28 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



April 1, 1909. 



FLORICULTURE IN ILLINOIS. 



State University Gathers Facts. 



The authorities of the AgrieiiKuiiil 

 College and Exjieiiiiieut (Station at tlie 

 University of Illinois recently published 

 and are now tlistributing a ])ainj>hlet 

 ■'devoted to tiie business of setting furth 

 to fanners and uliiers interested in the 

 development of agriculture in Jlliuois, 

 and to the inendiers uf the Assembly, 

 whJidi must jirovide tiie funds, the needs 

 of the Agricultural College and Experi- 

 ment Statinn, if they are to meet at all 

 ade(]uately the rapidly increasing de- 

 mands that are Inid upon tiiem for in- 

 struction and infurination.'' 



lioferring to tin,' work for floriculture 

 undertaken two years ago at Trbana, the 

 panijihlet says: 



Amount Invested. 



"According to reliable estimates which 

 have been tompiled, we fiinl that more 

 than $JU,U()(),U(i(i are n(nv invested in the 

 lloricidtural business in Illinois. .Mori' 

 than ;fl,U()(i,OUU of this anu)unt is rejire- 

 sented by buildings and a considerably 

 larger amount in land. There are 7ilt 

 commercial llurists in our state, recei\ing 

 from their sales approximately ,+i5,UUU.U0U 

 annually, while they exjieml for labor 

 $7Ui),U(MJ and .*30,0U(i for fertilizers. In 

 addition to the above, there are over ]Ul) 

 retail florists and comuussion men de- 

 pendent ujioii the growers for the stock 

 which they handle. 



"The glass area devoted to Ihiiiculturi^ 

 in Illinois is nut less than J().(i(lii,(ltl(i 

 S(iuare feet, which covers 1 !',.")( lo.iiuo 

 square feet of land. Asiile from all this, 

 we lind there are in the state nu)re than 

 :^,U00 farmers and gardeijers using glass 

 for tiie growing of \arious jdants. In- 

 deeil, we lind that this industry is not a 

 localized one. for nearly vwry county has 

 large lloricultural interests. 



"The glass an>a devided to lloricuiture 

 in Co'jk county is U((t less than 7,(ii)U.OUn 

 S(juare feet, while some of tiie other coun- 

 ties run as lollows: i)u I'age coiinty. fjoi). 

 OUO; Kane county, I'iMl.uuo; Saiiganmn 

 county, L'()(),()(iii; AIcLean county, KTi.onii; 

 Will county, ll'."),!)!)!!. 



"Tluse hgurcs go to show that tlie 

 lloricultural indu^tiy is mw bel(.n::inL; to 

 the entire st.-tte. Indeed, no other stat<' 

 has so general an iiderest in this thri\ing 

 and important industi'y. There is no 

 doubt that Illinois I'anks secoucl to none 

 in the \aliie of her lloricultural output. 



State Work for Florists. 



"lUiring the pa^t two ye;ir-^ wiuk ha-; 

 been carried on in se\eral line-. Invest! 

 gaiidus tor the repre-vidu of thrips in 

 jui'ing roses .and carnatinns iimhi ^L-i-- 

 \\ere begnii at r>hiiimin;:iiin in (fctnlnT. 

 ]!M)7. and tln' ;imnnnt ol' injurv (•.•iiised 



by thi- in-ect e:irh week \ia- le.-iirded 



until June 1,",. I'.nis. 'n,,. t,,t;,l number 

 of c.'irnatioli buds e\;nnil|rd w.-is t;s.n(s_ 

 A te-t of six propiietary <-irnpiMnhl- ccoi 

 taining nicdiini' w.a-; made ]n ijeti'imine 

 their elliciency tur spraying, f iini i'^;it i ml;. 



;ind fnr the Iw,, cujuliinril. ( )|| roses. 



badly inl'e-te,! with thrips. fi\e .-ipplic.-i- 

 tions ef spray- icsulled in ridding eightv 



per cent of thi' bloums of tln-e lin'v 



insects. ( )n c.ainai idu-. thne w;i^ .",7. '7 

 per cent ininry on the diei-k sectiiui. I.'l 

 to Is.."i p,r ci.nt on the diU'erenl t'umi 

 gated seitiMe-. .-uid II tn I.", j.er rent lui 

 tiie s]iiayed section-. 



"Iti (iider tn te-1 met hiid- f,,r 1 1,,. ,-(jn 

 tro] ,1 thrip- (111 luc-midiei- ,n ^iieen 



hni|--e-. e\|ic| i rnent - \\eic begnii ;it 



Streator in March, 3'JOS. Hydrocyanic; 

 acid gas at a safe strength was of no 

 jiractical value in killing thrips. It was 

 found that spraying uith a very weak 

 solution — one ({uarter ounce of a 40 per 

 cent nicotine jo-eparation to one gallon of 

 water — applied early in the day Avliile 

 the thrips were on the upper surface of 

 the leaves, was elfective in killing the 

 insects, and if the material was syringed 

 olf at once no injury to the leaves_ re- 



SultiMl. 



"Analyses are also being made to de- 

 termine the nicotine content of various 

 commercial prepaiat ions (d' t(diacco. This 

 was done so as to determine their \alue 

 a-' insecticides. 



