200 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



July 18, 1001. 



by us last winter, being planted very 

 late and in wet soil and &uc(;eeded by a 

 very bard winter. 



They flowered with us from the middle 

 to the 20th of June, making it rather 

 late to be succeeded by other summer 

 flowering plants, but we believe it plant- 

 ed earlier they would have iflowered 

 earlier, or about the first week of June. 

 I think when better known this beautiful 

 flower will be grown most extensively, 

 for as cut flowers they are a great ac- 

 quisition. The bulbs were sent as an 

 exhibit by Clucas & Boddington, of New 

 York. • W. S. 



CARNATION NOTES. 



Housing Carnations. 



Many of us like to begin housing our 

 carnations by the later part of this 

 month and preparations should be got- 

 ten under way at once. Few of the old 

 plants are worth keeping any longer, 

 and it will pay much better to throw 

 them out at once and get the benches 

 ready to receive the young plants from 

 the field. Sometimes a bench is pro- 

 ducing a good many blooms about this 

 time and one hates to throw them out 

 just when they are in crop. We have 

 several times waited until the crop was 

 off", but we were always sorry afterward 

 that we did not sacrifice the few dol- 

 lars the blooms brought in and throw 

 them out earlier. We have always be- 

 lieved in early planting and each year 

 we plant a few days earlier than we" did 

 the year before, and we find it pays. 



What a difference there is between 

 our methods of today and those of only 

 a few years ago. The first of September 

 was considered early and many growers 

 did not care to plant before there was 

 danger of hard frost, because, you know, 

 the carnation is a half-hardy plant, and 

 a few degrees of frost do not injure it, 

 apparently. No wonder that good car- 

 nation blooms were not to be had until 

 toward spring. Even now you will occa- 

 sionally find an old fogy who will not 

 dare to plant his carnations before it 

 gets cool in the fall, because seeing that 

 they wilt, even then, he imagines that 

 they would surely die if they were lifted 

 during the hot summer weather, when 

 really they do not suffer nearly so much. 

 The plants do not grow very much dur- 

 ing July and August and consequently 

 they are well matured and I might say 

 about half dormant, and the lifting 

 does not cause them to suffer. 



But in September, when the nights are 

 cool and the dews are heavy, the growth 

 is rapid and the grass is sappy and 

 tender and the least disturbance of the 

 roots will cause arrest in the flow of the 

 sap and the growth wilts. If the weath- 

 er happens to be quite warm as is often 

 the case in September a good many plants 

 are lost and those that live take a long 

 time to recover. Another advantage in 

 early planting is that the plants become 

 thoroughly established before the dark 

 days of winter set in and they are in 

 better condition to withstand a siege of 

 adverse weather conditions. It is much 

 better for them to make their main 

 growth inside where they are to remain 

 all winter. 



The first crop of blooms, which on late 

 lifted plants comes about in November 

 is never of much account, while if the 

 plants are housed by August 15th they 

 will be producing fine blooms by that 



time, and the very best of carnations can 

 be had by Christmas. Tlie reason is that 

 the shoots producing the blooms started 

 and grew uninterruptedly from start to 

 finish, while if the shoots start outside 

 they get just enough check during the 

 transplanting to spoil the quality of the 

 bloom. Don't imagine that the bud has 

 to show before you can injure the bloom 

 which is to follow. Long before it shows 

 the bud is away down in the base of the 

 shoot, and with every pair of blades it 

 comes nearer to the end, until at last it 

 makes its appearance at the end of the 

 shoot, and while it is yet way down in 

 the shoot it can be injured by any chX'ck 

 the plant may be subjected to. 



Varieties. 



What varieties to plant earliest is a 

 question you must decide for yourself. 

 If you want them all to come into crop 

 at nearly the same time you should plant 

 the slow growers (or late bloomers) 

 first; but if you want good blooms as 

 early as possible (like we do) you should 

 plant the early bloomers first and fol- 

 low with the others as soon as possible, 

 so as to get them all in by August 20th. 



Using Manure in the Benches. 



Tlierc ^eems fo be a great difference 

 in opinion as to whether it is advisable 

 to put any manure on the bottom of the 

 bench before hauling in the soil. Sonic 

 growers could not be persuaded to do 

 so, while many others always do. We 

 always put about one inch of well rotted 

 cow manure on the bottom, but be sure 

 it is well rotted. Fresh manure shoilld 

 never be used for this. Just as, fine car- 

 nations are grown without this bottom 

 layer of manure, but we find it saves a 

 good deal of feeding during the winter, 

 and if good judgment is exercised there 

 is no danger in it. Four inches of soil 

 and manure is plenty, and sec that the 

 soil is well pulverized, as carnations do 

 not like rough, lumpy soil to grow in. 

