June 18, 1910 



HORTICULTURE 



1)15 



SEASONABLE NOTES ON CUL- 

 TURE OF FLORISTS' STOCK. 

 Callas. 



By ibis time the floworing period of 

 this useful plant should be at an end. 

 It is very important that the bulbs 

 should be treated to a good period of 

 rest, that they may have time to re- 

 cuperate for another period of flower- 

 ing. This can be done by laying the 

 pots on their sides in some warm sun- 

 ny po.sition, and letting them rest un- 

 til the end of .July or up to the middle 

 of August. If you want to increase 

 your stocl< you can plant out a quan- 

 tity of the small offsets or bulblets 

 in some rich soil and they will in- 

 crease surprisingly in size by the fall, 

 when they can be carefully lifted so 

 as not to injure the roots. If they are 

 watered and shaded for a few days, 

 they will grow quite fast and make 

 good stock in time. 



Fuchsias. 



If you have not already selected 

 some plants of all the varieties that 

 are most desirable, you should lose no 

 time in doing so. You can grow them 

 on either under glass or outside so as 

 to produce large plants for next win- 

 ter's propagation. If grown on vigor- 

 ously you will have fine wood matured 

 by September. Then give them a rest 

 of about six weeks in some cool house, 

 and withhold water, that is to say, 

 give them only enough to keep the 

 wood from shriveling, and then you 

 can start growth in a good brisk heat 

 and you will have cuttings that will 

 grow into fine flowering plants. But 

 if you don't have well ripened wood 

 to produce cuttings in the winter time 

 you will never be successful in having 

 good salable plants. 



Lycastes. 



Of the easily grown orchids none are 

 more admired for their beauty than 

 the lycastes. When growth begins 

 they should have abundance of water. 

 Even during its season of rest they 

 should never be allowed to become too 

 dry at the roots. They do well in pots 

 or pans half-filled with clean pieces 

 of broken crocks. They like a com- 

 post of live sphagnum and good 

 fibrous peat and some broken charcoal. 

 As with the greater number of epi- 

 phytes, moisture and heat afford all 

 or nearly all the nourishment they re- 

 quire. 'The cool orchid house that is 

 set apart for the accommodation of the 

 many lovely mountain species from 

 South America, will suit this genus. 

 Among the numerous varieties Lycaste 

 Skinnerii is undoubtedly the best 

 bloomer. It lasts a long time in per- 

 fection if care is taken to keep the 

 flowers from getting damp. Lycaste 

 cruenta and Harrisonijp are also very 

 good. 



Palms. 



This is the season when palms make 

 their best growth and the growers' 

 chief aim now should be to have his 

 palms which are used in decorations 

 tor various festive occasions in the 

 best possible condition. Don't keep 

 the glass too densely shaded, and 

 guard against an over-stagnant humid- 

 ity, which is only likely to occur at 

 this season of the year and is bound 

 to produce a soft and flabby growth. 

 They should have on all favorable op- 

 portunities an aljundance of ventila- 

 tion. All bug or scale-ridden plants 



Exhibit of Cut Orchiks by Joseph A. Manda at Boston Orchid Show 



should be given a thorough cleaning 

 and if possible kept by themselves. 

 Syringing should now bo in order to 

 prevent bug and scale from gaining a 

 firm foothold. Palms that are exces- 

 sively pot-bound should now be re- 

 potted — those of advanced age and 

 young stock that may require it. thin- 

 ning and spreading out the different 

 sizes and grades so as to expose them 

 to the wholesome available light and 

 air. They should not be crowded in- 

 to closely packed quarters now, while 

 vegetation is so active. By frequent 

 spreading out at intervals from now 

 up to the fall, you will have your 

 palms in good condition to meet any 

 demand that may come your way. 



Perennial Candytuft. 



Iberis sempervirens and its varieties 

 merit a place in all collections. They 

 have an excellent constitution with 

 free flowering qualities, surpassed by 

 but a few border plants for covering 

 spaces or planting on the front of a 

 Hower border. They are of easy cul- 

 tivation and will grow in almost any 

 soil. The flowers of Iberis Snowflake 

 are individually large, of the purest 

 white, and produced with the greatest 

 freedom. When they have become well 

 established a fine lot of bloom is the 

 result. Now is a good time to increase 

 your stock by taking cuttings, which 

 root very easily if taken off at any 

 time during the summer, and put in 

 some frame where they can be kept 

 close for a few days. Where there is 

 trade for effective spring bedding, this 

 plant will prove of a great value to 

 any florist. 



Sowing Fern Spores. 



This is a very good time to make 

 a beginning to replenish your fern 

 stock, as ferns sell good in all sizes. 

 It is remarkable how rapidly nearly 

 all species grow into nice salable 

 plants from spores. Most of all the 

 popular ferns are usually thus in- 

 creased. The spores should be sown 

 in well-drained seed pans on the sur- 

 face of a mixture of fibrous sifted 



peat, loam, leaf mold and some sand. 

 This soil should be firmly pressed and 

 well watered, and then the spores 

 should be scattered evenly over the 

 soil and at once covered with a glass 

 so as to prevent water or the dry 

 air getting to the surface. When wat- 

 ering the pans they should be placed 

 up to near the rim in a tub of water 

 and left there till they absorb it to 

 the surface. They should be placed in 

 some desirable shady place. When the 

 young plants can be handled, or rather 

 lifted with the end of a pointed fiat 

 stick, they should be pricked out into 

 well-drained pans filled with similar 

 soil. What they will need then is a 

 sufficient amount of moisture at their 

 roots and the atmosphere should be 

 kept moist also. As they become large 

 enough, they can be potted into thumb 

 or 2-inch pots. 



JOHN J. M. FARRELL. 

 Mr. Farrell's next notes will be on the 

 following: Asparagus Sprengeri, Bougaln- 

 vMleas, Care of Planted and' Plunged-Out 

 Stork, Cinerarias, Pelargoniums. Poin- 

 sel tias. 



WELL-KNOWN ESTATE CHANGES 

 HANDS. 



The estate of John H. Taylor at 

 Bayside, New York, has been sold to 

 the Draper Realty Co., a syndicate of 

 which George O. Draper, cousin of 

 Governor Draper of Massachusetts, is 

 president, and Wm. McConnell. secre- 

 tary. Mr. Taylor retains an interest 

 as the second largest stockholder. It 

 is the intention to develop the prop- 

 erty as a high class residential district 

 on the same lines as Tuxedo, under 

 the supervision of Alfred S. G. Taylor, 

 w-ho is a graduate of Harvard and Co- 

 lumbia and Beaux Arts of Paris in 

 landscape and general architecture. 

 The well-known rose houses will be 

 continued and will be remodelled and 

 brought thoroughly up-to-date. 



The property comprises over 300 

 acres. It has been in the hands of 

 John H. Taylor since 18S1 and of his 

 family since 1863. Mr. Taylor and 

 family sailed for an extended European 

 tour, June 11, on S. S. Vaterland. 



