2i0 



The Weekly Florists^ Review, 



seems to dispose of that theory, for it is 

 doubtful if all have used precisely the 

 same compost. 



It therefore seems mO!t likely that this 

 injury was really due to the excessive 

 heat, for even tiiougli the houses were 

 heavily shaded it would be absolutely 

 necessary to ventilate freely, and the <lry 

 boated air thus admitted carried oil the 



moisture from the pores of the Ic; 



more rapidly than the vn,,\~, , |,1 



ply it. It is also pos-il.lr iIkii iIh'|iI. 

 became dry at the rn.,i, ;,,,.! o,„- - 

 drying under such tiyiii;; ali]iii^|ili 

 conditions would be quite enough to i 

 the young growth of these ferns. 



W. H. Tapli! 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Poinsettias. 



It is some time since I have had any- 

 thing to say about poinsettias, and I am 

 somewhat of a crank on these. They 

 really have been a paying plant with us 

 for some years and I think should be 

 largely sold in all large cities. Last year 

 we found that many of the earliest 

 |)ropagated grew altogether too high to 

 be desirable, some growing as high as six 

 feet. This we could not very well ac- 

 count for. Do not use in your final pot- 

 ling, which won't be quite yet. too rich 

 a soil, and pot very firmly. "l have often 

 said that they should have the lightest 

 house you have. Nothing but the full 

 blaze of the sun will do. With these con- 

 ditions you have done all j^ou could to 

 keep them dwarf. For two or three 

 years past the single plants have not 

 lx;en as much in demand as the pans. We 

 began growing them in pans some four 

 years ago and last year nearly every one 

 who could afTord it wanted a 10 or 12- 



inch 



pan. 



Plants propagated now and even a 

 month later are just what you want 

 for this purpose. They root very read- 

 ily during August, keeping the bed shad- 

 ed and with copious waterings twice a 

 day. To take them from the sand and 

 put them into the pan is a little risky 

 because one plant will giow much taller, 

 perhaps, than another and in pans it is 

 desirable to ha,ve them as nearly one 

 height as possible. So we prefer to take 

 tiiem from the sand and pot in the usual 

 way in 2i-inch pots and then in trans- 

 ferring them later to the pans you can 

 choose five or six plants, or whatever 

 you use for the pan, all of one size and 

 they will be likely to maintain the same 

 corresponding growth. You often see 

 these plants in a very mi.serab'e state 

 about Christmas time; 'leafless and scrag- 

 gy when they should be in perfection. 

 One point in their culture I will re- 

 l)eat once more is they never want to 

 have their roots disturbed by shifting 

 within at least ten weeks of Christmas^ 

 and better three months. 



Lilies. 



Lilies are beginning to arrive. It 

 seems there is going to be rather a 

 scarcity of the Bermuda bulbs. I know 

 of no better way than potting tne 5 to 7 

 ones, getting them into a cool house 

 until they get a start. We use a 5- 

 ineh pot for this size. Those you don't 

 want quite as early can be placed out 

 of doors. To prevent the soil from con- 

 tinually drying with those inside we put 

 over an inch of sphagnum. This keeps 



the soil moist and I think is better for 

 the bulbs. It is easily removed after 

 they have made a start. Those outside 

 we prefer to cover with spent hops and 

 have in a position so that in ease of very 

 heavy rains we can cover with glass. 



We have tried several ditferent plans 

 with the 7 to 9. A few years ago we 

 kept the bulbs and the surface of the 

 soil down two inches below the top of 

 the pot. On removing to the green- 

 house, say in November, we added an 

 inch or inch and a half of well enriched 

 soil, or in other words filled the pot up to 

 the usual depth, and I am going back 

 to that plan this year. For several 

 years we have potted them in 4-inch 

 pots to stai't with and on removing them 

 to the greenhouse shifted them into the 

 6-inch for the flowering pot, but we have 

 come to the conclusion that in the long 

 run it is nothing saved in labor. This 

 year we shall pot the large bulbs in their 

 flowering pot at once and keep the bulb 

 down as described above. Do not use 

 too much manure with the composition 

 you use for lilies and what you do let 

 it be thoroughly rotten. 



Mignonette. 



We found last year that a few pots 

 of mignonette sold remarkably well at 

 Christmas. It is a very good time to sow 

 it now. Although the mignonette is by 

 no means an easy plant to- transplant as 



men, no matter whether you have them 

 in a frame or in a house. I believe for 

 the average grower who has but a few 



that the house is the safest place. If 



l.:li, -:- III- .ill' lilriilifullv distributed 



ai • :i . I-' II Mill li.l|i MTV much 



(..!,, |. ,|. I, 11^ h,,i,i l„: afraid 



or oven twice a day, and don't let them 

 suff'er for want of shifting. Never let 

 them get ex-tremely dry, and shade dur- 

 ing the brightest hours of the day. 



William Scott. 



STEAM HEATING. 



We have four greenhouses which we 

 would like to heat with steam and would 

 like to hear from some experienced man 

 how to arrange the pipes to the best ad- 

 vantage. 



Three houses are 29 x 185, 13 feet to 

 ridge, 54 feet to gutter. They are con- 

 nected houses, four 5-foot benches to a 

 house. We wish to keep them at 60 de- 

 grees in zero weather. 



One house is 2"9 x 128, 13 feet to ridge, 

 5i to gutter. This house we want to 

 keep at 70 degrees. How large should 

 the boiler be? 



Chicago. G. E. 



For the heating of the three house* 

 29 feet wide by 185 feet long to 60 de- 

 grees and the one house 29 feet by 12.S 

 feet to 70 degrees on zero nights, I would 

 suggest the use of a horizontal return 

 tubular boiler having a capacity, as us>i- 

 ally rated, of not less than thirty to thir- 

 ty-five horse power; forty horse power 

 would provide an economical and desir- 

 able surplus capacity. 



The Ohio State Building at the Pan-American Exposition. 



