592 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



MAT 11, 1899. 



tirely on the condition of the plants, 

 but is generally done but once a year. 

 But in growing on young stock rapid- 

 ly it is often necessary to give them 

 more frequent shifts than this, though 

 not too large a shift at one operation, 

 it being good practice to give only one 

 inch shifts up to 4-inch pots, and from 

 that size onward to give two-inch 

 shifts. 



From March 1 to November 1 it is 

 hest to keep the greenhouse shaded 

 over the palms, but during the winter 

 little or no shading is needed, the co- 

 cos enjoying shade more than either 

 of the other species noted. Always 



keep the palms moist at the root, 

 though not sodden, and syringe thor- 

 oughly every bright day. 



Of the species named, the arecas and 

 cocos prefer a temperature of 65 to G8 

 degrees at night during the winter, 

 while latanlas, kentias, seaforthias 

 and phoenix will keep in good condi- 

 tion at a slightly lower temperature, 

 for example, at an average of 60 de- 

 grees. 



Ventilate much as you would with a 

 rose-house, giving plenty of fresh air 

 in bright weather, but avoiding di- 

 rect drafts. W. H. TAPLIN. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM NOTES. 



Soil. 



Soil for the benches should be pre- 

 pared, and we will suppose that the 

 grower has his compost heap already 

 put up, for this is the only proper 

 method to get soil in the right con- 

 dition for use in greenhouses. Soil that 

 has been stacked up for a few months 

 will cut down mellow and sweet, and 

 the manure will be nicely rotted. If 

 the loam is heavy and close in texture, 

 it should be turned over, and a liberal 

 proportion of leaf soil or wood ashes 

 should be incorporated with it. This 

 will help to lighten the whole, and al- 

 low water to pass readily through it. 



Some varieties. Golden Wedding 

 particularly, must have a free soil to 

 work in, for if the soil becomes sour 

 and stagnant, disease will most as- 

 suredly appear. We have found that 

 the best possible material to place in 

 the bottom of the bench before putting 

 in the soil is fresh sod. Place it grassy 

 side down, to cover the spaces between 

 the boards, and the bench will drain 

 freely and evenly. The sod, too, as it 

 rots, is valuable, for the mum roots 

 love to ramble through the fiber and 

 derive much nutriment therefrom. 

 When fresh sod is not obtainable, and 

 this is very often the case, a little 

 clean straw laid over the boards will 

 keep the soil from running through 

 and blocking up the drainage of the 

 bench. But when you can get sod, by 

 all means use it in preference to any- 

 thing else. 



To get back to the soil, we believe 

 in a good, sound loam, without much 

 manure of any kind in it. The manure 

 can be given at any time when the 

 plants need it, and until they do need 

 it its presence is often more harmful 

 than beneficial by inducing too quick 

 and sappy a growth. A learned pro- 

 fessor in a paper that he read at the 

 meeting of the Carnation Society in 

 Philadelphia said among other things 



that "Plants were like some men — 

 they would not work for their living 

 if they could get it without," or words 

 to that effect. Every observant florist 

 knows the truth of this remark, and 

 there is a mighty big difference in the 

 growth of a bench of mums where the 

 soil is overcharged with manure and 

 the growth where comparatively little 

 is used and the plants are sending out 

 roots in every direction, looking for 

 nourishment, "working for their 

 food." Get the root action and the top 

 growth Is bound to be all right. 



Planting. 



The earliest varieties can be planted 

 any time now, the sooner the better, 

 in fact, if the best results are looked 

 for. We would plant all our varieties 

 in May if space and circumstances per- 

 mitted. The longer growing season 

 the plants have, the finer will be the 

 flowers, but one cannot plant the tall, 

 strong growing varieties in May unless 

 they can have at least eight feet of 

 head room. Wedding last year plant- 

 ed in May ran up eight feet, which was 

 pretty high, but the price the flowers 

 brought was high too. Early varieties 

 should be planted together in the 

 same bench; then they can all receive 

 the same treatment, and also when 

 they are cut out the bench can be at 

 once utilized for something else. After 

 planting firm the soil well about the 

 plants and they will make a close- 

 jointed, sturdy growth, and this 

 growth is the kind that produces good 

 flowers. As to distance apart, we never 

 plant less than 10x10, because we want 

 the best or none, but good flowers 

 can be produced on the early varieties 

 if planted as close as 7x7. Use care 

 when planting and put the tallest 

 kinds in the center of the bench, grad- 

 ing down to the dwarf kinds on the 

 outside, as, for instance. Merry Mon- 

 arch and its yellow sport in the cen- 

 ter, with Bonnafl'on and kindred va- 

 rieties next, and Glory of the Pacific 

 and its white sport on the outside. 



Then each variety gets a chance to 

 ripen its wood properly, and the effect 

 of the flowering period will show the 

 benefit of systematic planting. 



We have varieties now catalogued to 

 come in by the middle of September, 

 and such varieties I should think 

 would be just as well planted outside 

 and left to flower there instead of tak- 

 ing up valuable bench room. They 

 could be cut before frost, and no fancy 

 prices can be realized so early in the 

 season. Some growers vie with each 

 other to get the first flowers in the 

 market, but, as a rule, the first flowers 

 are mighty poor looking things. 



Cuttings. 

 Cuttings in the sand bed should not 

 be neglected because the spring rush 

 is on. Let it rush and pot up your 

 cuttings as soon as they are ready. 

 Get in all your cuttings now as soon 

 as you can, unless it is for some side 

 bench, where tne head room is limited 

 to a couple of feet or so.. Use only the 

 dwarf kinds for such work. If you 

 plant Autumn Glory. Mrs. Weeks or 

 Frank Hardy on a little side bench, 

 you will be kicking yourself by-and- 

 by, when you have to bend the stems 

 down to keep the flowers away from 

 the glass. Solar Queen is a fine va- 

 riety for the side bench, but remeni 

 ber in planting that while it makes a 

 big flower, it makes big foliage, too. 

 Crown buds of this variety taken Au- 

 gust 23 last year gave magnificent re- 

 sults, with the flower in fine shape by 

 October 23. BRIAN BORU. 



BACTERIA AND NITRATES. 



The attention of practical cultivat- 

 ors, as well as of scientists, might well 

 be directed to the discoveries of E. 

 Breal, who has found that an antago- 

 nistic bacterium or ferment exists in 

 large quantities upon refuse straw and 

 other vegetable waste scattered upon 

 the surface of the land. This ferment 

 has the power of attacking the ni- 

 trates in the soil and of liberating the 

 nitrogen in the form of free nitrogen. 

 In one experiment conducted by Breal, 

 one-third of the nitrate under experi- 

 mentation disappeared by the action 

 of this ferment: in another, 67 per cent 

 of the nitrate disappeared. He found 

 that the destructive action of this bac- 

 terium accounts for the disappearance 

 of nitrates in soils covered with large 

 quantities of vegetable wastes, a fact 

 of immense importance to the culti- 

 vator. 



Probably this may account for the 

 loss of a large amount of the nitrogen 

 that has heretofore been supposed to 

 be carried into the soil by green ma- 

 nures, but which the growing crop has 

 so frequently failed to find. When we 

 remember that nitrogen is appropri- 

 ated by the plant in the form of ni- 

 trates, and that no matter what source 

 of nitrogen may be employed as a 

 fertilizer, before the plant can use it 

 it must be converted into nitrate, the 

 part played by these ferments becomes 

 of the highest importance to the agri- 

 culturist and the gardener. 



