DKOliMBKR 31, 1903. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



271 



IXORAS. 



These gorgeous flowtring and haml- 

 fome hot-house plauts are easily growii. 

 lequiving little or no training, being 

 generally of a compact bush form. The 

 flowers range in color from the most in- 

 tense scarlet, through all the shades of 

 pink to yellow and pure white, while 

 many of them are deliciously fragrant. 

 As a cut flower they possess fine keeping 

 qualities, keeping, if given fresh water 

 daily, for two weeks. 



As pot plants for parlor or conser- 

 vator}' they are unsurpassed, many of 

 the varieties flowering freely even in 

 4-ini-h pots and continuing to bloom for 

 months. By a careful selection of varie- 

 ties which flower at different seasons, 

 and careful culture in hastening or re- 

 tarding, a display can be made at almost 

 any season. They are of quick growth^ 

 easily propagated, easily grown, and are 

 altogether one of the most attractive 

 class of hot-house shrubs. 



Their insect enemies are mealy bugs, 

 scale, red spider and thrips. Requiring 

 a high temperature these pests, if not 

 kept in subjection, propagate rapidly, 

 and create a deal of damage. A liberal 

 and forcible use of the syringe is the 

 most adequate method of keeping thera 

 clear of these pests. 



They require a fibrous heat soil with 

 one-third of leaf mold added and about 

 one-fifth of clean, sharp sand. This 

 should not be pulverized, but must be 

 packed firmly aj'ouud the ball. During 

 the growing season they should have a 

 night temperature of 80 to 85 degrees, 

 with a day temperature of 90 degrees 

 with a very light shading. 



As soon as they have completed their 

 growth the shading should be removed 

 and the temperature lowered, but it 

 should never be allowed to fall below 

 *)i) degrees. They can be kept at thi.s 

 temperature indefinitely, without incur- 

 ring any risks, but when wanted to 

 bloom they must have a temperature of 

 yo degrees or over to fully develop the 

 truss. At this temperature they will 

 continue to bloom for six months, so 

 here we have a plant which will actually 

 be in bloom more than half of its ex- 

 istence. 



Care must be taken not to overpot. 

 iis they produce their best blooms when 

 the pots are full of roots, and as they 

 aequire large supplies of water at all 

 times the drainage must be perfect. 

 They respond quickly to liquid feeding, 

 especially when forming the flower truss, 

 and if this is carefully attended to at 

 this stage the size of the truss can be 

 largely increased and the colors of the 

 flowers much intensified. 



Propagation is effected by cuttings 

 from haif ripened wood in sand. A bot- 

 tom temperature of 80 degrees, with 

 plenty of moisture in the atmosphere are 

 'lesirable. When the cuttings are rooted 

 they should be potted in IVa-inch pots, 

 using the same kind of soil as recom- 

 mended for the older jilants, but it 

 should be finely pulverized. They will 

 row require a temperature of SO degi'ees. 

 When the roots have pushed to the side 

 of the pot they should be gradually 

 exposed to the light with a gradual re- 

 duction of the temperature till it reaches 

 TO degrees. 



The varieties suited for commercial 

 work are: I. acuminata, pure white; 

 I. Chelsoni, orange salmon ; I. Colei, 

 pure white; I. Decora, yellow; I. Dix- 

 iana, dark orange; I. floribunda, reddish 

 scarlet, and I. odorata, white and fra- 



grant. They are easily seeded and many 

 hybrid seedlings far surpass their par- 

 ents in form and brilliancy of flower, 

 but are very unstable in character. 



RiBES. 



ORNAMENTAL FOLIAGE PLANTS. 



The following is a paper by John 

 Thatcher, gardener to Edwin Le Boutil- 

 licr, read before the Pennsylvania Hor- 

 ticultural Society: 



Under this heading we have one of the 

 most beautiful and varied class of plants 

 cultivated under glass, which I am pleased 

 to say are becoming more popular in this 

 country. Let us hope the da_v is not far 

 distant when every establishment in the 

 United States will have a stove or foliage 

 plant house. One might ask, what is 

 more handsome than a well-grown cro- 

 ton, maranta or dracfena? Ana also to 

 what advantage they can be used in the 

 summer time when garden parties, re- 

 ceptions, etc., are held at which the florist 

 does the decorating. They can be placed 

 in shady places on the lawn and porches, 

 also used in the mansion for the after- 

 noon and evening, and they will not be in 

 the least injureil. I have heard many 

 exclamations of surprise from ladies on 

 seeing these plants thus used, remarking 

 how much more beautiful they were than 

 the common palms. During the winter 

 anyone having any liking at all for plants 

 can spend hours in a house of well- 

 grown foliage plants. 



