Makcii 10. Uin-1. 



The Weekly Florists' Review 



759 



provement in cultural methods. Every 

 section now has its grower who has adopt- 

 ed the most enlightened methods and 

 others are following his leadership. 



Lady Bountiful was pretty close to 

 the best vase in the class for 100 white 

 and it is noteworthy that the Dorners 

 were the raisers of Alba, the winning 

 variety. 



It is stated that F. Dorner & Sons Co. 

 had sold to February 1 more cuttings of 

 Lady Bountiful than the total sales of 

 any other carnation the firm ever sent 

 out. 



Grandpa Hill is proud of the way 

 Adonis is vindicating his judgment, but 

 he talks more about that nine-months- 

 old son of Flora Hill Lemon. 



It was a graceful act of James Harts- 

 home to present the Lawson gold medal 

 to Fred Dorner as the raiser of Fiancee. 



C. L. Washburn liked the looks of 

 John Murchie's new white, named for 

 Fred Burki. 



MRS. LAWSON. 



It is nearly time for planting out- 

 doors. Please answer through your col- 

 umns a few things about carnations. Do 

 you think it advisable to grow Lawson 

 entirely in the house or would it be bet- 

 ter to let it go to the field for four 

 months? In transplanting, which is 

 best, to take the pot dirt from the roots 

 or leave the ball on them? Last year 

 our soils all got very hard. It was all 

 we could do to keep them from baking. 

 However, it was an unusuallv bad spring. 



T. N. C. 



Most of the successful growers of Law- 

 son grow their plants of this variety in- 

 doors through the summer, and I think 

 I can safely say that none of them leave 

 it in the field as long as four months. 

 If grown in the field during the summer 

 it must be housed extra early if you ex- 

 pect to get a decent stem by Christmas, 

 and even with early housing the stem 

 will be shorter than when grown inside. 

 Lawson is one of the varieties that does 

 not like a check of any kind, and espe- 

 cially when the weather is hot. That" is 

 what causes the stems to come so short 

 if the growth is checked after the plant 

 has gotten into a vigorous growth and 

 the later in the growing season that this 

 check occurs the less chance the plant 

 has to regain its former vigor. When 

 housed very early the plants become es- 

 tablished and started into a vigorous 

 growth before winter, and the crop from 

 a vigorous growing plant surely must be 

 better than the crop from a plant that 

 is just trying to get established. 



When lifting plants from the field we 

 nearly always try to hold a ball of soil 

 on the roots as large as your fist, and 

 we do not care whether all or only one- 

 third of this ball was brought out of the 

 greenhouse. That soil is not so much 

 for the plants to feed on as it is to save 

 the rooti? from being broken and to sup- 

 ply them with moisture while they are 

 being transferred to their new quarters. 

 In short, it is supposed to prevent a com- 

 plete cessation in the growth of the 

 plani while it is being planted into its 

 new quarters. As soon as the roots take 

 hold of the new soil they spread out in 

 «very direction, and come up to the sur- 

 face or wherever they can find food, and 

 it will make very little difference to the 

 plants whether the soil right at the base 

 of the plant is new soil or old, as the 



Carnation Fiancee. 



(Vase which won the Lawson Gold Medal at Detroit.) 



real feeding roots are those farthest 

 away from the plant. Those that will 

 be in the soil you brought in are the an- 

 chors that hold the plant in its upright 

 position. A. F. J. BaUR. 



ROSES. 



The Easter Crop. 



As Easter draws near we will be get- 

 ting anxious as to whether our crops of 

 Beauties and other roses will be on time, 

 as a few days too late with this harvest 

 means a good deal financially to the 

 grower. 



Many are the schemes adopted to has- 

 ten crops which at this season show a 

 tardiness in forming buds. Beauties par- 

 ticularly require a great deal of thought- 

 fulness and care to prepare them to 

 come to time. Where these are showing 

 a tendency to run to wood rather than 

 to form buds it may be well to run 

 them rather on the dry side for a week, 

 but never so dry that the soft tips show 

 signs of wilting. If this is allowed to 

 take place the buds will come deformed 

 and many of them little more than 

 singles. 



Plenty of ventilation during sunny 

 weather and judicious feeding with 

 liquid manure has a tendency to hasten 

 the formation of buds and to perfect 

 their development. To the ordinary 

 liquid food an addition of liquor of am- 

 monia can be made at this season with 

 advantage, but this must be used with 

 caution, as it is very strong and fre-. 

 quently varies considerably in strength. 

 One ounce to four gallons of water is a 

 safe proportion. Nitrate of soda has 

 also a very beneficial effect and is very 

 rapid in its action. Bride, Bridesmaid 



and Ivory, not being such gross feeders 

 as Beauties, should have these stimulants 

 slightly reduced in strength. 



As the days are lengthening, with a 

 longer duration of sunshine, an increase 

 in temperature of 5 or 6 degrees during 

 the night, when deemed necessary to 

 push them along, will do considerably 

 less damage than would be accompanied 

 by a rise of 2 degrees before the Christ- 

 mas holidays, as the possible admission 

 of plenty of air will keep the foliage 

 in tone. 



By allowing the temperature during 

 bright weather to rise a few degrees 

 above the normal for such days the buds 

 will develop more rapidly without the 

 slightest danger of injury to either foli- 

 age or buds, provided there is plenty of 

 ventilation and a sufficiency of moisture 

 in the atmosphere. A careful inspection 

 daily will determine the amount of heat 

 necessary to bring them to perfection in 

 time for the Easter market. 



If the crops show signs of developing 

 too rapidly and require retarding, a 

 gradual lowering of the temperature ac- 

 companied by free ventilation will have 

 the desired effect. This drop in tem- 

 perature, if not carefully administered 

 and well regulated, may be the means of 

 introducing a dose of mildew which from 

 now on, owing to less heat being used, 

 will be the more difficult to get rid of 

 and should therefore be carefully guard- 

 ed against. 



By careful study and calculation, these 

 crops can be brought closely up to time 

 and shipped to our customers just in 

 the right condition, which is more sat- 

 isfactory than to have to ship soft, poor- 

 ly developed blooms, or to have to re- 

 sort to the pickling process. ElBES. 



