76 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



JUNE 23, 1898. 



somer flowers, and having a more com- 

 pact growth and larger foliage. It can 

 be trained as a small tree, after the 

 stem has been supported for three or 

 four years. The Japanese species was 

 introduced in Europe at the beginning 

 of this century, and is therefore quite 

 abundant in the south of Prance, 



where, as in the southern states of the 

 Union, it is perfectly hardy. 



The native species (B. radicans) is 

 found throughout the whole south and 

 as far north as western New Yorlt, 

 according to Amos Eaton. This spe- 

 cies is considered a nuisance in many 

 southern fields. P. J. B. 



Smilax. 



As soon as houses are cleaned up 

 and your mums and roses are planted 

 you should prepare for your new bed 

 of smilax. For the general florist it 

 is indispensable and continually want- 

 ed. You will waste time running after 

 a few strings, and it Is doubtful if it 

 is not quite as profitable as many 

 things we grow. The sooner you plant 

 it after July 1 the more profitable it 

 will be. It should always be as near 

 the ground as possible, to give all the 

 head room for a long string, and if it 

 is a fairly dry house there is no need 

 of board bottom to the bed. Eight 

 inches of soil will gi'ow it well and 6 

 inches will do, but it needs more atten- 

 tion in a shallow bed than in a deep 

 one. Smilax is not profitable in a night 

 temperature of less than 60 degrees, 

 and the soil that suits it best is a rath- 

 er heavy loam with a fifth or sixth of 

 half rotten cow manure. I am a strong 

 advocate of planting every year. You 

 get more useful, compact strings and 

 you get more of them. If care is taken 

 in cutting, and they are quiclily tied 

 up, you can with a good temperature 

 easily get four crops in a year. I have 

 been often asked how far apart should 

 the plants be set. I would say 10 inch- 

 es between the rows and 8 inches be- 

 tween the plants. 



Asparagus Plumosus Nanus. 



There is an ever increasing taste and 

 demand for light and graceful foliage 

 for our bunches of roses. It is a con- 

 tinual cut, and even if two or three 

 dozen of roses are placed in a box, es- 

 pecially if they be of the Bride or 

 Bridesmaid type, some pretty green 

 adds much to their appearance, and 

 when placed in a vase it is absolutely 

 a necessity. Maiden Hair fern, if of 

 fine quality will do, but it does not 

 equal Asparagus plumosus nanus. It 

 is not so lasting, nor is it as graceful. 

 You should be prepared to have a good 

 bed or 100 plants in pots of this beau- 

 tiful asparagus. When you want 25 or 

 50 strings 10 feet long you will always 



have a few days' notice and can pro- 

 cure them from your wholesale or 

 commission man, but not so the sprays 

 that are asked for at any moment and 

 which are so much more suitable for a 

 box or bunch of fiowers than the long 

 strings cut into short lengths. Plant 

 out in 6 inches of soil a goodly num- 

 ber of this asparagus. One foot apart 

 will do, and when they show an incli- 

 nation to send up one of their strong 

 shoots just nip the top out of them 

 and it will make that shoot branch out 

 and induce others to grow. 



Asparagus SprengeriL 



For larger decorations, say for large 

 vases of fiowers or for many purposes, 

 the beautiful, lasting and easily 

 grown Asparagus Sprengerii is a great 

 acquisition. I have tried it in pots, 

 pans, hanging baskets, and planted out 

 and it thrives anywhere. A few plants 

 should be put into hanging baskets, 

 for they are most valuable for decorat- 

 ing where that feature would be admis- 

 sible. Some should be grown in 5-inch 

 pots, for what can be finer for a man- 

 tel decoration, and some should be 

 planted out in 5 or 6 inches of good 

 rich soil on a bench. When planted 

 out they should not be nearer than 18 

 inches apart and better 2 feet, for they 

 make fronds of 3 feet in length. It 

 may be just worth mentioning here 

 that recently having occasion to use 

 a few dozen pans of Sprengerii at a 

 decoration, and being in a gas lighted 

 room for 48 hours, I could not see that 

 the youngest gi'owths were in the 

 least hurt. 



Boston Fern. 



The Boston fern or what is known as 

 Nephrolepis exaltata Bostonlensis, has 

 proved a most satisfactory house plant 

 and will be in still greater demand the 

 coming fall and winter. If you have 

 a stock of young plants, say in 3 or 

 4-inch pots, you can make fine plants 

 of them quickly by planting them on a 

 bench in 5 inches of soil. They will 

 be fine plants by the end of September, 

 and in addition to the main plant you 



can get any amount of young stock 

 from them, which you can grow on, 

 and many of them will be most de- 

 sirable for use in ferneries during the 

 winter. The soil on the bench for 

 these Nephrolepis should be a good 

 loam with a third of well rotted spent 

 hops, leaf mould or old well rotted hot 

 bed. They are really not particular 

 about soil, but a good friable soil suits 

 them best. 



Nephrolepis Tuberosum. 



The old Nephrolepis tuberosum is 

 the most useful of all of them for out- 

 side work, such as vases, jars and ve- 

 randa boxes. It is stiff and rigid and 

 will endure wind, sun and dryness bet- 

 ter than the others. You should spare 

 a few square yards to them now. Two 

 dozen plants on the bench at present 

 will give you hundreds of young plants 

 by November, which if lifted and 

 gi-own on will by the following May 

 be fine plants in 4-inch pots and a most 

 welcome addition to your plants for 

 the use mentioned above. 



New Cannas. 



To those who have not bought all 

 the new cannas, I would just mention 

 that one of the grandest introductions 

 is, in my opinion, Sam Trelease. I 

 won't pretend to describe it, but suf- 

 fice to say it is a rich scarlet with 

 orange throat, and is altogether a 

 grand one. You should buy a few and 

 plant out; that is cheaper than buying 

 them next winter. WM. SCOTT. 



OVERHEAD HEATING. 



A reader of The Review who signs 

 himself "Western Florist," sends a 

 rather long communication, which 

 boiled down is this: He contemplates 

 renting about 1,500 feet of glass, which 

 is all in good order and suits him ex- 

 cept that the system of heating is all 

 overhead. The intended crops will be 

 nearly all carnations. His experience 

 has been entirely with the pipes under 

 the bench, and thinks with the pipes 

 being all overhead, "it's a good plan to 

 produce a regular Paradise for red spi- 

 der in the dark winter months." 



While being entirely opposed to any 

 of the heating pipes being higher than 

 the side walls of the house, whether 

 they be steam or hot water, yet our 

 friend is, I think, mistaken about the 

 conditions being favorable to red spi- 

 der. If the pipes were under the bench 

 a space would be left between walls 

 and bench for the heat to pass up 

 through, and in the interior of the 

 house it would rise almost vertically 

 directly it reached the edge of the 

 bench, and quite as likely, indeed much 

 more so, to produce red spider than 

 if the pipes were overhead. 



If there are two of our important 

 crops where the overhead system is fa- 

 vorable, it is carnations and violets; 

 for the latter it is the only plan. 

 Neither of them wants any artificial 

 heat at the roots, so if carnations are 

 to be the main crop, you can get along 

 with the pipes above the plants. For a 

 general collection of plants, especially 



