16 



The Florists^ Review 



XOVUMBER 28, 191i 



A BED ROSE PEST. 



I am writing to you hoping I may 

 obtain some information regarding a 

 small worm which is bothering us a 

 great deal on our Bhea Reid roses. The 

 worm is no larger than the head of a 

 pin, and is white. Under a microscope 

 it has a black stripe down the center 

 of the back, and has the appearance of 

 a leaf roller. The destructive work of 

 this worm is on the young buds. From 

 my observation, it sucks the tissues in 

 the buds, turning them black, and they 

 finally drop off. I am at a loss for an 

 explanation of this worm. My idea is 

 that they have been brought into the 

 house in the manure, which was put in 

 the house about six weeks ago. The 

 treatment I have given the plants was 

 to cut off all affected parts, remove the 

 mulch, spray with nicotine and sprinkle 

 lime on the soil. I hope I may receive 

 some help through the paper. 



W. J. V. 



In 1900 to 1904 we had on several places 

 in and around Chicago a small worm 

 attacking Meteor and American Beau- 

 ties, the action of which was about the 

 same as the one mentioned in this letter. 

 It was found mostly in old houses and 

 near wet and swampy places and de- 

 cayed vegetable matter. The worm 

 when full grown was nearly as large 

 as a pinhead, and in looking through 

 a microscope enlarging 100 diameters 

 we found about ten to twenty of these 

 worms on one bud, the smallest about 

 as large as the largest was under the 

 naked eye. The fly which laid the eggs 

 from which these worms or larvae were 

 hatched was so small that when walk- 

 ing along the walk in a greenhouse 

 badly infested with them they would 

 rise from a puddle like a small cloud of 

 (lust. It was impossible to destroy 

 them. 



The entomologists from the- State 

 Agricultural College at Urbana experi- 

 mented with this insect for some time 

 to try to find out its habits and to find 

 a remedy. They found that after plac- 

 ing some of these worms in alcohol for 

 seventy-two hours they were still alive, 

 and as far as I know they were unable 

 to find a sure destroyer, and those 

 places that were affected by this insect 

 found their only salvation was to dis- 

 continue growing those varieties of 

 ros^a that were attacked by this insect. 



'Wg did .,not have Rhea Reid at that 

 time, but ' all* roses that were affected 

 by the worm were red, so this may be 

 the same in this case. As we foun 



that as soon as cold weather came we 

 had no more trouble with this insect, 

 the subscriber may be over his troubles 

 by this time, but as soon as the warm 

 weather comes in the spring they will 

 surely be there unless they can be ex- 

 terminated during the winter. I Would 

 suggest that the house in which the 

 trouble is, and the houses on each side, 

 be thoroughly cleaned and any wet 

 place filled up so that no water can 

 stand anywhere to get stagnant and 

 become a breeding place for the insect. 

 If ,that does not help, quit growing 

 Rhea Reid, for if this is the same insect 

 the Chicago growers h^d, the grower 

 will get no flowers from his plants in 

 warm weather. And for the interest of 

 your brother florists, don't sell any 

 stock of it until you are sure that the 

 trouble is over, for I have seen six or 

 eight houses 200 feet long affected by 

 this insect and without a flower during 

 the whole summer. W. J. Keimel. 



BOOTING BOSE CUTTINGS. 



We should like to know whether it 

 is profitable to grow hard-wood cuttings 

 of roses in benches and what degree of 

 bottom heat they would require. 



R. N. C. 



Tea and hybrid tea roses can be read- 

 ily and cheaply rooted on greenhouse 

 benches. Keep the house at 60 degrees 

 or a little less and furnish 10 degrees 



of bottom heat. Cuttings of hybrid 

 perpetual roses can be made in the fall 

 and inserted in boxes of sand. These 

 should be kept in a coldframe until 

 about a month before the beginning of 

 the period of growth, when they should 

 be brought gradually into heat. Tea 

 and hybrid tea roses can also be han- 

 dled in this way, unless early plants 

 for forcing are desired. T. 



A BEGINNEB'S TBOUBLES. 



I should like to ask your advice about 

 my roses. I have had some rather bad 

 luck with my plants, and we followed 

 the advice of one of the local florists 

 and I think it was all wrong. My 

 plants could not have been finer when 

 I cut them back this fall. Ten days 

 later they were throwing out the nicest 

 kind of foliage, but when they were 

 in full leaf we did not have the house 

 all enclosed and could not keep the tem- 

 perature right, so we got some mildew. 

 I used sulphur and got everything regu- 

 lated and I think they would have 

 come out all right, but this florist came 

 along and advised us to pick off the 

 leaves. I did not think it best, but 

 my adviser did, so he picked them 

 nearly all off, just leaving the bare 

 stems with the bud. Consequently we 

 shall have no good roses in this crop, 

 but weaklings. The stems are fine and 

 strong, but instead of making flowers 

 they are trying to make leaves and 

 flowers too, so there is bound to be a 

 dismal failure. We have in the same 

 house some Ward, Prince de Bulgarie 

 and Maryland. They are fine and have 

 no mildew to speak of. The others 

 that suffered most are Killarney, Pink 

 Killarney and Richmond. I wish you 

 would tell me what to do with them. 

 I am thoroughly discouraged, and I da 

 want a crop for Christmas. Any in- 

 formation you can give me will be ap- 

 preciated. You know we are new to 

 the business and have already learned 

 a lot by experience, which has been a 

 dear teacher, but all growers have a 

 different remedy for everything. Our 

 plant is steam heated and the tempera- 

 ture in the rose house is always 60 



d I 



Car of C. T. Kipp, a Spokane Florist, Decorated fcr a Parade. 



