The Weekly Florists' Review. 



425 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Firing in Summer. 



A seasonable hint, but slightly infring- 

 ing on the territory so ably niirml by 

 • ' Ribes, ' ' who, I know, will forgive me, 

 is the question of firing during the sum- 

 mer months, particularly for roses. To 

 be reminiscent a moment, and let my 

 memory go back fifty years, more or 

 less, in the salubrious climate of the 

 south coast of England, between the 

 South Downs and the English Channel, 

 where the summer days are seldom so 

 warm as what we know as " a hot day, ' ' 

 but where the nights in June, July and 

 August seldom go below 60 degrees, fir- 

 ing is never dropped in the houses that 

 contain palms, tropical ferns, orchids, 

 or in the pineapple house or forcing 

 graperies. True, perhaps they get more 

 cloudy days, but what have we had this 

 year for the past two months? Eain at 

 least every other day or night, a hot 

 day very occasionally and within twenty- 

 four hours a temperature at 10 p. m. of 

 12 degrees above freezing. It may be 

 lower in the still grey hours before the 

 dawn, but we don 't know that, for we 

 always retire at 10 p. m. promptly (?). 



About, the first of June, or during a 

 spell of a few warm days and nights, 

 out go the fires in the rose houses and so 

 they remain until the middle of Septem- 

 ber. Mildew is the result and it remains 

 with you until you put on steam again. 

 Perhaps with good, vigorous young stock 

 planted in June this is not such a serious 

 matter, and I have even heard a most 

 excellent rose grower say that he rather 

 liked to see a crop of mildew in Septem- 

 ber. Although good grower that he is, 

 I scarcely think he is right. But what 

 about those you have carried over for a 

 summer crop, Beauties and Brides and 

 Bridesmaids.' Millions of buds are 

 spoiled by the mildew. Not only is the 

 bud a poor apology for a rose, but the 

 foliage on which so much of the beauty 

 rests, the setting for the flower, is a 

 grey, wrinkled, unsightly excuse. There 

 f may have been summers, and I hope 

 many more will be, when June, July and 

 August will be steady, warm weather, 

 but for the past two seasons it would 

 have richly paid any rose grower to keep 

 the fires alight all summer at midnight, 

 or on dull, cool days to have turned on 

 one pipe of steam. And for obvious 

 reasons, the larger the place the better it 

 would pay. 



A little steam heat and the ventilators 

 open is not raising the temperature but 

 very little. It is only causing a circu- 

 lation of air and preventing a stagnant 

 dampness settling on the foliage. Next 

 summer, in my small way, the fire will 

 never go out. The slight cost of fuel 

 and the fireman 's wages will be paid 

 back fourfold by the clean, pretty flow- 

 ers that will result. This may nut apply 

 to all our northern states so much as it 

 does to northern New York, Pennsyl- 

 vania and the lake region. I think I 

 have quoted before today the remark of 

 our esteemed friend, J. A. Valentine, of 

 Denver, who said: "We never let our 

 fires out the year around." That is sim- 



ply because the nights in Denver are 

 cool. They can't raise corn (maize) 

 there, and from recent observations I 

 notice that even young people are mar- 

 ried two years before they rejoice in 

 the blessings of a boy or girl, mostly 

 girl. 



Rooting Coleus. 



In another column I recommended to 

 an inquirer to throw away his coleus if 

 infested with mealy bug, but now is the 

 time that you can select a few dozen 

 cuttings of the varieties you want from 

 out of doors, that are, or should be, per- 

 fectly clean. They will root in a few 

 days in a box of sand and before real 

 cold weather can be bushy little plants 

 in 4-inch pots. A few dozen of this size 

 will give you far more cuttings than as 

 many hundred cuttings put in just before 

 the frost kills the bedding plants. Gen- 

 erally speaking, in these truly soft-wood- 

 ed plants, the larger the plant the lower 

 the temperature it will endure. 

 Cyclamen. 



I have lately seen more than one very 

 poor lot of cyclamen, and some not far 

 from home. It was the old story — per- 

 manent shade and a long way from the 

 ventilation. If you have made that mis- 

 take up to date.'don't do it for the next 

 two months. Good cyclamen should be 

 now in 6-inch pots, or perhaps you are 

 about to shift. Use two-fourths g I 



ks and live continually in a cellar 



a to expect health in these cyclamen 

 ithout light. William Scott. 



Seasonable Hints. 



To properly prepare young stock to 

 successfully bear the first crop will now 

 require some time and care. The stock 

 must be healthy, vigorous and of a rea- 

 sonable size before we allow a crop to 

 develop, otherwise the deprivation of so 

 much of the foliage necessary in cutting 

 long stems will weaken their vitality and 

 cause a growth of blind wood. 



Proper care in removing the lateral 

 shoots is also necessary. When removing 

 the laterals from young stock prepara- 

 tory for a first cut it is best not to re- 

 move those near the base of the stem, 

 as these will eventually make good flower 

 stems. This, however, is frequently prac- 

 ticed to the detriment of the plant in 

 order to secure a few inches more of 

 stem and so secure the highest price go- 

 ing, but the experienced grower knows 

 that this is poor policy. 



As the plants at that time are far 

 from having attained their full growth, 

 each flower stem should be cut not with 

 the object of getting it as long as possi- 

 ble, but with the definite purpose of im- 

 proving the size and form of the bush, 

 and with the view of enhancing its future 

 productiveness, when the demand will be . 

 brisker and prices rule higher. 



When taking the first cut, to balance 

 the plants in form those stems which are 

 longest and strongest should be cut so 

 that three or four eyes with full devel 

 oped leaves are left, each one of these 

 being capable of developing a good 

 flower stem. On the weaker growth two 

 eyes will be quite sufficient, they being 

 only able to maintain and perfect that 



Milwaukee, with Exposition Building in Right Foreground. 



loam, one-fourth rotted dairy 

 one-fourth leaf mold, and if you have it, 

 add a little old crushed mortar. Plunge 

 them into tobacco stems on some bench 

 when- they -get the fullest light in a 

 small house running east and west that 

 has plenty of ventilation. If not that, 

 then a frame with the sash raised back 

 and front, and spray finely every bright 

 morning. But the greatest thing of all 

 is to shade with cheese cloth or lath 

 during the hot, bright hours and no shade 

 whatever on dull days, or up to 10 a. m. 

 and after 4 p. m. on the brightest days. 

 You may as well expeet to have rosy 



number with strength enough to form a 

 good flower stem. All abortive and mal- 

 formed flowers should be cut with the 

 same regard as perfect flowers, leaving 

 the desired number of eyes on the stem. 

 Golden Gate and Ivory, having an in- 

 clination to produce a thicket of small, 

 weak wood at this season, will benefit 

 greatly by having it judiciously thinned 

 out, thus allowing a freer circulation of 

 air among the foliage and giving more 

 sunlight to the yet unbroken eyes. 

 • Picking out the buds of Beauties, the 

 stems of which are not quite long enough 

 for- market, will result in another bud 

 developing just at the base of the bud 



