570 



The Weekly Florists^ Review, 



MAIU'H 3. 1S9S. 



secure fresh, clean soil free from ma- 

 nure and fungus; the same can be said 

 of sand. See that the pot, pan or Hat 

 is clean; every particle of green or dirt 

 should be removed. These should be 

 filled one-half with drainage. Upon 

 this put a layer of moss or rough ma- 

 terial to prevent the fine soil from 

 choking it. Fill then to within one 

 inch of the top, pressing the soil firmly 

 and making it level with the aid of a 

 bottom of a pot, watching that a space 

 of about an inch is left between the soil 

 and top. I mention this again, as the 



they are most desired. This done, 

 take sand and distribute in the same 

 manner; only a very small quantity 

 must be used. After this, take some- 

 thing with a smooth surface and prcss 

 down lightly. The seeds and sand 

 will then be firm and will not wash if 

 by chance water is used. In this way 

 the seedlings will not lie down in ev- 

 ery direction, but will stand erect; the 

 seed, being firmly wedged in the soil, 

 acts as a support to the plant. 



The majority of seeds will germinate 

 in from ten to twenty days, so the 



1-ig. 1. 



Green Roses. Four upon the Same Stem. 



reader will readily see in rending this 

 article how imperative this little space 

 is to the well being of the embryo 

 plants. Before filling the utensil the 

 soil must be finely sifted in order that 

 the germinating root will take readily 

 to It. 



This being accomplished, immerse 

 them in water until thoroughly soaked, 

 then remove them, allowing time foi' 

 the water to drain off. and afterwards 

 sow the seeds, exercising care to evenly 

 distribute them over the soil. 1 have 

 found the following a desirable way to 

 clo this. Take a piece of stiff paper, 

 on which put the seeds; by tapping it 

 lightly and tracing evenly over the 

 surface the seeds will fall just where 



strictest attention must be given to 

 avoid the seeds germinating and the 

 plants becoming worthless by being 

 draw-n and degenerated from want of 

 fresh air. They should be examined ai 

 least once each day. 



The seeds being sown as described, 

 the utensils must be carefully covered 

 with glass, keeping close for a few 

 days. This should be covered with 

 moss and moistened, making the space 

 between the top of the pot dark, 

 which will help to develop the seeds 

 in much less time than if exposed to 

 the light and sun. The moss being 

 kept moist will tend to retain the mois- 

 ture in the soil and save the trouble 

 of watering every day; every morning 



when looking after them, and if found 

 to be wanting moisture take the glass 

 off carefully and allow the water con- 

 densed on it to gradually run off at 

 one corner, moistening the spots that 

 are dry. If this fails to give water 

 enough a sponge can be used better 

 than anything else. Watering in this 

 way will not dislodge the seeds from 

 their positions. 



At the first signs of life a little air 

 must be admitted and a small quantity 

 of the moss removed to allow of light, 

 but this should be done very gradually 

 day by day as progress is made in 

 their growth, until the glass along with 

 the moss is entirely removed. The 

 utensils in which seeds are germinated 

 should be put in a light, warm house. 

 This will facilitate their germinaticn 

 to a certain extent and prevent damp- 

 ing off or the development of "web," 

 which is the greatest enemy of all seed- 

 lings. Close adherence to these rules 

 will save much unnecessary disap- 

 pointment and many aching hearts. 

 F. L. ATKINS. 



Short Hills, N. J. 



GREEN ROSES AND OTHER MAL- 

 FORMED BLOOMS. 



The rose, of all flowers, is the most 

 inclined to vary so far from the type 

 as to become a monstrosity. For the 

 present no attempt will be made to ac- 

 count for this. Recently a friend 

 brought the writer a cane of a tender 

 rose, variety not known to him, that 

 exhibited four "green roses" and a pho- 

 tograph has been taken of it, from 

 which the accompanying engraving 

 (Fig. 1) has been made. 



In this engraving all the four flowers 

 are nearly equal in size, but the pho- 

 tograph secured only two of them in 

 fair focus. One of the peculiarities of 

 these roses is the form of the petals. 

 Unlike the ordinary ones, these roses 

 have petals that are strongly veined 

 and have the edges strongly saw- 

 toothed. They are of a deep green 

 color, agreeing in this closely with the 

 foliage of the plant. While rose leaves 

 are compoimd, composed of an odd 

 number of leaflets, the green petals are 

 simple and correspond to the terminal 

 leaflets of ordinary leaflets. 



The feature of these green roses and 

 the one that determined the writer to 

 bring the matter to the attention of 

 rose growers was the odor of the green 

 blooms. The fragrance was as delicate 

 as that of the ordinary blossoms and, 

 after being cut and confined in a small 

 space, the four green roses produced as 

 abundant and characteristic odor as 

 could have been expected from an equal 

 number of the best specimens of the 

 sweetest sorts. This fact was a sur- 

 prise to many who had their attention 

 called to it and the writer would be 

 pleased to learn if this fact usually 

 holds with green roses. 



It would seem that in the attempt to 

 revert to leaves, the more superficial 

 characteristics of foliage had been ac- 

 quired while the deeper one of per- 