 Fresh sod is not to their liking either. 



Add about 100 pounds of bone meal to 

 1,000 square feet of bench surface and 

 rake it into the soil well. 



If the soil is dry, water it the evening 

 before you wish to plant. It should be 

 just about as moist as you like to have 

 it for potting, i. e., not wet enough to 

 cake, but moist enough to keep the roots 

 fresh until you water them. Nothing 

 will hurt a carnation more than to be 

 set into dry soil and left without water 

 for an hour or two. Do not lift the 

 plants when the ground is ilry. but wait 

 for a rain and thru dii.' ii^ >oon as the 

 ground is fit. Tlirii' mr xneral rea- 

 sons for this. Tlie ymuiicl is more mel- 

 low and the roots are not lorn so much 

 in the lifting, and then, loo, there is 

 usually cooler weather for a week or so. 

 which gives the plants a good chance to 

 recover quickly. Last year several grow- 

 ers around here lifted their plants dur- 

 ing a dry, hot spell, and their blooms 

 were poor all winter and some of the 

 benches looked like hay fields a few 

 weeks after they were planted. 



Shading. 



We shade the houses some while plant- 

 ing and leave it on about a week or 

 ten days, just long enough so you can 

 see that good root action has set in. 

 The first good rain takes it off, as we 

 use only clay and water for this shade. 

 There should be no shade of any kind on 

 the houses after the plants begin to 

 grow again. 



The distance between the plants must 

 depend altogether on the varieties and 

 the size of Ihe plants. We find 10 to 

 12 inches each way a very good distance 

 for most varieties. Plant just as deep 

 as the plants were out in the field. Plant- 

 ing too deep is one of the most frequent 

 causes of stem-rot. Leave a small shal- 

 low place around the plant to hold wa- 

 ter and after you finish planting fill 

 this hole with water instead of watering 

 the bed all over, like many growers do. 

 Syiinge overhead a few times each day 

 and keep the walks damp until growth 

 commences and then water more freely 

 at the roots. Let only experienced men 

 do the digging and the planting, as much 

 depends on the selection of the plants 

 as well as on the proper planting. 



It takes a practiced eye to select the 

 best plants, and nothing but the very 

 best plants should be housed at all, be- 

 cause if you start with poor plants, 

 where are you likely to land by mid- 

 winter? We like to lift with a small 

 ball of earth about the size of your fist, 

 but if the soil is mellow and moist there 

 is no harm done if it all drops off 

 Transfer them as quickly as possible, as 

 nothing hurts carnations more than to 

 have the roots dry out, and they do 

 dry out in a very short time, if exposed 

 to the air. A. F. J. Baur. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM NOTES. 



Pot Plants. 



hisL potting this month and don't let 

 llicni get pot bound before you attend 

 to the work. The soil for this potting 

 should be well enriehed. a good pro- 

 portion being two parts of fibrous loam 

 to one of well rotted maniire, and a 

 nice sprinkle of bone meal or Clay's 

 fertilizer added. 



Don't use pots that are too large to 

 correspond well with the size of the 

 plants: a large jdant in a comparatively 

 sjnnll )"il would snuc hkiiiv pcinls more 

 in a <(>iii|i(tilinii ili;in the mimic sized 

 plant in ;i lai-,T |M,t. I»vau>r it shows 

 a higlicr degree uf nilUiral skill. 



One point is imperative and that is. 

 liave your pots well drained. If the 

 drainage gets choked up when you arc 

 feeding witli lic|uid manure later on, the 

 soil will III' riiiiise get sour, and the 

 ddiiatc n.,,( liairs of the plant will 

 rot. Then the leaves will turn pale and 

 sickly and a well finished plant will be 

 <mt of the question. 



With the hurry up methods in vogue 

 in so many establisliuieiits tlie iniport- 

 ancc of proper draiiujc oi tie |H)ts in 

 which special sulijr.i- like ^|iecimen 

 mums are grown is t ftiii .uerlooked. 



In potting ample room should be left 

 on top of the pot for a mulch to be 

 applied later on, when it can be seen 

 that the plants are ready for it, which 

 will be in three weeks or so after potting. 



Wire, or thin bamboo stakes, should 

 he put into (he pots where needed to 

 draw the main shoots into their proper 

 position, then when pinching is d'scon- 

 tinued the shoots will come away 

 straight without any further twisting 

 into position. 



Keep all the shoots closely stopped 

 until the end of this month, after which 

 time pinching must cease or the flowers 

 will come small and poorly finished. 



