436 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



FEBBnABT 12, 1903. 



blooming and shorter stemmed class of 

 stock can be acquired. 



Some growers claim that two-year- 

 old stock properly handled produces 

 greater quantities of medium stems, 

 but I notice that very few liave recourse 

 to this plan a second time, especially if 



they have plenty of young, vigorous 

 stock. Carried o%-er houses generally 

 have a ragged and unequal appearance 

 and lack that ■s'igorous freshness and 

 uniformity which is the beauty of a well 

 handled house of young stock. 



Rises. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Asters. 



If you want some extra early asters, 

 they can be sown at once. They never 

 should at any time while under glass 

 have a higher temperature than 50 at 

 night, and always the fullest light. If 

 allowed to run up into spindling little 

 seedlings, either for want of light or 

 too much heat, you have given them a 

 bad start. Just as soon as they de- 

 velop their first leaf after the two 

 seed leaves they should be transplanted 

 into flats, one inch apart. These early 

 sown asters will want another trans- 

 planting, either into a 2J-inch pot or 

 into a flat at least two inches apart. The 

 aster lends itself to transplanting al- 

 most as well as a pansy, and I would 

 rather have them in flats a couple of 

 inches apart than in ■ a small pot. 



Wlliile on this subject I may digress 

 a moment and say that in planting out 

 many plants from small pots, let it be 

 roses, carnations or any other plant, 

 there is often a great disappointment 

 because the ball of roots is so confined 

 that it takes a long time before there 

 is a good, healthy root action. The 

 reason of this is that in many cases the 

 roots have become inactive, or what a 

 scientist may call "non-functional," and 

 there is a decay instead of a grasping 

 hold of the ground. It is true that 

 there are a few plants that don't like 

 what is called a disturbance of their 

 roots, but they are not as numerous as 

 the old orthodox school believed, and 

 if you will give the living, vital roots 

 of almost any plant a chance to take 

 hold of its new environments and feed- 

 ing gi-ound, it will quickly do so and to 

 its great advantage. 



Bougainvilleas. 



Tliis is about the time that you should 

 give your bougainvilleas a good strong 

 heat. About 65 degrees at night will 

 do very well for the next six weeks, 

 and if the bracts are well out you can 

 give them a lower temperature, but 

 never below 50 degrees. It is truly a 

 tropical shrub and might lose its foli- 

 age. Yet the lower temperature will 

 only add a deeper shade to the bracts, 

 so-called flowers. Give them plenty of 

 water and a daily syringe on bright 

 days and a light house. 



Camellias. 



There has been quite a fad this year 

 for camellias. In form they are most 

 beautiful, but most diflicult to handle. 

 Their petals are soiled even by the most 

 tender touch. As the specific name. 

 Camellia Japonica, implies, they are 

 from Japan and China, and the finest 

 varieties have been produced by Euro- 

 pean and some American growers. They 

 will endure 10 degrees of frost, but that 



IS not at all essential. As some florists 

 may be induced to invest in a few, know- 

 ing nothing of their culture, I venture 

 a few remarks. To grow them profit- 

 ably, if it will ever pay a northern flor- 

 ist "to grow them, they should be planted 

 out in a solid bed. This bed should be 

 well drained, that is, a foot or so of 

 broken up brickbats or clinkers, and on 

 top of tnat, 18 inches or two feet of 

 compost. This compost should be a 

 turty, heavy loam chopped into pieces, 

 never in size less than a hen's egg. 

 There used to be an idea that you must 

 have peat added to about one-half of 

 the compost, but that is not at all 

 essential. If the loam is too clayey, 

 then put in a bushel of charcoal to every 

 cubic j'ard of loam. 



The principal thing to remember is 

 that they are a shrub or evergreen tree 

 and have their seasons of growth and 

 rest, and their growing season would be 

 naturally soon after they have flowered. 

 The flowering season with us is from 

 Xovember to February. Soon after 

 flowering they will show signs of start- 

 ing to grow and then is the season to 

 give them a nice, warm, growing atmos- 

 jihere with plenty of water at the root 

 and a daily syringing. By the month 

 of May they have made their season's 

 growth and "set" their buds; then a 

 cool, shaded house is what they want 

 for the suuuncr. Tliey will develop 

 tlieir flowers flnel}' during the winter in 

 a temperature of 45 to 50 degiees. Af- 

 ter the buds are set in late spring an 

 (X'casional syringing will do, but at all 

 times they want a moderate moisture at 

 the roots. 



