1040 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Mat 14, 1003. 



do any harm. Geraniums arc growing 

 so fast now that in two weeks very lit- 

 tle of tlie copper will be seen, and when 

 planted out you will lose sight of it 

 entirely. If 3'ou have killed the fuufjiis, 

 be well satisfied and don't mind the 

 bine stain of the copper. 



William Scott. 



ROSES. 



Seasonable Hints. 



As the planting season approaches we 

 should see that everything is in order 

 so that no time may be wasted between 

 throwing out the old and replanting the 

 new. Every day lost at that time means 

 a shortening of the growing season, and 

 the growing period given to roses as at 

 present practiced is short enough, usual- 

 ly dating from some time in June up 

 till October, when the young bushes are 

 supposed to be able to bear a crop. This 

 is a very sliort time in which to develop 

 a good-sized, thrifty bush. When the 

 bustle of carnation planting is over rose 

 planting should be started at once. 



Rose growers year after year are real- 

 izing the fact that houses which are 

 planted in May or early in June produce 

 the heaviest crops and that the cut is 

 superior in quality to those planted 



work during the rest of the season en- 

 tirely unfitted them for the heavy part 

 of this class of labor and, indeed, with- 

 out calling on them for extra time it 

 was impossible for (liem. under such 

 conditions, to attend properly to their 

 ordinary duties, and extra time during 

 hot weather, and especially under glass. 

 is peculiarly enervating, and no doubt 

 has driven many a bright and capable 

 man out of the "genteel craft." 



Progressive employers nowadays are 

 fully alive to the fact that it is more 

 profitable to engage sufficient extra help, 

 if it can be had, to accomplish the hard- 

 est part of the work as expeditiously 

 as possible, and that the help can tire 

 themselves sufficiently in a ten-hour day. 



As the planting season is almost here, 

 I will next week describe the most up 

 to date methods of performing this work, 

 and will follow with the proper care 

 of the young stock. Eibes. 



VIOLETS IN COLD FRAMES. 



I am asked for directions for the cul- 

 ture of violets in cold frames in a local- 

 ity in which the thermometer goes as 

 low as twenty degrees below zero, also 

 what sized plants to use. when to plant, 

 etc. I would by all means advise one 

 in such a locality to grow his violets in 



Azalea and Rhododendron Decorated for Easter by C. A. Samuelson, Chicago. 



later. Where a sitrict system of recu-d 

 keeping is in force this statement is 

 o!i)phasized. 



Along with the actual work of remov- 

 ing the old soil and refilling with new, 

 there is the disagreeable and tardy work 

 of repairing the benches. I say disagi-ee- 

 able because tlie ordinary help do not 

 lelish such work, and tardy because 

 when we begin repairing there is usually 

 a good deal more to be done than ap- 

 pears necessary at first sight; in fact, 

 it often takes longer to repair an old 

 bench than to build a new one. 



Having lumber and nails ready and all 

 necessary tools in good order, barrows, 

 etc., in good condition, will, if attended 

 to before operations begin, make the 

 work more pleasant and satisfactory. 

 The old time fashion of expecting the 

 ordinary help to do this class of work 

 is happily dis.nppearing. The ordinary 



■ a house, if possible, for the reason that 

 if so grown one may work among them 

 whenever he desires, regardless of the 

 weather, and can at all times control 

 the temperature. But if it is a case of 

 growing them in frames or not at all, I 

 should proceed to plant them out in the 

 frames at once, the same as I have pre- 

 viously directed for the house, taking 

 care to only set clean, strong, healthy, 

 young, well rooted plants. 



Especial care should be taken to see 

 that they are not affected with aphis of 

 any kind, and even if none are visible 

 it is a wise precaution to rig up a large 

 box and fumigate the plants with hydro- 

 cyanic acid gas before knocking out of 

 the pots or flats, providing always that 

 you have a competent, careful person to 

 attend to this, who thoroughly under- 

 stands its deadly nature. 



It i« well to select a sheltered place 



for the frames where you will not feel 

 the strong winds, yet you want to avoid 

 hollows where water would settle and 

 freeze about them, or get into the 

 frames. For this I'eason. also, it is best 

 to always have the gi-ound fully as high 

 if not a few inches higher than that out- 

 side the frames. 



The violets should have some shade 

 as soon as planted, and will need this 

 most of the summer. This should be two 

 or tliree feet above the frames to allow 

 free circulation of air, also to leave room 

 for working among them. etc. This 

 shading can be made either of lath or, 

 what is handier in some respects, cheese- 

 cloth. Eemove this early in the fall 

 and let the plants be well hardened so 

 as to be capable of enduring the changes 

 before them. In case the frames are not 

 heated a supply of shutters or mats will 

 be needed. R. E. S. 



FANCY-LEAVED CALADIUMS. 



I would like to see an article in the 

 Review on how to start and grow fancy- 

 leaved caladiuuis, as regards soil, tem- 

 perature, light, amount of water, wheth- 

 er shade or full light, and size of pots, 

 say for 9-inch bulbs. Should bulbs be 

 entirely covered with earth? 



Subscriber. 



Tliese are very easy plants to grow. 

 It is a corm, not a bulb. If very large 

 pots are desired you can put three roots 

 into a 12-inch azalea pot. Start them 

 in 4-inch pots and shift later into 6 or 

 S-inch, or put the three pots into a 12- 

 inch. Let the top of the corm be even 

 with the surface of the soil and when 

 shifting latei- let it be a little lower. 

 You can hardly give them too high a 

 temperature. They are strictly tropi- 

 cal. When the leaves have once started 

 they want lots of water, and when fully 

 developed, if the water passes freely 

 through the soil, you can hardly over- 

 water. The soil should be one-half good, 

 turfy loam, chopped, not sifted, one- 

 fourth leaf mold, and one-fourth rotted 

 manure. The shading part of the busi- 

 ness is the most trouble. If in a dark 

 situation, or under a pennanent shade, 

 they will not color to perfection and 

 the leaves will be spindling and weak, 

 and to let the strong rays of the sun 

 pour down on them in July under clear 

 class would be exhausting. Let them 

 have the fullest light up to 10 a. m. and 

 again after 4 p. m., but during the five 

 or six bright hours a little shade on 

 sunny days, and with plenty of water, 

 plenty of heat, and some good soil, you 

 will have no trouble in growing fancy- 

 IcaA'cd caladiums. 



William Scott. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM TROUBLES. 



Kindly let me know through your 

 paper how to get rid of the miniature 

 butterflies. They have infested one of 

 our houses where we are growing chrys- 

 anthemums. A. O. D. 



About the only way to keep down the 

 butterflies is to catch all you can when 

 you see them flying around in the house. 

 This will not clean them out, but the 

 more that are killed the fewer eggs there 

 will be deposited on the foliage. Tlie 

 eggs can be found deposited in small cir- 

 cular masses and these may be crushed 

 between the thumb and finger. They 

 will be found on the under sides of the 

 leaves and must be closely looked for. 



One can often catch a brood of the 



