100 



The Weekly Florists^ Review, 



JUNE 30, 189S. 



it for future use, I will first consider 

 the former proposition, against which 

 I would strongly advise, as I consider 

 It poor economy to use unprepared soil 

 for the growing of roses intended for 

 winter bloom. Better look about for 

 something more suitable. Even if the 

 first cost is a little more it will be 

 cheaper in the end. 



A rose soil should consist of three 

 parts of good fibrous clay to one part 

 of well rotted barnyard manure. It 

 does not matter much whether it be 

 horse or cow manure (though I prefer 

 the latter) so long as it is well rotted. 

 To this mixture may be added a quart 

 of bone meal to each three bushels of 

 soil. If you follow these suggestions 

 and still do not succeed with your 

 roses you may rest assured the fault 

 is not with the soil. Charging failure 

 to the soil is very frequent, and still 

 those making the complaint often neg- 

 lect to attend at the proper time to the 

 work that is necessary to correct the 

 trouble. 



In the preparation of soil for future 

 use the advantage of "green manur- 

 ing" can hardly be overestimated. This 



may be done in the following manner: 

 Give the land a good spreading of rot- 

 ten barnyard manure, plow it under 

 and harrow it several times over, until 

 it is thoroughly pulverized; at this 

 season of the year sow a crop of Indian 

 corn (broadcast), run over the land 

 once more with the harrow so as to 

 cover the seed slightly. When the 

 corn is 12 to IS inches high plow it 

 under and leave in this condition till 

 September 1st. Now give another light 

 top dressing of rotten barnyard ma- 

 nure, plow again and harrow thor- 

 oughly, and sow it down with "rye" 

 for the winter. Early next spring 

 when the rye is 6 to 8 inches high, 

 plow it under and leave in this condi- 

 tion until you are ready to remove the 

 soil to the greenhouse. 



At first glance this may seem a great 

 amount of work, but in reality it is 

 much more economical than making 

 large compost heaps which need to be 

 turned by hand, involving considera- 

 ble expense and hard work, with- 

 out any added compensation in the 

 final result. S. A. BAUR. 



CARNATION NOTES. 



Heim Bros., of Blue Island, 111., grow 

 nothing but carnations. They have 

 quite an extensive range of glass in- 

 cluding a carnation house which is 

 34x3(M), with a 27-foot span to the 

 south, 4 feet to the plates at each side 

 and 10 feet to the ridge. It contains 

 five benches, of which two are three 

 feet wide and three are G feet wide. 

 This one house will carry 8,000 carna- 

 tion plants for winter blooming. They 

 now have 2.j,(MXt plants in the field 

 and their stock includes 10,000 Day- 

 break, 4,(XM) Tidal Wave, 2,000 Ivory, 

 2,0(H) Jubilee, 1,<mm;» Triumph, .500 Bradt 

 and 4(10 Victor. They are very greatly 

 pleased with Ivory and would grow 

 many more this year if they had the 

 plants. With them it has beaten all 

 the other whites, blooming almost as 

 freely as Daybreak and producing 

 good flowers with satisfactory stem^. 

 They have dropped Annie Lonsdale as 

 a winter bloomer, but still use it for 

 summer flowers. With them Victor 

 has taken the place of Scott. They 

 find it as good a producer as Day- 

 break. Emma Wocher was a disap- 

 pointment to them and they have 

 dropped it. Flora Hill won't open the 

 flowers satisfactorily with them. They 

 are trying Evelina and Argyle this 

 year. They use the black prairie soil 



with a slight addition of sand, and 

 their winter night temperature is 4.j 

 to 50 degrees. They have a pink sport 

 from Tidal Wave that is very promis- 

 ing and hope much from it. 



All their carnations are grown in 

 solid beds and they change only about 

 five inches of the surface soil every 

 other year, merely allowing the soil 

 to dry out well before replanting in 

 the alternate years. They heat by 

 steam and like it better than hot wa- 

 ter. The houses are piped in such a 

 way that from two to ten pipes may 

 be used as desired. This enables them 

 to regulate the temperature to a nice- 

 ty. They have their own switch from 

 a railroad that passes the rear of their 

 place, and a small track for a hand- 

 car runs from this direct to their boil- 

 er house. This greatly simplifies the 

 handling of coal and manure. 



They have two large beds planted 

 outside for summer blooming, the va- 

 rieties being Triumph, Daybreak, 

 Wave and Annie Lonsdale. These 

 plants have a mulch of coarse strawy 

 manure and are already of good size. 

 They will be staked as soon as large 

 enough to need it and as soon as cold 

 weather comes in the fall they will 

 be covered at night with cheese cloth 

 over a suitable framework thus pro- 

 longing the season of bloom. The 

 mulch is a great assistance in keep- 

 ing the fiowers clean as well as sup- 

 plying food. Their water comes from 

 an artesian well that has never yet 



failed them. A windmill is kept pump- 

 ing, but there is a steam pump ready 

 to take up the work when the wind 

 power is insufficient. They keep their 

 flowers in a cool cellar and use no 

 ice. They find that carnations which 

 have been cooled by ice go to sleep 

 quickly when taken away from the ice 

 cooled room. 



Last fall they had one house too late 

 for carnations, so they planted it with 

 campanulas. They secured a good 

 crop and the flowers sold well, but 

 they were not as profitable as carna- 

 tions. The three brothers are all com- 

 paratively young men and watch ev- 

 ery detail of the work on their place 

 in person. 



Mr. E. Buettner, Park Ridge, 111., 

 will this year grow 8,000 Scott, 8,000 

 Daybreak, .".,(iO(> McGowan, 1,50<J Flora 

 Hill, S(»(» Jubilee, and a few hundred 

 each of Alaska, Triumph and Emily 

 Pierson. 



With him Scott stands decidedly at 

 the head. It will be hard to beat in 

 his opinion. Its only fault is that 

 from four to six weeks in spring, along 

 about April, it makes a very heavy 

 growth, during which period there is 

 a lack of flowers, but an enormous 

 crop follows later. Its winter growth 

 seems different from that made in 

 spring. He has heard complaint of 

 Scott being liable to stem rot, but it 

 has not appeared among his plants. 

 Last year he lost about half of his 

 McGowans from stem rot, but has lost 

 very few from this cause this year. 

 He thinks the trouble last year was 

 due to overwatering and probably 

 partly to too deep planting. 



Daybreak does best in a cool house 

 and in solid beds some distance from 

 the glass. Under these conditions he 

 gets splendid stems. He gives his 

 Daybreaks a night temperature of 50 

 degrees, while Scott and other sorts 

 have 55 degrees. Though Daybreak 

 does so well in the cooler house, if 

 grown as warm as the others it will 

 be subject to all sorts of insects and 

 diseases. He grows Alaska merely be- 

 cause he has one bench so close to the 

 glass that it is unsuitable for the tal- 

 ler growing sorts. He likes Flora Hill 

 and will grow it more largely another 

 year. He grows his Jubilees as well 

 as all other varieties in the field dur- 

 ing the summer and sees no necessity 

 for growing any of them under glass. 

 He has noticed that Jubilee is much 

 more apt to get rusty under glass than 

 in the field. After being comparati\^- 

 ly free all summer in the field the rust 

 seems to develop as soon as the plants 

 are housed. He is growing only a few 

 hundred Triumph because the habit 

 of growth is too straggling, though 

 the flower is very beautiful. The hand- 

 some large flower has induced him to 

 try it another year. Emily Pierson is 

 with him a good scarlet in winter, but 

 the color fades in the spring. 



He has discarded Portia, though with 

 reluctance. He was sorry to lose the 

 color, but the flower was so small as 