The cultivation of this class of plants 

 is very easy, providing one has a good 

 house to grow them in. We have found 

 that a good rest, say from about the mid- 

 dle of December to the middle of Febru- 

 ary, is very beneficial. During those two 

 months we rarely have the temperature 

 over 55 degrees during the night. The 

 plauts are kept on the dry side, and it is 

 very rarely that they ever look worse 

 after their rest. From that time on we 

 advance the temperature a few degrees 

 each week so that by the middle of 

 March we try to not let it fall under 

 70 degrees. Air should be given during 

 all favorable weather; a small crack each 

 day during the winter will do a great 

 amount of good in sweetening up the at- 

 mosphere, if only admitted for ten min- 

 utes. As the days get warmer more air 

 will have to be given, but always from 

 the top. We never use the side ventila- 

 tors, as if used they dry up all the moist- 

 ure. I am a great one for getting air 

 on early in the morning and closing up 

 again very early in the afternoon. I will 

 say here that the best plantsman I was 

 ever under would have full air on the 

 stove plants by 8:30 a. m. during the 

 summer months and would always have it 

 closed up again by 1 p. m., and the 

 syringe going freely, and can say we 

 were never far from the blue ribbon at 

 the exhibitions on that class of plants. 



Shading is a very important feature 

 in the welfare of these plants. Some vari- 

 ties, such as crotons or dracaenas, will be 

 benefited by a good amount of sun ; then 

 take the maranta and alocasia, if given 

 sun all the color will go. We always try 

 to get all plants that like the most sun 

 on the sunniest side of the house, and all 

 that do not like much sun in the shadiest 

 spot. For shading we use white lead and 

 coal oil, and we only have to put it on 

 once during the season. But the ideal 

 shading is some kind of canvas on rollers 

 that can be pulled up and down with 

 ropes, and then it will only have to be 

 used on sunny days. We commence shad- 

 ing about the first of March. 



About the first of March is also a good 

 time to commence potting. All plants 

 should be examined; some will not re- 

 quire ropotiting, but I have found it a 

 good plan to look to the drainage, as 

 imperfect drainage is one of the most 

 serious things in the cultivation. Those 

 that do not require repotting should have 

 some of the old soil taken off the top 

 and a good top-dressing given with good 

 rich soil. Others perhaps will want most 

 of the old soil shaken off and then put 

 back in the same size pots, which should 

 be quite clean and well drained. 



Propagating is much the same as for 

 all other plants; but to secure good plants 

 of some varieties they should be mossed, 

 and after well rooted taken off the old 

 plant, but they will then want to be kept 

 very close for a few weeks. Other vari- 

 eties with creeping rhizomes, such as 

 marantas, will have to be divided to in- 

 crease their numbers. 



I must say that many are not quite as 

 particular as they should be in respect to 

 soil. We use the old rotten sod, leaf 

 mold, rotten rock sand, good dry cow 

 manure and a small quantity of charcoal 

 for nearly all varieties, but for marantas 

 we add quite a portion of sphagnum 

 moss. Peat we use very little of, as I 

 consider good leaf mold" far superior. I 

 can say that some of the best dracajnas 

 I ever grew were grown in nothing but 

 sphagnum moss, and fed with Clay 's fer- 

 tilizer, which I like best of all, as it 

 has given me more satisfaction than any 

 other. 



GARDENING UNDER GLASS. 



[Paper rtail before the Kcw Mutual Ilnprove- 

 iii-nt Society. Januar.v 5 lu.;i by Mr. W. Watson, 

 curator.] 



Water. 



"It is a fact that the older a gardener 

 grows, the more care he takes in the wa- 

 tering of his plants; for year by year his 

 experience teaches him more definitely 

 that careless watering is the indirect, if 

 not the direct, cause of a very large 

 number of the diseases of plants. The 

 difficulty in watering lies in the fact that 

 jdants require various amounts of water, 

 according to their species, their age, their 

 situation, the season of the year, and 

 their actual state of health or develop- 

 ment. The amount of water which is 

 sufficient at any given time may be very 

 much too large a month later, and may 

 therefore cause considerable injury." — 



.SOR.\UER. 



Water forms not only the bulk of the 

 plant itself, it is also the medium by 

 which all the food-salts from the soil, 

 and essential to growth, are supplied to 

 it. These salts are made available by 

 the action of water, as they can only be 

 absorbed by the roots in the form of 

 aqueous solutions. In addition to the 

 water retained by the plant for purposes 

 of growth, large quantities also pass 

 through it and evaporate through the 

 leaves, in much the same manner as most 

 of the water supplied to the soil in wa- 

 tering a plant after passing through 

 the soil escapes through the hole at the 

 bottom of the pot. Kerner describes this 

 process of transpiration as a perpetual 

 stream running through the living plant ' 

 whilst growth is active, and points out 

 that the supply of water must be regu- 

 lated with exactitude if the nutrition is 

 not to be disturbed or development hin- 

 dered. 



A healthy plant requires a larger sup- 

 plv of water at the root when growth is 

 vigorous, than it does when growth is 



