178 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



JANUARY 19, 1S99. 



CARNATION NOTES. 



Cuttings. 



Ill my last notes I have been show- 

 ing the advantages of the separation 

 of the culture for cuttings only from 

 the general culture for flowers. Se- 

 lected plants for that purpose should 

 be given the benefit of the invigorat- 

 ing autumn field culture as long as 

 possible, but without subjecting them 

 to any hard frost; so the first half of 

 October will be the best time to house 

 them. Select a roomy house with good 

 ventilation and prepare the benches 

 the same as for growing flowers; in 

 fact, the whole culture should be the 

 same, with the exception that the 

 plants can be planted closer, so that 

 plant will touch plant with the points 

 of the leaves each way. There is 

 hardly any danger of them crowding 

 each other, as all the new growth will 

 be cuttings, and taken as soon as 

 strong enough. At this time of the 

 season, when cooler weather prevails, 

 the ordeal ol transplanting is less se- 

 vere; the plants will recuperate quick- 

 ly and start growing vigorously. All 

 flower buds that appear should be re- 

 moved as soon as noticed, or any 

 shoots indicating a fiov.'er bud be 

 topped: this will cause the part of the 

 shoot left to break again quickly. 



Observe tiie same care in watering; 

 keep them dry over head, and apply 

 the water between the plants. Venti- 

 late freely; keep the night tempera- 

 ture from 50 to 55 degrees as the high- 

 est. See that the plants have enough 

 nourishment in the form of a mulch 

 with manure or liquid manure. In 

 short, give them the same care as you 

 would a bench where you expect to 

 grow the best high grade flowers. Here 

 also you have the best chance to eradi- 

 cate rust or other fungous diseases; 

 the plants are open and accessible to 

 work about them. 



When the desired time has arrived 

 to make cuttings, which under favor- 

 able circumstances can be as early as 

 the middle of November, take the 

 shoots that are strong enough to make 

 a good cutting and leave a stump on 

 the plant with two or more joints. 

 Break the cutting out of the shoot 

 over your thumb, but take absolutely 

 no more than what belongs to the 

 desired size of the cutting, and be 

 careful to leave the stump intact with 

 all the leaves on. This stump will 

 soon break again and furnish in time 

 more cuttings as good as the first one. 



It Is policy in the fore part of the 

 season not to take too many at a time, 

 but go over the plants often and take 

 only the largest in the way mentioned, 

 to prevent any severe check, and to 

 increase the number of first class cut- 

 tings. With the later pickings the 

 cuttings may be taken with a heel the 

 same as they are taken from a flower 

 stem. By February 15 to March 1 

 such plants will have furnished their 

 quantity of cuttings, and the plants 

 can be thrown out to make room for 



something else. It makes an excellent 

 place for the rooted cuttings planted 

 in flats or pots, awaiting shipment, or 

 the time to be planted in the field. 



Some will say this is taking cuttings 

 from, exhausted plants. This is by no 

 means the case, so long as the cut- 

 tings are judiciously taken. In Feb- 

 ruary, when most cuttings are wanted, 

 and a clean sweep is made, the plants 

 will certainly be exhausted, and when 

 the then nearly leafless plants are re- 

 tained for further use, can only fur- 

 nish an inferior article; but those 

 taken while the plant is in the stage 

 of a vigorous onward growth, bent on 

 extentling in size, are to my l)elief 

 superior to those taken from a flower 

 stem where all the energy is monopo- 

 lized to perfect the flower. 



FRED. DORNER. 



AMERICAN CARNATION SOCIETY. 



The Philadelphia Meeting. 



Arrangements have been made for 

 the accommodation of members and 

 their friends at the Lafayette Hotel 

 for $1 and $1.50 per day on the Euro- 

 pean plan. The Lafayette is conve- 

 nient to tire meeting place and hall 

 and it is desired by the managers that 

 they know how many to expect at the 

 latest one week in advance of the 

 meeting. 



Members or others desiring to stop 

 at this hotel should notify me not later 

 than February 7th, or they can, if they 

 so desire, write to the hotel direct, and 

 secure the rates given by stating that 

 they will attend the meeting of the 

 society. 



