36 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



JDNB 



petals and sepals, but are always very 

 pleasing. 



So far as culture is concerned C. 

 choeoensis does not present any difficulties 

 for the grower. After flowering keep 

 the plants on the dry side until growth 

 commences in the spring. Then if pot- 

 ting is needed it should be attended to 

 and liberal quantities of water supplied 

 during the growing season which is, of 

 course, the summer months. If the plant 

 breaks again, as it often does when the 

 first growth is completed early, keep well 

 supplied with water until the second 

 break is finished, when both bulbs will 

 flower together. This plant is a native 

 of Xew Grenada and is now quite com- 

 monly grown. Newly established plants 

 can be bought at about $2 each from 

 any reputable dealer and they will soon 

 repay their cost. I may add in conclu- 

 sion that I am not selling plants of C. 

 choeoensis or any other orchid. 



C. T. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS, 



Planting. 



Planting should be proceeded with 

 now as soon as possible, if you are look- 

 ing for good results. While of course 

 one must wait until the bedding stocks, 

 or whatever is occupying the house, is 

 disposed of, it is always good policy to 

 get your main crop of mums planted by 

 the middle of June. For late work, 

 this is to say for cutting flowers at 

 Thanksgiving or Christmas, six weeks 

 later will do. But few florists care to 

 have flowers h'ing around so late in the 

 year, and while one can generally find 

 a few flowers in the market at Christ- 

 mas, the prices they sell at is by no 

 means phenomenal. I have grown mums 

 now for quite a few years, and while I 

 start out with renewed energy and en- 

 thusiasm every spring, I must confess 

 that by Thanksgiving the poor old mum 

 begins to pall, and I turn gratefully to 

 something else for a change. 



Before filling in the benches the drain- 

 age must be taken care of, and this can 

 be done by spreading straw, or some sim- 

 ilar substance over the cracks in the bot- 

 tom of the bench. This will keep the 

 soil from trickling through and yet will 

 permit of the free ingress of air and 

 egress of water. The very best material 

 to use for this purpose is fresh sod, laid 

 along the cracks, as the roots of the 

 mum love it and delight to run through 

 it. as anyone who has ever used sod for 

 this purpose knows. Fill the bench lev- 

 el full of soil, without firming, so that 

 after planting, when the bed is made 

 solid the soil mil be low enough to per- 

 mit of a top dressing later in the sea- 

 son. 



The distance apart to put out the 

 plants seems to vary with different grow- 

 ers very considerably. It all depends, 

 of course, on the quality of the stock 

 ■you are desiring to grow. For the very 

 finest grade of flowers 10 inches by 8 or 



9 is as close as one dare to plant. Flow- 

 ers from plants so grown, if grown as 

 they should be, ought to wholesale at 

 fifty cents each, though they seldom seem 

 to, outside of New York. This distance. 



10 by 8 or 9, is for single stem plants, 

 one flower to a plant. If two stems are 

 to be taken from each plant (and a 

 plant w-ill produce two flowers as good 

 as one, providing you plant early and 

 have good plants), more space must be 

 allowed. 



You can take from three to six flowers 

 from the same space I have recommend- 

 ed for single stems, and your prices for 

 the same will range from twenty cents 

 each down to nothing at all in the great 

 wholesale centers. In smaller towns a 

 man must grow the grade of flowers his 

 trade calls for, and it wouUl be poor bus- 

 iness policy to grow or attempt to grow 

 the finest flowers if you know that you 

 won't be able to get over ten or fifteen 

 cents each for them. After planting 

 make the soil firm b.y pounding down 

 uniformly all over the bed. This will 

 keep the plants more dwarf, as the roots 

 will not run so quickh' through the soil. 



If you are proposing to take several 

 shoots up from each plant it is best not 

 to pinch the plant, but wait until it 

 makes its first break, when you can se- 

 lect as many as you desire for that pur- 

 pose. If the plants are pinched early 

 you get a forest of leaves too close to 

 the bench. Then you will find that the 

 beds will not dry out evenly, and you 

 are almost certain to get rust or some 

 other leaf disease will start in from the 

 moisture hanging on the bottom of the 

 leaves. 



Cuttings 



for 6-inch pot single-stem work should 

 be rooted now as soon as possible. They 

 need more looking after now as regards 

 spraying and shading than they did ear- 

 lier in the season. Keep them from 

 wilting if you possibly can. The class 

 for plants in 6-inch pots is an interest- 

 ing feature of exhibitions, and one sees 

 some very fine stock set up at times. The 

 varieties best suited to this purpose are 

 those with a sturdy habit. Mrs. Bobin- 

 son, Merza, Gold Mine, V.-Morel and 

 Nellie Pockett are good types for this 

 class. Bri.\n Boru. 



