J 56 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



JANUARY 12, ISSIS. 



"Florida" can stop the burning by 

 giving his roof a heavy coat of white 

 lead and naphtha. We have never seen 

 "holes burnt clean through the 

 leaves." We think where that oc- 

 curred a lump of old putty must have 

 fallen from the root on to the leaf, or 

 some of the Rough Riders might have 

 been practicing in the neighborhood 

 when the shutters were down. 



'I'he inch lap on the glass is just a 



little more than three-fourths of an 

 inch too much. The large or long lap 

 is only a place for dirt to accumulate. 

 In conclusion, while a glass house can 

 be built in Florida at much less ex- 

 pense than in the north, because there 

 is no such climate to resist, yet there 

 is no such thing as a cheap house. 

 They are very dear in the end, for 

 whatever purpose they are intended. 

 WM. SCOTT. 



CUTTINGS. 



Now again commences the time to 

 prepare the young stock for next sea- 

 son. How opinions differ of what con- 

 stitutes the best cuttings. Most grow- 

 ers prefer the young side shoots from 

 a (lower stem, and reason that when 

 the plant is in full bloom it is in the 

 zenith of its vitality, and these side 

 shoots coming at such an opportune 

 time are the best cuttings. Nobody 

 will question the fact that a plant is 

 at its highest point when in full bloom, 

 but how does It affect these side shoots- 

 so desirable for cuttings? I find they 

 are a different quality at different sea- 

 sons. Will these side shoots when left 

 to grow bring as good a flower in time 

 as the one that has crowned the stem 

 from where it was taken? In the fore- 

 part of the season, say November and 

 December, they will in time produce a 

 better flower, for the plant at that time 

 has not attained its full maturity, 

 while those produced in the latter part 

 of the season will bring smaller, poor- 

 er llowers, or when too late will often 

 not bloom at all. 



A good percent of this deterioration 

 we must attribute to climatic in- 

 fluences, the weather becoming too 

 warm, but the largest part is caused by 

 the declining vitality, the exhausting 

 effort of perfecting the blooms. 



Now let us take a flower stem and 

 examine these side shoots which we 

 intend to take for cuttings: The up- 

 permost, in some sense the most eco- 

 nomical to take for they will be cut 

 with the flower stem anyway, are the 

 weakest. As we descend on the stem 

 they appear stronger, and at the base 

 we find the strongest. True, they are 

 of different age, but this does not cut 

 much of a figure, for when the flower 

 is cut with a long stem they will have 

 to be sacrificed anyway. The strongest 

 ones at the base we are loath to take 

 for they are the earliest to bloom 

 again. The supposition that those 

 taken from up on the stem will pro- 

 duce the most free-blooming plants is 

 a mistake, and has its foundation in 



the fact, that we do not like to sacri- 

 fice our Easter and Spring flowers for 

 January cuttings, so there are no oth- 

 ers left. For this reason I said it is in 

 some sense economical but hy no 

 means the best method. This is the 

 common practice with most growers. 

 We want flowers, cuttings, everything 

 at the same time and from the same 

 plants, and results can only show a 

 deteriorating effect. 



In my opinion the young shoots at 

 the base of the flower stem, or for that 

 matter on any part of the plant, that 

 are able to produce the largest flowers 

 on the strongest stems, are also the 

 ones that will make the most vigorous 

 young plants. Only one has to be care- 

 ful, and not let them advance to the 

 stage of bud formation, for if a bud is 

 formed, and when only as large as a 

 pin head when the cutting is taken, it 

 is bound to develop and grow so long 

 as there is the least subsistence, and 

 every bit of this will be monopolized 

 to develop that bud at the expense of 

 all other growth. I admit that to take 

 these base cuttings will greatly inter- 

 fere with the flower crop, and make it 

 rather a conflicting unsatisfactory 

 work. 



We are yet far from the right track 

 to produce the best cuttings; as yet the 

 crop of flowers comes first, a crop of 

 cuttings — new plants for the next sea- 

 son is secondary, which, if wisdom is 

 the guide, will be first thought of. The 

 culture for cuttings, young plants, 

 should be separated from the general 

 culture of flowers. In other words, 

 plants should be selected for the ex- 

 clusive purpose to cultivate for cut- 

 tings only. The general cultivation 

 for flowers would only be improved by 

 it. 



I followed this idea for several years, 

 but made some mistakes resulting 

 from economical views. I used a 

 chrysanthemum house for that pur- 

 pose, and the intervening time, when 

 the plants had to be removed from the 

 field to protect them from frost, and 

 the time when the house became avail- 

 able (some five or six weeks) were al- 

 ways injurious to them, but since I 

 plant them from the field in one of the 

 sunniest carnation houses at the prop- 



er time, results are more than gratify- 

 ing. 



We must never forget that on the 

 crop of healthy young vigorous plants, 

 depends the crop of good flowers for 

 next season. For this purpose select 

 only the most healthy plants, it is not 

 necessary to select the largest, on the 

 contrary I consider the smaller plants 

 the better, if they only show healthi- 

 ness. Plants from late struck cuttings 

 are just as good when healthy. I pre- 

 fer cuttings from plants that are on 

 the growing, ascending way to ma- 

 turity, to those from plants that are 

 over mature and nearing the declin- 

 ing stage. Size is not always the as- 

 surance of health, and a small plant 

 may not have been retarded by disease. 

 Nutritious elements may be lacking at 

 the spot where it grows, it may have 

 been injured by careless handling, and 

 so many other things that may have 

 retarded its growth but probably by no 

 means innaired its health. I repeat 

 again, that only plants should be se- 

 lected, that have the unmistakable 

 mark of healthiness stamped upon 

 them. Size does not cut any flgure, 

 and as the larger, more matured plants 

 are more desirable for early flowers, 

 the separation of the culture for cut- 

 tings from the general culture for 

 flowers will certainly prove economi- 

 cal. 



I prefer to give the plants the bene- 

 fit of field culture up to October, being 

 careful they are not exposed to any 

 hard frost. At that time they will 

 have attained more hardiness, and the 

 cooler weather will greatly help to 

 overcome the ordeal of transplanting. 

 Keep up the topping process, never let 

 any buds develop, save all their 

 strength, and let none go to waste. 

 House culture next. Fred Dorner. 



AMERICAN CARNATION SOCIETY. 



Carnations Registered. 



America.— By E. G. Hill & Co., Rich- 

 mond, Ind. In color a rich, soft, scar- 

 let, large in size, of extra robust 

 growth, free in production of bloom. 

 A good commercial sort. 



Dorothy Mandell.— By H. A. Cook, 

 Shrewsbury, Mass. Color a pure rose 

 pink, large flower, long stem and pro- 

 lific. A strong grower and vigorous 

 like Scott, but of a more open growth. 



G. H. Crane.— By If. Dorner & Sons 

 Co.. Lafayette, Ind. In color a bril- 

 liant scarlet, keeping its brightness 

 and does not dim with age. Large, per- 

 fect formed flowers, well built up in 

 the center.and a strong calyx that does 

 not burst. Stem 16 to 18 inches long 

 and stiff, holding up the flower in the 

 early part of the season as well as the 

 late spring months. Plants strong and 

 well formed, with hard, broad foliage. 

 Easily grown and quickly established, 

 an early and continuous bloomer, be- 

 ing thickly covered with buds for the 

 holidays. 



Melba,— By John N. May, of Summit, 

 N. J., and Robert Craig & Son, of Phil- 



