Maiuh o. 111(13. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



567 



Bench of the New Pink Carnation Magdalene at the Establishment 

 of Smith & Son, Cleveland, O. 



as thick as you like and place! some more 

 sphagnum between them. They will 

 start quicker this way than if potted in 

 soil, and you save a great deal of valu- 

 able bench room for tliree or four weeks 

 at least. They will easily show you by 

 the start they make. Iioth at top and 

 bottom, when they should he ]>ut into a 

 4 or 5-inch pot. 



Caladiums. 



The Caladium esculent urn wo piit in 

 flats of sand quite close together with 

 an inch of sand beneath the bulb and 

 then till up with sand even with top of 

 bulb, because they root from the top of 

 the so-called bulb. We place the flats a 

 few inches above some hot water pii)es. 

 where thej- seem to start immediately, 

 while! they would take five time.s a.s long 

 in soil and pots. Don't let them i-emain 

 too long near the pipes. Once started ymi 

 can place the flats on any bench until 

 you have room to pot them. 



Bulbs. 



Don't get alarmed about your Easter 

 bulbs yet awhile. Three weeks is time 

 enough for any of them, and I will en- 

 deavor to discourse on what I know- 

 about them in my next. I will only say 

 now that up to this date, or first of 

 March, we have not forced any of the 

 double tulips, luit from now on such vari- 

 leties as Murillo and Tournesnl force 

 finely. William Scott. 



LILIES. 



Will Jlr. William Scott tell me what 

 is the trouble with our lilies. They 

 don't seem to draw up any and the stems 

 are almost too short. The bulbs pur- 

 chased were fir.st-cla.ss. and although a 

 great many are showing buds, the stems 

 are inclined to be short. Temperature 

 has been kept at betweeen 60 and 05 de- 

 grees. Will there be any difference 

 if they were put nearer the" glass? We 

 have them on center bench. " 



C. R. E. 



The correspondent does not say wheth- 

 er the lilies are Bermuda or Japan, hut 



from the way they are acting I should 

 say they were the latter, for unfortu- 

 nately I have a lot that is doing the 

 same thing — showing buds when not over 

 8 inches alxive the pots. If the bulbs were 

 potted and p\it immediately, or before 

 they had made any roots, into a night 

 temperature of GO to 05 degrees, I slimild 

 be inclined to tliink that would account 

 for this dwarf growth and premature 

 flowering, but my bulbs were not treated 

 that way. Tliey were in a cold frame 

 until the middle of December and had 

 made good roots before being brought 

 into the! hou.ses. They are not all in 

 that condition — perhaps 30 pev cent. 

 Some ])lants have grown up and are now 

 about 2 feet high and just showing bud, 

 and that's about as we want them. So 

 wdiile some are doing well, others will 

 be largely useless, and this leads me' to 

 think that it is not the fault of our 

 treatment but that the troidjle is with 

 the bullj — unripened when dug most 

 likely. 



\ou would do no good by putting them 

 nearer the light. Lilies" want a light 

 house at all times tuitil the tlower is ex- 

 panded, but putting them nearer the 

 glass would certainly not do them the 

 slightest good. You will have to bear 

 the trouble this year, and next year try 

 to secure bulbs that not only look "first- 

 class" but are first-ela.ss. 



WiLLi.\M Scott. 



A SUMMER SASH HOUSE. 



I would like to ask for some one's ex- 

 perience with a summer house for car- 

 nations and roses that would utilize' hot- 

 bed sash; i. e., what would be the best 

 style to build for that purpose? 



I have thought that a house for sum- 

 mer carnations and Cochet roses would 

 protect the flowers and produce a bettei- 

 grade of bloomi; also, that they could be 

 carried longer in the fall, as the wet 

 weather harms the blooms more than the 

 frost. 



Would not the ordinary I2-ft. sash 

 house be all right, with walks around the 

 sides ? 



Would it be preferable to bench the 

 plants, or plant in the groimd? 



S. S. P. 



llie above is referred tt> me, and it 

 is somewhat of a new idea. As a means 

 of using hotbed sash when they would 

 perhaps lie idle from say June until fol- 

 lowing Februar}', I would say yes, de- 

 cidedly it would. You could keep the 

 carnations going and giving you good 

 flowers even in Massachusetts at least a 

 month longer than you could in the open 

 ground and tliey would be better flow- 

 ers. The Cochet roses, both pink and 

 white, are grand summer roses, and in 

 well prepared beds and supplied with 

 water will produce buds out of doors 

 almost equal to our best Brides and 

 Maids. They would also give you flowers 

 much longer than if unprotected, and 

 throughout the simimer the buds would 

 be of a better quality. I heard very re- 

 cently that Cochet was a splendid sum- 

 mer rose under glass. 



As for size of house, and supposing 

 there is to be no artificial heat at any 

 time except that aft'orded Ijy the glass, 

 I would prefer a house about 10 ft. 6 in. 

 wide. That's as wide as vou can make 

 a house with two 6-ft. hotbed sash, and 

 let a narrow path run up the middle with 

 a bed on each side. I would have solid 

 beds rather than benches for the sum- 

 mer; a bed 10 inches or 1 foot above the 

 floor of the house. If you have your 

 path all around the house and one wide 

 bed it would necessitate much higher 

 walls and that would make the little 

 house dark. Whether it would be a very 

 profitable investment for carnations-I am 

 not so sure, but for Cochet roses I am 

 sure it would. William Scott. 



SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FLORISTS. 



At the meeting of the Executive Board 

 in Milwaukee, Wis., March 17, one of 

 the most important matters to receive 

 attention is the discriminating express 

 taritr on flowers which has been in force 

 since December 10, 1902. It is essen- 

 tial that the fullest details of protests 

 or other action on the part of individu- 

 als, olubs or societies should be in tiie 

 secretary's oflice in season for compila- 

 tion and arrangement in convenient form 

 for the consideration of the Board. A 

 number of reports from State vice-presi- 

 dents and local secretaries are already on 

 file, but many more are needed, if* the 

 movement on the part of the national so- 

 ciety is to carry weight as representing 

 comprehensively the sentiments of the 

 floricultural profession. Action taken in 

 several places ha.s come to my knowledge 

 only through reports in trade papers. 

 Official notification of all such should be 

 transmitted to this oflice over the signa- 

 tures of the proper officers or other active 

 participant.s, and I would respectfully 

 urge that this be done at once so that, 

 if stringent measures are eventually 

 foiced uijon us, the needed material may 

 l)e at hand. The ease as pVesented by t'l'- 

 Boston meeting has already been before 

 the traffic managers in New York City 

 for three weeks. * 



All membel-s having views on ques- 

 tions afTecting the society's future policy 

 and welfare w-hich they would like to 

 submit to the executive board are earn- 

 estly requested to put same in writing 

 and forward them at once to the secret 

 tary. 



Tlie following named elected or appoint- 

 ed state vice-presidents for the vear 190.3 

 have severally accepted the office and 

 pledged their best efforts for the ad- 



