APRIL 28, 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



863 



VARIOUS QUESTIONS. 



1. Will you please explain just how 

 to wire a carnation Ijed lln feet long 

 and 17 feet wide with your overhead 

 system? What supports do you have 

 at the ends, sides, and in the bed? Do 

 you run wire between each row of 

 plants, and how far from soil, and will 

 that keep them off the ground? Also, 

 the kind of wire and what it costs? 



2. In growing the finest grades of 

 carnations, what fertilizer would you 

 prefer if you had your choice of cow 

 or horse manure? 



3. What is the best shading material 

 to put on the glass for summer that 

 will come off without trouble in the 

 fall? X. Y. Z. 



1. In regard to wiring the above 

 carnation bed, this question is rather a 

 surprise to me, for I never heard of 

 beds 17 feet wide, unless a solid bed, 

 and the plants planted in beds with 

 walks between. But it is probable that 

 he means 7 feet wide. Being uncer- 

 tain as to this. I will explain how we 

 wire our raised benches, and leave it 

 to X. Y. Z. how he can best adapt it 

 to his purpose. 



I infer from the way the questions 

 are asked that X. Y. Z. has no clear 

 idea of the principles of our system. 

 These overhead wires, with the corre- 

 sponding twine netting, are not for 

 the purpose of keeping the plants off 

 the ground, but are only a support for 

 the flower stems. 



To keep the plants off the ground, 

 •we use the A shaped wire netting be- 

 tween the rows across the bench. This 

 ■wire netting, when bent in shape, is 

 six inches high. Five or six inches 

 above the netting, according to short 

 ■or long stemmed varieties, we stretch 

 «the wire lengthwise, fastened on a firm 

 support on each end of the bench. 



This support is constructed'of three- 

 •quarter or one-inch pipes set in the 

 ground and fastened to the bench with 

 clamps. We generally use two tiers 

 •of these wires, the second six or eight 

 Inches above the first, and construct 

 these supports with two crosspieces at 

 the desired distance, one above the 

 ■other. We stretch the wires eight 

 inches apart, irrespective of the num- 

 ber of plants in a row, as they are 

 merely for the support of the flower 

 stem. Every fifteen or twenty feet 

 light wooden supports are placed un- 

 der the wires, to hold them up to the 

 desired height, and the wires fastened 

 to them with double pointed glazier's 



tacks. Between these wooden supports 

 we use a very light piece of lath, only 

 strong enough to hold the wires at the 

 regular distance apart, to prevent their 

 drawing together when the twine net- 

 ting is put on. These laths are notch- 

 ed at the end to hold the two outer 

 wires and the others are fastened to 

 same with a glazier's tack. 



For the twine netting we use the 

 common cotton twine, running diago- 

 nally across, and recross the bench un- 

 til the other end of the bench is reach- 

 ed. The twine is run six inches apart, 

 and fastened to each wire by winding 

 it around once, and on the outer wires 

 where the turn is made twice. 

 so when completed the whole forms a 

 netting of diamond - shaped squares. 



a second tier necessary. The wire used 

 is No. 15 and will probably cost for a 

 bench 110x7 feet 60 cents — ^20 pounds, 

 at o cents per pound, for one tier. 



2. In the preparation of soil for the 

 benches, we prefer cow manure, but 

 well decomposed. For liquid manure 

 we invariably use fresh cow manure. 

 In field culture on heavy soils, horse 

 manure has the preference: in sandy 

 soils, cow manure. Generally, horse 

 manure is stronger and much quicker 

 to act, but is very liable to burn when 

 not attended to, and its most nutri- 

 tious elements are lost. Otherwise, 

 when attended to during the time of 

 decomposition, to prevent its burning 

 it is equal, if not better, than cow ma- 

 nure. 



3. In regard to shading. I refer X. Y. 

 Z. to my last notes in an answer to 

 R. W. This shading prepared of white 

 lead and coal oil is probably not so 

 easily removed as a lime wash, but it 

 can be removed with little trouble 

 after a whole summer's exposure, and 

 the early frosts will aid greatly ia ac- 

 complishing this work. 



FRED. DORNER. 



Rhododendron trimmed with Asparagus Sprengerii and Ribbon. By Stumpp, New York. 



with ample space for the flower shoots 

 to grow through them. 



The A-shaped wire netting is six 

 inches high, and six inches above this, 

 or one foot from the ground, are the 

 wires stretched lengthwise, and six 

 or eight inches above them a second 

 tier, if desired. At our place we find 



THRINAX PALMS. 



Editor Florists' Review: In your is- 

 sue of April 11, page 813, Mr. Taplin 

 writes about Thrmax parviflora as a 

 useful florist's palm. We wish to con- 

 firm his remarks about it as being 

 handsome and useful and state that 



