190 



The Weekly Florists' Review,. 



JULY 27, 1899. 



leaves also broad and drooping, but 

 their beauty being enhanced by a 

 series of stripes of creamy white or 

 yellow on each side of the green cen- 

 ter, our illustration giving some idea 

 of the marking of the leaves as it 

 appears in a young plant. 



The second variegated form of D. 

 fragrans is the admirable plant known 

 as D. Massangeana, and of which we 

 also present a photograph, the chief 

 distinction between this form and D. 

 Lindenii being found in the arrange- 

 ment of the variegation, which in D. 



Massangeana usually appears in a 

 broad band of yellow or cream color 

 throughout the center of each leaf. 



These variegated forms cf D. fra- 

 grans have possibly a little less vigor 

 than appears in the type, but still :t 

 would be unfair to class them as very 

 tender, for the endurance of a plant 

 depends very greatly on the method 

 by which it is grown, and given sen- 

 sible treatment the plants in question 

 will endure considerable exposure. 

 W. H. TAPLIN. 



Hoeing. 



Keeping the paths wet, the plants 

 watered, weeds down and yourself cool 

 are the chief occupations at present. 

 Having occasion this very morning to 

 start a man hoeing among a lot of 

 geraniums and cannas that had been 

 a stranger to the hoe for two weeks, 

 and the late copious rains having in- 

 duced a growth of pig-weed and oth- 

 ers, I saw illustrated in the art cf 

 hoeing "How not to do it." And yet 

 the man had worked for years in pub- 

 lic parks and gardens, but not for me. 

 He handled the hoe like a country 

 school marm does the hay rake — body 

 perpendicular and sideways and the 

 left or lowest hand guiding the hoe 

 handle between the index finger and 

 thumb, precisely as an expert billiard- 

 ist grasps, or rather poises, the cue. 

 This is all right for sun-bonnet and 

 petticoats, but a poor apology for hoe- 

 ing by a gardener. 



It is not alone to skim off the weeds 

 that you are hoeing, it is to loosen 

 up the soil. Bend your back, grasp the 

 hoe handle firmly with the left hand 

 and hoe deep. If you can't bend your 

 back, go to a specialist and get your 

 spine "rubberized. " It is all the go. 

 In after ages geologists will speak of 

 the 19th and 20th centuries as "the 

 great rubber age." Or if that is not 

 convenient and you will never learn to 

 hoe, get a job as sandwich man for ad- 

 vertising purposes. The straighter you 

 are the better for that purpose. 



Hoeing after a rain before the 

 ground gets dry and hard again, in 

 almost any texture of soil, should be a 

 real pleasure to any gardener, whether 

 he be workman or employer, and if 

 his instinct does not teach him when 

 to hoe and a little practice show him 

 how to do it, he has mistaken his call- 

 ing and had better turn drummer. 

 Poinsettias and Bouvardias. 



A correspondent asks for some hints 



on poinsettias and bouvardias. I will 

 cover poinsettias at length in a sep- 

 arate article. Will just say that now 

 is a grand time to propagate them. 

 The cuttings made from the old plants 

 outside are short and firm and if put 

 into the sand with a few eyes will root 

 in about two weeks. The cuttings want 

 no bottom heat but should be copious- 

 ly watered and when potted off kept 

 shaded and moist till they begin to 

 root in the 2y 2 or 3-lnch pots. After 

 once taking hold they want the light- 

 est bench in the greenhouse and all 

 the ventilation you can give them. 



Bouvardias of all varieties should 

 now be out of doors in some light, 

 rich soil. They are propagated from 

 small pieces of the sound roots in Feb- 

 ruary and March and grown in small 

 pots till time to plant out. The growth 

 from which you expect flowers in the 

 winter is all made after you plant 

 them out, strong shoots springing 

 from the base of the plants. If these 

 young growths show flower buds pinch 

 them down to within a few inches of 

 the ground, but it is seldom that the 

 young growths show buds before lift- 

 ing time. 



Unless we get rains the bouvardias 

 should receive a soaking tnot a 

 sprinkling) once a week and a hoeing 

 before the ground dries. They lift 

 well but not nearly so easily as a car- 

 nation, and if they lose many of their 

 young feeding roots will wilt for sev- 

 eral days. They should be lifted about 

 the middle of September and planted 

 on a bench in 5 or 6 inches of light 

 soil. If inclined to flower early pinch 

 all the leading shoots at luting time; 

 you will get later flowers but more of 

 them. 



The bouvardia was for years one of 

 our staple winter flowers and few flow- 

 ers are prettier than the honeysuckle- 

 like blossoms. It must have been the 



rise to popular favor of the chrysan- 

 themum, and perhaps the much im- 

 proved varieties of carnations that put 

 them in the shade. If wanted for pots 

 they should be lifted with the roots 

 entire if possible, and kept shaded and 

 frequently sprayed till they have hold 

 of their new surroundings. For cut 

 flowers they are best planted on the 

 bench. 



Mignonette. 



We were very successful one year 

 in growing mignonette for Easter by 

 starting in small pots and shifting on. 

 Next time it did not answer so this 

 year we shall revert to the orthodox 

 plan and shall the first week in Au- 

 gust sow a few hundred 5-inch pots 

 with a sprinkling of seed, and when an 

 inch or so high thin out to the three 

 strongest plants. The soil should be 

 a strong loam with a fourth of rotten 

 cow manure and the soil should be 

 firmly pressed down. It seems a good 

 many months to grow this little famil- 

 iar plant, but it is the only way. You 

 ran at no time force mignonette. 



We grew a bench of first class mig- 

 nonette last winter and I think it pays 

 as well as anything. Customers find 

 it out and send around for "a dozen of 

 that big mignonette, if you please." 

 When you hear that you know you 

 have got something that every Jack 

 Bill and Joe has not. It should be a 

 very light house for -mignonette and 

 if you can keep the temperature at 40 

 degrees in cold weather it will be high 

 enough. Always sow where you are 

 going to grow it. Drop a few seeds 

 every foot and when large enough to 

 be safe from slugs, etc., thin out to 

 one plant. A foot apart is close enough 

 and some of the specialists give it 

 even more room. 



Chrysanthemums. 



You should not delay tying up your 

 chrysanthemums. It is bad to let them 

 flop about for want of support. There 

 is nothing so cheap, expeditious, or an- 

 swers the purpose so well as a wire 

 across the bench near the row of 

 plants and a corresponding wire near 

 the roof, and from the bottom to the 

 top wire a coarse, cheap brown string. 

 Don't try to be saving and make one 

 string do for two or three plants, for 

 it won't; let each plant have a string. 



I notice in looking around among 

 my neighbors (a florist who is six 

 miles away is your neighbor) one has 

 a heavy shade on the glass over his 

 mums; shade enough to suit the Kil- 

 larney ferns. This is bad for chrysan- 

 themums; they want the fullest light 

 possible. 



As they are growing very fast now 

 they will take an abundance of water. 

 If you are troubled by the ravages of 

 a little green worm that is very fond 

 of the leaves, and also the black and 

 yellow fly, you can stop both by a 

 careful application of tobacco ex- 

 tract and paris green, but don't put 

 it on when the sun is shining. To- 

 wards evening, or on a dull day is 

 the proper time. One ounce of paris 

 green in four gallons of water to 



