576 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Marcs 2o, iiii. 



oue with ovate, entire, dark green leaves, 

 ivitli rather long thorns at the base of 

 the leaves, and usually produces its ball- 

 like flowers singly in the axils of the 

 leaves; and is one of the best for general 

 purposes. A. dealbata is very distinct 

 from the former, and has bi-pinnate 

 leaves that are whitish beneath, while 

 ♦ he flowers are produced in short racemes 

 and in great quantity. A Drummondii is 

 also a distinct one, having pinnate leaves 

 consisting of two pairs of pinnie of dark 

 green color, and also produces a number 

 of flowers together on a spike. A. Rice- 

 ana has almost a weeping habit unless 

 the plants are cut in frequently, the foli- 

 age somewhat spare and the pale yellow 

 flowers in long spikes. 



In case any of the acacias are kept 

 over from year to year rather than to 

 be sold otf clean each season, it is best 

 to cut them back severely after the 

 blooming season is over, and as soon as 

 they start into growth to repot or give 

 them a good top dressing, and during 

 the summer months thej- should be kept 

 outdoors in order to ripen the growth 

 well before the season for their flowers 

 arrives. 



The taste for large semi-tropical 

 effects in outdoor bedding is certainly 

 growing and growing quite rapidly too, 

 the fine examples of this class of work 

 that were shown at the Pan-American 

 Exposition having doubtless given re- 

 newed impetus to this idea, and with this 

 in view it is a good plan to make early 

 (ireparation for this class of business. 



The cannas will of course continue to 

 take the most prominent place in such 

 l>]ans of outdoor decoration, but there 

 are several other plants that should also 

 be taken into consideration, among these 

 being a few bananas to be used in loca- 

 tions where they will not bo too much 

 exposed to the wind, and the best species 

 to use for this purpose are Musa ensete 

 (the Abyssinian banana), M. superba, 

 and M. Cavendishii. The young plants 

 of these musas grow on quite rapidly 

 provided they are given suliicient root 

 room and plenty of nourishment, this 

 being combined with a moist atmos- 

 phere and a temperature of (58 to 70 

 degrees. 



ft is getting rather late to sow seeds 

 of M. ensete, but still with plenty of 

 heat at command they miglit produce 

 useful plants for late work, and it is 

 mostly late work when the musas are 

 concerned, for they start along much 

 better when not planted outdoors before 

 June 1st to 10th. The seeds of this 

 musa are very hard and are benefitted 

 by being soaked for about 48 hours in 

 warm water before being sown. 



Speaking of musas brings to mind the 

 fact that a new species has been recently 

 reported under the name of M. oleracea, 

 a species that has the unusual character- 

 istic for this genus of producing a large 

 underground tuber, the tuber containing 

 a large proportion of starch and being 

 edible when baked or boiled. JI. olera- 

 cea is found in some of the South Sea 

 Islands and is an article of food among 

 the natives of New Guinea. 



Humea elegans used to be grown in 

 tropical bedding in the Eastern United 

 States a quarter of a century ago, but 

 yet does not seem to have become com- 

 mon. While young this plant resembles 

 a seedling tobacco plant to some extent, 

 but throws up a much branched and 

 feathery lookiiig inflorescence that is 

 pinkish in color. 



The young plants of the humea are 



raised from seeds which are preferably 

 sown in the fall as soon as they are 

 ripe, the seedlings being shifted on from 

 time to time to prevent the loss of the 

 lower leaves from starting at the root. 

 A moderate temperature is all that is 

 required to keep this plant in health, 

 for example a night temperature of 55 

 degrees. 



It may also be in order at this time 

 to jog oue's memory with the fact that 

 many retail dealers find themselves short 

 of vines for various purposes at the 

 bedding season, and that roses of the 

 Wichuraiana class are among the very 

 best to use in the cemetery for covering 

 over graves, and also to hide an un- 

 sightly wall or fence. 



But from English ivies to moonflowers, 

 and from ampelopsis to the Dutchman's 

 pipe, and a host of others in between, 

 may all be called for by the customers of 

 the retail florist, and it is well to take 

 time by the forelock and prepare the 

 stock. W. H. T.iPLlN. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



By Charles H. Totty. 



[Read before tlie Monmouth County (N. J.) Hor- 

 ticultural Society. Mareli 7.] 



I propose to-night to speak more par- 

 ticularly on the chrysanthemum from an 

 exhibition standpoint, so that while the 

 different types are all interesting, we will 

 only give them a passing mention. It is 

 generally accepted by botanists to-day 

 that all the tj-pes, as Japanese, Incurved, 

 Pompon, Anemone, and so on are simply 

 evolutions of the small single yellow 

 ('hrysanthemum indicum, which is the 

 original wild type or species. It is .1 

 striking instance of what man has accom- 

 plished in loss than fifty years by intelli- 

 gent care and cultivation. If the next 

 half century shows a similar ratio of de- 

 velopment, great indeed will be the mum 

 of the future. May we all live to see it. 



