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TTie Florists' Review 



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OCTOBEB 3, 3L912. 



THE EABLT BUDS. 



I am Bending you two chrysanthe- 

 mum buds; please tell me what the 

 trouble is and the remedy. The variety 

 is Tarrytown. The buds are crown 

 buds, taken about August 8. The 

 plants are strong and healthy. About 

 the first week in August they had a 

 top-dressing of cow manure and for 

 the last two weeks they have been fed 

 with liquid manure. All my other va- 

 rieties show more or less of this same 

 trouble, but none so badly as the ones 

 I send. You will notice that they have 

 a skin over them and that there are 

 no petals. Some have the petals around 

 the outside and the center skinned over. 

 Any light on the subject will be ap- 

 preciated. E. J. L. 



The buds were pretty well shriveled 

 by the time they reached me, but there 

 is nothing the matter with them except- 

 ing that I think possibly they were 

 taken too early to do the variety jus- 

 tice. It would have been better had 

 E. J. L. pinched out these buds and 

 run his plants up for another growth. 



The shape of the bud is all right 

 for a crown bud, which invariably 

 comes looking entirely different from a 

 later bud. If these buds had shown 

 some ten days later, E. J. L. could have 

 taken them at that time and there 

 would have been no question about 

 their opening perfectly, but with these 

 early buds, from the way they look 

 now,- it would have been somewhat 

 problematical. Chas. H. Totty. 



MIU>EW ON MUMS. 



What is the cause and remedy of 

 chrysanthemum foliage, after the flower 

 bud has been selected, getting leather- 

 like, and covered with mildew, the 

 lower leaves turning yellow and dying? 

 This is most noticeable on Smith's 

 Advance and Ivory; the former are 

 about ruined by it. As I have never 

 been troubled with it before and other 

 varieties under the same conditions are 

 not aflfected by it as yet, I do not see 

 what brings it on these varieties. I 

 have always carried the idea that mil- 

 dew was more prevalent in cold weath- 

 er and did not show up in warm weath- 

 er. P. P. L. 



MiMew is, of course, more prevalent 

 in cold weather, but it is liable to 

 come at almost any season of the year 

 when too much water is applied and the 

 plants are carried through the night 

 with their foliage dripping wet. Some 

 florists water their mums during the 

 evening and the plants stay wet all 

 through the night, but I have yet to 

 see a florist handling his stock that 

 way who got through the season with- 

 out a bad dose of mildew. If P. P. L. 

 will notice Crimson Bamblers out- 

 doors during August he will see any 

 quantity of mildew, thereby disproving 

 his idea that mildew never appears in 

 hot weather. 



Plants will lose their lower leaves 



as the wood hardens and, if not carried 

 to excess, this is a perfectly natural 

 process and is nothing to worry about, 

 but the disease that is attacking 

 Smith's Advance in many places 

 through the country is much more seri- 

 ous than this. It is a fungoid growth, 

 like the black spot in Beauties. Some 

 plants of Smith's Advance we had out- 

 doors were entirely destroyed during 

 the hot, moist weather of August. Un- 

 der glass it would not be a serious 

 proposition, providing the foliage is not 

 wet by nightfall and the plants are 

 not everlastingly soaked with water. 



About the only remedy I can suggest 

 is sulphide of potassium applied in th4 

 proportion of one ounce to two gallons 

 of water and to maintain the atmos- 

 phere as dry as possible. 



C. H. Totty. 



VITALITY IS LOW. 



Enclosed find a chrysanthemum leaf. 

 Can you tell me the nature of the trou- 



ble showing on it? Jhe plants are 

 strong and dark green, but occasionally 

 a plant has leaves the edges of which 

 have turned white. On a few other 

 plants the leaves are mottled dark 

 green on light green. Also, when my 

 plants first bloom the flowers are large, 

 but the later ones, although equally 

 good in stem and foliage, come small. 

 Is there any way in which I can remedy 

 the trouble and have the later ones as 

 large as the first ? A. L. S. 



The leaves forwarded indicate a low 

 vitality in the plants. This can be 

 easily remedied in any variety by a 

 careful selection from year to year in 

 choosing the strongest plants to carry 

 on the stock. Indiscriminate selection 

 of cuttings has done more than any- 

 thing else to make not a few of our 

 best varieties almost useless. 



I do not exactly understand the last 

 paragraph, where A. L. S. says: "When 

 my plants first bloom they are large, 

 but th« later ones, though equally 

 good in stem, come small." My as- 

 sumption from this is that A. L. S. 

 managed to secure a crown bud at the 

 proper season and the resulting flower 

 was all right. Terminal buds will in- 

 variably produce a smaller flower, for 

 the simple reason that plants have an 

 additional growth to ripen and the 

 petals are consequently small and lack- 

 ing in substance. Chas. H. Totty. 



TOMATOES AS PEST PBEVENTEBS. 



Will tomato plants among carnation 

 beds keep away thrips or red spider! 

 Is there any virtue in the tomato plant 

 in keeping oflf any insect? Please pub- 

 lish an answer to this question, as our 

 foreman contends there is merit in the 

 tomatoes on account of their odor. 



Q. J. 



Q. J. may have discovered a virtue 

 in the tomato of which I have been 

 entirely ignorant; that is, as far as 

 thrips are concerned. That the to- 

 mato will not keep away red spiders can 

 be proved by the fact that I have seen 

 tomato plants literally covered with 

 them. I have also seen a few tomato 

 plants in a large house bring on a bad 

 dose of white fly before the grower 

 was aware of what "was happening to 

 him. This pest is especially fond of 

 the tomato. 



I believe that you will be wise if you 

 disregard the claims made for the to- 

 mato as an insect destroyer or pre- 

 venter. A. F. J. B. 



LABViE ON CABNATIONS. 



I am enclosing some branches of car- 

 nations which are infested with an in- 

 sect that threatens my season's cut of 

 blooms. This pest does not show any 

 signs of its presence on the plants until 

 the small shoots begin to dry, when the 

 worm or maggot ha« done its mischief 

 and is ready to hatch out in the form 



of a fly of some kind, which I have 

 not been fortunate enough to detect as 

 yet. The plants in the field, as well a» 

 those in the greenhouse, are infested 

 with this pest, which is a new one to 

 me. Please let me know what to do 

 to get rid of it. C. A. H. 



The pest of which you complain is 

 undoubtedly one of the many varieties 

 of larvae which feed on tender vegeta- 

 tion, both inside and outside of green- 

 houses. Most of these can be success- 

 fully combated with poisoned bait and 

 one of the best of these is made as 

 follows: Mix bran with molasses until 

 you have a mash; then add enough 

 Paris green to make it deadly. A little 

 more or less of the Paris green does 

 not matter, just so there is enough of 

 it. Drop a little of this here and 

 there, where you know the pest is 

 operating. This method is especially 

 adapted to the blooming season, when 

 you do not want to discolor the foliage 

 or flowers. 



It is- yet early in the season and you 

 may not be cutting any blooms, and, 

 if you are not, I would advise dusting 

 the plants with some good insect pow- 

 der, like Slug Shot or hellebore. It 

 can do no harm and it might prove just 

 the think that is needed. A. F. J. B. 



CONCENTRATION. 



The establishment of E. T. Wanzer,. 

 Wheaton, 111., is probably unique among 

 the establishments devoted to the car- 



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