646 



The Weekly Florists^ Review, 



Febkdary 25, 190-i. 



it next year ami shall ))lant more. Es- 

 telle holds the banner as the best pay- 

 iny commercial scarlet; not a fancy va- 

 riety, but an up-to-date commercial cue. 

 We have discarded Harry Fenn, Crane, 

 America, Palmer and Koosevelt and 

 shall drop Apollo. Harlowarden is the 

 finest crimson we have ever grown and 

 profitable. 



Pi'osperity is the American Beauty of 

 the carnation world, free for its size 

 and profitable. Sirs. Bradt is still the 

 best red and white variegated. We are 

 not satisfied with Marshall Field thus 

 far, but it may do better next year. 



We still grow some of the old Butter- 

 cup, hoping that through crossing we 

 may be able to transmit some of its 

 matchless color to a larger flower. Gold 

 Nugget is a good, large yellow, if grown 

 warm enough. 



J. A. Valentine, Denver, Colo. 



Wolcott is a fine flower, a free bloom- 

 er and good keeper, but splits consid- 

 erably. This latter does not count for 

 much with a grower who sells at retail, 

 but makes it bad for one who sells only 

 at wholesale. We shall grow it heavily 

 the coming season. As done by Benson, 

 of this city, Norway ia the best and 

 most profitable white in this market; 

 witli others it does not do so well; we 

 shall drop it. Her Majesty is a free 

 bloomer, but not extra quality as grown 

 here; not a good keeper. Have not 

 grown Queen l«ouise ourselves, but one 

 or two growers here seem to find it a 

 money maker; it is not a fancy. Flora 

 Hill has been pretty generally discard- 

 ed and have dropped White Cloud; 

 stock seems to deteriorate except in 

 very skillful hands. 



Lawson leaves much to be desired in 

 stem and uniformity of color, but it is 

 free and so far nothing in dark pink 

 can take its place. Mrs. Nelson has 

 done reasonably well with other grow- 

 ers here, but cannot be called a fanc.y. 



Morning Glory is small, unhealthy 

 and generally worthless in this climate. 

 On the other hand E'nchantress is the 

 best that ever came over the pike; 

 large flower, good stem and calyx, easy 

 to do and very free. < 



Estelle has been thoroughly tested 

 here and discarded. Adonis has fine 

 color; flower of fair size, but not ex- 

 tra; seems to be improving and may 

 show better results next season. Crane 

 is not satisfactory, but will be grown 

 until some more profitable scarlet can 

 be found. Harlowarden leaves nothing 

 to be desired where one needs a crim- 

 son ; stem and flower are both excellent 

 and it is very free. 



The more we see of Prosperity the 

 better we like it. Tt is not an easy 

 one to do well, Vjut when its peculiari- 

 ties are known it can be made profita- 

 ble if there is a market for it at a 

 fancy price. Stella seems to be the 

 best of its class so far; bloom good 

 size, stem good and flowers freely pro- 

 duced. Bradt has been discarded, flow- 

 er good but stem too weak to support 

 it. Dorothy Whitney is a profitable 

 yellow. 



J. V. Dunford, Clayton, Mo. 



Flora Hill is only useful for summer 

 blooming; we have several better 

 whites for winter. Wliite Cloud is still 

 a good one four months in the winter, 

 but Lorna is better. Norway is one of 

 the healthiest and best carnations we 

 know, our best commercial white, but 

 no good in summer. Wolcott is a fine 



flower, but splits badly with us and 

 seems to be a cropper; worth further 

 trial. Queen Louise is the best all-the- 

 year-around white; no carnation blooms 

 more freely than this. Alba is too slow; 

 shall drop it. 



We discarded Morning Glory long 

 ago; poor grower, subject to stem-rot. 

 We like Higinbotham much better this 

 year than last, but it will have to give 

 way to Enchantress, which is proving 

 to l)e all that was claimed for it, a rath- 

 er unique distinction. 



Estelle is the best red except Adonis; 

 must be planted early to get good 

 stems; many of the flowers come single. 

 The stock of .\donis was exceptionally 

 poor when we got it and did poorly in 

 the field, but it seems to have a vigor- 

 ous constitution. Eoosevelt is good, but 

 super.seded by Harry Fenn, which is 

 better in almost every point. Shall 

 have to discard Crane; always off crop 

 when flowers bring the most money and 

 very subject to stem-rot. Palmer will 

 also be dropped. Manley is a good 

 red, but must be planted early. Ameri- 

 cf is a cropper; will discard. Apollo 

 has all the faults of Crane. 



Lawson is a hard variety to beat in 

 its color; needs to be planted early to 

 get good stems; stem too stitf for an 

 artistic looking flower. Nelson gives 

 but few flowers in midwinter if not 

 handled properl.y. Joost is still a stand- 

 ard in its color, but very subject to the 

 dry rot. Shall discard Ctessbrook; very 

 poor with us. Old Scott is still a good 

 one for summer, one of the best, with 

 Crocker and Dorothy. Lord is a good 

 one for a shady bench. Enquirer is 

 slow and splits badly. 



