762 



The Weekly Floristf^' Review. 



>Uech 10, 190-4. 



proper ventilation and an unhealthy 

 dampness is the main cause of moss on 

 soil and pots and free circulation with a 

 healthy atmosphere the best preventive. 

 W. S. 



ROSE STOCKS. 



Can roses for greenhouse culture be 

 grafted on hardy northern-grown wild 

 roses and give the same result as grafted 

 on Manetti stock? We have unlimited 

 quantities of the former here and can 

 use first-class stock. A. N. 



This is a question that could be an- 

 swered by simply saying to A. N., try 

 some stock of your native roses and you 

 will soon find out whether it is practical 

 and would pay. In western Xew York 

 our wild roses are not found in such 

 quantities that it would begin to pay. 

 There is no doubt that if you had stocks 

 of your native rose in the right size and 

 condition that a successful graft could 

 be made. But could you make cuttings 

 and get them to the right size and condi- 

 tion or dig up small plants of your rose 

 at anything like the price at which you 

 can buy the Manetti stocks? I don't be- 

 lieve you could. 



In Europe there used to be a method 

 and perhaps is still, of grafting the hy- 

 brid perpetual roses on pieces of root 

 of the wild briar. It was done in mid- 

 winter. When the graft was made they 

 were stored away in some cool place, such 

 as a cold frame or cool house, and plant- 

 ed in the open ground in April. This, 



CANNAS. 



As we grow more cannas for general 

 bedding than any other plant, we have 

 made several experiments, especially 

 with the Tarrytown canna, which is the 

 finest canna for color, amount of bloom 

 and dwarf habit we have ever tried. 

 This canna should be started at least two 

 weeks before other varieties. Kow is a 

 good time to start them, as it takes long- 

 er to root this variety than any canna we 

 have had in the bench with it. Also a 

 little longer to recuperate after being 

 potted. 



We find the sand or propagating bench 

 a better place to root these tubers than 

 in flats under the bench. They can be 

 given better attention in less time and 

 make stronger plants and give better re- 

 sults than those long-drawn, often for- 

 gotten cannas you frequently see under 

 the bench. As it does not take a great 

 amount of room in the sand they can be 

 closely packed together, leaving a space 

 of one to two inches between rows, with 

 the eyes just above the surface of the 

 sand. 



One-eyed tubers are the best, with not 

 too large or small amount of tuber; two 

 inches long is about right. Of course 

 this sometimes depends a great deal on 

 the size of tubers and variety. Some 

 cannas produce very large tubers, with 

 eyes far apart, while others are small 

 and the eyes close together, and of course 

 would have to be cut smaller anyway, so 

 they can be nicely potted in 4-inch pots. 

 That size pot is plenty large enough. 



Bride and Bridesmaid Maxima Supetba. 

 (Exhibit of Frank Holznaslf^ at tl»t= Detroit Couventloo.) 



however, is foreign to the subject. If A. 

 N. is familiar with the operation of 

 grafting our greenhouse roses on the 

 Manetti stock, as is now so largely prac- 

 ticed by all the leading growers, I would 

 say by all means give the native rose a 

 trial for this purpose. W. S. 



Ttkell, Tex. — ^E. H. B. Green has 

 built a range of greenhouses 100x150 on 

 the very fine place he is equipping here. 



We used for potting last year's rose 

 soU with about one-fifth well-rotted cow 

 manure with a little sprinkling of lime. 

 We ran this through a half-inch mesh 

 sieve, then through a quarter-inch mesh. 

 The coarse soU that remains in the last 

 mesh we used for drainage, which gen- 

 erally contains little lumps of manure, 

 soil, etc., which will give better drainage 

 than pieces of broken pots, also it helps 

 to stimulate the roots. Cannas like a 



great amount of water, but the soil must 

 not become sour or soggy; therefore they 

 require plenty of drainage. We fill the 

 pot a quarter full of this' and by the 

 time you are ready to set out your plants 

 you wiU find the roots perfectly matted 

 around the drainage material. The best 

 time to water cannas is late in the after- 

 noon; give them a good watering and 

 they will get more benefit than if wa- 

 tered in the morning. 



The tubers should be potted as soon 

 as the roots are about one inch long and 

 will do better than if allowed to run in 

 the sand until it takes, perhaps, a 6-ineh 

 pot to hold them. Cannas should be 

 pot-bound at least two weeks before set- 

 ting out in the beds, so as to start new 

 shoots. About that time we give them 

 a good watering with liquid cow manure. 

 All our common varieties of cannas can 

 be started about March 15. Plants 

 treated in this manner will make nice, 

 thrifty plants by the middle of May, 

 with from one to four nice shoots that 

 will be nicely in bloom in June. 



Sixty degrees is about right for cannas. 

 They like plenty of light if they can get 

 it. but will do well with less. We grow 

 our cannas in a north lean-to, running 

 east and west, with only the sun on the 

 east end in the morning and west end in 

 the afternoon. We are not canna ex- 

 perts, or am I writing this for old canna 

 growers, but for those just beginning. 

 If there are florists who have a better 

 way to handle the plants we would be 

 pleased to hear from them. 



Chas. B. Eodz. 



WORLD'S FAIR EXHIBITIONS. 



The following is the schedule of 

 flower shows to be held at the St. Louis 

 World's Fair during the season: 



All entries must be received three days pre- 

 vious to first date of exhibit. 



May 2-7. — Carnations. 



May 9-14. — Pansies. 



Mav 16-21 — Tender Roses. 



May 23-28.— Peonies. 



May 30-Jnne 4. — 



June 6-11. — Hardy Roses. 



Jane 13-lS. — Sweet Peas. 



June 20-25. — Sweet Peas. 



Jane 27-Jnly 2. — Cannas. 



Jul.v 4-9. — Cannas. 



July 11-16. — Cut Flowers (FlorisUl. 



Julv lS-23. — Cut flowers (Amateurs). 



JulV 25-30. — 



.\ugnst 1-6. — Gladioli (Local). 



August S-13. — Asters. 



S. A. F. Weefe General Decorations. 



August 22-27.— Gladioli (Outsider 



August 29-September 3. — Gladioli. 



September 5-10. — Tuberoses. 



September 12-17. — Dahlias. 



September 19-24. — Dahlias. 



September 26-October 1. — Aquatics. 



October 3-S. — Show by St. Louis Florfsts" 

 Clnb. 



October 10-15. — 



October 17-22. — Wild Flower Exhibit. 



October 24-29. — Natural Decorations by Chil- 

 dren. 



October 31-XoTember 5. — 



Xovember 7-12. — Pot Chrysanthemums. 



November ]4-19.^<;at Chrysanthemums. 



Xovember 21-26. — 



Blanks are open dates for pomological ex- 

 hibits. ^^_ 



BOSTON DISCUSSIONS. 



The following are among the topics 

 announced for discussion before the Mas- 

 sachusetts Horticultural Society at ap- 

 proaching meetings. 



March 12. "The Gladiolus," by Arthur 

 Cowee. Berlin. X. Y. 



March 19, "A Talk on Orchid Culture," 

 by W. X. Craig. Xorth Easton, Mass. 



"March 26, "Peonies," by George C. 

 Watson, Philadelphia. 



Cambridge Citt, Ind. — Milton Gaas 

 has purchased the Hartje greenhouse 

 and vrill move it to Capitol hill. 



