788 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



roses of that color is evidenced by the 

 facl thai where this rose fails growers 

 are manfully battling uith thai cranky 

 \uriri\. Liberty, lo till the vacancy, some 

 having even requisitioned the old Woot- 

 ton to take its place. 



From my own experience with it this 

 season so far 1 am entirely satisfied, it 

 being more vigorous and productive than 

 in any former year. Ribes. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM COMMITTEES. 

 President Arthur Herrington lias an- 

 nounced the following committees to ex- 

 amine chrysanthemum seedlings and 



spoils in t heir i espi ■. the .it ies. ( lotober 

 1(1, 17. 24 and :',1 and November 7. 1). 

 21 and 28, 1903: 



Boston, Mass. — E. A. Wood, chairman, 

 Boston Flower Market, care of John 

 Walsh; Win. Nicholson and James 

 Wheeler. 



New York, N. Y. — Eugene Dailledouze, 

 chairman, eare New York Cut Flower 



Co., Twenty-sixth street and Sixth ave- 

 nue; Win. H Duckham and Wm. Plumb. 



Philadelphia, Fa.— A. B. Cartlodgc, 

 chairman, 1514 Chestnut street: Wm. K. 

 Harris and John Westcott. 



Chicago, III.— .lames 8. Wilson, chair- 

 man, care J. B. Deamud, 51 Wabash 

 avenue; Edwin A. Kanst and E. Wien- 

 hoeber. 



Cincinnati, 0. — Richard Witterstaetter, 

 chairman, to Jabez Elliott Flowei Mai 

 ket, care of Janitor; James B. Allan 

 and Wm. Jackson. 



Exhibits to receive attention from the 

 committees must in all cases be prepaid 

 to destination and the entry fee of $2 

 should be forwarded to the secretary 

 not later than Tuesdaj of the week pre- 

 ceding examination. Attention of the 

 exhibitors is called to the action taken at 

 the last meeting of the C. S. A., requir- 

 ing all sports to be exhibited before at 

 least, three committees before becoming 

 eligible to receive certificate. 



Fred H. Lemon, Sec'y. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Handling the Azaleas. 



Very soon the Indian azaleas and other 

 shrubby plants that we import from 

 Europe will be here. Sometimes the ball 

 of earth will be quite dry by the time 

 they reach you. It is well known that 

 the ball of roots and soil, if left entire, 

 would need a pot larger than is neces- 

 sary for the growth of the plants and too 

 large for appearance sake. Take a sharp 

 carving knife and cut cleanly off an inch 

 or two all around. If you want to put 

 the plant in a 6, 7 or 8-inch pot, then cut 

 off the roots until the ball is just a trifle 

 less than those sizes. It is no advantage 

 to have an inch of fresh soil all around 

 the ball. They won't occupy it with 

 roots in three years and it would be an 

 actual detriment to the health of the 

 azalea. You hope to sell the plant in six 

 months and with 90 per cent of all the 

 azaleas imported that is the end of them. 

 After you have the roots trimmed dip the 

 ball in a tub of water for a few 

 moments, or long enough to thoroughly 

 wet it through. If the ball of earth is 

 dry all the watering you can give it 

 in the ordinary way will not wet it suffi- 

 ciently. 



You don't see the potting stick used 

 much nowadays, but here is an operation 

 where a blunt stick, say an inch broad 

 and one-fourth of an inch thick, is al- 

 most a necessity, for you want to get the 

 new soil down firmly in the space be- 

 tween the sides of the pot and the ball. 

 The soil in which these azaleas are 

 grown, in Belgium at least, seems to be 

 a dark, decomposed sandy peat, such soil 

 as few of us have here; and although 

 the azaleas will often remain in the best 

 of health two or three years with us 

 without making much, if any, roots in the 

 soil we give them, yet I do not think that 

 the peat is the only soil that will grow 

 azaleas well. We have seen them root 

 vigorously in a good, yellow- loam. Two- 

 thirds of yellow loam and one-third of 

 leaf mold would do very well, and the 

 comparatively small shift you give them 



mg 



ill, if not sold, carry them 



over the second winter in good shape, 



These newly imported plants, after 

 being potted, should be stood in a cool, 

 shaded house. A spraying every bright 

 morning for two weeks will help them to 

 get over their sea voyage, after which 

 they want neither shade nor spraying. 

 Large importers of these plants place 

 them in frames, where they have the 

 means of keeping them above the freez- 

 ing point, and a good place it is. 



For Early and Late Forcing. 



