378 



HORTICULTUEE 



March 15, 1913 



CARNATION CULTURE. 



Paper Read Before the Morris County Gardeners' and Florists' Society, by G. Neipp. 



No Excuse for Poor Flowers Now. 



Within the last fifteen years more 

 progress has been made in the cul- 

 ture of the carnation than of any other 

 flower. Yet when we visit the flower 

 markets of the large cities we find 

 alongside of the finest carnations lots 

 of very poor ones and one cannot help 

 asking why florists keep on growing 

 such rubbish that never pays for the 

 work, not to say expenses. There Is no 

 excuse whatever, since there is no 

 longer any secret in carnation culture 

 and it costs little, if any more to pro- 

 duce good flowers than poor ones. 



Good carnations can even be pro- 

 duced in small houses, if they receive 

 the proper treatment, and yet I have 

 seen produced in good up-to-date 

 houses the poorest carnations I ever 

 laid my eyes on. Ignorance is no ex- 

 cuse, since we can read articles on 

 carnation culture from the best au- 

 thors in the country nearly every week 

 in our trade papers. We can get plenty 

 of information in our societies and we 

 don't need to go tar to see good car- 

 nations grown in an up-to-date estab- 

 lishment. But the trouble is mostly 

 that these so-called carnation growers 

 are too conceited to look for any in- 

 formation, or, as some fellows I have 

 met, they would not believe anybody. 

 Others gather all information they 

 can get but have not the brains to 

 work it out. If somebody suggests 

 that their carnations need feeding 

 they would overdose it, or if told that 

 they keep their plants too dry, or too 

 wet, or the houses too warm or cold, 

 they would fall into the other extreme. 

 I once had a neighbor who had four 

 small greenhouses and always kept 

 them too warm, never had any success 

 with carnations, yet he said if he had 

 the money he would keep the houses 

 at 90 to 100 degrees for carnations, and 

 I think he has now only one green- 

 house instead of four. 



Propagation the Foundation. 



As in any other plant culture, in 

 carnation culture propagation is the 

 foundation upon which to build up the 

 structure necessary to success. There- 

 fore the greatest care should be given 

 to selecting the stock and the produc- 

 tion of healthy and well-rooted cuttings. 

 Many cuttings are spoiled by putting 

 them too deep in the sand, shading too 

 much, keeping too wet, or too warm, 

 and also by waiting too long in potting 

 them up. They should be potted as 

 soon as all cuttings which are placed 

 in the sand at the same time are 

 rooted. Some will have a little longer 

 roots than others, but this cannot be 

 helped. 



I use 2V.'i inch pots and a good live 

 soil without any addition of manure 

 or fertilizer. As soon as the pots are 

 full of roots, but before getting pot 

 bound, aid while too early to plant in 

 the field, we knock out the plants and 

 plant them in a bunch, or sometimes 

 in a cold frame, according to season 

 and weather, using nbout the same 

 kind of soil as in potting. 



As soon as lateral shoots start to 

 show on the bottom, we pinch out the 

 main shoot. The young plants should 

 be kept in a light house with plenty 



of ventilation and the temperature 

 kept cool. It is of much importance 

 to have the crown of the roots never 

 covered more than '4 inch as this pre- 

 vents stem rot and insures a healthy 

 growth. As I only practice field cul- 

 ture, I shall not touch pot culture. 



Summer Treatment. 



It is of much importance what kind 

 of soil and location is available. The 

 soil should not be too heavy nor too 

 light, but almost any kind can be used 

 if properly treated. I prefer a field 

 almost level or with a slight slope, to 

 give water no chance of standing 

 after rain, but not steep enough to 

 make washing out possible. The field 

 should be well manured in August or 

 September the previous year, and 

 plowed and harrowed several times. A 

 late plowing should be done in Novem- 

 ber and the surface left in a rough 

 condition. No field should be selected 

 without good drainage. In the same 

 manner we prepare our bench soil, 

 only manure heavier and keep on plow- 

 ing and harrowing until we bring the 

 soil inside. 



The field to receive the young plants 

 is plowed again in spring as soon as 

 the soil is dry enough, and the sur- 

 face smoothed off with the harrow. As 

 soon as steady weather can be ex- 

 pected all hands join in planting out, 

 planting in rows 15 to IS inches apart. 

