288 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Januakv 15, 1003. 



mon snowball. Are you sure, Sub- 

 scriber, that it is not opulis j'ou have? 

 V. plicatum is the better shrub, often 

 calleel the liigh bush cranberry from its 

 fruit, but V. opulis is. I think, a bet- 

 ter shrub for forcing; still I may be 

 mistaken. William Scott. 



CARNATION NOTES-WEST. 



The Carnation Society Convention. 



The most important event of the year 

 in so far as the carnation is concerned is 

 to take place at Brooklyn in February. 

 Every carnation grower, and I might 

 say that every florist in the country, 

 will readily understand that I am re- 

 ferring to "the annual convention of the 

 American tarnation Society. The lead- 

 ing question just now is, "are you 

 going';" and I am glad to know that in 

 many instances the answer is "yes," 

 even if it is sometimes coupled with 

 "if I can get away," or "if my blooms 

 are worth taking," etc. 



These gatherings are great educators 

 to those "who attend and every grower 

 at least should make an effort to go. 



haps; there are too many that you want 

 to remember. While you are looking 

 over the new ones try to have a talk 

 with the exhibitor and post yourself as 

 to the particular qualities of the variety 

 you think you want, its requirements, 

 etc. You know a man can tell you bet- 

 ter about these things in conversation 

 than he can in a letter, and you have 

 more chance to ask questions. 



If you have some fine blooms at home 

 take some along and see how they com- 

 ])are with those from other growers; 

 perhaps they will not lock so fine among 

 Ihe top notchers as they did at home, 

 when there were no better around. You 

 can soon find out where you are at. 

 Perhaps you have some seedlings of your 

 own. as many of us have, and some of 

 them look to" you as though they stood 

 way above everything else in their color, 

 and perhaps you really have a world- 

 beater. Bring them along and compare 

 them WMth the test there are and let 

 others see what you have accomplished. 

 Tliere is no class of men that will give 

 you due credit quicker and more un- 

 stintingly than our carnation growers 

 and hybridists. They know what it 



House of Liberty at Geo. Reinberg's, Chicago. Photographed Oct. 15. 



if only for a day. Here you can see 

 the cream of the carnation blooms from 

 the leading growers from all parts of our 

 land and you are able to get an idea 

 where you stand among the carnation 

 growers of the day. And what is per- 

 haps more directly profitable to you, is 

 you can see what are the highest grade 

 varieties, for here you can ste vases 

 full of every meritorious varietj', and 

 sometimes a few without merit. Y'ou 

 can also become acquainted with all the 

 new varieties that are to be put on the 

 market in the very near future and you 

 can compare them with the leaders of 

 what arc already on the market. This 

 alone will pay you for going if you are 

 in the habit of investing in a few hun- 

 dred of the new ones each year, as you 

 are able to know what you are buying. 

 Take your note book along and take 

 plenty of notes, because you cannot re- 

 member all you want to fr««i now until 

 next vear or even the year after, per- 



takes to produce a variety that is an 

 improvement over the fine varieties we 

 already have and more than one grower 

 has leaped into prominence through the 

 production of one good variety of carna- 

 tion ; yes, I could mention a dozen of 

 them. 



There is no question but that you can 

 judge a variety best bj- putting it along- 

 side of anether good variety, and if this 

 were done more there would not be heard 

 so often from some one who left his 

 blooms at home these words: "I've got 

 tetter blooms than those at home, etc." 

 I have seen the speaker of those words 

 taken up a few times, and in every case 

 he had to eat his words, although in 

 some cases I think the speaker really 

 thought he was telling the truth. There 

 would also be fewer worthless varieties 

 disseminated each year if the raisers 

 would attend these conventions oftener, 

 although the Am. Car. Society has done 

 great things along this line, for without 



the endorsement of this society a new 

 introduction will have a hard road to 

 travel the first year or two. 



Another thing I want to say. Don't go 

 to the convention and ask some friend 

 to take you in and try to gain all you 

 can for nothing, but go to the secretary 

 and plank down your two dollars and 

 make up your mind that you want to be 

 a member of a society whose conven- 

 tions and exhibitions are worth going 

 miles to see, and help the good cause 

 along. 



If you do take some blooms along of 

 your "pets you will, of course, want tiiera 

 to look their very best, and it is not 

 too early to get them in shape. Select 

 about twice as many buds as you want 

 to take, buds that will be in bloom just 

 about that time, and tie them up to 

 their stakes so that the bloom will look 

 up toward the light, as it will open bet- 

 ter than if it hangs over. Take off all 

 the leading shoots and buds from those 

 plants except about four or five to each 

 plant. I might, perhaps, tetter say, take 

 off about half of them, because if you 

 rob the plants you are likely to cause 

 the calyxes to split on those that re- 

 main. The idea is to throw all the 

 strength you can into those buds, or as 

 much as "they will stand. Give them a 

 little extra food, too. and if the stems 

 need a little stiffening give them a 

 sprinkling of lime or a light dose of 

 bone. 



Sometimes we hear objections raised 

 to the way the originators grow and 

 show such (overgrown, it is often 

 called.) blooms, because the varieties 

 will not produce the same grade of 

 blooms under ordinary culture and the 

 grower is often disappointed. I think 

 that is a wrong idea, though, because 

 naturally the raiser of a variety wants 

 to show"}-ou how fine a bloom you can 

 get from his variety if you handle it 

 right and, in fact, you look at the qual- 

 ity of the blooms first when you size up 

 a variety and after quality you inquire 

 about the quantity. You should have 

 enough judgment to know that nine out 

 of every ten varieties that are sent out 

 are grown aboiit as well as they can te 

 grown by the raiser. 



Y'ou would not invest your money in 

 a variety if you saw a lot of ordinary 

 or even fine commercial blooms at the 

 show. The raiser could talk to you all 

 day telling you that they had no spe- 

 cial culture and that you could produce 

 much better blooms, etc.. without avail. 

 Your answer would be, "show me." The 

 raiser must show the quality, and we 

 take his word for the quantity. So 

 tear this in mind when you go around 

 making a list of varieties that you want 

 to grow another year. I hope I may 

 see many readers of the EE^^EW at the 

 convention. A. F. J. Batje. 



CARNATION NOTES— EAST. 



Feeding. 



The days are now growing longer; all 

 plants instinctively feel the influence of 

 the sun's journey back; slow though it 

 may te. it is a law of nature for all 

 plant life to awaken from its slumter 

 or make eflorts in that direction. 



It is now then, that feeding should be 

 carried on in earnest. Some varieties 

 have already been in need of a stimulant 

 to brighten the color and finish their 

 blooms well, partly perhaps owing to 



