204 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



pure and genuine plant, or perhaps 

 even an improvement among the seed- 

 lings, and then these superior types 

 should be propagated only by division 

 or by cuttings, which with such freely 

 branching plants as the subjects un- 

 der consideration is not a very difficult 

 or slow process, and in this case i.s the 



only way to perpetuate the true types. 

 In a former number of the Review 

 we mentioned the usefulness of the or- 

 dinary H. sanguinea as a cut :lovvor. 

 and now we may add that both of the 

 above varieties may be forced under 

 glass in the same manner with equal 

 results. J. B. KELLER. 



Lilies. 



Some very useful flowers just now 

 are the Japan lilies, especially Lilium 

 album and roseum. and the percent- 

 age of unhealthy plants is very small, 

 while not more than one-third of the 

 auratums are healthy: at least, this is 

 the case with mine, obtained from 

 more than one source, and from my 

 neighbors comes the same report. If 

 the auratum continues to be as un- 

 satisfactory, we will have to drop 

 them entirely. Handsome as they are. 

 they would not be greatly missed, for 

 they are far too powerful to use for 

 any room decoration or in any design, 

 while the smaller flowers of album and 

 roseum are admissible anywhere, and 

 just now. when our roses and carna- 

 tions are at their lowest ebb, both in 



larly the best one. paruuvL-hioides ma- 

 jor, which is not so easy to winter. A 

 flat with 2 inches of light soil should 

 be filled with cuttings and stood in 

 some shady place, either indoors or 

 out. They root as quickly now in hot 

 weather as chickweed. and before cold 

 weather comes are sturdy little plants 

 and well able to submit to rough treat- 

 ment during the long winter months. 

 Any place that is warm, and the flats 

 kept on the dry side, is good enough 

 for them, and they want no more 

 handling till it is time to put them 

 into a hotbed next April or May. 

 These showy and effective little plants 

 are now sold at such a low price that 

 to encumber a bench with them all 

 winter in pots is out of the question, 

 and I like the above plan better than 

 lifting old plants in the fall. 



thawing of winter. If you prefer to 

 give them the shelter of a cold frame 

 and covered with glass, then a sowing 

 by middle of AugT.ist is early enough, 

 Pansies that are grown on farm land 

 by the acre are sold at such a price 

 that forbids the city florist to com- 

 pete, but the principal use we have for 

 pansies is for filling vases by the mid- 

 dle or end of April, and the field- 

 grown plants are not quite early 

 enough for that purpose, so it is best, 

 if you have that demand, to raise a 

 few thousand from the best strain and 

 take good care of them. It pays to 

 cover them with sash when real win- 

 ter comes, but it should be off directly 

 mild weather arrives in the spring, or 

 your pansies will run up spindling and 

 be useless for any purpose. If you 

 have not yet bought your pansy seed, 

 be sure and get plenty of yellow. It 

 seems to me that if one-third were 

 good, large yellow flowers, it would 

 not be out of proportion to suit the 

 popular taste. 



Mignonette. 



Last year I made a sowing of mig- 

 nonette early in July on a bench with 

 ') inches of soil. A very hot spell ex 

 isted for the following six or eight 

 weeks and the mignonette ran up very 

 spindling, flowered prematurely, and 

 was a complete failure. Another sow- 

 ing early in August from the same 

 packet of seed was an entire success, 

 growing robust and giving a profitable 

 cut till the following March. The 

 temperature was seldom over 40 de- 

 grees at night in the winter months. 

 A solid bed is better for mignonette 

 than a few inches of soil, but it can 

 be grown well in 5 inches of good 

 soil; the richer the soil, the stouter it 

 will grow, providing you keep the tem- 

 perature down. 



The Chicago Florists' Club's Coaching Party on the way to Sununerdale. 



quantity and quality, they are most 

 useful, for they are beautiful in a de- 

 sign and make a chaste and refined 

 bunch. I have only called attention to 

 these useful lilies at this time, that 

 you may not be without them another 

 season. 



Alte.iiantheras. 



Early in August is a good time to 

 propagate the altemanthera, particu- 



Pansies. 



There is no fixed date for sowing 

 pansy seed, for it depends on how you 

 intend to winter them. A very large 

 grower in our neighborhood who does 

 not protect at all is now sowing, but 

 if sown by the first of August, will do: 

 then you can transplant by middle of 

 September, and before winter sets in 

 they will be well established plants in 

 good order to stand the freezing and 



Mignonette has the reputation of be- 

 ing difficult to transplant, and so it is, 

 as we handle asters, stocks, etc. You 

 can sow a few seeds on the bed where 

 they are to remain, but if that is not 

 convenient, you can sow it in 2-inch 

 pots, and plant out when the bed is 

 ready. Whichever plan you follow, 

 don't attempt to grow good spikes, or 

 expect them, unless you give the 

 plants ample room. You often see it 



