TheWeekly Florists' Review. 



41? 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Bulbs. 



Paper white narcissus and Roman hya- 

 cinths are now arriving and very soon 

 will be followed by the tuplips and hya- 

 cinths. I have never found that there 

 was a great deal of demand or profit in 

 forcing paper whites much before Christ- 

 mas, but I do think a big lot of them is 

 always most useful. A few Roman hya- 

 cinths are always very desirable just as 

 <'arly as you c'an get them, but large 

 (|uantities of them are not desirable un- 

 til the holidays, and from then on. 



To have Roman hyacinths early, say 

 by the first of November. ,T few should 

 be boxed immediately. 1 ii>r tin- same 

 size box for all forcing 1 iill.s. mi. I lliat 1 

 have frequently desii il)r.L 1 iliiiik it is 

 poor economy to u-c ;iii\ <'ll li"\ lliai 

 you can get becaii-r I In- lii-t > -i i- 

 cheap. Much bettiT i" li;i\' iluin ,i!l ut 

 one uniform size. \\ '■ rmd IIh- li,iihli.-,> 

 size is 24 inches lonj;, 12 iuuhc, bruad 

 and 3 inches deep. The end pieces are 

 made of inch stuff and the sides and 

 bottom of half inch. Four strips 3 

 inches wide make the bottom and the 

 ■iiiiall space between each slat for draiii- 

 uuc Tlicsc boxes will last several vears 

 unlr>s :ill(.wr.l tn l:.v ar..uii.l with the 

 snil 111 llinii :,ll ^iiinniri. uliirl, should 

 11. il ]»■ .l.iii.'. 'IIm-.' Imx,.^ »,. liii.l the 

 iii...-,t useful f.ir -.•n.liiiL;, i.ut tlw i.ljiits in 

 the spriu}!' ami if we neglect to pick 

 them up where plants have been deliv- 

 ered no great loss, for I don't lielieve 

 they co.st over five cents apipce. We buy 

 the sawed strips aiiil iiiak.' tli.m our- 

 selves. We find till' .\ .iiiiuri m. iiil..'! s of 

 the family are always f.m.l ..t iisiiiL; the 

 saw and hammer and i have had seven- 

 ty-five of these boxes made in a few 

 hours by the boys. 



Now, Roman hyacinths are supposed 

 not to stand any freezing. This is a 

 mistake ; they are not hurt by a freeze 

 providing it is not too severe and that 

 you do not disturb them while in a 

 frozen state. For the earliest, how- 

 ever, there will be no fiost touch tbeni 

 and they can be placed out of doors in 



ben.- 



ial. 



lie the 



It is straiise how awkward many men 

 aif at this bulb business. Some will 

 init the bulb away down until it is near- 

 Iv touching the bottom of the box and 

 others will fill the flat so full of soil 



that the bulb is sticking up an inch or 

 two above. If the box is filled lightly 

 with soil even to the top and then the 

 bulb pressed in until the top is about 

 even with the top of the box it will be 

 found about right. A very little soil 

 then can be thrown between the bulbs 

 and the operation is finished. Here is 

 something that should occupy little time 

 even if you have a large quantity, as a 

 handy man can put thousands in boxes 

 in one day. 



After you have placed the boxes on 

 boards on the open ground give them a 

 thorough soaking and then throw over 

 two iiuhcs 1. 1" iji.^ -inrounding soil, or, 

 if you Ilh.^ i.iiil.aik at your disposal, 

 put on t».. ..i ilii..^ inches of tan bark, 

 but I lui^i. I ih.^ -' il. When first forc- 

 iii.j- Lull.- ».■ .Ii.l II.. I realize how neces- 

 .,ir\ il \.a- I.. k..^|i ihcse early planted 

 l.iill., ,iiili, i.iii U in.ist. We thought one 

 good wattling w.i,-, sulhcient. This is 

 entirely wrong. Remember there is no 

 moisture arising from the earth as there 

 is with plants planted in the open 

 ground, and they must depend entirely 

 on rains, and you know it takes an awful 

 good rain to" go two inches into the 

 ground. Unless we get extremely wet 

 weather every week you should give 

 these early planted bulbs a thorough 

 soaking, for you want them to make root 

 as quickly as possible. 



