702 



The Weekly Floiists'' Review. 



APRIL 10, 1902. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Lilies. 



I was exchanging opinions rot-ently 

 witii a most successful grower in one of 

 the big eastern cities and lie remarked 

 with the greatest good sense that in or- 

 dering your Japan longitlorums you 

 should not ask for them too early. This 

 is the best advice and as I am paid to 

 give advice I give it to you. my affec- 

 tionate and intimate reader. The Japan 

 bulbs, as is well known, are of no use 

 for early winter bloom; in fact, the ma- 

 jority of growers do well liy getting 

 them in flower at an early Raster, and 

 so we have to depend on the Bermuda 

 bulbs for our Christmas lilies and many 

 growers rely on them altogether. 



Now about the Japan bulbs. \Vc heard 

 a lecture by the intelligent and traveled 

 Mr. Farquliar of Boston last August dur- 

 ing the convention week here. Most of 

 the members of the S. A. F. were out at 

 the Pan-American viewing the electric 

 lights of the Rainbow City or the chest- 

 nuts of the Midway, but some, and a 

 good many, enjoyed the intellectual treat 

 and optical feast of the lecture known 

 as "Fair Japan." The particular part 

 of that lecture which interests us was 

 where Mr. Farquhar told us that the lilies 

 were nearly all grown in the northern 

 islands, where the climate was about like 

 southern Pennsylvania, although he did 

 not say it was similar. As soon as the 

 flowers are developed and before they 

 have any chance to ripen the bulbs are 

 dug, because the demand is to get them 

 here earl}*. The consequence is we have 

 many failures in our Japan bulbs. It is 

 not the same disease that the Bermuda 

 bulbs have shown for some years past, 

 but just as disappointing to the grower, 

 and what you can easily recognize as re- 

 sulting from the attempt to force an un- 

 ripened bulb. 



Then Mr. Farquhar went on to say 

 that if this bulb industry (which 1 under- 

 stand is carried on in Japan in a most 

 promiscuous and desultory way) was an 

 industry of the southern island of that 

 empire archipelago the bulbs would be 

 ripened in time for us to get them in 

 good season and tlioy would force with- 

 out the many failures. The lesson to be 

 taught from" all this is that you should 

 not ask that your bulbs be delivered too 

 early. In fact if you told the drummer 

 you bought of that" you would not receive 

 any bulbs before the midle of October 

 or'first of November you would do well. 

 Of this I am sure because I have no- 

 ticed that the Japan lilies that are 

 brought in late soon overtake those that 

 were in the house for two months pre- 

 vious and arrived in flowering time 

 equally on time. All of the above is 

 written so that you cay say to your 

 wholesale house, or drummer, as the cir- 

 cumstances may be, "I don't want any 

 Japan lilies unless you are snre they were 

 not dug till September. ' ' 



Azaleas. 



I forgot in my last week's notes on 

 left-over stock to mention the azalea. 



Time was when I reconmiendcd that the 

 best way to dispose of them was to throw 

 them in the dump pile. It's only a fool 

 that does not alter his mind, and so we 

 have found for se\eral years that what 

 we will call the left-over stock will make 

 the best of plants. Be sure and pick 

 ofl' the old flower seed pods and keep 

 the plants in a rather cool house. If they 

 are very shabby then you can cut them 

 back even to the ' ' old wood, ' ' and the 

 break they will make will give you lots 

 of flower.' But if you have them under 

 your own care and they are good and 

 "healthy then there is no need of cutting 

 them back at all. Let the growth they 

 make now or shortly be the growth, and 

 from it you will get surely a full supply 

 of flower, but whether you leave all 

 the growth on or cut them back, let them 

 rest in a cool house for the next six- 

 weeks, not particularly because they want 

 a cool house but because you are busy 

 and they receive no harm. 



Roses. 



It just occurred to me that of all 

 things a florist (of the common sort) is 

 asked for was at this time of year roses. 

 If beds of roses could be produced as we 

 have seen and grown them there wonhl 

 be some encouragement to talk to a 

 customer about the hybrid perpetual type, 

 hut too often they are disappointing. 

 Either they are badly planted and man- 

 aged and the rose is overpowered by the 

 strong growth which in ignorance is al- 

 lowed to grow from the stock, either 

 briar or JIanetti. Many of the best 

 hybrid perpetual roses make but a poor 

 growth on their own roots and the budded 

 stock has to be used. It is your duty 

 to educate your customer to cut out the 

 sucker growths. Perhaps a more prolific 

 cause of disappointment is the crude and 

 ungardener-like way of planting and care 

 for the first year. When customers say 

 (hey want a bed of roses and you have 

 to tell them that they cannot expect 

 blooms the first year it takes a little 

 moral courage, but such is the fact. 

