January 21), 1003. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



361 



Bench of Cypripedium Lceanum at Florham Farms, Madison, N. J. 

 Photo by A. Herrington. 



ing an abundance of cuttings. Being a 

 rapid grower in the field, it is best prop- 

 agated rather late, especially in this lat- 

 itude, where conditions forbid planting 

 out before May 1, 



Avondale, while of soft growth, ha.s 

 been a money maker here. Being a 

 sport from Armazindy, we are very care- 

 ful when selecting cuttings to take none 

 but from stems holding perfect flowers. 



Last but by no means the least worthy 

 ■of mention is Mrs. Lawson. We have 

 had it since first sent out and it grows 

 hetter every year. With what little time 

 I have to visit other places I notice 

 with regret that in handling this va- 

 riety, either none too careful selection 

 of cuttings has been made or some 

 growers \\'ill not or do not take or read 

 the trade papers. 



In closing would say that in view of 

 the fact that we grow almost exclusively 

 high-grade stock for use in vase work, 

 I may seemingly lose sight of the qual- 

 ity deemed fit for design work. Such 

 is not the case, however, as the supply 

 of this grade is usually to be had witliout 

 extra effort on the part of the grower. 

 Geo. S. Osborn. 



CARNATION NOTES— WEST. 



New Varieties. 



I was very glad to receive with some 

 of the shipments of new carnations a 

 few instructions in regard to tlieir spe- 

 cial needs in cultivation, etc. I have 

 advocated this ve:y thing for several 

 seasons and to me it seems the proper 

 thing. Before many years it will l>c- 

 ■come a general practice, because it will 

 be demanded by those who buy the cut- 

 tings, Tliere was a time when a carna- 

 tion was a carnation and all vaiieties 

 were treated alike and those tliat did 

 not like the treatment they received 

 were discarded. The rose growers learn- 

 ed long ago that to grow Meteor in the 

 same temperature as they did Bride 



would bring them only off colored blooms 

 or bullheads and that to grow Beauty 

 in a Meteor temperature would bring 

 only a lot of blind wood and black spot, 

 etc. There is just as much difference in 

 carnations as there is in roses and when 

 a man sends out a variety that diil'ers 

 from most varieties in some respect it is 

 his duty to tell his customers of it so 

 they will not have to lose money on the 

 variety after having paid a good high 

 price for the stock to begin with. 



Of course it sounds nice and no doubt 

 helps the sale of a variety to be able to 

 say that it is an easy doer and that it 

 needs no special culture, etc. At the same 

 time it is no more difficult to grow a va- 

 riety that needs some change in treat- 

 ment from the ordinary if you know 

 what that change is. It is the lack of 

 knowledge on this very point that causes 

 most of the failures. Tliere would not 

 need to be so many cases of giving a va- 

 riety a second year's trial if we knew 

 just what was required the first year. 

 The fact that a variety needs a high or a 

 low teui))erature, a heavy soil or a light 

 one, or that it is a strong feeder or a 

 veiy light one does not need to count 

 as a fault against it. The up-to-date 

 grower does not mind that in the least, 

 but he does mind when he is told that 

 a warm-blooded variety will succeed well 

 in a medium temperature. Of course, 

 we can find out all those things for our- 

 selves and in most cases we have enough 

 patience to find them out, even though 

 we may lase money by it. 



The dis.seminator would not necessar- 

 ily take upon himself any responsibility 

 regarding the success of the variety and 

 if he wished to do so he could state it 

 on the slip of instructions. It stands 

 to reason that after a man has grown 

 a variety for three or four years he 

 ought to know its peculiarities thorough- 

 ly and if it requires any special treat- 

 ment he ought to know it. at least we 

 give him credit for knowing. He know^ 

 whether the cuttinjfs should be made 



early in order to get a fair plant, 

 whether it makes a soft quick growth 

 and needs a heavy shade when housing, 

 whether the blooms are good during 

 warm weather or whether the blooming 

 shoots should be kept picked off later 

 than most varieties. Whether it wants 

 ,T, heavy or light soil, whether it wants 

 much feeding or none at all. If the 

 calyx splits in a low temperature. If 

 it needs close pinching to form a shapely 

 plant. If it is a special favorite of red 

 spider. Whether it does best inside all 

 summer or if it needs early or late 

 planting to do its best. All these things 

 and many more should be stated. 



The statement might begin in this man- 

 ner: In gi'owing this variety we have 

 had the best success by following these 

 instructions, but we cannot guarantee 

 you success in case j'ou see fit to follow 

 them. They are given merely to give 

 you the benefit of our experience with 

 this variety in so far as you may be 

 able to apply them to your mode of cul- 

 ture, etc. 



Any grower with conunon sense would 

 know enough not to follow them blindly, 

 but if the}' differed veiy much from 

 his mode of culture and if he had fol- 

 lowed his own way and there was no 

 success he would know where the mis- 

 take was made, and in many cases he 

 would be more on his giuird and quicker 

 to notice when a variety rebelled at 

 unsatisfactory treatment. 



It would also show that the dissemina- 

 tor took more interest in his variety than 

 merely to get as much money out of it 

 as he could. I have talked with many 

 growers on this subject and I have 

 never heard a reasonable objection raised 

 against it. There is no reason why it 

 should not be done and there is every rea- 

 son why it should be done. 



A. F. J. Baub. 



RUST. 



I send some infected carnation leaves. 

 Please tell me what the disease is and 

 the remedy. Is it very hard to get rid of? 



Texas. 



The leaves are badly affected with car- 

 nation rust. You can rid your plants 

 of it by picking off the affected leaves 

 and burning them. DiLst the plants with 

 slaked lime, and water only at the roots 

 for awhile, dispensing with syringing al- 

 together unless you see signs of red 

 spider. A. F. J. Batjb. 



SUMMER BLOOMERS. 



^Vhich are the best varieties of carna- 

 tions in white, light and dark pink for 

 summer blooming in the field in a light 

 sandy loam soil well enriched? 



What could be expected of, say, 5,000 

 plants 'propagated in November? Do 

 these plants need support of any kind 

 in the field. I. G. 



The best white variety for summer 

 blooming, or. in fact, during warm 

 \TOather, is Flora Hill, I know of no 

 variety that will give as good returns 

 during warm weather as it does, A 

 friend told me recently that Queen 

 Louise is also a good summer variety, 

 but I have not tried it yet. Some grow- 

 ers still hang onto old Mrs. Fisher and 

 you might try it, too. In bright pink 

 there is no variety that can come within 

 hailing distance of E. Crocker for sum- 

 mer blooms, especially in quality. We 

 grow Elma for light pink and it gives 

 us lots of fine large blooms, I do not 



