The Weekly Florists' Review. 



419 



must 



ikiii- 



able 



the ailvanoeinoiit <il i 

 protect ion of oui i 

 education of our ni. 

 ing of air effective 

 promotion of a : 



•you are so situated y 



nut a? little monoy in as the euxum- 



stanr, ■; Mil. I snnoumlings will allow, for 

 i,l',,,iii ,■ ii \mII fail.' 1 am glad to stand 



1,,.,, , .1,1 In admit that 1 was a false 



,„,.|ili.i ih.ii ii dill not fail, that it was 

 •1 s uTc'-s ti..ni \hr \ri\ -l.iH. and that 

 it survives. iiiUMlnlih-' -linin^j Iho field 



with others just a, pin, I - nul profit- 



-;niin L d end — 



ni 1,1, Irade, the 

 al ililnlr^ts, the 

 1-, 1 li. riigender- 

 it dc cuiiis, the 

 iste, and the ele- 

 lation of the profession of the gardener 

 amongst other callings which make life 

 more beautiful and more worth living, as 

 ministering to esthetic tastes, bringing 

 wholesome pleasures to the many as well 

 as to the few, whose pure delights are not 

 elusive, but grow by that on which they 

 feed, and are open and free to all, prince 

 and peasant, ignorant and learned, rich 

 and poor. 



■•These are the purposes, these the aims 

 of the trade press. That it has achieved 

 them all — abundantly achieved them all 

 ^I call upon every man here present to- 

 night to testify. 



"Who can say what part of the trade's 

 expansion of the past fifteen years is not 

 attributable to the intelligence, enterprise 

 and zeal of this great instrument of prog- 

 ress, seconding every forward movement, 

 taking the initiative in many, affording 

 field and opportunity for the clear heads 

 and keen pens of the Dorners, the Craigs, 

 the Scotts, the Mays and the Webers, of 

 every section of the trade, and of every 

 section of the country — to the profit of us 



all!" 



HYBRIDIZING OF THE CARNA- 

 TION. 



Dv Petkh Fisitkk. KlJas Mass. 

 [Read before ttie Baltimore Convention of the 

 American Carnation Society.] 



Mr. President, Members of the Amer- 

 ican Carnation Society and Friends: It 

 is not my purpose in this paper to go 

 into details as to the origin and evolution 

 of the carnation from its primitive 

 stages to the magnificent varieties of the 

 present day, that having very recently 

 been done by others well qualified through 

 years of earnest and faithful application. 

 Some of tho&e early workers, to whom 

 we owe so much, are still with us; others 

 who bid fair to become mighty factors in 

 the improvement of the carnation, and 

 who had almost reached the goal in view, 

 have been called away in their prime, and 

 so their work has been laid aside to be 

 taken up by others and carried forward 

 toward the consummation of the ever- 

 receding "Ideal" in the Divine Flower. 



The beginner in hybridizing or cross- 

 ing the carnation of today with a view 

 to its improvement, does so on a very 

 different plane from that of the worker 

 of teir or even five years ago; and right 

 here I think it would be well to remem- 

 ber the debt of gratitude we owe to those 

 men who have gone before, breaking up 

 for us the "fallow" ground (so to speak) 

 and passing it along to us, so pregnant 

 with fruitful possibilities. 



And I am glad to say that some of our 

 most expert and earnest workers in this 

 cause, and who have been successful in 

 giving to the trade some of the best 

 standard varieties, are not the "Hermits" 

 in our business, isolating themselves and 

 shrouding their methods in mystery, but 

 who are ever willing to explain to any 

 one interested enough to inquire, and 



even submit their records showing the 

 results of years of patient effort, with a 

 view to helping others. Such men have 



the imiii.u. iiiiail ni the Divine Flower 

 at hcail. ^^nlHllll a d.mbt. 



