746 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



OCTOEEB 30, 1902. 



as the drainage is perfect. Bnck be- 

 imr an excellent ab-sorljent of heat and 

 (riving it off fslowly, the necessary gentle 

 bottom heat can be kept more uniform 

 than with boards. Slate makes a dur- 

 able V/ttom but is more expensive, easily 

 broken in cleaning out the bench, and 

 not being porous does not give the per- 

 fect flraiuage as does brick. 



Whitewash the brick after laying, pre- 

 paring the wash as recommended for 

 painting on heating pipes (see issue of 

 Oct. 2) except it should be thinne<l 

 Bomewhat to spread ea.sily. Put on a 

 liljeral coat and vou will have ac-com- 

 plished much toward the prevention of 

 fungous diseases. Here, too, i-s where 

 brick is preferable to slate, being capable 

 of absorbing the sulphur in solution 

 formed by the action of the hot lime. 

 Box in the space under the bench pro- 

 viding mean-s of ventilation to regulat* 

 the dc'Tce of txjttom heat desired. 



I would not put the sand in for some 

 time, but leave it out where it will keep 

 Bweet, getting it in as late as. possible 

 consistent with the weather and time 

 needed. Be sure that it contains no im- 

 purities such as vegetable or animal 

 matter, soil, bits of wood or paper; in 

 fact have it absolutely pure. H<> much 

 depends on the starting jKjint in life X 

 ani inclined to think the disciples of 

 soil sterilization could put their energy 



Mrs. Potter Palmer acts very much 

 like a late bloomer. 



Murphv's WTiite (on trial) proves to 

 U- an earlv bloomer, giving a verj- long 

 stiff .sU-m.' It is a very rapid grower 

 and gives a good commercial bloom. 



It is too early, however, to judge any 

 variety as to its full merit, but I be- 

 lieve it is well to exchange experiences 

 all through the sea-son. also that it 

 should be a c-ondition in the sale of cut- 

 tings or plants of everj' new introduc- 

 tion, that the originaUjr furnish full in- 

 formation as to culture in the field and 

 under glass. 1 notice this is being done 

 to .some extent already. 



Geo. S. Osbobs. 



NOVEL CONSTRUCTION. 



You rtmcraber the trip we made out 

 to William Sims', Cliftondale, Mass., t«n 

 months ago, ju.* as he got his full quota 

 of violets pulling? Ten , months have 

 simplv revolutionized his business. Since 

 then he has extended each of three 200- 

 foot houses to 300 feet, and built a 

 large, cheap house to take the place of 

 his former system of cold frames for 

 sprin" violet picking, letting it freeze 

 up all winter. He is now picking 4,000 

 to .5,000 violets per day out of doors. 



But the greatest change in his plant 

 consists of a magnificent new house, 200 



dozen per day. and must continue that 

 pace for some" time yet, as he had 75,000 

 plants to begin with. The quality of 

 the blossoms is such that they are mar- 

 kete<l in a few minutes each morning, 

 really, and Mr. Sims wastes no time in 

 Boston. 



He plans to get this huge crop out of 

 the wav bv Thank-sgiving, after which 

 his whole attention will be directed to 

 his single violets, of which he marketed 

 9.50.000 last year, and will surely beat 

 it fifty per cent this season. 



•^ * J. S. TAAyTEH. 



Novel ConsUuction of a House at Wm. Sim's, Cliftondale, Mass. 



to better use in the direction of elimi- 

 nating disease from the sand of the cut- 

 ting Ixmch and let natural law take care 

 of the soil. 



Behavior of New Varieties. 

 Havin;.' h.i'l sivi-ral inquiries regard- 

 ing new ^introductions it may be well to 

 give my experience so far with the lim- 

 itetl numl«!r under my care. 



Cressbrook is evidently not a variety 

 to finish well rsirly in the season the 

 blooms having a startled look, but with 

 regular firing I am glad Uj say they 

 have improved greatly. The plants are 

 full of buds that will be in time for 

 Thanksgiving. 



