610 



The Weekly Florists' Reviev,. 



APRIL 19. 1900. 



leaf formation are in a large measure 

 due to the necessities of light. 



An examination of a leaf-bearing 

 plant, he said, will show that the leaf 

 formation is such as will give all the 

 leaves, as nearly as possible, the re- 

 quired amount of light. Too much 

 light is as fatal to leaf life as not 

 enough. In the process of adaptation 



the necessity sometimss arises of 

 avoiding an excess of light. In, the 

 barren regions of Australia the feTf 

 foliage-bearing plants have leaves 

 that turn their edges to the midday 

 sun that they may present the smal- 

 lest possible surface to the too fierce 

 light. 



After Easter. 



A late Easter has kept our houses 

 full of stuff and leaves but six or seven 

 weeks till the great rush of bedding 

 time is here, and in some localities 

 less. 1 will endeavor to mention what 

 with me are the most urgent things to 

 do, for you wilt have any amount of 

 plants that have been cramped and 

 crying for space. 



1st. Get moved out of doors all 

 plants that no longer need the green- 

 house and are in your way, such as 

 sweet bays, oleanders, agapanthus, 

 large hydrangeas and other such 

 things that you may have had to store. 

 There will be no frost to hurt and if 

 there is another frost it is cheaper to 

 lay down and cover hydrangeas than 

 encumber the house with them. 



To make room is the first thing, so 

 it you have not already put into cold- 

 frames carnations, pyrethrums and 

 plants that will bear a low tempera- 

 ture do so at once. 



Mild hotbeds, just enough to keep a 

 little bottom heat, will do for all the 

 variegated and sweet scented gera- 

 niums. The alternantheras, achyran- 

 thes, sweet alyssum and coleus (the 

 latter should have the warmest bed). 

 The tuberous rooted begonias do much 

 better in a mild hotbed if intended for 

 bedding. The great advantage of the 

 frames and hotbeds where you plant 

 out your own produce is that the 

 plants can be hardened off and are far 

 more satisfactory than those grown in 

 a shaded house. 



Tropaeolums should be potted off 

 from flats and put on a shelf where 

 they will not grow too vigorously. 

 Cobea scandens should be potted into 

 4-inch and a stick put to them. All 

 zonal geraniums should at once go into 

 their last shift. And so should the ivy 

 leaf section which is now so largely 

 used. We find these are much inclinf d 

 to flower. Keep the flower buds picked 

 off to within two weeks of selling time. 

 That most important plant, the 



I canna, has had to remaai in flats, but 

 I must now go at»once into a 4-inch and 

 1 be given a bright, warm house. 



Caladium esculentum wants the same 

 light house and a 5 or 6-inch pot. They 

 seem to be in good demand every year. 

 Among hotbed plants I forgot to 

 mention the lemon verbena. It is al- 

 ways in demand. The plants you 

 propagated in March, if pinched once 

 and put into a mild heat, make sp!r-ii- 

 did plants in a few weeks. 



Our seedling verbenas are yet five or 

 six in a 3-inch pot. We u.sually put 

 them in hotbeds, but they giov,' so vig- 

 orously and flower so late that v/9 will 

 put them into 2i4-inch pots and grow 

 them on a light, cool bench. No one 

 asks for a large verbena, but they lik'^ 

 to see a flower. 



The petunia is a very important 

 plant and we prefer to grow them in 

 2y2-inch pots in a light house, then 

 they flower quickly and it's a flower 

 your customers want to see. 



Salvia splendens. don't neglect in a 

 small pot or it will soon get covered 

 with red spider. 



I cannot now mention half the bed- 

 ding plants under your care, but near- 

 ly all will take their last shift, and do 

 it as quickly as possible. Don't have 

 a night or day dream that you are pot- 

 ting them all at once or in one day. 

 You can't do it, and it will only wear 

 you out, although to a man whose 

 disposition it is to fret it is ridiculous 

 to say, "Don't fret," Select what is 

 worst off and every batch done you 

 are nearer the goal. 



Avoid shading your houses as long 

 as you possibly can. There is nothing 

 worse for soft-wooded plants than a 

 shady house and little or no fire he.it. 

 With faithful attention to watering 

 and still more with the help of some 

 plunging material round the pots you 

 can avoid shading till the middle of 

 May. Notice the plants in a hotbed: 

 with their roots moist they will en- 

 dure the brightest sun. 



Above all do not believe that you 

 can get along without fire heat be- 

 cause we have at last some warm 

 weather. To coleus, cannas and even 

 geraniums it is a terrible setback to 

 suddenly drop fire heat, unless the 

 weather is bright and warm. 



The wisest plan of growing carna- 

 tions now, it is pretty well agreed, is 

 that it should be early planting and 

 early lifting. By that I would say 

 plant out the first week of April and 

 lift the first week of August. But how 

 can we do it in our northern states? 

 The ground is only just dry enough to 

 plow. We do often delay, however. 

 After the chance comes, plant at once. 

 I like to have 14 or 15 inches between 

 the rows and 10 inches between the 

 plants. There are several advantages 

 in very early planting. The ground is 

 moist and they soon take hold and 

 start, and the cool nights, even a 

 slight frost, does them no harm. To a 

 grower the good early start he can 

 give his carnations means great re- 

 sults in the future, and the all impor- 

 tant must be attended to even if less 

 important suffer. WM. SCOTT. 



JOHN C. HATCHER'S NEW STORE. 



We present herewith a view in the 

 handsome new store of Mr. John C. 

 Hatcher, Amsterdam, N. Y. The pic- 

 ture is so clear that little description 

 is necessary. The ceiling is of metal 

 and the floor is what is known as ' ter- 

 raza." From the timbers to the sur- 

 face it is nine inches thick. The bot- 

 tom is of cement into which is druen 

 and then rolled crushed Italian marble 

 which is finally polished and oiled. T'ne 

 base board is of marble. 



The conservatory in the rear has a 

 curvilinear roof and is of generous 

 size, the large display of plants mak- 

 ing a very attractive feature of the es- 

 tablishment. 



Mr. Hatcher had an "opening" wh?!l 

 the store was completed last monih 

 and during the afternoon and evening 

 each visitor was presented with a few 

 flowers or a boutonniere. The local 

 press printed very extended notices of 

 this event and gave Mr. Hatcher a good 

 deal of very effective advertising. He 

 certainly has reason to be proud of his 

 handsome, up-to-date store. 



GERANIUM GEN. SHERIDAN. 



For several seasons there has be;n 

 used in the beds at Lincoln Park, Chi- 

 cago, a single scarlet geranium that 

 has at once attracted the attention of 

 the trade visitor by the intensity of its 

 color effect and the admirable ■way in 

 which it keeps up this effect right 

 through the season. 



At the park it has been known sim- 

 ply as "Pullman," the stock having 

 been obtained from the gardener in 

 charge of the grounds at that suburb. 

 From inquiry in various directions we 

 learn that its correct name is Gen. 

 Sheridan, though we have not yet 

 learned where it originated. Certainly 

 it is a splendid bedding geranium and 

 ought to be more generally used. 



