14 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Mabch 10, 1010. 



MILLEPEDS IN FERN HOUSE. 



I should like to offer a suggestion to 

 E. W., who recently inquired, through 

 the Review, as to the best means of ex- 

 terminating the millepeds, or thousand- 

 legged worms, which were infesting the 

 benches of his fern house. The best 

 remedy I have tried for millepeds, sow 

 bugs and snails is Paris green and 

 brown sugar, half and half. On one oc- 

 casion, when the treatment was badly 

 needed, I spread the mixture along the 

 benches at the rate of about half a thim- 

 bleful every two feet. Next morning I 

 found the dead bodies of the pests scat- 

 tered about by the hundreds. 



Chas. a. Juengel. 



TEMPERATURE FOR BOSTONS. 



I am sending, under separate cover, 

 some samples of ferns, Boston and 

 others. They have not done well all win- 

 ter. The tops of the older fronds show 

 no growth. The bottom of the stems is 

 black and brittle. The younger growths 

 are not thrifty, either, but soon curl up 

 and die. As they were somewhat in- 

 fested with scale, a few weeks ago I 

 washed them with a solution of whale oil 

 soap. They looked worse afterward. 

 Gould that have injured themf I send 

 also a sample of the roots. There ap- 

 pears to be a new growth starting from 

 them. I have just cut the tops nearly 

 all off, close to the pots, hoping they 

 will grow up again fresh and strong. 

 Will this plan work, or would it be bet- 

 ter to throw them away and start with 

 entirely new stock! The young plants 

 in the same house appear to be affected 

 just as badly as the older ones. 



The temperature of the house often 

 runs down close to 40 degrees on cold 

 mornings, as I do not fire any at night. 

 Do you think it is too cold for them? 

 The day temperature is 50 to 70 degrees. 



T. H. S. 



The fern fronds in question did show 

 some injury from the soap solution with 

 which they had been washed, this being 

 a rather strong remedy to use on ferns, 

 but in addition to this some of the fronds 

 looked much as if they had been frozen. 

 Boston ferns will not make satisfactory 

 progress in a house in which the tempera- 

 ture falls to 40 degrees at night, for 55 

 to 60 degrees is much more to their lik- 

 ing. 



If the plants are badly infested with 

 scale, it would be better to throw them 

 away and to get some young plants in 

 the spring for growing on. W. H. T. 



doors? Could the later ones be planted 

 outdoors? Please name three good vari- 

 eties for a succession of bloom, including 

 Queen of the Market. How about the 

 Early Wonder? R. F. 



Three good varieties for you to grow 

 will be Queen of the Market, American 

 or Vick's Branching and Semple's late. 

 The two last named sorts can be sown 

 either in a coldframe or outdoors. A cold- 

 frame will insure better germination, 

 however. 



Use only one or two colors ; white is al- 

 ways in heaviest demand, next to pink. 

 Quite a few lavender blue are also sold, 

 and a smaller number of dark purple. 

 Other shades are not wanted and mixed 

 bunches will not sell. Of course, aster 

 markets are variable. There are periods 

 of glut, and then again they bring excel- 

 lent prices. If your land is good and you 

 can get strong stems, they will pay you 

 better than any other annual. W. C. 



BEST ASTERS FOR MARKET. 



I have thought of growing some asters. 

 There is but little local demand for them, 

 but I could have them at Indianapolis by 

 8:30 a. m., if that would be any advan- 

 tage in selling them there. Would you 

 advise me to do this? Is it necessary to 

 iJtnt more than the earliest varieties in- 



NORTHERN OUTDOOR PLOVERS. 



[A paper by Richard Rotbe, of Northeast 

 Harbor. Me., read before the Bar Harbor Hor- 

 ticultural Society at Its meeting in March, 

 1910.] 



Broadly speaking, the New England 

 states have a well established and en- 

 viable record in all lines of outdoor flori- 

 culture as far north as Boston. Beyond 

 the Massachusetts boundary, however, the 

 horticultural fraternity of this country 

 still looks with more or less doubt. Maine, 

 New Hampshire and Vermont have not 

 been heard from often enough to make an 

 impression. I do not think I am exag- 

 gerating when stating that, in the minds 

 of a great majority of American horti- 

 culturists, floriculture within those states 

 is still in its infancy, and little is ex- 

 pected of this section in the near future. 



While this may properly apply to the 

 thinly settled regions, it hardly does to 

 our larger cities. Floriculture as a 

 means of beautifying home surroundings 

 and city squares is better understood and 

 becomes more noticeable year after year. 