"At th<' pres<'iit time, the stale green- 

 houses ;ire de\dted to ;in experiment with 

 carnations testing the \alue of chemical 

 fertilizers as siipjileineiit ing stable ma- 

 nures. This ex|ieiiment c(mipiises thirty 

 combinations of iVitilizers and these .are 

 rejieatcd with four dilVerent varieties of 

 carnations, in order to check results. To 

 liuisli this work, will i'e(|uire at least three 

 ye.ars. The results will be of groat value, 

 as the iertilizt'r (juestion is one of the 

 greatest importance to the coiniuercial 

 grow er. 



Problems of tlie Florist. 



"Among till,' many (piestious confront- 

 ing the lloi'ist of today, the following are 

 (d till' greatest importance: 



"I. Study of fertilizi'r re(|uiremen1s 

 of jdants otlier than carnations. Although 

 the results of fertilizer experiments with 

 carnations may be of v.nliie in the grow- 

 ing of roses, chrysanthemums and other 

 plants, sejiarato experiments should be 

 carried on with each, as the requirements 

 aie not the same. The intensive method 



of farming under glass requires close 

 attention to the kinds !ind amounts of 

 fertilizer used. 



"2. A study of the various insect pests 

 troublesome to greenhouse and garden 

 crops and a determination of the best 

 methods for their extermiuiition, should 

 be made. 



"?>. The fungi prevalent in lloricul- 

 tural work should be studied and methods 

 for their control should be determined. 



"4. A great many of the tlowers raised 

 in the state of Illinois are shijiped great 

 distances, not only to neighboring states, 

 but to all parts of the country. There is 

 also much shipping done from small 

 towns to larger centers. Studies should 

 b(> made for increasing the keeping quali- 

 ties of the llowers, anil the problems of 

 packing and shipping should be investi- 

 gated. 



".'j. Studies and actual tests should be 

 made in vaiious methods cd' bench con- 

 struction. The high price of lumber has 

 led to the use of many other materials 

 for this purpose. 



"(). Tli(> questions arising from the 

 use of refrigeration plants should be thor- 

 oughly investigated. This includes the 

 handling of cut ilowers in artificially 

 cooleil houses and the cold storage of 

 variiuis forms of jilants and bulbs to 

 retard their growth. 



"7. There seems to be a great future 

 for the growing of many of the hardy 

 annuals, perennials and bulbs for both 

 cut tlowers and decoration of homo 

 grounds if tliis line; were properly de- 

 veloped. 



"This station could carry on many of 

 these lines of investigation and many 

 others if it had the proper facdiities, and 

 so save the j)eople thousands of <lollars." 



^ 



GREENFLY IN ROSE HOUSES. 



What d'l .\oi! coiisicli'r the be-i ;in<| 

 most economical nieaiis ot' I'Xl erminat i n^; 



L;leentl\' in ^|eenhi>USes cnlita mi 11^' l(p-e- 

 plnilte.i Mill 1,0 cut llowel-. I" II. W. 



There are many \ery elVecti\e niethnds 

 of killing i^ii'i'iiliy. and exery IJurist has 

 hi- euii |,ail iciilar fancy. Smnkiiigwith 

 tobacco sli'Mis. or utliei- I'umiL;anl- cdii 

 taining t(diai'co in soini' form, is the 

 most cipmniioi piactii-e. ami if c-aret"iilly 



pert'onneil. is 01 f the siiri'st and sa f 



e-t methods. Senile pr'i'i'er to steam the 

 stems, thus raising .a \apor wliicli con- 

 denses on till' lea\es and stems, 'i'his is 

 also a sun' \\ay to exterininate ihi' pests. 



The nio-.t elVectlial inelhod. linWr\er, is 

 to leha-e the t'llllies til' cy;inide iif po 



tns^iniii. Tin- i- a lathei' delii-:iti' mo,.|;i 



tinii. ^ind ilaii;;erous alike to plants and 

 opeiatoi' it' imt projierly perl'ormed. Full 

 instiuciions as to this tnetliod have ap- 

 peared fnnn time to time in these col- 

 umns. These should be carcd'ully studied 

 before iisini: this midhoil. RiBES. 



MOVING KILLARNEY ROSES. 



W'diild you please let iiie know whether 

 it is v;ite to mo\e our Killarney roses 

 from the bench into the scilicj lied next 

 siiiimier.' They were planted last .luly, 

 ;ind are in a liealthy cdudilion. How 

 much drying; otf do they reepiire bid'ore 

 moving.' We alsu ha\e a bi'ncdi of 

 Richmond. Shuiild they be treated in the 

 same w.ay .* 



< »nr 1,'liea K'eid sheds it^ fd|ia^e .about 

 e\ery li\e weeks. Is this a common 

 trouble w ilh it .' < '. S. 



It is |ieifi'ctly sat'e to -liit't Killarney 

 iiises t'roni table bemdies into soliil beds. 

 This operation c;in be perl'ormed any 

 time during .liine .mihI up till Se|itember. 

 l!et'iiri> inoxiiiL;' theiii. they ought to get 



