OCTOBER 27, 1S98. 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



557 



Cactus Dahlia "Fantasy:" Color, Bright Crimson. 



[Reproduced from Gakdexeks' Chronici-E.J 



Charta. tine pink; Mrs. J. H. Laing, 

 soft pink; Coquette des Alps and Co- 

 quette des Blanches, both very free 

 white roses, are good as pot plants, 

 but not for cut flowers, as we have 

 finer white blooms among the teas. 

 WILLIAM SCOTT. 



ROSES ON SIDE BENCHES. 



Mr. Dale's reply to inquiry about 

 value of side benches for roses, pub- 

 lished in the Oct. 13th issue of the Re- 

 view, would end the discussion for the 

 present, were it not for the inference 

 that would naturally be drawn from 

 his letter. He states that his roses 

 planted in the spring are now from 

 five to six feet high and would not do 

 on side benches. The inference is that 

 I am unaccustomed to such fine stock, 

 having only small plants that will find 

 enough head room in three and one- 

 half feet of space. Local pride will not 

 permit me to allow this supposition to 

 pass unchallenged. The Philadelphia 

 cut flower market is certainly no less 

 critical than are the best buyers in 

 Canada. 



The conditions evidently differ. Here 

 we find the demand In the spring 

 months much better than in those of 

 fall; consequently most of the plant- 

 ing is done in July, with the result 

 that few of us have roses for winter 

 forcing that are now over three and a 

 halt feet high. There is practically 

 head room enough for plants as tall as 



Mr. Dale's on the north side benches of 

 our three-quarter span houses before 

 described, and — D. V. — the plants here 

 will grow as tall this winter; they did 

 so last season. This only leaves one 

 bench to consider; that next the front 

 ventilators. The plants grown here do 

 require sloping, but by careful tying 

 we get straight stems and a most en- 

 couraging percentage of ground shoots, 

 the latter due possibly to an abun- 

 dance of light and air on this table. 



It seems to me the question comes 

 down to this: Is not this front bench 

 worth more than a walk? The only 

 conclusive argument lies In figures. 

 Perhaps Mr. Dale will favor us with 

 a comparison based on actual results 

 in both kinds of houses next spring. 

 JOHN WELSH YOUNG. 



CACTUS DAHLIA "FANTASY." 



We reproduce from the London Gar- 

 deners' Chronicle the accompanying 

 engraving of this dahlia. Referring to 

 it, the Chronicle says: 



"At the meeting of the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society held on September 0. 

 a very pretty variety witli threadlike 

 florets, incurving at the upper end in 

 a confused manner and of a scarlet 

 color, was remarked in a collection of 

 cactus varieties shown by Messrs. J. 

 Cheal & Sons, Lowfleld Nurseries, 

 Crawley. It is figured as a distinct 

 novelty." 



LONG SLOPE TO THE SOUTH. 



In an article by your correspondent 

 on rose-house structure Mr. Baur, after 

 commenting on the "short-span-to- 

 south" and "even span," remarks that 

 many conservative men still adhere to 

 the long slope to the south, and then 

 adds: "While it may be said that a 

 good grower usually produces good 

 stock in about any kind of a green- 

 house, he certainly can do better when 

 placed in an up-to-date rose-house 

 where he can depend on getting the 

 full benefit of the sun for twelve 

 months of the year, and this means a 

 regulation three-quarter span house, 

 long slope to the south." 



I believe in justice to your readers 

 that this statement needs a little qual- 

 ifying, and without the slightest wish 

 to differ with Mr. Baur without cause, 

 or for the less excusable reason, mere- 

 ly to have something to say, I shall 

 briefly state that Mr. Baur is in error. 

 If it is true that a good grower can 

 produce good stock in any kind of a 

 greenhouse, their skill and attention in 

 growing is far more important than 

 the shape or aspect of the houses, and 

 it is largely true, but between two 

 men. both blessed with the disposition 

 that contributes untiring attention and 

 equal knowledge, then the man with 

 the best adapted houses must surely 

 win over his less favored competitor. 



Does the long slope to the south give 

 us the most sunlight or light for 

 twelve months in the year? I think 

 not. When some one who was not 

 afraid of a change built the first 

 "short-span-to-south" he did it for the 

 object of getting the direct rays of the 

 sun at the time of year when the sun 

 is nearest the horizon and he got what 

 he was after, for with the houses built 

 that way the sun shines in at a right 

 angle to the almost perpendicular 

 slope on the south side. 



But there is a drawback to this kind 

 of house: There is a long, flat surface 

 to the north which gives little light, 

 and in a severe winter is too often cov- 

 ered with ice or snow. We hear much 

 talk about rays of the sun, when for 

 weeks of some winters we do not see 

 the sun, and we forget that light comes 

 from the north as well as the south. 

 If plants of any kind were in an old- 

 fashioned lean-to, as graperies and 

 other houses were built years ago with 

 a back wall, would not the plants be 

 all looking towards the south? Have 

 you not all seen tliem do so? If the 

 roof was continued north as it was on 

 the south, would they not all grow up- 

 right with an inclination neither to 

 any point of the compass? This is a 

 fact, as growers of plants of any and 

 every kind can testify, who have 

 equal-span houses running east and 

 west. 



The "regulation" long-slope-to-the- 

 south is too flat and at too obtuse an 

 angle to the sun in the shortest days 

 to gain much "direct rays," but when 

 April, May and June come and in the 

 early fall months, it is the hottest 



