50 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



December 3, 1903 



Lest- house of Larson 1 liav:' !-ci.;i this 

 a;-]! was plauted on the IxMi'.-lu's last 

 May from 2VL'-iii<--h pots. This house is 

 certainly in grand shape and will pay for 

 the room it was given for six weeks last 

 spring, when the old plants might have 

 Ijrought in a few dollars. 



There are other varieties, too, that want 

 early propagating. In fact, any variety 

 that does not grow very strong in the 

 field sliould be put into the sand early, 

 i am taking for granted that you house 

 vour carnations between July 1 and 

 August :20. If you do not begin hous- 

 ing until the middle of August, then you 

 can proiiag;ite in January an<l February 

 and be earlj- enough. AH you want in 

 that ease is to have your young plants 

 rooted through in 2-inch pots by plant- 

 ing-out time. There are more carnations 

 rooted and sold after February 1 than 

 before that date, but you will iind that 

 all the best growers propagate early, and 

 by early 1 mean in December aud Janu- 

 ary. 



New Varieties. 



If you have some new varieties you 

 think a great deal of you will want 

 to make all you can for next year. This 

 is where you will need to exercise good 

 care and judgment. Don't get overanx- 

 ious and strip the plants of every little 

 shoot you can get hold of, but always 

 keep in mind the health of the plants. 

 About this time we go over them and 

 take oif all the short flowering shoots 

 that have not begun to run up yet and 

 also the largest side shoots from the 

 blooming stems. These make good cut- 

 tings. Leaving the blooming shoots on 

 the plant gives the plant something to 

 work on and jirevents a chock, such as 

 cuttiug back all the shoots would give. 

 By the time all the shoots have bloomed 

 the lower shoots have made good breaks 

 and are ready to take up the strength of 

 the plant. B.v taking off only the strong- 

 est cuttings each time you can take off 

 a nice lot of fine cuttings about every 

 two weeks without weakening the plant 

 the least bit. This is certainly much 

 better than to strip the plant of all the 

 cuttings every time they are large enough 

 to handle and you will get more cut- 

 tings in the end. Remember that in 

 most eases of newly introduced varieties 

 the stock is worked pretty hard the year 

 of dissemination, and perhaps a couple 

 of years before, and it will i)ay you to 

 work it with a view to preserving the 

 strength and health of the jilants. 



If this rule were followed more closelv 

 our varieties would not deteriorate so 

 rapidly after dissemination. The goo<l 

 ones are always worked so hard for a few 

 years after dissemination tliat it is no 

 wonder we are always ready for new- 

 varieties in every color. Only the very 

 strongest growing kinds will survive this 

 kind of treatment, for even a season or 

 two. Diseases of various kinds soon 

 make their appearance and then the va- 

 riety which i)romised wonders is pitched 

 out, not on account of a weak constitu- 

 tion, but on account of an abused and 

 weakened constitution. 



Selection of Cutlings. 



The selection of the cuttings has a 

 great deal to do with the success of 

 stock next season. I have several times 

 in these notes given my views as to what 

 is the best cutting, etc. The best grow- 

 ers agree that the very best cutting is 

 the shoot that springs from the flower 

 stem near the base of the stem. The 

 cutting up higlier which has a stem about 

 an inch or so between the stem and the 



first leaf is of little use. It will make 

 a weak plant, which will be inclined 

 to run to Inul too much. If we have a 

 fine variety in a limited quantity we do 

 not hesitate to take the young flowering 

 shoots, which have not yet begun to run 

 up. But unless we run short of cut- 

 tings we stick to the side shoots and 

 we certainly would not take blooming 

 shoots to make cuttings to sell; that 

 woidd lie wasting money. 



You should have your sand on the 

 place before this and if you were wise 

 you refilled your propagating bed while 

 the weather was fine, so that now you 

 can go right ahead with the cuttings. 



Whenever you can get a heel on the 

 cutting, and you u.sually can on the side 

 shoots, it will help you a little in root- 

 ing it. The wood is a little harder and 

 will not decav so easilv. Make a clean 



Dr. F. M. Hexamer and Chas. Allen, Sr. 



c\it witii a sharp knife at the heel and 

 trim the ends of the grass a little befoi-e 

 sticking them into the sand. Some grow- 

 ers do not approve of the trimming, for 

 no good reason that I could ever hear, 

 but T like to trim them a little because 

 1 think they -vrilt U'ss and they will take 

 up less room in the cutting bench with- 

 out crowiling. When plants or cuttings 

 arc crowded nuiisture accumulates and 

 excessive moisture is apt to start damp- 

 ing (dV, liringing on cutting liench 

 fungus. 



