MARCH 24, ISSS. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



687 



the Review. And can you afford to 

 miss Mr. Dorner's Carnation Notes? 

 All must admit that no other contribu- 

 tions to the literature of the Divine 

 flower approaches them in value. 



THE FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



In this issue appear several articles 

 from the advance sheets of the Flor- 

 ists' Manual, now being written by 

 Mr. William Scott. This great work 

 will cover the whole field of commer- 

 cial floriculture, and will be an inval- 

 uable book of reference. It will be 

 published by the publishers of Thf 

 Florists' Review. Mr. Scott aims to 

 make his Florists' Manual the crown- 

 ing work of his career as a contributor 

 to the literature of the profession, and 

 all who have admired his past writ- 

 ings know what this means. We 

 shall from time to time publish in The 

 Review further extracts from the ad- 

 vance sheets of the Manual. 



CINERARLAS. 



[From advance sheets of the Florists' Manual, bv 

 William Scott. J 



What florists understand when we 

 speak of cinerarias are those which 

 have originated from C. cruenta. The 

 hardy species, although acceptable 

 plants for the herbaceous border, 

 where hardy, are not of much value lo 

 the florist. Since the introduction of 

 the cineraria, or rather since its com- 

 mon use as an ornamental plant in our 

 greenhouses, a wonderful improvement 

 has been made in size, color and form 

 of flower as well as in the habit of the 

 plant. They are of easy culture and it 

 may be said that any glass structure, 

 where it does not actually freeze, will 

 grow cinerarias. But like many other 

 of these soft wooded plants which can 

 be called "a cheap plant and easy to 

 raise" a slight mistake or neglect will 

 ruin the whole lot. A palm or an or- 

 chid will be much less liable to perma- 

 nent injury by neglect or mismanage- 

 ment, for what is a cineraria but an 

 abomination unless it has broad, stiff, 

 healthy leaves, and if it has those it 

 will be sure to have a handsome head 

 of flowers. 



It is quite possible that some choice 

 varieties are still perpetuated by cut- 

 tings, as they commonly were years 

 ago, but that with the American grow- 

 er is never thought of, neither is it at 

 all necessary, for a fine strain is 

 readily produced from seed supplied 

 by our leading houses. Double varie- 

 ties were also a novelty a few years ago 

 and supposed to be a great acquisition, 

 but the cineraria, like some other flor- 

 ist's flowers, is not in the slightest de- 

 gree enhanced in beauty, either as an 

 individual flower or as a decorative 

 plant by its being double. It is simply 

 a monstrosity and the craze for the 

 double varieties has vanished. 



If flowering plants are wanted by No- 

 vember and the holidays, you must sow 

 at end of May or early in June. Ex- 

 cept on private places this is not to be 

 recommended. For the commercial 



florist they would not be very profit- 

 able for they are a troublesome plant 

 to carry through the hot months and 

 the bulk of your customers are not 

 ready for them till February. March 

 and .A.pril. It is well to make two sow- 

 ings, the first early in August, the lat- 

 ter the middle of September; the last 

 sown will usually come in right for 

 Easter. The seed is not so small but 

 what it can have a slight covering; 

 finely sifted leaf mould or sand will do, 

 and keep uniformly moist till the seeds 

 are up. 



When they have made a small char- 

 acter leaf, transplant into a flat or 2- 



Those that are summered over do 

 much the best in a pit or cold-frame, 

 but it should be deep enough so that 

 when ventilation from the raised 

 sashes is given it should pass over 

 their tops and not be playing too freely 

 on their soft leaves. Specimens can 

 be given an 8 or 9-inch pot, but the 

 commercial florist will find that a 6- 

 inch will flower them sufficiently well. 

 1 have seen some growers pinch out 

 the leading flower shoot to induce a 

 broader head of bloom. If grown cool 

 and light this is entirely unnecessary. 

 It is seldom that cinerarias are 

 troubled with thrips or red spider, but 



inch pots. From this time on they 

 must be shifted on as they need it, 

 never by any means allowing them to 

 become stunted for want of larger 

 pots. After they leave a 3-inch pot the 

 soil should not be sifted. If it is a 

 little rough or lumpy so much the bet- 

 ter. I have seen hundreds of cinerari- 

 as in 4 and 5-inch pots die, not with a 

 slow death but suddenly droop and die, 

 and the cause was a close adhesive soil 

 through which the water did not pass 

 freely. They may not be a profitable 

 plant, but if worth growing at all will 

 surely pay to grow well. They must 

 have room to spread their leaves, and 

 until flowering time 40 degrees at night 

 will suit them better than a higher 

 temperature. You will often hear in- 

 structions given to "keep plants near 

 the glass;" in other words this means 

 light. They must have light, room to 

 spread out, a cool temperature, and al- 

 though a stagnant state of the soil is 

 fatal to them should never be allowed 

 to wilt from dryness or they will lose 

 some of their best leaves. After light, 

 air and a low temperature, the remain- 

 ing great object to watch in their suc- 

 cessful culture is never let a greenfly 

 be seen on them. Fumigate regularly 

 and faithfully. 



a dusting of water in summer and fall 

 is beneficial to them. 



HERBACEOUS CALCEOLARIAS. 



[ From advance sheets of the Florists' Manual liy 

 William Scott. J 



There are few more attractive and 

 showy greenhouse flowers than the cal- 

 ceolaria, and although useless as a cut 

 fiower it is of great value as a green- 

 house decorative plant, or as a window 

 plant, lasting fully as long as a cine- 

 raria and many other of our popular 

 flowers. There are several species, 

 both of the herbaceous and shrubby 

 sections, nearly all from the west coast 

 of South America and at a good eleva- 

 tion, for calceolarias dislike great heat 

 at any time of their growth. 



Little attention is paid to the spe- 

 cies, the beautiful hybrids of the her- 

 baceous section being what we are 

 interested in. Seed can be obtained of 

 any reliable seedsman that will pro- 

 duce a great variety of beautiful 

 fiowers. Sow from June to end of Sep- 

 tember. If wanted in bloom by March 

 the earlier month is the t'me to sow, 

 but they are dilficult to have in bloom 

 that early; if sown in September they 