Prosperity is the only one in its class, 

 but is hardly free enough. Could do 

 nothing with Bradt; threw it out sev- 

 eral years ago. .^lella is better; shall 

 give it another year 's trial. Gaiety is 

 slow and a cropper. Dorothy Whitney 

 is a good yellow. 



VARIETIES FOR FLORIDA. 



I :\ish you would give us the names 

 of the three best carnations for Florida. 

 We have some warm days and cool 

 nights, but the average is about 40 at 

 night and 70 degrees in the daytime. 

 The night temperature we can raise very 

 easily, but the day temperature we have 

 no control over. I have not grown car- 

 nations; all our space is given to roses. 

 But as there is a demand for them, I 

 want to try a few. Our trade calls for 

 the best and the heavy crop is wanted 

 between January 10 and April 10. 



H. V. B. 



I would advise you to try more than 

 one variety of each color, as you will 

 have to experiment a little with sev- 

 eral varieties before you can find which 

 ones are best suited to your climate, 

 etc. I have never been in Florida, and 

 so I cannot say with certainty that a 

 certain variety will be the one for you 

 to grow. I can only suggest to you a 

 few varieties which I think will be more 

 likely to thrive in your climate than 

 others. I imagine that those varieties 

 requiring a higher temperature than the 

 average would be the ones for you to 

 take up, but I would try many others in 

 a limited way. For white I would rec- 

 ommend Flora Hill as the best warm 

 weather white on the market, and Gov. 

 Wolcott will likely prove a good one for 

 you. Also try a few of Her Majesty. 

 In pink I would recommend Ethel 

 T'locker and Mrs. Lawson, both of which 



want warm night temperatures. In red 

 (i. H. Crane and America would likely 

 be tlie best, but I would advise you to 

 try a few Estelle. These are all good 

 varieties and any one of them is liable 

 to prove superior to all others under 

 vour climatic conditions. 



A. F. J. B.4.UR. 



THRIPS. 



Please tell me what is wrong with my 

 Wliite Cloud? 1 send some sample 

 blooms and you \;ill see that they are 

 useless. Half the floweis are like this. 

 The temperature is 52 degrees, pipes 

 under the benches. Have fed with liquid 

 manure and given a little lime at times. 

 In the same house are Crane, Prosperity 

 and Lawson doing all right under the 

 same treatment. J. K. E. 



The White Cloud carnation blooms 

 came in good condition and showed 

 plainly what is causing your trouble. 

 In the half-open blooms I found sev- 

 eral thrips, and that is what is doing 

 the damage. Just why they are attack- 

 ing the White Cloud and not the others 

 I cannot say, except that, like many 

 other pests, they have their preference, 

 and White Cloud is one of their favor- 

 ites. Take any bud that is about to un- 

 fold its petals and pull the petals apart 

 and look for a tiny creature from one- 

 sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch long 

 and about one-quarter as thick. The 

 color varies from a light yellow to a 

 dark brown, according ■ to their age. 

 They are quite lively and you will have 

 to look well to find them. They may 

 be on your other varieties, too, without 

 your knowledge, as the Lawson and 

 Crane would not show the effects in quite 

 the same way. On most of the red 

 varieties and on Lawson they cause white 

 specks along the edge of the petals in- 

 stead of brown, as you see on White 

 Cloud and all other whites. The feed- 

 ing would not be likely to cause any 

 such eifect. 



The remedy for this pest is tobacco 

 in any form you may wish to apply it, 

 and in addition to the tobacco it takes 

 perseverance. While they are between 

 the petals of a bud you cannot reach 

 them, but when the bud opens they will 

 be exposed and then is when you should 

 bo after them. Smoking every evening 

 for a couple of weeks will likely rid 

 the place of them, and it is a good idea 

 to dust the plants well with tobacco 

 dust. Get rid of them before warm 

 weather, else you will not pick a salable 

 liloom from the beginning of warm 

 weather on. A. F. J. B.\UR. 



VARIETIES FOR BEGINNERS. 



What varieties of ■aniations would 

 you advise a beginner to grow for a re- 

 tail trade? Have a house 15x60 and 

 would want one-third white and two- 

 thirds pink, the season being from No- 

 vember to June. How many flowers per 

 week would be a fair crop from this 

 space? G. J. S. 



Since you have only one house in which 

 to plant all your carnations, you should 

 select varieties which need about the 

 same treatment and temperature. Al- 

 though this will prevent you from plant- 

 ing a few of the best paying varieties, 

 you will be better off in the end. In 

 white I would try Flora Hill, Queen 

 Louise and Her Majesty. In pink 1 

 would try Mrs. F. Joost, Floriana, Mrs. 



