XUECn 20, 1003. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



721 



Standing Wreath Arranged by M. A. Bowe, New York. 



STANDING WREATH. 



The accompanying engraving is from a 

 photograph of a standing wreath ar- 

 ranged by ]Mr. M. A. Bowe, New York. 

 The tlowers nnd other material used can 

 be readily identitied in the picture and 

 any description seems unnecessary. It 

 was a very beautiful piece of work and 

 was used at tlie funeral of a member of 

 the Ohio Society of New York, as indi- 

 cated by the lettering on the ribbon. 



CARNATION NOTES-EAST. 



Preparation of Land. 



In some sections it will Ix! none too soon 

 to begin preparations for planting out. 

 There are several methods employed ow- 

 ing to difference in nature of soil, aspect 

 of land and with us the limited amount 

 of available ground. 



I am obliged to use the same piece of 

 land this year as last and while not ex- 

 actly advocating the practice I have no 

 fear that with our mode of proceeding 

 we shall have any trouble in producing 

 No. 1 plants. This land was heavily 

 manured two j^cars ago and produced a 

 fair crop of potatoes. Last year it was 

 again manured, plowed, harrowed and 

 gave us splendid plants. Plowed last 



fall and left rough so the frost could 

 get in its work this winter the soil is in 

 fine mechanical condition. 



We shall apply this spring a liberal 

 coat of wood ashes from hard wood (un- 

 leached of course ) and if possible har- 

 row in a short time before plowing; if 

 not it will be allowed to soak in, which 

 it will if too wet to work in. \Vhen 

 plowing we shall use no manure except 

 to top dress lightly after the whole field 

 is ready to plant. Deep plowing and 

 proper quantities of fertilizers applied 

 as the nature of the soil will determine 

 is a long step toward success. 



I do not recommend the \ise of bone 

 meal in the field, preferring to confine 

 its use to soil in benches of the house; 

 neither do I advise planting out in soil 

 overrich. What we want is soil suf- 

 ficiently rich to produce a plant of 

 sturdy habit; time enough to give in- 

 tensive cultivation when plants are 

 gi'owing under glass. JIuch fertilizer is 

 wasted in planting carnations too far 

 apart; often times one-half the gi'ound 

 taken up would have suflficed. 



My plan is to lay out the land in 

 what may be called long ,beds eight or 

 ten feet wide. This is easily done by 

 making paths, throwing out a small 

 quantity of soil both ways, afterwards 

 raking it up on the surface and leveling 



oft', applying the top dressing at the 

 same time. If your land slopes in any 

 direction it is best to make these paths 

 in the same direction and in case the 

 beds are very long I would put through 

 cross paths, say 50 feet apart. 



Tlie chief advantage of this bed sy.s- 

 tem is that in very wet weather the 

 paths will, if arranged properly — that 

 is, according to the' lay of the land — 

 serve as a conductor of surplus water 

 and on the other hand can be put to 

 advantage in a dry season to maintain 

 a system of irrigation, but I shall have 

 more to say on this subject in due sea- 

 son. 



Insect Pests. 



The warm spell we have experienced 

 of late has brought about the right con- 

 dition for a good crop of aphis and red 

 spider. Regular fumigation will reduce 

 the aphis tribe very quickly. Red 

 spiders are like head lice as regards 

 ownership; it is no sin to have or get 

 them at times, but the sin comes in al- 

 lowing them to stay or increase and 

 spread. 



When we have but a few plants af- 

 fected at this time of year they are 

 removed and burned as I believe it is 

 time and labor saved to say nothing of 

 the results of henvj syringing. By all 

 means do not let your young stock get 

 infested with any sort of insect. Also 

 see to it now that everything is done for 

 them before the Easter rush. 



Geo. S. Osborn. 



CARNATION JOOST. 



Replying to C. J. the samples of Mrs. 

 Joost you sent were not fresh enough 

 to enable me to examine the half open 

 buds very well and I am not sure that 

 I can say positively what the trouble 

 is. The stem and foliage look healthy 

 with the exception of a few spots of 

 bacteria, which, however, would not be 

 enough to cause you such trouble. 



The petals of the half open blooms 

 seem to hang together and that is what 

 makes me think that you have a heavy 

 crop of thrips in your house. I did 

 not see any on these specimens, but they 

 were too far gone for the thrips to find 

 any nourishment in them. Take a half 

 open bud and part the petals one by one 

 and look for a tiny insect about one- 

 sixteenth of an inch long and usually 

 of a light brown color. If you find them 

 you need look no farther for the source 

 of your trouble. 



Tobacco in any form will destroy them 

 but it will take a great deal of per- 

 sistence to reach them all as they get 

 in between the petals where even smoke 

 can not reach them and so you have to 

 catch them away from home. Fumigate 

 as often as you can — every night for a 

 week if you can — and blow the house full 

 of tobacco dust every other day for a 

 week or so and you will lie rid of most 

 of them. You will lose some blooms by 

 this but you will soon make them up 

 after you rid your place of this pest. 

 A. F. J. Batjk. 



THRIPS AGAIN. 



I send some Scott carnations. Can 

 you tell me why they do not open prop- 

 erly? Sometimes there will be good 

 blooms and one of these others on a 

 plant at the same time. Tlie plants 

 seem to be in excellent condition. You 

 will observe that the petals of the 



