SkI'Tlmhkb 24, 1003. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



707 



CARNATION NOTES-EAST. 



Watering. 

 There are so many different conditions 



tn lie met ami often clillii ulties to over- 

 come that it is impossible in a short arti- 

 cle to cover the many points connected' 

 with this ail-important operation. There 

 are, however, a few rules which may serve 

 as a partial guide: 



First. — Water only when the plants 

 require it. 



Second. — Supply no more at the root 

 than is necessary to thoroughly moisten 

 the soil. 



Third. — Choose such a time as will al- 

 low moisture applied to the foliage to 

 evaporate before night. 



Very elementary rules and easy to fol- 

 low, would be the opinion of a novice, 

 and very true this would be were it 

 not for changes in weather, difference in 

 soils, requirements of certain sorts and 

 situation or arrangement of houses and 

 benches in same. These are matters which 



demand 11 ght. observation and sound 



judgment at all times. One can certainly 

 study his soil and know tin- advantages 

 of his houses, two things out of my power 

 to touch upon. From your knowledge of 

 the composition and nature of your soil, 

 construction of bench as regards provis- 

 ion made for drainage, whether raised or 

 solid, you can judge the natural capacity 

 of a bed to retain moisture. 



Daily observance of the rate at which 

 plants are growing will show those mak- 

 ing the most rapid strides, and these re- 

 quire the most water, all things being 

 equal. This is owing to roots extending 

 their system in search of food, and a 

 proportionate consumption of moisture 

 may be expected. 



During the next month we are likely 

 to have some warm days, accompanied by 

 wind and with ventilators and doors open 

 to allow free circulation of air, transpir- 

 ation is a matter to be considered. 



With the above in mind and occasional 

 examination of the soil to the depth of 

 three inches, one ought not to go wrong 

 in deciding whether or not water is 

 needed. As to quantity, I have already 

 touched upon that. Any surplus which 

 must drip or drain away i- a waste of 

 water, a shiftless maimer of being sure 



that at least enough has 1 a supplied, 



besides being a means of carrying out 

 available plant food in solution. 



The manner and, in connection, il may 

 lie said, the exact time of applying water, 

 depends much upon the state of the 

 weather. In the early forenoon of a 

 bright day is the ideal time to water and 

 it is well at this time of the year to let 

 the foliage receive its share in the form 

 of a gentle shower. This is especially 

 beneficial in case the sun comes out 

 strong after two or three days rain or 

 cloudy weather, and should signs of wilt- 

 ing persist in showing, a second gentle 

 spraying early in the afternoon is advis- 

 able. 



There will be dark, stormy periods, pre- 



eeded by a warm, drying out spell during 

 whieh the soil has become almost devoid 

 of moisture. Proceed with caution, watch- 

 ing the plants closely and, if possible, 

 delay watering until pleasant weather; 

 but should the plants give signs of suf- 

 fering, water sparingly between the rows 

 without wetting the foliage. Oftentimes 

 the plants next the side of the bench 

 are in need of water while the center 

 ones are not, as is proved by examining 

 the soil in both places. This condition 

 is often found in the middle afternoon 

 of a bright day and should be remedied 

 by a slow stream from the hose or, in 

 some cases, a water pot can be used to 

 advantage. 



Care should be taken now that the 

 paths and space under the benches are not 

 heavily sprayed or by any means allowed 

 to become watersoaked. During July and 

 August, when the newly benched plants 

 are getting established, this wholesale use 

 of water is made to cool the atmosphere, 

 but with the plants under way and the 

 nights growing cooler and longer it is 

 not. necessary, besides there is a damp- 

 ness produced at night which is undesir- 

 able in many ways. Geo. S. Osborn. 



CARNATION NOTES-WEST. 



Temperature and Ventilation. 



