460 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



SEPTEMBER 29. Ism 



to be qualified. If Mr. Dale is speaking 

 of Beauties, there is no room for dis- 

 cussion, but if not, mU he kindly ex- 

 plain why good tea roses cannot be 

 grown oa side benches in Canada? 

 There may be difficulties with which 

 those farther south do not have to con- 

 tend. The disadvantage in Mr. Dale's 

 plan is that it requires an extra walk. 

 Taking as a basis a house 10<>x20, with 

 outside walks two feet wide, you lose 

 200 square feet of bench room or about 

 one-seventh of the whole. This heavy 

 loss must be made up by the extra 

 quality of the stock produced. If Beau- 

 ties, and Beauties only, are to be 

 grown, the answer is plain, but other- 

 wise it is not clear. 



Personally, my side benches have ' 

 yielded as good returns as the center 

 ones, taking the season as a whole. 

 The plants on these benches are. how- 

 ever, three and a half feet of head 

 room on the row next the front venti- 

 lators, and the other rows more. Even 

 in a Beauty house many Xew Jersey 

 growers prefer using side benches, 

 planted with Brides and Maids to put- 

 ting in an extra walk. I know Mr. 

 Dale's views are shared by some other 

 exi>erts, but I would very much like to 

 know whether his opinion is supported 

 by figures, and, if so, how much head 

 room his side benches have? 



JOHN WELSH YOUNG. 



Germantown, Pa. 



Origina-tion of New. Varieties — Sowing of the 

 Seed and Cultivation. 



We have arrived now in our notes at 

 the time to sow the seed. The seed 

 should be thoroughly ripe, and to 

 hasten the ripening process we cut the 

 seed pods with S or 10-inch stem as 

 soon as the seed has turned black; 

 this is shown by the blackish green 

 color of the pod. with the point turn- 

 ing yellow. Lay same in a cool, airy 

 room, and beware of mice, as they are 

 very fond of carnation seed. At one 

 time they dug half of my crop out of 

 the ground, just sown, in one night. 



When the stem has dried up, the pod 

 will open at the point to discharge the 

 seed, indicating that the seed is ripe 

 and ready for sowing. This is the nat- 

 ural course, the same as if left on the 

 plant. It only hastens the ripening, 

 and when left to open on the plant, 

 there is a liability to spill the seed, as 

 it will drop out readily when tilted 

 over. If by accident a pod should be 

 opened or broken and the seed stni ad~ 

 heres to the green base or hilum. It 

 is best to let it dry and harden in a 

 paper bag before sowing. I have sown 

 seed that had not even turned black 

 and fotmd some percentage to germi- 

 nate. 



We use flats and sow the seeds in 

 rows. When ap so it can be handled, 

 we transplant in little pots. Six weeks 

 from the sowing of the seed the plants 

 will be large enough to plant out in 

 the field, which is with us generally 

 from the middle to the last of May. 

 They receive the same cultivation as 

 an our other stock, with the exception 

 that we do not top them, for we want 

 them to bloom as early as possible, 

 thus giving an opportunity to select 

 that which we find worthy to transfer 

 to the house and save work on worth- 



less stuff. All those selected are mark- 

 ed and topped now, to bring them in 

 conformity to the general rules of cul- 

 tivation. The young plants commence 

 to bloom in August and we had some 

 that bloomed as early as the middle of 

 July from seed set in January. 

 Results. 



Now we come to the most interesting 

 chapter, a description of the new pro- 

 genies. The wide scope of possibili- 

 ties, of inheritance from all stages of 

 its development during centuries, from 

 its primitive originality up to the im- 

 proved form of today, make this an in- 

 teresting as well as fascinating study. 

 It is not often that we win a prize in 

 this game of chance: results are most 

 times disappointing, but always inter- 

 esting. It is impossible to follow or 

 even imagine the intricate working of 

 Mother Nature in the reproduction of 

 this genus of plants. We can hardly 

 call it a full reproduction, for when 

 even a flower becomes fertilized with 

 its own pollen, the results will not all 

 be like the parent. This uncertainty 

 is caused by the many stages in the 

 evolution of the carnation during cen- 

 turies. Adhering characteristics. 

 made inheritable from ages ago. crop 

 out here and there, reminding us that 

 culture with the aid of cross-fertiliza- 

 tion and probably hybridization, only 

 wrought these changes: but at the 

 same time remind us also that these 

 characteristics are still present, and 

 any lack in culture will cause a rever- 

 sion towards primitive originality. 

 These are the views of the florist who 

 produces that which is most remunera- 

 tive. A scientist probably has differ- 

 ent ideas. 



When we remember how careful we 

 were in the selection of the parent 

 flowers and varieties, and compare 

 them with the results, how disappoint- | 

 fug. In the first place, we find nearly i 

 50 per cent, single flowers, the most [ 



Striking proof of the tendency to breed 

 back. These may vary very much in 

 color from either parent, in fact, in 

 color we find a great deviation from 

 the parent flowers. The larger per- 

 centage may be of the same color, but 

 there are most always other colors of 

 some varieties that can be traced to 

 ancestors of several generations ago. 

 as well as new shades, and these we 

 find as well in crossings of the same 

 color as in crossings of two different 

 colors. 



The deviation in the habit of growth 

 is as marked as it is in color, and is 

 often most deceiving and disappoint- 

 ing. The largest and most vigorous 

 plants show mostly single flowers, and, 

 as I have said, this tendency to revert 

 to single flowers is most disappoint- 

 ing. A large percentage may resemble 

 either one of the parents, or may pos- 

 sess characteristics of both, but wo 

 find others with no resemblance at all. 

 and among these is the habit of the 

 hardy garden carnation, or pink, the 

 direct parent of our present ever- 

 blooming type. These will not bloom 

 the first year, and by my experience 1 

 consider them worthless. And then 

 we find some resembling the Malmai- 

 son type, so much grown in England, 

 with a short, jointed, but strong, stem: 

 short, wide, cup-shaped calyx, and oft- 

 en with very large flowers. I have 

 been, and am yet. experimenting with 

 them, but cannot show any results 

 that would encourage their culture in 

 this country. 



Next we find a small percentage of 

 the reverse to the single flower. The 

 transformation of the stamens into pe- 

 tals, that constitute a double flower, 

 seems to be multiplied three and four 

 times, for we find flowers of extremely 

 large size and fullness, measuring five 

 and six inches in diameter, but with 

 no form, ragged and imperfect to the 

 extreme — monstrosities and worthless. 

 Furthermore, we often find these flow- 

 ers without ovary and seedpod, and in 

 place a second developed flower buO. 

 that in time will open before the pet- 

 als of the flrst have faded away. These 

 monstrosities have never a perfect 

 calyx; it generally bursts before the 

 bud is half grown. 



Next we find a number of large and 

 apparently good double flowers of fair 

 form, but with a weak calyx, with a 

 tendency to burst. We may find on 

 these plants some perfect flowers, 

 leading us to the belief that the burst- 

 ing tendency may disappear, and in 

 my experience I have found such that 

 are valuable varieties and in general 

 cultivation now; but the majority are 

 habitual bursters, and will always fur- 

 nish a large percentage of bursted 

 flowers. It seems natural for all large 

 flowers to burst, but it depends much 

 as to how the petals are arranged and 

 grow in the closed bud. If they grow 

 up without becoming cramped and 

 lapped over each other, so they can 

 push straight out of the calyx and fin- 

 ish their growth, even a very large, 

 full flower will seldom burst; it de- 



