242 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Jmvr 9, 1903. 



ing tender leaves at 

 ery subject to the at- 



Because of t In— «■ frequent drenchings 

 the soil will require frequent stirring 

 in order to keep it open and friable. 

 If the weather beeoms cloudy and un- 

 settled, great care will be needed not to 

 get the foliage too soft, as this may 

 lead to an attack of black spot. This 

 car. be obviated to a great extent by 

 judicious care in watering and ventilat- 

 ing. 



Care in watering consists in a thor- 

 ough examination of the soil in the 

 benches before applying the hose, and 

 watering those spots which are dry be- 

 fore the general watering, so that the 

 whole of the bench may be equally moist. 

 After the bench is satisfactorily wa- 

 tered the syringe should be applied. Any 

 effort to perform both of these opera- 

 tions at one and the same time, as is fre- 

 quently attempted by the inexperienced 

 can result in nothing but disaster, as 

 neither operation can be performed sat- 

 isfactorily in this manner. 



If black spot makes its appearance 

 the benches should be gone over daily 

 and all affected leaves picked off and 

 burned. Neglect or carelessness in this 

 matter, especially during dark weather, 

 when the disease spreads most rapidly, 

 will soon cause a lot of damage if it 

 does not entirely ruin the stock. 



When the young growths have at- 

 tained a length of fifteen or eighteen 

 inches, and are forming buds, they 

 should be cut back, taking off three or 

 four of the topmost eyes. This will divert 

 part of the strength into the lower eyes, 

 causing them to break and form a more 

 bushy plant. 



There being nearly always a demand 

 for Beauty buds, the temptation to mar- 

 ket these as early and with as long 

 steins as possible is frequently the cause 

 of giving the young plants a stunted 

 habit, from which it takes them a long 

 time to recover. Denuding the plant 

 of so much of its breathing apparatus 

 causes a check in its growth, the wood 

 hardens and ripens prematurely and 

 there it remains till cool weather sets 

 in. Beauties, to give good results in 

 winter, should not also be expected to 

 give a large cut during su mm er or 

 early fall. Rtbes. 



TROUBLE IN ROSE HOUSE. 



Kindly give me information in rela- 

 tion to a disease or difficulty of some 

 kind, formed on the buds in my rose 

 house. The plants are growing nicely. 

 I have some American Beauties, Brides, 

 Kaiserins, Maids. Carnots and Perles. 

 The Beauties' are particularly affected 

 with a deformity of the bud. The Kais- 

 erins, 'Brides and Maids do not seem to 

 be deformed so much, but all have a 

 fringe of wilted and dry petals as they 

 come into bloom. I send some samples 

 under separate cover. W. L. 



The specimen buds and leaves give 

 evidence of having been grown on a 

 bench with defective drainage. Under 

 the microscope the buds show that they 

 have recently been infested with aphis, 

 some of them containing the bodies of 

 these insects in their black form. Thrips 

 also have been at. work. This is what 

 causes the crumpled appearance of the 

 Beauty petals. The best remedy at this 

 season is light and persistent fumigat- 

 ing early in the morning with tobacco 

 smoke. " Care in watering and ample 

 ventilation are also required. For the 

 mildew which I also observed on the 



foliage a remedy will be found in the 

 Keview of July 2, under reply to L. H. 

 C, page 204. Ribes. 



C.J.OHMER. 



The newly elected president of the Cin- 

 cinnati Florists' Society is the youngest 

 president the society has ever had, being 

 but 24 years old. He was born near 

 Cincinnati in 1879, but later lived at 

 Davton, O., until he removed to Cincin- 

 nati, in 1892. Wben his uncle, E. G. 

 Gillett, started in the wholesale cut 

 flower commission business for himself 

 in 1896, Mr. Ohmer was given a position 



C. J. Ohmer. 



which he has since held. The business 

 prospered, and at the present time is one 

 of the largest strictly wholesale commis- 

 sion businesses in Ohio. Mr. Ohmer is 

 the grandson of Nicholas Ohmer. the well- 

 known horticulturist of Dayton, Ohio, 

 whose recent death was chronicled in 

 these columns. 