Handling the Bench. 



Select the cuttings of an even size 

 as much as you can, so there will be no 

 small ones to be crowded by the larger 

 ones. Pack the sand firmly after water- 

 ing it thoroughly. With a table knife 

 draw a deep line through it about two 

 inches deep and about one and one- 

 ouarter incues away trom the last one. 

 Stick the cuttings into this furrow or 

 line about an inch deep and three-quar- 

 ters of an inch apart. After filling the 

 row press the sand against the cuttings, 

 draw another line and proceed as before. 

 Some use a stick about an inch wide 

 as a rule to draw the lines, but with 

 practice you will not need it. Be sure, 

 iiowever. to get your rows straight, as 

 crooked rows are apt to make trouble 



when you take up the cuttings later on. 

 especially if you have many varieties 

 and only a few of a kind. 



Use only new labels in your cutting 

 bench, or anywhere else, for that matter. 

 Sometimes you will see a grower use 

 a label thathad been used before, mere- 

 ly crossing out the old name and writ- 

 ing the new name on the unused side. 

 Occasionally he forgets to cross out the 

 old name and when the cuttings are 

 taken up he finds two carnation names 

 on one label. Unless he knows the va- 

 rieties by sight he does not know whether 

 he is planting or potting the one or 

 the other. You cannot be too careful 

 about your labels. 



After sticking the cuttings into the 

 sand give another good, thorough water- 

 ing. No more watering will be needed 

 for several days, except a light spray- 

 ing each day to keep them fresh. Keep 

 the sun from striking them, but give all 

 the light you can otherwise. We use the 

 north bench in a carnation house, as 

 we have no special propagating house. 

 It is partly boarded up in front, that is 

 about two-thirds of the way from the 

 bench toward the ground, to keep the 

 heat under the bench. In front of the 

 bench and suspended from the roof hangs 

 a curtain of muslin which keeps off the 

 sun and draughts but lets in the full 

 light from the north. We consider this 

 away ahead of the old way of laying 

 paper on the cuttings. The sun beating 

 on the paper on a bright day will cause 

 heat to gather under it and wilting and 

 damping off are very apt to follow. 

 Y'ou can work back of this curtain, too, 

 without exposing your cuttings. Always 

 do Your spraying in the morning, so 

 that' the cuttings can dry off again be- 

 fore night. The spraying will not be 

 needed every day after they are callused, 

 but only when the atmosohere is dry and 

 wilting might result. I will take this 

 fot a subject in the near future, but 

 get your cutting bench ready at once 

 and prepare to progagate your next sea- 

 son's stock. A. F. J. Bauk. 



SOME YOUNGSTERS. 



At the New Y'ork show this year there 

 were three or four youngsters deserving 

 of especial note. Sanuiel Honshaw has 

 been associated with flower shows for 

 sixtv years. He well remembers the 

 Botanical Gardens exhibition at Man- 

 chester, England, in 182."), where his 

 father was an exhibitor. 



Dr. F. M. Hexamcr and Charles Allen. 

 Sr., were two more of the youngsters 

 who were in their glory, youngsters in 

 ~pirit :ind enthusiasm if not in years. 



ROSES AT REINBERG'S. 



Mme. Abel Chatenay. 



This is one of the best roses in the <-'ld- 

 cago market, and continues to groiv more 

 popular year after year. Commenting 

 on a vase of Chatenay exhibited at the 

 recent show given iw the Chicago Flor- 

 ists' Club, one gentleman said it is the 

 "greatest thing on earth," and certain- 

 ly it is one of our best varieties. It pro- 

 duces strong, straight stems, every flower 

 perfect in color and form, a very casv 

 rose to grow. It very seldom mildews. 

 A temperature of -58 degrees and plenty 

 of ventilation is about what it requires. 

 At Peter Beinberg's it is the most profit- 

 able rose grown, and it certainly has 

 come to stay. 



