716 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



April 25, 1901. 



large airy house and stayed there for 

 the remainder of the season. They at- 

 tained a height of six to .seven feet and 

 the flowers were of superb finish. This 

 may be called an extreme case' as hardly 

 one man in a thousand has facilities for 

 handling a batch of plants in such a 

 manner and 1 hardly think it necessary if 

 he had. 



Cuttings rooted in February or March 

 and kept to single stem have always 

 given splendid results with us. I have 

 never yet obtained flowers of the same 

 quality and finish from cuttings struck 

 end of May or early in June. The ex- 

 planation of this is simple enough. If 

 the plant is started early, before the in- 

 tense heat of early summer, it will make 

 a stocky short-jointed growth and will 

 continue to make such growth if treat- 

 ed rationally. This will insure a natural 

 maturation of the tissues of the plant 

 and the wood will be what is called 

 "ripe." Contrast this kind of growth 



with the growth }-ou get from later 

 rooted cuttings which run up very 

 quickly after being planted out, and you 

 can see at a glance where the difference 

 comes in. 



You may argue that we get so much 

 sun here that the plant will get properly 

 matured anvwav and vour worst trouble 

 is f.. kr,.|, "llirr,! f,,,„; ^rliiii- 1.M, l.aia 

 iUl.l -iMiil.'.l nnl< -- ^..ll -h.i.lr v, in ! -, . 



earlier, but my own experience teaches 

 me otherwise. The flowers may perhaps 

 have as large a spread but investigation 

 always shows them to be deficient in 

 depth, finish, and lasting qualities, and 

 these are points that count for much 

 in exhibition flowers. Briax Bouu. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Trees and Shrubs. 



Florists often combine a little of the 

 nursery business with their bedding 

 plants and supply everything for the 

 garden. We have a curious spring. 

 Only a few days' fine weather and then 

 a heavy snow storm. All deciduous 

 trees and shrubs must be got into the 

 ground without delay. The rule is if 

 they have started to grow it is risky 

 to move them and in a few days the 

 time will be over. Nearly all trees and 

 shrubs should be pruned when plant- 

 ing and this will particularly help those 

 that are transplanted late. They are 

 bound to have lost their working fibers 

 and cannot supply sap enough to keep 

 the tops growing. You will often see 

 a tree expand its leaves feebly and then 

 collapse because it has no working roots 

 to support it. 



I am aware that I am late in giving 

 any hints on decidnmis trees and shrubs, 

 but in plenty m' \nn,- fni the evergreens, 

 so-called, or (..mi i~ .i I'cy should be 

 called. The mid. II. ..i May is plenty 

 early enough for lliese. In fact, they 

 should not be moved till the growth 

 starts and if you are buying any see 

 that the nurseryman does not deliver 

 them till the proper time. I have fre- 

 quently had occasion to give you what, 

 in my humble opinion, is the only way 

 to plant a tree or shrub or evergreen. 

 It is little use to dig down more than 

 a few inches lower than the length of 

 the roots or depth of ball for you don't 

 want the roots to go down, and in but 

 a few trees are they inclined to. But 

 give them all the width you can afford. 

 If it is a prepared and trenched border 

 that you are going to plant shrubs in, 

 then a hole large enough for the roots 

 is sufficient, but in the case of single 

 specimens any distance apart the 

 ground is seldom all prepared and a 

 hole is dug especially for the tree. Make 

 it wide and put in good soil and manure 

 and you will be correspondingly re- 

 warded in the growth of your tree. 



Xever in the case of trees and ever- 

 greens plant more than two inches low- 

 er than they have been growing in the 

 niirsery. 



I believe in getting the tree in proper 

 position and sufficient soil around and 

 among the roots to firm them, or we 

 will say the soil filled in to within four 

 or five inches of the surface, then pour 

 in water enough to thoroughly soak every 

 particle of soil. This carries the soil 

 compactly around every root, a most im- 

 portant point. After the water has 

 soaked irr then fill up with dry soil, which 

 acts as a mulch. I am sure this is the 

 successful way; the right way and only 

 way, and worth many waterings on the 

 surface. If you have to water on the 

 surface then it pays well to spread an 

 inch or two of stable manure round the 

 tree or shrub as wide as the excavation. 



Sweet Peas. 



