818 



HORTICULTURE 



December 11, 1909 



Progress in Geraniums 



NO. II. 



. At these geranium farms where thousands of stock 

 plants are grown the real business of propagation com- 

 mence? about the middle of September when the cool 

 night.= are supposed to put in their appearance, for a 

 geranium emitting will not always live when the ther- 

 mometer hovers around the nineties; they are very 

 apt to get Ihe black rot, especially if they are the least 

 bit over watered or if the cuttings are soft; and yet, 

 good strides can be made in the summer. The wood 

 .should be in a fairly hard condition; wood that is 

 ju.«t about showing a bud is generally in good shape. 

 Cuttings should be short-jointed, about 2 inches long, 

 cut just above the first small leaf, the first leaf cut 

 off and the other trimmed about one-half. If they are 

 wanted as routed cuttings, the sand should be about 

 3 inches deep on the table and of a good, sharp quality, 

 firmly packed. After the cuttings are planted they are 

 given a good watering and then not watered again un- 

 til they are rather dry, and must be kept on the dry 

 side until rooted. In some places these arc potted four 

 or six in a pot and grown for a short time before being 

 sent out; at other places they are left in the cutting 

 bencli until they are well-rooted and ready to ship 

 away. 



Where the business of growing and slupping 2-in. 

 pot plants is carried on the stock is grown in the same 

 way as for cutting trade. Cuttings are prepared in 

 the same way, but instead of putting them on the 

 cutting bench they are firmly potted in 2-in. pots in 

 a light candy loam. They are then taken directly to 

 the grcenliouse and given a thorough watering, which, 

 ifproperly done, will not have to be repeated for at 

 leaFt ten days, when the cuttings should be showing 

 root? through the soil to the edge of the pot. They 

 are tlion watered and handed over and all dead leaves 

 and litler removed. In about three or four weeks tbe 

 I)lants iiT'e ready for shipment. They are knocked out 

 of the pots, about one third of the soil removed, and 

 then wiapjjed 2 or 3 together in a bundle with moss 

 at tbe roots. Whenever the weather will permit they 

 are packed upright in slatted boxes for shipment. In 

 the winter they are packed lying down in a paper-lined 

 box and in this manner they will carry for several 

 dajs in good condition. 



A nuarier of a century ago we had our Queen of the 

 West, single General Grant, known generally as the 

 single light red, and the single dark red; then we had 

 our dark red, brick red, light pink, and deep pink, 

 single and double, and such appellations as in our own 

 estimation best suited the special variety. On very 

 few places was there any attempt at proper nomencla- 

 ture, so that the result was confusion in the extreme 

 when new stock was needed, and the confusion became 

 even greater when stock was sold. We are glad to note 

 that this condition of affairs is to a great extent being 

 remedied and that nearly everywhere geraniums are 

 now grown under their proper name. 



Among those which ought to be in every first class 

 ■collection and which have been introduced during the 

 past quaifer of a century are such varieties as Alphonse 

 Eieard introduced by Braunt in 1894, having large 



semi-donblc flowers, often measuring 2 inches in di- 

 ameter, produced in enormous trusses, on long stalks, 

 and =0 freely as to almost conceal the foliage; in fact 

 almt'St e\'eiy joint produces a flower. It is a semi-dwarf, 

 robust grower, foliage large and of good te.xture and 

 slightly zoned. In this class of scarlet we might men- 

 tion I'eter Henderson — a rather more upright grower; 

 Pres. Bnillet, a little darker in color and more heavily 

 zoned. These are all good all around varieties either 

 as pot plants or for bedding. 



In the salmon we would mention Beaute Poitevine, 

 another of Bruant introductions, which is a true rep- 

 resentative of the type of short-jointed, robust grower, 

 free-[lov.'Gring and first class in every respect. In this 

 color we have Anais Segalas, a 1906 introduction, not 

 so well known, but a favorite when ever seen ; enormous 

 trusses freely produced. Mme. Landry is one of the 

 choicest and handsomest of this class, a bright rosy 

 salmon color. We have seen trusses of this kind that 

 would measure 20 inches in circumference. Mrs. Law- 

 rence IS indispensible as a light salmon pot plant, of 

 dwarf, compact habit of growth, wonderfully free in 

 flowering and strongly recommended for winter bloom- 

 ing; a great favorite at Covent Garden market, Lon- • 

 don. In the pink class there have been so many note- 

 worthy introductions within the last few years that it 

 is really a question which is the best. M. Anatole 

 Rosnlour. a beautiful rose pink with a distinct white 

 center, has been the most admired of any we have, and 

 will urquestinably soon be a universal favorite, super- 

 ,«eding all others, even the grand old favorites — Miss 

 F. Perkins and Mme. Barney. Bertha de Presilly is 

 a silver pink which is a fit companion to that great, 

 dark red bedding variety — S. A. Nutt. In 1905 when 

 Mr. Bruant disseminated Dagata he said that it repre- 

 sejited the highest development of geraniums at that 

 time and so far we have had no reason to dispute the 

 claim. It is an exquisite shade of mauve rose with a 

 larae blotch of white at the base of upper petals; the 

 individual flowers and trusses are immense. 



Fleur Blanc, Bruant 1905, was the first pure white 

 of the Bruant race and was a grand acquisition to the 

 already splendid set of semi-double white, including 

 such grand varieties as Mme. Recamier, Mme. Buchner, 

 IMadoiir.a and others. 



Among those reds which may be specially classed as 

 bedders we have S. A. Nutt — the best known and most 

 us(!d geranium we have; John Doyle, Gen. Grant and 

 t^9t\- 'i- Castellane, are all universal favorites, too well 

 known to need a special description. Col. Thomas, 

 Brt. 1906, is a most magnificent addition to this list 

 and one that is destined soon to rank among the 

 highe=t grade of standard geraniums, an attractive 

 shade of deep cardinal red. 



jMme. Jaulin, 1904, and Jean Oberlee, Brt. 1906, are 

 in ^n entire different shade, best described as peach 

 pink; Mme. Jaulin is a true representative of the 

 llniant type, heavy foliage, semi-dwarf, vigorous, short 

 jointed growers, with large trusses. Jean Oberlee is 

 an CNMuisite shade of hydrangea pink, shading tender- 

 ly to almost pure white at the outer edge of each petal. 

 Its habit is exceptionally strong and vigorous. The 

 trusses are actiially immense and undoubtedly it has 

 a great future. 



White Marsh, Md. 



(To be continued.) 



