MAKI • 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



503 



Cannas and Caladiums. 



I recommended the starting of Can- 

 nas and Caladiums a tew weeVcs ago 

 and to save room they could be 

 placed in flats and stood over the hot 

 water pipes where the heat was not 

 too violent. They start quickly and 

 grow quickly there, So do not let 

 them get long and spindling. Rather 

 place them on a bench in the light in 

 a house where it is not below 50 at 

 night. They will not grow fast, and 

 you don't want them to, but can keep 

 them two or three weeks in the flats 

 or till Easter has given you the bench 

 i-oom. 



Poinsettias. 



It is about time now to think of 

 propagating the poin.settia. This flower 

 was extremely popular last Christmas 

 and I can see no reason why it should 

 not increase in favor, as it is almost 

 alone in its brilliant color, and it is 

 most assuredly prottiable and will be 

 until they are much more grown. We 

 notice in some horticultural notes that 

 some growers are now putting in pieces 

 of the stem for propagating. This hard- 

 wood method is one way, but we by no 

 means approve of it. We used to do 

 that till we found a better way. They 

 root all right, but you don't get as 

 much stock or as good plants as by 

 propagating the green cuttings, and 

 they are rooted so early that they re- 

 quire a large pot or become exhausted. 



Take the old plants that have been 

 resting under the bench and should 

 have been perfectly dry for the past 

 two months at least, shake off all the 

 soil, and plants that were grown in a 

 6-inch will now go into a 4-inch. If 

 there is an incli or so of the wood on 

 the end of the stem that is yet quite 

 green, cut it off. Pot in good soil flrmly 

 and place them on a light warm bench 

 and keep syringed. You will soon have 

 a number of breaks, and when they 

 are three inches long cut them off close 

 below a joint and they root easily and 

 surely in the ordinary propagating 

 bench. Leave one joint on the old stem 

 when taking off the cutting, because 

 from that eye you will get another and 

 later cutting. 



It is by no means the first or even 

 second crop of cuttings that we find 

 the only useful plants. We propagate 

 from the first of May till the middle 

 of August. Last year those struck in 

 August we used in 10 and 12-inch pans 



and seven plants in a 1J-inrh pan. with 

 heads six inches acros.s' and not over 

 nine inches high, sold out quickly at a 

 most profitable price. 



Early in April is a good time to start 

 your old plants growing. In the pro- 

 pagating bench there Is nothing but 

 plenty of water and don't let the sun 

 shine on them. When first potted 

 from the sand give them heat and 

 shade. As should be known by every- 

 one the poinsettia is tropical and 

 should not be below 60 at any time. 



CrimsoT Ramblers. 



We adopted a method of growing 

 Crimson Rambler roses for this East- 

 er that was not imparted to us, but 

 we are quite pleased with the results 

 and are doing it again and it will be 

 soon time to begin. 1 am aware that 

 the majority of growers lift strong 

 plants from the field in November and 

 by great care in lifting, keeping them 

 in a very cool and shady place and 

 lots of syringing they manage to get 

 them to take hold of the soil without 

 shriveling and force them with suc- 

 cess. The success will depend largely 

 on how quickly they are transferred 

 from the open ground to the pots and 

 how little they suffer from dryness and 

 wilting. 



If you believe in this plan I would 

 advise you to proc\u'e strong young 

 plants and plant them out on your 

 own soil. If cut back when planting 

 they will make a strong growth this 

 summer and when on your own place 

 you can choose your own day for lift- 

 ing and give them the treatment that 

 insures success, which with plants dug 

 from a nursery and lying around per- 

 haps several days it is hard to do. 



My plan that has proved a great suc- 

 cess, scarcely one in a hundred coming 

 blind, is to purchase strong plants 

 from a nursery just as soon as they 

 can dig. They will possibly have 

 three or four strong shoots. Cut them 

 back to within four or five inches of 

 the stock, pot them in six, seven or 

 eight-inch pots, according to strength 

 of the plant. AVhen we first potted 

 them we put them under a cool bench 

 till the eyes began to break. A cool 

 house would have done but under the 

 bench was cooler still. When the 

 young growth was an inch or so long 

 we selected half a dozen of the strong- 

 est and rubbed off the rest. As they 

 formed roots they grew strongly and 



then we put them on a low bench in 

 a light house and with plenty of 

 syringing they made a strong growth. 

 Each growth or cane was trained to a 

 strong slake and by .July was five or 

 six feel higli. 



In .\ugusl we put them out of doors 

 to ripen, not giving any more water 

 than just enough to keep them from 

 shriveling, and so gradually ripened 

 them off. In November and December 

 they were in a cold pit on their sides. 

 Tlio principal thing to avoid in this 

 method that we found was that after 

 the canes were ripe in September, we 

 had lots of rain, and, the weather be- 

 ing warm, these plump eyes that are 

 to give you the fine spikes of flowers 

 will be inclined to break aiid make 

 a growth that will upset all your previ- 

 ious care. So look out for getting 

 .soaked in the warm fall months. 



Now this method may be more ex- 

 pensive but you can rest assured you 

 will have every plant full of flowers. 

 A fair specimen of one of them ex- 

 amined today showed a plant with 

 three canes tied around some stakes. 

 The plant is about three feet high 

 above the pot, two feet through, cov- 

 ered to the pot with leaves and bearing 

 twenty - six trusses of flowers just 

 showing color. The Yellow Rambler, 

 treated the same way, turned out 

 nearly three weeks earlier loaded with 

 fiowers but absolutely useless; you 

 don't want one of it. 



Geraniums. 



The most formidable job we have 

 facing us just now is getting the ger- 

 aniums into their flowering or selling 

 pot, with us a 4-inch. We usually try 

 to put this off till after Easter, but this 

 }»ear it would be too late and room 

 must be found to begin. We have the 

 credit in Buffalo of having good ger- 

 auiuiiis and get a goou price for them. 

 Most anyone can grow a geranium, 

 but there are a few rules to observe. 



Don't use a light sandy soil with a 

 lot of leaf mould or rotten manure; 

 use a rather heavy loam, and a fifth 

 or sixth of old hotbed manure is good 

 enough. Firm, solid potting is of the 

 greatest importance. Solid potting 

 induces a firm growth and early and 

 large flowers. I see every day around 

 me the same old style of potting and 

 it produces itching of the epidermis, 

 but what can you do? I am not going 

 to give you a dissertation on shifting, 

 but do avoid that putting the plant in 

 the bottom of the pot and then heap- 

 ing up the soil to be followed by a lot 

 of surface thumbing. The plant should 

 be wedged down flrmly with the new 

 soil equallv divided around all sides cf 

 it. WM. SCOTT. 



VERBENAS. 



B. B. asks: "Is there a way to have 

 success with verbenas without putting 

 them in a hotbed?" 



Yes, most decidedly there is, but the 

 object and result of giving them a hot- 

 bed is that it gives you bench room 