It is to lie hoped tliat you sowed sweet 

 pea- 111., iiioiii.'iil 111.- L;round could be 

 wnik.il. I 1. 11(11 -.■.■ .jioat neglect in 

 givi]].; til. Ill -.i]ii.- ,-.u|i|...it. It should be 

 given llieiii when lliey aio a few inches 

 out of the ground, and not wait till they 

 are a foot high and flopped over. 



Asters. 



If your asters are large enough to 

 transplant and the ground is dry, there 

 is no need of delaying the planting. A 

 chilly night does not hurt them. 



Crimson Ramblers. 



We have tried again the Crimson Kam- 

 blers lifted last November and forced for 

 Easter, and with us it was a dead fail- 

 ure. I believe this was largely because 

 we did not have them on our own 

 grounds and had to purchase them and 

 have them shipped a few hundred miles. 

 It is a good plan to plant out a few hun- 

 dred small plants this spring on a good 

 piece of soil. The strongest can be lifted 

 this fall and the weaker left for another 

 year. 



With our experience of the past, we 

 shall, however, stick to our old plan of 



potting some strong plants about now, 

 cuttiivg the canes back to a few eyes, and 

 then when they break leaving only five 

 or six of the best growths and these we 

 will endeavor to grow into fine canes. 

 We start them, of course, as cool as pos- 

 sible, but keep them under glass all sum- 

 mer in the full light and put them out of 

 .l....r- (.. liai.l.ii ii|i the growth in Sep- 

 i.iiiK.i .11 iiri.,lii]. L'he advantage of 

 ili.-c |. hi III- i- ilial they are sure to 

 il.iuei. With ar]\ kind of management 

 they arc liouml to be a success. 



Last year we were troubled with mil- 

 dew when they were making their strong- 

 est growth in June. Allowing them to 

 get very dry was, I believe, the cause. 

 Don't let mildew attack them or it badly 

 hurts their growth. 



I tried a similar method last spring 

 with Ulrich Brunner and some other hy- 

 brid perpetuals, growing them in pots 

 during the summer and cutting them 

 down in winter and forciirg. They pro- 

 duced good flowers, but it is not neces- 

 sary for Easter forcing with hybrids, be 

 cause they force easily from lifted plants. 

 You have to cut a good deal of wood 

 away from them, while the ramblers arr 

 very top-heavy. Willi.^m Scott. 



IN THE LAND OF THE OLIVE. 



(Continued from Issue of April II.) 

 Continuing along the coast from Can 



ve paused at 



Golfe Juan 



to visit the Villa Menier, another superb 

 place with a long frontage to the sea. 

 Its spacious grounds are well planted, 

 showing fine massed effects of palms and 

 bamboos, and there are giant trees of 

 Eucalyptus globulus, which were iu 

 flower at the time. M. Riffaud, the gar- 

 dener, highly praised the eucalyptus for 

 exposed situations such as this, saying 

 it was rarely broken by the strongest 

 winds. Araucaria excelsa was repre- 

 sented by several magnificent trees 50 to 

 60 feet high. Adjoining is the garden of 

 the Villa Valetta, its most noteworthy 

 feature being a splendid group of Wash- 

 ingtonia filifera. 



Les Cocottiers 



was next visited. It is a nursery, but, 

 as the name would imply, is named after 

 the cocos palms, of which it possesses 

 a group of truly marvelous specimens 

 of C. plumosus. They are growing at 

 the foot ..f n i.'ikv liiil. and have grand 

 cohiiiiiia; -t. Ill- Jii ii. 2') feet high, sur- 

 mountnl h\ -|,l,ii,li,l leafage, a picture 

 of luxuiiaiil health. The world-famed 

 nurseries of M. Nabonnand are next en- 

 countered, and they, too, have bsautiful 

 palms, although roses are the special 

 culture. 



A few miles more along the lovely 

 coast, and we come to 



Antibes, 



another garden spot with much com- 

 mercial floriculture, and having some 

 large, comparatively level areas, and fine 

 facilities for extensive culture. In 

 every flower store throughout the trip 

 we had seen carnations. At Antibes we 

 found a grower of carnations, by name 

 M. Cariat. He has the largest glass 

 establishment we saw, and everything 

 well grown. Fifty houses, ranging in 

 length from 100 to 150 feet, are devoted 

 to carnations, all splendidly grown and 



