 plants into a good, strong growth with- 



out adding anything to it in the way 

 ot fertilizer for at least two months. 

 The shade you put on should have been 

 only a light one, and it should have 

 been removed within two weeks after 

 the plants were benched. The shade 

 and the foulness of the atmosphere 

 caused by the manure, with perhaps a 

 good deal of syringing, are what caused 

 the molding. 



During the last few years we have 

 reduced the quantity of shade on our 

 glass during planting time each year, 

 until now we put on only a little. We 

 find that by keeping the atmosphere 

 charged with moisture, by spraying 

 and damping down th« walks, under al- 

 most the full sunlight, our plants start 

 away quicker and resume their normal 

 growth quicker than they ever did 

 under a heavy shade. In this way, the 

 period of reestablishing the plants is 

 much shorter, and the chances for con- 

 tracting disease on account of excess- 

 ive moisture, etc., are much less than 

 formerly. 



That stigmonose will require atten- 

 tion when you go to propagating your 

 young stock for next season. Avoid all 

 shoots which show any of those light 

 spots, else you will find the disease in 

 your stock increasing each year until 

 it has destroyed the vitality. If your 

 stock is so badly affected that you can- 

 not get sufficient clean shoots for your 

 needs, then it will pay you to buy from 

 someone whose stock is clean. 



A. F. J. B. 



QESANIUM FOLIAGE DISEASED. 



Enclosed you will find two leaves of 

 Geranium S. A. Nutt. Kindly tell me, 

 if possible, what disease they have and 

 how to combat it. I grow three other 

 varieties of geraniums, Poitevine, Eic- 

 ard and Jean Viaud, but neither of 

 these seems to be affected. My stock 

 seemed clean all of last winter, but as 

 soon as the warm days came in April 

 and early May the S. A. Nutt com- 

 menced to show trouble. In planting 

 out my stock plants I selected plants 

 that seemed perfectly clean and 

 healthy, but since about August 10 they 

 have been getting bad and at this 

 writing some of the plants have lost 

 nearly all of their leaves. I have been 

 growing geraniums for the last twenty 

 years, but never have seen anything 

 like this before. Any information you 

 can give me through The Eeview will 

 be thankfully received. W. C. K. 



The geraniums affected are, I sup- 

 pose, outdoors. This blight, or leaf- 

 spot, as it is more commonly called, is 

 neither new nor uncommon. It may be 

 due to overpropagation and consequent 

 weakening of your stock, which would 

 render it more susceptible to leaf dis- 

 eases in the open air. This trouble 

 rarely manifests itself until we get 

 damp, dark and muggy weather in late 

 summer, and once it appears its spread 



is rapid. Spraying with Bordeaux mix- 

 ture I have tried, but without avail. 

 The same trouble often appears under 

 glass, where, however, careful hand 

 picking and watering, added to a dry, 

 buoyant atmosphere, soon check its 

 spread. I have always noticed that 

 where geraniums are sprayed overhead 

 frequently under glass they will take 

 the disease. Where they are run a little 

 dry at the root, and as dry as possible 

 overhead, they are practically immune 

 to it. 



Cuttings from your plants stripped 

 clean of affected foliage and placed in 

 sand under glass will probably come 

 perfectly clean and I would not hesi- 

 tate to use them unless the plants are 

 weakly. The leaf -spot is due, no doubt, 

 to the peculiar weather. The variety 

 affected may have been more heavily 

 propagated than others and therefore 

 have less vitality to withstand disease 

 on the foliage. C. W. 



ENFOECINO CONTEACTa 



Columbtis, O. — Charles E. Wheeler, as 

 administrator of the estate of William 

 Graff, the deceased North High street 

 florist, has filed suit asking for $5,000 

 damages from Samuel Graff, a brother 

 of William Graff, formerly connected 

 with him in the business. According 

 to the petition, Samuel Graff sold his 



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