The Weekly Florists' Review* 



205 



Chicago Florists at Reinberg Bros., Summerdale, Chicago. 



grown on a bench as thick as we grow 

 it in the garden in the summer time. 

 That stuff is only fit to call "a little 

 greens" to add to r>0 cents' worth of 

 cut flowers. Each plant should be at 

 least 1.J inches apart, if you want good 

 spikes, and I have heard of some of 

 the very best being grown even with 

 much more room. WM. SCOTT. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM NOTES. 



Some of the earlier planted benches 

 are now beginning to show signs of 

 exhaustion and while we never feed 

 till we get the bud set, if the plants 

 remain vigorous it is just as bad to 

 let them get in poor shape for lack 

 of stimulant. As we have before stated 

 every man ought to be able to tell 

 when his plants need feeding better 

 than anyone else. A liquid of cow or 

 sheep manure once a week to start 

 with will soon make itself felt, using 

 it moderately weak to commence. 



Wliere plants have become pale in 

 the foliage nitrate of soda is excellent 

 tor a tonic, using it at the rate of 10 

 ounces to 50 gallons of water. Mums 

 will stand a stronger solution than 

 that but our own experience leads us 

 to believe it is more effective to use 

 it weaker and 2 or 3 times than one 

 strong dose, particularly when the 

 plants have not been fed before. Ni- 

 trate and in fact all chemicals should 

 be carefully weighed so that you will 

 be sure to get the right proportions. 

 They are unequalled in their way, but 

 have been oftentimes abused and dis- 

 astrous results have followed. Use care 



and avoid any rule of thumb business. 



Specimen plants, when their pots are 

 well filled with roots which will be five 

 or six weeks after potting, should have 

 a little feed because the roots are so 

 restricted that they soon use up the 

 available plant food and will show it 

 very quickly if they get starved. It is 

 about time for pinching to cease and 

 preparations made to get the plants 

 into shape. 



Any buds that form this month 

 should be rubbej out as they are too 

 early. We have retained and flowered 

 the July bud on Mrs. Robinson, but we 

 do not recommend it by any means, for 

 while the flower had innumerable pet- 

 als in it they were small and the flower 

 in general finish was far below the 

 standard of flowers, the buds of which 

 were "taken" August 20. The neck, 

 too, was long and very weak and the 

 flowers feebly drooped their heads. 



A curious thing in connection with 

 early buds is the long time they hang 

 in the green bud before developing. 

 We have taken buds on Mayflower, 

 August 10th, and they were not fully 

 developed till ten days after buds 

 which were taken some three weeks 

 later. Unlike Robinson, though, the 

 early buds on Mayflower were a splen- 

 did success as the flowers were of great 

 depth and strictly incurving in shape. 

 For general purposes about August 

 20th is early enough to take buds. 

 After that date they can be relied on, 

 while taken earlier they are more or 

 less of a lottery. C. TOTTY. 



DODDER ON GERANIUMS. 



We send a sample of a parasitic 

 growth which attacks geraniums and 

 chrysanthemums and spreads with 

 lightuing-like rapidity, choking the 

 plants to death. We would like to 

 know what it is, and if th'?re is any 

 cure save handpicking. G. F. C. 



Your subscriber is having some ex- 

 perience with a parasitic flowering 

 plant that is found wild throughout the 

 country, growing usually in damp 

 places. It is often called gold thread, 

 beeatise it makes a tangle of yellow 

 strands of the size of wrapping twine, 

 or smaller, binding the tops of weeds 

 together. It is known in botanical lit- 

 erature as dodder, and belongs to the 

 family of the morning glories. It starts 

 from small white seeds about the size 

 of clover seed, and grows for a while 

 like any other plant. Soon it attaches 

 itself to whatever plant is growing- 

 near, absorbs the sap as mistletoe 

 does, and its connection with the 

 ground dies away. After a time small 

 white flowers, about a sixteenth of an 

 inch across, are produced in abund- 

 ance, followed by seeds. After the 

 plant starts only the most persistent 

 handpicking will keep it in check. It 

 not allowed to ripen seeds, it will only 

 last one season. J. C. ARTHUR. 

 Lafayette, Ind. Purdue University. 



TRY AN ADV. in the Review If you 

 have any surplus stock to sell to the 

 trade. 



