US 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Decembek 10, 1903. 



chrysantlieinum. Tho flower of great 

 depth and solidity, is deep bronze at its 

 base frradually shading until the top is 

 richest yellow. Tliis coloring is in no 

 way dependent on age, but is equally 

 marked in all stages. Midseasou; four 

 feet. Stem and foliage unsurpassoil. 

 Will be invaJuable for exhibition eollce- 

 tions. 



THE EUCHARIS. 



There are few more charming, chaste 

 and graceful plants than a well flowered 

 specimen of this bulb. To produce such 

 is not nearly so difficult as many growers 

 suppose. Belonging to the "amaryllii 

 family, tho most frequent cause of fail 

 ure lifs in treating them after the man- 

 ner of the other members of the family, 

 with the exception that they are suij- 

 jected to a higher temperature. Being 

 natires of tropical America, they do re- 

 quire a higher temperature than do the 

 others, but they really do much better 

 in what would be called the warm green- 

 house than in the tropical house, the only 

 kind of treatment accorded them until a 

 few years ago. 



The successful culture of these beauti- 

 ful bulbous plants is somewhat as fol- 

 lows: 



The varieties best suited for commer- 

 cial work are E. grandiflora (Amazon- 

 ica). white with prominent corona, deli- 

 cately shaded with green, flower scapes 

 two feet in length, six to ten umbels: 



the eucharis mite, imported bulbs should 

 be steeped in water for twenty-foui 

 hours, then dried and cleaned of all dead 

 and d{ caving matter previous to plant- 

 ing. A compost in which they thrive 

 splendidly is composed of two parts rich 

 loam to one part of equal proportions 

 of leaf mold and well decomposed cow 

 manure, with the addition of about one- 

 tenth of the whole bulk of charcoal of 

 about the size of a hickory nut. This 

 should be well incorporated but must not 

 be finely pulverized. 



As they require copious supplies of wa- 

 ter the drainage must be ample and per- 

 fect, arranged by beginning with large 

 pieces on the bottom of the pot, using 

 smaller pieces above, the top layer to be 

 ahuost as small as barley. The bulbs 

 must be planted deep in the pot, but it 

 is better not to cover all of the some- 

 what long neck until they have begun to 

 move, the remainder to be added as the 

 plants increase in size. The material 

 used for this purpose can also contain 

 more manure than that used in potting. 



As they form large, fleshy roots and 

 are gross feeders, they must not be 

 cramped in the pots, five bulbs to a 10- 

 inch pot being sufficient to make nice 

 specimens, which will require little or no 

 disturbance for years; in fact the less 

 they are disturbed the more profusely do 

 they bloom. Offsets, which develop in 

 large quantities and which soon over- 

 crowd the parent plants, should be re- 

 moved when necessary, dis'turbing the 



A Basket oi Light Fmk Carnations. 



E. Sanderiana, pure white with filaments 

 and inside of tube yellow, flowers smal- 

 ler and scape shorter than the former, 

 which it very much resembles in habit 

 and foliage; E. Candida, a variety much 

 used in commercial work, but not quite 

 so easy to manage. 



As they are subject to the attacks of 



bulbs as little as possible. These off- 

 sets should be potted and treated in the 

 same manner as the older plants, and 

 will soon come into flowering condition. 

 A night temperature of 65 to 70 de- 

 grees suits them admirably, with a day 

 temperature of 75 degrees. They must 

 liave a light shade during the summer. 



At this temperature they produce two 

 crops during the year ; at a higher tem- 

 perature they will produce three crops, 

 but the flowers will neither be so large 

 nor of such good substance, while the 

 chances of failure will be multiplied. 

 Frequeut mulchings of cow manure are 

 necessary, as the foliage is somewhat 

 rank and requires lots of sustenance. 

 ■\Vhen the flower scapes appear an ap- 

 plication of liquid food helps materially 

 in developing the flow-ers, but this should 

 be discontinued before the opening of 

 the flower. 



When the flowers begin to open the 

 plants should be removed to a house with 

 a night temperature not to exceed 55 

 degrees. This will prolong their flower- 

 ing period, the petals will acquire a firm- 

 er texture and their keeping qualities 

 will be enhanced. Picking out the an- 

 thers will also have a tendency in this 

 direction. 



After the flowering season is past and 

 the leaves are matured they should re- 

 main in this temperature for a month. 

 The supply of water should be slightly 

 reduced but they must not by any meaus 

 be dried off, as this is a sure way of 

 weakening the bulbs. 



By a careful calculation of their grow- 

 ing period the flowering season can be 

 hastened or retarded by a month or six 

 weeks. 



They can also be grown with success 

 on benches, but in my experience thev 

 do not flower so freely, although the 

 flowers are larger. This method has also 

 its drawbacks. It is not always conve- 

 nient or profitable to reduce the temper- 

 ature of a house to accommodate one 

 class of plants to the possible detriment 

 of the rest of the stock in the house. 



Its insect enemies are few and easy to 

 combat, the mite (a species of rhizoglv- 

 phus), being the most annoving and de- 

 structive. Its presence is distinguished 

 bv the leaves turning yellow and drop- 

 ping; off. Kerosene emulsion applied to 

 the neck of the plant n'nst where the leaf 

 emerges is a saire remedy, but care must 

 be taken not to allow any of it to get 

 to the roots, else the cure is worse than 

 the disease. Mealy bu.<rs and thrips are 

 also fond of the eucharis but these can 

 be dealt with bv the Rvringre. using either 

 pure water or anv of the tobacco prepa- 

 rations in solution. Geshurst's com- 

 pound soap is also fatal to these pests. 



ElBES. 



INVISIBLE LIFE IN SOILS. 



Hitherto cultivators of the soil have, 

 with few exceptions, given no thought to 

 the invisible life that plays such an im- 

 portant part below the surface of the 

 ground, through whose agencv crops and 

 individual plants are enabled to respond 

 to the fertilizers added to a well-tilled 

 soil. Yet this rational conception of the 

 fundamental cause of productiveness will 

 in future have to be taken into account 

 bv horticulturists and gardeners in everv 

 .department who wish to progress with 

 the times, and aim at deriving the great- 

 est possible results from the capital and 

 labor invested in their establishments. 



It is not meant that every horticul- 

 turist and gardener should become a bac- 

 teriologist, but he should make himself 

 sufficiently acquainted with the nature of 

 bacteria, and understand the conditions 

 favorable to their life, and to be able 

 to appreciate and utilize the results 

 achieved by the study of those who have 

 special opportunities of searching out 



