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The Weekly Florists* Review* 



NOVEMBER 10, 1898. 



THE CARNATION. 



By Albert Knoff. 



[Read bt-fore the Columbus Horticultural Society 

 at the Ohio State University, Oct. 211.] 



The carnation as grown to-day for 

 the market in our larger cities is quite 

 different from that of thirty years ago. 

 when the storelieeper felt proud if 

 able to display a vase of fifty blooms 

 in his window, even though the indi- 

 vidual flowers measured only one inch 

 in diameter, while the stem was weak 

 and but six inches in length. Scarcely 

 ten years have passed since President 

 DeGraw was considered one of the 

 most profitable white carnations 

 grown. Compare that variety with 

 such varieties as Flora Hill and you 

 will find a vast difference. Many simi- 

 lar comparisons could be made with 

 varieties in other colors as well. 



It is wonderful to notice the im- 

 provement made in the carnation dur- 

 ing the past ten years, but it is still 

 more wonderful to think that the im- 

 provement in this grand flower is only 

 in its infancy. We will find in the near 

 future that cross-fertilizing will not be 

 limited to the few as now, but instead 

 we will find the amateur, as well as 

 the small commercial florist, raising 

 a few seedlings of his own each year, 

 and hundreds of thousands of seed- 

 lings will be grown, instead of the 

 thousands of to-day, which means a 

 wider range from which to select our 

 eommercial varieties. 



Many comments are made regarding 

 the dissemination of too many new 

 varieties each year, and that there are 

 too many experimenters in the field. 

 I .say let the good work of cross-fer- 

 tilizing continue; good varieties can 

 never become too numerous, no more 

 than an earnest zeal toward perfec- 

 tion in any line of art can be overdone. 

 It is true that impostors do exist 

 among those who recommend their 

 new varieties, but they soon become 

 known and are looked upon as frauds. 

 What a sad stroke it would be to the 

 art of floriculture it such men as E. 

 G. Hill. Fred ijorner, John Thorpe 

 and many others of their type were 

 not permitted to continue in their 

 work of introducing new varieties. 

 While we are able to point to some of 

 their introductions which turned out 

 very poor, it is also a fact that many 

 varieties have been disseminated by 

 these leading lights of to-day which 

 helped to make fortunes for their fel- 

 low craftsmen. New varieties are too 

 often condemned and discarded before 

 they have been thoroughly tried. We 



should be familiar with the nature of 

 a carnation before we pass our opin- 

 ion upon it. For instance, plant a 

 house of Jubilee, Daybreak and Rose 

 Queen, giving them the same treat- 

 ment, same ventilation, same tempera- 

 ture and you will find a difference in 

 their behavior because one prefers a 

 few degrees higher or lower tempera- 

 ture than the other. 



I remember back about twenty years 

 when an old English gentleman, who 

 was considered an A No. 1 grower at 

 that time, said to me: "The secret of 

 growing a carnation successfully is in 

 spraying the foliage, never leaving the 

 carnation house ai night without see- 

 ing the foliage covered with dew-like 

 moisture." What a fine crop of rust 

 one would have if he was to follow 

 this gentleman's advice to-day, when 

 keeping the foliage of a carnation 

 plant dry is considered as essential 

 as the spraying of roses to prevent red 

 spider. 



As to soil and fertilizers, opinions 

 differ to some extent, but we cannot 

 dodge the fact that the natural soil of 

 one district contains ingredients which 

 differ from that of another, conse- 

 quently it is necessary to experiment 

 with fertilizers until able to see by the 

 growth and productiveness of the 

 plants which has proven to be the 

 most beneflcial. We find that cow 

 manure as a body, intermixed with 

 bone meal, sheep manure and nitrate 



ROSE NOTES. 



Mildew. 

 Chief among diseases that threaten 

 the health of the rose, we find mildew. 

 Whenever the conditions are favorable 



of soda produces a liquid fertilizer, 

 if properly proportioned, suitable for 

 any soil. 



We favor the opinion of some oth- 

 ers that the day is not far off when 

 field-planting will be discontinued, 

 especially with some varieties. The 

 planting on benches direct from 2- 

 inch pots early in the season is con- 

 sidered preferable to out-door culture 

 when proper treatment in summer 

 under glass is once understood. About 

 9,000 plants are grown by the Frank- 

 lin Park Floral Co., part of them on 

 side benches in houses 11 (eet wide, 

 and part on center benches in houses 

 18 feet wide. We prefer the latter, 

 as it is much easier to care for 

 the plants where there is a walk 

 on both sides of the benches. We use 

 the wire loop and the so-called Dor- 

 ner system as a support for the plants, 

 the latter, in our opinion, being the 

 better of the two; it is a support made 

 of V-shaped wire mesh placed between 

 the rows above which cotton string is 

 drawn, supported by heavy wires run- 

 ning full length of bench; the string 

 is crossed and re-crossed, forming a 

 6-inch space, diamond-shaped. The 

 wire mesh prevents the lower leaves 

 of the plants from lying on the damp 

 ground, while the string above sup- 

 ports the stem and flower. As com- 

 plicated as this system of supporting 

 may appear, it is easily and quickly 

 applied, and does not shade the plants. 

 The following varieties are now un- 

 der cultivation by the Floral Co.: 

 Pink: McBurney, Daybreak, Emma 

 Wocher, Triumph, Oneida. Dark Pink: 

 Tidal Wave. Painted Lady. White: 

 Evelina, White Cloud, Flora Hill, Liz- 

 zie McGowan. Red: Red Jacket, Ju- 

 bilee, Portia. 



As leaders we use Daybreak and 

 Rose Queen for pink, Portia and Ju- 

 bilee for red, and Lizzie McGowan for 

 white. Last season William Scott 

 (pink) was grown extensively, but it 

 did not take well with our customers, 

 and was consequently discarded. 



SES 



it is ever ready to fasten a blighten- 

 ing grip upon its victim, which, if left 

 unchecked, will quickly spread in an 

 alarming manner, resulting in serious 

 damage. To guard against the attacks 

 of mildew requires constant attention 

 as to temperature, ventilation, water- 

 ing, etc. Whenever there is a sudden 

 change in the temperature, which is 

 often the result of the ventilators be- 

 ing left open too long in the after- 

 noon of a bright day, or perhaps open- 



