Decicmbek is, 1002. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



143 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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BASKETS OF CARNATIONS. 



Tlie accompanying engravings sliow 

 fcjur baskets of carnations exhibited at 

 the recent Chicago show. 



No. 1 is a canoe shaped basket of 

 willow, filled with the light pink En- 

 chantress on one side and with the dark- 

 er pink JIarquis on part of the other 

 side, the two varieties being mi.xed on 

 the handle. Asparagus was used for 

 green and some carnation foliage and 

 quite a number of buds. Tliere is a bow 

 of green ribbon on the lower front. This 

 basket was the entry of .Tolin itangel 

 and was arranged by myself. It was 

 awarded first prize. 



No. 2 is a low round basket, very 

 prettily filled with ilorning Glory car- 

 nations, the foliage being asparagus and 

 some ptcris ferns. It was the entry of 

 T. D. ilosconesotes and was awarded 

 second prize. 



No. 3 is an oblong basket of Lawson 

 carnations, with their own foliage. It 

 was massive and very striking. It was 

 till' entry of 0. J. Friedman. 



No. 4 is a round basket of the light 

 ] ink Enchantress, with carnation buds 

 and foliage interspersed and asparagus 

 on the handle. This was the entry of 

 A. Lange. L. P. Walz. 



CARNATION NOTES-WEST. 



\Vc arc just now having a spell of 

 weather which is extremely hard on oxir 

 carnation plants. We have not seen the 

 sun for two hours steady for a, good 

 many days and the plants arc showing 

 the cfi'ecis of the dark days. There is 

 not that crisp appearance to the growth 

 that you can see when the weather is 

 bright and the plants are growing rapid- 

 ly, but instead many of the varieties 

 look soft and transparent and many 

 stems are weak that really ouglit to 

 hold up the blooms. Some varieties also 

 are not keeping as well as they should 

 and all these things can be remedied 

 entirely only by a good spell of bright 

 simny weather, and* I hope it comes 

 lieforc Xmas, else there will be an awful 

 lot of jioor rubbish on the market, 

 waiting itor many good people who will 

 go to sleep thinking of the pretty flow- 

 ers they will have for. Xmas, only to 

 Make up on Xmas morning to find that 

 their pretty posies have also taken a 

 nap and, alas, a nap from which they 

 will never awake. 



During this sort of dark weather, 

 when it is just cold enough to have to 

 keep up steam both day and night, the 

 grower is very apt to neglect a very im- 

 portant thing in plant growing, and 

 that is ventilating. To many growers a 

 ventilator means nothing more nor less 

 than a means of allowing the excessive 

 heat to escape when the weather is warm 

 and the sun is shining. They do not 

 think of the fact that a plant breathes 

 the air just the same as an animal does, 

 and that it needs fresh air just as much. 

 Keeping the temperature at a certain 

 point is very important, but to keep the 



atmosphere pure and fresh is also very 

 important. Raise the ventilators about 

 an inch for two or three hours during 

 the day, and if necessary turn on anoth- 

 er pipe while they are raised and you 

 will notice a dilTerence in your plants in 

 short order. The longer you can keep 

 the ventilators up the better it will be 

 for the plants, but a few hours each day 

 Mill do wonders. 



If the weather is cloudy during this 

 week and next you should not attempt 

 to force your plants very much, as it 

 M'ould be ruinous to them. They will 

 get so soft that your crop for a long 



with which carnation gro-wers have to 

 contend. Whole benches of some vari- 

 eties are swept oft' in a short time with 

 no apparent remedy in sight. So then, 

 it is evident that extreme care should 

 be exercised in the choice of cuttings 

 for next year's plants. 



Some growers complain that Lawson 

 is running down, and if this be the 

 case there must be a cause. I believe 

 it more than likely that in the desire to 

 increase stock of this grand variety, 

 carefid selection has in many cases been 

 lost sight of — in other words, any old 

 thing that would root, passed. Over prop- 

 agation and careless selection are two 

 great factors in the weakening of any 

 plant, be it a carnation or a rose. When 

 the constitution is weakened the door is 

 open for disease to enter. 



It is unnecessary for me to dwell upon 

 the results to be expected from poor 

 plants; you Mould prefer to read about 

 healthy ones. I have ahvays agreed 

 with our friend Dorner that the proper 

 way to produce the ideal cutting is to 

 grow plants for cuttings only. Of course, 



Basket of Carnatioas. No. I. 



time will lose Mhat quality it may have 

 before you force them. 



That you may have a large cut and a 

 good sale for all you do cut is the M-ish 

 of A. F. J. B.\UR. 



CARNATION NOTES— EAST. 



It is presumed you have decided M'hich 

 varieties to continue for another year, 

 bearing in mind that the same amount 

 of space, soil, fuel and practically a 

 like amount of time and labor is re- 

 quired to grow inferior sorts as the later 

 up-to-date ones. 



Wb hear this year a gi'eat deal about 

 stem and dry rots. These tM'O things 

 seem at present to be the greatest evils 



you Mould let them bloom early in the 

 season for obvious reasons. 



The average grower of carnations for 

 cut blooms and he who propagates for his 

 OM'n use ouly,may not feel disposed to de- 

 vote space and plants for this purpose, 

 but rather than take cuttings from 

 among the plants promiscuously, a much 

 better plan M'ould be to keep a sharp 

 lookout for a number of the most healthy 

 plants among your stock, mark them, 

 and at the proper time cut them back. 

 The cuttings from these stock plants if 

 kept healthy and those taken from the 

 stem of a perfect bloom M-ill give you 

 as good cuttings as can be had. It will 

 not be necessary to sacrifice many plants 

 in folloM'ing this method as a good many 



