306 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Jan'uakv 13, 1898. 



Violets. 



I liave grown violets this year from 

 plants propagated last winter, and they 

 have (lowered well since October and are 

 still at it. Anothfr lot propagated different- 

 ly have not been nearly so successful, but 

 it is only fair to say they were not in the 

 same house, nor had they just the same 

 treatment: but, with all that, I am con- 

 vinced that the right way to prepetuate 

 your stock of violets is by cuttings, and by 

 cuttings I mean runners that have made no 

 roots in the soil. Some tear up their old 

 plants and call each division a new plant. 

 Others take the runners that have rooted 

 and have formed a crown. These with 

 roots are considered good enough to 

 plant into flats or perhaps plant in the 

 field. Neither the rooted runner or worse 

 the division of the old plant is nearly as 

 good as the runners without any roots in- 

 serted in the sand now or later, ju.st as 

 you would any other cutting. If you 

 don't have room enough in the cutting 



bed, such as you would root carnations 

 in, then flats will do equally as well. Flats 

 two inches deep, with one inch of soil and 

 one inch of sand, are to be preferred, for 

 when rooted you can move the flats 

 where you choose. When well rooted 

 they can be potted off singly in sS-inch 

 pots, or, what it just as good, planted in 

 three inches of soil in flats far enough 

 apart to allow them to grow and make 

 good plants by planting out time early in 

 June. By planting out I don't mean 

 planting out in the field, for I would 

 never plant a violet but in one place, and 

 that is on the solid bed where itVas to 

 grow and flower next winter. I hear 

 some friends, and good ones, say: "Oh, 

 nonsense!" Thousands of violets have 

 been lifted from the field with great suc- 

 cess, but there is a risk. On the solid 

 bed, with the glass off during summer, 

 there is no risk. If you don't get violets 

 it will be from some other visitation. 



W. Scott. 



CARNATION NOTES. 



Preparation of the Soil. 



In my last notes in mentioning the ma- 

 terial that supply the three principal ele- 

 ments of nourishment an error crept in. 

 I will repeat the same again corrected: 

 "Nitrogen is supplied in all animal ex- 

 crements, in horn shavings, night soil 

 and the offals from slaughter houses, of 

 the later principally in the form of blood. 

 Phosphoric acid is plentifully supplied in 

 bone black and bone meal. All the other 

 materials mentioned also contain phos- 

 phoric acid but in much smaller quanti- 

 ties than nitrogen. Potash is also found 

 in the materials liefore mentioned, but in 

 very small and insufficient quantities and 

 is best and plentifully supplied in wood 

 ashes." 



This brings to my mind one other ele- 

 ment, and this is lime. It has been often 

 said of late, that lime helps to build up 

 the so-much desired strong stem, and for 

 the very same reason I have used wood 

 ashes, as they contain much lime. Soils 

 that are deficient in lime, should un- 

 doubtedly be supplied with that element, 

 this is best done in the preparation of the 

 soil. 



In the Dictionary of Gardening we find 

 among other recommendations regarding 

 lime the following. "In applying lime 

 to any land some caution is necessary as 

 it possesses the important propert)- of'ex- 

 pelling_ or setting free ammonia, one 

 of the indispensable constituents of plant 

 food. When farm yard manure has long 

 been used, a light application of lime 

 may be of great advantage in hastening 

 decomposition; while, on the other hand, 



soils which contain but a small amount 

 of organic or vegetable matter might, by 

 similar dressings, become exhausted." 



Wood ashes and lime .should be kept 

 separate, and applied separately from 

 nitrogenous matter (ammonia) if the lat- 

 ter shall not be largely diminished or en- 

 tirely lost. Therefore, in the preparation 

 of liquid manure it is out of place. Quite 

 different is the result in the soil, or even 

 in a mulch, where the manure is not fully 

 decomposed. There it hastens the de- 

 composition of the manure or all other 

 organic matter. 



