76 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Dece.mbkk 12. 1901. 



with fine spray. Over the seed with 

 your fine ^-inch mesh sieve spread about 

 l-ineh of soil evenly. This covering do 

 not water. It will absorb as much mois- 

 ture as is necessary from the moist soil 

 beneath, and at the same time it will 

 remain open and porous. Over all 

 spread about one inch of loose sphagnum 

 moss, well moistened, but not satur- 

 ated. Keep this nicely moist with spray 

 until the seedlings begin to show above 

 the soil, but be on your guard; as soon 

 as they begin to show themselves re- 

 move the moss and cover the flat with 

 damp paper — or an inverted fiat answers 

 the purpose better. 



As soon as the young seedlings are 

 generally in sight remove this covering 

 and substitute glass, about an inch 

 above the soil. The glass should be 

 shaded for a few days with thin paper. 

 As soon as the plants are generally in 

 sight give all the air and light they 

 will stand, but do not neglect to keep the 

 soil nicely moist at all times, never al- 

 lowing the plants at any time to become 

 wilted. 



As soon as large enough, transplant 

 into new soil, being very careful to firm 

 the soil well about the roots. Water 

 carefully and shade during the heat of 

 the day until they become well started. 



The foregoing relates to seeds sown in 

 the house in flats at anj' time of the year. 

 Seeds sown outside in frames I cover 

 with glass and lath-shades. Leave. the 

 glass in place until the seeds are nicely 

 up, then remove the glass, keeping the 

 shades in place until the plants become 

 strong enough to stand full air and sun- 

 light. Transplant as soon as seedlings 

 are large enough. 



For seeds slow of germination the 

 moss over them in the frame answers the 

 same purpose as in the house, retaining 

 an even moisture without hardening the 

 soil. 



We next come to propagating plants 

 from slips or cuttings, as they are 

 termed. This branch of the florist's 

 work requires many favorable conditions 

 to insure invariable success. For in- 

 .stance, a house that can be controlled ab- 

 solutely as to shade, light, heat and 

 moisture; plants in a perfectly healthy 

 condition and proper stage of growth 

 from which he can take his cuttings. 

 It is folly to take a sick plant and cut it 

 into pieces and expect to obtain strong, 

 healthy growth. If these requirements 

 are met. a failure of success would seem 

 to be the fault of the propagator. 



A propagating bench with slate bottom 

 comes as near perfection as any I have 

 ever used. The openings between the 

 slate are never closed by expansion, as 

 is the case with a board bottom. If 

 your propagating bench has a board bot- 

 tom let the boards extend across the 

 bench so as to afford even drainage at 

 all points, if near the end and on the 

 side of each boarcl you nail a thin piece 

 of wood about ^-ineh thick (one half of 

 an 8-inch label will do) it will separate 

 your boards and insure an opening of 

 that extent (J-inch) at all times, no 

 matter how much the boards are ex- 

 panded by water. And these openings 

 will allow all surplus water to escape, 

 and unless the surplus water can escape 

 from the bottom the sand becomes sour 

 and consequently destructive to the cut- 

 tings. The sand must be kept fresh and 

 sweet. Never place cuttings into sour 

 sand. 



When sand is first placed upon the 

 bench screen it through a sieve of about 

 1-inch mesh to remove all coarse gravel 



or other foreign matter it may contain. 

 Place about three inches of loose sand 

 on bench. This when well watered and 

 firmed will be about 2* inches deep. 

 Make sand so firm that you can make 

 but slight impression on it with the 

 tips of your fingers. It is now ready for 

 j'our cuttings. 



If steam heat is used, I prefer that 

 the pipes should be some distance below 

 the bench, which will insure a more uni- 

 form heat over the bench bottom. If too 

 close the intense heat is likely to be 

 injurious to the cuttings directly above 

 it. If hot water is used, the pipes may 

 be closer to the bottom of bench, as the 

 heat is not as intense as is the case with 

 steam. 



Now let us consider our .shading. The 

 mode of shading I most prefer and which 

 I use almost entirely is as follows: Use 

 white muslin of medium weight and of 

 same width, or slightly wider than the 

 bench. Cut it into pieces about six feet 

 long, hem the ends and sew small brass 

 rings one-half inch in diameter about 

 eight inches apart across each end of 

 curtain, along the hem. Insert screw 

 eyes about one foot above the bench at 

 tiie back. These are to support the cur- 

 tain at back. Construct a frame as fol- 

 lows: Strip of board i-inch thick and 

 about 25 inches wide and same length as 

 your curtain; to each end of this at- 

 tach heavy wires of sufficient length to 

 extend across the bench. This forms 

 three sides of a square. The ends of the 

 wire farthest from the strip of wood 

 are bent downward at right angles. Eun 

 these wires through the rings on the 

 ends of your curtain and then hook 

 them into the screw eyes that were 

 placed at back and above the bench. 