 Again I see to it that the plants are 

 not planted too deep, just a little bit 

 deeper than they stood in the pots. 



A Bit of Experience. 



This reminds me of my first experi- 

 ence with carnations in this country, 

 seventeen years ago. It was my first 

 job in a plant-growing establishment 

 of sixteen or eighteen rather small 

 houses. Three of the houses were de- 

 voted to carnations, but I started in 

 March and the houses looked more li. e 

 geranium houses, as most of the car- 

 nations had died and geraniums in 

 four-inch pots took their place. We 

 also had probably 10,000 young carna- 

 tion stock in a sash house — some in 

 pots, the others in flats in about two 

 inches of soil and all looking as yel- 

 low as a lemon. When planting time 

 came we brought them out to the field 

 —pots, flats and all. From the flats 

 we had to cut them out in squares and 

 then the boss told us to plant as deep 

 as possible, showing me, as a green- 

 horn, how deep, which was about 2 

 inches soil about the roots. The soil 

 being very sandy — in fact, all sand — 

 I did not wonder much about deep 

 planting, but I found out later on when 

 many plants rotted off just above the 

 ground after some heavy rains. 



In the latter part of August they 

 were to be benched, the boss with his 

 brother doing the planting and I hav- 

 ing the pleasure of bringing in the 

 plants. This, of course, gave me a 

 chance to see how they did it. They 

 dug a big hole in the soil, nearly to 

 the bottom, stuck the plants away 

 down and the ends of the roots, which 

 were very long and few, stuck up. 

 Then the hole was filled up and the 

 ends of the roots frequently stuck out 



of the soil. I could not help asking— 

 "Do you expect these plants to grow?" 

 The answer was: "They don't need 

 to grow, they must only flower. The 

 growing was done in the field." I was 

 thoroughly speechless, but thought 

 this must certainly be a great country 

 if they could make carnations flower 

 without growing. But one day a friend 

 asked me how I liked the job and I 

 said "first rate, I think it's a good 

 place to learn how things should not 

 be done." and he laughed. I did not 

 stay much longer, but had a chance to 

 c.irry out a good percentage of those 

 plants to the dump heap; and the 

 next spring I had a look at the houses 

 but most of the plants were gone, the 

 geraniums taking their place again. 



Benching. 



But to come back to the field— we 

 start cultivating with the wheel-hoe 

 as soon as planting is over, going 

 through once a week. As soon as the 

 plants have made some growth, top- 

 ping commences, to form the plant 

 and also to prevent flowering which 

 would only stop the growth to some 

 extent. By July first the plants should 

 be large enough to be benched, and as 

 the old plants are usually thrown out 

 there is no reason why preparation 

 ought not to be made. After the old 

 plants and soil are carted out, the 

 benches ought to receive a thor- 

 ough cleaning and white-washing 

 and also all the necessary paint- 

 ing should be done before the 

 benches are filled again. As soon 

 as the soil is on the benches all 

 hands have to get busy and get the 

 and bringing in. Care should be taken 

 to leave some soil on the roots, as 

 the plants will grow on much quicker. 

 As soon as a number are planted they 

 should be watered. But I would not 

 soak the bench all through at once, 

 but would rather go over the same 

 place three or four times until the soil 

 is all moist, but not real wet, as root 

 action will be slower in a very wet 

 soil. The house should always be well 

 ventilated and the atmosphere kept as 

 cool as possible. 



I put no shade on after benching, 

 but a light shading in spring which 

 gradually wears off. Watering for the 

 first few weeks should be done care- 

 fully. Some recommend to plant in a 

 depression and water each plant sepa- 

 rately, but I would rather plant on 

 a hill and have the water run away 

 from the plants. Of course, the plants 

 should never suffer for want of water. 

 In one large house I have installed 

 an irrigation system, which I consider 

 ideal watering in the summer months 

 as it leaves the soil always in a loose, 

 open condition, so that no cultivation 

 is needi d, except weeding, which 

 should not be neglected. 



Watering and Temperature. 



As soon as planting is done, we give 

 the first support, using the well-known 

 wire rings with two legs stuck in the 

 ground. They 1 eep the plants in a 

 natural round shape. Soon flowering 

 shoots grow up and we put another 

 support in place. This time we stretch 

 wires lengthwise and twine crosswise. 



