on Pompons. Don’t grow too many single 
stem standards. They are too big and too 
costly. ‘Two or three to a stem will sell just as 
well at a greater profit. Some plant two plants 
to a hill. That’s rather wasteful of cuttings, 
although we grant that quality. may be better. 
Shade good varieties in succession to give you 
continuity of bloom. Wrap Pompon heads i in 
paper to insure better quality on arrival. 
VICTORY GARDENS. Are you going to 
help again this year ? There is so much contra- 
dictory advice about the food situation that it 
pays to play safe. We are told that the can- 
ning pack is way down and hence the need for — 
fresh vegetables is greater than ever. Let’s 
believe that at any rate and do what we can. 
This is especially important since the direc- 
tives of last Fall made people believe that 
supplies were adequate. The florists did an 
excellent job during the past two years. Let’s 
not fall down this year. 
A NEW WEED KILLER. Among the 
newer organic chemicals developed recently 
for horticultural uses, one stands out in par- 
ticular because it has many seemingly con- 
tradictory properties. It is called TCP for 
short (trichlorophenoxy acetic acid) and has 
been used as a growth promoting substance 
to induce quicker rooting of cuttings, as a pre- 
harvest spray to reduce the loss due to fruit 
drop in Apples, as an aid in setting fruit in 
greenhouse Tomatoes during Winter, to in- 
crease yields in Potatoes and likewise as a 
Potato dip to prevent them from sprouting 
in storage. Now we find it useful and efficient 
as a weed killer, without the usual drawback 
that such materials had in the past. It is non- 
corrosive to spray equipment, does make soil 
barren and useless and is not inflammable. 
At present the weed killer may be bought 
under the trade name of Weedone. It is 
sprayed on living plants and shows its effect 
slowly, but surely. Those which are killed by 
it are Poison Ivy, Japanese Honeysuckle, 
Ragweed, Bindweed, Plantain, Dandelion, 
Burdock, Checkweed, Thistle, and some woody 
plants like Wild Plum, Wild Cherry, Black- 
berry and many others. However, some plants 
show definite resistance to it. Thus Blueberry, 
Azalea, Laurel, Huckleberry are not affected. 
Quack grass cannot be killed with it, while 
Bluegrass is affected only in Spring and late 
Summer. Hence under ideal conditions 
Weedone may be used in lawns containing 
Bluegrass to kill other weeds. This, however, 
means its use during Summer only while the 
grass is dormant. Bent grasses are killed 
quickly and so is Crab grass in young stages. 
PROGRESS. It’s sometimes difficult to 
understand why so many people feel it neces- 
sary to impede progress. We heard just re- 
cently a statement made that the automatic 
sub-irrigation method of watering advocated 
by Cornell is not possible or practical, but 
upon pressing the matter further we could not 
elicit a satisfactory reason for the ‘‘crack.”’ 
In the same way we just read in a little book, 
often more full of fancy than of fact, that the 
men at Ohio State “‘show a lack of appreciation 
of all that is involved,” when they state that a 
florist does not have to be a chemist to run 
gravel culture. That’s exactly it, the man 
writing that stuff had some trouble just be- 
cause he felt he was a chemist and was f orever 
trying to improve. Progress does mean im- 
provement but not by guess and by gosh 
methods. We agree thoroughly that any new 
discovery should have a thorough trial before 
being advocated for practical use, but if we 
ever get anywhere we can’t throw up our 
hands in horror at anything which is beyond 
our present ken. 
CULTURE OF GREENHOUSE ROSES— 
Alex Laurie and D. C. Kiplinger. Ohio Agr. 
Exp. Sta. Bul. 654. December, 1944. This 
bulletin comprising 94 pages is really a hand- 
book for the Rose grower, covering every 
phase thoroughly and presenting data relating 
to some of the newer findings. ‘Those inter- 
ested in the culture of Roses under glass will 
do well to secure it. It will be sent free of 
charge if you address the Ohio Agricultural 
Experiment Station, Wooster, Ohio. 
MORE ABOUT FERMATE—A. W. Dim- 
ock, Cornell University (taken from Facts for 
Florists). In the realm of plant disease, Fer- 
mate (ferric dimethyldithiocarbamate) is hold- 
ing its place in the headlines about as well as 
penicillin, in the realm of human diseases. 
And like pencillin, it is not a cure for all dis- 
eases, yet is amazingly effective for a very 
wide range of troubles. In the past, we have 
discussed its usefulness for control of Septoria 
leafspot of Chrysanthemums, of the true rust 
diseases, such as Carnation Rust, Snapdragon 
Rust, and Chrysanthemum Rust, of Alter- 
naria Leafspot and Branch Rot of Carnations. 
Only recently we have reported its usefulness 
for control of Botrytis blight or “‘fire’ of 
Tulips. 
Sometime ago we urged caution in accept- 
ing a report that Fermate would control 
mildew on greenhouse Roses. This did not 
agree with our own results on field-grown 
Roses nor with the results obtained in the 
field with other powdery mildews. Yet, being 
open-minded, we did try it in our own Rose 
range, making applic ations after each syring- 
ing and at other times when slight traces of 
mildew began to develop. So far it APPEARS 
that the treatments are keeping mildew in 
check! We say “appears” since the whole 
range has been systematically treated, with 
no checks left. Furthermore, the wetting 
