

8 



The Weekly Rorists' Review. 



Januabs 26, 1011. 



MORE ABOUT CHLOBIDE OF LIME. 



Wishing to get all the information 

 possible on the subject in hand, I have 

 interviewed two chemists whose opin- 

 ions I would be inclined to accept as 

 authoritative. One is the chemist of a 

 large fertilizer concern. The other is 

 the chemist in charge of the laboratory 

 of our local water company. Both 

 agreed on the following points: That 

 if chloride of lime were put into the 

 water in sufficient quantity to injure 

 plants, it would be unfit for domestic 

 use; that it would be a waste of the 

 material to put into the water more 

 than a certain quantity, in proportion 

 to the quantity of water treated, and 

 that the quantity necessary to free the 

 water of typhoid germs would not be 

 sufficient to cause injury to any living 

 thing. 



I also learned that, since September, 

 1909, the Indianapolis Water Co. has 

 been using chloride of lime to clarify 

 and purify its water. We have been 

 using this water exclusively on our 

 plants, and if E. M. will visit our place 

 I believe he will agree with me that it 

 has not injured our carnation plants. 

 I also learned that in about 150 of 

 our leading cities this material is em- 

 • ployed for the same purpose. So I 

 feel sure that, like ourselves, many a 

 successful carnation grower has un- 

 knowingly been watering his plants 

 with water treated with chloride of 

 lime. 



Now, having satisfied myself, at least, 

 that the water may not be to blame, I 

 naturally cast about for another source 

 of E. M. 's failure, if it is to be con- 

 sidered as such. He says the plants 

 have not seemed to thrive dnring the 

 last four or five months. Four months 

 would take us back to October 1. The 

 growth is not as vigorous and rapid as 

 it should be. Has it occurred to him 

 that that was the beginning of the 

 period when development is naturally 

 at the lowest point, and also that car- 

 nations throughout the land seemed 

 slow in rounding into form this year? 

 In all the large flower centers there 

 was an unusual shortage of carnations 

 all the fall. 



There may be plenty of other reasons 

 for E. M. 's losses in the propagating 

 beds, besides bad water. His failure 

 with roses, too, might have its source 

 in poor soil, improper feeding or water- 

 ing, etc. Possibly that hog manure 

 which he mentions is the cause of his 

 failure with the roses, and also with 

 the carnations, if they have really been 

 injured. Hog manure is a most con- 

 centrated manure and, like sheep man- 

 ure, should be applied sparingly. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



BOTH HAVE STIOMONOSE. 



Enclosed you will find a diseased car- 

 nation leaf. Can you tell what the 

 disease is? It seems to aifect all varie- 

 ties. My house is ventilated from the 



ridge. It is 22x75, is located in central 

 Texas, and is heated by stoves. The 

 plants seem to be vigorous, growing 

 well and producing nice, large blooms, 

 with stiff stems. I am afraid it may be 

 stigmonose. They have been free of 

 all insects, so far as I can tell, but I 

 notice that the sweet peas and the 

 German ivy have these light spots on 

 the foliage. C. L. S. 



I enclose some foliage of carnations 

 that are diseased. They are in a light 

 house and are planted in rather heavy 

 clay loam, with the addition of rotted 

 cow manure. They get plenty of air. 

 The temperature runs sometimes a lit- 

 tle high, but never over 55 degrees. 

 Some of the plants are healthy and on 

 others the foliage is like what I en- 

 close. Can this be caused by too much 

 water? D. E. 



The specimens forwarded by both 

 these correspondents are affected with 

 stigmonose, which subject was discussed 

 in The Eeview of January 19, page 10. 

 As stated in that article, the bacteria 

 which cause the disease are introduced 

 through the punctures of insects. It 

 does not follow, however, that because 

 your houses have been free from insect 



pests this season, your plants must 

 necessarily be free from this disease. If 

 the disease was in your stock last year, 

 and you did not select your cuttings 

 carefully, you would be sure to have it 

 reappear among your plants this year. 

 The young plants apparently grow out 

 of it in the spring and remain healthy 

 looking as long as the weather is 

 bright and warm, but when the long 

 wintry days come, with a lack of sun- 

 shine, the disease shows up again. If 

 the growth has been rank and soft, the 

 disease will be worse than if the 

 growth had been moderate and well 

 matured. Careful selection of cuttings 

 and moderate growing conditions are 

 the only remedies. Keeping down in- 

 sect pests is the preventive. 



A. F. J. B. 



MILE A MINUTE VINE. 



I would like to know the botanical 

 name of a vine that is used around Wil- 

 kinsburg. Pa., for porches. It has a 

 leaf like the oak, about one and one- 

 fourth inches wide. They call it "Mile 

 a Minute," but I never see it adver- 

 tised by that name. G. H. P. 



I do not know the plant known as 

 "Mile a Minute." Perhaps, however, 

 some Pennsylvania subscriber can sup- 

 ply the needed information. One or 

 two other quick growing climbers you 

 may like to try are: Balloon vine, 

 Cardiospermum Halicacabum; cypress 

 vine, Ipomoea Quamoclit; hop, Humulus 

 Lupulus; moonflower, Ipomoea grandi- 

 flora alba, and the various forms of 

 morning glorv, Ipomoea purpurea. 



C. W. 



THE COMMERCIAL CATTLEYA. 



Trianse Is the Favorite. 



The immense quantities of Cattleya 

 Trianae that were imported last year 

 from Colombia prove the popularity of 

 this, the most useful of all cattleyas. 

 That will be a sad day for the lovers of 

 these flowers when the Andes do not 

 furnish any more of what has. appeared 

 to be the inexhaustible Trianse. There 

 is no fear of an immediate shortage of 

 this orchid; the immense range of moun- 

 tains that produces it has not been all 

 worked, although the best type of it is 

 nearly extinct and the poor type will 

 have to be collected soon to supply the 

 demand. 



Perhaps there is not in the florists', 

 business any other plant that yields 

 such abundant returns for the invest- 

 ment, and perhaps there is not another 

 plant that is as much abused as C. 

 Trianffi. I have heard of a firm that has 

 grown a beautiful house of this cattleya 

 for one or two years and then, when the 

 neglected plants became infested with 



the cattleya fly, has thrown them out 

 and burned them. They got their money 

 from the first crop of flowers and then 

 did not care what became of the plants; 

 it is so easy to replace them at a small 

 expense that this wanton destruction 

 of such gems seems to pay. I do not 

 agree with this policy, but that is an- 

 other story; I may take it up later. 



"Grand Varieties." 



TriansB furnishes the grandest and 

 most valuable varieties of the species, 

 with the exception, perhaps, of Cattleya 

 Mendellii. Whenever one of these gems 

 flowers among- the usuai commercial 

 stock shipped to this country, some of 

 the English ^rms or some of the spe- 

 cialists buy them in order to sell them 

 in England, where a market for such 

 beauties is found. With one or two ex- 

 ceptions, there are no lovers of orchids 

 in the tJnited States who are willing to 

 pay anything like what the English gen- 

 tleman pays for the ' * grand varieties. ' ' 

 There are some persons who like these 

 grand varieties, and who are buying them 

 at the rate of $60 or $70 per case! Some 