Azaleas that you have summered over, 

 if properly managed, make better Easter 

 plants than those imported the previous 

 October, particularly some of the finest 

 varieties. The flowers may not be so 

 large individually, but there will be 

 more of them. In some varieties, notably 

 the well-known Bernard Andre and B. 

 Andre alba, and others, the recently 

 imported will come largely blind, which 

 they never do on plants summered over 

 in pots. 



Contrary to what might be expected, 

 the plants you have grown all summer 

 and which are full of buds, with roots 

 undisturbed, are not the plants to force 

 for Christmas. The newly imported 

 plants are the ones for that purpose. By 

 the first of November you can select 

 those you want in flower at the holidays. 

 How many varieties are useful for this 

 purpose I don't pretend to know; there 

 may be some new ones. Three reliable 

 stand-bys that can easily be had in 

 flower by Christmas in a night tempera- 

 ture of 65 degrees are the unequaled 

 Deutsche Perle, which is all you want in 

 white, Simon Mardner, dark pink, and 

 the beautiful Vervaeneana, white and 

 pink, variegated or mottled. Give you 



daily 



spraying 



forcing planti 



plenty of water. You have perhaps 

 noticed that if you let an azalea wilt its 

 flowers, they will remain wilted and the 

 sale of your plant is gone. This more 

 readilv occurs and is more hurtful with 



the Christmas plants than with the Eas- 

 ter lot. 



Acacias. 



Along now will also come the Acacia 

 armata and metrosideros (bottle brush). 

 These are usually from pots and don't 

 want any root pruning. See that the ball 

 of roots" is wet before you pot them, and 

 keep them for the next three months, at 

 least, in a night temperature of 10 de 

 grees. The acacias are very apt to be 

 too early for Easter unless you keep them 

 very cool. 



Rhododendrons. 



The rhododendrons seemed to be in 

 rather better demand last spring than 

 any previous year, but that was perhaps 

 only local. A large price should be ob- 

 tained for them, as they are bulky plants, 

 but they need not occupy the greenhouse 

 all winter, as do the Indian azaleas. 

 Those who are blessed with a root house 

 and can plunge the ball of roots of these 

 plants in soil and keep the soil moder- 

 ately moist have an ideal place to winter 

 them, better than a greenhouse, for these 

 evergreen shrubs, as we all know, are 

 nearly or quite hardy in our nothern 

 -tales, if you have not the convenience 

 of a mot house, then a damp frame will 

 do, and keep out what frost you can. 

 Son,, varieties force in less time than 

 others. Two months before selling time 

 will be early enough to pot up any of 

 them. Don't make the mistake of letting 

 the soil they are plunged in get dry. That 

 would be entirely contrary to their nat- 

 ural winter condition out of doors. 

 Shrubs for Forcing. 



Hardy shrubs will be forced this win- 

 ter, perhaps more than ever. Some are 

 grown here, but the majority are grown 

 and prepared for forcing in Europe — 

 lilac, deutzia, viburnum, cydonia, wista- 

 ria and perhaps others. As these are all 

 hardy shrubs, a cold frame is all that is 

 needed for them when received, and pot 

 them up when you bring them in to force. 

 If you had the convenience to pot them 

 now I don't believe it would be the 

 slightest advantage. They are deciduous 

 and would make no roots until yon 

 started them in heat. There is, however, 

 occasion to be careful of these shrubs, 

 even if they are hardy under natural 

 conditions. Remember they are most 

 likely packed and shipped before any 

 hard frost occurs on the other side and 

 they have been in boxes in the hold of a 

 vessel for ten days, perhaps more. Now. 

 that is not at all a cold place and when 

 these shrubs are unpacked they are m 

 poor order to withstand a sudden severe 

 freeze. Get the roots plunged and 

 watered as soon as possible and let frost 

 appioach them only gradually. I men- 

 tion this because a few years ago I saw 

 •200 fine plants of Deutzia gracilis ex- 

 posed the first night after unpacking to 

 ■JO degrees of frost. It left them useless 

 and they were never exposed for sale. 

 William Scott. 



ROOT PRUNING PALMS. 

 I have large latanias and phoenix in 

 half barrels that were formerly used for 

 kerosene. The roots are lifting the palms 

 out of the tubs. The plants are in fine, 

 healthv condition. Can anything be done 

 to keep them in the same-sized barrels, 

 or must they have larger tubs? These 

 plants have about nine feet spread, but 

 my emplnver tells me that in some way 

 northern florists grow plants very largo 