Of late the proprietors of a slaughter- 

 house, located here in Lafayette, manu- 

 facture a manure to which my attention 

 has been called. It consists of the offals, 

 principally blood and bones. These 

 offals are cooked by steam to extract all 

 the fat. After this they are thrown in a 

 heated iron reservoir, where they are 

 dried and pulverized by a rotating wheel. 

 The bones are easily pulveri/.ed as they 

 can be nearly crumpled in the hand. 

 There is absolutely nothing else used 

 with it. Professor Huston pronounces it 

 a powerful manure as it contains more 

 ammonia than pure bone meal. The 

 analysis made by Professor Huston shows 

 the following: 



Soluble I'hos. Acid per cent 



Reverted " " . . . .3.0S per cent 



Insoluble " " 5.04 percent 



.\mmonia(H:t N) 10.40 per cent 



Potassa IK' O) 0.56 per cent 



We have made free use of it in our 

 liquid manure and found it excellent. Its 

 decomposition causes a strong smell, and 

 would make it hardly desirable to use in 

 a mulch, but in the liquid a little sul- 

 phate of iron will alleviate the smell 

 considerably, and at the same time bind 

 and conserve the ammonia. I think it 



will prove a valuable manure to mix with 

 the soil in the preparation of same. It 

 comes in sacks of 200 pounds and is 

 cheaper than bone meal. 



Fumigation. 



Other work that may be classed as 

 routine, is fumigation. We use entirelj' 

 the Rose Leaf Tobacco Extract manufac- 

 tured at Louisville. It is applied in vari- 

 ous ways, but with the same object, to 

 vaporize the nicotine it contains. Paint- 

 ing it on a heating pipe has been of late 

 strongly recommended and is a verv con- 

 venient way. but it often needs a sprink- 

 ling with water, to renew and increase 

 the extract of the nicotine. This tobacco 

 extract is very effective and is never in- 

 jurious, as tobacco smoke often is, and be- 

 sides does not leave an}- tobacco odor on 

 the flowers as does the smoke. 



.\nother essential work that never 

 should be neglected is the fumigation 

 with sulphur, by mixing flowers of sul- 

 phur with lime, and painting it on the 

 heating pipes. Besides being death to 

 fungus, it rather shows a beneficial effect 

 on the growth of the plants when used 

 mildly. Too much will spoil the opening 

 buds and discolor the flowers. 



Newer Carnations. 



Mr. .A. M. Herr in his essav on New-er 

 Carnation.s is a little too severe on the va- 

 riety Mrs. Bradt, by saying it has an im- 

 mense fine bloom on a "very" weak 

 stem. Everybody who grows it will ad- 

 mit that the stem is hardlv strong enough 

 to carry the very large flower." This is 

 especially so early in the season, when 

 most varieties show weak stems, but im- 

 proves greatly as the season advances; 

 and since it is better known how to grow 

 it, the stem is much stronger. I admit 

 that the stem is not in proportion to the 

 flower, but to my judgment this "very" 

 weak stem as it generally grows would be 

 amply strong to carry a Flora Hill or any 

 other large variety, and of many of the 

 smaller varieties two blooms. The alle- 

 gation, -'very weak" is a little too se- 

 vere. Fred. Dorner. 



CARNATION EMPRESS. 



We have received from Mr. Wm. 

 Swayne, Kennett Square, Pa., blooms of 

 this new crimson carnation. The color 

 is remarkably rich, the blooms measure 

 from two and one-half to three inches in 

 diameter, are very fragrant, the petals 

 deeply fringed, and are borne on stems 

 that are as strong as one could wish. It 

 is certainly a grand crimson varietv. 



We present herewith a view of a house 

 of this variety as seen at Mr. Swayne's. 



We h.we received from Mr. Albert 

 M. Herr, Lancaster, Pa., a, copy of his 

 printed notes on new carnations. In 

 them he reviews the leading novelties, 

 giving his experience with the various 

 sorts and the result of his experiments. 

 They certainly are ver\- interesting and 

 an\'one who wishes may receive a copy 

 by simply addressing a postal card re- 

 quest to Mr. Albert M. Herr, Lancaster, 

 Pa. 



