236 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



AUGUST 4. 1898. 



$24fi.40. As showing how the various 

 sorts appealed to those who received 

 them we append a list showing the 

 number ordered of each sort: 



GOO Flora Hill at $5.00 per 100 $30.00 



550 Mayor Pingree at $5.00 per 100 27.50 



700 Triumph at $3.00 per 100 21.00 



SCO Mrs. Bradt at $6.00 per 100 48.00 



425 Lily Dean at $0.00 per 100 25.50 



100 Maud Dean at $4.00 per 100 4.00 



150 Morello at $4.00 per 100 6.00 



975 Jubilee at $3.00 p«r 100 29.25 



450 Armazindy at $3.00 per 100 13.50 



525 Mrs. Duhme at $4.00 per 100 21.00 



575 Daybreak at $2.00 per 100 11.50 



325 Scott at $1.00 per 100 3.25 



600 McGowan at $L00 per 100 6.00 



Total $246.40 



Valuing the blooms at $3 a hundred 

 the total cost, including blooms, boxes, 

 packing and expressing was $2.5.66, so 

 it seemed to us a profitable venture as 

 well as giving our customers an oppor- 

 tunity to see for themselves what the 

 new sorts were like. It can be plainly 

 seen that the newer varieties took the 

 eye, even if prices were higher. 



For blooming out of doors and for 

 short stems indoors for use in floral 

 designs we recommend Scott, Mc- 

 Gowan and Mrs. Fisher. For winter 

 bloomers and money makers. Flora 

 Hill and Evelina for white; Jubilee for 

 scarlet; Triumph, Argyle and Day- 

 break for pink; Mrs. Bradt for varie- 

 gated; Mayor Pingree and Gold Nug- 

 get for yellow; Empress for crimson; 

 Painted Lady and Psyche for trial. 



We would like to say a word for Tri- 

 umph. We place the plants two feet 

 apart each way and they are grand. 

 Try this sort and you will soon be 

 singing its praise. If sample blooms 

 of this sort were sent to all florists 

 there could not be half enough cut- 

 tings made to supply the demand. I 

 mean cuttings that were properly 

 taken, not top cuttings, which make 

 short lived plants, not fit for trial. 

 Better take it from the bottom of the 

 plant and get more wood than bloom. 



The Carnation Society should spare 

 no effort to prevent the dissemination 

 of varieties that are not up to the 

 mark. Every time a poor sort is sent 

 out the field is injured for the really 

 meritorious new ones. Don't be in a 

 hurry to bring out new sorts. Let the 

 experimenting be done by the origina- 

 tor, and certainly weak spots will be 

 made known in a three or four years' 

 trial, which a new sort should have be- 

 fore it is placed on the market. And 

 I believe it would be a good idea for 

 the society to offer prizes for carnation 

 rooted cuttings in various stages of 

 growth. I think it would help us in 

 making our notes on new varieties. 

 A. MITTING. 



AMERICAN CARNATION SOCIETY. 



Fellow Member: — An informal meet- 

 ing of the American Carnation Society 

 will be held in the meeting room of 

 the S. A. F., at Omaha, Nebraska, 

 Wednesday afternoon, August 17th, 

 1S9S, at 4 o'clock. 



New ideas for our meeting in Phila- 

 delphia next February will bo in or- 

 der; and your secretary will enter any 

 new member you can bring into the 

 society. 

 (Signed.) WM. NICHOLSON, Pres't. 



Attest: ALBERT M. HERR, Sec'y. 



Cytisus Racemosus. 



At some time I have said (and oth- 

 ers ^also) that Cytisus racemosus, a 

 favorite Easter plant, should not be 

 planted out, because they lift poorly, 

 and with the greatest of care you will 

 lose a large percentage. They are not 

 a good house or window plant, soon 

 dropping their fiowers and leaves as 

 well, but for all that their color and 

 neat, compact form covered with 

 flowers keep up their popularity, and 

 they were in as much demand as ever 

 last Easter. 



