jANUAEl' 1, 1903. 



The Weekly Florists'" Review, 



215 



THE NEW YEAR. 



"A guid New Year to ane an' a' 

 An mony may ye see." 



During the past year I have devoted 

 a little time and space to giving advice 

 to the young rose grower, which I trust 

 has been of some benefit. Along with 

 my New Year's wishes they must par- 

 don me if I digress a little from my 

 usual line, though still in the role of 

 adviser (it is a chronic habit with me, 

 anyhow), and give them a few of my 

 ideas as to how they should begin and 

 conduct themselves during its progress, 

 with advantage to themselves, the craft 

 and society in general. 



I do not intend to sermonize, but just 

 to give the results of nry observations, 

 accompanied by such hints as I think 

 will be of benefit to the rising generation 

 of growers. 



The desire for self improvement among 

 young growers seems to be strangely 

 lacking, and the serious side of the fact 

 is that those who have the means and 

 opportunity to satisfy every ambition 

 along these lines are more careless than 

 those whose opportunities are not so 

 plentiful. 



Florists' establishments are usually 

 situated within i-easonable distance of 

 city life, with all its institutions for self- 

 improvement, such as libraries, night 

 schools, museums of science, etc. The 

 libraries contain (or soon would if called 

 ■ for) works on botany, floriculture, or, 

 in fact, any other handicraft, benefits 

 which were nearly or altogether wanting 

 to the young grower of twenty-five years 

 ago. 



This beginning of the century is not a 

 time for ea.sy goers, and as far as mind 

 culture is concerned the man who sys- 

 tematically sets aside a portion of the 

 twenty-four hours of each day for study 

 is the one likely to forge ahead and 

 place himself on the top rung in the 

 future. I do not wish to convey the im- 

 pression that he should confine his 

 studies and observations entirely to his 

 own line of business, as this is apt to 

 make the mind narrow and bigoted; 

 he should train his mind to the expres- 

 sion of distinct ideas and thoughts, such 

 as can only be developed by careful ob- 

 servation, useful reading and systematic 

 study. 



The grower of the future must be of 

 unconquerable energy, who will not be 

 content with but the best : sordidness 

 will have no place in his character; he 

 will cultivate the energy to make even 

 more than a business success and give 

 himself a versatile and interesting mind. 



In the relationship between employer 

 and employe r|uestions often ari.se which 

 on a little reflection and the exercise of 

 a little patience and charity could be 

 easily adjusted, but lacking which often 

 leads to rancor and animosity. Employ- 

 ers are no more anxious to part with in- 

 telligent, conscientious help than the 

 employe is to leave a good situation. 



Whilst cultivating the roses also cul- 

 tivate a charitable spirit, an obliging 

 disposition and a cheerful manner, and 

 help to hasten the time when 



'Man to man the wart' o'er 

 Will brithers be an' a' that.' 



RiBES. 



ROSE TROUBLES. 



I send leaves of some roses that seem 

 to be diseased. All my roses are af- 

 fected in this way, though they have had 

 the usual treatment. I have examined 

 the roots, but they seem to be all right. 



I find in the soil, however, numerous 

 small worms about an inch long and 

 the size of a pin. Are these the cause 

 of the trouble? The leaves lose their 

 dark green color and become light green. 

 Western Subscriber. 



The leaves, under microscopic inspec- 

 tion, present the appearance of having 

 at some time been overful of water and 

 then been exposed to a high temperature. 

 This same appearance can be caused by 

 the plants having been allowed to be- 

 come dry at the boards of the bench and 

 then over watered, in fact, the trouble, 

 to all appearance, arises from irregular 

 and indiscriminate watering. 



The worms described, which are sim- 

 ply earth or manure worms, have nothing 

 to do with the trouble. 



Keep the soil in the benches moder- 

 ately dry, but be sure that the soil 

 is equally moist clear through, and es- 

 pecially where the pipes are close under 

 the bench. 



Whilst giving every attention to the 

 soil and watering, be sure that the laws 

 of ventilation are not neglected. 



RiBES. 



DENDROBIUM NOBILF. 



The illustration depicts a well flow- 

 ered plant of this very fine old dendrobe 

 which is one of the most satisfactory 

 of all the dendrobes to handle, and if 

 treated right will continue to improve 



into a warmer house in batches as re- 

 quired, and by this means a succession 

 of flowers can be obtained for several 

 months in the early spring. 



W'e have found the most satisfactory 

 way to grow D. nobile is in pots, potted 

 in peat and suspended from the roof, 

 but pots are by no means necessary. The 

 plant illustrated is growing in a basket 

 and was flowered by Mr. Joseph Gra- 

 ham, of Toronto, Canada. 



This plant can be readily increased 

 by cutting off the aerial growths, which 

 are often produced in quantity, and 

 potting them up separately. " T. 



CARNATION NOTES— EAST. 



Treatment of Rooted Cuttings. 



Those cuttings you put in early will 

 need your attention as soon as well root- 

 ed. Do not let them stand in the sand 

 too long, thereby becoming drawn; when 

 the roots are from f to J inch in length 

 get them into soil as soon as possible. 

 As propagation will now begin in ear- 

 nest it may be well to give you our 

 method of treatment after rooted. 



We are very particular in the selec- 

 tion of soil for these babies, as thev 

 might be called. Being j'oung they can- 

 not stand heavy or rich food at the 

 start; the only result will be at plant- 

 ing time large overfed plants, while the 

 object desired is to have clean healthy 



Specimen Dendrobium Nobile, grown by Joseph Graham, Toronto, Ont. 



and flower satisfactorily for years. This 

 species, like many of the other den- 

 drobes, comes from India, and is so well 

 known that it is hardly necessary to de- 

 scribe it in detail. There are many 

 beautiful varieties of the type — nobile 

 album, pure white; nobile Sanderianum, 

 deep purple; nobile nobilius, etc. 



Dendrobium nobile must have decided 

 periods of rest and growth, giving it 

 while growing as much heat as you can, 

 accompanied by an abundance of water 

 at the roots and in the atmosphere. As 

 the growth finishes, gradually cool off 

 the temperature, finally putting the 

 plants into a cold house and giving prac- 

 tically- no water, or only just enough to 

 keep the bulbs plump. 



In an atmosphere of from 40 to 4.5 de- 

 grees the plants can be kept dormant 

 for some time, and they can be moved 



ones, and this can be accomplished by a 

 course of training as follows: 



Plain diet, not forced, but grown cool, 

 which will to all purposes serve as a 

 rest, and above all a light bench, with 

 means of abundant ventilation. Plain 

 diet does not consist of old, worn out 

 soil, or any predigested concoction, but 

 plain, ordinary soil, made early in the 

 fall by piling up sod without manure or 

 fertilizer of any kind. Tlie same result 

 comes by plowing a piece, allowing the 

 sod to rot, afterwards scraping into a 

 pile. In either case let it get well frozen 

 and bring it in some time before using, 

 in order that it may get warmed up 

 and in good mechanical condition. Per- 

 haps it is needless to say that to put 

 cuttings from sand into cold soil is al- 

 most sure death. 



Some growers prefer to prick cuttings 