 For obvious reasons, we find it farthest 

 advanced along the seacoast line. With 

 the establishment of fashionable summer 

 resorts and subsequent building of cot- 

 tages, the desire to have the immediate 

 surroundings laid out in the customary 

 lawn-like shape, planted with trees, orna- 

 mental shrubbery and somo flowers, fol- 

 lowed. It was, and in many cases still 

 is, simply the introduction of the conven- 

 tional city suburban lawn into the native 

 spruce and pine region of the north. 



Early Troubles and Triumphs. 



The small number of flowering, every- 

 day bedding plants 1;hat were employed 

 during the early stages of development, 

 were supplied by the large, far-away, cen- 

 tral markets. The comparatively short 

 growing seasons, the uncertainty whether 

 such plant material, coming a long dis- 

 tance from a much warmer climate, would 



thrive, not to speak of the frequent ab- 

 sence of skilled labor for proper handling 

 and care, proved in many instances serious 

 obstacles in the pathway of quick ad- 

 vance. The rapid floricultural progress 

 of Bar Harbor is first and last due to 

 the early employment of high-class pro- 

 fessional plantsmen and subsequent foun- 

 dation of her own plant-growing in- 

 dustries. To lay bare the floricultural 

 possibilities of a region, which at the 

 beginning must have looked nearly hope- 

 less, required a vast amount of patient 

 experimenting. There is no need to talk 

 to you of the many disappointments, or, 

 on the other hand, of the mapy happy sur- 

 prises the northern floriculturist meets 

 with, but it is safe to say that so far the 

 latter have far outclassed the former in 

 number and importance. 



It was one of the happy surprises to 

 find out that we can safely employ many 

 of the Azalea mollis and A. Pontica 

 varieties along the Atlantic coast line as 

 far north as Canada. Calycanthus flori- 

 dus, Cydonia Japonica, all the free 

 flowering deutzias, diervillas, forsythias, 

 bush honeysuckles, mock oranges, 

 spiraeas and viburnums have proven per- 

 fectly hardy, and the rich florescence of 

 immense lilac bushes gives evidence that 

 the climatic conditions of the north are 

 exceptionally favorable for their growth. 



The Widening Outlook. 



Let us hope that the popularity of the 

 hardy hydrangeas and Eosa rugosa is 

 soon to be shared by rose varieties such 

 as the Austrian brier. Copper, Harrison 's 

 Yellow and Persian Yellow. Likewise are 

 the rubiginosa Penzance hybrids and the 

 many comparatively new rugosa hybrids 

 worth serious consideration, for they are 

 not only perfectly hardy within this lo- 

 cality, but also exceedingly prolific in 

 flowering. Hybrid perpetuals, teas and 

 hybrid teas need winter protection in 

 New England, and more so along the 

 Canadian boundary. If carried through 

 in good shape and otherwise properly 

 cared for, their growth is extraordinarily 

 vigorous, the crops of buds are heavy and 

 the period of their flowering long last- 

 ing; not to mention the fortunate ab- 

 sence of the obnoxious rose-bugs which 

 often ravage crops of outdoor roses in the 

 middle Atlantic states. 



There is no climatic or other hindrance 

 to the free use of nearly all the popular 

 bedding plants, such as geraniums, 

 tuberous rooted begonias, heliotropes, 

 salvias, petunias and so forth. If there 

 had been any doubt as to the possibility 

 of flowering such bulbs as dahlias, gladi- 

 oli and cannas, your magnificent exhibits 

 at last year's flower show would have 

 quickly removed it. But, after all, there 

 is nothing that can eclipse the great suc- 

 cess we had in the line of hardy biennials 

 and perennials. Not alone can we grow 

 nearly everything worth having, but time 

 has divulged the fact that we can also 

 cultivate many varieties up to a perfec- 

 tion and floriferousness that is simply im- 

 possible south of Massachusetts. I said, 

 cultivate up, lest we forget that growing 

 of perennials in the north means in- 

 creased attention and, in consequence 

 thereof, higher expenses, especially in 

 overwintering, than in the middle states. 

 But northern grown plants, after sur- 

 viving our long, icy winters under pro- 

 tecting leaf -covering, hardy and vigorous, 

 are ready to put forth that wonderful, 

 sturdy growth, rich floriferousness and 

 brilliancy of colors which year after year 

 compel the unreserved admiration of the 

 multitude of our flower-loving visitors. 



