644 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^. 



October 24, 1001. 



the view. It's the finish that counts 

 for much all the time. It isn't necessary 

 to overcrowd a table to make it look 

 rich; an overcrowded table is vulgar; 

 richness depends on material and form 

 that require delicacy of touch to display 

 them properly. 



Chrysanthemums can be used to good 

 advantage in wedding decorations and 

 you can easily arrange an arbor with 

 a few plants and two large vases of 

 these flowers. Often the simplest ma- 

 terial can be put to splendid use. At 

 the recent wedding of young Rockefeller, 

 who is considered the richest young man 

 in the world, a large building was spe- 

 cially erected for the occasion; the in- 

 terior was draped with white cheese 

 cloth and upon this were garlands of 

 wild smilax, the canopy was in the shape 

 of a sea shell and was made of green 

 sheet moss, there was a wealth of flowers 

 used in the room, but the best work 

 was done where brains were used in 

 arranging even commonplace stock, such 

 as wild smilax and green moss, and this 

 will apply to your work at exhibitions. 

 Gret in line and show what you can do, 

 whether there is a class for it or not; 

 public appreciation and self satisfaction 

 are worth catering to. Iveea. 



ORCHID CORSAGE BOUQUETS. 



The two examples of orchid corsage 

 bouquets shown this week were special- 

 ly made for this department last spring. 

 The larger one is composed of two spikes 

 of Cattleya speciosissima. It shows 

 about the choicest corsage bouquet that 

 can be made. 



This size is intended to illustrate what 

 is the proper thing where expense is not 

 considered — at dinner or theater parties. 

 Ko greens are used, simply cattleyas, 

 with colored velvet ribbon twisted 

 around the stems and tied in a short 

 bow. Greens would destroy the beauty 

 of these flowers and would make them 

 look cabbagey when worn. Then again, 

 dresses usually worn at formal dinners 

 or at the opera are so delicate in color 

 or texture that greens both injure the 

 dress and destroy the whole efl'ect. These 

 flowers are Flora's diamonds, and must 

 be so considered and worn. 



The smaller bouquet is one spray of 

 Cattleya Trianse, and is intended to 

 show what can be offered and worn at 

 any time or occasion. The baby ribbon 

 used is the exact color of the petals; it 

 is just a little too long in the streamers. 

 This size bouquet looks very pretty when 

 worn as a shoulder spray. It is more 

 generally used to extend the frontage of 

 decollete dresses, but it can be worn 

 on the street. Where specially choice 

 flowers are wanted, or the dresses are of 

 an expensive kind, florists should recom- 

 mend cattleyas; they will be very styl- 

 ish this winter, and it is hoped the 

 growers will assist in keeping the flower 

 popular by putting a steady and reason- 

 able price on them. 



The flowers in the illustrations were 

 grown by Arthur Herrington, Madison, 

 N. J., and were kindly loaned to us for 

 this purpose by Thomas Young, Jr., who 

 wholesales them. The photographs 

 scarcely do the flowers justice, as they 

 were some of the finest seen here. 



IVEKA. 



ROSES. 



Style of House. 



Tlie best style of a house in which to 



grow roses has been a much debated 



question which is apparently still un- 

 settled, some growers preferring long- 

 span-to-the-north; some longspan-to-the- 

 soulh, and there are others who claim 

 an equal-span to be best. 



The object desired by a grower being 

 a maximum of sunshine with a minimum 

 of shade seems to be easiest obtained 

 with a three-quarter-span, long-span-to- 

 the-south. This is the style adopted by 

 the majority of growers who want win- 

 ter blooms. For summer roses an equal- 

 span house running north and south an- 

 swers the purpose better, the sun being 

 on the end of the house during the 

 hottest part of the day, the sash bars 

 afi'ord quite a bit of shade to bud and 

 leaf, giving them more time to develop. 

 Winter crops in such houses, while of 

 excellent quality, are slower and more 

 irregular than in houses with a south- 

 ern exposure. A good, up-to-date grower 

 will soon adapt himself to the condi- 

 tions and produce good roses from any 

 of the existing styles of modern houses. 



Benching. 



The most common style of bench used 

 is table-bench, which can be of any width 

 to suit the requirements of- the house, 

 with side boards 5 inches deep and board 

 bottoms. The boards for bottoming 

 should be 5 or 6 inches wide and a 

 space of one inch left between each board 

 for drainage. This is the easiest and 

 quickest to build and taking first cost 

 into consideration, the cheapest. The 

 one great drawback in this kind of a 

 bench being the everlasting repairs it 

 entails, which needs to be done at the 

 season when there is least time to at- 

 tend to it. 



