JANIARV 8. 1903. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



253 



Cacti (Echinopsis Mullerii) Blooming in a California Garden. 



because both see to it that the plants 

 do not become stunted before they are 

 planted. We like to plant from pots 

 whenever possible, especially if it hap- 

 pens to be a late batch of cuttings, be- 

 cause a plant from a pot will not suffer 

 as quickly as a plant that has been dug 

 up out of a box or bench and had many 

 of its roots torn. 



Just now we need every biooming 

 plant we have and naturally we try to 

 use as little room as we can with this 

 young stock without crowding it. So 

 we prepare a bench with about three 

 inches of soil and plant them about two 

 inches apart each way and here they re- 

 main until about six weeks before w'e 

 want to plant them in the field, which 

 would be about the middle of March. 

 By that time we can spare a few 

 benches that had blooming plants on 

 them, and the young plants are potted 

 into two and a half or three-inch pots, 

 in which they are well established by 

 the first of May. We use the same soil 

 for these young plants that we do to 

 plant in in the summer and fall on the 

 benches, but we do not add any fertil- 

 izer of any kind, as we do not want a 

 rapid growth, bvit rather a good strong 

 root growth. Keep these in a tempera- 

 ture of about 50 degrees, as they will 

 grow stockier and shorter-jointed in that 

 temperature than if kept in a higher 

 temperature, but do not go to the other 

 extreme and keep them too cool. 



New Arrivals. 



Some of the new ones are beginning to 

 arrive, and most of them are good, 

 strong cuttings and well rooted. One 

 or two lots were a little soft, but per- 

 haps it is the fault of the variety being 

 a rank grower and not of being grown 

 too warm as is sometimes the case. You 

 must watch these cuttings closely for a 

 few days, more so in fact than you do 

 tliose taken from your own cutting bench 

 and planted riglit away. Remember that 

 they have been in a totally dark place 

 for two or three days, and the light is 

 very hard on them until they become 

 accustomed to it again. Shade them 

 for a couple of days from 8 to 4 with 

 paper even if the sun does not shine, 

 'iou will of course know that all newly 

 planted cuttings need shading on bright 

 days for a week or so until the roots 

 begin to take hold. 



You should know by this time what 

 new varieties \ou will want for next 



year, and in fact you should have or- 

 dered them before this, else you will be 

 likely to get some pretty late cuttings, 

 if any. It takes a large stock to supply 

 the demand of a good variety these days 

 and it is often the case that orders must 

 be refused. That alone shows how bad- 

 ly we need improvements over existing 

 varieties. Last year one grower that I 

 know well was obliged to accept orders 

 for many thousands of cuttings of a 

 new variety in spite of the fact that he 

 refused to promise to disseminate the 

 variety this year. In standard varieties 

 you are more likely to get them in good 

 time if ordered now, but do not delay too 

 long, else you may have to wait if the 

 demand should Ix; extra good for some of 

 the varieties you may want. Order from 

 some reliable firm who will supply you 

 g<xid stock at a fair price and remember 

 that the worst thing you can do is to 

 buy something because it is cheap. The 

 best is alwavs the cheapest. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



CARNATION NOTES-EAST. 



Treatment of New Arrivals. 



The new introductions will soon l>e- 

 gin to arrive, some having had a long 

 journey in tight quarters. Rooted cut- 

 tings thus coming to hand are not by 

 any means in the same condition as 

 those taken from your own cutting bench 

 and should be treated somewhat differ- 

 ently. 



The}' have been taken from the sand 

 and rolled in bundles, packed so as to 

 exclude practically all air; then the ef- 

 forts of our express companies to fol- 

 low directions by placing a package 

 bearing the words "Keep from Frost" on 

 or near hot steam pipes, or one inscribed 

 "Keep from Extreme Heat" in the cold- 

 est place to be found, is it any wonder 

 that different conditions exist? 



I am not finding any fault with the 

 shipper, but my experience has been 

 that there is a great tendency to soft- 

 ness, causing them to wilt more than 

 those taken from the sand and potted at 

 once. To overcome this condition one 

 must be ready to receive our new steady 

 boarders. Have the soil in the best pos- 

 sible mechanical condition, neither too 

 wet nor dj-y. Open the packages at 

 once on arrival, examine each bundle 

 carefully, wetting those appearing dry. 

 If any should show signs of frost, im- 



merse in ice water and lay in a cool 

 place for a short time. Put your best 

 help at work potting and personally 

 oversee the job, that there may be no 

 delaj' in getting them into pots as soon 

 as possible, 



Stand in a shady bench in an even 

 temperature of about 50 degrees, allow- 

 ing no draught over them. Water at 

 once, giving them a good supply, as it 

 is assumed your judgment tells you to 

 use clean dry pots. Syringe overhead as 

 occasion will show imtil established. It 

 is a good plan to use the ammonia cop- 

 per carbonate solution at least twice 

 during the syringing period. 



Remember that these new introduc- 

 tions you receive represent an outlay of 

 considerable money, and every one you 

 lose raises the cost of- the remainder, at 

 the same time lessens the number to 

 house, cut and propagate from next sea- 

 son. 



Several new varieties of decided merit 

 are to be sent out this year, and it is 

 for our interest to perpetuate the good 

 qualities shown by them in the hands of 

 the originators. Every sort has its pe- 

 culiar needs as to soil, fertilizers, tem- 

 perature, etc. You must adopt the 

 methods of the Yankee, who is noted as 

 a proverbial quizzer. Write the origi- 

 nator and you may be sure he will fur- 

 nish all the information desired. Every 

 originator is only too glad to assist 

 those who take an interest in the result 

 of his long, patient work. 



In previous notes on cuttings I neg- 

 lected to say that while in sand w'e sy- 

 ringe overhead occasionally, using am- 

 monia copper carbonate solution, and 

 just previous to removing from sand 

 they are watered with the same solu- 

 tion, Geo, S, Osborn, 



CARNATION QUESTIONS. 



Is Estelle a good first-class red carna- 

 tion? 



What is the best method to use in 

 fighting thrips? 



For fumigation would you prefer to- 

 bacco stems or tobacco dust? 



Can cuttings become infested with 

 thrips? No, 404. 



Y'our first question is one that might 

 be answered "yes" by one grower and 

 "no" by another, and both would be hon- 

 est in his answer. Our experience with 

 Estelle has been that we cannot get as 

 much money out of a bench of Estelle 

 as we can out of a bench of Crane or 

 America, and perhaps that is what you 

 want to know. But the blooms will 

 score higher than either of the above 

 tw-o varieties. The color is ideal and 

 the blooms are large and on fine stems, 

 and it is a good keeper. 



The only fault that we have to find 

 w'ith it is that it is a rather poor grow- 

 er, and it is hard to get a good sized 

 plant by planting in time, Witn an ex- 

 tra early start, however, this could be 

 largely overcome, and in fact with some 

 growers it seems to thrive about as well 

 as the average, and with those it is a 

 good paying sort. My advice to you 

 would be to tiy a limited number, say a 

 hundred or two, and see how it does with 

 yoii. and then you can see for yourself 

 whether it will be wise to plant it in 

 quantity or not. But always bear in 

 mind that it is not a rapid grower, and 

 start it early. 



I thiidc that fumigating will be found 

 far more effective in fighting tfirips than 

 dusting with tobacco dust. The smoke 



