646 



The Weekly Florists* Review* 



xovi:iiBi;n i, looo. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



The AmarylLs. 



Wlien I was in f^outli Orange a sljort 

 time ago I saw tlie aniaiyllis mamiged 

 on wliat could be called a common sense 

 plan, and ilr. Manda said; "That's the 

 way to do it." The aniaiyllis is not a 

 vei V important plant, yet tlieie are often 

 a few laying around in a very unsatisfac- 

 tory state. 



They were planted mit thickly, were 

 growing like cannas and would be dug up 

 and laid under a bench or in a root- 

 house, as we do cannas. And when you 

 want them to flower, pot them and start 

 them growing. After flowering plant 

 them out again. 



Cannas. 



You will be putting away your cannas 

 about now. Don't lay them on d.imp 

 soil or they will start growing. And 

 don't have Ihem where there is a drip 

 from a bench or it will rot them. Lay 

 them on boards in a house where the 

 temperature is about 50 degrees. Under 

 a carnation bench is a good place, and 

 you do not get much if any drip from 

 that, at least not till April comes, and 

 by that time your cannas are started. 

 The same place will do for the caladiums. 

 I have found the basement of a house 

 too dry for both of these. 



Carnations. 



I have had occasion to remark before 

 now that during October and November 

 the carnations require more eare and at- 

 tention than later, when we get steady 

 cold weather. There are many w-et, cool 

 days just now. when a little fire heat is 

 of great benefit. When the thermometer 

 goes below 50 degrees outside you should 

 by all means have some fire heat, and 

 at the same time some ventilation. 



Carnations are sending up their flower 

 shoots very fast just now and we have 

 had many beautiful dajs that just s'uit- 

 ed their growth. Next to having them 

 well supported, it is important to keep 

 them disbudded. It is a tedious job and 

 never completed. You should go over 

 them at least once a week. Remember 

 that pulling off the buds when the lead- 

 ing one is about fully developed is of 

 little use. How would that do with 

 chrysanthemums? It would be useless. 

 The disbudding of carnations should be 

 done just as soon a you can handle the 

 little buds. In this operation is found 

 the great advantage of 4 and 5-foot 

 benches over those of C and 7 feet. Where 

 you have to reach over and strain and 

 grunt and squeeze several important 

 parts of your anatomy you are likely to 

 leave the job undone. 



Wherever tobacco stems arc cheap, as 

 they are in this city, there is no excuse 

 for greenfly. When you are picking but 

 few flowers tlie aphis can be killed by 

 fumigation, but when winter comes and 

 you arc largely closed down, then plenty 

 of the stems scattered around will keep 

 down the fly. To scatter them on the 

 paths looks slovenly, to tlirow them on 

 the ground is not good, as they soon 

 rot, and on the heating pipes they pre- 

 vent radiation. Suspended under the 

 sides of the benches in chicken netting 

 as recommended by Dailledouze Bros, is 

 an excellent plan. 



Cyclamen. 



They are now all under glass and the 

 earliest are throwing up their flowers 

 and will be in good order for Christmas 

 sales. I once experimented on tempera- 

 ture with cyclamens. I found 45 to 50 

 degrees at night rather cool, and they 

 made too slow a growth ; 60 degrees or 

 slightly above drew them up soft, but 

 53 degrees at night seemed just about 

 right. On fine mornings they should be 

 given a slight syringing. 



We all know how nnu'h the cyclamen 

 is troubled with the aphis and how hard 

 to kill when once they have taken pos- 

 session. When you stand the plants 

 over strew a good lot of tobacco stems 

 between the pots; it will be of the great- 

 est benefit. 



You have possibly sown your cyclamen 

 ?eed. If not, and you want large plants, 

 do so at once. The cyclamen has become 

 such an important plant that most seeds- 

 men now have a good strain. As in many 

 other things, the strain is not so im- 

 ])ortant as good cultivation. The old 

 giganteum type had very fine flowers, 

 but was not quite profuse enough. 15ut 

 there are plenty of strains that flower 

 freely and give you beautiful flowers. 



Azaleas. 



I made an asscition in last week's 

 Review that I want to correct. I have 

 not been "called down," but by conversa- 

 tion and sweet meditation I am convinced 

 it was q\iite wrong. I said: "Azaleas 

 that were grown a summer here forced 

 better than newly imported plants." 1 

 take it back entirely, for it is contrary 

 to our experience and that of others 

 whose judgment I respect. The sum- 

 mered over plants are most valuable. 

 Plants of Dr. Moore and Hernhard An- 

 dreas last Easter beat anything we ever 

 grew from newly imported plants. Rut 

 please overlook my carelessness and re- 

 member that the new arrivals of 

 Deutsche Pcrle, Simon JIardner and 

 \"ervaeneana, or anv varietv that will 



force for Christmas, are those you should 

 put into heat. Why this is so is not 

 so easy to explain, but, as one large 

 grower expressed it, "The journey and 

 conditions they are subjected to seems 

 to loosen up their buds." 



Fuchsias. 



Growers of early fuchsias will now be 

 getting their old plants ready to pro- 

 duce cuttings. Plants that were plunged 

 out of doors and ripened up with a little 

 drying otf will soon give cuttings. If 

 shaken out, their unripened tips pruned 

 back and started in a genial temperature, 

 with plenty of syringing, cuttings that 

 you get from these early started plants 

 are always vigorous, make a good 

 growth and do not want to flower so 

 precociously as do the later struck 

 plants. Now is the time to propagate, 

 and you* will get some really thrifty 

 plants. 



Lily of the 'Valley. 



Lily of tlie Valley will soon arrive. 

 It is often abused and neglected ; add 

 to this the want of skill in forcing it 

 and the seedsman or importer gets 

 blamed and is told: "Your Valley isn't 

 any good." 



Unpack as soon as it ariives. Sort 

 it if you wish, the strong pips being 

 chosen for the early batches and the 

 weakei' for the later ones. Soak the 

 roots a few moments and then put them 

 away in boxes with earth or sand be- 

 tween each bundle of roots and as many 

 in a box as you want to force weekly. 

 Place the boxes in a frame and cover 

 the pips with two gr three inches of 

 earth. Keep the rain from the roots by 

 glass or shutters. Frost does not hurt 

 the roots and perhaps does not do them 

 any particular good. 



Large growers do not trouble with 

 boxes. They lay the roots in trenches, 

 but the boxes are nuich more convenient 

 for small growers, as if frozen you can 

 carry in the box and let the contents 

 (haw out. William Scott. 



POT CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



The growing of good pot chiysanthe- 

 nnuns entails much labor and care and 

 we often find that after all our labor 

 very low prices have to be taken to get 

 rid of them. It is therefore necessary 

 to grow them not only good but as 

 cheaply as possible. 



We want good flowers, short plants 

 and good colors. Many of our newer va- 

 rieties have these characteristics. Take, 

 for instance, Jlidge, earh' white (N. 

 Smith & Son). It can be grown we'll 

 without any artificial support whatever 

 and blooms by Oct. 12th. Another va- 

 riety, blooming by Nov. 1st, is May Fos- 

 ter (A. McAdams), which is also white 

 and needs no staking. In early yellow 

 M. M. Johnson is fine, and for later H. 

 Hurrell cannot be beaten. In pinks 

 Cilory of the Pacific is good. 



There are many more of like habit 

 which if grown in soil that is rich natur- 

 ally or that was mixed a year previously, 

 to avoid the least rankness in growth. 



