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The Weekly Florists' Review. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



n 



Violets. 



A subscriber writes as follows: 

 "Would you please give me in the Re- 

 view the correct treatment for violets in 

 cool houses? Is nitrate of soda harm- 

 ful? If not, in what proportion should 

 it be used? How and when should they 

 be watered? What ventilation is neces- 

 sary? What insects are they subject to 

 and which of them is their greatest en- 

 emy?" 



To answer all this at any length would 

 be a treatise on the violet of a good 

 many pages. And further I am not 

 sure that any one can give the "correct" 

 treatment. They can only say under 

 what treatment they have been success- 

 ful, which in the case of violets is very 

 likely to disagree with the treatment of 

 other growers. 



First, about cool nights; from 40 to 

 45 degrees at night is the temperature 

 generally^considered right; below 40 the 

 flowers "will come slow in the middle of 

 winter and above 45 will mean a good 

 many flowers but a short crop. 



Nitrate of soda can be and is used on 

 violets. It will give depth of color to 

 flower and leaf but will not increase 

 size or quantity of bloom. One pound 

 dissolved- in 40 gallons of water can be 

 used with safety. 



Violets, like any other of our crops, 

 want watering when they need it. Con- 

 trary to what many suppose the solid 

 beds take water oftener than the benches, 

 unless the heat of pipes dries them out. 

 I would say let the beds get slightly on 

 the dry side and then give them a good, 

 copious watering; if in dull, cold weath- 

 er, water between the plants, wetting 

 the leaves as little as possible. 



About ventilation. A most remarkable 

 illustration came to my notice last 

 week. In a north lean-to house of vio- 

 lets where there is only one 4-foot bench 

 of violets and the ventilation is right 

 over the plants and near the front of the 

 bench, the ventilator is not over one 

 foot above the plants. There is a very 

 marked difference in the color and vigor 

 of those that have had the air let in 

 right over them. The ventilators are 

 about 12 feet apart and wherever they 

 occur there is a green, healthy batch of 

 plants the width of the ventilator and 

 those away from its influence are any- 

 thing but vigorous. I would by no 

 means advocate ventilating by this meth- 

 od. It should be at the ridge, for then 

 the air is equally distributed throughout 

 the house. Give air whenever the tem- 

 perature goes over 55 degrees, but if a 

 cold, cutting wind is blowing, it is bet- 

 ter to let the temperature go a little 

 higher than have a nasty draught on 

 them. 



The violets are easily attacked by the 

 common greenfly and several species of 

 a worse kind. Besides the aphis, red 

 spider is often the cause of failure. The 

 spot is caused by a fungus. I know of 

 no cure for the spot but keeping the 

 plants clean and picking off the leaf the 



moment it is discovered. Syringing 

 spreads the fungus. It generally ap- 

 pears in the houses during the months of 

 September and October. Red spider ap- 

 pears in the houses in July and August, 

 but those are the months that you can 

 syringe vigorously every day and there 

 is no excuse for letting red spider get 

 lodgment. There are plenty of days in 

 October when you can syringe and if 

 they are clean of spider at the end of 

 October there is not much danger after 

 that. The several species of aphis that 

 attack the violet are much the most 

 troublesome and it's eternal vigilance 

 that will save. 



I have been speaking all this time of 

 indoor culture and therefore I believe 

 that from the time they are planted out 

 in the beds, say end of June, they should 

 be faithfully fumigated, not too strong- 

 ly, but often, at least twice a week, till 

 you begin to pick flowers, and if they 

 are clean by November 1 it is seldom 

 that the fly will trouble you after that. 

 Some growers in place of fumigating use 

 tobacco dust sprinkled on the plants 

 and some use a solution of one of the 

 extracts of tobacco. The whole secret of 

 violet growing is to keep them absolutely 

 clean of all insects of every kind, but 

 this is seldom done; it needs lots of en- 

 ergy and sustained effort, and simple as 

 it seems to keep plants clear of their 

 enemies it is neglected by the great ma- 

 jority. 



Crimson Ramblers. 