For the early paper whites, they also 

 can be placed outside, but for the main 

 crop of paper whites and also the Ro- 

 man hyariiitli-, 1 |.ii'fcr to have them in 

 a cold flam. ... -..iii.^ ].lace where a good 

 covering: .an 1.. ■ji\.ii them. While on 

 the bull. Iiiwiiii--. I may as well say 

 that til. IS.. «li.i .K-sirc to force tulips 

 carl\ sli.iiilil lunc a rcitaiu portion of 

 thfiii put int.. the Hats at once. For 

 that matter tliey can all be Ixixed as soon 

 as you can find time, for there is noth- 

 ing" like getting them well rooted before 

 winter sets in. The success of forcing 

 them will depend upon how well they 

 are rooted. I will have something to 

 say later about the winter treatment of 

 them. 



Lilies. 

 We are very glad to find Japan longi- 

 florum lilies arriving. Do not attempt 

 to force any as you have the Harrisii 

 for the earl"y flowers. They are always 

 best in the "frame and can be left there 

 until well on in November. I used to 

 advocate puttiiiL' i la^ laiuiT -ize bulbs in 

 4-inch pots an.l ;. ii . i \\ a i .Is shifting 

 them. I have ha. I .-. \. lal j.i.iple tell me 

 that they wvw .suic the shitting re- 

 tarded their flowering a week or ten 

 days. I am scarcely prepared to believe 

 that, although it is possible it might do 



.nib. 



great .lill.i .n. .■ nmIIi -h.Ii an . 



er as .an ii.^\i , 'I h.^i .■l'..r.^. 



them at ..m-.^ inl" Ih.' |'"' I' 



flower in. 1 do, liiiwi-\.i. h.Ii 



plan which we fonii.Tl) j.i 



putting the bulb downi tu.. in. he- hrlow 



the surface of the pot and when they are 



brought into the house filling up the pot 



to the usual depth, or, say, half an inch 



of 



Verbenas. 



I -ii|.|..i-o hilt very few of you trouble 



iiin I .■ til pcipelnate the sweet old 



Mih.n.i hy cuttings. After seeing them 

 this year so fine I believe they will come 

 again into fashion. The little carpet 

 bedding I have seen this year looks to 

 me hideous and' the beds of our sweet 

 flowers are far more enjoyable in every 

 way. If you do want to propagate ver- 

 benas from a choice strain you should 

 now cut back a few plants. Shorten 

 them back to within five or six inches of 

 the main stalk. Stir up the ground be- 

 tween them, putting a little rotten man- 

 ure around amongst the growth and keep 

 them watered, and by the end of the 

 month you will have an abundance of 

 green succulent growth, which is the 

 right kind of stuff to make cuttings and 

 root quite easily in a cold frame during 

 November. 



Geraniums. 



The great change of weather and the 

 welcome cold days remind us that we 

 must begin to propagate our geraniums. 

 As I said a week or two ago, don't 

 trouble to put them in the sand. Put 

 them at once in 2 or 2i-inch pots. A 

 cold-frame is all right for them pro- 

 viding you will not neglect them there, 

 but we find a bench in a light house is 

 the safest place. 



Roses. 



I presume there are plenty of roses 

 not yet tied up. I know there are sev- 

 eral establishments where they are just 

 doing it. There is no doubt that the 

 steel wire .support tied at the top to a 

 horizontal small wire is almost the ideal 

 way of supporting them, but the first 

 cost of this is considerable. A wire, the 

 stovepipe size, run across the bench and 

 kept an inch or so above the soil, is an- 

 other plan. From that wire run a strong, 

 cheap string to a wire running across 

 the bench, or lengthwise of the bench, 

 say four to five feet above the roses. 

 Tliis is a very inexpensive way, easy to 

 install and very easily removed when the 

 soil is taken out in the spring. Both 

 sets of wires can be raised away up 

 temporarily and put in place again after 

 the roses are planted. I see occasionally 

 some very crude attempts at tying roses. 



In tying a carnation in the old-fash- 

 ioned way, when we used stakes, it is 

 cnnr.t to let the string envelop the 

 wli..'. ].laiit. just tied enough to sup- 

 poit II With a rose this is entirely un- 

 nci.^--iiy 1111.1 wrong. Tlie small, use- 

 less Liiiiwth, which it is entirely proper 

 to keep on, for no blind wood should 

 i'\er lie cut away from a tea rose, wants 

 no support. It will not make much 

 growth and \vill not hurt. It is only 

 the strong growths that are going to 

 produce the roses that we want tied. 

 Hut tying is a very important thing and 

 should not be neglected. 



William Scott. 



CARNATION NOTES. 



We have been liavin.g ideal carnation 

 growing weather lately and plants in the 

 house as well as those remaining out of 

 doors are making a fine growth, clean 

 and thrifty. Those that were kept in- 

 side all summer have made more growth 

 during the last four weeks than they did 

 all the summer previous. 



