396 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



shortage in the supply of those sizes. 

 But there seems to be plenty of good- 

 sized Japan longillorum. Some import- 

 ers have obtained their bulbs earlier 

 than usual on account of Easter coming 

 so early next year. 



The demand for Roman hyacinths and 

 paper-white narcissus is increasing year- 

 ly, but of the narcissus the grandiflora 

 is generally demanded, and the call for 



the grandiflora multillora i? oonlmually 

 enlarging. Von Sion >]• <■- ih.i k,r|, u]) 

 with other bulbs in inn.. .-.■,! .Iriii.nicl 

 except on some special mIi' I -i'"U. I'lar 



lically all the Von Simi- ii"w <■ fniiji 



Holland, the English grown bulbs gen- 

 erally producing greenish flowers, the 

 French grown also having the s'ame tend- 

 ency, though in a less marked degree. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Stevia, 



The only stevia worth growing is S. 

 serratifolia, and that you have plajited 

 out. With our warm and frequent rains 

 they have grown into large plants. 

 About this time they can have then- 

 last stopping, which should not be just 

 the very tip pinched out, but four or 

 five inches of the top of every shoot 

 pinched off. They have some weeks to 

 grow outside yet, but as you cannot do 

 everything at once it is well to lift them 

 about the middle of September. _ Give 

 them a good sized pot and don't put 

 them in the house. Stand them in the 

 shade till they have got over the lifting 

 and then if we escape a September frost 

 they are better out of doors till near the 

 end of October. 



It is at the holidays that you want the 

 stevia, and I have never had too much 

 of it. There is a grace and lightness 

 about the flower which blends with every- 

 thing and makes acceptable many an 

 otherwise stiff bunch of flowers. Some 

 wrowers lift the stevias with a good ball 

 of earth and plant them on the bench in 

 six inches of soil. This plan will do 

 very well and produce finer spikes than 

 in pots if you have a crop to succeed the 

 stevia, but I like the pots best. 



Bouvardia. 



It is about the time (first week of 

 September) to lift the bouvardia. It is 

 little grown now, although twenty years 

 ago it was one of our most important 

 cut flower plants. They are by no means 

 the easiest plants to lift, but if they 

 have been grown in a sandy loam and 

 lifted when the soil is moist few of the 

 roots will be lost. These should always 

 be planted on a bench 9 to 12 inches 

 apart in 4 or 5 inches of good loam. 

 Shade and frequent syringing must be 

 attended to till the plants show they 

 have got hold of the new soil, after 

 which the bouvardia wants the fullest 

 light. If they have been pinched in the 

 field recently all right. If not, leave 

 them untouched till they are estahlished 

 inside and then pinch the leading shoots. 

 This is another flower that is not ap- 

 preciated while there is a flood of chrys- 

 anthemums, but when December comes it 

 is welcome. 



I may just mention to those who are 

 beginners — to whom at all times my 

 notes are respectfully dedicated, and not 

 to the experienced— that the bouvardias 

 are all essentially tropical, and while you 

 may get a very good Christmas crop and 

 perhaps another at Easter at a night 

 temperature of 50 to 55, you will have a 

 long period of rest, and to grow them 



■e a night ' 

 00 to 05. 



profitably they should 1 

 perature of not less th 

 Poinsettia. 

 If you want to plant out a bench of 

 poinsettias, by which means you get 

 larger flowers than in pots, now is a 

 aood time to do it. Five inches of good 

 heavy loam will grow them well and let 

 it be in the lightest house you have. 

 Poinsettias will thrive in a lower tem- 

 perature when their roots have plenty 

 Sf room than they will when grown in 

 pots, and for cutting, the planting on a 

 bench is the surest way, but we sell so 

 many in pots that we have to grow them 

 that wav. Mealy bug is the worst ene- 

 my of poinsettias, and as they delight 

 in plenty of syringing you should never 

 let it get a lodgment on the plants. 

 Ros«s. 

 Soon we will be having cool nights 

 and much more care and watchfulness 

 will be called for. Up to date there has 

 been no trouble; with good soil and 

 proper watering a healthy and strong 

 growth has been made, and no excuse tor 

 mildew up to this time. With the com- 

 ing month, however, we shall get nights 

 that will go down to 40 or 45, and you 

 will be tempted to shut up the ventila- 

 tors early to keep the house warm. As 

 long as there was a free and abundant 

 circulation with open ventilators day 

 and night it mattered little when you 

 syringed, but when cool nights are com- 

 ing syringe always in the forenoon. 



