The Weekly Florists' Review, 



387 



EARLY VARIETIES. 



If you are growing any of the very 

 earlj varieties with the idea of cutting 

 flowers from October 1 onward, it is 

 high time to be selecting the buds, if 

 any are yet showing on the plants. To 

 get flowers early one must, of course, 

 use the crown buds on these early vari- 

 eties, or otherwise they will be early 

 chiefly in name. 



Such sorts as Lady Pitzwygram, 

 Bcrgmann, Marquis de Montmort and 

 October Sunshine may all have the buds 

 taken with safety from August 1 on- 

 ward, and as it takes a bud from forty 

 to sixty days to develop, according to 

 variety, you will be able to commence 

 cutting by the last week in September, 

 providing you need them so soon. Last 

 year the early flowers sold very poorly, 

 owing to the fact that there was such 

 an abundance of outdoor flowers so 

 late in the season. This year it may 

 be the same, or, again, it may happen 

 that a freeze may cut things down out- 

 side the first week in October, and in 

 such a case the early 'mums are profit- 

 able. 



Glory of the Pacific and its sports, 

 Polly Pose, Cremo, Estelle, etc., should 

 not have their buds taken before Au- 

 gust 20. In my experience I have found 

 that buds taken at an earlier date on 

 Pacific either did not come good or 

 blasted and did not come at all. Pa- 

 cific comes quickly after the bud is 

 taken, being generally ready to cut the 

 first week in October. 



Two varieties that I spoke highly of 

 last year, being ready to cut by Octo- 

 ber 10, were Lady Harriet and Alice 

 Byron. The buds on these two varie- 

 ties were taken August 10 to 12 and 

 they finished splendidly. Following 

 closely on the two last named was Mrs. 

 Coombes, which, from buds taken Au- 

 gust 18, produced very fine flowers by 

 October 12 to 15. Coombes is one of the 

 best keeping pink 'mums that I know 

 of and is planted extensively this year. 



Following Coombes the varieties come 

 in thick and fast and the market fills 

 up rapidly. It is much too early yet to 

 be taking the buds on the general run 

 of the varieties and the ones I have 

 mentioned are possibly not much grown 

 except by those growers who want to 

 get the crop cut out early. The last 

 week in August is early enough for se- 

 lecting the buds on such varieties as 

 Mrs. Eobinson, Eaton, Morel, etc., and 

 for some varieties even later than that. 



Red Spider. 



Red spider often gets under the foli- 

 age at this time of year and is liable 

 to become numerous in a very short 

 time if not kept track of. If syringing 

 is done constantly and properly, spider 

 should not be troublesome, yet the fact 

 remains that one seldom sees a house of 

 chrysanthemums entirely free from it 

 in August. When syringing one should 

 endeavor all the time to wash the under 

 side of the foliage and not worry about 

 the top. It is a good idea to get a 

 spraying attachment fixed on the hose 



once in a while and with it spray every 

 plant thoroughly. Caterpillars and 

 other insects whose presence had pre- 

 viously not been suspected will be 

 brought to light by this means. I have 

 had flowers ruined by red spider before 

 I noticed it, and if the plants are not 

 clean before the bud shows color trou- 

 ble may be looked for when spraying 

 has to lie discontinued. Brian Boru. 



CARNATION NOTES-WEST. 



After you have your plants well es- 

 tablished and before you put on any sup- 

 ports you will need to give them a 

 thorough cleaning of all dead foliage, 

 etc. This is an operation that I have 

 always hesitated in advocating on account 

 of the danger to the plants that attends 

 it. It will try your patience to the ut- 

 most and only your most careful and 

 painstaking employes should be put at 

 it. Not more than one man in a dozen 

 is really capable of doing this work 

 properly from morning till night. Our 

 American people generally have too many 

 nerves. They want to see some progress 

 and in order to make a show their work 

 is often slighted to the detriment of the 

 object that is supposed to be benefited. 



Eemember that the roots are just tak- 

 ing hold of the soil and they are young 

 and tender, and if you pull the plant 

 around you are liable to break off many 

 of them and thus check the plants ' prog- 

 ress toward recovery. So handle them 

 carefully. Don't gather as many leaves 

 as you can, to be pulled off together, but 



p ace for disease to enter the tissues of 

 the plant. 



The best time to do this is when the 

 plants are dry, as the leaves will break 

 easier then. Any leaves that are spotted 

 or diseased in any way should be re- 

 moved. While you are doing this you 

 i-.-iii alsii straighten up any plants that 

 lean to one side after you first watered 

 them after planting, as often happens. 

 A. F. J. Batjk. 



CARNATION NOTES-EAST. 



Care for Foliage. 



The foliage of a plant may be said 

 to be what our lungs are to us." Through 

 this medium much necessary matter is 

 absorbed; therefore it is most important 

 that our attention be directed towards 

 encouraging its perfect health lest some, 

 lurking disease obtain a foothold. Not 

 only must we govern the supply of food 

 and water, but surround our plants with 

 those two life-giving agencies, light and 

 pure air. 



The question of light should have re- 

 ceived your attention at time of house 

 construction, but pure air may be lack- 

 ing in the lightest of houses, either ow- 

 ing to insufficient or improper arrange- 

 ment of ventilation, or on account of 

 decaying vegetable matter being allowed 

 to collect under the benches or elsewhere. 



I am a firm believer in side ventila- 

 tion and, if your houses are not so pro- 

 vided, would advise that some plan be de- 

 vised to secure such, at least temporarily ; 

 then with doors at one or both ends and 

 ample ventilation at the ridge one can, 

 by observation, keep the air constantly 

 changing without subjecting the plants 

 to sudden changes or unnecessary blasts 

 of wind. 



Air rising from decaying matter, such 

 as dead leaves, plants, weeds and rotten 

 wood, can result in nothing but a pollu- 



Milwaokee, with the City Hall in the Foreground. 



pull off each leaf separately and instead 

 of pulling straight away from the stem, 

 give a side-ways pull, which will tear the 

 leaf crossways right at the stem. The 

 danger in the other way is that you will 

 often pull a thread along with it and 

 thus injure the bark on the stem. You 

 can readily see that if this happens sev- 

 eral times on a stem it will seriously 

 cripple the plant, besides being a good 



tic hi of the air, to say nothing of the 

 breeding ground furnished for wood lice, 

 snails, etc. Fungous diseases are often 

 developed in a house where affected 

 leaves and plants have been carelessly 

 thrown about and left to await an op- 

 portunity to start afresh. See to it that 

 your plants have congenial surroundings 

 of every possible nature. After a thor- 

 ough cleaning, give the space under the 



