The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Palms and Flowers at the bier of Queen Victoria in the Albert Memorial Chapel. 



be expected that the varieties worked 

 on it will be in the same condition to 

 a certain extent, greatly to their detri- 

 ment for forcing during the winter 

 months, just the time the grower wants 

 dowers and must have them. It ean be 

 readily seen that if they were worked 

 on stocks which grow freer during the 

 winter months they would be a great 

 <leal more preferable for growing under 

 glass. The foregoing reasons will have 

 the same bearing on budded stock grown 

 in this state and not a small portion 

 of which is sold to florists to be grown 

 in their houses for cut flowers. 



The stocks previously referred to 

 must be kept thoroughly cultivated so 

 as to be ready to be budded, which 

 should be done between the first of June 

 and the first of October, the buds to be 

 inserted close to the ground and thor- 

 oughly tied. Raflia I consider the best 

 tying material. Great care must be 

 taken to have the buds well matured, 

 as it is a very difficult matter to get a 

 good stand oil' soft buds; also care must 

 be taken in cutting the buds not to get 

 them mixed in any way. After the 

 stocks have been budded, little else is 

 required to be done till the winter, save 

 the cutting of the strings, which will 

 liave to be done in about three or four 

 weeks after budding, according to the 

 gro^vth of the stocks. During the win- 

 ter the top will want to be cut back to 

 the bud and all the weeds carefully re- 

 moved before the buds begin to start 

 nr there will be great danger of break- 



ing the 3'oung buds off, and the ground 

 should be thoroughly worked as soon as 

 it becomes dry enough to permit. 



As soon as the warm weather begins 

 the buds will start readily and make 

 a very strong, vigorous growth, and dur- 

 ing the month of May will be a sight 

 worth looking at and' long to be remem- 

 bered. 



The roses so grown should have no 

 irrigation whatever, allowing them to 

 dry off naturally after having made 

 their summer's growth. They will be 

 ready for transplanting any time after 

 the first of September, in fact often be- 

 fore that. The forcing varieties so 

 grown cannot be excelled for greenhouse 

 culture. Flowers may be cut from them 

 in about six weeks after planting and 

 will continue to bloom through the sea- 

 son, giving the very finest qualities of 

 flowers, in fact they may be carried over 

 for several years with excellent results. 

 For general sales, the handling of roses 

 begins about the first of November or 

 as soon as the wet weather begins and 

 lasts till about the first of March. In 

 handling roses care must be taken to 

 give them all the roots possible and pre- 

 caution must be taken against getting 

 the varieties mixed, for it is difficult for 

 one to separate them who is not thor- 

 oughly familiar with the looks of the 

 wood, in fact in some cases it is utterly 

 impossible. 



Care must be taken not to expose the 

 roots to the sun or drying wind any 

 inore than possible, for if they once get 



dried out it will take them a long time 

 to recover from the effects of the same. 

 After being dug, all the leaves should 

 ,bc removed, as they will only wither 

 on the plants and give them a bad ap- 

 'pearance; then they should be tied in 

 bundles, carefully labeling the same, 

 and after puddling the roots they will 

 be ready for packing and shipping. In 

 handling the roses a great difference 

 may be seen between budded plants and 

 those on their own roots. The former 

 will have a great quantity of active 

 roots, while the latter will have in most 

 cases only two or three straggly ones 

 and will not start for the purchaser 

 nearly as soon or as strong as the 

 budded stock, and will not give near the 

 satisfaction for a long time to come if at 

 all. 



At this point I wish to speak of the 

 two principal objections to budded stock. 

 The first is suckers, but if the buds 

 have been worked on carefully prepared 

 stocks and properly planted, there will 

 be little cause to complain from that 

 (source. The other, though less frequent, 

 objection, is to their not doing well, but 

 of this we hear little, the principal cause 

 of which is either being worked on in- 

 ferior stocks or not on the right kind 

 of a stock, but to this I have previously 

 referred. 



The varieties of roses grown are al- 

 most endless in number, some of the nur- 

 series carrying between three and four 

 hundred varieties in stock : but for 

 many of these there is but little call. 



