12 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



May 26, 1910. 



CATTLEYA FLY. 



This arch enemy of cattleyas causes 

 more trouble and anxiety to growers each 

 year than all other causes combined. The 

 season of incubation is now over, and 

 little trouble need be feared until an- 

 other spring. Remedies innumerable 

 have been tried against this pest, which 

 lays its eggs in the base of the young 

 growths, as indicated by their having a 

 much swollen appearance. Persistent 

 fumigations will kill some flies on the 

 wing. Fly papers stood here and there 

 arrest a few. Hypodermic injections 

 have been tried, but avail little. The 

 most radical but at the same time the 

 best remedy la cutting out the infested 

 growths as they appear. It seems a 

 cruel, murderous procedure and may seri- 

 ously cripple many plants, but if the 

 pest is to be controlled, it must be done. 

 It is a sorrowful task each day to cut 

 away quarts of promising growths, but 

 stern necessity demands it, unless an en- 

 tire house or collection is to be ruined. 

 Th<^ pest usually comes on C. labiata. 

 This and C. Trianse suffer the most, but 

 C. Mossise, Mendellii, gigas and some 

 other varieties are also attacked. Lselias, 

 such as elegans, purpurata and anceps, 

 and such cattleyas as Skinneri, Bowrin- 

 i^eana and Harrisonise are rarely attacked. 

 it pays to have an eagle eye on young 

 growths, and whenever one appears extra 

 thick at the base, cut it off, and on cut- 

 ting open you will probably find the larvae 

 or occasionally flies themselves enclosed. 



FEEDING OBCHIDS. 



No two growers will be found whose 

 opinions on feeding orchids agree. Some 

 condemn it entirely; others go to the 

 opposite extreme and overdo it, produc- 

 ing nice plants which elicit temporary 

 applause for the grower, but disappear 

 in a comparatively short time. 



All terrestrial orchids, such as are 

 found growing in mother earth, will be 

 benefited by the judicious use of liquid 

 stimulants. Included among these are: 

 Calanthes, phaius — each of these likes 

 doses of cow or sheep manure water 

 when growing; thunias, coelogynes, espe- 

 cially the varieties cristata, Massange- 

 ana, baroata and Dayana; cypripedi- 

 ums, practically all varieties; sobralias, 

 cymbidiums, zygopetalums, lycastes and 

 brassias. Dendrobiums, when growing, 

 especially the more robust sorts, like 

 an occasional weak dose of manure wa- 

 ter. Odontoglossums are better without 

 it, as are most of the oncidiums, but all 

 the vandas, aerides, saccolabiums and 

 other robust, so-called East Indian or- 

 chids are benefited by feeding, provided 

 they have plenty of good roots to take 

 it up. Phalsenopsis are better supplied 

 with clear water, although one or two 

 growers have found manure water ben- 

 eficial. 



Coming to cattleyas, opinions are as 

 wide apart as the poles. Some splendid 

 growers never feed at all; others believe 

 that good growths are impossible with- 

 out it. In England and on the Euro- 

 pean continent the feeding of cattleyas, 

 Iselias, odontoglossums, etc., is generally 

 condemned, although the late Norman 

 C. Cookson found that ammonium phos- 

 phate and potassium nitrate in water, 

 forming what is commonly known as 

 the Cookson Formula, greatly improved 

 his plants. Some American growers 

 have had good success with the Cookson 

 Formula on a variety of orchids; others 

 are afraid to try it, or have tried and 

 abandoned it. American and European 

 conditions are quite different. Our sum- 

 mers are much hotter, necessitating 

 much more frequent waterings, and 

 practically all plants will benefit by 



more feeding here than there, especially 

 under glass. 



Our experience has been that all cat- 

 tleyas, laelias, Iselio-cattleyas and other 

 bigeneric hybrids of a similar nature 

 are improved by occasional weak appli- 

 cations of salts or cow manure at in- 

 tervals of eight to ten days during the 

 growing season, when such plants are 

 well rooted and in a condition to utilize 

 the food supplied; especially is this the 

 case with the most robust growing vari- 

 eties. Feeding must be done with due 

 care or a lot of harm will result. Do 

 not entrust the work to anybody, but 

 either do it yourself or see that it is 

 properly done. One heavy dose, care- 

 lessly applied, may easily upset a whole 

 year's painstaking labors. 



OYPEIPEDIUMS. 



Cypripedium insigne does best in a 

 cool house. One with a north aspect is 

 suitable, but where this is not at com- 

 mand, coldframes are excellent. The 

 growth made here is much stockier than 

 when the plants are kept in a house a 

 considerable distance from the glass. In 

 addition to the insigne varieties, that 

 useful variety, Leeanum, villosum, Spi- 

 cerianum, Sallieri, and the one-time lost 

 variety, Fairieanum, do well under frame 

 culture. The advantage of getting all 

 the plants close to the light, abundant 

 ventilation and ease in syringing or wa- 

 tering should commend this mode of sum- 

 mer culture to many. 



CARNATIONS IN OLD SOIL. 



I have two benches which I filled last 

 fall with two inches of cow manure and 

 four inches of new soil. These benches 

 were planted with sweet peas and were 

 dried off after the first crop of flowers 

 was picked. Can I grow carnations suc- 

 cessfully in this soil this season f 



H. J. H. 



One can not tell a great deal about 

 the condition of soil without seeing it. 

 I would say that if the soil in question 

 appears to be in a live, mellow condi- 

 tion, it will likely do to grow carnations 

 in. If you find that it lacks in fertility 

 you can add later whatever it seems to 

 need. 



I would not allow this soil to become 

 powder-dry. Sprinkle a light coat of 

 good ashes or slaked lime on it and 

 spade it over every three or four weeks. 

 Water enough to keep it just moist, but 

 do not flood it at any time after it has 

 been broken up. 



A good plan would be to break it up 

 well and then cover it thinly with old 

 stable litter, to prevent rapid evapora- 

 tion. But do not put this on heavily 

 enough to exclude all air. What you 

 want to do is to thoroughly aerate it 

 to get it into good mechanical condi- 

 tion, and this is done best by frequent 

 handling. A. F. J. B. 



HOG MANUEE IN COMPOST. 



Will there be any risk in using manure 

 from a feed yard that was used for both 

 cattle and hogsf The cattle manure 

 seems pretty well rotted, but the hog 

 manure is till rank enough to give the 

 characteristic odor, and quite strongly; 

 so I judge there is a considerable pro- 

 portion of it. I had intended to use this 

 in mixing our carnation soil. Our soil is 

 naturally rather sandy, but is fine-grained 

 and smooth soil. I ant not sure whether 

 hog manure is a safe proposition and 

 should like expert advice. W. H. C. 



There is no risk in using this manure, 

 provided the compost is made in good 

 season, chopped up after lying for two 

 weeks and turned over every ten days un- 

 til placed on the bench. -This will thor- 

 oughly incorporate the constituents and 

 give ample time and opportunity for the 

 escape of any deleterious elements. 



BiBES. 



JOKE. 



To the newcomer or green workman the 

 florist said, as he laid down a bunch of 

 36-inch Beauties: "Make these stemr 

 twenty- four inches." He did, just as 

 carefully as possible, measuring them 

 with a yardstick — from the stem toward 

 the flower! 



Bockville, Conn. — William Moran, 

 formerly with Thomas F. Galvin, in Bos- 

 ton, has taken a position with the Bock- 

 ville Floral Co. 



