520 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



_ CARNATION TROUBLES. 



Please tell me what makes my carna- 

 tion buds blast. The buds all come soft 

 like the sample sent but all are blasted 

 and have been so all winter. The plants 

 look healthy. Most of the soil is the 

 same that grew a crop of carnations last 

 year, with about two inches of fresh soil 

 added and a wheelbarrow full of manure 

 to each ten feet of bench live feet wide. 

 The soil is alive with fish worms and 

 there has been some gas in greenhouse 

 from furnace. Temperature 45 to 50 de- 

 grees at night. Do you think I had bet- 

 ter throw the plants out? The varieties 

 are Portia, McGowan, Daybreak and 

 Alaska. H. R. B. 



The carnation buds sent were so dried 

 up that they were of no use in deter- 

 mining the cause of the trouble. Accord- 

 ing to the letter the conditions under 

 which the carnations are growing are 

 such that I am inclined to think there 

 are several faults at the bottom of the 

 trouble. In the first place there is no 

 use trying to grow carnations or any 

 other flowers in a house where there is 

 more or less gas most Of the time. It 

 may have gotten strong enough to injure 

 the buds when they were small and ten- 

 der. The presence" of fish worms is not 

 conducive to good health and there is 

 no excuse for any grower to have many 

 of them artound. 



I do not approve of using the same 

 soil two seasons on shallow benches, as 

 it is very likely to be pretty well ex- 

 hausted after the first season if the car- 

 nations make a good growth. The ma- 

 nure that was added would help some, 

 but some btone and lime or wood-ashes 

 should have been added as well if it 

 was necessary to use the old soil over 

 again. I have seen old soil used again 

 after it had lain outside exposed to the 

 weather a year with good results. 



Now, if I am right in my opinion there 

 ought to be no trouble in getting these 

 plants into fairly good shape again at 

 this time of the year when they natur- 

 ally make a =trong growth and outgrow 

 many <'Ahrv iIiso:i-c-. Sprinkle a good 

 liaiiiifiil 'ii -lil^'l lime between each 

 row ami walir in ^m'11 to get rid of the 

 fish worm- aTi.l l'ivo plenty of air both 

 day and ni'.'lit t.i allow 'whatever gas 

 there is to pass nut of llic ventilators. 

 In about ten (lavs L'ive a liL'ht dressing 

 of bone miNo.l in -.il. .lb.. lit a 5-inch pot 



of boil.' 1 !■ l.M-hel of soil and put 



on al.'iii 'I i!i:'k. Keep the tem- 

 pera! \ii.' :ii"-.ii l.^iuus at night. 



I \vo\ild 11. .1 adMse propagating from 

 these plants because it might possibly 

 be some disease or blight that i- caus- 

 ing the trouble. Better buy new stock 

 and while vou are buying get newer and 

 better varieties. McGowan and Alaska 

 are not nearly a.s good as Flora Hill and 

 White Cloud, and Portia is away behind 

 Jubilee, Crane and America. Daybreak 

 dtoes fairly well yet and on some places 

 it is still really fine. 



If I had these plants I would throw 

 tbcm out and replant at once with young 

 stock for next season. It i* early, but 

 they would well repay you for the early 

 start, now while it is cool and they can 

 become well established before hot weath- 

 er comes. The red varieties especially 

 would appreciate it. 



The Easter Cut. 



When this reaches tou there will be 



only two weeks before Kaster and evei-y 



grower is anxious to cut as many blooms 



as possible for that day and how we all 

 watch the weather and the almanac and 

 how we do swear at the weather man 

 when he predicts rain for tomorrow, etc. 

 Isn't it too bad that we florists can't 

 make the weather? Don't force your 

 plants to death with artificial heat if 

 the sun fails to supply the warmth and 

 light you need to open up the buds. A 

 few degrees will not injure the plants, 

 but raise the temperature gradually, a 

 degree each night, etc. 



If the weather is cloudy you can save 

 up the blooms ten days, but if it is 

 warm and bright you had better pick 

 them right along up to a week before 

 Easter and you will then have plenty 

 of blooms to" cut the latter part of the 

 week. Easter is apt to be warm and 

 pickled stock fares worse even than it 

 does at Xmas, so be careful how you 

 manage your cut, especially if you have 

 to ship them. A. F. J. Baur. 



ABOUT CARNATIONS. 



While everybody's attention is directed 

 to carnations I would like to mention one 

 thing that I have not seen touched upon. 



We watch the reports of the difTerent 

 growers in their trade lists and after 

 a number of years' comparisons have 

 come to the conclusion that the soil and 

 conditions under which Messrs. F. Dorner 

 & Sons grow most nearly coincide with 

 Dur own. The notes and comments they 

 make on varieties are nearly always what 

 we would make on the same kinds which 

 we have grown. The point I want to 

 make is: If the grower of a small or 

 medium quantity of carnations would 

 make it a rule to read these reports care- 

 fully from year to year, after a few 

 years he would find one whose oonditions 

 seemed very much like his own, then as 

 a general thing he would be pretty safe 

 in trying the new varieties that do well 

 with this grower. 



