222 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



Decemeek 24, 1903. 



GERANIUMS FOR EASTER. 



How shall I treat geraniums to have 

 them in flower for Easter? 1 have sev- 

 eral thousand in i;V4-in<'l' pots. Can 1 

 take another cutting and be in time to 

 ha\o some good tlowering plants for 

 Easter? W. A. 



Plants now in 2V4-ineh pots are rather 

 small for Easter blooming; yet if you 

 have the right house and temperature, 

 you might get some 4-ineh pot j)laiits. 

 ■with a truss or two of bloom. 1 will 

 ,iust mention here that for bedding 

 jilants. we propagate in September, shift 

 into 3-ini'h as soon after New Ye.ar's as 

 jiossible. About February 1 we take a 

 cutting off every plant. The plants that 

 have lieen stopped, break out with two or 

 three shoots and make bushy plants. 



As early in April as we eau get tlii> 

 room and tinu>. we shift into 4-incli. 



test summers; while in wet, cool sum- 

 mers they grow too much to leaf, with 

 little flower. You can not produce the 

 ideal conditions under glass in the 

 mcnitlis of February or March, but you 

 can a]ti>roach it with good results. 



W. S. 



CENTER PIECE AND STEVIA. 



^V]lat woidil lie lirst I'ur the center of 

 tlie dining table* The adiantum is en- 

 tirely too tender. The plant should not 

 be taller than six or eight inches. 



What is the best way to bring stevia 

 into bloom for Christmas? 1 cannot 

 get it in time. The plants are large old 

 ones. They have been planted in the 

 open ground all sumuier and are now in 

 jiots in a house north anil south, at .50 

 degrees at night. SOUTHERN. 



Adi:nitum cuneatum is vcrv little used 



A View in the Store of E. Asmus & Co., Chicago. 



These jjlants begin to bloom by the mid- 

 dle of May and are at their best, both 

 for bloom and vigor, by the end of May 

 or planting out time. We never try to 

 give these geraniums over 4.5 degrees at 

 night during the cold months, for you Jo 

 not want anything like softness in a 

 geranium that is not to be planted out 

 until near the first of June. 



Kow to get some plants in flower by 

 Easter, do not try to get a cutting; best 

 ,iust pinch out only the top of the 

 growth, and if they are well rooted shift 

 at once into 3 or Si^-inch; by the middle 

 of February shift into 4i^-inch. Use a 

 rather stiff" loam, mth a fifth of well- 

 rutted manure and pot firmly. M'ith our 

 bedding geraniums we use in our last 

 shift alxnit a pint of bone meal to one 

 Inushel of soil, and I think it helps the 

 tlowering. Avoid leaf mold or too much 

 animal manure. You want flowers and 

 not leaf growth. 



All the above is on the right road, but 

 you will not get flowers in Al)ril unless 

 you have a very light house and can give 

 them a high temperature. Give them 

 llie fullest light at all times and plenty 

 of room between the plants. Fifty-five 

 to 60 degrees at night will not hurt, if 

 you are able to give them 70 to 7.5 de- 

 grees on all clear days during the day- 

 time. Kemember how grandly the beau- 

 tiful zonale geraniums thrive and blos- 

 som in our flower beds, even in our hot- 



ter fern dishes, except where it is for 

 some special occasion, for one or two 

 nights only. There is a great variety of 

 other small ferns that are used for this 

 purpose and which continue in good order 

 for several weeks or even months, if sen- 

 sibly and carefully managed. JIany firms 

 ;nake a siiecialty of these small ferns. 



Smijll growing pterises are among the 

 most useful. 



If it is Stevia serrata, or sweet stevia 

 that is alluded to, then it is strange to 

 hear of its not being in flower by Christ- 

 mas, and I can only account for the same 

 by the warm climate of Alabama kee])ing 

 it growing, and there being no cool 

 nights in September and October to ar- 

 rest growth and develop flowers. In the 

 north this useful flower kept as cool as 

 we possibly can above freezing, is always 

 in its best condition by the middle of 

 December. I should think that in the 

 warm climate of Alabama, this stevia 

 would not be worth taking into tlie 

 greenhouse. Planted in convenient sizod 

 beds and protected from frosts, by soui' 

 cheap doth, would be all vou need. 



W. S. 



THE READERS' CORNER. 



Ed. Kkvikw: — On page 136 of the 

 Christmas issue is a note headed ' ' A 

 Broken Gasket. ' ' Eephing thereto I 

 would a.sk the correspondent and the 

 fraternity in general if they have 

 ever heard of or tried Smooth-on 

 compound, an ii'on cement for cracks 

 in iron of any description. It is 

 the most useful thing I ever heard 

 tell of, and every florist should have it 

 on hand, for it is inexpensive. It is 

 made by the Smooth-on M'f'g Co., Jer- 

 sey City, X. .T., and was introduced to me 

 by Henion & Hubbell. 6.5 N. Jefferson 

 street, Chicago. For cracked elbows, split 

 pipes or filling holes of any nature it is 

 jiar excellence. It is A. dry cement pow- 

 der, finer than steel filings. A little 

 mixed in water, to the consistency of 

 putty, applied to the crack and allowed 

 to set five or six hours will become as 

 hard as the iron. There is also a paste 

 used for filling the spaces between sec- 

 tions, when sectional boilers are con- 

 nected, that would stop the leakage this 

 correspondent speaks of. 



E. T. TuOM.\s. 



NYMPHAEA PULCHERRIMA. 



James Hudson, V. ^M. H., writes in the 

 Journal of the Royal Horticultural Soci- 

 ety (British) that by reason of its robust 

 growth and excellent constitution he con- 

 siders Nym]ihaea pulcherrima the best 

 blue water lily, without exception, for 

 outdoor cultivation in summer in warm 

 |)iisitii>ns or where the overflow water 



House of Rubbjrs Grown by A. C. Oelschig, Savannah, Ga. 



