14 



The Florists' Review 



^ 



Mav 29. 1013. 



YELLOW TIPS ON ENCHANTEESS. 



Under the title of "Two Similar In- 

 quiries," in The Eeview of May 15, 

 page 24, you replied to my question 

 about the yellow tips on my White En- 

 chantress, and I am obliged to you for 

 the consideration that you kindly gave 

 to my diflSculty. I note carefully what 

 you say and I beg leave to disagree with 

 some of it. You say you are ' ' inclined to 

 the opinion that the trouble is aggra- 

 vated by heavy watering without suffi- 

 cient nourishment being given along 

 with it." Now, in my case that is ex- 

 actly what has not been done. In fact, 

 I have thought that perhaps the trouble 

 was caused by the beds being too dry 

 in the cloudy, short days of winter. The 

 plants grew slowly for a few weeks be- 

 fore the yellow tips appeared, but are 

 growing rapidly now and the yellow tips 

 are gradually disappearing. The young 

 plants show no signs of the yellow tips 

 and are fine stock. If it is a bacterial 

 disease, what would cause it? Surely 

 the cause is not a local one, since the 

 disease extends all over the country. Do 

 you suppose it is an indication of a 

 general breaking down of the constitu- 

 tion of the Enchantress family? If 

 so, why does it not appear on other va- 

 rieties that are losing their vitality? I 

 know it is easy to ask questions, but the 

 only proper way to do things is to try, 

 at least, to do them in an intelligent 

 manner, finding out the cause of a trou- 

 ble, if possible, and then trying to rem- 

 edy it. E. G. C. 



I am not inclinftd to argue the ques- 

 tion, because, as I said in my replv to 

 your first inquiry, I have not as yet fig- 

 ured out, even to my own satisfaction, 

 the cause of and the remedy for the 

 trouble in question. Your present letter 

 shows that you have given the matter 

 considerable thought, and you may 

 know more about it than I do. 



As I said before, the theory advanced 

 in my previous reply is merely a theory 

 which I have not as j^et tested out, but 

 my observations this season only 

 strengthen my belief that the theory is 

 correct. Our plants have had more food 

 during the spring than usual and we 

 have had less of the yellow tips than for 

 several seasons past. Your experience 

 does not disprove my theory in the least. 

 The yellow tips appear while the plants 

 are making a rapid growth in the early 

 spring. At that time great quantities 

 of water are given, and usually without 

 a proportionate supply of plant food. 

 This lack of food is, I think, largely re- 

 sponsible for the trouble. Afterward the 

 trouble gradually disappears. 



The young stock does not usually 

 show the same trouble. I think that also 

 proves my theory, since the young plants 

 are planted in new soil, which has plenty 

 of nourishment in it. 



It is not a fact, as you seem to think, 

 that only the Enchantress family show 

 this trouble. I could name several va- 

 rieties which behaved similarly during 



the last few seasons of their existence. 

 But of course not all varieties will go 

 in the same way. 



The foregoing remarks are mere ar- 

 guments to sustain my theory. Further 

 investigation may prove the whole the- 

 ory wrong, but at this time it strikes 

 me as the most plausible of all the the- 

 ories advanced. A. F. J, B. 



PLANTS DO NOT THRIVE. 



I am sending you under separate cover 

 some samples of diseased plants. Can 

 you tell me what the trouble is and how 

 to remedy it? I have not been able to 

 grow geraniums or vincas successfully 

 for the last three seasons. Every begonia 

 I have is as bad as the sample I am send- 

 ing you. These I bought in February 

 and they did well for about three weeks; 

 then they stopped growing and lost all 

 their foliage. 



I had not noticed the trouble among 

 my ferns until this winter. The sample 

 I am sending you was planted last No- 

 vember in fresh soil, consisting of well 

 rotted sod with a light dressing of old 

 cow manure. The lot has not advanced 

 as well as usual and many of them are 

 dead or dying. The houses are in the 

 open country and are well ventilated. 

 I have suspected that the trouble may be 

 caused by the water, which is taken 



from a surface well; yet I have used this 

 water for the last eight seasons and only 

 lately have experienced serious trouble. 



J. T. C. 



I would advise sending samples of 

 your soil to your state experimental sta- 

 tion for analysis. It would also pay 

 to have the water analyzed, to ascertain 

 whether there is anything in it that 

 would be likely to harm plant life. It 

 is quite possible, however, that neither 

 the water nor the soil is to blame. Are 

 you quite sure that there is no sewer gas 

 or illuminating gas leaking from some 

 source into the houses? The condition of 

 the plants would almost seem to point to 

 some such cause. If gas is the trou- 

 ble, it would be most likely to be in- 

 ,iurious in winter, when the houses are 

 not so well ventilated as in summer. 

 Geraniums and vincas are each subject 

 to leaf affections, but your trouble would 

 not appear to be any one of these, 



C. W. 



BULB QUERIES. 



I should like to inquire what would 

 be the best way of treating lily and 

 freesia bulbs that I did not plant this 

 spring. Would they be all right for 

 next spring? I also have some daffo- 

 dils from which I cut the blooms. What 

 can I do with them? J. K. 



Lilies and freesias not planted are 

 of no value whatever another season 

 and should be thrown away. Daffodils 

 from which you have cut flowers un- 

 der glass can be planted outdoors, but, 

 while they will flower to some extent 

 next year, they will be far inferior in 

 quality to new bulbs. C. W. 



SWEET PEAS DYING OFF. 



] have 600 feet of outdoor sweet peas 

 and they have just commenced to bloom, 

 the location being in Alabama. The 

 stems are about ten inches long and 

 bear two and three large flowers. The 

 vines look rich and green, but I have 

 noticed about a dozen vines that have 

 turned yellow and on which the stems 

 have rotted just below the soil. The 

 seed was sown as you advised, in Febru- 

 ary, ani the vines stand about four 

 inches apart, or a little more. Do you 

 think the stem-rot will spread all over 

 the patch, and is there anything that 

 can be done to stop it? The varieties 

 grown are Frank Dolby, Nora Unwin 

 and Countess Spencer. The weather Jias 

 been quite dry this spring and I have 

 watered the peas three or four times. 

 The last time I watered I used liquid 

 niAnurp. I notice some of the vines are 

 povered with aphis or plant lice. Will 

 kerosene emulsion kill them and not in- 

 jure the vines? I shall certainly appre- 



ciate any advice you may give, espe- 

 cially for the stem-rot. H. A. C. 



It is not easy to tell what may have 

 caused the dying of the sweet pea vines. 

 A fertile cause is earthing up the 

 plants while young, as often recom- 

 mended in seed catalogues and maga- 

 zines. If your seeds were covered two 

 and one-half to three inches deep they 

 would need no further covering. Too 

 thick sowing develops stem-rot, but 

 this can not be your cause for the 

 trouble. I am therefore inclined to 

 the opinion that acidity of the soil is 

 likely to be responsible for the plants 

 dying off. You can correct this another 

 year by liming the land the previous 

 fall, but it would be no use doing this 

 now. 



I would advise pulling out all af- 

 fected plants and likely you may not 

 have much additional trouble. Keep 

 the spaces between the rows weU 

 mulched with old manure, meadow hay, 



