JiNTAKY 8, 190: 



The Weekly Florists' Review 



255 



Greenhouses of Mr. J. F. Ammann, EdwardsviUe, lU. 



HYDRANGEAS. 



"L. A. G." says he received some hy- 

 drangeas (presiimablv Otaksa) from a 

 distance during Octolier. Altliough he 

 does not say sn, most likely they were 

 lifted from the field. They "wilted 

 some" and most of the leaves dropped 

 off. He kept them shaded for a while 

 and then put them on a bench in a 

 carnation house, and now at the date 

 he writes, December 28, they have made 

 no start, although they have plenty of 

 buds. He asks whether they should be 

 kept quite damp or whether they need 

 fertilizer. 



If these plants were lifted from the 

 field when they were growing fast and 

 before any frost had checked their 

 growth the leaves would wilt and drop 

 off, but no harm would come from that. 

 If when received they had been potted 

 firmly and stood out of doors for a few 

 week's it would have been better than 

 putting them into the carnation house. 

 Two or three degrees of frost would 

 ripen up tlieir growth and prepare them 

 better for forcing, but this is advice for 

 another vear. 



Don't take off any buds and keep them 

 just moderately moist. They will not 

 want watering often until the roots are 

 active. But as they send out leaves 

 and the pots fill with roots, the hy- 

 drangea is an "habitual drinker" and 

 must be often and copiously given wa- 

 ter. If the buds are shriveled, don't 

 attempt to force them for Easter; keep 

 them cool and let them come along for 

 later. If the buds are plump and fresh 

 they must soon start growing. Spray 

 the tops daily. A carnation house tem- 

 perature (that is, 50 degrees at night) 

 is plenty warm enough until the first of 

 February. They need no fertilizer of 

 any kind until witliin a month of their 

 flowering time, or say early in March. 

 And next year grow your o«ai plants 

 on your own place. 



WiLLi.ist Scott. 



CALLA LILIES. 



"D. F." sends the following: "Will 

 you kindly answer the following in your 

 paper, and oblige: IVlany of our callas 

 rot off at the top of bulb. What is 

 the cause and remedy? Should calla 

 blossoms be c<it or pulled out?" 



In the first place, although commonly 

 called a hulb, the calla is no bulb at all. 

 It is a corm or thickened root. And 

 in forty years' acquaintance with this 

 stately old flower I have never seen or 



heard of these roots rotting. It is pos- 

 sible but hardly probable that "D. F." 

 has kept this so-called bulb on the sur- 

 face of the soil, as he would a true lily. 

 WThat might occur then I don't know. 

 The bulb should be two inches below the 

 surface of the soil. 



If they aro in 5 or 6-ineh pots I 

 would advise him to stand them on a 

 bench or bed, giving both the tops and 

 pots plenty of space between them. Then 

 fill in between the pots and two inches 

 above the surface of pots with some 

 half rotted short manure and give them 

 plenty of water. Tliey will grow con- 

 siderably from now until next May and 

 disturbing them is not desirable, so 

 give them plenty of room. Never hav- 

 ing seen the root of a calla diseased, I 

 cannot recommend any remedy, but if 

 you will follow the above suggestions 

 wuh what are now healthy you will get 

 a great lot of flowers. Remember, the 

 caUa is a tropical plant and needs a 

 warm, light house. By all means cut 

 your blooms and don't pull them. 



William Scott. 



ASPARAGUS PLUMOSUS. 



N. H. asks if this "taken out of a 

 bed, divided and potted, is as good for 

 replanting a bed as those grown right 

 along from seed and planted out of 4- 

 inch pots." 



I would say decidedly not. It used to 

 be done. I once tried it and ray ex- 

 perience was that it was a long time 

 in getting a start, and never made the 

 vigorous plants that the seedlings did. 

 It's not likely that N. H. is going to 

 plant a new bed at this time of year. 

 June would Ije a better month, and young 

 2-inch plants procured now and shifted 

 on would by the month of June l>e fine 

 stuff for the new bed, which should al- 

 ways be in the ground and have beneath 

 it neither plank, tile nor anything that 

 can keep the roots from Mother Earth. 

 ' W. S. 



NOTES OF A WAYFARER. 



(CONTINnEI) ) 



Next morning we found ourselves in 

 the old town of Philadelphia, in time to 

 catch a glimpse of that much talked of 

 Flower Market, where each grower sells 

 his own stock, and what he does not 

 sell is left in the hands of the man- 

 ager, Mr. Jfcehan. for disposal. If a 

 clear brained hustling business man can 

 dispose of the leavings to the satisfac- 

 tion of the gi-ower, we would judge Ml-. 



Meehan to be in the right place. The 

 room, which is a very large one, is most 

 assuredly a model one for the purpose; 

 good light, clean and airy. Wliile we 

 have heard considerable talk, pro and 

 con, as to the probable outcome of the 

 venture, we frankly state that so far as 

 we can see it can be nothing else 

 but a "howling success." Whether it 

 was the general air of the place or what 

 it was, we could not help but feel that 

 any of' the big wholesale growers' houses 

 in Chicago could discount this market 

 considerably when it came to quality 

 and quantity of stock handled in a day. 

 If I remember aright, al>out fifty grow- 

 ers are represented with stalls, but it 

 seemed to us that one of the big western 

 grower's cut of roses and carnations 

 dumped in here would far exceed their 

 busiest days at the market. 



Our next call was at Robert Craig & 

 Sons, Forty-ninth and Market. We were 

 much surprised at the quantity of aza- 

 leas grown here; house after house of 

 them^in readiness to apply the magic 

 touch to in order to push them into 

 bloom at the time they are wanted. 

 Crimson Rambler in pots the same. A 

 large number of azaleas, cyclamen, ar- 

 disias and mixed pans of crotons, palms 

 and Draca-na temiinalis were gotten into 

 tempting array for the Christmas shop- 

 pers. Rubbers, Areca lutescens, Bos- 

 tons and crotons are grown in immense 

 quantities. The method in growing are- 

 cas was a new one to us. Tliey lift up 

 a small bunch of seedlings from the 

 seed pan, anywhere from five to eight 

 little plants 'in a clump; these they 

 plant in a 4-inch pot and shift into 

 larger ones as needed. They make hand- 

 some specimens well furnished with 

 leaves by the time they reach a salable 

 size, six 'to ten inches or larger. 



Will was in a hurry to switch us off 

 to the carnation range; we wondered 

 why, but the moment we caught sight 

 of 'the house of Adonis we understood. 

 It was a grand sight. We saw more red 

 carnations in that house than we had 

 seen in any whole establishment during 

 our trip. It was by far the best lot of 

 plants on the place. It was right here 

 we met Mr. Craig, Sr. The "old man" 

 does not look the same as when we last 

 saw him. He still shows the effects pf 

 his recent illness, but we hope he will 

 continue to improve as the brighter days 

 of spring return and the swallows to 

 the nortiiern home return. 



Being driven over to W. K. Harris' 

 establishment we were surprised to find 



