270 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Deckiibee 31, 1903. 



enough, and they hold the flower up per- 

 fectly. While some of the largest flow- 

 ers measured over three inches, you might 

 caU it a plump 3-inch flower. There is 

 no stubbv slow growth or useless grass 

 about Flamingo, every growth runs up 

 to a flower. I saw no bursted flowers 

 or buds. Perhaps when cut the color 

 of the foUage may not be of particular 

 value, but as a growing plant the habit 

 and deep bluish green of the foliage gives 

 it a rich appearance. There may be some 

 other scarlet carnations coming on, aspi- 

 rants for fame, but I have not seen them 

 and the sight of these beds was to me 

 as much an advance over any scarlet ear- 

 nation I have ever seen as Enchantress 

 is over old Morning Glory. It is only 

 iustice to say the grand stems and flow- 

 ers and general vigor I saw were pro- 

 duced without the sUghtest stimulant 

 either of surface dressing or liquia 



"' Albatross is a splendid free white and 

 as we saw it. would be a most profitable 

 variety and Mr. Marquisee said it was 

 Hf"d late, not that it wants that treat- 

 ment but it was " a case of force. 



Sinibird we did not see, as it is growii 

 at another establishment, and before Mr 

 MarquLee and Mr. Ward »^ad finished 

 discussing the art of propagating, the 

 Tade of evening had closed over us 

 and there was only time to partake of 

 Sr Marquisee -s kind hospitality and 

 then take the west bound train. 



Now, as I said at .the start, t^ese car- 

 nations need no praise from me. ineir 

 sale is enormous, as has been noticed m 

 he press" but I must add that never 

 bave'l se^n a -ore healthy ideal lot of 

 cuttings in the sand and the -00-^"" " 

 300,000 there will go quickly and the 

 ■ilmost nervous anxiety, not toi more or 

 de?s but to fill in only a first-class shape 

 the 'orders he has, is refreshing and 



oniewhat unique in the distribuUon of 

 new varieties. Mr. Marquisee mil tUi 

 his orders and fill them well. W. b. 



meeting. It was at Philadelphia that 

 the uplifting of the divine flower first 

 took definite shape and the good work is 

 still going on. 



By forwarding the flowers by express, 

 prepaid, carefully packed, in care of 

 David Rust, of the club room commit- 

 tee. Florists' Club of Philadelphia, Hor- 

 ticultural Hall, Broad street, below Lo- 

 cust, Philadelphia, Pa., same will be re- 

 ceived in due course and properly talten 

 care of. Don't forget the day and date, 

 namely, Tuesday, January 5, 1904. 



Edwin Xx)NSDAle, Secy. 



AN ADDRESS TO UTICANS. 



William Scott journeyed down to Uti- 

 ca, N. y., December 16, and this is wliat 

 one of the local papers said of the club 

 meeting that night: 



ibout tortv meml>ers of the Utica riorists' 

 Club met ai Maenncrohor Hall last evening 



and listened ta a very '"^t^-ii r«.,«^"l: "» of 

 art of crowms carnations, by William Scott, ot 

 nuflalo?l" Scott is a carnation grower of na- 

 1 ml reputation. a,>d florists "^oy />!'', P^'J'; 

 totre of bringing the r problems to him for 

 I'ofntion. imo,^ those P-^^"' „}"«* b'=,;^^,';^°/ 

 were members ot the club from St. Johnsviue. 



SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FLORISTS. 



Department of Plant Registration. 



M H Walsh, Woods Hole, ilass., sub- 

 mits' for registration the following ne« 



"""Minnehaha, a hvbrid between Wichu- 

 rnina and Paul Neyron; Ao-r ^^oubU^; 

 ibout two inches in diameter; color 

 liT profuse bloomer; foliage glossy, 

 farge, nTne petioles to each leaf; growth 



"Satha, a hybrid betewen Cnmsou 

 Kambler and Paui's Carmine PiUai 

 flowers single, shell shaped, in large 

 clusters, remaining on plant lOi fully 

 three weeks; petals crimson t'P«^«r 

 let, base white, foliage very dark, glossv, 

 irrowth vigorous. 

 ^ Wm. J. Stewart, Secy. 



A CARNATiON NIGHT. 



