250 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



July 24. 1902 



has taken off part of it you should do 

 it with a brush or a long stick. As soon 

 as the weeds come up enough to allow 

 you to get a good hold on them you 

 should weed them at onee. These weeds 

 are usually gross feeders and will im- 

 poverish your soil in a very short time, 

 and while you are pulling the weeds 

 you should loosen up the soil about an 



inch deep to allow the air to penetrate. 

 If there are any signs of stemrot take 

 a sharpened hock made of %-inch iron 

 (fl&t) and pull it through the soil between 

 the rows, leaving a trench behind it a 

 couple of inches deep and when watering 

 water only in these and you will find 

 them a great help. 



A. F. .1. liAiic. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Roses and Carnations. 



This is really the season when there is 

 much doing, not only in business but in 

 our gardening operations. Roses are or 

 should be planted. Only a few begin so 

 early with their carnations and we are 

 not all carnation specialists. This most 

 beautiful and important plant is out of 

 my domain, but I will just revert to a 

 little controversy I had the honor to mix 

 up in with Mr. Charles Allen of Long 

 Island. I had said that early September 

 was the time to plant carnations. He 

 very properly said I was mistaken and 

 that early August was a better time. 1 

 had not then had any experience with so 

 early planting, yet we have had-an abund- 

 ance since and our comment is that with 

 few exceptions they should be all on the 

 bench by the 10th of August, and many 

 expert growers are planting in July. Par- 

 ticularly does this apply to the newer 

 large flowered varieties. 



No harm here in just referring to a 

 bed of Lawson that was planted about 

 the 7th of last August and began flower- 

 ing in October. Except a few weeks in 

 April it has been glorious and continuous, 

 and this day (July 21), it is a sight, giv- 

 ing us thousands of grand flowers. I 

 am on forbidden ground and will col- 

 lapse merely saying — plant early. It is 

 cruel to throw away such a bed as I re- 

 fer to but it 's profit in the end. 



Lilies. 



The Bermuda lilies are arriving and 

 the 5 to 7-inch that you want in flower 

 in October and November should be pot- 

 ted without delay; in fact whether you 

 want to force them or not they should be 

 got into the ground. It is an injury to 

 them to lie around, particularly if ex- 

 posed to the air. We tried once plant- 

 ing this size bulb in flats about 16 inches 

 square and 4 inches deep; size of flat of 

 course would make no difference, but 

 the depth was about right. The plan 

 was not a success and we have not done 

 it since. Planting them in boxes or even 

 on a bench in four or five inches of soil 

 may do very well for a late shipment of 

 the Japan bulbs that you want in for 

 Decoration Day, but for these early 

 grown bulbs pots are much better. A 

 5-inch pot is large enough. 



Ldhes do not like fresh manure. A 

 good fresh loam with a fifth or sixth of 

 well rotted manure is all they want, and 

 if the soil is poor you can add a 5-inch 

 pot of bone meal to a barrow load of the 

 loam. A greenhouse bench is liable to bo 

 a very warm place just now and we pre- 

 fer to place the pots in a frame, but al- 

 ways where water will not stand and, af- 



ter a good watering, cnvor with -tin inch 

 of straw. It keeps the soil from bak- 

 ing, saves watering and keeps the soil and 

 bulbs cooler. If you have an open shed 

 that will keep the rain ott' that would be 

 an ideal place for them. They really want 

 little or no water till roots start and 

 with these early dug bulbs that is often 

 some weeks hence, so there should be 

 means at hand to keep off excessive rains. 

 (The very mention of rain makes you 

 shudder. ) 



Roman Hyacinths. 



Roman hyacinths will soon arrive. 

 The easiest of all the bulbs to force and 

 of late the most unprofitable. It's well to 

 have a few on hand but very few will 

 answer. Lily of tlie valley costs us 

 much less, occupies less room in the green- 

 house, is more sweet and chaste, and 

 much preferred by all our customers, 

 then why not grow them instead. of the 

 expensive little hyacinth? When the 

 French grower comes ofi' his perch and 

 this government (with Mr. Ester's per- 

 mission) is willing to try and exist with- 

 out a tariff on what we don't produce 

 licre, we may buy Romans at $5 per 

 11)1(0, and then we shall grow a few 

 thousand. 