^.ing 



Its in hybi 



carnation means 

 lid than the mere 

 from one variety 

 It must begin 

 (ion of desirable 

 iti I for this pur- 

 j- v\ ii li the great- 

 - -I. MIS of healthy 

 iini ill- too partic- 

 aii-i a cutting of 



■ 1 1 liir and more 



or Speiln, In 

 with the eairl 

 varieties to hi- 

 pose. Select tl 

 est care from I 

 plants only. ^ 

 ular on tliis p 

 this sort alwa\ 

 continuous blciniinii- nualiiii-s in the pa- 

 rent plant from which the pollen is tak- 

 en or seed is to be raised, as the case 

 may be. A high state of cultivation is, 

 to my mind, indispensable all through, 

 from the taking of the cutting to the 

 gathering of the seed, and ever after, if 

 you would get out of your seedlings the 

 best traits they contain. 



Understanding the needs of your va- 

 rieties and a high state of cultivation, is 

 more than half of the battle, for just in 

 proportion to the health and vigor of the 

 parents, will the seedlings develop in 

 health, size and substance. If the stock 

 is well established, strong and healthy, 

 so will the offsprings be; if weak, dis- 

 eased and sickly, they will develop seed- 

 lings equally faulty. 



Early planting is another very impor- 

 tant point to be considered. Plants 

 housed late in July or early in August, 

 from which all flower shoots have been 

 pinched back, so that they make their 



good month in which tu work, as insects 

 are less liable to be troublesome at this 

 lime, fertilizing wlieip you would prefer 

 to do it yoin-.lf. Finn, ero.ssings made 

 during thi> nmnili. -•■■l '^m be ripened 

 and sown diiiiiii; tin laitrr part of Jan- 

 uary. Crns-i, iiiaili lailier Or late in 

 spring will ni-n -'A m a shorter period, 

 but in the lai I. I r.i-i nil. 11 too late to be 



of service Hi. >. -. a-, ii. If sown in 



January the tee.llia.i;- liav.' three months 

 growth before planting them out doors, 

 and most of them will bloom in the field 

 and thus give a chance for selecting only 

 meritorious varieties for further tests 

 indoors, and so much valuable space is 

 saved. 



I have sown seed as laie as April 2d, 

 and had some of lie jl .m '-.,,, in the 

 field by Aug. IM!. ' ' ' .. no-half 

 months from sowing I ■ ^ lai,' sow- 



ing is not to be rc_. .an.i,. ml. .1 as many 

 of the plants have nut bloomed before 

 frosts are due, and to house all those 

 that have not means a waste of much 

 valuable space. In fact, with very few 

 exceptions, where plants got overcrowd- 

 ed or from some other cause, I have 

 seldom found a variety that bloomed late 

 the first season prove of commercial 

 value. 



Early and continuous bloomers are 

 what we need. Only a few years ago it 

 was thought by many to be an impossi- 

 bility to get blooms of a high grade and 

 in paying quantities from the same plant. 

 Eight years ago I had varieties produc- 

 ing blooms 3i to 4 inches and over, on 

 stems like canes, that only gave an av- 

 erage of eight blooms to the plant dur- 

 ing" the entire season. Those varieties 



:^m^W 



. Fisher's Carnation Basliet and Mr. Moss' Golden Gate and Liberty : 

 The Carnation Society's Exhibition at Baltimore. 



flowering steins in-doors, will be well es- 

 tablished and in condition to use for 

 crossing purposes in October, or early in 

 November ; and later when only the most 

 vigorous and healthy plants and perfect 

 flowers should again be selected, either 

 for seed or pollen parents. 



There are several advantages in early 

 application, such as abundance of sun- 

 shine and consequently ample ventila- 

 tion, wlueh insures a dry condition of 

 the pollen, which is also plentiful during 

 the early fall months. November is a 



were of a strong fleshy growth with 

 broad foliage. Plants of wiry habit with 

 small foliage are invariably free bloom- 

 ers. The flower runs smaller and often 

 lacks in substance. 



By a combination of those habits we 

 have today varieties that produce freely 

 high grade blooms 3 to 4 inches in dia- 

 meter, on long stems, from plants of ex- 

 cellent habit and medium sized leaf and 

 wiry growth, which is preferable to rank 

 soft growing sorts, as they can be plant- 

 ed much closer together, thus getting 