At the last regular meeting of the 

 Florists' Club of Philadelphia, it was, 

 on motion, agreed to extend an invita- 

 tion to all carnation growers to send 

 their novelties to the next regular meet- 

 ingof said club, to be he'd Tuesday, 

 January 5. 1904, so that Philadeiphians 

 may carefully look them over and no.e 

 how good they are. The members al- 

 ways turn out in goodly numbers on 

 these red letter day occasions, and it 

 wUl naturally be a mutual advantiige to 

 owners of novelties and the purchasers oi 

 the same to bring or send them to this 



NOTE 



The Editor is pleased 

 when a Reader 

 presents his ideas 

 on any snbject treated 

 m the BEVIEW. As 

 experience is the best 

 teacher, so do we 

 learn fastest by an 

 exchang-e of experiences. 

 Many valuable points 

 are brought out 

 by discussion. 



Good penmanship, spelling and gram- 

 mar, though desirable, arf not neces- 

 sary. Write as you would talk when 

 doliig your best. 



WE SHALL BE OLAD 

 TO HEAR FROM YOU. 



Little Falls. Herkimer. I^'°;.^ B«";^J^'/ ^'S^ 

 Joy"biras%hey were appropriate. He said in 



""xhe cultivation ot the carnaUon has had much 

 attention for the past ten years "evernl t«»ks 

 h-ve l>eeu published in regard to it. • The lac^ 

 te tharotl:. W. Ward, who has «one a g<KH^ 

 thing in following out pedigrees. By l"^ ^ys 

 E.ir, of crossing he seelss to produce certain 

 c^"rs ms mfthod ot culture does not differ 

 materiallv from that of most other people. 

 Rut some of the best carnations have been 

 Raised haphazard. Wards book deals largely 

 wi^th sub watering. This may do for radishes, 

 bufl don't believe in it for roses and carna- 

 tions vSung Guenthcr. who Is one of the most 

 srcesstur?Sse growers in Buffalo, made an 

 eSriment which showed that those gfown on 

 "talck foundation were best, those on benches 

 nc\t and those by subwatering last. 



Of the thousands ot seedlings that arc an- 

 nually thought good enough to g^w he great 

 majority are not in it after the t"',"^" y<L": 

 Thev develop diseases and are carried to the 

 rubbish heap. Pr.,pagntion by cuttings Is ngt 

 ™ si ■' a new individual, but is dividing an 

 old varletv. In our treatment we do not give 

 ?,ts: cuttings natural or f-^ovMe co^^i^^ns. 

 Tlie carnation is not indlgenious to this country 

 Where it is native it has a rest in winter, but 

 we give It no rest at all. We grow It from 

 Everlasting to everlasting and that is the cause 

 ot weak stems, bursting and other Ills, 

 "'it is pretty well understood now Ibat early 

 planting is the thing. Former y '' ^7. '"I^* 

 them the last week in September or the &rat 

 week In October we thought we were dotag 

 nrettv well. Then all were short-stemmed. 

 ?f„w we'^have a long stem a^d «. f ^./i'T^'e 

 But thev get no rest at all. I think it is the 

 same with roses. They also play out ■.i»m 

 ^ntlmial propagation under artificial condi- 



tions The greatest care, or rather the greatest 

 preventive against this playing out, is to give 

 Uiem natural and rational conditions and rest. 



The carnation has lately been showing signs 

 of decay. Of the thousands propagated, but 

 few hold their place and the only remedy for 

 this is early propagation. The first we^k in 

 .\ugu8t is late enough to lift and bring Into the 

 houses auv carnations. Perhaps by the middle 

 of Novem'ber or first of December they are 

 riMted. Then they are placed out on flats or 

 benches. After they arc rooted In the flats put 

 down the temperature on them to 40 degrees. 

 \bout the middle of February put them m three 

 Inch pots and then subject them to right 

 down cold treatment, 38 or 40 degrees, and 

 keep them there through February, March and 

 April That will give them three months of 

 natural rest and that will be the secret of 

 making them healthy. That is the best way 

 to raise your stock. Propagate early and give 

 two or three months' rest and you bring them 

 back to their natural conditions. 



\s to new varieties, a good scarlet !s needed. 

 We have a good one In Marquisee's Flamingo. 

