194 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
lowed, but we are coming to the conclu¬ 
sion that each individual variety needs to 
be studied by itself as far as pruning is 
concerned. In cutting roses we have 
generally cut the stems as long as pos¬ 
sible ; leaving a bud or two on the strong 
shoots for new growth; this has been in 
part our method of pruning. We have 
done our general pruning in September or 
October, and L. H. Bailey, in his “Garden 
Making’’ suggests that, in the South, 
roses pruned at this time will give a fine 
winter bloom. 
PESTS AND REMEDIES. 
Thrips, aphids, leaf-footed plant bug, 
pumpkin bugs, and leaf fungi have caused 
us the most trouble. The insects cause 
us little or no trouble in winter, but dur¬ 
ing warm weather it is difficult to get any 
perfect bloom on account of thrips. These 
minute brownish or yellowish streak-like 
insects, less than one-sixteenth inch long, 
infest the bud as soon as it begins to show 
color, and it develops only into an imper¬ 
fect flower. Dozens and sometimes 
hundreds of thrips may be found between 
the petals of a single rose. In order to 
get relief from this pest it is necessary 
to cut off every rose and bud that shows 
color, together with about ten inches of 
stem and burn it or bury it; and then 
spray the brushes thoroughly with a mix¬ 
ture of soap and water made by dissolving 
a pound of soap in five to ten gallons of 
water. This treatment must be repeated 
each time the thrips get sufficiently abun¬ 
dant to injure the bloom. If tobacco ex¬ 
tract is available, some of this may be 
mixed with the weaker solutions of soap 
and water. Tobacco extracts, of which 
there are several on the market, are the 
standard remedy for thrips, but some 
soap should always be used with them to 
make the spray mixture spread better 
over and under the foliage. Soap has 
been mentioned first because it is always 
at hand and is a good insecticide. An¬ 
other combination for spraying, recom¬ 
mended by the Florida Experiment Sta¬ 
tion, is as follows: 
2 1 /2 quarts commercial lime sulphur. 
3F2 fluid ounces “Black Leaf 40.” 
50 gallons of water. 
Plant lice, aphids, cause us some in¬ 
jury, but the same kind of spraying as 
recommended for thrips also controls 
them. Aphids are small, plump, green, 
sucking insects, approximately one-eighth 
inch long and occur in colonies. 
The two plant bugs named occasionally 
puncture the rose buds with their beaks, 
and hand-picking is the best way to keep 
down their numbers. 
During the first two or three years we 
observed but little injury due to fungi, 
but this year and last year a number of 
our bushes are shedding large quantities 
of leaves infected with rose mildew and 
rose leaf spot. Last year we sprayed with 
bordeaux mixture with good results. This 
year we plan to spray with ammonia- 
copper-carbonate solution, as that does not 
discolor the plants. Bordeaux mixture is 
to be preferred, however, as it is more ef¬ 
fective. Flowers of sulphur dusted into 
the leaves, pure, or mixed with two parts 
air-slaked lime, is most generally recom¬ 
mended for rose mildew. One part com¬ 
mercial lime sulphur to forty or fifty of 
water is also recommended. 