ROSES. 



Seasonable Hints. 



Time and again I am asked as to the 

 best method of carrying American 

 Beauties over a second season. The 

 beginner and inexperienced cling to the 

 idea that it is a waste of material to 

 throw f out the old plants when they 

 are showing such vigorous growth early 

 in the summer and to substitute young 

 stock in their place. I wish it to be 

 understood that I do not advocate this 

 method of culture, but will give a re- 

 sume of the most successful way of do- 

 ing it, as it has come under my own 

 observation. 



The benches should be partly dried 

 off for a couple of weeks jDrevious to 

 lifting the plants. These when lifted 

 should be heeled in on some high ground 

 outside and pruned into shape. In 

 about two or three weeks they will be 

 ready to transplant. 



The soil and benches should be pre- 

 pared in the same way as recommended 

 for young stock, only it is better to add 

 another inch to the depth of the side- 

 board. The ball should be reduced to 

 a size easy to handle, taking care to 

 disturb the roots as little as possible, 

 and plant just deep enough to cover 

 the ball. They should then get a thor- 

 ough soaking to settle the soil well 

 around them, afterward allowing them 

 to become moderately dry till root ac- 

 tion has commenced, when the supply 

 of water can be gradually increased. 

 During this period the house should be 

 kept rather close and moist, using the 

 syringe freely twice a day during bright 



weather. The soil should be stirred at 

 least once a week, and should never be 

 allowed to remain with a crust on it. 

 It is claimed that these plants produce 

 a greater quantity of medium length 

 stems than young stock will, but I have 

 never seen a house so handled that could 

 in any way compare with a well handled 

 house of young healthy stock. , 



To run a .house of Meteors over a 

 second season they should never want 

 for lack of a good rich mulch, nor be 

 allowed to become dry, but should be kept 

 growing vigorously at all times. Tliis 

 rose seems to give the best results if 

 kei)t steadily at work. All it desires is 

 a good supply of rich food, plenty of 

 water and careful ventilation to run it 

 successfully over the hot months. Trim- 

 ming out all the small blind wood will 

 give better circulation among the fol- 

 iage and encourage the production of 

 strong canes from the base, which after 

 being cut back will make good flower- 

 producing wood for winter. Eibes. 



CARNATION NOTES. 



Most of us who enjoy a final rush at 

 the end of the season in the shape of 

 cemetery bouquets and any other kind 

 of moderate priced flower for Decoration 

 Da}', try to keep our carnations going 

 until after that date, and only those 

 that are in very poor condition are fired 

 out. It will not pay you to keep in 

 anything now, thou^, but what is in 

 fairly good condition, as the w-atering, 

 etc., will cost you more than what flow- 

 ers you can cut are worth. If you were 

 smart last summer while planting them 

 in from the field you will have planted 

 all luose varieties that give out early 

 together in the same house. Then you 

 can throw them all out and use the 

 house for something else, or, what is 

 much better, give it a good cleaning and 

 painting and get it ready for your ear- 

 liest planting this summer. 



You know there are times when you 

 have to study to keep all your men 

 busy. There will be lots of work in a 

 few days, or weeks perhaps, but it can't 

 be done just then and at just such 

 "times you can be getting a house or 

 two ready for early planting. It will 

 not injure the soil to thoroughly dry 

 out on the benches, but on the other 

 hand it will kill many worms, etc., and 

 if you keep the soil moist until the 

 first crop of weeds is up and then let 

 it get as dry as powder it will destroy 

 most of them. There is nothing more 

 ]irofitable than to get as much work 

 done ahead as possible ; in a month or 

 two you will have more than you can 

 do. Some growers plant their carnation 

 houses full of asters, but we do not 

 approve of it, as it throws them too 

 late with their planting. 



We are having a good rain everj' few 

 days and both carnations and weeds are 

 growing rapidly in the field, and the 

 cultivator and the hoe must be kept 

 going to keep the weeds down and the 

 carnations growing. 



You should put on a little more shade 

 over the plants that are still producing 

 blooms, as the sun is getting hotter every 

 day. A few weeks ago I said that one 

 of the reasons we keep our carnations 

 in good shape so late is because we 

 don't hurry on a lot of shade as soon 

 as it gets a little warm outside. I have 

 also repeatedly lef erred to Ethel Crocker 

 as being a grand carnation and I want 

 to repeat both these statements, and 