Tile-bottomed benches do away in a 

 great measure with repairing. In the 

 construction of a bench of this kind 

 there is little difference from the other ; 

 simply substituting tile or half-tile for 

 boards and filling in between the shoul- 

 ders of the tiles with coarse gravel; 

 this, after being covered with sod or 

 litter to keep the soil from running, 

 makes the most perfect drainage that I 

 know of. We have been using such a 

 bench for the last four years and while 

 the initial cost runs considerably high- 

 er, the repairs, up till now, have amount- 

 ed to absolutely nothing. The stock is 

 more vigorous and the cut much better 

 than on benches with board bottoms in 

 the same house. 



Soils. 



Good stock can be successfully raised 

 on many kinds of soil from black muck 

 to that yellow, fibry loam so much 

 sought after. To get soil in good con- 

 dition for planting it should be col- 

 lected some time previous to using.- The 

 top spit to a depth of 6 inches from well- 

 sodded pasture land, put in a neat pile 

 with one-fifth well-rotted stable manure 

 added and allowed to stand for two 

 weeks before being chopped and then 

 turned over in another week and the 

 manure thoroughly incorporated with it 

 will make it ready to put on the bench. 



This work can be done in the fall or 

 early in the spring; the soil collected 

 in the spring is less liable to grow green 

 scum on the surface than that which 

 has been in the pile all winter. 



ElBES. 



BEDS OR BENCHES. 



Which is better for two-year-old dor- 

 mant roses, beds or benches? Should 

 they be cut back when planted or after 



they commence to break? The roses to 

 be planted are Beauties and Kaiserins, 

 own roots. M. 



American Beauties will succeed best if 

 planted on a table bench. If planted in 

 solid beds they are apt to run to wood, 

 and having no control of the roots it 

 would be a hard matter to get them to 

 bud during the winter. 



Dormant stock should be planted with- 

 out being pruned ; the pruning to be 

 done after the eyes have started. If the 

 tops are too heavy they can be reduced 

 but not too near the eyes you wish to 

 break. Give one good watering after 

 planting, then allow the bench to be- 

 come medium dry; syringe every bright 

 day, and keep the temperature at 50 

 degrees till the eyes break; after that 

 give water more freely and gradually 

 raise the temperature till 58 degrees is 

 reached. 



It is now either too late or too early 

 to do much with dormant Kaiserins. The 

 stock can easily be kept dormant till 

 after the middle of January, when they 

 can be planted in solid benches and 

 treated in the way recommended for 

 Beauties. If planted and started now 

 the growth will be weak as at its best 

 it is but a poor winter grower, but when 

 started early in spring it makes one of 

 the best early summer roses and con- 

 tinues to bloom till late in the fall. 



RiBES. 



CARNATION NOTES. 



Firing. 

 TTie season is here now when fire will 

 be needed almost regularly and great 

 care and judgment is required from the 

 man who runs the place through the 

 nights. During October and early No- 

 vember there is perhaps more danger of 

 ruining the season's prospects than 

 there is at any other time after the 

 plants are housed. It takes careful 

 watching both day and night now so 

 that there is fire when it is needed, and 

 no artificial heat when it is not need- 

 ed. One night is liable to be warm 

 enough to keep the ventilators up a 

 foot or more and the next night is 

 likely to see the mercury hovering 

 around the freezing point, so you must 

 be ready to fire up at any time and 

 when it is warm enough you should have 

 the ventilators up. Carnations like a 

 fresh bracing atmosphere above all 

 things, but if the wind is high and 

 raw you must keep the ventilators low 

 enough to prevent cold draughts from 

 striking the plants. 



Watering. 

 You are most likely to be cutting 

 some blooms by this time and the tem- 

 perature should be kept as regular as 

 possible to keep the calvxes from split- 

 ting. If there are no signs of red 

 spider we syringe less frequently after 

 about the middle of October, once or 

 twice each week is enough if it is done 

 with good force and whenever possible 

 syringe the plants from both sides and 

 only do it on bright days. Water is 

 also given more sparingly at the roots, 

 especially to those varieties which are 

 subject to bacteria. You want to work 

 toward keeping the grass of such vari- 

 eties firm at all times and right at this 

 time is when the damage is most often 

 done. If you notice the soil getting too 

 wet dust the plants and the soil with 

 lime. 



