March 15, 1913 



HOETICULTUEE 



379 



Gradually, we put two more on, mak- 

 ing four in all, each six inches above 

 the other. Disbudding should com- 

 mence as soon as the buds are large 

 enough to handle. 



The plants consume more water now 

 and should never be without sufficient 

 moisture, although not be overwatered. 

 On a dull day, watering should not be 

 done and while the plants enjoy 

 syringing in the summer months they 

 will not do so when the days are get- 

 ting short and the sun low. As soon 

 as the nights get so cold as to make it 

 Impossible to keep the temperature at 48 

 or 50 degrees with some air on at night, 

 a little heat should be given to keep 

 up the temperature and give the de- 

 sired results. Throughout the winter 

 months ventilation should be given as 

 ^ much as possible. Even when tlie out- 

 side temperature goes down to 19 or 

 20 degrees above zero, a crack of a'r 

 should be given to keep the air pure 

 and moving. 



Feeding and Mulching. 



In October the plants can usually 

 stand a little feeding and if no bone or 

 other fertilizer has been mixed in the 

 soil before bringing the plants into the 

 house, I usually put either a sprinkling 

 between the plants and cover with a 

 light mulch consisting of half soil and 

 half sheep manure, or mix the fertil- 

 izer with the mulch, the latter way 

 being preferred. This fertilizer sliould 

 not contain more than three per cent. 

 of nitrogen, but can be rich in phos- 

 phoric acid and potash I warn 

 against the use of nitrate of soda, 

 blocd, ammonia or tankage, at any 

 time when the plants are in bud or 

 ilower, as they will come bullheaded 

 and will not keep. Mulching not only 

 gives nourishnient, but prevents the 

 formation of scum and keeps the sur- 

 face open to admit the air. I usually 

 put it on half an inch and later on 

 lepeat it several times. Toward 

 spring manure watering will be bene- 

 ficial, but the manure water should 

 not be too rich and should be made 

 with cow or sheep manure As long 

 as the plants make a heavy growth 

 with dark and broad leaves, feeding is 

 not needed. 



Enemies, 



This is all I can say about the cul- 

 ture of the carnation, but we n^ist not 

 forget our little enemies. The first 

 one in the season we usually notice is 

 the so-called thrips. We cannot see 

 much of him. but suspect his presence 

 when some of the shoots come out 

 twisted and crippled, and when the 

 buds show color the edges of the petals 

 on white dowers look burned, while on 

 colored varieties they look striped. A 

 few good fumigations or sprayings 

 with tobacco extract in short succes- 

 sion will clean out this pest. 



Aphis or green fly appear very per- 

 sistently, but will also be killed by to- 

 bacco or other insecticides. As a rule 

 I have carnations sprayed once a 

 week with tobacco solution during the 

 whole season. Just after bencliing, 

 th(- plants are benefited by a spraying 

 with Bordeaux mixture against both 

 fungus and insects. 



One of the worst enemies is Mr. Red 

 Spider, as he will not succumb to fu- 

 migation of any kind, not even to 

 hydro cyanic gas as has been frequent- 

 ly recommended. I know by experience 

 that the plants would have to be killed 

 first and then the spiders starved to 

 death. I find Aphine will kill all that 



can be reached, but is a little expen- 

 sive in bad cases. After all, good and 

 persistent syringing is the best cure. 



INDIVIDUALITY AND SPECIALIZA- 

 TION. 



Dear Sir: — In a recent number of 

 HORTICULTURE Mr. R. Rothe writes 

 an article on individuality in hor- 

 ticultural craft and art; this ar- 

 ticle will not, to my belief, throw 

 any more light on our horticultural 

 problems of today, but invites criti- 

 cism very much, although his warn- 

 ing against imitating opinions, prac- 

 tices and methods of others blindly and 

 witliout own reasoning, is timely. But 

 he confuses individualism with spe- 

 cialism, it I may use such a word. This 

 is plain, when we fol'ow the article to 

 the lines describing the enthusiastic 

 business meeting of Mr. Rothe's friend, 

 where he says "Receivers of divi- 

 dends, gentlemen of high individuality, 

 and respectability, on one side; on the 

 other side young assistants, plant 

 propagating, budding. hybridizing, 

 packing, labeling, doing a hundred and 

 one kind of things, etc., etc." 



Just Icok into one of the books on 

 political economy, etc., of today and 

 you will find that not more than 5 or 

 10 per cent of those young men ever 

 become those receivers of dividends on 

 the other side. What of the 90 per 

 cent that never become one of those 

 gentlemen of "high individuality and 

 respectability"? Well, they become 

 specialists who command good living 

 wages, which they demand rightfully, 

 and enjoy quite contentedly. Individ- 

 uality has much to do with the capital 

 "I" when not checked by -stern social 

 obligations to and for others; the 

 originality which Mr. Rothe wishes to 

 further through individualism of today 

 is the kind that allows nobody else 

 besides his own greatness. 



