18 



The Florists^ Review 



Febrcaby 5, 1914. 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS. 



Shading. 



Cattleyas and Isplias are better with 

 full suftiieht for some weeks yet. Never 

 mind if ^ey turn a little pale in color; 

 they will grow and flower better than 

 such as are kept in shade all the time. 

 Give Miltonia vexillaria and odontoglos- 

 sums the full sun until March 1, when 

 a little shade may he necessary. 

 Cypripediunis need a little shade, and 

 phala?nopsis should never be exposed 

 to bright sunshine, they being the most 

 susceptible of orchids in this respect. 

 Where orchids can be fitted with cloth 

 or lath shades, and these can be re- 

 moved during cloudy and dark weather, 

 the plants have a wonderful advantage 

 over those grown under glass Jj'hich in 

 summer is heavily coated with kero- 

 sene and lead or even lime wash, but it 

 costs money to put up these shades, 

 and they are a little beyond the purses 

 of commercial growers. 



Sponging. 



There is comparatively little time 

 for sponging in summer and, there- 

 fore, every plant should, if possible, be 

 overhauled between now and the end 

 of March. With many plants this will 

 be a simple task. Cattleyas, if infested 

 with scale, should have bulbs, as well 

 as leaves, well washed with some soap 

 solution, and stiff brushes are usually 

 necessary to clean the scale oflE properly. 

 It takes considerable time to clean 

 cypripediums off properly, but it will 

 pay to do it. During bad weather it 

 may be possible to put one or two extra 

 hands cleaning these. Smart boys and 

 girls do the work just as well as men. 



Overhead watering needs to be done 

 with great care in midwinter, but even 

 at this season there are days when a 

 light spraying is advantageous. Cat- 

 tleyas and laelias, if sprayed over about 

 9 a. m. on clear days, will be dried off 

 before nightfall. Odontoglossums, cym- 

 bidiums and dendrobes, except those \n 

 flower, are all benefited by an occa- 

 sional damping over. Dendrobes with 

 nodes small should have a spray each 

 fine day to assist development of the 

 nodes. 



Fumigation. 



Orchids are less troubled with insect 

 -pests than many other plants. Scale 

 can be controlled by spraying with 

 Aphine or fir tree oil, but a fumigation 

 once in eight or ten days will be a 

 great help, using some nicotine extract 

 evaporated ever A<^ood alcohol lamps, or, 

 if steam is used, it can be painted on 

 the pipes and a small quantity will give 



an atmosphere strong enough to kill, 

 aphis, also thripSj unless the attack is 

 a bad one. 'A heavy dose will kill mealy 

 bug. Cattleya flies on the wing aVe 

 killed by these fumigation? also, al- 

 though cutting out infested growths as 

 soon as noticed is the most certain, if 

 radical, cure foi^ the latter. Odontoglos- 

 sums, masdevalUas and Miltonia vexil- 

 laria will not stand heavy fumigations, 

 and hydrocyanih acid gas, safe though 

 it is to use ainong many apparently 

 susceptible plants, will seriously damage 

 even the hardy looking* cattleyas and 

 should never be used in an orchid hotise. 

 . * i' 



WILL NOT FUMIGATE ORCHIDS. 



Importers of orchid plants are 

 brieathing easier: The federal horticul- 

 tural board gives indication of aban- 

 doning its idea of quarantining or 

 otherwise attempting to repel the in- 

 vasion of the cattleya fly. 



There has, of late, been much com- 

 plaint of the devastations of the cat- 

 tleya fly, and these complaints have 

 come to the attention of the board 

 charged with the duty of administer- 

 ing the federal horticultural quaran- 

 tine law. The board, after giving the 

 matter only slight consideration, told 



some of the importers of orchid plants 

 that it seemed in line to prevent the 

 importation of the cattleya fly either 

 by prohibiting the importation of the 

 plants except when accompanied by the 

 regulation certificate of inspection, or 

 by subjecting the plants to fumigation 

 at the port of entry. The importers 

 were prompt to point out that certifica- • 

 tion is impossible, because the countries 

 from which orchid plants are imported 

 are ^mong the least advanced, and. 

 with few exceptions, maintain no hor- 

 ticultural inspection; also that it is 

 almost impossible to detect the pres- 

 ejwie of the cattleya fly by the inspec- 

 tion of the plants in the-oimdition in 

 which they are imporifed. Tah import- 

 ers said that they^^-wDuld much, rather 

 havaiy^ importation of the plants pro- 

 hibvci^Khan to have the stock fumi- 

 gated af\^the port of entry — they pre- 

 ferred to be put out of business before 

 they had spent their money for stock, 

 since fumigation would amount to prac- 

 tical destruction. 



The importers also pointed out that 

 the quarantine law is supposed to be 

 for the purpose of preventing the in- 

 troduction of any plant pests not now 

 prevalent in the United. States — and 

 they emphasized the fact that practi- 

 cally every orchid establishment al' 

 ready has the cattleya fly. They said 

 the law does not fit the case. 



So strongly do the importers voice 

 their protestations that the federal hor- 

 ticultural board, after further consid- 

 eration, has about concluded that it 

 will not undertake to quarantine 

 against the cattleya fly or to regulate 

 the importation of orchids, except that 

 the usual permit for the importation 

 of nursery stock will be required, and 

 an eye will be kept on the importa- 

 tions. 



DISEASED OEAaNIUM FOLIAGE. 



I am enclosing a few samples of gera- 

 nium leaves which are affected with 

 some sort of disease. Will you kindly 

 advise me of its cause and the remedy 

 for it? The disease is rather generally 

 distributed throughout the geraniums, 

 except in the stock plants. They are 

 now in 3-inch pots and seem stunted 

 from the effects of this leaf-drying. 

 They are in a well lighted house, which, 

 owing to general causes, cannot be 

 heated higher than 52 degrees in cold 

 weather, and o|i this account they are 

 kept on the dry side. This trouble has 

 never appeared before this year, either 

 in the field or bench, and thfe soil is of 

 the same grade as that used in previous 

 years. It is rather light, with manure 

 and a small amount of bone meal for 

 the second potting. The first sign of 

 the disease appeared after the plants 

 were potted up in 2 1^ -inch pots from 

 the cutting bench, in soil without 

 manure. F. L. G. 



It may be that your trouble arose 



from keeping the cuttings a little too 

 long in the sand. This is frequently the 

 cause of stem-rot and various leaf dis- 

 eases not only of geraniums but of a 

 number of other plants. It is possible 

 that the soil without manure used at 

 the first potting may have been too poor, 

 and that pure starvation caused the 

 plants to "become stunted and the foliage 

 to be lost. Geraniums make a rank 

 growth if much manure is used in the 

 soil, and fine bone is a safe substitute 

 for animal manures, as it promotes a 

 stocky, short-jointed plant which will 

 flower well. Some fine, old, well screenbd 

 manure added to the soil at the second 

 potting is of riiaterial benefit to the 

 plants, while just a little at the initial 

 potting will put a little life into them. 

 A temperature of 48 to 50 degrees is 

 ample for geraniums. They like a dry 

 atmosphere and plenty of sun and fresh 

 air. All you can do with your worst af- 

 fected plants is to throw them away. 

 Those left may be found to need a little 

 more plant food to color them up. Ap- 

 ply this in the form of a top-dressing 

 rather than in liquid form, v^ C W. 



