>8» 



HOKTlCULTUR£, 



March 23, 1907 



VICTORY HAS MADE GOOD 



CUTTMAN & WEBER 



Grower 



Lynbrook,LI.,N.II. 



The Wholesale Floriit 

 of New York 



43 W. 28 St., 



Placeyourorderaeariy for rooted cuttings. Prices $6 per lOO, $50.00per lOOO. DISCOUNT FOR CASH WITH ORDER 



CARNATIONS. 



(A paper read before the Detroit Florist 

 Club by F^ed Stahelen.) 



Mr. Stahelen, after describing liis 

 houses built in 1903 and additions two 

 years later, continued as follows: 



My propagating bench is built of 

 1 ft. by 6 in. tamarack boards with 

 three hot water pipes underneath. Af- 

 ter whitewashing the inside of the 

 bench it is filled 2 in. deep with fine 

 cinders which are then covered with 

 3 in. more of coarse, clean sand lev- 

 elled and well packed. 



I try to select cuttings at the stage 

 when they are about 1-2 in. long or 

 more without any leaves, then cut as 

 small an amount as possible off the 

 base and still leave a nice clean sur- 

 face. If plenty of room is at hand on 

 propagating bench leave on all the 

 leaves except perhaps the small lower 

 ones. When cuttings are ready make 

 a rirt in the sand with a tableknlfe 

 and insert your cuttings 3-4 in. apart 

 in the row and the rows about 2 1-2 In. 

 apart. Spray the cuttings every day 

 until rooted and more often when 

 much ventilation is given. The cut- 

 tings should never see bright sunlight 

 until rooted and then they should be 

 potted up as soon as possible. I al- 

 ways plant them in flats for labor- 

 saving purposes and I believe this to 

 be just as good as potting them up. 

 The advantage of growing young car- 

 nations in flats over that in pots is 

 (1) a saving of labor; (2) they are 

 less apt to puffer from want of water, 

 which is worthy of consideration dur- 

 ing the spring rush of business; (31 

 about the last of April or beginning 

 of May they can be placed outside 

 where a water pipe is convenient. 

 This outdoor treatment with cool 

 nights brings stren.gth and vigor to 

 the young plants and makes them bet- 

 ter fitted for the planting in the field. 

 In case of frost a sheet of cotton is 

 spread over them for protection. 



Tbe best way to remove plants 

 from the box is to cut with a sharp 

 knife both ways between the rows of 

 plants, then hold tbe flat up on one 

 side, give it a sharp downward tap 

 upon a solid block, which will loosen 

 the plants easily and thfy ran be re 

 moved in good shape with all the soil 

 clinging to the nice mass of roots 

 which they always have. Such plants 

 with roots spreading out in every di- 

 rection are much more ready to take 

 hold than pot-bound plants. 



So far I have always planted out as 

 early a^ possible, sometimes commenc- 

 ing the last of April when we still 

 have hard frosts and I find the earliest 

 out always make the best plants. They 

 are planted 8 to 9 inches apart and 

 in rows 30 in. apart to allow horse- 

 cultivation. This should be done as 

 soon as possible after every rain. Top- 

 ping should never be overlooked to 

 prevent the plants producing a lot of 

 unnecessary buds, thereby wasting 

 their strength. There should never be 



CARNATION MAY. 



This is a seedling raised by Baur & 

 Smith, of Indianapolis, who send us 

 the following notes in description of 

 its various qualifications to trot in the 

 winning class. Mr. Baur naively adds 

 in postscript. "It has only two 

 parents!" 



"May is not a fancy exhibition prize 

 winner and will not displace En- 

 chantress in the fancy class. But it 

 is a strictly first class commercial 

 variety to grade with Lady Bountiful, 

 Victory, liawson, Winsor, etc., and 

 will prove a highly profitable sort. Its 



color is very pleasing, being deeper 

 and more even than Enchantress. 

 The bloom is also less crowded in the 

 center, which allows it to unfold 

 quickly and perfectly at all times. 

 Never splits the calyx, and the stem 

 is alwA-ys strong. Comes into bloom 

 early and is extremely free. Plant Is 

 strong and healthy and grows in 

 height about the same as Lady Bounti- 

 ful. Both parents were seedlings of 

 our own. We have a nice stock of it. 

 and expect to put it on the market 

 next season." 



more than 2 or 3 shoots topped off at 

 one time; doing this often helps much 

 to have plants in continuous bloom. 



Lifting and planting into tbe houses 

 should always be accomplished as 

 early as possible. I have planted in 

 August but would do it earlier if pos- 

 sible. By keeping plants well culti- 

 vated they can be taken up in almost 

 any kind of weather although a dry 

 time is best because the foliage is 

 rather hard and not easily injured by 

 wilting. I like to leave on a ball of 

 soil about 3 in. in diameter which, 

 when planted, helps to keep them 

 erect and from wilting badly the first 

 few days. The plants are sprayed 

 6nce or twice a day according to 

 v/eather, also kept well watered after 

 the roots have taken hold. At this 

 time it is necessary to keep the 



ground well watered but still not too 

 wet because the plants have not as 

 yet taken a strong hold and the soil 

 not being full of roots it is easily 

 and quickly soured; thorough cultiva- 

 tion will do much to avoid this and 

 therefore should be done often. 



As soon as growth commences the 

 r.hade on the houses should be re- 

 moved, plenty of ventilation given, 

 and the plants never allowed to suffer 

 from want of water. After the plants 

 are larger and beginning to bloom the 

 ground being full of roots helps much 

 to keep the soil sweet and it Is not 

 necessary to cultivate so often. 



Fumigating and syringing should be 

 well taken care of regularly, greenfly 

 and spider kept out of sight; nothing 

 causes so much annoyance and loss as 

 a good crop of these pests. 



