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14 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Dgcbmbeb 28, 1911. 



work. We are always working away 

 from it, instead of having to work over 

 the cuttings as the others do. After 

 you have stuck a batch of cuttings, 

 you must give them a thorough water- 

 ing, partly to moisten the sand and 

 partly to settle the sand around the cut- 

 tings. After that they will need to be 

 sprayed just enough to keep them fresh. 

 But this point will be taken up in a 

 future article. 



Another thing you must bear in mind, 

 and it is of the greatest importance. 

 When selecting cuttings, avoid plants 

 which are not healthy. There is no 

 surer way of destroying the vitality of 

 your stock than by propagating un- 

 healthy cuttings. Especially is this 

 true of that most prevalent disease, 

 stigmonose. A. F. J. Baur. 



CUTTINGS AEE GOOD. 



1 am sending a sample of a lot of un- 

 rooted carnation cuttings and would 

 like to have your opinion of them. I 

 sent for 3,000, paying $37.50 cash for 

 them. I told the party to take them 

 from the flowering stem and to be 

 careful not to break the heel oflP. When 

 I received them forty per cent were 

 like the sample sent you. What do you 

 think of it? G, A. R. 



The cuttings forwarded were badly 

 wilted, but 1 presume that your com- 

 plaint is not of that nature. These cut- 

 tings, when properly rooted, ought to 



many shoots had brown tips and rough 

 places on them. We picked off the 

 worst shoots and burned them, then 

 spraying with Fungine. We notice 

 there are thrips on the plants and are 

 now spraying regularly with a nicotine 

 solution. Under separate cover we send 

 you a few of the worst shoots we can 

 find in the bench. Please let us know 

 if it is fairy ring, or what it is, and 

 what we shall do. So far it has not 

 affected the blooms, for they are as fine 

 as we could wish. E. R. G. 



The light spots on the specimens for- 

 warded are not fairy ring. They are 

 caused by the common disease known 

 as stigmonose. This subject has been 

 treated fully within the last few weeks 

 in my answers to inquiries and you will 

 find directions for handling it in recent 

 numbers of The Review. A. F. J. B. 



COVEBED WITH BED SPIDEB. 



I am sending you some carnations 

 that seem to me to be affected with 

 some kind of disease. If you can tell 

 me what the trouble is and what to do, 

 I shall be sincerely thankful. This is 

 my first season in business and I am not 

 an experienced florist. J. H. C. 



The specimens forwarded were liter- 

 ally covered with red spider, and if all 

 your plants are as badly affected as 

 these, you will not be apt to find this a 



Mignonette at Castle Grove Greenhouses, Danville, Pa. 



make you as fine stock as it is possible 

 to get. They are healthy and strong. 

 The grower who sent them to you 

 should have taken them off without tak- 

 ing the heels with them, as you will 

 likely take the heels off anyway. These 

 stubs would produce more young shoots 

 for him, which would make the finest of 

 cuttings. You have no reason for com- 

 plaint as far as I can see. A. F. J. B. 



STIGMONOSE. 



Several years ago we had a bad case 

 of fairy . ring on our carnations and 

 when we see something wrong with 

 them we are afraid it is the old trouble. 

 About ten days ago we noticed a good 



profitable season. At this time of the 

 year it is an uphill job to fight this 

 pest, when once it gets a firm foothold. 

 When the weather is bright and one can 

 syringe every day it is an easy mat- 

 ter to keep them in check, and experi- 

 enced growers make special efforts to 

 have their plants free from them when 

 winter sets in. After that it is merely 

 a question of prevention. 



Salt water is perhaps the best 

 weapon to fight them with now. Use a 

 2-inch potful of salt to each gallon of 

 water and spray them thoroughly. 

 After a day or two (try to select a 

 bright day, in the morning), wash them 

 off with the hose. After a few days, 

 if some of the pests have survived, 



repeat the dose. Set your young plants 

 as far away from these infested plants 

 as possible, else they will become in- 

 fested too. A. F. J. B. 



WIBEWOBMS IN SOIL. 



Kindly inform us as to the best way 

 to get rid of wireworms in the soil. 

 Would steaming the soil enough to kill 

 them have any bad effect on itt We 

 wish to use the soil for our young car- 

 nation plants. W. B. 



By far the wisest plan would be not 

 to use this soil for your young carna- 

 tion plants. To apply remedies when 

 it is too late to avoid trouble of this 

 nature is well enough, but when you 

 know of the presence of pests of this 

 kind, by all means go around them. If 

 you must use this soil, you can destroy 

 the wireworms by sterilizing it. Others 

 recommend the use of salt or salty fer- 

 tilizers, such as nitrate of soda. A 

 4-inch potful of salt to a wheelbarrow 

 of soil would not be apt to injure your 

 plants, and it may destroy the worms. 

 I would advise you to experiment along 

 this line a little before you use it on 

 your stock. Try it in stronger propor- 

 tion too. A. F. J, B. 



AMERICAN CARNATION SOCIETY. 



Please bear in mind that all entries 

 for carnations for the Detroit exhibi- 

 tion should be in the hands of the sec- 

 retary not later than January 1. For 

 each entry made after January 1 $2 will 

 be charged. 



A. F. J. Baur, See 'y. 



HOUSE OF MIGNONETTE. 



The accompanying illustration is re- 

 produced from a photograph taken a 

 few days ago at the Castle Grove Green- 

 houses, Danville, Pa. The mignonette 

 in the house was planted August 15, and 

 for a holiday crop stems were cut two 

 feet long, with flower spikes seven 

 inches in length. The variety is with- 

 out name, being a selection from seed- 

 lings raised by J. J. Curran, who is 

 seen in the picture. 



ASTEB BLIGHT. 



Kindly give me information in regard 

 to aster blight. My asters are on new 

 land, but blighted somewhat. Will they 

 be likely to blight if grown on the same 

 land next season? Can the seed be 

 treated with formalin? What varieties 

 are best — pink, white and purple, or 

 lavender — for florists' trade, and where 

 may seed be obtained? Are coal ashes 

 beneficial? Is hen manure or kainite a 

 good aster fertilizer, and in what quan- 

 tity? B. N. L. 



It is hard to say what causes aster 

 blight. It is a fact that seeds saved 

 from badly affected plants, which were 

 secured with some difficulty, germinated 

 and produced perfectly strong and 

 healthy plants the foUowing season. 

 As a general thing, new land is much 

 less likely to give blighted plants than 

 old ground. Again, plants raised under 

 glass in heat are more delicate and 

 more susceptible to blight than those 

 started in coldframes or outdoors. A 

 good many diseased plants are caused 

 by too thick sowing and crowding in 

 the seedling flats or after transplanting. 



The ground in which asters are to be 

 grown is better if plowed or spaded and 

 liberally manured the fall previous to 



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