As Easter is very near this year (last 

 day of March ) , you must consider it 

 when starting and forcing several things, 

 notably Crimson Rambler roses. Those 

 grown in pots all summer, which should 

 now be resting in a cold frame, need not 

 be started growing till the middle of De- 

 cember. Those lifted from the ground 

 during the early days of this month or 

 about now want no real rest, and after 

 being in a cool, shaded house for a few 

 days will want to be started going again ; 

 but let it be very gradual; to put them 

 into much heat before the roots are act- 

 ive would result in failure sure. Plenty 

 of syringing at all times is good for 

 them; in fact, an essential. 



Lilac, if wanted at Christmas, must 

 be started at least by the first of the 

 month. It needs a strong heat, about 80 

 degrees, for the earliest crop, and as the 

 season advances less heat is necessary. 

 If they are near pipes, counteract the 

 dry heat by plenty of syringing. 



Cyclamen. 



Cyclamen are just coming into bloom 

 and a beautiful plant they are. If you 

 have succeeded in growing them till now 

 with success there is not much fear of 

 future failure, except by letting them 

 get troubled with greenfly. In addition 

 to a mild fumigation occasionally, tobac- 

 co stems strewn among the pots will do 

 wonders in keeping down their greatest 

 enemy. Cyclamen if not wanted for 



early flowering, or perhaps not till East- 

 er, will do very well in a temperature 

 of 40 degrees; it will simply retard them, 

 but to flower them to perfection about 

 55 degrees is the thing; if much higher 

 they grow spindling, and if cooler they 

 are too slow. You have most likely sown 

 cyclamen weeks ago and they are up. 

 Plenty of light and a temperature of 55 

 degrees will do well for the young plants. 

 I think they grow much better in flats 

 than in small pots when first handled 

 from the seed pans. For later batches 

 there is plenty of time to sow yet and 

 till New Year's. 



Lily of the Valley. 

 Lily of the valley pips will be now 

 arriving. Don't attempt to force any 

 but cold storage pips for Christmas and 

 New Year's; in fact, don't depend on 

 the new crop to give you flowers till 

 middle of January. WTien the new roots 

 arrive'unpack and dip each bunch for a 

 moment in water and then put them 

 away in a box 7 or 8 inches deep with 

 some soil between the bunches of roots. 

 If the box contains just what you want 

 to force each week so much the handier. 

 Place the box in a frame and cover over 

 the crowns with two or three inches of 

 soil. Cover the frame either with glass 

 or boards, .something to keep the rains 

 off, for excessive wet is not good for 

 them. If you force extensively it will 

 pay well to sort over all the roots, choos- 

 ing the largest and stoutest pips for the 

 first forcing and the weaker for the lat- 

 er. William Scott. 



A DINNER TO M. VILMORIN. 



On Nov. 6 a dinner was given to M. 

 Philippe de Vilmorin. of Paris, by Phil- 

 adelphia and New York seedsmen and 

 the directors of the Wholesale Seeds- 

 men's League at the Bellevue Hotel, 

 Philadelphia. 



The menu was very choice and the 

 menu card was specially designed, bear- 

 ing the French and American flags in 

 colors, surmounted by an eagle. Pages 

 were provided for the autographs of 

 those participating in this notable af- 

 fair, and we present herewith a repro- 

 duction of these autographs, which in- 

 clude the signatures of many of the 

 most noted seedsmen in America. 



Mr. and Mrs. Vilmorin, who made 

 an extended tour through the United 

 States and Canada during the last two 

 months, sailed for home from New York 

 Nov. 14, on steamship La Savoie. 



CARNATION NOTES. 



Varieties Exhibited at Indianapolis. 



Perhaps a few remarks on the carna- 

 tions shown at the recent fall show held 

 here in Indianapolis would not be out 

 of place at this time, as we must decide 

 within a few weeks what new varieties 

 ■we want to purchase for next year. Every 

 year we find that we can improve our 

 collection of varieties by adding one or 

 more of the new ones and perhaps drop- 

 ping a few of the older ones, and so we 

 are continually looking out for improve- 

 ments in every color. 



The quality of nearly all the varieties 

 shown was very good indeed, but there 

 were many varieties absent which we 

 would like to have seen. There was not 

 a bloom of Prosperity, Norway, Lorna 

 nor Roosevelt on the tables, although we 

 know that most of these varieties can 



