600 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



GCTOBEK 2, 1902. 



Along the sides of the chamber and 

 close to the floor holes one foot square 

 should be nuule to allow the vitiated air 

 to escape, and holes of the same size 

 should be made near to the ceiling to ad- 

 mit fresh air. Tliese holes should be 

 about six feet apart and have close fit- 

 tine doors on both outside and inside 

 of ihc chamber, so they can be readily 

 opened and closed. 



At one end and near to the ceiling 

 should be placed the filling door and 

 made large enough to admit an ordinary 

 block of ice. This door, and also the 

 entrance door, should be built on the 

 same isolating principle as the walls. 

 From this door the rack to hold the ice 

 should extend nearly the full length of 

 the chamber, and should be made of 2x4 

 scantling, dressed, running lengthwise, 

 with three-inch spaces between, and with 

 a slight incline to facilitate filling. 



A zinc lined drip pan should be placed 

 some six inches below the rack and erect- 

 ed in such a way that it can be tipped 

 over for a periodic cleaning. From the 

 bottom of the drip pan a pipe should be 

 run to a drain outside to carry off all 

 the water, as the less water spilled in 

 the chamber so much easier can the tem- 

 perature be regulated. By keeping the 

 ice near the ceiling the cold air descend- 

 ing from the ice gets qualified before 

 coming in contact with the blooms. The 

 floor should be of concrete, with a finish 

 of pure cement, so that it will absorb as 

 little moisture as possible. 



With an intelligent night man the 

 temperature of such a structure can be 

 regulated with the nicety and precision 

 of a greenhouse. To facilitate the sort- 

 ing alid to lessen the handling of the 

 cut as much as possible, a box should be 

 made of thin wood and of such a shape 

 that the blooms can be placed in it so 

 they can be readily lifted from it and 

 put into water before the wound has had 

 time to dry. I have recently had pro- 

 pounded to me several questions concern- 

 ing the right temperature of the water 

 to^be used for this purpose. Before con- 

 cluding this article I will give some rules 

 for the guidance of those who have not 

 themselves experimented along these 

 lines. 



The temperature of the sorting room 

 should never be higher, than the house 

 the cut came from, in fact it is safer to 

 have it a degree or two less. The blooms 

 should be assorted according to size, 

 quality, length of stem, etc., into spe- 

 cials, firsts, seconds and culls. These 

 last comprise all small, short-stemmed 

 and off color blooms which cannot be oth- 

 erwise graded. The jars for holding the 

 cut should be of stoneware and large 

 enough to hold fifty blooms without 

 crowding. 



The temperature of the cold room 

 should never be allowed to get lower 

 than 48 degrees, ranging from that to 52 

 degrees, above which temperature they 

 will soon go wrong. After Ijeing in stor- 

 a^e for twenty-four hours the cut should 

 he taken out, reasserted, have half an 

 inch of the stem cut off to make a fresh 

 wound so that they can again absorb a 

 fresh supply, and have the water 

 changed. In forty-eight hours they be- 

 gin to enter on the salted stage, and the 

 less of this kind of stock a grower han- 

 dles so much the more satisfactory will 

 it be both for himself and his customer. 

 Regarding the right temperature of 

 water to be used for storage purposes. 

 Care should be taken not to give the cut 

 a sudden chill by putting them in water 



which is too cold, nor to raise their tem- 

 perature with hot water previous to 

 putting them in the cold room. A safe 

 rule to go by is to strike a medium be- 

 tween the temperature of the house they 

 were grown in and the temperature of 

 the cold room. Thus, if the temperature 

 of the house they were grown in is 56 

 degrees and that of the storeroom 50 

 degrees, the water should be 53 dcgi'ees. 

 As water approaches its greatest den- 

 sity at about 41 degrees, it should never 

 be "used near or below that point for stor- 

 ing the cut from a greenhouse. Tliese 

 last remarks apply with even more force 

 to carnation blooms, they being more sen- 

 sitive to sudden changes than roses are. 

 thousands being sent to sleep daily by 

 inatterftiou to "these seemingly trivial 

 matters. Ribes. 



GRUB WORMS. 



We have a house of roses that have 

 been attacked by grub worms. The 

 worms did not seem to do any harm till 

 lately, when suddenly they began to cut 

 ofl" all the roots of the plants right near 

 the steins, and as a result the plants so 

 injured died. It is a trouble I have 

 never seen or heard of before. There 

 were a few worms in the soil when it 

 was taken in. We picked out all we 

 could see, but undoubtedly some es- 

 caped. We have often before seen them 

 in the manure taken into the houses, but 

 in previous seasons have never suffered 

 any damage from them. Is there any 

 way of getting rid of them? Can any- 

 thing be done, or will they leave in time? 



