28 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Januaby 11, 1912. 



EELWOBMS ON BOSES. 



We are sending you today by Amer 

 ican Express a rose bush that shows 

 our troubles. We think the cause is 

 -eelworms and wish you would kindly 

 let' us know whether we are correct. 

 Our soil is a heavy clay one, not very 

 porous. We plowed up a piece of pas- 

 ture in the fall and worked it again in 

 the spring, mixing in about one-fifth 

 rotted cow and horse manure and add- 

 ing one hundred pounds of bone meal 

 to five hundred square feet of bench 

 surfa.ce. The benches have been top- 

 dressed with bone meal three times 

 since fall and once with rotted cow 

 manure, and just recently we have 

 given them a light mulch of pulverized 

 sheep manure. The same grower has 

 been handling our roses since 1908 and 

 this is the first time we have had any 

 difficulty. We have commenced water- 

 ing the' plants with lime water. If 

 possible, will you kindly state the cause 

 of our trouble, with the remedy, if 

 there is any, and also a preventive? 

 The plants are all of our own propa- 

 gation and we have not bought any 

 stock for two years. Do you deem it 

 advisable to use affected stock for 

 propagating purposes? K. & G. 



The roots of the plants forwarded 

 were badly attacked by nematodes or 

 eelworms, these being responsible for 

 the knots or galls on the roots, which 

 interfere with their discharging their 

 proper functions. Applications of lime 

 water will mitigate the evil in some 

 measure, but will not eradicate the 

 worms. They require something much 

 stronger. Carbon bisulphide will not 

 harm the growing plants and will kill 

 a large proportion of the worms. It 

 can be bought of any druggist at 25 

 cents per pound can, retail. Make 

 holes twelve to fifteen inches apart 

 each way with a pointed stick, pour in 

 a scant" teaspoonful of the liquid in 

 each hole and at once cover it ■with 

 soil. The carbon is most penetrating 

 when the soil is damp. Do not use any 

 naked lights while applying it, as it is 

 of an explosive nature. 



Your soil should be ideal for roses 

 and has been properly prepared. To 

 guard against eelworms another sea- 

 son, you should either sterilize the soil 

 with steam or apply a solution of for- 

 maldehyde for the same purpose. Steam, 

 if you can apply it, is to be preferred. 

 There is no good reason why you should 

 not use the stock for propagating pur- 

 poses, as your plants are not suffering 



from anthracnose, spot or other organic 

 diseases of the wood or foliage. Still, 

 if you have unaffected plants, we would 

 prefer to use wood from them. C. W. 



ROSES DROP THEIB FOLIAGE. 



Enclosed you will find some rose 

 leaves taken from my plants. I should 

 like to know what makes them turn 

 yellow and drop off. The trouble started 

 at the bottom of the plants, but is now 

 going up higher. The house is 20x70 

 feet and eleven feet high. There are 

 three and one-half to four inches of 

 soil in the benches; it is rich, black 

 soil, containing one-fourth rotted cow 

 manure. There is no heat under the 

 benches. The temperature of the house 

 is from 58 to 65 degrees at night, and 

 in the daytime from 60 to 70 degrees 

 at the highest, when the sun shines. I 

 use hot water heat and have a fine 

 heating system, with pipes along the 

 side walls. The roses were planted about 

 June 15 and passed through some ter- 

 ribly hot weather, but did not seem to 

 suffer. I keep them well syringed when 

 the weather will permit. I do not ven- 

 tilate at night, but always in the day- 

 time when I can. There was no mil- 

 dew all winter. The varieties are Bride 



and Bridesmaid. I have had some green 

 fly and just a little red spider. The 

 plants were from 2% -inch to 3 -inch 

 pots when planted. I do not water 

 them often, but when needed I soak 

 them well and then let them get mod- 

 erately dry before watering again. I 

 put a light mulch, one-half inch thick, 

 on the roses about three months ago. 

 I fed with manure water against the 

 bottom of the stalks of the plants, and 

 have also fed about twice with bone 

 meal and a little lime, both dry. The 

 flowers have not been any too big and 

 at present I am not getting many. 

 This yellowing and dropping of the 

 leaves .started about a month or six 

 weeks ago. G. F. C. 



Feeding, unless done with extreme 

 care in midwinter, is liable to cause 

 dropping of the leaves. Perhaps you 

 have given your plants a rather too 

 heavy dose of bone, which may have 

 started the trouble. Then again, if 

 the soil in the benches has been allowed 

 to become too dry between waterings, 

 it would cause the same trouble to de- 

 velop. Some of the leaves forwarded, 

 although pretty well shriveled, showed 

 traces of red spider. You are running 

 too high a night temperature for Brides 

 and Bridesmaids. Keep it as near 56 

 degrees as you can; it would be far 

 better to have it a little lower than to 

 have it go up as high as 65 degrees. 

 With the higher night temperature 

 spider will be more likely to make 

 headway and the growths will be 

 weaker than when grown cooler. Brides 

 and Bridesmaids, while good old roses, 

 are now hard to sell in the markets. 

 Another season try the Killarneys, both 

 pink and white. They succeed under 

 similar conditions to those given the 

 older sorts and sell much better. They 

 are the most popular roses in America 

 today, and anyone who could grow 

 Brides and Bridesmaids can succeed 

 with the Killarneys. C. W. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



Propagation. 



At last we are getting something ap- 

 proximating winter weather and, with 

 heavier firing, the propagating bench 

 should now be kept filled, as the bot- 

 tom heat for the coming two months 

 will be steadier than at any other pe- 

 riod of the year. Crotons will root 

 readily where a brisk bottom heat is 

 maintained. They do not need any 

 closed case, as often recommended. 

 Keep them protected from the sun and 

 air currents and keep them well soaked 

 with water and few will fail to root. 

 Colored dracsenas are also of easy prop- 

 agation, either from tops or from pieces 

 of the stems. Dieffenbachias can be 

 similarly propagated. Portions of 

 stem, one to two inches long, if just 

 covered with sand, will in the majority 

 of cases send out growths and roots. 

 Ficus elastica roots best in a mixture 

 of moss and sand and the leaves should 



be tied up to a small stake. Propaga- 

 tion by ringing the stems with moss 

 can be done now, but the plants root 

 much more quickly into it in summer. 

 Begonia Bex is easily rooted, either 

 by laying whole mature leaves on the 

 sand and pinning them to it or by sim- 

 ply cutting the central portions of the 

 leaves in pieces and putting them in 

 the cutting bench in rows. 



Bedding geraniubis should now be 

 propagated in quantity. It is also a 

 good time to root a good batch of 

 colons and then throw away the old 

 and bug-laden stock plants. Alteman- 

 theras can also be rooted. So, also, can 

 fuchsias, heliotropes, bouvardias — these 

 either from pieces of roots or soft cut- 

 tings; variegated vincas, acacias, genis- 

 tas, English ivy; any chrysanthemums 

 of which it is desired to work up a 

 good batch, and many other plants. 

 From this time on the cutting bench 

 should be kept filled all the time. 



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