The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



397 



bridesmaid's Bji.qu<:t. Fig 3 



eyes, ready to run up into flower at 

 housing time. Then you will not need 

 to do any trimming; and pruning to get 

 them to stand u]i straight. 



T started to tell yon what is the 

 proper time to toj) and that is where 

 growers diffpr. Some take out only the 

 very heart just as soon as the young 

 plant has ahout a dozen leaves, while 

 others say you should see a bud before 

 you take otF the top. Between the two 

 I believe the latter is most reasonable, 

 lor the first topping is usually 

 iloiie when the days are yet short and 

 often dark, but I think both go just a 

 little to the extreme. We usually top 

 Ihe young plants when they begin to run 

 up and we can see the stem Ijetween the 

 leaves, and we find that it works well. 

 We do not cut away so niueh growth 

 which has taken time to develop, in 

 which time the plant might have pushed 

 out a crop of young shoots, and at the 

 same time we are sure that the young 

 plant has gotten a gtiod- start and has 

 enough strength to make good strong 

 Ineaks. When tlie young ])lants are 

 growing in a temperature of 48 to 30 

 ilegrees the growth is apt to be pretty 

 well matured right along and there is 

 not so much danger of weak bleaks as 

 there would be in a higher temperature. 



.\nd now I want to warn you against 

 one tiling that I believe causes a good 

 many failures with new varieties every 

 year. Some growers will buy 100 rooted 

 i-nttings of a high priced novelty when 

 in reality they want 200 for ne.xt sea- 

 son's planting. When the young plants 

 come they pot them into a rich light 

 soil and set them in a warm house, 

 where they will quickly run U)i and pro- 

 duce a cutting by the middle of ifarch or 

 even earlier. The ])oor young jilants are 

 then cut down close to the soil, and 

 when they come out weak and in many 

 cases diseased the grower blames the 

 variety and the man who sent it nut. 

 Xow there arc some cases when yon can 

 get an extra cuttinar from some of these 

 yoimg plants without injuring the 

 plants, but they are seldom as rrnod as 

 the original eutting because bv the time 



the young plant runs up high enough 

 to give a fair sized cutting it will al- 

 ready contain the bud whicli would ap- 

 pear soon aft^r. So this cutting is no 

 better than a flowering shoot on the 

 old plant which had begun to run up 

 toward a bud. and you would not think 

 of taking that for cuttings. 



If you get your cuttings early an<l 

 give them a good light place they will 

 need their first topping when it is yet 

 early enough to root these cuttings, and 

 sometiuu's yon may be able to get a 

 good ))erecntage of fair plants out of 

 them, but always keep in mind that you 

 should not cut the first cutting down 

 lower than you would if you were only 

 topping them. In short, do nothing to 

 weaken your main stock, because 100 

 good young plant.s are worth more than 

 three times that many weak ones, and 

 nioi'c satisfaclorv to the grower. 



A. F. .J. Baur. 



CARNATION NOTES— EAST. 



Unrooted Cuttings. 



I was phased to read in the Jan. 24 

 issue of a contemporary, an article on 

 the above subject viewed chiefly from the 

 seller's standjioint. although some refer- 

 ence was nuide to buyers who. it is as- 

 sumed, are the growers and for whose 

 benelit I pen tliese weekly notes. An- 

 other pleasure was accorded me by read- 

 ing notes published by another contem- 

 poiary (same date) setting forth the 

 advantages gained by the grower in 

 availing himself of this method. 



It is perhaps unnecessary for me to 

 ^tate that I agree with the notes as 

 published by contemporary number two, 

 having always been a strong advocate 

 of the purehas!' of unrooted cuttings for 

 I'casons given in my notes of Nov. 20, 

 1002. The statement that there is no 

 doubt that a eutting will ship better 

 irooted than wdien fresh from the plant, 

 is not. as far as can be seen, supported 

 by any. proofs or relation of experience; 

 while for several years the unrooted 

 method has shown itself, not nnlv in m\- 



experience, but with others to wiioni 1 

 have shipped cuttings, to be apparently 

 a step in the right direction, even if 

 diverging from a beaten path. 



If, as intimated, that it may be well 

 for the buyer to obtain them in this 

 way, it seems natural that it also may 

 be well to give the method a trial, then 

 if the grower sees any advantage, both 

 buyer and seller may be benefited. Giv- 

 ing the buyer all the benefit possible is 

 capital well invested, for without him 

 the seller cannot exist. 



The remarks of our worthy secretary 

 in his notes (.Jan. 24) regarding the 

 packing of cuttings for shipment are 

 timely words in connection Avith this 

 subject, as herein lies the degree of suc- 

 cess in handling cuttings, rooted or un- 

 rooted, although I believe rooted cut- 

 tings are injured more by low tempera- 

 ture than unrooted ones, from the fact 

 that they are softer and the delicate 

 roots very susceptible to cold. 



Our experience this year with un- 

 rooted cuttings of Enchantress may be 

 in order. Shipment was made from 

 Joliet .Jan. 6, arriving here .Jan. : when 

 taken from sand to be potted .Jan. 30. 

 98* per cent were heavily rooted. This 

 nuiy lie in the man and not in the 

 method, but I cannot accept any such 

 theory. 



Any method employed in the produc- 

 tion of any article of commerce must 

 needs have common sense back of it. 

 else it fails of good results, and I be- 

 lieve all growers posses it, for witness 

 the rapid strides made even in the past 

 five years'. With all my experience 

 with the unrooted method and my nat- 

 ural inclination to be positive in my 

 statements. I refrain from taking any 

 decided stand in so far as others are 

 concerned, but prefer that new depart- 

 ures or methods should be proven or dis- 

 proven by trial to be a step forward. 



Tlie above is written, not in any spirit 

 of criticism, but in support of my claim 

 as to the advantages of my system, it 

 being my aim. as well as duty, to .sum ' 

 readers of The Revikw with results of 

 actual experience. Now that we have a 

 ease in which ''the doctors do not agree." 

 perhaps a topic for the question box at 

 the convention presents itself. 



The notes of our secretary (.Jan. 24) 

 and reference to catalogues in general 

 seem to show the risk taken by purchas- 

 ers, is and has been a ease of must, so 

 T do not see that we arc very apt to be 

 up against anvthing new in the ques- 

 tion of loss in transit, rooted or un- 

 rooted. Geo. S. O.SBORN-. 



BEST WHITE CARNATION. 



Which is the best white carnation to 

 grow for all juirposes where one has 

 only a small amount of glass? I will 

 bench about 2.000 plants in all. and 

 want one-thir<l of them w^hite. Flora 

 Hill is very good late in the season : 

 ilary Wood does not bloom enougli 

 with me. I cannot afford to experi- 

 ment with the new high priced plants. 



H. M. jr. 



If I were limited to one white va- 

 rietv of carnation, from among all the 

 standard varieties. I would choose Flora 

 Hill, and next to that I would take 

 Queen Louise. If you begin with 

 healthy cuttings of Flora Hill and house 

 good plants by Aug. 20th you should 

 begin to cut good blooms by Oct. 1st. 

 or earlier, even. Give it a temperature 

 of 0.5 degrees during the winter months 

 and it will give you a good lot of fine 