BEGONIA GLOIRE DE LORRAINE. 



H. W. W. recommends cultivators to 

 pinch out the points of the growth and 

 afford the plants cold frame treatment, 

 with a free circulation of air day and 

 night during the summer and early 

 autumn. In my experience, I have un- 

 fortunately found that these begonias 

 resent such treatment. The constitution 

 of the plants gets weakened, and they 

 soon become infested with thrips and 

 disease. The secret of growing these 

 plants well is to do so quickly in a 

 warm moist atmosphere, from the time 

 the cuttings are put in, until the flower- 

 ing period. In the first place, procure 

 healthy cuttings. For very early propaga- 

 tion, leaves with about an inch of stem 

 may be dibbled into cocoanut fiber, and 

 shaded from sunshine: these will soon 

 emit roots, and each leaf will produce 

 two or three growths. Insert these when 



large enough, as they are better cut- 

 tings than can be taken from the base 

 of the old plants during the winter. 

 Then apply water and plunge the pots 

 to the rim in cocoanut fiber in a propa- 

 gating-case, having a bottom heat of 

 about 75 to SO degrees, in about three 

 weeks the cuttings will have rooted, 

 when they may be gradually inured to 

 a cooler position near the roof glass. 



The plants should be shifted on into 

 three-inch pots before they become pot- 

 bound, using a compost of three parts 

 good fibrous loam, one part leaf-soil, 

 and the remaining part of fine crushed 

 charcoal and coarse sand. The soil made 

 use of at the final potting should con- 

 tain a fair quantity of dried cow-manure 

 and the loam and charcoal should be 

 used in a rougher state than in the case 

 of the earlier potting. Do not pot too 

 firmly, or the growth will be stunted; 

 nor use too large pots when repotting, 

 but afford thorough drainage. Afford 

 water sparingly until the plants are well 

 rooted into the fresh soil, then may be 

 used abundance of stimulants. Clay's 

 fertilizer, with alternate doses of liquid 

 cow and sheep manure, and occasional 

 applications of soot-water, are as good 

 as any that can be used. 



A low span-roofed house or pit. hav- 

 ing a temperature of about 65 degrees, 

 allowing the thermometer to run up with 

 sun-heat, will suit them well ; by closing 

 the structure early in the afternoon 

 during summer, very little or no fire heat 

 will be needed. Freely syringe the plants . 

 with rain water, and shade them from 

 strong sunshine. Under such treatment 

 plants rooted during March and April, 

 and potted-on to 16 or 24-sized pots, and 

 kept in such a congenial atmosphere 

 that not the slightest check to growth is 

 ever experienced, will by the autumn 

 produce plants 3 feet in height and 3 

 feet through. Plants for flowering in 

 small pots should be propagated during 

 May and June. I find it more difficult 

 here to obtain height than width. The 

 growths should never be stopped, but the 

 flower buds must be pinched off until the 

 plants are required to bloom; grown 

 thus, thrips or mites will never make 

 their appearance. I have an idea (I .am 

 aware some readers will say an erroneous 

 one), but I am writing from close per- 

 sonal observation and experience, that 

 these plants and similar subjects, such 

 as poinsettias for winter-flowering. 

 grown on this rapid system of cultiva- 

 tion will keep the plants j n vigorous 

 growth from first to last, and give them 

 a strong constitution which will enable 

 them to survive and last a longer time 

 in perfection wdien placed in rooms or 

 in a cold conservatory. It is a question 

 of constitution, rather than one of af- 

 fording the plants cool treatment dur- 

 ing their growing season. — John Flem- 

 ing. 



[Our correspondent has exhibited the 

 finest plants of this begonia we have 

 seen this season. — Ed.] — Gardener's 

 Chronicle. 



CAPACITY OF BOILER. 



What is the capacity of an upright 

 boiler five feet high. 25 inches inside 

 diameter, with 50 lj-inch flues' How 

 many feet of '2-inch pipe would it heat 

 with hot water? How many feet of 2- 

 inch pipe will be required to heat a. 

 house 20x100 feet to 50 degrees in zero 

 weather? W. J. 



The approximate heating capacity, 

 with hot water, of the boiler described 



