July 24, 1902 



The Weekly Florists^ Review, 



249 



being cut, as tlio string is cut away with 

 tlie slioot and permits one to cut liis 

 flowers easily and expeditiously, witiiout 

 liaviug any wires in tlie way. This string 

 method simply consists of running a wire 

 above each row of plants, keeping 

 said wire well up into the roof, 

 unless the house happens to be 

 an extremely high one, then run- 

 ning another wire for each row 

 along the bench, just above the soil. Run 

 a string from the top to the bottom wire, 

 one string to each plant, or if you are 

 running several shoots to a plant, use 

 more strings rather than crowd all your 

 shoots together. Any cheap, coarse 

 string is all right, as it is useiess after 

 one season. If the strings are put up 

 neatly, and tighteaied after a few days, 

 and the shoots kept tied uji, it is a neat 

 looking job. 



If plants are dwarf and on low side 

 benches, short wire stakes or liamboos 

 cut to the required length will do. For 

 exhibition flowers we think it jjotteir to 

 use either wire or bamboo stakes, one 

 stake for each plant. These stakes can 

 be kept tight by running one wire down 

 the bench for each row, say three feet 

 above tlie bench, and tying each stake up 

 to the wire. The reason we prefer stakes 



White and Violet-Red Comet Astera. 



take first bud after last of August, or 

 whatever the case may be. It a plant 

 [iroduces a bud in July it may be re- 

 garded as a first crown by some who are 

 not well posted, and every florist is not 

 an expert in 'mum growing. July buds 

 are useless and should never be taken, 

 unless we except perhaps Fitzwygram or 

 one or two of the extra early varieties, 

 which are sometimes taken during the 

 last few days of the month by those 

 growers who have a mania for getting 

 first into the market. 



Brian Boru. 



CARNATION NOTES. 



By this time, if your carnation plants' 

 luive been growing as they should have 

 done, they should be nice, shapely plants- 

 and no severe pinching should be in- 

 dulged in any longer. From now on you 

 should merely keep them from running 

 into bud and from wasting a lot of 

 strength in producing a few worthless 

 blooms. This latter part is just as im- 

 portant as the former and don't get the 

 idea into your head that the only reason 

 fur pinching carnations is to cause them 

 to branch. As I said once before in these 

 notes you can do a great deal now in 



White. 



Comet Aster Plant. 



In Bamt)00 Holder. 



in this case is because the stems should 

 be kept perfectly straight, and when a 

 plant throws an early bud, which is of 

 course removed, the succeeding growth 

 does not sometimes come away as 

 straight as one could wish. The growth 

 can be pulled in close to the stake, while 

 string can hardly ever be made rigid 

 enough to serve this purpose. If four or 

 five-foot wire stakes are used and the 

 growth gets up above them, the stakes 

 can be pieced out by dropping a piece 

 of bamboo cane over the toji of the wire 

 stake. 



Syringing. 



In spraying yiuir jilauts always remem- 

 ber that it is on the under side of the 

 leaves were thrips, red spider and 

 kindred insects make their home. Once 

 a week at least the plants should have a 

 good sjiraying, using a nozzle that throws 

 the spray upwards. Keep the sprayer 

 well down, working it upwards and it 

 will dislodge caterpillars and everything 

 else if you have force enough. We are 



bothered considerably by a tiny white 

 thrips, so small as to be almost invisible 

 to the naked eye, which works entirely on 

 the unoer side of the foliage and whose 

 preseuice is entirely unsuspected unless 

 you hapjjen to turn over the bottom 

 leaves. Where frequent syringing fails 

 to remove this pest, use rose leaf extract 

 of tobacco, diluted as recommended. 



Buds. 



Many varieties are now throwing a 

 bud. This should be rubbed out and 

 when the new shoots have grown long 

 enough to determine which is the best, 

 all the others should be removed. It is 

 not wise to disbud closely too early, be- 

 cause some of the shoots occasionally 

 come blind after the plant has thrown 

 a bud, and this must bei allowed for. 



I often think that the men responsible 

 for sending out new varieties should, 

 instead of saying, ' ' take first crown 

 bud " or " second crown, ' ' give a date, 

 after which approximate time it would 

 be safe to take buds, as for instance. 



the next few weeks to make your ear- 

 nations bloom continuously next winter 

 by topping them right. Take off only 

 those shoots that are really shooting up 

 to form a bud, and leave all those 

 that will bo in that stage in one 

 week, when you should go over them 

 again and so on until you house 

 them. You will find then that your 

 plants will have shoots in all stages 

 of development and a continuous croji 

 of blooms will result. 



This has been a dreadful season for 

 weeds in this neck of the woods, brought 

 on by the abundant rains we have had 

 at regular intervals, and it has kept us 

 busy keeping them down. Kspecially at 

 this time you must keep your plants from 

 being choked. 



If you have already planted a house 

 or a bench you must watch them closely 

 and let up on the syringing, at least 

 partly, and if it is cloudy or cool you 

 can leave oif altogether as soon as they 

 begin to make new growth. Less shade 

 will also be needed, and unless the rain 



