544 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



FEBRUARY 24. 1S98. 



we keep our Spiraea compacta that is 

 about (J iuehes high and showing bud 

 nicely at the present time. E. E. S. 



I would say that "E. E. S." is forui- 

 nate iu having his plants in the con- 

 dition described. In a night tempera- 

 ture ot 50 to 55 degrees the lilies, un- 

 less we have bright and warm weather 

 beyond the average, will be just about 

 right. Don't be afraid that they will be 

 a day or two early. We have learned 

 to our cost that a lily with two open 

 flowers and buds to open is not what 

 our customers want. They want the 

 tiowers all out, and supposing they 

 were all out a week before Easter, you 

 can keep them perfectly a week or ten 

 days. You are all right — in excellent 



condition. As I have often had occa- 

 sion to remark, in a batch of lilies 

 planted the same time and brought 

 along in the heat, they will vary very 

 much in the time of their flowering, 

 and many moves are often necessary, 

 but they should not be subjected to 

 great changes of temperature, particu- 

 larly a lowering, for that is very un- 

 natural. Endeavor to have the bulk of 

 them come about right, and those thai 

 show that they will be late can be 

 given more heat. 



Spiraea is perhaps a trifle early. 

 Keep it at not over 50 degrees and you 

 will be all right. Give plenty of light 

 and abundance of water. 



W. SCOTT. 



ORCHID NOTES. 



Cattleyas. As the sun strengthens 

 C. labiata will claim your attention. 

 Those that flowered early are impa- 

 tient, but on no account encourage 

 them, rather keep them as quiet as pos- 

 sible for a week or so yet. But it is 

 in order to go over them, and remove 

 last year's topdress, by which I mean 

 all loose material that can be removed 

 with a sharp pointed stick, without dis- 

 turbing the roots, and fill in all slack 

 spots with noddles of peat. 



Any repotting that is thought neces- 

 sary may be done now, but this is an 

 operation that I would not advocate 

 unless absolutely necessary. It the 

 plant has abundance of root and a 

 good hold of the material, leave it, but 

 should it be in a bad condition with lit- 

 tle or no root, shake it out and remove 

 all dead and decaying matter, thor- 

 oughly wash with the hose, repot or 

 basket, giving very little material 

 around the roots, and treat as you 

 would newly imported stock. If re- 

 demption is possible they will soon 

 show signs of activity; let the leaves 

 make some headway and have a decid- 

 ed root action before you topdress 

 with sphagnum. 



Also let C. Percivalliana. maxima, 

 chocoensis, etc., then have your 

 attention, but keep at the 

 cool end of the house for 

 some time yet, bearing in mind that 

 the longer the rest the better the lead. 

 And see that C. Trianae, Mossiae, 

 gigas, etc., do not suffer tor want of 

 water. If the flowers are formed at the 

 expense of the last growth they will 

 break very weak and indifferently. 



I Laelia autumnalis, anceps, and its 

 varieties, will also bear looking over. 

 They require but very little material 

 at the root; what they have should be 

 fresh and sufficiently firm to retain the 

 moisture. See that they don't suffer 

 through lack of water while resting. 

 And the various autumn flowering 

 oncidiums will soon be on the move, 

 and as those are naturally epiphytal 

 they must have good drainage. Small 

 baskets are the most suitable recepca- 

 cles for these subjects, and they re- 

 quire to be packed very firm, as you 

 do them up, and if grown in pots, they 

 should be raised on a cone-shaperl 

 mound above the rim of the pot. When 

 growing they enjoy a copious supply 

 of water, but during the resting jie- 

 riod. only enough should be given to 

 keep the bulbs in a plump and healthy 

 condition. 



Dendrobium formosum and D. Pha- 

 laenopsis should be cleaned oft and re- 

 moved to their growing quarters, at 

 the same time attending to any repot- 

 ting required. Any Dendrobium no- 

 bile or Wardianum that may have flow- 

 ered early should have the same atten- 

 tion. Do not repot in any case if you 

 can avoid it. simply add a little fresh 

 material where necessary and water 

 sparingly until they show good root 

 action. Maintain a temperature of 70 

 degrees with plenty of atmospheric 

 moisture, and give liberal treatment 

 eventually. 



Some growers, will, I have no doubt, 

 think it bad practice to start the last 

 named subjects out of season, but the 

 commercial man has no hard and fast 

 rule to go by. He understands an 

 early start means an early finish, and 



the secret lies in the finish, to know 

 just when to withhold water and en- 

 force rest, but should they start into 

 a second growth unobserved, let them 

 go; they have ample time to finish a 

 second growth which will flower along 

 with the first if properly handled. 



J. ROBERTSON. 



VIOLET NOTES. 



Ot all our experience in growing vio- 

 lets, this season "takes the cake," if 

 I may be allowed the expression, for 

 we are between two fires. At this time 

 of the year we should be nearly sure 

 of a fair amount of nice, clear weather, 

 but as it is we get one day in seven 

 very bright and sunny, one or two 

 with thin clouds so that the effect of 

 the sun can be felt to a moderate ex- 

 tent, and the balance of the week will 

 be a sort ot miniature Klondike spell 

 (perhaps in order to settle the minds 

 of the hesitating fiorist who is of more 

 than half a mind to try his luck in 

 those regions). The result is that you 

 hardly know what to do in regard to 

 shading your houses. 



Those who grow their violets in 

 houses running north and south do 

 not need to shade as yet, but those 

 growing theirs in regular east and 

 west houses, under ordinary circum- 

 stances, should shade their south 

 slopes lightly now, adding a thin coat 

 from time to time as the sun gets 

 higher and the days longer and warm- 

 er. Those who grow them in the new 

 "slope" houses, in an ordinarily li-h: 

 season, should shade as early as the 

 first week of this month, in this lati- 

 tude, as such houses are so light that 

 they bleach the blooms more than the 

 other styles of houses, if not early pro- 

 tected in this way. 



Those growing the Lady Hume 

 Campbell exclusively can stand the ad- 

 ditional rise of temperature well 

 enough, as it flowers more freely at a 

 higher temperature than the Marie 

 Louise; on the other hand, it fades 

 more quickly, and so needs the shading 

 for that reason. On account of this 

 tendency to fade, more care must be 

 exercised to keep them closely picked, 

 as soon as fully developed, and their 

 size and full, round makeup are some- 

 thing astonishing when allowed to de- 

 velop, and that their fragrance is much 

 greater than the Marie Louise at all 

 times is, I think, a fact admitted by all. 



R. E. S. 



BORDEAUX MIXTURE. 



Please print at some convenient 

 time the best way to make a barrel of 

 Bordeaux mixture, with a few direc- 

 tions for use on chrysanthemums and 

 celery. W. M. 



Dissolve one pound of sulphate of 

 copper in two or three gallons of hot 

 water. Use a cast iron or earthenware 

 jar for the purpose, for the copper will 

 soon eat holes in a watering can. When 