 This constructirn affords a shade that 

 can be adjusted at will. When not in 

 use shove the curtain back, raise the 

 frame and fasten it to the roof by a 

 small piece of cord or by a hook. 



During the day when shade is needed 

 lower the frame; draw the curtain for- 

 ward. It shades the bench and at the 

 Fame time allows an abundance of light 

 and air. Curtain may be sprayed at any 

 time to moisten the atmosphere and thus 

 keep cuttings from wilting without wet- 

 ting the cuttings. This is a condition 

 that is veiy often required. It is always 

 nt hand, never in the way. and answers 

 every requirement for which shading is 

 needed. 



We are now ready for the cuttings and 

 this part of the work a propagator must 

 learn in a great degree by experience — 

 must learn by experience what stock is 

 suitable and what is not, no matter what 

 the variety of plant. With plants such 

 as coleus, ageratum. salvias and like soft 

 wooded plants, any soft tip will meet 

 all requirements; while others, as the 

 rose, hardy shrubs and other plants of 

 like nature, the stock must be selected 

 in a certain condition of growth, some 

 more firm than others, some must be cut 

 just below a node or eye, while others 

 may be cut at almost any point and 

 rooted with equal success. 



In the case of roses I prefer single- 

 eyed cuttings, which method affords 

 double the amount of stock from the 

 same number of plant stems, and often 

 even more. The plants obtained by this 

 method are equally as good or better 

 than those grown from two or three-eyed 

 cuttings. One thing is absolutely im- 

 portant — that is. that your stock be in 

 as thrifty and healthy state of growth 

 as possible and taken at the proper stage 

 of growth, neither too hard nor too soft, 



usually at a stage between hardness and 

 sappiness, moderately firm. Never allow 

 the foliage to wilt a particle if possible 

 from the time it is removed from the 

 parent plant until it is ready to be potted 

 from the cutting bench. 



The cuttings being made, get them into 

 the bench as soon as possible, keeping 

 the foliage at all times as fresh as when 

 growing on the parent plant. See that 

 they are well firmed in the sand and 

 watered. The first watering needs, 

 usually, to be sufficient to settle the sand 

 well around the cutting; after that re- 

 quire more or less water daily according 

 to the nature of the plant. Soft wooded 

 cuttings usually require watering more 

 frequently than those of harder growth, 

 whije geraniums would be ruined by the 

 same liberal supply that coleus need. 

 Give these a watering when first placed 

 in sand. They will scarcely need more, 

 save an occasional spraying if the foliage 

 is inclined to droop, for eight or ten 

 da.ys, or until they become nicely 

 calloused, and even then they are better 

 if kept but moderately moist. 



At no time allow the atmosphere in 

 the house to become close and muggy, as 

 it is sometimes termed, on any class of 

 cuttings. And, by the way, the curtain 

 shade I have mentioned allows the prop- 

 agating house to be thoroughly ventilated 

 at all times without any detriment to the 

 stock in the bench. 



As to temperature, I prefer a bottom 

 heat of 55 to 65 degrees, house tempera- 

 ture about 10 degrees lower, and both 

 bench and house as uniform as possible. 

 In a great measure I am guided by the 

 feeling of the house temperature both 

 on my person and by my inhalation of 

 the atmosphere. The air must be genial 

 and pleasant to be in a proper condi- 

 tion. 



We now come to a class of plants 

 which are usually increased both by di- 

 vision and by root cuttings. Many va- 

 rieties arc increased by a single division 

 of the crowiis and by the young oflf- 

 shoots that ^-pring up around the crown. 

 Others are increased by the stronger 

 roots, which are invested with plant 

 germs, or ej"es as they are sometimes 

 termed, the entire length of the root. 

 These roots may be cut into sections an 

 inch or two long, spread over a flat soil, 

 like seed flat, covered with soil half an 

 inch or so deep, in which they readily 

 take root and soon throw up leaf stems, 

 and in this stage may be potted as soon 

 as large enough. And, by the way, these 

 flats are greatly benefited if covered 

 with an inch or so of the moss until 

 growth is well started. To this class of 

 plants belong anemones, bouvardias, etc. 



There is one item of special impor- 

 tance in propagation which may be of 

 interest to some of you. It is this: You 

 have all been annoyed at times more or 

 less by the sand in your propagating 

 bench becoming sour, and that, too, at 

 times when it is difficult to replace it 

 with a fresh supply. To avoid this I 

 make it a rule, as each batch of cut- 

 tings comes from the bench, that the 

 sides and bottom of the bench are thor- 

 oughly washed and then sprayed with a 

 solution of copperas and ammonia. This 

 I apply with a fine spray syringe. It 

 seems to have the effect of destroying all 

 fungus on the bench. 



If the sand is not to be used at once 

 it should be thrown up in a ridge along 

 the middle of the bench. It is thus 

 renovated by exposure to the air and the 

 acidity seems to pass away. And even 



