26 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Dkcbmber 7, 1911. 



ERADICATINO MIIJ5EW. 



I notice in tie last issue of The Re- 

 view, that for November 23, a reply by 

 W. H. T. to W. G., in regard to "Sul- 

 phur on Pipes,'* in which W. H. T. 

 states that this is an old-fashioned rem- 

 edy for mildew. Now, I have a stub- 

 born case of mildew on a good house 

 of roses and I find it hard to handle it 

 this "old-fashioned" way, so please 

 have W. H. T. give us some up-to-date 

 remedy or method for killing or getting 

 rid of this mildew and I shall greatly 

 appreciate it. J. E. M. 



If the mildew does not seem to be 

 overcome by the ordirary treatment 

 with sulphur, I would suggest spraying 

 with a solution of sulphide of potas- 

 sium, commonly called liver of sulphur, 

 the solution to consist of half an ounce 

 of the sulphide to one gallon of water. 

 The sulphide of potassium should not 

 be exposed to the air for any length of 

 time, as it is liable to deteriorate from 

 exposure, and the solution should be 

 used as soon as the chemical is thor- 

 oughly dissolved. Sulphur on the pipes 

 will usually conquer the mildew, but 

 is liable to spoil the color of the roses 

 to a greater or less extent. W. H. T. 



TBOUBLE WITH BRIDE ROSES. 



Enclosed please find a rosebud, Bride. 

 Kindly state trouble and remedy. 



W. A. L. 



The short, thick buds, not unlike the 

 bull head flowers which were. character- 

 istic of the old Perle, are becoming 

 more common on this good old variety, 

 and your best remedy would be to drop 

 this sort and grow White Killarney, 

 which is a better rose in every way 

 and succeeds in the same temperature 

 and under the same conditions as Bride. 

 Even under the best conditions. Bride 

 will throw a proportion of these flow- 

 ers. If growing the variety again, use 

 care and do not propagate from plants 

 which have this failing. Careful selec- 

 tion of cuttings will do much toward 

 remedying the trouble. C. W. 



RICHMOND AND RHEA REID. 



I should like to ask the successful 

 rose grower what he thinks of Rhea 

 Reid as a money-getter alongside of 

 Richmond. Does it compare favorably 

 as to quantity, etc.f F. P. B. 



Rhea Reid is not grown to anything 

 like the same extent as Richmond. In 

 the market quotations from the big 

 cities Richmond is always mentioned, 

 while only in Boston and Chicago do 

 we find Rhea Reid j named. Bassett & 



Washburn, Hinsdale, 111., grow this rose 

 well; so does William H. Elliott, of 

 Brighton, Mass., at his Madbury, N. H., 

 establishment. Mr. Elliott finds it pays 

 him better than Richmond, perhaps be- 

 cause it succeeds better than Richmond 

 in his particular soil. The color, while 

 good, is less brilliant than that of Rich- 

 mond. Still, there are many who like 

 it. As a money-maker it is fully equal 

 to Richmond, always provided that the 

 flowers can be sold at the same prices 

 as Richmond. Under good culture it 

 produces some fancy flowers, which are 

 worth more money than the best Rich- 

 monds. The color is the only draw- 

 back to its more extended culture; 



straw or leaves. This protection ap- 

 plies to the hybrid perpetual class. Hy- 

 brid teas are more delicate. They can 

 sometimes be wintered successfully by 

 laying them down and earthing them 

 over, placing a mulch of straw over 

 this. However, there are many places 

 where this covering will not suffice, in 

 which case it is much safer to lift the 

 plants and store them close together 

 in coldframes, being sure to wet the 

 roots well when planting them. If 

 frames are not at disposal, dig a trench 

 on ground with a good slope and bury 

 the plants, afterward covering with 

 some mulching m^iterial. 



HARDY ROSES. 



Hardy roses should be protected be- 

 fore the ground freezes solidly. The 

 simplest and best plan, is to throw or 

 draw earth up about the stems, and, 

 provided the plants are annually cut 

 back quite hard, there is sure to be 

 some live wood left to prune back to 

 in the spring. Mother Earth is a far 

 better protecting material than manure. 



HOT WATER HEAT FOR ROSES. 



I should like to ask some of the prin- 

 cipal rose growers whether any of then:! 

 depend entirely on hot water for heat 

 and have success in keeping clear of 

 mildew. I should like to know how to 

 do so. I should also like to ask wheth- 

 er those who have hot water do not 

 have steam to help them out in this 

 oattle. F. P. B. 



I am not acquainted with any rose 

 growers who now use hot water for 

 heating purposes, although there prob- 

 ably are many among the smaller grow- 

 ers. It is difficult, if not impossible^ 

 for the small growers now to compete 

 with the big growers of roses. Those 

 having steam have, of course, a great 

 advantage over the hot water users in 

 keeping mildew in check. I have seen 

 tolerably clean roses grown with hot 

 water heat, but it needs much care and 

 forethought to do so. I would certainly 

 say that you have a much harder road 

 to hoe in controlling mildew with hot 

 water than with steam. C. W. 



THE PEONY "BOOM." 



Bertrand H. Farr, of Reading, Pa., 

 who is president of the American 

 Peony Society, commenting on a recent 

 item in The Review to the effect that 

 "the peony boom is not 'busted,' " 

 says: 



"I certainly do not think that the 

 'peony boom' is 'busted' by any means. 

 The best evidence of it from my stand- 

 point is that I do not advertise in The 

 Review, simply because so far I have 

 had enough inquiries from my retail 

 advertising, together with unsolicited 

 inquiries from dealers, to keep my stock 

 at a point where I have no worries 

 about the surplus, especially since what 

 little surplus I have has every year 

 given me good returns in cut flowers 

 alone. I believe it is true that the 



tendency of a large number of people 

 to rush into the business has received 

 a check to some extent, but the coun- 

 try is large and of the finer varieties 

 there is nothing like an adequate sup- 

 ply for the demand, which at the pres- 

 ent time has only slightly been aroused. 

 The great mass of people do not know 

 peonies. Comparatively few people 

 have seen any but the varieties most 

 commonly grown. Everywhere large 

 country estates are being developed. 

 The wealth of the country is rapidly 

 increasing, and as people acquire the 

 means and opportunity the apprecia- 

 tion of the garden develops with it, and 

 in my opinion the demand, not only for 

 peonies but for hardy plants of all 

 kinds, is in its infanev in this coun- 

 try." 