Communications regarding space in 

 the exhibition hall should be address- 

 ed to Geo. C. Watson, .Juniper and 

 Walnut streets, Philadelphia, Pa. En- 

 tries should be made with me as soon 

 as possible to avoid the confusion of 

 the opening day of the exhibition and 

 possible errors resulting therefrom. 



The meeting promises to be a big 



one, the show a bigger one, and every 



live carnation grower should arrange 



his affairs now so that he can attend. 



ALBERT M. HERR, Secy. 



Lancaster, Pa. 



CARNATION SANDUSKY. 



This is a new striped carnation and 

 it is certainly a very handsome flower, 

 that should find a place among the 

 fancy sorts. It originated with Mr. 

 W. E. Hall, Clyde. O., who is now in- 

 troducing it. An illustration of a 

 bench of plants in bloom and of an 

 individual flower appears in Mr. Hall's 

 adv. in this issue. 



We were very favorably impressed 

 with the flowers sent us, which were 

 very large, with perfect calyx and 

 borne on good, stout stems. The color 

 is white, very heavily pencilled with 

 carmine. 



NOW is a good time to renew your 

 subscription for another year, if you 

 have not already attended to it, 



GERANIUMS. 



There are but few flowering plants 

 that seem to succeed generally in our 

 trying American climate as bedding 

 plants, and among these the geranium 

 and canna are by far the most promi- 

 nently used; their universal suoces.^ 

 under almost all normal conditions 

 amply proves their value and fitness 

 for that purpose. 



Where a dwarf plant and brilliant 

 color effects are desired nothing can 

 equal the geranium. The scarlets, 

 crimsons, carmines, maroons, pinks 

 and salmons whicli enrich the scale of 

 color In the geranium, are not sur- 

 passed, and we may say scarcely 

 equaled in any other class of plants, 

 whether annual or perennial, and 

 their unequaled perpetual blooming 

 during almost the entire year places 

 the zonale family far in the ascend- 

 ency for bedding purposes. 



Such marked improvements in size 

 of bloom and truss, compactness of 

 habit and vigorous growth, freedom 

 of blooming as well as intense purity 

 and brilliancy of color, have been 

 made during the past ten years as to 

 enhance the intrinsic value of the ge- 

 ranium to a considerable degree, and 

 those growers who have contentedly 

 sat down with a list of varieties se- 

 lected ten years since are certainly 

 missing business opportunities by not 

 keeping pace with the swiftly advanc- 

 ing improvements and Ic.ying plans to 

 renovate and keep their stocks up to 

 date. 



Many a customer who complains of 

 being tired of exactly the same bed of 

 General Grant each year, would be 

 captivated by the immense flower, 

 grand truss and splendid habit of Al- 

 phonse Riccard, the soft, exquisite 

 shadings of Mme. .Jaulin, the pure, rich 

 pink of Francis Perkins, the deep rich 

 maroon and compact habit of Phono- 

 graph, the intense orange scarlet of 

 Raspail Improved, or the peculiar ef- 

 fects of some of the Aureole section. 

 How often do we see in some cities as 

 well as parks almost ceaseless beds of 

 Grant or Nutt or Poitevine without a 

 bit of relief. How much more satis- 

 factory would it be if there could be 

 more variatfon, more contrast, more 

 to interest one than a succession of 

 brilliant patches of the same color, the 

 details of which are identical. 



I have found people generally mani- 

 festing the greatest interest in our 

 fields and houses of geraniums where 

 the greatest number of varieties were 

 in bloom, and if dealers in bedding 

 plants who come in contact with the 

 retail buyer would take the trouble to 

 impress upon them the desirability of 

 avoiding a stereotyped effect in plant- 

 ing and in having something different 

 instead of exactly the same as their 

 neighbors, a real benefit to all parties 

 concerned would accrue. 



All varieties do not do equally well 

 as bedders, and for this reason the ge- 

 ranium should be definitely divided in 

 three classes at least, and for better 



