DECEMBER 22, 1898. 



The Weekly Rorists' Review* 



85 



OUR PRIZE COMPETITION. 



Following is another batch o£ en- 

 Iries in ou'- pr;i;e competition in labor-- 

 s-aA ing devices or methods useful to 

 florists • 



No. 2S !.^ a carnation support used 

 by us lor the n>ast three seasons. As 

 will be seen from the engraving it con- 

 sists of two legs and two cross wires 



ches long, curve and flatten one end 

 and shape the other end for a handle 

 and in about five minutes you have 

 one of the best weeders for bench 

 work you ever saw. Try it. P. 



In giving the dimensions of No. 27 

 in our issue of Dec. 8, we should have 

 added that the rose is two inches in 

 diameter and one inch deep. 



No. 28. Carnation Support. 



to each tier. The legs have a ring 

 turned in them every four inches and 

 can be made fov two or three tiers to 

 suit any variety of carnations we 

 have; two tiers are enough for plants 

 30 inches high. It is necessary to have 

 the foot fit snugly to side boards of 

 benches co make support ligid. The 

 loops are + inclres wide by 's inches 

 long, giving a space when bctL are in 

 position of 8 by 6 inches, leaving 2 

 inches between loops. Where benches 

 require six loops or over, it is neces- 

 sary to have a supporting wire run 

 through the center the entire length of 

 bench. 



The legs are made of No. 10 galvan- 

 ized wire, the crosswires of No. 12. We 

 have in tise No. 14, but tliey bend too 

 easily when taking out in the fall. The 

 support is placed in position as the 

 plants are lifted from the field, be- 

 fore watering, keeping them in an up- 

 right condition till they are estab- 

 lished. 



The advantages we claim for this 

 support are: It is easily placed in posi- 

 tion, giving the plant complete free- 

 dom, not interfering with picking fiow- 

 ers, mulching, or working among them 

 in any shape: no tying up to be done, 

 only going over them once in a while 

 and pushing the few stragglers into 

 the loops. We figure they cost us 

 about half a cent per plant, valuing 

 our time at a reasonable figure for 

 making them, which requires a little 

 practice before one gets very expert 

 at it. O. 



No. 29 is a weeder I have used on my 

 place for years and I use no other on 

 the bench. With it I can weed 

 around the plants without injuring 

 them in the least, digging as deep or 

 at: shallow as I wish. 



It is made of one-fourth inch wire. 

 Take a piece of this wire about 16 in- 



SMILAX. 



Enclosed find sample of sraiiax 

 leaves; also a spray of the young 

 growth. As you will notice, t.he leaves 

 on the old growth are tipped with 

 white, and about one-half of my house. 

 20x100 feet, is affected that way. It 

 has been coming on for about f-^ur 

 weeks, and seems to be spreading over 

 the whole house. The young growth, 

 instead of starting up the strings as it 

 should, grows heavy and very bushy 

 and dwarfed. The leaves ara very 

 small and it is short jointed. What 

 can be the matter? 



The house has not been fumig.Uod 

 for four weeks, so the trouble is not 

 caused by smoke. In filling the house 

 I used rose soil and 40 per cent horse 

 manure, well rotted. Planted from 3- 

 Inch pots July 15 last. I spray ever/ 



morning. Temperature, 55 to 80 de- 

 grees. Soil is in what we consider a 

 fair growing condition. SMILAX. 



I have never seen smilax so affected 

 as specimens sent, unless by a strong 

 dose of tobacco smoke or when sul- 

 phur has been burnt in the house for 

 the benefit of some plants that were 

 attacked with mildew. But in this 

 case it is evidently caused by neither 

 of the above. Growing heavy ami 

 bushy is certainly not a sign of bad 

 health, but it ought to run. which is 

 its natural growth. Time of planting 

 and size of plant were all right. 



There is one admission that is grie- 

 vously wrong. The enquirer says: 

 "Used rose soil and 40 per cent horse 

 manure, well rotted." I suppose what 

 is meant is that the soil was from an 

 old rose bench, but there is no mis- 

 take about the 40 per cent horse ma- 

 nure. That is nearly half, and is four 

 times too much. Horse manure holds 

 ammonia a long time and it is quite 

 possible the roots are burned. If prac- 

 ticable, it would be best to lift the 

 plants and remove the top four inches 

 of soil, replacing it with four inchc:s 

 of fresh loam, and replanting at once. 

 By the time the new roots got down 

 into the manure-saturated soil they 

 would be able to stand it. The smilax, 

 like all the family, are great fteders 

 and like a strong, rather heavy soil, 

 with a good allowance of animal ma- 

 nure, tut 40 per cent is altogether too 

 much. WM. SCOTT. 



AMMONIACAL MIXTURE.'! ^~~ 



Referring to the note regarding the 

 preparation of this mixture on page 53, 

 I wish to call attention to the fact that 

 the mixture there described is known 

 as Eau Celeste and not Ammoniacal 

 Mixture. The latter is made by dis- 

 solving copper carbonate in ammonia 

 and diluting with water to the proper 

 strength. Eau Celeste was recom- 

 mended in former years by the French 

 but is now seldom used owing to the 

 caustic action of the fungicide upon 

 foliage. .4mmonia is not of itself a 

 fungicide and does not increase the 

 efficacy of copper sulphate, which is 

 one of the most useful germicides. 



The formula for making ammoniacal 

 copper carbonate is as follows: Copper 

 carbonate, 5 oz.; ammonia (strong), 3 

 pints; water, 45 gals. 



This is for florists' use a desirable 

 fungicide, as it does not stain the 

 sprayed plants. JOHN CRAIG. 



Ithaca, N. Y. 



AMMONIACAL MIXTURE. 



I use the above mixture on my cut- 

 ting bench as mentioned by Mr. Scott 

 and an experience of mine may be of 

 interest. On one occasion I forgot to 

 apply the mixture to the sand before 

 putting in the cuttings and so made the 

 application after they were in. Among 

 the cuttings was a batch of lantanas 

 and these were ruined, the leaves turn- 

 ing black. The lantanas were the only 

 ones injured, from which I came to the 

 conclusion that it is unsafe to apply 

 the mixture to this plant. Has anyone 

 had a similar experience? J. B. 



ONE DOLLAR will bring the Re- 

 view to you every week for a year. 

 Fifty-two numbers — less than 2 cents 

 a week. 



LIBERTY, MO.— Business Is im- 

 proving and we look for a good trade 

 at Christmas. It has been very dull 

 till now. 



