902 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



March 24. 1904. 



would have received such a check which 

 it would take all wiuter to overcome. In 

 other words, I do not want them to come 

 all at ouce, avoid crops. 



Plants put in benches by the fii-st of 

 Juno will, if they have done well, be fit 

 to cut from by the beginning of Oetobtr. 

 They may have produced strong enough 

 wood in Augxist to tempt the grower to 

 cut some blooms, but I find that if cut 

 too soon they will not produce flowers 

 in mid-winter, nor will they throw up 

 so strong canes from the base later on. 

 I consider that four months of growth 

 is the least the plants should have be- 

 fore starting to cut, and even then I 

 take nothing but the strongest wood, 

 cutting back everything up to twelve 

 inches. 



Wood ten to twelve inches long, or 

 longer, in October should be cut back 

 two or three eyes. If the bud is only 

 pinched out it would make an inferior 

 bud at the next eye. Strong wood, that 

 is. canes from the base, should not be cut 

 too low, as it is too hard and slow to 

 break. It should have twelve to fifteen 

 inches of stem left, when it will break 

 in reasonable time. 



In cutting the flowers I am very care- 

 ful to cut them right; that is, the outer 

 petals expanded. ' Of course in the fall 

 and spring I cut closer. I cut three and 

 even four times a day, according to 

 weather and demand, for they must be 

 in as fine a shape as possible when they 

 reach the dealer. After they have been 

 in water for about twenty-four hours in 

 a cool place, they are fit to be shipped. 

 If not well soaked, the long-stemmed Lib- 

 erties in particular are easily wilted, 

 And will be a disappointment to all con- 

 cerned. 



Temperature and Ventilation. 



In the early part of the fall, when the 

 growth of the plant is soft, I have al- 

 ways tried to maintain a temperature 

 of 62 to 64 degrees, with a little air 

 on if possible at night, with a day tem- 

 perature on clear days from 85 ' to 90 

 degrees, and on cloudy days, a tempera- 

 ture as near 70 degrees as possible. As 

 soon as they commence to bloom, I re- 

 duce these temperatures to 58 and 60 

 degrees at night and 75 to 80 degrees 

 during the day in fair weather, 68 to 

 70 degrees on a cloudy day following 

 a bright day, and if there "is a succes- 

 sion of cloudy days, leave it down to 65 

 degrees, as too high a temperature at 

 night will spoil the color. 



After the first planting of the young 

 stuff I use ventilation sparingly, gradu- 

 ally increasing as the plants take hold. 

 The Liberty is very sensitive to draughts, 

 not that it will show mildew by it, but 

 it retards the growth. It will harden 

 and stand for months before it will get 



over this cheek. Therefore great care 

 should be exercised on windy days, in a 

 single house, anel more so where the 

 houses are built together with no parti- 

 tions, where the draught will have a 

 clean sweep underneath the gutters. 



I try to give air every day, even in the 

 coldest weather, when I can only open 

 the ventilators to their full height and 

 shut them down again at once, as a 

 change of air is always most desirable. 



Conclusion. 



In finishing my remarks in regard to 

 growing Liberties, I suppose some of 

 you will be disappointed in not hearing 

 some sensational and almost witchcraft- 

 bordering way of gi-owing, but instead 

 of that you have heard nothing but plain 

 every-day facts, which most of you know, 

 ought to know, or have known. So this 

 may prove to be a reminder to some of 

 you. And last but not least, success will 

 lie onh' with that grower who is ever 

 watchful, who has his grip on the situ- 

 ation every day and all the time, never 

 relaxing in enthusiasm in his fascinating 



and noble occupation, constantly study- 

 ing the surrounding conditions which 

 confront him with new varieties, higher 

 standards in quality, and ever changing 

 market. 



The Review takes pleasure in preseiiL- 

 ing to its reader.?, through the courtesy 

 of D. T. Connor, of Lord & Burnham 

 Co., photographs of the new range of 

 eight houses built last summer by A. 

 Farenwald, Hillside, Pa., from designs 

 and with material furnishetl by that 

 firm. The houses are each 13x150, the 

 outside houses being wider to admit of 

 a walk next the wall. They have iron 

 posts and gutters and are even span. 

 The s-niall cut shows the exterior of this 

 range as seen from the southwest cor- 

 ner. The other, an exceedingly fine 

 photograph, shows the interior of this 

 range as seen from the west doorway 

 in a center house. Nearly the entire 

 range is planted in Liberty. The spe- 

 cial grade of flowers for which this place 

 is noted, is shown to advantage in the 

 photograph. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Propagating. 



Spring will be with us once again be- 

 fore we know it, and the chyrsanthe- 

 mum, like everything else, is calling for 

 its share of attention. Every year since 

 the Eeview first arose on the floricul- 

 tural horizon have I told in its columns 

 how to propagate stock, and I am afraid 

 that my present remarks can be nothing 

 but a rehash of what I have manv' times 

 said before. But there are many begin- 

 ners added to the list of growers each 

 year. 



It is, of course, assumed that you 

 have paid some attention to your stock 

 plants during the winter, and had them 

 in a cool, light place somewhere and not 

 stuck under the benches in the carnation 

 house. Active gi-owth is commencing, so 

 if you have to throw something else 

 out. make room for your plants well up 

 to the light. Some florists put their 

 stock plants out in the cold frames for 

 the winter. If you are one of those you 

 had better get in your plants and find 

 out how many are yet living. It has 

 been a very severe winter and much 

 stock that ordinarily is hardy with a 

 little protection will be found to be 

 billed. 



March is a good month to propagate, 

 though some exhibition growers propa- 

 gate all they can in February. With the 

 average florist any time up to June will 

 do. the different purposes for which the 

 plants are intended having to be taken 

 into consideration. Cuttings root more 

 readily now, before the weather gets 

 warm, than later, though as a matter 

 of fact the chrysanthemum is one of the 

 easiest plants to strike if given half a 

 show. 



In taking the cuttings do not use the 

 shoots that appear on the old stem un- 

 less you are very short of stock. The 

 suckers that come up straight from the 

 ground make infinitely better plants 

 and will not run to bud the way stem 

 cuttings often do. In making cuttings I 

 always like to cut through immediately 

 below a joint. It is not really neces- 

 sary to do this, as the chrysanthemums 

 will root from the stems, or leaves, or 

 almost anywhere, but when cut cleanly 

 at a joint the roots push out all arounel. 

 radiating from a common center, like 

 the spokes from the hub of a wheel, and 

 this tends to make an evenly balanced 

 plant. Heat is not necessary to strike 

 the cuttings, a temperature of 45 to 50 

 degrees furnishing ideal conditions for 

 the purpose. 



New Short-Span Greenhouses of A. Farenwald, the Liberty Grower, Hillside, Pa. 



