18 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Sbptbmbeb 7, 1911. 



TO EXTERMINATE MEALY BUG. 



I am sending you some samples of 

 leaves which are infested with mealy 

 bug. I have never had any experience 

 with this before. It came onto the 

 place in a shipment of ferns and now 

 it has spread all over the stock. Can 

 you tell me what I should do to kill it 

 •' •«« the place! R. T. F. 



If this is not the common mealy bug, 

 it is so closely allied as to be undis- 

 tinguishable. There are two varieties 

 of mealy bug which infest greenhouses. 

 The common one, which you seem to 

 have, has a fringe of spines around the 

 body, the two at the hinder end being 

 the longest." In the less common form 

 these hinder spines are often as long 

 as the body itself. Female mealy bugs 

 lay several hundred eggs each. These 

 are carried under the hinder part of 

 the body. After laying the eggs the 

 parent dies and the eggs hatch in two 

 weeks. They become adult in six to 

 eight weeks, sucking the juices from 

 any^lants they are on. 

 ^^here are several ways of extermina- 

 tion. Force of water, properly direct- 

 ed, should clean them off the bulk of 

 foliage plants. Of course, some will 

 crawl back after being washed off, but 

 persistent use of the hose will make 

 their position on many plants unten- 

 able. One or two of the more powerful 

 nicotine extracts, evaporated over 

 wood alcohol lamps, will kill the bugs. 

 A second or third application should 

 be given, for the newly hatched young 

 from eggs. Fumigation with hydro- 

 cyanic acid gas is undoubtedly the best 

 way, however, to exterminate such 

 pests as mealy bug, scale, white fly, etc. 

 Directions for the use of this have 

 been often given in The Review. 

 Choose a cool evening always for this 

 form of fumigation and give a short 

 exposure if you can ventilate your 

 houses from outdoors. Few })lants sro 

 injured by this gas in cold weather 

 and it would certainly be the cheapest 

 and simplest way to clean out the bugs. 

 Of course, great care is necessary in 

 using this gas, as it is deadly to human 

 beings as well as to all other living 

 things. C. W. 



TO KILL COUCH GRASS. 



I herewith send a sample of some 

 grass which is growing on my place. 

 Kiudly tell me the nanfe of it and how 

 I can get rid of it. I salted it and 

 plowed it and raked it off the best I 

 could, but it roots at every joint. It 

 is certainly a sticker. F. F. 



MUiWAXrEEE. 



Couch grass, or witch grass, as the 

 weed forwarded is commonly called, is 

 one of the most stubborn of grass 

 weeds to control. If on land which 

 you can plow, turn it over as soon as 

 you can and keep it well harrowed. If 

 this could be done during the hottest 

 summer weather, two or three weeks 

 of this treatment would almost clean 

 out the grass. If it continues to trouble 

 you next year, t would advise sowing 

 some strong growing crop rather thick- 

 ly, so as to smother it. Fodder corn 

 would answer well for this purpose. 

 In land planted with trees, shrubs or 

 herbaceous subjects all that can be 

 done is to use the hoe or cultivator 

 persistently. The only way to clean out 

 this and many other weeds is to till 

 the ground well. This weed can be 

 killed out if you keep at it persistentlv. 



C. W." 



The Market. 



Last week witnessed the opening of 

 the season of 1911-12. A few social 

 events, with a good run of funeral 

 work in the latter part of the week, 

 gave most of the florists a fair amount 

 of business, and it was a pleasure to 

 fill orders, as there was enough stock 

 of good quality to meet all demands. 

 The supply of asters and gladioli is 

 not quite as heavy as for some time 

 past; especially is there, a falling off 

 in the poorer grades, no doubt due to 

 the small returns received for them. 

 The supply of roses is about equal to 

 the demand. New carnations are still 

 a scarce article; but are not much 

 missed. The green goods market is 

 well supplied. 



Various Notes. 



The entertainment committee of the 

 Milwaukee Florists' Club has all prep- 

 arations completed for the annual pic- 

 nic, to be held at Stappelf eld 's grove 

 on Sunday, September 10. It is now 

 up to the members and their friends 

 to make the occasion a success. To 

 get to the grove, take the Fox Point 

 car, which leaves every hour, at East 

 Water and Wisconsin streets, get off 

 at the Green Tree road and walk east 

 a short distance. Prizes have been do- 

 nated by members-n^ in former years-; 

 so come one Stm all, to help make 

 merry.' 



The Burlington Floral Co., of Bur- 

 lington, Wis., is shipping quite a few 

 carnations, of ^^ood quality, to this 

 market and they find ready sale* 



The G. H. Hunkel Co. reports the 

 arrival of a carload of bulbs. Mr. 