Very likely many are following this 

 plan but I do not remember having seen 

 it mentioned. It really saves one or two 

 years' trial for the grower who is limit- 

 ed as to space and mean* Do experiment 

 for himself, and the smaller grower can- 

 not afVord to try the novelties the first 

 year at the fancy prices. 



But, by the way. the high priced stock 

 of the introducer or grower who makes 

 stock a specialty, is often cheaper than 

 low prircd stock from others. T have had 

 an r\:mi|il ■ "f llii- lal.'ly. i^ittin;; poor, 



-iMll alu.n- think 

 1 villi; to have too 

 :,t bargain prices. 



much st.nl< t 



Next time I shall not fail l" order from 

 the man that does not olTer at a lower 

 price than he can offer first class cuttings 

 for. even if my pocketbook causes me to 

 order a smaller quantity, for I would 

 rather have a dozen good plants than 

 twenty-five sickly ones. 



Speaking of the Marquis, while we have 

 not enough of it for a fair trial, still 

 as it has gone so far, it has given us 

 only two flowers per plant from Jan. 

 1 to March 16 and this is a very poor 

 showing, even though the flowers are so 

 nice when you get them. Of course we 

 shall grow "some another year and try to 

 set better results by diffe'rent treatment, 

 but I agice with Mr. Baur that the in- 

 troducers should give us more explicit 

 directions when they first send out a 

 variety. 



Why docs not someone report their rec- 

 ord of cuts from different varieties? I 



ha\e been watching for them for some 

 time but no one seems to come to the 

 front. 1 would really like to know what 

 the good grower eonsiders a good average. 



THE MARQUIS. 



While the discussion waxes warm over 

 the merits and demerits of The Marquis 

 it might be of interest to your readers 

 to know of its behavior out here in the 



west. 



It gives HI. |.l.a-ur. I.. -a\ that from 

 the beciniinrj I. ih. i)M.-h TIh' Marquis 

 as grown li.i.' ii;.- Iif.n rniii.'ly satis- 

 factory. \li ^ni|ih\ I- 111. ..nly florist 

 here thai -i..u- iln- .:.ii> in.-n in quan- 

 tity. Til.' |.l.nil- n.' 11. v. T |. United out 

 in the li.-l.l. Lm n. -iiiii'.i mt.i 4-ineh 

 pots and ;;n.ii .■..Kill aim liratiiient for 

 six weeks. Planted in the house August 

 1st they began blooming October 1st, and 

 have been at it ever since, ilr. Stuppy 

 grows all of the newer varieties to per- 

 fection, but especially recommends The 

 Marquis to florists who grow and retail 

 their own carnations. 



Joiix H. Ve.sev. 



St. Joseph, Mo. 



THE HOUSE OF WHITE CLOUD. 



Referring to the engraving of house 

 of White Cloud cainatimis that appeared 

 in our last issu., Mi. N. Wi.tor says it 

 hardly does th.' l...ii-.' ,JM-ii,e. as the 

 photographer aim.. I -li..ii:.v alter 2.200 

 flowers had been .iit fii.iii it. lie adds 

 that not less than 2,000 flowers a day 

 have been cut from that house for thirty 

 successive days. 



Their carnations seem to be extra good 

 keepers and to always have good, strong 

 stems, and this is undoubtedly the result 

 of the fact that they keep air on almost 

 all the time and maintain a very low 

 temperature. The houses are often as low 

 as 38 to 40 degrees, and even lower at 

 times. Nevertheless they get quantity as 

 well as quality. 



[Some General Reiiuirks on Roses b.v Benjamin 

 Durfee (American Rose Co.). WashlnBton. D. C.. 

 before the Chleiifro Plorif<tB- Club. March I.i. 1901.) 



It is fair, I think, to estimate that 

 the average retail lU.rist r.>.niires in his 

 stock fully 7.j iiei cent of white flowers. 

 This appfies with full force to roses. 

 Today we have in general commerce 

 but two white roses: Bride and Kais 

 erin. The Bride a sport from Catherine 

 Mermet; the Kaiserin a seedling by P. 

 Lambert of Germany. We were fortu- 

 nate in being one of the pioneers in the 

 introduction of Kaiserin. 



Let us aiiah/r tlio good and '>ad 

 points ..f 111, -.' lu.. 1..SCS: In the Bride 

 we ha\.' .luiiiiL' winter a large, fine 

 white lai.l. «illi fairly good foliage and 

 free blooming, when well grown, but apt 

 to come knotty and deformed in bad 

 weather, and liable to have weak steins 

 in the hands of any but the most skill- 

 ful growers. This rose, however, be- 

 comes very small when the warm weath- 

 er strikes it. It is a good shipper and 

 a fairly good keeper, but flat and un- 

 shapely when wide open. It is sorae- 

 w^hat of a cropper, but may be -veli 

 classified among the best of the ever- 

 blooming teas. 



It must, therefore, be supplementeu 

 by a good white summer bloomer, ana 

 this you have in Kaiserin, one of the 

 niost'lieantiful of all roses. But Kai^- 



