May 14, 1910 



HORTICULTURE 



729 



SEASONABLE NOTES ON CUL- 

 TURE OF FLORISTS' STOCK. 

 Baby Rambler. 



Nothing more attractive could be 

 suggested for massing in borders dur- 

 ing the summer than the Baby Ram- 

 bler rose. It also makes a fine pot 

 plant for the Easter trade and will sell 

 fast in all sizes and at all stages ot 

 growth. To have fine good-sized 

 bushy and vigorous plants for next 

 season's trade it is time now to make 

 a start. I have found that those grown 

 in pots all summer are much easier 

 to manage and give greater satisfac- 

 tion when forced than those that are 

 grown in the field. Young stock from 

 3 or 4-inch pots can be put into pots 

 of a size larger and shifted from pot 

 to pot as becomes necessary to keep 

 them in good growing condition. They 

 do well in a rich well-composted soil, 

 say about three parts of sod to two 

 parts of manure and a little bone at 

 the last shift. When growing fast they 

 will need plenty of water and syring- 

 ing once or twice a day. When they 

 show unmistakable signs of having 

 reached a point when no more growth 

 worth while takes place it is then 

 time to gradually let up in watering. 

 When planted in the field let them 

 have the best kind of soil in a freely 

 exposed situation, cultivate well and 

 pot up in October. 



Chrysanthemums for Large Speci- 

 mens. 



Plants intended for exhibition 

 should now be growing rapidly, and 

 must have every attention in the way 

 ot watering, ventilation, pinching and 

 tying up. In order to have large 

 plants in the fall they should now oc- 

 cupy at least a six-inch pot. It is very 

 important that the plants should not 

 suffer from being pot-bound, but at 

 the same time it is well to allow the 

 pots to fill up well with roots before 

 repotting. A good turfty loam with an 

 addition of one-third well-rotted cow 

 manure, and a sprinkling ot bone, is 

 a good compost to use. Keep your 

 exhibition plants under glass by all 

 means, at all times. Never allow 

 your plants to have to beg for water 

 and wilt, yet too much is just as in- 

 jurious as too little. Syringe every 

 sunny morning and again in the af- 

 ternoon on very warm days. Look out 

 carefully for aphis and fumigate reg- 

 ularly. When growing show plants 

 it is a good plan to start enough of 

 them so that it a few kinds turn out 

 faulty you can afford to discard them. 

 After the plants have reached the 

 height of about four inches they 

 should be pinched, and three shoots al- 

 lowed to grow; after they have made 

 about six inches more growth pinch 

 again, and allow three to each again 

 and so on according to the size ot the 

 plant required. Don't pinch after the 

 middle ot July. 



Ficus Elastica. 



Although the propagation of the 

 rbhber plant on extensive places is 

 carried on during a time when a con- 

 tinuous supply ot bottom heat can be 

 furnished, yet, tor the small grower 

 there Is no better time to Increase 

 his stock than the present. Lanky, 

 unsalable specimens. If you have such, 

 can be operated upon by the mossing 

 system. This is a favorable month for 



the operation. Select the leafy tops, 

 cutting the wood almost half through 

 on one side leaving about 8 or 10 in. 

 from the top, and inserting a piece of 

 gravel to keep the cut open; after the 

 bleeding has been stopped wash away 

 the gum and tie some sphagnum moss 

 around so as to entirely envelop the 

 stem where the cut has been made. If 

 the moss is made as large as a duck's 

 egg it will be sufficient. The moss 

 must be kept moist by frequent syr- 

 inging daily. In about 5 or 6 weeks 

 the white roots will show through the 

 ball of moss. The plants should be 

 allowed full time for the formation ot 

 abundance of roots before cutting 

 away the tops. They can then be pot- 

 ted and kept away from the sun and 

 draughts till they have rooted into the 

 soil. 



Marguerites. 

 This is a good time to propagate the 

 popular winter flowering daisies ot the 

 shrubby species. If this is done now 

 they will be in good shape to be plant- 

 ed out in the open field and will grow 

 and make fine stock for next winter's 

 flowering. Afford them good rich 

 soil, and pinch them so as to form 

 nice bushy plants. They should be 

 well cultivated during the summer, 

 and potted up early in the fall. When 

 resorting to pot culture repot during 

 the summer as they may require it 

 until an 8-inch pot is reached. Assign 

 them a sunny spot in the open ground 

 during the summer, sinking the pots 

 into the ground or some cool material. 

 See that they are sprinkled and 

 watered in a plentiful measure. 



The Lily Bed. 