We want now in our times strong 

 individual exertion but only for a com- 

 mon cause and for a common end; or. 

 speaking personally of florists and 

 greatness, I believe, we want no indi- 

 vidualism either for the end of getting 

 the best hedge or flower bed, or garden, 

 or largest cut flower vase at a show 

 and that sort of thing, but we want in- 

 dividualism and individual labor and 

 exertion to the utmost limit in order 

 to advance one of the great plant cul- 

 tures in modern gardening, one new 

 artistic conception in garden making — 

 call it what you may — or to help bring 

 about true ideas in decorative floral 

 designing or to help to discover the 

 right roads in numerous other horti- 

 cultural fields. 



There are plenty of good leaders to- 

 day, plenty issues to stand up for, 

 plenty questions to take sides either 

 for or against; and that is to me the 

 most-needed endeavor in our times, 

 i. e., to be able to choose good stand- 

 ards. To learn to choose good stand- 

 ards today rather than originate new 

 standards, seems to me tlie key to suc- 

 cess for a young man who should enter 

 our craft and art. 



Finally allow me to remind you, that 

 Mr. Rothe, when he quotes from Frey- 

 tag's novel "Shall and Have," he 

 quotes from an age where the patri- 

 archic system between employer and 

 employee existed. Now we are in 

 many cases employees, or — some of us 

 — employers (say partners) in soul- 

 less firms and corporations — we allow 

 for all due exceptions naturally. So 



those quotations of Freytag, the novel- 

 ist, do not fit our age where we have 

 seen the old patriarchic individualis- 

 tic system of society go to pieces. As 

 they say we are "from Missouri"; we 

 have to be shown. But if Mr. Rothe 

 means by more individuality in hor- 

 ticulture the nursing once more of the 

 neglected craft of horticulture besides 

 the overestimated science of horticul- 

 ture and the art besides the business 

 of horticulture and if Mr. Rothe sees 

 more in a yellow dandelion in its 

 place, say on a workingman's cap in 

 early springtime, than in the biggest 

 and best-grown show roses in an ugly 

 fountain or umbrella-shape design, 

 sticking in an ugly pressed glass vase, 

 then I would like to shake hands. 



Or if he sees more In a lot of well 

 cultivated plants, any kind and any- 

 where on God's green earth, than in 

 hair-splitting controversies over botan- 

 ical questions, over correct or incor- 

 rect names or in novelty chasing, or 

 in office or lecture-room gardening, 

 then once more I will call him a fellow 

 gardener. 



Gerhard Bu,ukex. 



PHILADELPHIA NOTES. 



We had our friend, P. Welch of Bos- 

 ton, with us a few days last week. 

 That is: we thought we had him; but 

 he suddenly disappeared, which goes 

 far to prove the old saying that Bos- 

 ton isn't a place but only "a state of 

 mind." It developed later that a tele- 

 gram arrived which chased the visitor 

 in haste to Montreal. He stayed long 

 enough, however, as to almost con- 

 vince Commodore Westcott that via 

 Boston is the way to go to the Min- 

 neapolis convention next August! It 

 is to smile. 



Judging from the amount of mail 

 orders received, M. Rice Co., predicts 

 that this Easter will be the biggest 

 ever for the florists, all over the coun- 

 try. Last month showed the largest 

 volume of sales for February in the 27 

 vears this firm has been in business. 



Visitors: John Sambrook. Troy, N. 

 Y.; J. V. Phillips, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Ed- 

 ward Wickersham, Pottstown, Pa.: J. 

 F. Horn. Allentown, Pa.; D. H. Mish, 

 Lebanon, Pa.; A. H. Schaeffer, York, 

 Pa.; M. F. Hayden, Wilmington, Del.; 

 Mrs. Weber, Fairmount, W. Va.: Chns. 

 Vorkeller, South Bethlehem, Pa. 



WASHINGTON NOTES. 



A rose show is to be held in May 

 next by the Brookland Citizens' Asso- 

 ciation, in Lord Memorial Hall, Brook- 

 land, D. C, during which prizes will 

 be given in the various classes. This 

 is the second annual show held by the 

 organization. 



The eight-hour law for women failed 

 to pass the House of Representatives 

 before that body adjourned and in or- 

 der to be enacted into law it will again 

 have to be introduced into Congress. 

 The bill is not viewed with favor by 

 those florists and other merchants who 

 utilize female labor and for the former 

 Z. D. Blackistone recently appeared be- 

 fore the Congressional committees pro- 

 testing against its enactment. The bill 

 will eventually be passed but possibly 

 not in its present form. 



Visitois.— Mr. Poehlmann, Jr., Chi- 

 cago; Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Grandy, Nor- 

 folk, Va.: Harry Jones, Philadelphia, 

 Pa.; J. V. Phillips and wife, Brooklyn, 

 N. Y., and Charles Dudley, Parkers- 

 burg, Va. 



