62 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



CARNATION NOTES. 



Choosing New Varieties. 



By this time most of us have made 

 up our niiiiiN uluit varieties we intend to 

 grow in .|ii.iiilii\ ii.\( year. 1 think 

 this is I II' I III'' III -1 inii)()rtant ques.'k 

 tions wr li,i\' I " 'I'l'lc, and should bo 

 weighed 'iii'li;ll\ i. l"ie we dceide what 

 pioportiou of our stuck shall lie of a cer- 

 tain color or variety. Every spring there 

 are a number of new varieties put on 

 the market and many of them are de- 

 cided acquisitions, but most of them are 

 forgotten after a season or two. To find 

 out which varieties are going to stand 

 the test is constantly taxing our best 

 efforts. We are almost bound to try them 

 all for ourselves, because occasionally a 

 variety that does well with our neighbor 

 will not do at all with us. But occa- 

 sionally a variety comes out that seems 

 to thrive all over the country, and under 

 all kinds of treatment, and it does not 

 take it long to become a universal favor- 

 ite. 



When we fail with a variety we are 

 very apt to condemn it. and the man who 

 introduced it; and yet, if we will take a 

 second thought we find that it is only our 

 own ignorance of its peculiar wants that 



troduces a variety, he ought to give as 

 much information about its peculiarities 

 as he can, and I think the time is not 

 far distant when it will be done. We 

 all know that every variety has its pe- 

 culiar wants, and it would "not hurt the 

 sale of it to -lair thai il needs to be 

 planted earlv oi -i iwn m a certain tem- 

 perature, or th.u It 11. .1- heavy or light 

 soil to make it J" its Lust. It certainly 

 would save just about one season of ex- 

 perimenting on the part of those who 

 buy it. 



All up-to-date growers recognize the 

 fact that different varieties need different 

 treatment, and it is merely a question as 

 to what that particular treatment is. We 

 shall be glad to give it, if we know what 

 it is, but we are apt to lose our patience 

 if we fail too badly at first. If they do 

 not care to say it in the adv., they could 

 have slips printed with all the informa- 

 tion that a good grower needs, and put 

 in one with each shipment. When a man 

 introduces a variety we hold him re- 

 sponsible, to a certain degree, for its be- 

 havior afterward, and if he expects to 

 ever send out another variety it will pay 

 him to help his 'ii-l"iii,i- all he can to 

 grow it sun-. --tiill' i.'jiise he will 

 want to sell llicm -"iim' v. 



Consider tin' vaiiotif- sent out last 



the north bench in an even span carna- 

 tion house. Two steam pipes run under- 

 neath it, and the front is boarded up to 

 within about si.x inches of the ground. 

 This gives about 10 degrees of extra bot- 

 tom heat, and causes them to root in 

 about ten days less than if there were uo 

 bottom heat." The overhead teniiierature 

 should be about the same as that in which 

 the cuttings were grown. Put on four 

 inches of sand and pack down to about 

 three inches. I like a rather coarse, 

 clean -sand in preference to the fine dust- 

 Hk-e sand iisp.l tiy -nine. There is much 

 \r-- ilaiiu'i fr. Ill' fiiiijiis, and with care 



i II '.iiiiLiail\ alwav - I" used twice, where- 



I .,- 11... i;,,., . ,,,. I .,, i,„ 



The Pergola in the Paico, Kansas City, Mo. 



has caused the failure, which is proven 

 by the fact that it showed up fine at its 

 birthplace, before it was sent out. There 

 are so many good ones, though, that we 

 can hardly afford to spend much time 

 and room on a variety, trying to find its 

 peculiar wants, unless it produces a dis- 

 tinct or extra fine bloom. 



Mrs. Bradt under ordinary treatment 

 proved to be too shy. and the blooms 

 had to bring nearly double the price of 

 other vaiiefies to make it profitable, and 

 many growers dropped it on that account. 

 But those who took the trouble to experi- 

 ment a little, found that by starting ear- 

 ly and planting closer on the bench they 

 could eut as many blooms to the square 

 foot as they could from other varieties, 

 and as the blooms nearly always bring 

 top prices it has become one of the most 

 profitable varieties. 



Many new varieties are discarded be- 

 cause they come into full crop too late 

 in the season, wdiieh is also a sr-ri.ius mis- 

 take in many cns<- \ i , ,('\ -iarl 



both with the eulln, • ,,, ; ,' , II' hill'' 



in the fall will ii-in!';, i ,.. , ,i i;,,,li 



Most growers coiii|il:' 111 :i\ ,.,,i i ii'ilrc aet ' 

 ing that way. but a boiu.li u Inch' we 

 planted early in May began to Idoom as 

 oarlv as any of the others, and we cut a 

 goo'l lot of blooms, too. \ow there is 

 a nice crop on it, and by .lanuary there 

 will be an enormous crop from all ap- 

 pearances. 