Syringing is done for two reasons: 

 First to produce a moist, growing at- 

 mosphere conducive to growth, or food 

 for the foliage, and ne.xt to keep down 

 red spider. A long chapter could be 

 written on syringing. Some men are so 

 dexterous with the hose that they can 

 thoroughly wet, or, I might almost say, 

 scour the underside of every leaf without 

 scarcely wetting the soil of the bench,- 

 while others are so crude that what they 

 call sprinkling is neither a syringing nor 

 a watering. I am sure I have seen some 

 dismal failures from this unskillful use 

 of the hose. But of that later. The cool 

 nights that are coming is my theme. 



The ideal conditions when the out- 

 side temperature falls below 50 degrees 

 would be a small amount of ventilation 

 with a very slight heat on the pipes, but 

 firing early is often inconvenient and 

 consfderable expense and may only be 

 needed for a few nights. The next best 

 condition is to have the house by even- 

 in" perfectly dry and a small amount of 

 ventilation, or, if too cool and windy, 

 close it up entirely. The very worst 

 management would be to syringe during 



the afternoon, close up the house, rais 



ing the temperature. 



which would fall 



during the night and leave the foliage 

 wet all night. I have seen this done 

 four or five successive afternoons and 

 the next morning the dew drops were 

 glistening on every leaf and in one week 

 there were no leaves for the dew to rest 

 on. This moist heat in the evening, fol- 

 lowed by a damp, close atmosphere, will 

 quickly produce a silvery threaded fun- 

 gus, entirely distinct from mildew, which 

 will take off every leaf in short order. 



A very good and successful rose grow- 

 er told me a few years ago that he rather 

 liked to have an attack of mildew dur- 

 ing September. He considered it gave 

 them a rest. I cannot agree with him. 

 A rest by a cool temperature would seem 

 much to be preferred. In conclusion, 

 do your syringing always in the morn- 

 ing." Dull, damp days there is no need 

 of it, and never close the house when 

 the foliage is wet unless you can do 



some nring. 



William Scott. 



FORCING CUCUMBERS. 



Subscriber asks for information re- 

 garding the forcing of cucumbers. The 

 variety generally grown in the East for 

 purely commercial purposes is the Ameri- 

 can White Spine, the long seedless va- 

 rieties of the Telegraph type not being 

 called for in the market at all. Why 

 this is it is difficult to state, for the 

 White Spine cannot compare with the 

 Telegraph for flavor, in my opinion. 



If Subscriber is proposing to market 

 his crop, he would better grow the White 

 Spine variety. 



The seed should be sown in pots, and, 

 when the young plants are well rooted, 

 tliey can be planted out on the bench 

 alx)ut three feet apart. It is not wise, 

 in the winter, to fill up the entire bench 

 with soil, because then the plants are apt 

 to run too much to vine before fruiting; 

 and, also, if the soil gets too wet, stem 

 rot may set in. 



The best way we have found is to take 

 a section (say) a foot square, and fill it 

 with soil, using loose bricks to keep the 

 soil from washing down. Then, when 

 the plants have filled the soil with roots, 

 the bricks can be moved back, and more 

 soil added as it is needed. 



The temperature should never fall be- 

 low 60 at night, with a rise of 15 to 20 

 degrees by day. 



The main factor of success in grow- 

 ing cucumbers is to never let the plants 

 receive the slightest check from the time 

 the seed germinates. 



To produce a crop of fruit on the 

 White Spine, the flowers must be artific- 

 ially pollinated. This is easily accom- 

 plished; the only thing being to deter- 

 mine the difference between the male and 

 female flowers, and transfer the pollen 

 from the one to the other. The female 

 flower is easily distinguished from the 

 male by the embryo fruit at its base. 

 Some large growers put a hive of bees in 

 the house to insure fertilization of the 

 flowers. 



When the plants have made a good top 

 growth, the tip should be pinched out, 

 to induce lateral growth, which is where 

 till- fiuils will -liow. Do not let the lat- 

 riil "LMili- jil all crowded together, 



unneeessiry 



wood. 



I Ml a -Hill" ill f°i' the plants on side 

 beiiclies wire* can be run the long way of 

 the house, and kept down a foot from the 

 glass. Growers that make a business of 

 cucumber-growing have no benches, but 

 plant out on the floor of the house, and 



