JaStary 23. 1902. 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



279 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Geraniums. 



A subscriber sends in the following and 

 asks for an opinion. It is on the man- 

 agement of small geraniums during win- 

 ter, and he adds that "one who has prac- 

 tical experience of this method claims 

 to grow strong, sturdy, well branched 

 plants with several trusses of flowers at 

 selling time." 



Here is the method: "Pot in the 

 fall into 2i-inch pots, and when crowded 

 for room cut off all the leaves at the 

 ends of the stems, not close down, as it 

 would injure the plant. When the stems 

 turn yellow they can be removed. Pinch 

 out the tips to make them branch and 

 do not shift into 4-inch until crowded 

 again." 



There is nothing very original about 

 this method. It is merely denuding the 

 plants of leaves so that they can stand 

 close together. They can't, however, get 

 any closer together than the pots will 

 allow. We frequently, when moving our 

 plants in November, the first move after 

 they are rooted, pull off a leaf or two 

 that can be spared. I don't like the 

 plan of cutting off the leaf and leaving 

 the leaf stalk to turn yellow. The un- 

 sightliness of the bench would produce 

 "irritation of the coco" with us, and we 

 would much ratlier leave on a few leaves 

 and let the plants occupy, say 25 per cent 

 more bench room, and it would not ex- 

 ceed that. 



Doubtless you can grow geraniums 

 after that fa.shion, but I shall not try 

 it. The writ«r does not say what time 

 the experienced man shifted his gera- 

 niums into 4-inch pots; on that would 

 depend a good deal the quality of plants 

 at bedding time. If you are disseminat- 

 ing a new variety most anything will do 

 for a plant, but if supplying plants for 

 a flower bed where immediate effect is 

 desired you must have a good plant. 

 And if yours are not as good, and possi- 

 bly a little better, than your friend 

 Jones, the florist, you will not keep your 

 customers. 



Briefly, our plan is to propagate in 

 September, shift into 3-inch middle of 

 January, and into 4-inch early in April, 

 taking off a cutting about February 1. 

 This cutting makes a first-class "bed- 

 ding plant, but is not sold till our stock 

 of 4-inch is exhausted. We shift the 

 February struck plants from the 2 or 2A- 

 inch pots in which they were rooted into 

 3i-inch in April, and they can be sold 

 at 2.5 per cent less than tlie older plants 

 and still be more profitable. I have 

 never bought or received a geranium 

 plant from anv firm outside of this city 

 that I would dare to send to a customer. 

 Common, rouah and ready, old fashioned, 

 but beautiful plant that it is there are 

 a whole lot of people growing it that 

 know nothing at all of how it should be 

 grown. 



Propagating. 



There is always a slight lull in the 

 work from now on for the next sijc weeks. 

 That is. there is no very hea\-y job. but 

 now should be an active time with prop- 

 agating. It is not in my province to 



speak of our two most important plants, 

 roses and carnations, because they are 

 taken care of by specialists, but now is 

 the very best time to propagate them, 

 and most everything else. The conditions 

 most favorable for propagating exist 

 now and for the next month. The tem- 

 perature of the house can be kept at 

 any desired point and so can the sand. 

 The sand at 65 to 70 degrees and the 

 atmosphere about 55 degrees at night 

 will suit the great majority of plants. 

 Without trespassing on the domain of 

 Mr. Baur I would just like to mention 

 some experience in rooting carnations. 



About thirty years ago, when La 

 Purite was our only colored variety 

 we used to put in 1,000 cuttings, and 

 when we potted them there wa~s generally 

 1,013 rooted cuttings. Then we had an 

 ideal propagating bouse and kept the 

 house at 50 degrees and the sand at 65 

 degrees. We did not pretend to know 

 as much then, and consequently what 

 little we did know we carried out more 

 religiously than we now do. Ten years 

 ago I began to listen to beginners in the 

 carnation line and for several years 

 propagated them in a few inches of sand 

 on a bench, under which there was no 

 heat. That plan is all right, but it is 

 too slow and some varieties will scarcely 

 root at all if the sand is only 50 to 55 

 degrees. 



Then last year I put several hot water 

 pipes under the bench with a slate bot- 

 tom and the sand kept steadily at 70 

 degrees. That was, I found, rather too 

 warm, and by letting some of the heat 

 f'.scape into the house I have reduced the 

 heat of the sand to 60 degrees, occasion- 

 ally a few degrees higher. Now I find 

 that 60 degrees for the sand and 50 to 

 52 or 53 degrees for the atmosphere is 

 just about perfect^ and I shall again ex- 

 pect to take out a few more cuttings 

 than I put in. 