We are having some cool nights now 

 and occasionally the mercury drops close 

 to the freezing point. Those who grow 

 roses or other plants requiring fire these 

 nights will do well to run a line of pipes 

 in each carnation house to keep the air 

 dry towards morning, when the mercury 

 drops the lowest, and the atmosphere 

 becomes moisture laden. If the temper- 

 ature in the house rises above 50 de- 

 grees on account of the steam pipe you 

 should open the ventilators enough to 

 keep it down. In fact, nothing is more 

 lieintieial tn the carnation than plenty 



It is not absolutely neeessary, how- 

 ever, to have steam around every night 

 when the temperature drops below 50 

 degrees, and unless you have to get up 

 steam for some other stock, I would not 

 urge you to do so specially for the car- 

 nations. On our place we do not grow 

 anything that requires a higher tempera- 



never do to allow the temperature, to 

 drop to 40 degress or lower regularly 

 every night for a week, yet we do not 

 consider it harmful to the plants if it 

 drops to 40 degrees in the houses occa- 

 sionally, providing there is plenty of ven- 

 tilation on the houses and it is not rain- 



lportant factor 

 from now until regular hard firing com- 

 mences, and at every opportunity you 

 should have the ventilators open, more 

 or less, according to the weather. Don 't 

 think on a cool evening after a bright 

 day that you will close the house tight 

 and keep in some heat to prevent the 



temperature from dropping too low in 

 the morning. You can make no greater 

 mistake. Always remember that a pure, 

 fresh, crisp and dry atmosphere a few 

 degrees low is always preferable to a 

 stuffy, moisture laden atmosphere raised 

 to the proper temperature. I would 

 rather have my houses at 45 degrees five 

 nights each week with the ventilators 

 open than to have them at 50 degrees 

 with the ventilators closed and no steam 

 up. 



Of course, in case you have a rainy, 

 wet spell you must turn on the steam to 

 keep the atmosphere dry, even if it does 

 not get very cool. A little later on when 

 your plants are in full crop you would 

 not risk such a variation in the tempera- 

 ture, as it would cause too large a per- 

 centage of split calyxes, but at present 

 the sun is strong enough to counter- 

 balance the effect of the variation in 

 temperature, and if a few do burst the 

 loss is small as compared with the cost 

 of firing, etc. Few of your benches are 

 in full crop, either, at this time. Nor 

 could I ever see that it harmed the plants 

 for the future. The carnation enjoys a 

 cool temperature, and the plants in the 

 field seem to take on new life as soon as 

 the nights are cool, after having stood 

 almost dormant for a couple of months 

 in the hot, broiling sun, and through the 

 warm summer nights. You can see it in 

 the houses, too. As soon as the nights 

 become cool and the sun is less intense 

 the blooms open out better and larger, 

 and the growth becomes heavier and 

 crisper, and covered with that powdery 

 bloom whieh covers the foliage and stem 

 when the plant is in perfect condition. 



Close the ventilators at night and al- 

 low the temperature to run up during the 

 day, and soon you will see weak stems, 

 small, sleepy-looking blooms and trans- 

 parent foliage, and worst of all you will 

 invite into your place all the ills that the 

 carnation has fallen heir to. There is 

 hardly a carnation disease that does not 

 enjoy a close, stagnant atmosphere to 

 develop in, and a weakened plant to 

 attack. With plenty of fresh air, a lib- 

 eral supply of water and an abundance 

 of sunshine your plants should make a 

 fine strong growth, and by the time dark 

 weather sets in they will be loaded with 

 buds which will develop slowly into 

 magnificent blooms. These three things 

 belong together and when they are to 

 be had in abundance it is difficult for an 

 intelligent grower to go wrong, but when 

 one or the other fails you, then you 

 must be careful in gauging the one to 

 conform with the other. During hot 

 summer days the fresh air is lacking, and 

 you syringe to freshen it as much as 

 you can, and you shade the houses to 

 keep out the strong sun. Pretty soon 

 you will try to get all the sun you can 

 and you will be sparing with the water. 

 Conditions keep changing and your 

 treatment must continually change with 

 them. Judgment is needed every day. 

 A. F. J. Badb. 



PRICE FOR CARNATION CROP. 



Eelative to a price for a season con- 

 tract for a crop of carnations, C. W. 

 Ward, of Queens, writes: "It is im- 

 possible to know what would be a fair 

 price to contract a crop of carnation 

 flowers for until one is familiar with 

 the market in which the flowers are to 

 be sold, and the quality of the flow- 

 ers grown, as the same varieties pro- 

 duced by different growers differ very 



