498 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



FEBRUARY 17. IH'JH. 



Njw York. 



they seem to be in need of something 

 to eat, we give them a top dressing of 

 sheep manure, sometimes horse ma- 

 nure, sometimes a little bone dust. 

 Again, if above are lacking, we use 

 manure water, and that can be made 

 from almost any manure, provided you 

 don't get it too strong. Carnations 

 are great tea drinkers, but the.v don't 

 like whisky or brandy. It is strictly 

 a temperance plant." 



"Do you advise planting in the house 

 direct, or from the open ground?" "Yes 

 and no. It depends on the variety 

 and location. Buttercup. .lubilee, Eldo- 

 rado and those varieties that are in- 

 jured or checked by lifting should be 

 planted in the house about the first 

 of June, but Scott, McGowan, White 

 Cloud, Flora Hill, Mrs. Bradt, New 

 York. John Young, Mrs. James Dean, 

 Maceo. are all grown in open ground 

 with us, and lift in fine shape. " 



"Is it necessary to have a ball of 

 soil when lifting your plants?" "Not 

 in our soil." 



"■What distance apart do you usually 

 plant your carnations in the house 

 from the open ground?" "Twelve by 

 ten inches." 



"What distance when planted in the 

 house d rect — that is, from small pots?" 

 "Same distance." 



"What supports do you use. if any?" 

 "Wire netting, with the Dorner sys- 

 tem of wire and string overhead." 



"What temperature is best for car- 



nations?" "This may be divided into 

 three sections, according to variety. 

 For example. Daybreak, White Cloud, 

 Lily Dean. Mrs. G. M. Bradt. do well in 

 an average temperature of 48 to 50 de- 

 grees, and you get stiff stems. William 

 Scott, New York, Flora Hill, Mrs. 

 James Dean, Maceo, John Young and 

 varieties of that type, 50 to 52 degrees. 

 Buttercup, Bon Ton, Eldorado, Maud 

 Dean, Mme. Diaz Albertini. Storm 

 Queen, and varieties of this type, 52 to 

 56 degrees. Yellows, even higher, with 

 an average rise for sun heat during the 

 day of 10 to 15 degrees applied to all." 



"What house do you recommend for 

 carnations?" "An even span running 

 east and west, about 22 feet wide, so 

 as to allow three 4-foot benches with 

 paths round each bench not less ihan 2 

 feet; the path should also be between 

 the side of the house and the bench." 



"What is the ideal carnation you are 

 striving for?" "A perfect flower, l'o\ir 

 inches across, perfect calyx and color, 

 stiff, erect stem three feet long, and to 

 produce forty flowers to the plant dur- 

 ing the season, thirty to be produ_'ed 

 during the winter and to sell at $2 per 

 dozen wholesale." 



"What are your ideas about ventila- 

 tion?" "Give all the ventilation you 

 can, without checking the plants." 



"What varieties will you grow next 

 year?" "Pink: New York, Mrs. James 

 Dean, Mrs. Frances Joost. Ar.a;yle. 

 White: John Young, White Cloud, 



Flora Hill. Yellow: Gold Nugget and 

 an unnamed seedling of my own. Scar- 

 let: Bon Ton and two unnamed seed- 

 lings of my own. Crimson: General 

 Maceo and two unnamed seedlings of 

 my own. Variegated: Mrs. G. M. Bradt 

 and a variegated William Scott. I shall 

 grow Mr. Dorner's seedlings and many 

 othei- varieties advertised, for trial." 



"What is the cause of carnations go- 

 ing to sleep?" "Hard to enumerate all 

 the causes. Lack of proper food, grow- 

 ing them too warm, overfeeding, over- 

 watering and underwatering, are all 

 causes of carnations not keeping." 



THE CARNATION FROM THE COM- 

 MISSION MAN'S STAND-POINT. 



I!'. Ml: I- 1 i\ I Kl NMtm i 



I Kcad iH'liire tlie Chicago Convention ol the .\nier- 



ican Carnation Societ\ . 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen 

 of The Carnation Society: — Through 

 Mr. Rudd. Mr. Herr has requested me 

 to make a few remarks from the Com- 

 mission Man's standpoint upon that 

 most beautiful and useful flower, of .he 

 genus dianthus, but to the trade more 

 commonly know as Carnation Pink, 

 and in all commission houses simi)lifled 

 to C. P. I am not in the habit of writ- 

 ing papers and these few remarks will 

 be but a rubaboo or mixture of ideas. 

 Of course, you are all carnation grow- 

 ers, but my few remarks will be made 

 from the standpoint of a commis.sion 

 broker of cut flowers. 



In my opinion, if you are growing 

 for the trade, you should confine your- 

 self to carnations only, with as few 

 side issues as possible, and of C. P. not 

 too many varieties, say 5 or <> and not 

 over S varieties at the most, and grow 

 only such as you can do well. Discard 

 all others, unless grown for experiment 

 or pleasure. Your merchant wants a 

 number one. "bang up" stock, with 

 large, perfect flowers and long, stilt 

 stems, with good foliage. Such he can 

 sell to best advantage. In my opinion, 

 straight colors, clear and pure, aie 

 best to grow— white, pink in shades, 

 red in shades, and yellow. There are 

 many good whites, and white C. P. are 

 always staple, more so than any other 

 color: so give a good share of space to 

 the white or whites that you can grow 

 best. A good white or two you must 

 have. They should be pure white and 

 good large flowers on long, stiff stems. 

 The day of short stemmed carnations 

 is past. The customer wants them 

 long. For design work, he picks them 

 off himself. It is very seldom now that 

 short C. P. are asked for and then it is 

 only by some back number who is still 

 in the woods. After white, the best 

 in demand are the different shades of 

 pink — dark, medium and light — repr,v 

 sented by Tidal Wave, Scott and Day- 

 break; with intermediate shades, but, 

 to sell well, they must be distinct in 

 color. No mongrels need apply. In red, 

 the very dark magenta shades, sucn as 

 Old Sport (not the "old sport" who 

 sells chewing gum and is a well-known 

 character in Chicago streets, but the 

 old, blackish C. P.), Prince of Mo- 

 rocco and others of the same ilk are 