 Hunkel, of this firm, will take a busi- 

 ness run through the Badger State this 

 week. 



William Zimmermann, who was 

 spending his vacation at Miuocqua, 

 Wis., was obliged to return earlier than 

 he anticipated, owing to a rush of fu- 

 neral work in the latter part of last 

 week. 



The Baumgarten Floral Co. was 

 quite busy with funeral work whenj;he-^ 

 writer called. The firm is looking(for/' 

 ward to a most prosperous seasoih-/ 



Mrs. Ennis, of the Wisconsin Floral 

 Co., left September 2 for Portland, 

 Ore., to be gone about three weeks. 

 Her daughter will have charge of the 

 store in the meantime. 



William Currie, of Currie Bros. Co., 

 returned from the east August 30. He 

 has been enjoying life on the shores 

 of the Atlantic ever since the S. A. F, 

 convention. 



The Holton & Hunkel Co. is making 

 extensive improvements at the Brown 

 Deer plant, by laying cement walks in 

 the rose houses and building a coal 

 shed, 35x80. Their stock out there is 

 looking well. 



Will Kennedy, of the C. C. PoUworth 

 Co., is busy taking in the sights at 

 Niagara Falls and other large eastern 

 cities. The firm , reports business as 

 highly satisfactory last week. 



Though most of the flower stores 

 were closed for the afternoon on La- 

 bor day, the whole force of J. M. Fox & 

 Son were obliged to keep busy getting 

 out orders instead of celebrating. 



J. E. Matthewson, of Sheboygan, 

 Wis., took a run down to this city in 

 his new car August 31. 



Mr. and Mrs. OUie Zech, of Chicago, 

 spent part of their honeymoon trip 



in our midst last week. We hereby 

 extend to them our best wishes for a 

 bright and happy future. Other vis- 

 itors were E. O. Lovell, of Grand 

 Forks, N. D., and George Vatter, of 

 Marinette, Wis. 



The Wisconsin state fair takes place 

 September 12 to 16, and no doubt 

 many of the craft will drop in to say 

 "Hello!" E. O. 



OBITUARY. 



E. R. Meserve. 



E. E. Meserve, a prominent member 

 of the trade at Los Angeles, Cal., died 

 of pneumonia, August 31, in his home 

 at Signal Hill, a suburb of Los An- 

 geles, after an illness of five days. He 

 was a native of California and had 

 been engaged in horticultural pursuits 

 all his life. He had a range of green- 

 houses at Signal Hill and was also a 

 member of the Los Angeles Flower 

 Market. He is survived by his wife 

 and two children. His father is hor- 

 ticultural commissioner of Los Angeles 

 county. 



Linnaeus Cox. 



The death last week is reported of 

 Linnaeus Cox, one of the well known 

 figures in the Philadelphia district. 

 His greenhouses were at 5815 Cottage 

 street, Wissinoming. 



William Feck. 



William Peck, owner of the City 

 Greenhouses, at Baraboo, Wis., was 

 killed at Grand Marsh, Wis., Saturday, 

 August 26, when he fell from a flat car 

 on a gravel train. He was born at 

 Ableman, Wis., April 1, forty-four 

 years ago, but had made his home at 

 Baraboo most of his life. He was a 

 conductor on the Chicago & North- 

 western railway, for which road he had 

 worked for nineteen years. He was 

 always a great lover of flowers and 

 about seven years ago he built the 

 first of his greenhouses in the city of 

 Baraboo. Since that time he has added 

 to his greenhouses as increased trade 

 required and materials already on hand 

 would have increased his glass area to 

 10,000 feet. He managed this estab- 

 lishment while still retaining his posi- 

 tion on the railroad. It had been his 

 intention to quit the railroad and give 

 his whole attention to the greenhouse 

 business in another year, when his 

 tragic death ended his plans. The 

 funeral was held from his home in 

 Baraboo, Monday, August 28. Mem- 

 bers of the B. of R. T., O. R. C. and 

 K. of P. lodges attended in a body, as 

 well as a host of other friends. There 

 were a great many designs and other 

 floral tributes. He is survived by his 

 wife, to whom he had been married but 

 five months, and three children by a 

 former marriage. 



Patrick Maier. 



Many of the acquaintances of Pat- 

 rick Maier, of Pittsburgh and Wood- 

 ville. Pa., will be surprised to learn of 

 his death. He had not been in the 

 best of health for some time, but his 

 illness was not considered serious. His 

 physician stated that careful nursing 

 would be -necessary, and a system of 

 treatment was begun at the Passavant 

 hospital, where he died on Saturday, 

 September 2. He was still a young 

 man. He was a successful grower and 

 well liked by the craf t^/Hi^^ green- 





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