 Such a bed of roses as we had at the 

 Pan-American last June and July was 

 gratification enough for a year's work. 

 There was one bed of 500 Paul Neyron 

 and another of 500 Ulrich Brunner and 

 many beds of other varieties, but I men- 

 tion those two because they were so 

 grand, and when the venerable Mr. Ell- 

 wanger, of Rochester, pnt his hand on 

 my shoulder one day toward the end of 

 June and said: "Mr. S., this is as fine 

 a show of roses as I ever saw," I thought 

 I had not lived in vain. 



Now it is all easily done and very 

 Simple. To begin with, you can buy 

 from many firms first class stock. 

 I like the American budded stock 

 better than the imported. Plant as 

 early as you can after the ground is 

 dry and fit to work. You will receive 

 plants with three or four canes and the.y 

 will be l.S inches to 2 feet long. Plant 

 18 inches apart each way and plant deep; 

 you cannot kill a rose by planting deep, 

 "when well and firmly jilnnted by thor- 



oughly watering the roots and soil before 

 you fill in the hole, the next operation is 

 to take a pair of shears and cut down 

 every cane to within 3 or 4 inches of 

 the ground. Don't be afraid, the harder 

 you cut them back the stronger will be 

 the growth and you will get growths 

 from 3 to 5 feet long. I may as well 

 halt here and cool my enthusiasm by say- 

 ing that you will not get these great re- 

 sults without the soil that a rose, an oak 

 .or a strawberry must have — a heavy or 

 clay loam, and if you want the best re- 

 sults with the roses let one-fourth of its 

 bulk for the first foot be cow manure. 



There are other things to observe, but 

 none so important as the close cutting 

 down. After they have started growth, 

 or sa.v about June 1, put on an inch of 

 half-decayed stable manure ; it will keep 

 the roots cool and moist and do a little 

 fertilizing. Several heavy waterings are 

 necessary if the months of May, June ancl 

 July are dry, but after that a watering 

 would be useless, as you want the wood 

 to ripen so that it will endure the frosts 

 of winter. In some localities these roses 

 need protection. If you were sure of a 

 foot of snow all winter no protection 

 would be needed, but we don't get that 

 every winter (particularly that region 

 where Mr. Carmody intends to move to) 

 and a lot of evergreen boughs thrown in 

 among them to the depth of a foot is 

 the very best covering. In the absence 

 of that put 8 or 9 inches of the lightest 

 stable litter or leaves. Don't think of 

 tying each plant up with straw because 

 it is useless and no protection to the 

 plant where it is most in need of it. 



Now I come to another cutting down, 

 if the winter has killed them down to 

 within six inches of the ground no harm 

 is done, because you would want to cut 

 them down. Don't make a mistake, you 

 must cut them down again, leaving only 

 three or four eyes, which is the only way 

 to produce a fine growth and flower. 

 This story is somewhat out of season, but 

 it seems to me that the rose question is 

 so much in evidence every spring, and 

 with so many of our patrons, that a 

 few words as above would not be out 

 of place. Some one will say, "How 

 about the next year?" Simply cut them 

 back to within two eyes of the previous 

 summer's growth and you will always 

 have a dwarf plant with the finest flowers. 

 Another lady will ask, "How do you 

 keep the bugs off ." ' I have simply to 

 say that a liberal use of cold water on 

 the foliage I found kept off all so-called 

 "bugs," which with the amateur is a 

 generic name for moths, caterpillars, 

 aphis, mildew and every other malady 

 that the rose is heir to. 



William Scott. 



ZEPHYRANTHES ROSEA. 



The zephyr lily, a native of Mexico, 

 has long, narrow, drooping leaves of a 

 dark green color. The roots, small coni- 

 cal shaped bulbs, which during the sum- 

 mer months frequently throw out a deli- 

 cate rose-pink flower 'somewhat larger 

 than the mammoth crocus. The flowers 

 develop on long stems and keep for sev- 

 eral days when cut. Bulbs should be 

 planted in May, after danger of frost, 

 five inches apart. They accommodate 

 themselves to almost any soil which has a 

 good drainage. They flower continu- 

 ously during the whole summer, and when 

 planted m small beds one is always sure 

 to find blossoms there. 



Tlie flowers when cut retain their beau- 