It seems to me that when a man in- 



spring, and how many are reported as 

 doing extra well, except at a few places'? 

 Ethel Crocker and Genevieve Lord are re- 

 ported as doing fine most everywhere, 

 and it is only because they are varieties 

 that will il" fairly well under almost any 

 rcasoiiai'l' I I.. It le 111, while the other va- 

 rieties : I 'iii'j well only wherever they 



happeiie'l to lall into the hands of ex- 

 perts who were quick to discover their 

 peculiar wants and handled them ac- 

 cordingly. Next season you will see or 

 hear of them doing better" throughout the 

 land, because we know they are good and 

 only need to be understood. The Mar- 

 quis, for instance, seems to be a variety 

 that needs early strikiiij .'ml ' ii!\ plant- 

 ing, so get jn your .n;' ■ i , ,,,i as 

 you can. For the a\.i i . i, wlio 



grows only a few then -.nil |.|.iiii-. the 

 easy doers are no doubt (he most satis- 

 factory, but if you can give them a little 

 extra care it will always pay to grow a 

 few of the others for' their colors and for 

 vaii.n s s:,k,.. In fact, in order to have 



II ■- I -' I. ' tion of colors you must grow 



thein. I' .lu-e the easy doers are all 

 eillier |.ink or white. There is not a 

 single scarlet nor a variegated variety 

 that can be put into that class, and the 

 yellows are all hard to do well. There 

 is as much room as ever for the hybridist 

 to work in. 



Rooting Cuttings. 

 F. r rooting carnation cuttings I use 



■d for 

 iiiary 



icnch. 



-^ iiiiii' pra'ii''. ; a 'jo.!!! eve will soon 



enable you to do it without" the aid of 

 a ruler, which is often used. There is 

 no objection to the ruler except that it 

 wastes time. 



Insert the cuttings deep einough to in- 

 sure their standing up when they re- 

 ceive a. good watering. The distance 

 apart in the row and between the rows 

 must depend entirely on the size of the 

 cuttings, but they niust not be crowded. 

 Good sized cuttings will need three- 

 fourths of an inch to each cutting in the 

 row, and one and one-half inches between 

 the rows. For sihading we use muslin. 

 At present we need only a curtain sus- 

 pended from the roof and reaching to the 

 bench in front, but later, when the sun 

 gets up higher, we will need another, 

 stretched over the bench in such a man- 

 ner that it can be drawn aside at will. 

 The curtain not only keeps off the sun, 

 but it also serves to keep off all draughts, 

 v.liieh would will til,, .itttin.- and make 

 -MiiiLriii- often. 1- a I it'v. 11. 1- meth- 



is eeita 

 old wi 



Next week ^^•e will have a talk on the 

 merits and demerits of the older varie- 

 ties. A. F. .T. BAi-n. 



CEMETERY PLANTING. 



What is best to use in eemetery work? 

 Something hardy would be desirable. 

 Will florists who have been doing this 

 kind of work please tell me through 

 The Review what they use. whether the 

 surface of the grave should be rounded 

 up or flat, size of plants used and dis- 

 tance apart. ,T. .T. L. 



Massachusetts. 



I In the beautiful cemeteiy in which I 

 j do a great deal of work the graves are 

 rounded up in the old conventional 

 style, and covered with sod. It would 

 please the authorities of our Forest 

 Lawn very much if the graves were all 

 level to conform to the surface of the 

 surrounding grass. It would save a great 

 deal of work and the grass could be kept 

 much fresher and greener as the mounds 

 dry out far more than the surroundings. 

 I notice in the Greenwood Cemetery 

 in Brooklyn that many of the graves 

 are covered with English ivy. I would 

 say there is nothing better than this 

 beautiful plant for the purpose, but it 

 w ould not be hardy in Buffalo. It would 

 suffer during the bitter snows of March 

 while it was severely frozen. There are 

 quite a few graves latelv covered with 



■'" |..'.iwrinkle. 



ji '1.- are be- 

 - ..ii'i srass is 

 M '"iiies in ex- 

 liardv, forms a 



^'inca minor, tin 

 In situations wli 

 ncath the shade 

 ilifficult to grow 

 .client. It is pc 



