The Troubles of Hardy Flowers 
HAT a revolution has come since the 
days of our grandmothers when 
there were a thousand-and-one different 
afflictions of cultivated plants to be borne 
in mind with a separate “cure” for each, 
no knowledge of germs and little under- 
standing of principles, reasons, causes! 
We now know that there are only three 
great classes of enemies to be looked for and 
we have a wholesale method of destroying 
each class: 
(1) Biting insects, such as caterpillars 
and beetles, are killed by arsenical poisons 
which have to be swallowed by the insects. 
(2) Sucking insects, such as bugs and 
plant lice, are destroyed by oils or powders 
which kill by penetrating the skin or clog- 
ging the breathing pores. 
(3) Diseases are nearly all caused by 
fungi or other germs which are usually 
inside the plant attacked, so that no cure 
is possible, as a rule, for badly affected 
plants. The way to prevent the germs 
getting in is to spray the plants early in the 
season with a germicide and keep the whole 
plant covered until danger of infection is past. 
POISON FOR THE BORDER 
The best poison for use in the hardy bor- 
der is arsenate of lead. This is better for 
the purpose than paris-green because it is 
not so quickly washed off by the rain, and 
it does not injure tender young foliage, and 
the poison is more evenly distributed. You 
can get a pound can of it at a local seed 
store for twenty-five cents and you ought to 
have some this year, if only for use against 
the “rose bug,” which may otherwise ruin 
your best roses and peonies. The only draw- 
back to its use is that it shows white on the 
foliage. 
FOR THE SUCKING INSECT 
It is impossible to say that there in any 
one “best” remedy for sucking insects, 
such as plant lice and bugs, but there are 
three standard methods, all of which you 
should try this year. 
(1) Kerosene emulsion is a nasty and 
difficult thing to prepare from experiment 
station formulas, but you can get a quart 
of the condensed liquid for forty cents, to 
which you can add twenty-five to fifty parts 
of water. This is invaluable in the warfare 
against rose bugs, if you use it early in 
the day while the creatures are inactive and 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
can hit them with it. It does not discolor 
foliage. 
(2) A strong solution of common soap is 
the cheapest insecticide of this class and 
when the red plant lice appear on your 
plants of golden glow you can spray it 
on them with an atomizer. Ivory soap is 
preferred by professional florists for this 
work. 
(3) The chief powders are tobacco dust 
and hellebore. The former is much cheaper 
than the latter, and, also, in addition to its 
use on foliage it can be sprinkled on the 
ground to repel slugs and other insects that 
live in the earth, especially plant lice that 
attack the roots. It is also thought to have 
some value asa fertilizer. Fine tobacco dust 
costs ten cents a pound. A small gun for 
distributing insect powder costs twenty cents 
and an excellent plant duster eighty-five. 
PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE 
The best preventive for diseases of peren- 
nial flowers is ammoniacal copper carbonate. 
It costs more than Bordeaux mixture but 
has the advantage of not discoloring the 
foliage. A quart can costs fifty cents and 
will make twenty-five gallons of spraying 
material. 
All these materials can be had at local 
seed stores or ordered from the large seeds- 
men of national reputation. If you had 
rather save money by buying the raw mater- 
jals and mixing them yourself, you will find 
all the formulas in THE GARDEN MAGa- 
ZINE for April, 1907, at page 145. 
The following enemies deserve special 
mention: 
Columbines are often disfigured by leaf 
miners. There is nothing to do but pick 
the affected leaves and burn them 
Hollyhocks should be sprayed in April 
or aS soon as growth starts. Keep the 
leaves covered all the time until July with 
ammoniacal carbonate of copper. If plants 
are already diseased put two tablespoonsful 
of permanganate of potash in a quart of 
water and apply directly to the spots and 
diseased leaves with a sponge, not a 
sprayer or sprinkler. Burn badly infested 
plants. 
Larkspur.— The cause of the blight is 
unknown and no cure has been discovered. 
It will kill all choice named varieties in 
three or four years unless you propagate 
them by cuttings. Send specimens to Dr. 
Erwin T. Smith, United States Department 
of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Burn 
badly affected plants and spray others with 
ammoniacal carbonate of copper. 
Peony. — The light-colored flowers are 
likely to be ruined by rosé chafers, commonly 
called “rose bugs.” There is no way of 
exterminating them and no easy way of 
controlling them. Hand picking in the 
early morning is considered the best method. 
Carry a small vessel half-filled with kerosene 
and drop the insects into it. Arsenate of 
lead will control them if used at the rate of 
five pounds to fifty gallons of water, but 
the work must be done frequently and with 
exceptional thoroughness. 
Pennsylvania. W. E. PENDLETON. 
May, 1908 
What To Do with the Easter 
Azaleas 
E HAVE had an azalea for three 
years, and while the plant has never 
been repotted, it has increased in size and 
has bloomed with greater fulness and vigor 
each succeeding year. It remains in bloom 
generally for a month, which is a far longer 
period of flowering than is the case with 
forced greenhouse plants. 
The azalea is one of our most satisfactory 
winter house plants, giving the best returns 
for the least trouble. After blooming the old 
leaves gradually drop off, but new leaves 
soon take their places if proper care and 
attention are given the plant. 
The process of keeping the plant from 
year to year is very simple. After it has 
ceased blooming, we keep it in a light, but 
not sunny window in a cool room, and when 
all danger of frost is past, we plunge it, pot and 
all, in the ground at the north side of the 
house, where it will have only a little eastern 
and western sun. The pot is surrounded 
by coal ashes, which keep the soil in 
it from drying out. Very little watering 
is required during the summer except in 
a very dry spell. ‘Too much, as well as too 
little water is to be avoided. 
One month of complete rest in the fall, 
in a cellar or other dark place, has often 
been advised for the azalea, but we always 
prefer to have ours in bloom as early as 
possible. Therefore, in the early fall we 
bring the plant into the house, putting it at 
The azalea originally bought for Easter has bloomed 
in the house for three successive years 
once in a sunny window where it will have 
a temperature of about 60 degrees. We 
water judiciously and when buds appear 
the plant is placed in any ordinary living 
room having a southern exposure. Each year 
the plant is in full bloom —a solid sheet of 
large flowers — by February 15th. 
Our plant has never been troubled with 
either the red spider or the thrip, but these 
may appear at any time and it is well to be 
constantly on the outlook for them. Syringe 
thoroughly at the first sign of either of these 
pests. 
Pennsylvania. MariIAN WILLIAMS. 