Their forcing is most simple. A flat 

 of any convenient size holding three 

 inches of soil, the soil from a thrown- 

 out carnation bench would be just right. 

 Place the bulbs almost touching in the 

 flat and even with the surface. Give a 

 good watering and then place the flats 

 out of doors and cover with three or four 

 inches of soil or sand or tan bark. In 

 the early treatment of these Roman 

 hyacinths and paper white and even the 

 early tulips you often make a mistake 

 in not watering the soil that covers 

 them. If two weeks of hot weather 

 occurs, which I pray may be the case 

 soon, the soil in the flats becomes very 

 dry and there is not root growth, and 

 without roots all these bulbs will not 

 force. 



Hardy Perennials. 



As we are ornamental horticulturists, 

 many of us, and not confined alone 

 to the culture of indoor plants, I would 

 remind you that now is an excellent time 

 to sow the seeds of most of the desir- 

 able hardy herbaceous plants. As cut 

 flowers to sell over the counter there 

 is little profit in them unless their flow- 

 ers are only a side issue and you are 

 growing them to supply your trade with 

 the plants. There is a good and grow- 

 ing demand for the roots and jdants 

 and many hundreds of dollars are sent 

 oiit of all our cities because no local 



man can supply them. Sow in flats or 

 drills in ,a cold frame and when large 

 enough to handle transplant again a 

 few inches apart in good soil in a 

 frame that can be protected with glass 

 or shutters during winter. They will 

 be good plants to either sell or plant 

 in the field in early spring. 



All genera and species that come true 

 from seed can be sown now. Sucli well 

 known kinds as coreopsis, anemone, aqui- 

 legia, delphinium, digitalis, Lobelia car- 

 dinalis, and many others that are most 

 desirable and which, if you are in the 

 liusiness, you should grow. 



Azaleas. 



W^e now look upon the unsold plants 

 of spring as quite as valuable as the 

 newly imported. If plunged in pots in 

 u cold-frame they will have grown very 

 much since you put them out there in 

 early June and they should be stood 

 over and given more room or you won't 

 be able to s])ray thoroughly all around 

 them and the red spider and thrips will 

 get a lodging. When standing them over 

 put an inch of half-decayed cow manure 

 on the surface of the soil to which has 

 been added a liberal portion of bone 

 flour. I say flour because I want it 

 understood that you" want the minutest 

 particles. It will help the growth very 

 much. 



William Scott. 



ROSES. 



Seasonable Hints. 



The weather in many localities still 

 continues dark, with an excess of mois- 

 ture in the atmosphere. During such 

 weather the surface of the soil in the 

 benches will require frequent stirring to 

 prevent the growth of green scum on the 

 surface, and to encourage eva}Kiration. 

 To help to destroy this scum the soil 

 should be allowed to become moderately 

 dry and a sprinkling of air slaked lime 

 given previous to stirring; 25 pounds to 

 a bench 100x4V-; feet is about sufBcient. 

 This also tends to give firmer wood and 

 foliage. The bench should then receive 

 a thorough soaking. 



Keep a vigilant watch for mildew, 

 black spot and insect enemies and never 

 allow them a foothold. 



The roofs and gutters of the houses 

 should be looked over during dry 

 weather. See that all the glass is in 

 good condition for winter, locate all the 

 drip spots and have them closed. A lib- 

 eral use of the ]>utty bull), or mastica, 

 just now will be amply compensated for 

 before winter is over. Ribes. 



DETROIT. 



Having just returned from a trip east, 

 it ma.y interest some of your readers to 

 hear of the various eastern places which 

 the writer visited while there. On Sat- 

 urday, July 5, at 4 p. m., I left Detroit 

 for Buffalo on the new D. & B. steamer, 

 "Western States," by which route one 

 can save .$3 fare and enjoy a good 

 night's sleep and arrive in Buffalo in 

 time for all trains going east. Continu- 

 ing the trip over the D., L. & W., I saw 

 not only hundreds but thousands of acres 

 of valley land completely covered with 

 water, in many places only the tops of 

 fence posts being visible, also the heads 

 of the growing wheat just above the 

 water. 



Arriving at Summit, N, J., I spent two 



