The Weekly Rorists' Review^ 



J 79 



Greenhouses of the Chicago Carnation Co., Joliet, 111. 



ing all of these features into one plant 

 or variety has been going steadily on 

 with every prospect of ultimate success. 

 Baltimore will be the Mecca for all 

 carnations in February, where a nearer 

 approach to this standard may b'e seen; 

 then let us all turn out to see Dianthus 

 in all her glory. "Slaryland, My Mary- 

 land" extends a most cordial welcome. 

 \V-\i. Weber. 



CARNATION NOTES. 



Temperature. 



During the past week we have been 

 enjoying just the weather we needed to 

 bring the carnations up to their proper 

 condition. The nights were cold, requir- 

 ing steady firing, and the days were 

 bright, and warm enough to permit some 

 ventilating every day ; some days as 

 much as ten inches. It is not often that 

 we have such fine weather for so long at 

 this time of the year, and if you are wise 

 you will make the most of it whenever 

 it does happen along. 



Do not aJlow the temperature on such 

 days to run up too high; raise the ven- 

 tilators, keep it down between 65 and 70 

 degrees, and avoid cold drafts directly on 

 the plants. If you allow it to run up to 

 75 or 80 degrees your plants will make a 

 quick, soft growth, and that is just what 

 you want to avoid. Do not allow the 

 temperature to rise to the mid-day mark 

 before you begin raising the ventilators, 

 but begin as soon as the temperature has 

 risen a few degrees above the night tem- 

 perature, say about 58 degrees, and raise 

 an inch or tv^fo at a time, according to the 

 strength of the sun; and in the afternoon 

 lower them the same way. Do not close 

 them down tight while "the sun is still 

 strong, and likely to run the tempera- 

 ture up, in order to save some of the heat 

 and a little coal, but if the day is cold 

 have the steam ready to turn into the 

 houses soon after you close them up and 

 before the temperature drops quite down 

 to the night temperature. This may 

 seem to you like a lot of bother for a 

 house or two of carnations, and you may 



have had pretty fair carnations without 

 being so careful, but it is the attention 

 and judgment exercised in these small de- 

 tails that produce the high grade stock. 

 You may have good soil and good houses, 

 but if you are careless about these small 

 things you need not expect your stock to 

 grade among the fancies. At this time 

 of the year keeping the proper tempera- 

 ture is one of tlie most important factors 

 in producing good blooms. 



Watering. 



With this steady firing you will need 

 to be very careful in watering. There 

 will lif sprits ufnr the steam pipes that 



will II I \\:il.'i iii'_' I'very day, while some 



of IIh' ii' ih III - will not need a drop for 

 scvi'iiil il,n ~ ji .1 lime. Carefully exam- 

 ine uccasiuiiall.v those benches that have 

 steam pipes running along under and 

 close up to them. They will likely dry 

 out at the bottom before they do at the 

 surface, and if allowed to remain in such 

 a condition long it will have a bad efi'ect 

 on your plants. Take a trowel and dig 

 to the bottom here and there and keep 

 yourself posted all the time as to the 

 condition of the soil. A good, careful 

 grower will aways know the exact state 

 of moisture of nearly every square foot 

 of soil on his benches. 



Top Dressing. 

 If your plants are in good healthy 

 condition they will now be benefited by 

 another light top-dressing. If the last 

 dressing was cow or stable manure it 

 would be a good idea to give them a 

 change, and I would suggest sheep 

 manure and soil in equal proportions 

 with a 4-inch pot full of fine bone flour 

 added to each bushel. Mix thoroughly 

 and spread on the benches about one- 

 half inch deep and give a good watering. 

 Before putting it on rake oflf all the 

 loose material you can without injuring 

 the roots. If you cannot get any sheep 

 manure handy the bone alone mixed into 

 soil will be beneficial, but increase the 

 proportion to a 5-inch pot of bone to each 

 bushel of soil and spread on only one- 



quarter inch thick. Allow this last mix- 

 ture to lay several days before applying. 

 Hog manure is good if you can get it, 

 and use in about same proportion as 

 sheep manure. Chicken manure is fine, 

 too, but it is very strong and should be 

 mixed about one part manure to three 

 parts of soil. 



Carnation Society's Annual Meeting. 



Just si.x weeks from the tenth of this 

 month the American Carnation Society 

 meets at Baltimore, and every carnation 

 grower who can possibly get away from 

 his business for a few days will want to 

 go. That there will be a fine show goes 

 without the saying, and there will be a 

 lot of new varieties clamoring for the 

 society's certificates of merit and per- 

 haps some of the other premiums offered. 

 It certainly pays to attend these meet- 

 ings if you can possibly get away, be- 

 cause here you can see both the new and 

 old varieties in their best form and you 

 can get a line on the true merits of the 

 new ones in regard to size, color and stem, 

 and, in fact, the only way you can judge 

 the value of a new variety is by compar- 

 ing it with the older ones. If you pos- 

 sess a seedling or two which you fondly 

 imagine is "the finest thing that ever 

 happened" you can find out whether you 

 are right or not by sending it up against 

 the criticism of these foremost carnation 

 men in the country. Don't be afraid that 

 your pet will not get a fair show or that 

 the judges will be unable to see its good 

 points. When you look at it you can see 

 only its good qualities, and if you do see 

 a fault or two you have a dozen excuses 

 for each one proving that it is not really 

 a fault of the variety. These judges will 

 not fail to see the good qualities of your 

 variety, but you may be sure that they 

 will also see its faults, and they are not 

 afraid to tell you of them. So "the thing 

 for you to do is to follow the example 

 of the leaders. Grow it as good as you 

 can and hide all its faults if possible 

 from the judges, and if you are success- 

 ful they will give it a certificate and you 

 can use that to help sell it to the rest 



Iron frame carnation house 30x300, erected by the Lord & Burnham Co. for the Chicago Carnation Co., Joliet, 111., last summer. 