 Ten years ago Mr. Marquisee was hardly 

 known among carnation growers, but he is 

 luckv in having brought out in two years 

 two "such wonderful carnations as the Marquis 

 and Flamingo. Mr. Marquisee was originally 

 from Utica. bat in Syracuse, when he brought 

 out the Marquis, he perpetrated this: I have 

 come to Syracuse and have made my mark-you- 

 see!" Of late there have been altogether too 

 many varieties. 



To propagate it is best to keep the tempera- 

 ture at bottom to 60 and tne top heat at 511 de- 

 crees Boards are rather cold. I believe there 

 Is nothing better than tiles. I have a nearly 

 flat tile two Inches thick, covered with sanO 

 and the temperature is about 60. and that of 

 the atmosphere at night about 50 degrees. I 

 bcUeve these are the right conditions to root 

 carnations. Don't stimulate too much. A tem- 

 perature of 60 encourages root growth; an,vthing 

 above 50 for the top is harmful. Is it better 

 to plant them in the flela or to keep them In- 

 side? There is always a demand for carna- 

 tions, even in October and November. It is 

 better to have carnations from October through 

 December than to have them in April, May and 



The speaker gave it as his opinion that It is 

 better to grow carnations under glass all the 

 vear than to set them out in the garden in the 

 "summer. He held this to be true not oiilv of 

 the Prosperltv, J^awson and the finest varieties 

 but of all varieties. He said: I used to think 

 that two or three months out of doors gave 

 them stimulus, but I don't think 90 now. It 

 thev are kept tlU May '25 or June 1. I think 

 vou" will get better results than In any other 

 "way. You will get so many more flowers at 

 Christmas, when you want them. If planted 

 in the field In summer there Is sure to be a 

 check, especially if there should be little ram 

 in June or July. ,, , . j . „„i, 



The carnation grows in all kinds of soil. 

 My neighbor, W. J. Palmer, grows them in stlB' 

 clav as weU as anywhere. The fattest, biggest, 

 rlp'est and be,st carnations grow twenty miles 

 outside ot Chicago in fat. black, prairie loam. 

 It I had the choice of soil, it would be a 

 heavy loam approaching clay, the Ideal soil for 

 roses There Is much disintegrated lime In 

 the soil where I live and we do not suffer from 

 stem-rot. , ^, ^. „ „,,, 



If vou force certain varieties, they will 

 produce more flowers, but they will be smaller 

 and the stems weaker. As to temperature. 

 50 degrees at night will do, but in the day time 

 it should be 65. The temperature in the day- 

 time will depend largely on how light the 

 house is. The more light, the higher tempera- 

 ture they win stand. At this time of year, 

 as long as it Is light, yonr houses wlU stand 

 a temper.nture of 7ii to 75 degrees. 



As to diseases, rust is spread by syringing. 

 In all diseases of carnations, prevention is bet- 

 ter than cure. When you syringe carnations 

 the pores close. Do not syringe the plants all 

 winter. After April It may be all right. If 

 there Is any disease In your carnations, the best 

 way is to get rid of them and get new ones. 

 Water is a great spreader- ot all fungous dis- 

 eases and spores. Often growers lose many 

 carnations on account of their being planted 

 too deep. This will kill a maple or sycamore, 

 but an elm will stand it. 



It is prettv near time we got through build- 

 ing wooden benches. I use low benches made 

 ot brick, filled in with rubble and covered 

 with tile on which there are six Inches of soil. 

 In a modern built house Uke that of Peter 

 Crowe, the tile benches are best and you get 

 just as much light. 



■Why should not oamations be as salable as 

 roses?" Thev are as beautiful, fragrant, last- 

 ing and sweet as any flower. In Buffalo they 

 bring a dollar a dozen for most varieties and 

 3a.50 for several. The wholesaler must get 

 from $4 to $6 per hundred for them before they 

 will pay and thev never should go less than 

 $4' per "hundred at wholesale. .As refinement 

 and culture spread, the use of fiowers will 

 Increase They are as appropriate at the birth 

 and marriage as at death and they are no longer 

 a luxurv, but a necessity. 



Mr. Scott was then bombarded with questions. 

 In answering these he said ne believed In Iron 

 gutters If they are made of cast Iron. He Is 

 also In favor of butted glass, provided the loca- 

 tion Is one where the smoke of manufactories 

 does not prevail. Overhead heating is a hum- 

 bug. 



