September 25, 1902. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



569 



A Floral Pillow. 



or coal and wood saver, I should in an 

 extreme case close down and immedi- 

 ately proceed with a bellows to fill the 

 house with Grape Dust. 



Geo. S. Osborn. 



FLORAL PILLOW. 



The accompanying engraving is from 

 a photograph of a pillow arranged by 

 J. H. Shelton, Rochester, Ind. It is un- 

 fortunate that the inscription was al- 

 lowed to get out of shape, but the gen- 

 eral effect is good and the way the pan- 

 sies are used seems commendable. It will 

 no doubt be interesting to many. 



ROSES. 



Seasonable Hints. 



The .season is now at hand when buds 

 will be move plentiful than is desirable, 

 both for the condition of the plants and 

 the market. Disbudding and cutting oflf 

 tho,se buds which are not Avanted at this 

 time will require a deal of time and 

 care. 



From past experience we know that 

 during the season of mums, roses are 

 invariably a drug on the market. Dis- 

 budding and thinning .out should be 

 practiced with a double object in view, 

 viz., to shorten the cut at that .season 

 and develop a good cut for the holidays, 

 when the demand and prices are good. 

 With a little calculation and forethought 

 this can be obtained in ordinary weather. 



Simply nipping oft' the buds at this 

 season has a tendency to encourage a 

 lot ofsmall blind wood, as almost every 

 eye will break and consequently will be 

 weak. To disbud with advantage to 

 the future crop, two or three eyes next 

 to the bud should also be cut off; the 

 strength of the plant will thus be di- 

 rected to the remaining eyes, which will 

 eventually develop into good flower 

 stems. 



It must be borne in mind that dark 

 weather is approaching, when crops will 

 not mature so quickly, and ample time 

 should be allowed for the development 

 of the holiday crops, five or six weeks 



being about the usual time at that sea- 

 son, according to the weather. In fak- 

 ing the ordinary cut from Brides and 

 Bridesmaids, to get the best results they 

 should be cut so that at -least two eyes 

 with fully developed leaves are left on 

 the plant, and where the stems are of 

 extra strength, as is frequently the ease 

 with Golden Gates and Meteors, it is 

 better to leave four or more eyes; this 

 will encourage more eyes to break and 

 while the stems will not be quite so 

 long the blooms will be of a much bet- 

 ter quality. Beauties should always 

 have four or more eyes left, and the 

 temptation to get a few more inches of 

 stem on the cut blooms at this season 

 is frequently the cause of scarcity of 

 good and «'ell developed blooms during 

 winter. 



The removal of laterals should also be 

 strictly attended to; they should be 

 nipped out while they are small and 

 soft, as if they are allowed to get hard 

 and woody they deprive the bud of its 

 rightful nourishment and spoil the 

 gracefulness of the stem. If this is 

 carefully attended to twice a week the 

 extra quality of bud and stem obtained 

 will amply repay the lalx>r. 



Next week I will treat on the care 

 and assortment of the cut previous to 

 shipment. Ribes. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



Temperature. 



In many sections frost is looked for 

 the last week in September, and some 

 attention must now be paid to the night 

 temperature in the mum houses. The 

 chrysanthemum is a cool growi 

 plant, but when the outside temperature 

 falls to freezing point the ventilators 

 should be lowered down and only an 

 inch or two of air left on. 



If the temperatui-e of the house falls 

 below 43 degrees after the air is reduced 

 down, a crack of heat should be permit- 

 ted to pass through the house. 



It is not a wise policy to let the 

 house run much lower than 4.5 degrees 

 where you are handling crown buds. 

 While an odd cold night raav not hurt 



much, a series of cold nights form con- 

 ditions that are unsuitable for the pro- 

 per development of such buds, on ac- 

 count of the fact that they are much 

 more crowded with petals than are 

 terminal buds and require a more genial 

 atmosphere to develop in. Many grow- 

 ers wlio claim to be unable to handle 

 crown buds would probably find it eas- 

 ier work if they were not so sparing of 

 llic coal on frosty nights. 



Another reason why it is well to have 

 a little heat when the nights are cold 

 is because the atmosphere on such nights 

 i^ still, and the moisture will settle 

 down on the expanding florets and 

 cause them to damp. A dry, moving 

 atmosphere is necessary for the best 

 development of the flowers, and on 

 foggy, moisture-laden nights, such as 

 we sometimes get in Octoljer, we run a 

 line of steam through the house, no 

 matter how warm the night, for the sole 

 purpose of keeping the moisture off the 

 flowers. 



Let not the interested reader get the 

 idea from these notes that the mum is a 

 plant to be "coddled." The conditions 

 I have described are such as to necessi- 

 tate some precautions, but in bright, 

 cool weather leave the ventilators and 

 doors wide open, night and day, to help 

 ripen up the wood. No advantage is 

 gained by putting on heat and running 

 the plants very warm with the idea of 

 getting flowers. early. If the house is 

 kept up to 70 degrees nights it will 

 make no difference in the time neces- 

 sary for the development of the flowers, 

 but with cool nights and bright days a 

 great difference can be noticed every 

 day. 



And how interesting it is to note this 

 daily development. I know of nothing 

 that a man can grow that will recipro- 

 cate good care as will the mum. A man 

 grows roses or carnations and he is 

 thinking of and looking out all the time 

 for the flowers that are yet to come but 

 with a mum you begin with a small 

 slip of a plant and gradually work up 

 to a climax. Is it to be wondered at 

 that a man gets to be a mum crank, 

 and continues to devote space to the 

 cultivation of his favorite flower when 

 his better judgment tells him he could 

 make more money by growing some- 

 thing else. 



The Chicago Exhibition. 



It is to be hoped that everyone who 

 can will contribute to make the show 

 held at Chicago this year under the 

 auspices of the Chrysanthemum Society 

 of America a splendid success. It will 

 help to boom the society, and there 

 never was an exhibition held yet that 

 did not help to boom the sale of the 

 flowers. Growers of good stock make 

 the mistake of their lives when they 

 don't use every possible endeavor to get 

 their wares prominently before the pub- 

 lic. For every person that sees your 

 stock when you have a private exhibi- 

 tion in your own houses a thousand 

 will see it when you exhibit in a pub- 

 lic hall. Do then, fellow craftsmen, get 

 to work and make the show this fall a 

 lasting monument to western enterprise 

 and skill. I hope and trust there will 

 be a good competition for the me'dal 

 offered by our French confreres. Let 

 them see that their generosity is appre- 

 ciated. Horticulture knows neither 

 country nor religion and is doing as 

 much to bring about the universal 

 brotherhood of man as any of its kin- 

 dred sciences. 



