606 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



Mauch 12, 1903. 



have Gov. Koosevelt hold on to it; if 

 you have it not and need one invest in 

 the Gov. 



In yellow there is nothing yet to com- 

 pare with Eldorado when well done. 

 Dorothy Whitney is a close second, and 

 would be preferred by some retailers. 



Those who can grow Bradt had bet- 

 ter let well enough alone. Mrs. M. A. 

 Patten is said to Be an easier doer. Pros- 

 perity vou all know is in a class bv 

 itself. 



Had those which were frozen or 

 cooked in transit arrived in good con- 

 dition some changes no doubt would 

 have occurred. 



Geo. S. Osborx. 



CARNATION NOTES-WEST. 



Propagating. 



Most growers have all their carna- 

 tions rooted by this time but there are 

 always a few varieties that we are short 

 of and we keep on propagating them 

 just as long as we can, even though we 

 may be a little late in getting them set 

 out in the field. You will not find it so 

 easy to root the cuttings from now on, 

 nor can you count on as large a percent- 

 age striking roots as you could during 

 the last four months. It is a poor prop- 

 agator who cannot root very near 100 

 per cent of carnation cuttings during 

 January and February, but he is an 

 extra good propagator who can root 

 over 90 per cent of most varieties durine 

 March and April. The weather is not 

 favorable during ,nese months as a rule, 

 and it keeps one busy trying to regulate 

 things to suit the cuttings. Long damp 

 spells are often followed by very warm, 

 bright days, and that is when your judg- 

 ment will be taxed to its utmost. The 

 natural impulse on seeing the cuttings 

 wilt will be to spray them overhead and 

 to repeat it often, and too often this 

 is done to excess. Almost before you 

 will know it you will see them begin to 

 damp olT or you will see a lot of rust 

 break out all over the leaves as a re- 

 sult of being wet over night, etc. While 

 a spraying will occasionally save a batch 

 of cuttings from wilting in ease tlicy 

 are suddenly exposed to trying condi- 

 tions, yet it does not suffice when those 

 conditions prevail for an extended pe- 

 riod of time. 



Your efforts .should be directed to- 

 ward keeping the house as near the win- 

 ter temperature as you can without 

 causing any considerable draughts. 

 Shade the glass from outside with a coat 

 of lime wash, or if it is your regular 

 propagating house or bench you can use 

 something more permanent, such as 

 white lead and naphtha or some such 

 preparation. A house shaded from the 

 outside will keep cooler than if you 

 spread canvas on the inside, but in case 

 of extra warm bright spells you can use 

 both to advantage. Always give plenty 

 of water in the sand, but don't overdo 

 the overhead spraying. Once or twice 

 a day will be enough usually and be sure 

 they are not left wet over night. Keep 

 the walks and under the benches damp- 

 ened down to help keep the atmosphere 

 moist. Try to take the cuttings off 

 the plants either in the evening or early 

 in the morning before the sun has any 

 strength; they will be fresher and stand 

 Tip better in the sand. Also take heel 

 cuttings as much as you can ; they will 

 root quicker and surer. 



Young Stock. 



Those cuttings that you planted in 



flats or on the bench should be potted 

 up now miless you intend to leave them 

 there until you plant them out. It will 

 take them about six weeks to become 

 thoroughly established in the pots. Use 

 2i or 3-inch pots, according to the size 

 of the young plants. You surely have 

 a bench or two or at least a few varie- 

 ties that will not bring you in very 

 much more this season and it will pay 

 you to throw them out and give j'our 

 young stock plenty of room to make fine 

 plants. Those that you take from the 

 sand from now on can go right into 2- 

 inch pots, where they will do first-rate 

 until planting out time. A good light 

 bench with plenty of sunlight is, of 

 course, essential in producing a good 

 plant. You want a slow, stocky growth, 

 which can be had only in a cool, light 

 i.ouse. Tlie glass over these young 

 plants should never have the least l)it 

 of shade on it. 



Topping. 



Look right after tlie topping, as on 

 this al.so depends very largely whether 

 you will have well shaped plants or net. 

 As I have said before some varieties need 

 only to be topped once, while others must 

 be topped every time the make two or 

 three pairs of blades. 



If you have bought new varieties you 

 should find out from the originator what 

 is required in this respect, and be sure 

 thai, you watch them closely and follow 

 his advice as he knows the variety better 

 than vou do. A. F. J. Baur. 



CARNATION NOTES-EAST, 



Feeding. 



Your blooming plants will be grow- 

 ing rapidly at this time and with Easter 

 but four weeks away, every attention 

 must be given the plants that they may 

 continue to yield high grade bloom:;. 



