252 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



FEBRUARY 9, 1S99. 



the bruises that so often cause waste 

 afld loss now. 



The point I want to make is that 

 every flower spoiled or wasted, no 

 matter what the cause, brings down 

 the average, and the commission man 

 is blamed for what is often wholly the 



fault of the grower. Pack your flowers 

 and assort them carefully, keeping the 

 firsts and seconds separate. The grow- 

 ers who do this will find that it pays 

 well and that they will get the money. 

 CHARLIE'S AUNT. 



STEM ROT IN CARNATIONS. 



The so-called stem rot is an old and 

 well known fungoid disease. The first 

 variety of carnation known to be af- 

 fected was the old, well known La Pu- 

 rite. For some years no remedy was 

 found, until the disease became gen- 

 eral and growers set about finding out 

 the cause. 



Many expedients were tried in the 

 way of buying stock propagated from 

 healthy plants, experimenting with all 

 kinds of soil in the greenhouse benches 

 and with chemicals. Eventually some 

 observant grower, or several growers, 

 if I remember correctly, found out the 

 secret at about the same time, which 

 was simply planting their carnations 

 in the fields in turf soil. 



This fungoid seems to flourish in 

 long cultivated soils, and growers will 

 notice that very few plants succumb 

 to the disease in the fields, although 

 the germs are there deposited in the 

 plants, and later developed in the more 

 congenial atmosphere of the green- 

 house. Cuttings taken from the 

 healthy part of the stock and planted 

 in fresh turf soil will not be affected. 



Fairfield, Conn. JOHN DALLAS. 



AMERICAN CARNATION SOCIETY. 



The annual meeting and exhibition 

 of the American Carnation Society 

 will be held in Philadelphia next 

 Thursday and Friday, J"eb. iO and 17. 

 The meetings and the exhibition will 

 be held in Horticultural Hall, South 

 Broad St., and special rates for those 

 in attendance have been secured at 

 the Lafayette Hotel, at which dele- 

 gates may have rooms on the Euro- 

 pean plan at $1.00 to $1-50 a day. 

 These rates hold good only providing 

 parties wanting rooms engage them 

 at once tnrough Secretary Herr or di- 

 rect. It is believed that both the at- 

 tendance and the exhibition will be 

 the largest in ihe history of the so- 

 ciety, and that many interesting ses- 

 sions will be held none can doubt. 



Papers will be read on carnations 

 from a retail point of view by Mr. Cal- 

 vin, of Boston, and Mr. Kift, of Phila- 



delphia: One by Prof. Britton, of the 

 New Haven Experiment Station, on 

 commercial fertilizers and their rela- 

 tion to carnations; one by Mr. C. W. 

 Johnson on indoor-grown carnations. 

 The question box is open to all mem- 

 bers, and questions for same should be 

 forwarded to the secretary. 



The exhibition will, as usual, be a 

 most attractive feature and an especi- 

 ally fine display is assured this year 

 through the very liberal list of premi- 

 ums offered for finely grown specimens 

 of standard sorts as well as new varie- 

 ties. Then there are the S. A. F. cups 

 and medals as well as a number of 

 valuable special prizes offered by vari- 

 ous firms and individuals. Mr. G. C. 

 Watson, Juniper and Walnut Sts., 

 Philadelphia, is superintendent of the 

 exhibition. Entries should be made 

 with Secretary Herr, and packages 

 containing exhibits should be address- 

 ed "Superintendent Carnation Exhi- 

 bition, Horticultural Hall, Broad St., 

 below Locust, Philadelphia," and 

 charges should be prepaid. 



Any further information desired 

 may be had on application to Secre- 

 tary Albert M. Herr, Lancaster, Pa., or 

 to Mr. Watson as above noted. 



CARNATION GOV. GRIGGS. 



We present herewith an engraving 

 from a photograph of a small house 

 of this new light pink carnation at 

 the establishment of the originator, 

 Mr. Joseph Towell, Paterson, N. J. 



The plants shown were in the house 

 all last summer and have done remark- 

 ably well, producing flowers freely 

 since the latter part of August, and 

 maintained a strong, vigorous and 

 healthy growth, covered with flowers 

 and buds. 



The flowers average 2V2 inches in 

 diameter, are of good shape, well built 

 up in the center and a beautiful shade 

 of pink in the way of Daybreak, but 

 brighter and very much superior to 

 anything in the Daybreak class. It is 

 a seedling from Daybreak crossed 

 with Van Leeuwen. 



ing at the annual meeting of the 

 American Carnation Society at Phila- 

 delphia next week. 



SUB-WATERING. 

 Prof. Arthur will give the results of 

 his latest experiments in sub-water- 



POT CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



Every fall after the "mum" crop has 

 been cut many of our gi-owers and re- 

 tailers who grow their own stock, com- 

 plain about the low prices irealizetl tor 

 their products, especially pot plants. 

 It is only too true that large lots of 

 plants remain unsold, but it is nothing 

 to wonder at if one considers the 

 quality of a large part of the stock 

 which is put on the market. Most 

 florists are capable of producing a fair 

 quality of blooms for cutting, some 

 a<re even experts, but how few there 

 are who produce pot plants of really 

 good quality one can hardly imagine 

 unless he visits some of the medium 

 sized and smaller retail places. Seldom 

 one sees a really good lot of low, well- 

 formed, bushy plants with good blooms 

 and good foliage reaching down to the 

 pot. Instead, we usually see a lot of 

 stakes and stems which are bare half 

 way up, surmounted with a few blooms 

 of fair quality, or worse still, plants 

 hanging around every way instead of 

 standing upright. Of course, there is 

 no sale for such plants and the people 

 who produce them can only complain 

 that there is no money in growing 

 "mums." On the other hand, we do 

 know that good plants in from 6 to 8- 

 inch pots, from 15 to 20 inches high 

 above the pots, and bearing from 6 to 

 15 blooms of good quality and good 

 foliage, do sell on sight and at fair 

 prices. This brings the matter down 

 simply to a question of growing a 

 good plant or a poor one. 



Many methods have been suggested 

 and practiced by various growers since 

 we used to plant them out in the fleld 

 and lift them just before the frost 

 nipped them (or just after if we hap- 

 pened to be very busy at the time) in 

 the fall. Very few, perhaps, today 

 believe in the old idea that the chrys- 

 anthemum needs to be grown outside 

 during the hot weather as they used 

 to tell us, but grow them inside alto- 

 gether from start to finish. Some 

 grow them in pots, shifting as required 

 to keep them growing. Others plant 

 on shallow benches and lift them about 

 September 1, just before the plants 

 make their buds. Both ways are good 

 and with moderate care and judgment 

 will produce good plants. There is 

 more or less danger in both cases of 

 losing the lower foliage. In the first 

 method one is apt to be busy just when 

 the plants need to be shifted and put 

 it off until the plants become too pot- 

 bound and the damage is done. In the 

 second method the largest part of the 

 work comes just when most florists are 

 busy housing carnations, which most 

 of us do from August 15th to October 

 1st, and even if we lift them at the 

 proper time we are apt to give them 



less attention than they really need in 



the way of syringing, etc. 



