832 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



AriiiL 9, 1903. 



bench free circulation of air among the 

 leaves is assured and perfect syriiiying 

 is made possible. The e}'es also break 

 stronger, the wood is more robust and 

 the leaves acquire a texture which in a 

 great measure protects them from the at- 

 tacks of mildew and insect pests. 



Ample ventilation, judicious watering 

 and careful syringing are the stereotyped 

 directions usually given for rose culture 

 under glass; these are indeed facts, old 

 and well est.ablished, and as "facts are 

 chiels that win'na ding nor daur'na be 

 disputed," it is well to give some atten- 

 tion to them, at the same time giving 

 due attention to the thousand and one 

 other things wliicli constitute the rainutiEe 

 of rose culture which leads to success. 



RiBES. 



CARNATION NOTES-WEST. 



Planting in the Field. 



rerha])s you will be too busy when 

 this reaches j-ou to give much thought to 

 your yoimg carnation plants or the iidil 

 in whicli you expect to grow thoni tlii? 

 summer, but just as soon as Easter is 

 gone you will hiegin to think of tiiem 

 again and in some localities it \\ill be 

 high time to begin preparations fur 

 planting out. This is a large country 

 and the seasons vary a good deal be- 

 tween the different sections. What 

 would seem very early in one part 

 would seem rather late in others. Our 

 good friend, Scott, often speaks of how 

 he has to work in order to get through 

 bedding out by Decoration Day, while 

 here in our city we are always through 

 a week or so before that date.. The 

 same difference is found in planting out 

 carnations, we are just about two weeks 

 ahead of Buffalo and a little farther 

 north they are still later and down 

 around Louisville, Ky., they can safely 

 Ijcd out coleus by April 15th. 



I started out to tell you how you 

 should prepare for planting out, etc., and 

 «ill get back to my subject. In the 

 lirst place if you have enough good 

 ground you should practice crop rota- 

 tion; that is, never plant the same crop 

 on tlie same piece of gi-ound two seasons 

 in succession. I do not mean to s.ay 

 that you can not grow good plants ty 

 using the same soil over and over for 

 ?*everal seasons, but you will find that 

 .^■ou will have better results from crop 

 rotation. You will be troubled less 

 « ith stem-rot and that alone is worth the 

 trouble. If you had any stem-rot in 

 your carnation patch last year you 

 would be almost certain to have it in a 

 worse form this year and year after year 

 it would iiurease until by and by you 

 would 1k' unalile to grow carnations on 

 that held at all. You should spread 

 on a coat of manure and plow it under 

 just as early as you can, or still better 

 the fall before so the frost can pene- 

 trate more thoroughly, and plow again 

 just before you plant. Not only is it 

 nuich easier to plant in freshly plowed 

 soil but the plants take hold better too 

 as the soil is moist all over the surface 

 and the atmosphere too will be more 

 moist than when the plowing had been 

 done several days before and a clry crust 

 has formed. 



A good thing to have on your place is 

 a swivel or hill-side plow so you can 

 plow a five-foot strip just as well as a 

 •200-foot square without leaving any 

 ridges or trenches. Then you can plow 

 each day as much as you will be able to 

 plant and you will find it a great help. 

 Wo do not use the system described hv 



Mr. Osborn last week although he may 

 find some advantages in it. I would not 

 say a word against it. W'u plant our 

 rows about 1.5 to 18 inches ajiart and the 

 plants about 10 inches apart in the row, 

 with no paths unless the patch shovihl 

 be extremelj' large. If the ground is 

 fairly level we have no trouble from 

 water washing the plants out. but if tne 

 ground is on a hillside you will have to 

 make trenches to drain the water away. 

 You will find a sandy soil much better 

 to grow carnations in than a heavy clay 

 soil. The plants will make a better root 

 growth and in the fall you will be able 

 to dig them without tearing the roots. 

 You will also find a high piece of ground 

 more desirable as it will drain better and 

 there will be less danger from slem-rol 

 in ease of a rainy spell. 



If you are obliged to plant on the same 

 piece of ground several years in suc- 

 cession you should use every precau- 

 tion to prevent stem-rot and any other 

 disease you may have had in previoiis 

 years. Be sure that you clear off a I! 

 the old plants that were left out last 

 fall, in fact you should have done that 

 last fall when you finished digging, ill'. 

 Osborn gave you some good advice and 

 if you follow the plan he suggested y 'U 

 should have little or no trouble. j'ut 

 try in the future to have enough ground 

 so von can rotate. A. F. J. Baub. 



CARNATION NOTES— EAST. 



Varieties to Mulch. 



Every grower will be obliged to use 

 his judgment as to which varieties it will 

 be best to mulch and continue, bearing 

 in mind two important points, namel}', 

 colors likely to be in denuind and condi- 

 tion of plants at mulching time. 



