The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



249 



A bit of water margin planting near the Government Building at 

 Pan-American Exposition. 



crown bud "taken" say the first week in 

 September, and Mrs. Jerome Jones must 

 be taken on a crown bud if it is figured 

 on as a white variety; but if color does 

 not cut much figure, the terminal bud is 

 all right as the flower comes good, 

 though of a delicate pink color. 



By taking the crown bud on varieties 

 in August, the grower does not get in 

 his crop any earlier, in fact with several 

 varieties the Icrmiiial lui.l will de- 

 velop first th'Hi.^li ii ^^ill II, .1 I..- ,., large 



crowni bud. The ira-un wliy -mnv grow- 

 ers take the crown bud is becau-e tliey 

 want to get a flower of the largest pos- 

 sible size. 



We will take up the question of buds 

 iu our notes next month (August) and 

 if M. A. F. is interested he will take a 

 few crown buds to see how tlioy come 

 out. 



Saving Glory of the Pacific, none of 

 the varieties he mentions will be in flow- 

 er before the 20th of October. 



Brian Bori-. 



CARNATION NOTES. 



Up-to-Date Planting. 



For the benefit of those to whom car- 

 nation plauliiiL^. ill ail up-to-date manner, 

 may be now I will uiic in detail one 

 method of ]irn, ,,1111 ,■, v liiili we find very 

 succpssful in lHlu^iug our carnations 

 witlioiii l.i,iiij many plants while they 

 bcroiiir i-lal.li-iinl on the benches. We 

 like to plant a whole 'house at a time 

 if it IS at all possible; therefore we 

 refill all the benches before we begin 

 planting and mi.x in the bonemeal (about 

 100 pounds to 1,000 square feet of bench 

 6]iace) and whatever other fertilizers are 

 to be mixed into the soil, and rake it in 

 well, after which we give it a good water- 

 iug. (The above quantity of bonemeal 

 is "about right if not much other ferti- 

 lizer is used, but if much else is put on 

 the quantity of bone should be reduced.) 

 After the watering we allow the soil to 

 dry out until the day before we are 

 ready to begin planting, at which time 

 we examine the soil and give enough 

 water to make it about as moist as you 

 like your soil for potting and see that 



it IS moist all the way down to the bot- 

 tom of the bench. 



Some growers pack the soil before 

 planting and when the soil is inclined to 

 be loose or spongy it is a good plan, 

 but our soil is heavy enough to settle 

 down close without packing. We like 

 a rather heavy soil and if necessary we 

 add some clay to make it as heavy as 

 we want it. Heavy soil makes strong 

 stems and your plants will stand a lii^h- 



er temperature and (li. i.t ]ii,Hlnrc 



more blooms without sultniiiL; in .|u:ility 

 like they would in light ^nil. X.il so 



much feeding 



atering during hot 

 You would 



weather is required either 

 be surprised, too, what a difference it 

 makes in the color. The reds come more 

 brilliant and the pinks come brighter 

 and I guess even the whites come whiter. 



But to get back to our planting. Af- 

 ter we get our soil into proper condi- 

 tion and the ground outside is in good 

 shape for digging (it having rained 

 shortl,v previoiis) we set four men to 

 work. One man who understands his 

 business, to dig. Another careful man 

 to pick up the plants, reduce the ball of 

 earth to proper size, dip the roots into 

 a pail of water and set them into flats. 

 A third man to wheel them into the 

 house. A fourth, and if necessary a fifth 

 man, tot plant them onto the bench. A 

 force like this can work together from 

 morning till night and no one needs to 

 wait on anyone else if each attends to 

 his business and a house is filled in short 

 order. See that the man with the spade 

 digs deep cnoxigh to get all the roots 

 and see that the man who picks them 

 up does not tear them off in reducing 

 the ball. Great care is needed if the soil 

 is stiff and comes up in lumps. Carna- 

 tions should never be planted on such 

 soil if it can be avoided and that is 

 why a rather sandy loam is the best in 

 the field, it does not cake. The man in- 

 side should keep right up with the dig- 

 ger so that the plants do not lie around 

 and wilt and see that they set them in 

 the soil just about as deep as they were 

 in the field and water every time you 

 have a few hundred planted, thoroughly 

 syringing overhead several times each 

 day. 



When planting we leave a slight de- 



pression in the soil around the plant and 

 in watering we fill it instead of flooding 

 the whole bench. Water sparingly for a 

 few days at the roots, but be careful 

 not to allow the soil tO' get dry enough 

 to cause suffering and keep up a damp 

 atmosphere by sprinkling water on the 

 walks and under the benches for seveial 



dlVs 



\void draughts by keeping the venti- 

 latois a little lower than usual, but do 

 not allow the atmosphere to become stuf- 

 fs and foul. After three or four da,vs 

 ■\ou can increase the ventilation a few 

 inches each day until after a week or 

 so ^ou have the ventilators up full height 

 igiin The mud shade you put on just 

 betoip beginning the planting will do 

 no Inim for ten days or two weeks if 

 the weather is bright and warm and if 

 It nins within that time and washes 

 It oft clean you may have to put on a 

 li„'ht shade again, but do not get your 

 plants soft by keeping the house dark 

 too long After the plants are estab- 

 lished they should have the full sun so 

 thit the growth will be well matured. 



We do not put the supports in place 

 until at least the first crop of weeds 

 has been pulled and if the plants stand 

 up well we wait until the second crop 

 has also been taken out, after which the 

 benches will remain tolerably clean un- 

 til toward spring. But under no circum- 

 stances should you allow the plants to 

 lie all over the bench, as we too often 

 see, sometimes even up to Christinas 

 time. How could you expect good blooms 

 on straight stems? Good carnations can- 

 not be grown that way. 



Do not house any diseased or runty 

 plants as j'ou will only be wasting your 

 room when you might just as well plant 

 something profitable; and besides, if it 

 is a disease that will spread you are 

 liable to get your whole stock infested. 

 If a variety has much rust in the field 

 you better leave it out. as the dampness 

 necessary in getting the plants started 

 on the benches will cause the rust to 

 spread rapidly. The same may also be 

 said of stem rot. If a plant has a branch 

 died off don't take it in for the rest 

 of the plant will go, loo, in a short 

 time and perhaps siveral more plants 

 with it. 



If you have plants shipped to you don't 

 demand them on a certain day, but al- 

 low th"e shipper to judge as to the best 

 time for diggimj, lb' .-liMiihl notify ,vou 

 before he ship- ihrm -n \"ii 1 an In' rcad,v 

 to plant them at nm r. Ah\.\- 1 rm.'iiiber 

 that lifting the plants propciiy is uf more 

 importance than is planting on a certain 

 date. A, F, J. B.\UR. 



INJURED BOSTON FERNS. 



I send sample of Boston fern fronds and 

 wish you would tell me what caused them 

 to look as though the.y were burned. It 

 is true we are having hot weather, but 

 we keep the houses as cool as we can and 

 they are heavily shaded with whitewash. 

 AH the young leaves are turning the 

 same way, and I cannot account for it. I 

 see the other florists are bothered the 

 same wav. C. P. M. 



At the first glance it would appear as 

 though the Boston ferns in question had 

 been burned by ammonia arising from 

 some fresh manure that had been used in 

 the soil in which they were planted, but 

 as "C. P. M." remarks that "the other 

 (lipvists are bothered the same way," it 



