84 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



of plant. The average chrysanthemum 

 plant one sees in the stores is carrying 

 a dozen or more small flowers, and is 

 conspicuous mainly on account of its 

 bare stems, which are rendered still 

 more noticeable by being tied to thick 

 bamboo stakes. Mark Twain's descrip- 

 tion of a cocoanut palm as a "feather 

 duster struck by lightning" is applica- 

 ble in some degree to the mum plants 

 one sometimes sees in the establishments 

 of our "best" florists. Contrast these 

 tall, leggy, ungainly plants with a dwarf 

 plant in a 6-inch pot, with the foliage of 

 the plant almost hiding the pot and 

 crowned by a good-sized flower and there 

 can be n<'> question as to which plant 

 the average customer would prefer. 



[I you have any small plants lying 

 around that are hard and stunted and 

 dried out, don't pot them up, thinking 

 that they will make good plants for 

 6-inch pots once they get to growing. 

 They hardly ever hold' their foliage well, 

 as the stem gets too hard and woody. 

 Get the suckers that spring up out of 

 the soil from the old plants, where pos- 

 sible, because these cuttings will, on 

 many varieties, grow right along and not 

 produce a bud before the end of August, 

 at which time the bud can be taken, 

 and then you have a perfectly straight 

 stem. If earlier rooted plants are topped 

 in June and the tops used for cuttings 

 for the single stems, these cuttings will 

 nearly always produce a bud in July or 

 early' August and then it is not so easy 

 to keep the stem straight where the plant 

 "breaks" again. 



The main thing to observe in growing 

 single stemmed plants is to keep them 

 moving nicely right along and never let 

 them get pot bound or dry at the roots. 

 Pot into 2i-inch pots from the cutting 

 bench and from that to the 6-inch pot 

 as soon as the roots are nicely through 

 the soil all around. Keep the plants 

 inside all summer, where you can con- 

 trol the water supply; otherwise in 

 showery weather leaf spot will be found 

 troublesome. Caterpillars must be kept 

 off and also the festive grasshopper, if 

 the foliage is to be kept perfect, and 

 perfect it must be to win. A point not 

 to be forgotten, also, is that these plants. 

 owing to their restricted root area, need 

 much more feeding with liquid 

 than plants set out in a bench. 



Brian Boru 



SEASONABLE VIOLET NOTES. 



The most seasonable thing that we 

 have had hereabouts is rain. It com- 

 menced last night and has been coming 

 down ever since in nice showers that go 

 right in as they should, and if ever we 

 needed rain it is now, as we have had 

 a seven weeks' drought — fifty-one days, 

 to be exact — and crops of all kinds are 

 about ruined. I mean the hardier kinds, 

 grass, grain, etc., to say nothing about 

 violets, carnations, etc., which were not 

 established in the ground. Of course 

 those that were planted in the house 

 were under our control as regards the 

 watering; still, even then, they do not 

 do as well when the air is dry and dusty 

 as they do when it is normal. One 

 thing that we have to take especial care 

 about is that the red spider does not 

 get a foothold in such weather, and 

 extra attention should be given in strong- 

 ly spraying the under sides of the foli- 

 age with the water from the hose, so 

 that the spider will have no opportunity 

 to get a start, as in all things an ounce 

 of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 



As you wish all the strength of the 

 plants to go into good, strong crowns, 

 you must go over them frequently, cut- 

 ting off the runners as soon as started, 

 and this work, as I have before stated, 

 should not be left to the "boy." but 

 given to an older person of judgment. 

 A good deal of injury can be done by a 

 careless, incompetent grower in many 

 ways, one of which is pulling more or 

 less on the plant and disturbing it. as 

 of course it has not taken hold hard 

 enough as yet to stand much of this 

 treatment. Another is cracking stems 

 of leaves and so injuring their breath- 

 ing capacity, etc. 



If the plants are in the house be sure 

 to have on all the ventilation that is 

 possible, so as not to grow them tall and 

 soft; and good judgment must also be 

 used with the shading on the glass, for 

 the same reason; still you want enough 

 shading to keep the house as cool as 

 possible. The plants out of doors, I 

 presume, you have planted where they 

 can get the shade from trees or rows of 

 higher plants, or in lack of this, lath 

 screens, unless you have a very moist 

 piece of ground especially adapted to vi- 

 olets. 



The drier the weather the oftener the 



cultivator should be run through them, 

 and this is just what is liable to be omit- 

 ted, as the weeds do not start so freely 

 and we are apt to think it is not needed; 

 but this is a great mistake, as, if they 

 are cultivated every day, you will be as- 

 tonished to see how moist it keeps the 

 ground underneath and how the loose, 

 dry earth on top keeps the moisture in. 

 I presume some nave nor yet been able 

 to get the houses planted. If so, do 

 not hurry so that the house is not prop- 

 erly prepared. Give them six inches of 

 new, fresh soil, which has previously 

 been worked over and gotten in good 

 shape, and then see that the plants are 

 in good shape and not thrown into the 

 soil in a rough, haphazard manner. They 

 should be trimmed up, leaving only one 

 or two fully developed leaves on them, 

 so that there will not be as much leaf 

 surface to evaporate moisture and so 

 dry out the roots before they have an 

 opportunity to take a hold. 



R. E. SHTJPHEL.T. 



HYBRID ALPINE IRIS. 



Mr. W. J. Caparn, St. Martins, Guern- 

 sey, England, has raised some very in- 

 teresting iris hybrids and sends us some 

 photographs of what he calls his new 

 hybrid Alpine iris, which are reproduced 

 herewith. 



The one showing a house of this iris 

 in bloom in January and February will 

 probably be of some interest to our read- 

 ers as indicating what may be done in 

 the way of forcing this race of irises. 

 Mr. Caparn says it readily responds to 

 the forcing treatment, and the plants 

 may be had in bloom either before or 

 after Christmas, from November on- 

 wards. 



The plants in the house illustrated 

 were lifted and boxed in October and a 

 slight heat put on the house in mid- 

 December. The plants bloomed through 

 January and Februarv, and some flowers 

 were cut till the end of March. The 

 plants were then planted out in the ipen 

 and afterward grew into flowering stock 

 again the same year. Mr. Caparn says 

 that if the plants had been boxed in 

 September they would have bloomed for 

 Christmas. 



CARNATION NOTES-EAST. 



For«d Hybrid Irises. 



Cleaning the Houses. 



After the old soil has been removed, 

 the benches should be thoroughly cleaned. 

 Sweep out all soil left in cracks and 

 corners, follow with a heavy syringing 

 with the hose, next apply a light coat 

 of wood ashes and with an old broom 

 scrub the bottom and sides, finishing 

 with another syringing. 



When nearly dry every part of the 

 bench which will come in contact with 

 soil should receive a coat of whitewash. 

 If vou whitewash both inside and out- 

 side, so much the better. Slake the 

 lime by adding just enough water to 

 cover it and when violent boiling be- 

 gins add more water gradually, as re- 

 quired, to prevent burning, in the end 

 producing a somewhat thick solution. 

 Before boiling ceases add two pounds 

 of powdered sulphur to ten gallons thick 

 wash, stirring well. Apply at once, thin- 

 ning with water (hot is preferable) to 

 the required consistency to spread easily. 



As soon as a house is finished, close 

 every door and ventilator, fumigating by 

 burning brimstone. This comes in sticks 

 or rolls and can be easily broken up, 