From past experience I have found 

 pink and white to be the most in de- 

 mand. Red is too warm a color as a 

 rule to be much in denuind during sum- 

 mer; however yon shovild grow a few, 

 also crimson. Yellow sorts are gen- 

 erally very prolific in warm weather and 

 pay well if in demand. I would ad- 

 vise growing the above colors in about 

 the following proportions: 30 per cent 

 each pink and white, 10 per cent each 

 red and crimson, 15 per cent yellow; 

 the remaining 5 per cent can be devoted 

 to cither increasing other colors as de- 

 sired or giving space to pets, freaks and 

 oddities or experimenting with new 

 varieties. It is quite an advantage to 

 have been growing more than one variety 

 in each color to choose from at this time. 



I will give j'ou my experience with 

 varieties that we have grown here, re- 

 lating their behavior during the sum- 

 mer. Mrs. Lawson has proved itself a 

 most profitable one : being a strong 

 grower it holds up well, responds quickly 

 to liberal treatment and gives large 

 quantity as well as good quality of 

 bloom. Queen Louise behaves nicely all 

 summer; its habit of growth is excellent 

 while the long stilt stems surmounted 

 by blooms of good substance commends 

 this variety to all. 



White Cloud, while producing good 

 blooms, is of too sprawl}' growth, gets 

 too tall and becomes unmanageable, re- 

 sulting in many crooked stems. Mur- 

 phy's White, of which I had 50 plants on 

 trial this season, has done well and 

 every indication leads me to believe it 

 will hold well and produce a continuous 

 crop; it is of fine habit and of unusually 

 strong growth. Nelson we have tried 

 only in a limited way, having had b'jt 

 few plants on trial last season and not 



having the position it should have, no 

 positive opinion can be given. At the 

 present time it gives promise of good 

 results; the plants are a nuiss of strong 

 healthy shoots which should give a large 

 crop tlirough May and June and prob- 

 ably longer, but owing to' repairs we 

 shall be obliged to throw them out by 

 July 1. 



Marquis and Floriana are in solid beds 

 and with abundant ventilation have 

 always paid well; the color of each is 

 practi«illy identical — pure rose pink 

 while the fragrance of both is of the 

 true clove. Estelle has always so far 

 outclassed all reds; its color appeals to 

 every lover of this color (brunettes) and 

 it is an excellent keeper. Crane, about 

 which there has been so much complaint 

 in regard to stem rotting, has never 

 given us any trouble but on raised 

 benches it is not at all desirable to hold 

 for summer : in solid beds I have no 

 doubt but that it would be a bread win- 

 ner. Potter Palmer being in its first 

 year, no experience can be given; we 

 liave it on laised benches and at present 

 it looks very promising. I am of the 

 opinion that solid beds would suit it 

 better during hot weather. 



Eldorado and California Gold are both 

 ])rofuse siunmer bloomers and are always 

 the last to be troubled with red spider. 

 Speaking of red spider, it will be an 

 excellent time directly after Easter to 

 give your plants a heavy syringing. 

 Every bloom will probably be cut so no 

 damage can be done by wetting blooms ; 

 rake them fore and aft from every 

 direction, choosing a bright day when 

 plenty of ventilation is needed. 



Geo. S. Osborn. 



CARNATION NORWAY. 



Will some one who has grown the car- 

 luition Norway give his opinion as to its 

 merits? I have some nice J'oung stock 

 l)ut hesitate to plant it as the few plants 

 1 have in now seem to be very sliv 

 liloomers. Possibly some one has di>- 

 covered how to handle it better. 



W. I'. R. 



Vie have had the variety Norway on 

 our place ever since it was disseminated 

 and it has done very well with us. Vi'c 

 ito not consider it as good as Lorna or 

 Queen Louise as an all-round white but 

 it has some very good points about il. 

 It is a strong, rapid grower, has a 

 strong stem and a large fragrant li'looin. 

 It wants rather late propagating and 

 early housing so that the plants do not 

 grow overly large in the field. Beiii.g 

 a rapid grower its growth is rather si.it 

 and great care must lie exercised in hous- 

 ing it in tlir fall and as large plants suf- 

 fer more quickly than the smaller onc~ 

 it is advisable to have the smaller planls 

 of this variety. It soon makes up after- 

 it becomes established in the house. Give 

 it a heavy soil and not too rich and I 

 think it will give you good returns. Last 

 year Mr. Weber had some magnificent 

 blooms here in February at the A. C. S. 

 convention and he told me that they 

 were from cuttings struck in March and 

 planted out in the field from the ci:t- 

 ting Ijench. A. F. J. Baur. 



BACTERIA. 



\Vc send a sample of our carnations. 

 Last fall the disease affected only two 

 varieties, and as we had just bought 

 these two kinds we placed the blame on 

 the firm we got them from. Today 

 there isn't a plant on the place that la 



