May 5, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



1297 



drought if the bed is well covered, and 

 should not be watered unless the drought 

 is prolonged, watering encouraging the 

 production of leaf rather than blossom. 

 Verbenas have a marvelous brilliancy 

 and variety of color, and, however early 

 they come into flower, they will last un- 

 til the frost comes, so that the object 

 should be to get them into bloom as 

 early as possible. They come pretty true 

 from seed, and various colors may be ob- 

 tained separately. As the mixed seed 

 usually produces an undue proportion 

 of the purples and purple-blues, it is a 

 good plan to sow a separate packet of the 

 scarlet with white eye, the rose, and per- 

 haps the pure white, as well as a packet 

 of the mixed, and then the darker colors 

 can be kept in their proper numerical 

 proportion, as they are neither so showy 

 nor so beautiful as the scarlet and the 

 rose, the former especially being a mar- 

 vel of floriferousness. If an edging to 

 the bed is wanted, there is a beautiful 



gOOKS ^-^ 



Florists 



The following are books which can be 

 recommended, each as the standard work 

 in its own field: 



The American 

 Carnation, cw WARD 



Invaluablf to the carnation grower. All de- 

 partments of the business are treated in a thor- 

 oughly practical manner. The book is the work 

 of a careful, studious grower of ripe experience. 

 FuUy mustrated. Carriage paid, $3.00. 



The Florists' 



Manual, ^y^"^'^'*^^'^*'^- 



A practical guide for the Florist, covering 

 the successful management of all the usual 

 florists' plants; including many topics, such as 

 Greenhouse Building, Heating and Floral Deco- 

 rating, etc. Written so you can understand it 

 and profit by its guidance. Fully illustrated. 

 Carriage paid, $5.00. 



Commercial 

 Violet Culture. 



By B. T. GALLOWAY. 



This is the second edition of this very suc- 

 cessful book, revised and brought un to date. 

 Handsomely printed. Fully illustrated. 



Carriage paid, $J.50. 



Greenhouse 

 Construction. 



By L. R. TAfT. 



A complete treatise on the subject. All the 

 best and most improved structures are so fully 

 and clearly described that one will have no diffi- 

 culty in determining the kind best suited to his 

 purpose. Fully illustrated. 



Carriage paid, $1.50. 



Any of the above sent on receipt of price 

 by the 



Florists' Publishing Co. 



Caxton Bldg., 334 Dearborn Street, 

 CHICAGO. 



little dwarf strain, growing only about 

 six inches high and forming compact 

 little bushes covered with bloom. For 

 this purpose it is very effective, especially 

 if the border is of one color only, either 

 blood-red or snow-white. 



If it is desired to propagate some spe- 

 cial favorites, cuttings can either be 

 taken in the early autumn, like pelar- 

 gonium cuttings, and struck in heat, or 

 else, at the approach of frost, the plants 

 can be taken up. with a good ball of 

 earth, and carefully potted, and kept in 

 the house during the winter, the cuttings 

 being made in JIarch from the new 

 shoots. A better way is to put a score 

 of plants in large pots, at planting-out 

 time, and grow them on till they bloom, 

 retaining the favorites in pots through 

 the summer and ensuing winter, and put- 

 ting out the remainder on tlie lx)rders. 



Verbenas have one distinct advantage 

 over many bedding plants in that, while 

 beds of most plants seldom completely 

 recover from a heavy storm in August, a 

 day or two of sunshine seems to restore 

 the verbena to its former beauty. Be- 

 ing of a naturally low-growing character, 

 and the main branches secured to the 

 soil by pegs, they sustain much less dam- 

 age from wind than most things do. — 

 Gardeners' Magazine. 



PELARGONIUMS FROM SEED. 



It is not often that pelargoniums are 

 raised from seed, and yet this is very 

 easily done, and is very interesting work. 

 Seed may easily be saved from one's own 

 plants, and when this is done, of course, 

 the finest varieties will be chosen for 

 the seed parents. If the seed is saved 

 from a plant standing by itself, or from 

 plants on a bed of one sort only, the 

 seedlings may be expected to come' fairly 

 true. It is more interesting, however, 

 to get a packet of mixed seed from a 

 good collection, as by this means a great 

 variety ■ivill be obtained, and some which 

 will be well worth perpetuating. It is 

 sometimes stated in catalogues that 

 plants raised from seed will bloom m 

 eight or ten months from tlie time of 

 «owinff. so that it is obviously no use 



trying to get blossom the same year as 

 the seed is sown. 



I have found it a good plan, and one 

 which gives the minimum of trouble in 

 raising the plants, to sow the seed in 

 pans in May or June. The pans may be 

 put in a frame or greenhouse, and care 

 should be taken to keep them shaded until 

 the seedlings are up, as it is a some- 

 what treacherous time of the year to 

 raise seeds if the weather should come 

 very hot, owing to the danger of scorch- 

 ing. The seed should be sown very 

 thinly, as the plants have large seed 

 leaves. When the seedlings are in the 

 fourth or fifth leaf they should be 

 pricked out, putting about four in a 

 forty-eight pot. When well rooted they 

 may be kept outdoors till the autumn, 

 by which time they will be vigorous 

 plants six inches high. The tops may 

 be pinched out, to make them bushy, if 

 they show signs of becoming too leggy. 

 They should be kept in a cool house, near 

 the glass, through the winter, and not 

 given much water, or they will make 

 useless succulent growth. Early in the 

 spring they should be each potted into 

 sixty-sized pots, when, by the end of 

 '!May, they will be fine plants for put- 

 ting out in the open ground, or growing 

 in pots. The foliage will vary from 

 golden-green to greenish-black, and the 

 blossom will probably vary as greatly. 

 Tlie markings on the leaves will be much 

 deeper, and more clearly defined the sec- 

 ond season than the first, unless their 

 first season happens to be a very hot 

 and dry one. 



The plants should not be given rich 

 soil, as the tendency of seedlings is to 

 grow more rankly than cuttings do. They 

 will not bloom so freely as cuttings the 

 first part of the season, but will improve 

 later. Of course, the plants raised from 

 cuttings from these seedlings will have 

 the restricted growth and floriferousness 

 of plants raised in the ordinary way. — 

 Gardeners' Magazine. 



Batavia, III. — Andrew Anderson, 

 formerly of this place, has returned after 

 two years' absence, to take charge of 

 the greenhouses formerly conducted by 

 N. C. Moore. 



The Florists' Manual 



By WILLIAM SCOTT. 



A Complete Reference Book for 

 Commercial Florists. 



Over 2O0 larg'e pages. 



Handsomely illustrated. 



Following- is a list of tlie sn1>« 

 jects covered, 



Roses 



Salvia 



Santolina 



Sedum 



Seed Sowing 



Selaginella 



Shading 



Skimmia japon'a 



Smilax 



Soils 



Solanum 



Stephanotis 



Stevia 



Stocks 



Store Manage*TOt 



Swainsona 



Sweet Peas 



System 



Thunbergia 



Torenia 



Tropaeolum 



Tuberose 



Valotta 

 Vases 



Ventilation 



Veranda Boxes 



Verbena 



Vinca 



Violet 



Watering 



Zinnia 