Unquestionably the great public are 

 mainly interested in the wonderful flow- 

 ers that are staged annually at the shows 

 throughout the country, and the method 

 of culture to produce these exhibition 

 flowers, which I will now describe, is the 

 one we have followed with very successful 

 results, as those of you who know our 

 record are aware. 



We never save any old stools for stock 

 plants, but as soon as the flowering 

 period is past we go over the benches and 

 select as many as wo need of the strong- 

 est and best suckers. These are rooted 

 immediately, and are afterwards put out 

 into flats, and kept in a cool house. It is 

 from these young plants that we get our 

 cuttings in the early spring. It has been 

 argued against this system that the 

 plants are never rested, and deterioration 

 must rapidly set in. This is a fallacy, 

 because many varieties have improved in 

 constitution with us from year to year. 

 Golden Wedding being a notable case in 

 point. The cuttings from the young stock 

 always seem to us to root more readily 

 and come away stronger than cuttings 

 from old stools. 



March is the month during which we 

 propagate the most of our stock for 

 bench culture. After propagating (which 

 is such an easy and well known operation 

 that I need not describe it), the young 

 stock is got out into cold frames as soon 

 as the weather will permit. This is for 

 the purpose of inducing the young plants 

 to make a short jointed, thrifty growth; 

 for, gentleman, a good start is the most 

 important item to future success. 



We plant out on the benches from the 

 Ist to the 20th of May, according to the 

 condition of the stock. Gi'owers with a 

 limited head room could not afford to do 

 this, but as our house is twenty feet high 

 at the ridge, the question of liead room 

 ca.uses us no concern. Some of you may 

 regard it as unnecessary to plant so early, 

 but we cannot get as large or well fin- 

 ished flowers from later rooted stock. 



The soil we use is the usual rotted sod 

 and manure, with a good dash of bone 

 meal through it. We plant at a distance 

 of ten inches each way for single stem 

 plants, and would not recommend any 

 closer planting if the very finest flowers 

 are looked for. After planting the bed is 

 made solid by walking between the rows, 

 and pounding immediately round the 

 plants with a half brick. We regard the 

 firming of the soil as an important item, 

 because if the soil is left very loose, the 

 roots will run rapidly all thi-ough it, and 

 the plants will make a very rapid, soft, 

 long jointed gi-owth, a thing above all 

 others to be avoided. 



After planting watering is carefully 

 looked after, until the plants are growing 

 rigorously, when of course large quanti- 

 ties must be supplied. As soon as possi- 

 ble after planting, every endeavor should 

 be made to completely get rid of all the 

 black and green aphis, and if this is 

 done thoroughly, the plants will, with the 

 kindly aid of a few lady bugs, keep per- 

 fectly clean all summer. For supports 

 we use wire stakes, four to six feet high, 

 according to variety. These stakes are 

 kept in place by being tied to wires run- 

 ning lengthways of the house some three 

 feet above the rows. 



We commence feeding with liquid fer- 

 tilizers, generally early in August, au'i 

 while of course always using weak solu- 

 tions, we never give the plants clean 

 water again. Feeding is very important, 

 but as every grower knows, no man can 

 lay down hard and fast rules concerning 

 ft. The condition of the plants them- 

 selves is the only true index as to when 

 or how long to feed. If the plants are 

 short jointed, and the wood solid and well 

 ripened, they will take with beneficial 

 results nuich more feeding than plants 

 that have been grown very rapidly, and 

 are long jointecl, sappy and immature. 

 About the best thing I can think of to 

 enable the beginner to determine whether 

 his plants are getting all the food they 

 want is to watch the foliage very care- 

 fully. If the leaves are of good size, and 

 a blackish green, and brittle to the touch, 

 it may generally be assumed that the 

 limit of feeding is readied. It is far 

 better to err on the weak side than to 

 overdose the plants. In addition to the 

 liquid made from natural manures, ni- 

 trate of soda or sulphate of ammonia 

 may be used in the proportions of one 

 pound to fifty gallons of water. The 

 soda should not be used after the bud is 

 as large as a marble, or the flower will 

 be too soft to travel without injury. 



Bud selection is an important problem 

 to the uninitiated. We take the crown bud 

 on practically everything except the pink 

 varieties, which will, generally speak- 

 ing, come a better color on a later bud. 

 Colonel Appleton and Golden Wedding 

 are varieties that should not be taken be- 

 fore September, but for all the general 

 varieties we take the first bud that ap- 

 pears after the SOth of August. It is 

 useless for a grower who proposes to ex- 

 hibit his flowers, to take only terminal 

 buds and expect to compete with men 

 handling crowns. While the terminal bud 



