180 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



JANUARY 19, 1S99. 



velopment of the single geraniums. 

 Tliey are remarliable for their im- 

 mense highly colored florets. 2^4 to 2% 

 inches in diameter, and sometimes a 

 3-inch bloom is seen. These huge 

 florets are quite circular in form and 

 of great substance, and borne in fine 

 .shaped trusses held from 6 to 12 or 

 more inches above the dwarf compact 

 plants. The foliage is usually large, 

 sometimes deeplj- zoned. Habit very 

 compact, dwarf and neat. This sec- 

 tion is especially valuable for pot cul- 

 ture and conservatory decoration, as 

 thes' can be grown to magnificent spec- 

 imens and their huge strikingly col- 

 ored blooms of every hue are unsur- 

 passed for this purpose, and for win- 

 dow box or terrace work in protected 

 situations. They do not stand full ex- 

 posure to the elements of our climate 



as well as the other sections, and are 

 not so successfully used in all situa- 

 tions. This section should not be neg- 

 lected by the florist, as a couple of 

 hundred well grown plants among his 

 general stock will he sure to sell to 

 lovers of flowers who buy single 

 plants or in small quantities. 



Conspicuous examples of this sec- 

 tion are John Forbes, Gertrude Pear- 

 son, Olivia. Mark Twain, Dr. Rothera, 

 Midsummer, Ian McLaren, etc. 



The cut is from a photograph of a 

 bench of one of the Bruant section, 

 which shows how prolific in bloom 

 this section is. It illustrates also how 

 our geraniums are grown under glass 

 for propagating, which system enables 

 us to have wood in the proper condi- 

 tion for rooting at all seasons. 



Queens, N. Y. C. W. WARD. 



Lily of the Valley. 



Large retailers who have a range 

 of glass at their back tsometimes only 

 a burden on their back), grow their 

 own valley, but the majority of our 

 florists, big and little, buy of the com- 

 mission man who is supplied by the 

 specialist. The specialist has his ar- 

 rangements perfectly adapted for the 

 purpose and whose daily cut every 

 day in the year is in the thousands 

 and perhaps tens of thousands. Yet 

 there are some of us country florists 

 who from November till May can grow 

 our wants in that line more profitably 

 than we can purchase, and by putting 

 in a few hundred about twice a week 

 we are never without a supply, and if 

 fortunate to want an extra quantity 

 they are easily procured. Large grow- 

 ers who' can put in several thousand 

 in one batch place them in 5 or 6 

 inches of sand in which there is a 

 strong bottom heat anu a very moder- 

 ate top heat. As the season of natural 

 flowering time approaches less bottom 

 heat is needed. For those who have 

 such conditions existing in part of 

 their establishment no better plan can 

 be followed, but few of us have. 

 For those who force only five hundred 

 to a thousand a week, forcing them in 

 boxes or flats will be found the best 

 if not the cheapest plan. The forced 

 valley makes little or no active root 

 growth from the time the pip is placed 

 into heat till the flower is fully de- 

 vclopeil, yet these apparent dormant 



roots exercise a function without a 

 doubt and should not be cut off loo 

 short. The boxes can be of any con- 

 venient size as they have several 

 moves. I prefer not larger than 15 

 inches square and not less than 5 

 inches deep. 



When valley was first forced years 

 ago all sorts of material was pro- 

 nounced the thing; Sphagnum moss, 

 crushed coke, sand and charcoal and 

 various other materials. Really it mat- 

 ters not as nothing but moisture is 

 needed and the lightest and best med- 

 ium for supplying that to the roots is 

 all that is wanted. Pure sand is all 

 right, but I like tor box culture a mix- 

 ture of sand and sifted .ladoo. half and 

 half; the Jadoo holds the moisture and 

 is light to handle. Don't think this is 

 an expensive mixture as the same ma- 

 terial can be used over and over again. 

 I believe in the pips or crowns being 

 covered to their tips with sphagnum 

 for it keeps an even moisture round 

 them. It is easy to force out the 

 flower with a violent heat but another 

 thing to get a good development of 

 leaf and flower bud and have the top 

 hells expand before the lower have 

 shriveled up. When first boxed they 

 can be placed on a run of hot water 

 pipes, pipes that are hot or steam pipes 

 beneath a bench. In two weeks re- 

 move to a position where there is less 

 heat and a cooler house, still on or 

 above some pipes. In another week 

 the flowers w:ill be about all de- 

 veloped and they can then be placed 



on a bench in a light temperature of 

 jO degrees but never let the sun shine 

 on them or be exposed to a draft, 

 such as an open door. When fully out 

 there is no better way of keeping the 

 spikes than cutting and tying in small 

 bunches and keeping in water in a 

 cool, moist cellar. I meant to say that 

 the boxes should not be placed di- 

 rectly on the pipes but raised a few 

 inches by some strips. A good water- 

 ing morning and evening is not too 

 much for the first two weeks and after- 

 color shows oiice a day. Never wet 

 the bells after they are showing color. 

 My readers may think this is a fussy 

 and elaborate method of culture of 

 this sweet little fiower so universally 

 miscalled a lily, but on good authority 

 I am informed that the largest grower 

 for the London market, some 7,000,000 

 pips annually, still forces them the year 

 round in boxes and the uniform suc- 

 cess and extraordinary quality of flow- 

 ers is not questioned. 



Hydrangeas. 



Plants that were shifted and started 

 into growth end of November are now 

 showing flower buds. They will be in 

 good time for Easter but none too soon 

 as they are all the better for a few 

 days in a cooler house before selling 

 time. If any plant appreciates liquid 

 manure it is the hydrangea and as 

 they develop their buds it can be 

 grown with good results twice h week. 

 They are the most voracious of feed- 

 ers; 11,2 pounds nitrate of soda, 1 peck 

 sheep manure, or double the quantity 

 from the cow stable, either in 50 

 gallons of water would be a good meal 

 and to alternate them would be a 

 change of diet. Hydrangeas that you 

 want for May sales should be either in 

 a cold frame where little frost touches 

 them or under a bench in a cool house 

 with little water, as you want them to 

 be as dormant as possible. 



Bougainvillea Sanderiana. 



I once said plant this handsome 

 plant out in the summer time, lift 

 before frost, keep in cool house for 

 two months and then put into a tem- 

 perature of 60 degrees at night and 

 they would flower in April. I heard 

 some criticism on this treatment from 

 a most worthy man and expert grower, 

 but notwithstanding this I pursued 

 the same course last spring with a lot 

 of young plants and they are now 

 bushy plants 15 to IS inches across and 

 showing flower on every shoot. This 

 is hardly a seasonable hint, yet if you 

 have any put them into a brisk heat at 

 once and they will start to grow and 

 flower. This is a good time to root 

 cuttings of this plant. When you can 

 root a coleus you can root bougain- 

 villea, only it takes 5 or 6 weeks before 

 they are ready to pot off. Although 

 these spring-struck plants make a 

 good growth if planted out, I like best 

 to plunge them outside in 4-inch pots 

 the first summer. Winter them in any 

 old place the following winter, then 



