760 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



MAT 17, 1900. 



sessed here, nor do I know of any that 

 have been. The only thing taxable 

 about greenhouses is the buildings 

 themselves. This year the greenhouses 

 are being assessed as real estate in- 

 stead of as personal property. 



R. WITTERSTAETTER. 

 Cincinnati, O. 



We are taxed only for greenhouse 

 structures and not for plants in pots 

 or benches, neither for soil, which last 

 I think would be absurd. 



Bellcvue, Pa. F. BURKI. 



Some years ago the assessor here 

 listed market gardeners' products. 

 They raised such a rumpus that the 

 mayor ordered all such goods off the 

 list. I put in a claim that plants in 

 pots and in open ground were in the 

 same class and since then they have 

 not been listed, being taxed only as 

 real estate, which is enough, the crop 

 being subject to climatic conditions. 



Davenport, la. J. T. TEMPLE. 



[We shall be pleased to hear from 

 others on this subject.— Ed.] 



Plant Out your Stock Geraniums. 



With us there is a little lull in busi- 

 ness between getting out the hardy 

 plants and the plants that will not 

 endure a single degree of frost. It is 

 seldom we get a frost after the 1.5th of 

 May that will hurt a geranium, and 

 now is the time for you to select 

 plants for your own stock and get 

 them planted out; then they can't be 

 sold. I mention geraniums because 

 they are one of our most important 

 plants, and to have a good supply of 

 cuttings in September you must have 

 a good lot of plants. You can get all 

 you want of salvias, ageratums, coleus 

 or acalyphas from a few plants, but 

 not so with geraniums; with this uni- 

 versal favorite propagation is slow, 

 and if you want 10,0()0 cuttings in 

 September you must put out at least 

 1,000 plants now. 



Never mind if the foliage does get a 

 little red with the cool nights; they 

 will be making roots and make the 

 best kind of cuttings. On one occasion 

 we planted .500 geraniums for stock on 

 the 15th of May; on the 20th we had a 

 frost that blackened every leaf and 

 stem, but after beiug cut to the 

 ground they made the finest plants we 

 ever had. I don't say this freezing is 

 an essential, but I would rather it 

 happen than plant out a lot of culls 

 near the end of .June. Our experience 

 is that if you don't get this stock out 

 before the grand rush, you won't get 

 a chance till it is over, and as for 

 keeping so much put away for your 

 own planting, it is an impossibility 

 in a retail place, for they become the 

 most attractive, and when your good 

 customer says, 'Oh, can't I have 

 them?" you say, "Well, really, they 

 are not for sale; but I will have to 

 spare you a few," and this is repeated 

 till they are all gone. 



Propagators of roses and carnations 

 are much more particular in selecting 

 good cuttings from the most healthy 

 and vigorous plants than they were a 

 few years ago, and the same good law 

 applies to everything, especially by 

 this artificial way of increasing or 

 multiplying our plants. So in every- 

 thing select for your stock the plants 

 that possess the characters that are 

 prized, and good health is sure to be 

 one. 



Asters. 



Last year was the dryest in July and 

 August that we remember in a long 

 time, and many a fine field of asters 

 that promised so finely just wilted 

 away or their flowers were useless. I 

 am by no means an advocate of indis- 

 criminate watering, and the geranium 

 just spoken of above is a half succu- 

 I lent, and in ordinary aeasons thrives 

 splendidly without a drop of artificial 

 watering if well hoed. But there are 

 some things that cannot be grown 

 without the liberal use of the hose, 

 and the aster is one of them, so don't 

 put them out of the reach of it. Sweet 

 peas, gladiolus and dahlias must be 

 watered, unless we get frequent rains. 

 I still stick to my previous assertion 

 that we should never water carnations 

 in the eastern states, however much 

 they may have to do it in the west. 



Asters should have a deep rich soil, 

 and if it is a little on the clay side, 

 none the worse; they will be all the 

 finer blooms, providing it is rich and 

 well cultivated. 



Dahlias, 



Dahlias are not grown as much as 

 their handsome flowers deserve. Many 

 of the pompon varieties are beautiful 

 and most useful to the florist. It is 

 useless to plant dahlias out and ex- 



pect flowers, unless they are given the 

 proper soil. Dig holes two feet wide 

 and a foot deep for each plant and 

 work in half manure. Stake them 

 early. Mulch them after they begin 

 to grow and a good soaking of water 

 every week — not a sprinkling, but a 

 soaking. Keep the laterals pinched 

 out of the main stems and you will 

 have all the earlier and better flowers. 

 Three feet each way is close enough 

 for any dahlias. They should have 

 the full sun, but if sheltered from the 

 prevailing winds, all the better. 



Cannas. 



Although not cultural, it is business 

 to say that the canna is ever growing 

 in popularity, and you must add to 

 your collection yearly or you will drop 

 behind the procession. Obtain plants 

 of the new ones and plant out at once; 

 that is a surer plan than trusting to 

 buying the clumps in the fall. Last 

 year we bought Tarrytown and found 

 it a most excellent bedder. It is a 

 dwarf, free, cherry red. But there are 

 several new ones that you must have, 

 and the cheapest way to get stock is 

 to plant them out now. 



Number of Plants to fill Beds. 



.\long about the bedding season we 

 are continually asked how much a 

 flower bed of a certain size will cost, 

 and about 90 per cent of all the beds 

 where there is only one on the lawn 

 is a circle. Now, when the customer 

 says "The bed is eleven feet across." 

 you begin to figure out and waste 

 time. Have a card with the number 

 of plants it will take from a 6-foot 

 diameter up to 20 feet. We reckon 

 geraniums, coleus and that sort of 

 plants at one foot apart; cannas and 

 caladiums, 18 inches. It is usual to 

 begin by saying a bed is 10 feet across 

 and you keep the first plant back 6 

 inches. Don't do that. Say the bed is 

 10 feet in diameter, so the first row 

 is three times that, or thirty, and with 

 geraniums you will come out just 

 right, and if you have all this to refer 

 to you can say in a moment: "The 

 bed is 10 feet across; that will take 93 

 plants at $1.50 per dozen, about $11.50; 

 or if coleus, at $1.00, about $7.50. I 

 have not stopped to make my figures 

 accurate to a "York shilling," but you 

 can easily have it all figured out nicely 

 and it will save you much time along 

 the 2Sth of this month, when your 

 every moment is precious. 



WM. SCOTT. 



HEATING WITH NATURAL HOT 

 WATER. 



Editor Florists' Review: — Away off 

 here in the Rocky Mountains, isolated 

 as we are from the large centers of 

 population, many of the readers of 

 yoiir journal who live in the far east, 

 and whose environment is culture and 

 civilization, perhaps hardly think life 

 would be safe as far west as this. 

 However, there are people who have 

 the adventurous spirit, and such they 