Unfortunately you cannot pick this 

 immaculate flower with any sttm, be- 

 cause if you do, your plants would have 

 to be wonderfully vigorous to make a 

 growth that would give you a flower, 

 and the leaf buds near the flower is 

 what you depend on to give you the 

 growth that will mature a flower bud for 

 next year. While I have written about 

 their treatment in solid beds, all I have 

 said will apply to their cultivation in 

 pots, only don't overpot them. When in 

 pots or tubs you have one advantage. 

 You can give them the ideal position 

 during our hot summers, and that would 

 he outside under a lattice shade where 

 they would get a subdued light and the 

 fullest amount of fresh air and plenty 

 of it. 



It's not likely that many of our flor- 

 ists will go into the camellia business. 

 Yet I see tempting offers from Euro- 

 jjean nurserymen of young plants. The 

 camellia -was one of the first of Flora's 

 treasures that I had care of when some 

 fourteen years old. and I can well re- 

 member what a dark house it wa.s, even 

 in a dark and sunless country compared 



with ours, and yet they flourished like 

 the "green bay tree," and many a morn- 

 ing 1 have had to take off the border a 

 half bushel of the snow white petals and 

 rap the great bush to loosen all that 

 were on the verge of dissolution "just 

 for tidiness' sake, don't you know." 

 Yet for all. I don't believe they want 

 such a dark and dreary house. Light 

 and ^varmth when they are growing in 

 the spring months and just a little 

 shade during the lightest hours of our 

 summer is what they want. 



William Scott. 



CARNATION NOTES-EAST. 



Care of Young Stock. 



After ha\-ing gotten your rooted cutt- 

 ings in soil, whether potted, in flats or 

 bench, give them close attention. In a 

 large batch of j'oung plants it is not sur- 

 prising to find some which show signs of 

 disease, and it goes without saying that 

 the loss is insignificant compared to what 

 it would be after they had struggled 

 along until lifting time. 



The plants being small they can be 

 kept more directly under your eye, so 

 remove and burn all plants in any way 

 aflected, with the exception of those 

 showing signs of rust, in which case the 

 affected leaves should be jiicked off and 

 burned. We have long since ceased to be 

 alarmed al)out the rust. Of course it is 

 objectionable, but we feel satisfied if we 

 can keep it confined to the lower foliage. 

 It seems as natural for some varieties to 

 be rusty as it is for a dog to have fleas. 

 Last year our young stock of Nelson 

 commenced to rust as soon as jiotted. and 

 some plants were pretty much clear of 

 leaves when planted out. but in two 

 weeks' time they doubled in size and 

 grew very ra|)idl}'. lifting without a sign 

 of rust. 1 mention this, in case growers 

 securing tliis sort this year for the first 

 time, may judge rather hastily. Mrs. 

 Potter Palmer and Estelle are two others 

 which are apt to show rust early, but 

 perhaps not to such extent as Nelson. 



Tliese varieties are money-makers, not- 

 withstanding, and from all accounts will 

 be grown extensively next year as will 

 the athlete Adonis, which is arriving 

 here rusty. I)ut which fact does not deter 

 us from Ix'lieving it a superior sort. 



About tne worst thing that can hap- 

 pen to young stock is to get infested with 

 aphis; they invariably occupy the most 

 tender jNirt of the plant and are very 

 hard to dislodge. Prevention by regular 

 fumigation will keep the plants clean, 

 besides being cheaper and less tiresome 

 than inventing excuses. 



A bench upon which the sun has full 

 play should be chosen to hold this stock, 

 and by all means have this bench in a 

 house that can be abundantly ventilated, 

 for there is nothing so conducive to 

 strong heiilthy growth as a constant 

 change of air. 



It will be but a short time before old 

 Sol will get in his work, raising the tem- 

 perature in our houses very fast between 

 the hours of 11 a. m. and 3 p. m., so if 

 }-ou can arrange to have your stock on 

 a bench near a side ventilator it will be 

 an advantage in early spring. We use 

 a west Iiench in a north and south house, 

 ventilated at ridge and west side. You 

 may think this bench an unprofitable 

 one. but to digress a little I will ex- 

 plain other uses to which this bench is 

 put. Immediately our carnations are 

 planted out, geraniums, etc., follow; next 