You frequently have to propagate in 

 a house where the temperature is 60 de- 

 grees, and for coleus and many other 

 things it is just as well. The "trouble 

 with a warm house is that you are very 

 likely to be troubled with the fungus 

 that appears on the surface of the sand. 

 The finer or denser the sand the more 

 likely you are to be troubled with the 

 fungus and although too late to tell you 

 now what sand to use always use when- 

 possible a coarse texture. I don't mean 

 by this pebbles the size of sweet pea 

 seed, but about like Scotch oatmeal, 

 but mind never as fine as a Scotch joke 

 (which always redounds to the credit 

 of the teller). 



I was once told by Benjamin Dorrance, 

 of Wilkesbarre. Pa., of a very simple 

 little thing which you could buy at a 

 druffgist's which wo"uld kill this fungus, 

 could be used freely arfd costs 10 cents. 

 But I don't remember what it was. But 

 you can write to this prince of good 

 fellows, who grows the best or next to 

 the best roses that go into New York 

 and who is always too glad to help 

 along a brother florist. In the absence 

 of his receipt I will give you a formula 

 that I have worked out and which 



answers the purpose not only for killing 

 the fungus of the cutting bed but which 

 we use constantly on carnations, not 

 spraying them, but whenever we put in 

 a batch of cuttings we dip them in be- 

 fore putting into the sand and again 

 when taking them out to pot. 



This is the mixture: One pound of 

 sulphate of copper, two quarts of 

 ammonia. Let the ammonia be diluted 

 to what the druggist knows as the 

 strength of 10 per cent. Dissolve the 

 copper by the ammonia and then bottle it 

 up for use. Half a pint of this in twenty 

 gallons of water will kill all the fungus 

 and do no harm to any plant. But there 

 is seldom need of watering the bed 

 when the cuttings are in. If you water 

 the bed when vacant or just before you 

 put in a new lot of cuttings you are not 

 likely to be troubled. 



There is a whole lot of cuttings that 

 want to be propagated now. Very sel- 

 dom do you get too early with your stock 

 of soft- wooded plants," but what is of 

 most importance just now I will tell 

 you in my next, William Scott. 



ROSE NOTES. 



Seasonable Hints. 



As soon as the cuttings are ready they 

 should be potted and not allowed to 

 stand in the sand until some more con- 

 venient time, as every day the roots will 

 be getting longer and the plants become 

 weaker. Good rose soil, with not too 

 much manure in it and passed through 

 a half-inch screen is just what they like. 

 The pots to be used should be "2-inch 

 standards and thoroughly cleaned in- 

 side. No drainage need be used. If the 

 pots are new and to be used for the 

 first time it is better to steep them in 

 water a few minutes previous to using; 

 othersvise it is hard to get the soil wet 

 mthout making it into mud, a condi- 

 tion which should always be avoided. 

 Reject all poor and weakly looking 

 plants, as the work, care and space oc- 

 cupied can be utilized more profitably 

 in growing good stock. 



Care should be taken not to pot too 

 deep, three-fourths of an inch being 

 quite sufficient. Make the soil firm but 

 not too hard nor too full, leaving one- 

 fourth of an inch for water. Water well 

 as soon as potted. 



Those who have no regular stock house 

 can select some nice airy position in a 

 house with a temperature of 56 or 58 

 degiees. Spread screened coal ashes on 

 the bench to the depth of one inch; this 

 makes good, clean drainage and pre- 

 vents worms from working up into the 

 pots. Set the pots close together and 

 shade lightly from bright sun for the 

 first three days. Root action will then 

 be started, when they should get all the 

 light and sunshine possible. Durino- 

 bright weather they will require watei" 

 ing and syringing twice a day, as they 

 must never be allowed to become dry. 

 Keep close watch for greenfly, red spider 

 and mildew and check as soon as they 

 appear. In three weeks they ought to 

 be ready for a shift into 2i-inch pots. 



ElBES. 



THRIPS. 



In answer to Mr. Kellogg's inquiry I 

 would say that I have found a means 

 of combating the thrips suecessfblly. I 

 have a house of five or six year old roses 

 in solid beds that are i'nvariably in- 

 fested with thrips once or twice every 