If you put in a batch of cuttings last 

 January, as you should, they should 

 now be in 4-inch pots and be bushy lit- 

 tle plants. They should now be in a 

 house not too heavily shaded and 

 where there is the greatest possible 

 amount of ventilation. They should 

 not be stunted for want of root room, 

 and should be daily syringed as well 

 as given a liberal watering. It left to 

 their natural growth they would soon 

 make irregular, straggling plants, and 

 would lose their attractiveness, but 

 they will conform to any shape by a 

 constant apjilication of the shears. 

 Don't be afraid every few weeks to go 

 over them and clip off any growth that 

 is asserting itself beyond the general 

 outline of the plant. 



Begonias. 



In that very large family, the be- 

 gonia, there are some that are very 

 useful to the florist. A few dozen of 

 the best varieties of the Rex type 

 should be grown. They are very useful 

 as a decorative plant on many occa- 

 sions, and you need some good-sized 

 plants to furnish you leaves to propa- 

 gate from in November. They are 

 truly a hot house plant, and this is the 

 time to get a good growth. A shady 

 house, with plenty of water and a daily 

 syringing will soon make a fine plant. 



One of the very best house plants is 

 Begonia manicata aurea. I have never 

 heard yet of any one having enough of 

 it. I think it has been usually propa- 

 gated from a side shoot as you would 

 any of that class of begonias, but T 

 found last winter that it propagated 

 by pieces of the leaf as does the Rex 

 class and many other plants. Like the 

 Rex this fine begonia is grown for its 

 fine leaves, and. therefore, should have 

 a light, rich soil and be encouraged to 

 grow while we have the warm weather. 

 It's a slow gi-ower in the winter. 



That very useful begonia which we 



call incarnata grandiflora, is not very 

 profitable, but fiowering, as it always 

 does, right at the holidays, makes it 

 indispensable, not so much as a plant 

 as for cutting to add to a bunch of 

 flowers. If well grown it is very use- 

 ful, the sprays lasting a long time in 

 water, but if poorly grown it wilts 

 quickly and is most unsatisfactory. It 

 is often seen troubled with a disease 

 which can be called a rust, and if once 

 affected seldom grows out of it. This 

 rust is caused, I believe, by a close, 

 damp, and too heavily shaded house. 

 They will thrive in a house now that 

 has scarcely any shade and should not 

 be put into a corner, but given a bench 

 where there is a good circulation of 

 air. You don't want them to make a 

 quick, succulent growth, but a sun 

 ripened, hard growth, and when the 

 time comes for firing, a night tempe- 

 ture of 5.5 degrees is plenty, with all 

 the daylight you can give them; then 

 this handsome begonia is really useful 

 and profitable. 



For the past two or three years we 

 have found that Begonia Vernon is one 

 of the most satisfactory summer 

 fiowering plants. It makes a good vase 

 plant, and where a large lot of bedding 

 has to be done it is a most agreeable 

 change. It can be raised from cut- 

 tings, although that is a costly way of 

 getting up a stock. You should be on 

 the look out now for seed of it. for 

 wherever there are a few plants in 

 flower, seed is easily gathered, and sow 

 it about September 1. Sow thinly or 

 there will be a "damping off" before 

 the plants are large enough to handle. 

 It should be needless to say that like 

 all begonia seed it is so small that it 

 needs no covering. Pressed into the 

 soil, covered with a wet cloth or light 

 of glass and kept moist is all the 

 covering it needs. 



Pelargoniums. 



If any of my readers grow pelargoni- 

 ums they will notice that they are now 

 out of flower and making a good 

 growth. When I say pelargoniums I 

 wish to use that name as applying to 

 the show section. The zonale geranium 

 is a pelargonium and so are all other 

 geranuims, but in this country we call 

 the zonale. bronze, scented and varie- 

 gated classes geraniums, while the 

 show, regal and fancy section retain 

 the true generic name of pelargonium 

 Keep them rather on the dry side and 

 in full exposure to the sun, for that 

 will prepare them for a condition tu 