Also please state what causes club 

 root. J. B. 



I know of no sure way of destroying 

 these grubs except by hunting for them 

 in the soil. Keep a sharp eye on the 

 plants and whenever you see the least 

 sign of wilting in the young foliage, 

 search around in the soil and you will 

 invariably find the grub. 



As these same giubs frequently come 

 on the surface and eat the bark around 

 the neck of the plant, it might be well 

 to try a mixture of paris green and fine- 

 ly sifted bran scattered over the bench, 

 it is harmless to plants and worth a 

 trial. 



Club root is caused by some insect at- 

 tacking the roots, eel-worm being a very 

 prolific source of this trouble. I have 

 as yet learned of no remedy which will 

 destitiy the worms without also destroy- 

 ing the plants. They, like the grubs, 

 are brought into the house -with the soil. 



Ribes. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



Early Flo-wers 



are reported as coming into the market 

 in several localities, but the price, 4 to 

 10 cents each, is nothing to boast of. 

 The varieties that can be got in by this 

 date are such kinds as Fitzwygram, 

 Marquis de Montmort, and Madame Gas- 

 telier. Whether it pays to bother with 

 them those who are at present shipping 

 know best, but I could never see any 

 money in September fiowers myself, and 

 have had sufficient flowers to ship in 

 quantity by Sept. 1. This has been a 

 great aster year, and a first-class aster 

 is just as good as an early mum, often 

 better in fact, so that under the circum- 



stances the present low prices are inevi- 

 table. 



The time to catch the market with 

 your first flowers is just after a killing 

 frost, when all the outside stock is 

 wiped out. This is generally about the 

 first or second week in October, and at 

 that time the market is almost destitute, 

 as indoor roses and carnations are not 

 yet producing to any extent. I have 

 seen good flowers of Merry Monarch 

 bring $5 a dozen just at that time, and 

 a week later when more varieties were 

 available prices would be cut in two. It 

 is simply a question of supply and de- 

 mand, but from my own experience I 

 would not recommend any one to look 

 on very early flowers as a profitable 

 crop. 



Of course there are some other things 

 to take into consideration beside the 

 crop of mum flowers when figuring up 

 the returns for bench space. If you 

 clear out your benches early in October 

 it gives room for storing many bedding 

 plants that have been dragged in hur- 

 riedly and stuck everywhere when frost 

 threatened, or carnations can be imme- 

 diately planted in the vacant space. 

 Every man is the best judge of his own 

 market, and where one man would come 

 out all right another would lose. 



The later varieties are coming along 

 in good shape, though the excessive rains 

 of the past week are conducive to the 

 rapid spread of leaf spot. Very many 

 varieties are showing color, and now is 

 the time to be absolutely certain that 

 the plants are free from aphis. It is im- 

 possible to fumigate without injury 

 when flowers are half developed. Mrs. 

 Coombes is making enormous buds, and* 

 this, combined with a very free habit of 

 growth, leads us to hope that a worthy 

 rival of V.-Morel is at last in the field. 

 Lady Harriet is coming along very rap- 

 idly and looks as though it would be in 

 before Robinson. I have seen some won- 

 derful buds well advanced on the new 

 Adrian. How they will finish is yet a 

 problem, since the introducers recom- 

 mend terminal buds instead of crowns for 

 this variety. 



Crown buds on Eaton are already two 

 iiiches across, with no sign yet of petals. 

 Some record flowers may again be looked 

 for. Overhead syringing must be stopped 

 when buds swell out like this, or many 

 of them will rot, owing to the water 

 lodging in the center. Jeannie Falconer 

 is another variety that one should be 

 careful in syringing, as its large flat bud 

 holds the water like a saucer. 



Terminal buds on any variety are more 

 pointed, and consequently the bud sel- 

 dom rots in this manner. Merza is show- 

 ing very fine buds, just beginning to 

 color. It is a pity that this variety 

 keeps so poorly after being cut, for it 

 has a perfect finish. H. J. Jones has 

 done specially well with several growers 

 and this variety will probably make a 

 sensation this year. When Childs and 

 all the other reds are burning up with 

 the sun, Jones will not lose a petal. I 

 think it will become the standard red 

 when better known. 



The mum house Just now is the Mecca 

 to which the faithful turn. Nothing is 

 so interesting as to watch the develop- 

 ment of the flowers, wondering whether 

 this bud was not taken too earlj', or why 

 this variety is so slow this year. Some 

 of our grower.? are kept too busy this 

 year bending the stems in every direction 

 to keep the flowers down from the glass 

 to do much wondering. Some varieties 

 have certainly gone "up in the air," 