Liliuni longiflorum and candidum 

 should find a place with every florist, 

 and many other species are beautiful 

 to grow where there is room. The 

 lily beds should now be looked after 

 carefully, removing the soil from over 

 the bulbs, and taking off the sets that 

 have formed at the base of the stem 

 the previous year. These can be 

 planted in some convenient place and 

 will make fiowering bulbs the coming 

 season. The beds require as much pro- 

 tection as far as mulching is concerned 

 in the summer as in the winter to get 

 the best results. The gi-ound should 

 always be kept moist and cool, and to 

 that end a mulching of freshly cut 

 grass or any other convenient material 

 that is not unsightly will accomplish 

 the purpose. If the beds are protected 

 in this manner both summer and win- 

 ter, the bulbs will produce nearly 

 three times as many flowers as when 

 grown in the usual way. The principal 

 thing to observe with lilies is to have 

 the beds well drained. When making 

 new beds they should be sheltered 

 from the scorching and drying influ- 

 ences of the sun's rays and it is better 

 to plant ep.rly in the autumn, so that 

 the roots may be at work all the fall, 

 and to select a cool, shady border, not 

 exhausted by the roots of trees or 

 shrubs. Some good types to grow are 

 IJlum Cp.nadense. croceum, excelsum, 

 poraponium, tenuiflorum, and Thun- 

 bergianum. 



Sweet Scented Geraniums. 

 The scented geraniums are valuable 

 plants for the florist. For making up 

 bouquets, and as a background tor but- 

 tonhole iiowers they are indispensable. 

 Cuttings should be put in now, and 

 grown on either in the field or in 



pots with an occasional shift through 

 the summer. Planted out on some 

 spare bench they will give a fine lot 

 of cuttings. 



JOHN J. M. FARRELL. 



Mr. Farrell's next notes will be on 

 Acacias, Growing Carnations Indoors, Be- 

 gonia Gloire de JLorralne, Memorial Day, 

 Udontoglossums, Primulas. 



CONDITIONS IN THE WEST. 

 March and April changed places and 

 all Nature turned crazy. March was 

 one of the most delightful months in 

 40 years. It was warm and mild with 

 no wind and no storms. Everything 

 was very forward. The first of April 

 was also mild. Then she seemed to 

 think she had forgotten something and 

 went back after it, bringing in fearful 

 blizzards and awful dust storms. For 

 10 days in succession old Boreas came 

 down in maniacal glee, wielding his 

 stinging lash. Fruit trees were in full 

 bloom and he reveled in his power for 

 harm. Many mornings the ground 

 was frozen. The second of May ground 

 and water froze. The swirling, biting, 

 cruel north wind raged at 40 miles an 

 hour. We had put out thousands of 

 evergreens. The drying winds caught 

 them and though thoroughly watered 

 many were dried up. One day we had 

 a genuine American sirocco — mercury, 

 100 in the shade, and two days after a 

 most cruel frost. 



We have 50,000 peonies, many of 

 them in exposed places. How they 

 were buffeted, twisted and lashed by 

 the furious winds, and yet there is a 

 promise of thousands for Decoration 

 Day. Some early sorts have bloomed 

 already. A tenuifolia was out on the 

 23d ot April. 



It has been the dryest spring on rec- 

 ord, only an inch of rain from Feb. 

 1st till into May, yet the ground was 

 so well saturated last fall that things 

 have not suffered much. We have im- 

 mense beds of perennials which have 

 been kept wet by water from a ■wind- 

 mill. Winds were so drying and fierce 

 we had to water beds twice a day. 

 Looking it all over, however, the 

 losses have not been so very severe. 

 The drouth has now been broken by a 

 heavy rain of 24 hours duration. 

 Transplanted stock suffered some. 

 Leaves have been killed on many trees 

 and shrubs, but they will come out 

 again. 



It has been a fine spring tor work. 

 Not a day lost till now. Leaves on 

 the trees are coming out again and 

 the country will soon forget its tearful 

 scourging. 



Sales have been heavy. Men have 

 been worked to the utmost limit We 

 are making York a headquarters for 

 evergreens, ornamentals and peren- 

 nials, and have planted an immense 

 amount of stock, which Is looking fair- 

 ly well. C. S. HARRISON. 



A commission appointed by the gov- 

 ernment of Nova Scotia to investigate 

 and determine the advisability of a 

 compulsory provincial eight-hour law, 

 has just made a report to the effect 

 that such a law would be a fatal blow 

 to the industrial prospects of the 

 Province. Consul-Greneral James W. 

 Ragsdale, ot Halifax, forwards a syn- 

 opsis of the report, which is filed for 

 reference in the Bureau ot Manufac- 

 tures. 