This is particularly desirable, as after 

 this greatest of all harvest times (East- 

 er) the law of supply and demand has 

 the effect of lowering prices; then, too, 

 flowering plants will be much in evi- 

 dence Kaster week, consequently only 

 first-class cut blooms will move at sat- 

 isfactory prices. We cannot afford lo 

 allow our plants to observe Lent, at 

 least in the way of denying them any- 

 thing in the way of needed food. 



My notes of .January 15 set forth liie 

 method followed here in the matter of 

 using liquid manure. A top dressing, 

 as de.scribed Octol)er IG, may perhaps 

 suit the purpose in the case of those 

 who cannot use liquid handily. 



Speaking of liquid manure, I noticed 

 in notes of Mr. .Scott that he expressed 

 the opinion that change of diet as ad- 

 vocated by some writers was a fallacy. 

 Literally speaking "change of or varied 

 diet" is a misleading expression as ap- 

 plied to the feeding of plants. As ap- 

 plied to man it may be a correct ex- 

 pression to use and the change of bene- 

 fit to the human race, but as our good 

 friend wrote in his notes of Dec. 17, 

 189.3, "what's the use of drawin_; an 

 analogy between the vegetable and ani- 

 mal kingdom? They more likely start- 

 ed from the same mysterious germs." 



But I am straying from the subject. 

 Mr. Scott is perfectly right in believing 

 the so-called change of diet a fallacy, as 

 it is inconceivable. Pl.ints are today 

 subsisting on the same old diet, but we 

 are learning more about the order in 

 which plants desire to have them placed 



before them. I will try to explain what 

 I, at least, meant to iinplj' in using the 

 expression. 



Authorities tell us that potash, nitro- 

 gen and phosphorus are absolutely in- 

 dispensable to plant life, and I think 

 ammonia is a valuable adjunct. Bone 

 meal is almost a complete manure, as 

 are also wood ashes, if properly treated 

 before used. Neither horse, cow, hen 

 or sheep manure contain all the neces- 

 sary elements in the right proportion, 

 neither does any one of them always con- 

 tain the same fertilizing properties in 

 the same proportion, much depending 

 on the variation in food of the animal 

 at different seasons of the year. 



If we could rai.K a certain number and 

 quantity of these incomplete manures 

 with our soil in the exact proportion 

 needed to meet the requirements of our 

 plants, a step in advance might be 

 gained as far as knowledge is concerned, 

 though to mix all kinds of manure to- 

 gether at one time would certainly be 

 wrong, as when bone meal and ashes 

 come together there would be a loss of 

 ammonia. 



Then, again, we are confronted with 

 the question as to the advisability of 

 putting all these elements at once around 

 the roots, before the plant has become 

 established and its roots eagerly in 

 search of food. Even supposing the 

 plants are well estalilished and the soil 

 contains every element needed in exact; 

 proportion, is it not reasonable to sup- 

 pose that one or more elements will bo- 

 come diminished or exhausted before 

 another ? 



During the period of growth directly 

 after getting established in the benches 

 at housing time, nitrogen would prob- 

 ably be drawn on more heavily than 

 phosphorus, and in case of the develop- 

 ment of quantities of buds into blooms, 

 phosphorus would be more in demand 

 and so on through the list there must be 

 at times more or less need of one or an- 

 other element. Therefore it would appear 

 that as the proportion of fertilizing ele- 

 ments change, it Ix'comes necessary to 

 add to the soil from lime to time what 

 is lacking, thereby maintaining the prop- 

 er proportion as near as po.ssible. 



Here is where keen observation, sound 

 judgment and constant .study must be 

 made to know when and what to supply. 

 One time it is an application of liquid 

 sheep or cow manure, then a top dress- 

 ing of bone meal, followed later by 

 wood a.shes, another time liquid horse, 

 cow or sheep, either straight or blended 

 as the case may require. No rule can 

 be laid down; every grower must be the 

 judge of the needs of his bread winners, 

 anticipating each want by knowledge of 

 what the plants have been and are doing 

 as regards quality and quantity of bloom, 

 strength of stem, brilliancy of color, 

 etc. 



He should govern himself accordingly 

 in his operations of feeding, so called, 

 for here is a term perhaps used too much 

 in reference to the employment of liquid 

 food when in reality we feed our plants 

 when we give them good soil enriched 

 with manure and bone meal, or when 

 top dressing or mulching. 



As the operation of applying different 

 liquid fertilizers when required might 

 be said to accomplish results similar to 

 the rotation of crops on plots of land, in- 

 stead of using the term change of diet, 

 I would suggest "Proper rotation of the 

 liquid chemical menu" as being more 

 self-explanatory. Geo. S. Osborn. 