Kelson is all that is claimed for it, 

 coming with long stems tearing a finely 

 formed flower of brilliant color, this 

 variety has been in bloom for a month. 

 Floriana (pink) is almost an exact 

 counte-rpart of Marquis, but with me 

 bl<K,ms earlier, the petals open more and 

 more cuttings are found on the flower 

 ete-m. 



x30, of such peculiar construction that 

 a CTit is inserted to show the strong 

 brace work, which is so arranged as to 

 support the ridge and purlins every four 

 feet and immensely strengthen the 

 building again.st any end shake in a 

 heavy wind. This latter benefit is also 

 provided for by heavy, long braces run- 

 ning from the "ground to the ridge, brac- 

 ing in four places in both directions. 

 The great height of the house is al.so a 

 feature. The side walls are of glass and 

 are seven feet high. Being mostly of 

 iron, . and the little woodwork being 

 very light, makes its interior seem al- 

 most like open daylight. The pic-ture 

 was taken while the house contained a 

 fine crop of asters. 



Most of his glass is now occupied by 

 the most ma^ificent growth of chrys- 

 anthemums I ever saw. The different 

 varieties run from four to nearly eight 

 feet high, straight, extra strong, and hav- 

 ing the richest growth of heavy, leath- 

 ery leaves almost down to the ground. 

 He is cutting them at the rate of 12.5 



CARNATION TROUBLES. 

 Some of my carnations are wilting 

 and dying. Oii investigation when I pull 

 them up, I find a number of little white 

 mites of some kind that seem to be suck- 

 in" the life out of the plant. Now, what 

 are they, what is the cause and wh^ is 

 the remedy? J- W- *^; 



You ought not to find it very diffi- 

 cult to get rid of the mites. Take a 

 half bushel of good fresh tobacco stems 

 and soak them in a barrel of water, 

 about 50 gallons, and let them soak over 

 night, then use one part of this juice 

 to" three parts clear water and wet the 

 beds with it whenever they are affected. 

 Give a dose about each third day or 

 twice in a week for two weeks and I 

 think you will be rid of the mites and no 

 harm will be done your carnations. To- 

 bacco is not only a good insecticide but 

 it is also a good plant food and unless 

 it is used too strong it will do your 

 plants good. _ ^ ., . 



This calls to mind an in'idcnt that 

 was related not long ago by one who 

 claims it to be true, of a gro.ver who 

 thou"ht he would kill two birds with 

 one stone. Having been told that to- 

 bacco was a good fertilizer, he conceived 

 the idea that if he could inoculate a 

 little nicotine into the tissues of the 

 plant bv means of root absorption he 

 could not only feed the plants but he 

 could also destroy every greenfiy that 

 dared to thrust its sucking apparatus 

 into the leaves of his plants. So he 

 spread about a good inch of fresh to- 

 bacco stems on the bottom of the bench 

 Ijefore filling in the soil for planting and 

 then filled up the l)ench with good soil. 

 Grcenfiv did not Ixjther that bench of 

 carnations because within a short time 

 there were no carnation plants for them 

 to bother and Mr. Grower had learned 

 another lesson in cause and effef;t. We 

 believe in experimenting, in fact if you 

 want to learn and become efficient in 

 your work you must experiment some, 

 but use judgment in your experimenting. 

 You don't have to look down the barrel 

 of a fun to see if it is loaded. 



A. F. J. Baub. 



CARNATION NOTES-WEST. 



The New Varieties. 



By this time you are beginning to 

 watch the new varieties you bought last 

 spring or in the fall pretty close to see 

 if they come up to the older varieties 

 in quality and productiveness. Of course 

 it will depend largely upon the time 

 you plant your carnations in the houses 

 whether you can expect a good crop of 

 blooms bv this time or not. It would 

 not be f'air to expect a good crop of 

 blooms at this time from plants that 

 were housed in Scptemb<;r, but those 

 that were planted in before August 20 



