152 



HORTICULTURE 



January 29, 1910 



A Retail Florists' Cyclopaedia 



An elegant book of 72 pages and cover — illustrating and describing 

 every requisite required by the up-to-date florist — with all the latest 

 novelties in ribbons and supplies gathered from all parts of the world: — 



The New Rice Catalogue 



Mailed free to every one in the trade enclosing their business card, 

 and mentioning this paper. The edition is limited and very expensive 

 therefore application should be made at once. We are not only dealers 

 and importers but 



Originators and Manufacturers 



Our catalogue tells you the whole truth and nothing but the truth, 

 and is an indispensible adjunct of every flower store. 



M. RICE & CO. 



LEADING] 



FLORISTS' SUPPLY HOUSE 



Of America 



1220 RACE STREET 



Phila. 



SEASONABLE NOTES ON CUL- 

 TURE OF FLORISTS' STOCK. 

 Potting Carnations. 

 Carnations, whether old or new va- 

 rieties, should be left in long enough 

 to have a good bunch of roots formed 

 before they are potted. When the root- 

 lets are one-half to three-fourths of an 

 inch in length they should be potted 

 without delay as the sand contains no 

 nutritive properties to speak of. The 

 growth that they will make after suffi- 

 cient roots have been made is of a 

 weak nature and low in vitality. Soil 

 suitable for potting should be fresh, 

 that has been exposed to the weather. 

 If very heavy lighten it up with a lit- 

 tle sand and some old rotten manure. 

 Screen it through a half-inch mesh, 

 and the soil should be made moist if 

 too dry. It should be so that it will 

 press together well when potting, but 

 should not be too wet. As deep pot- 

 ting tends to rot the stem, put the root 

 crown only about a half-inch below 

 the surface of the soil, just deep 

 enough to hold the plant upright. 

 Press the soil firmly and see that the 

 pots are not too full, but leave a little 

 loose soil on the top to prevent bak- 

 ing. It the soil is in the proper state, 

 watering so as to fill the pots once 

 should be enough. An hour or two 

 after watering knock one of the pots 

 out and see whether it has been wet 

 to the bottom. If not, then immediate- 

 ly water again. After that give water 

 only when needed to keep the soil fair- 

 ly moist, not wet. Select a bench 

 where the plants will have plenty of 

 ventilation and a full exposure to the 

 sun and place the pots on ashes or 

 some other suitable material to main- 

 tain good drainage. Shade them from 



the sun for a few days, and after the 

 third day shade a little later in the 

 morning and remove a little earlier in 

 the afternoon. By the end of a week 

 they can have full sun all day. Dur- 

 ing bright weather the young stock 

 should be carefully tended as regards 

 watering, syringing and ventilation. 



Grafting Roses. 



It is after the stock has been placed 

 in the grafting case that the principal 

 work pertaining to success begins. 

 Practically the case should be air tight 

 and piped so that a minimum of SO de- 

 grees can be maintained. The sand or 

 ashes in the grafting case must be 

 thoroughly saturated and see that the 

 pots are medium moist. Sprinkle the 

 plants with a very fine spray over- 

 head, and close the case immediately 

 afterwards. In ordinary cases they 

 will require no more spraying for five 

 or six days; neither will they need 

 any ventilation. When the callus has 

 formed — which will be in about five 

 days — they will require a little ventila- 

 tion; but this should be administered 

 with great care. Have a strict lookout 

 and don't put on too much air at once. 

 By carefully studying the conditions 

 and gradually increasing the amount 

 of air from day to day, in about 

 twenty-five or thirty days the sashes 

 can be entirely removed. In about a 

 month the roses can be removed to 

 the bench. Here they will require ex- 

 tra care in watering, ventilation, syr- 

 inging and especially in shading for a 

 week in order to make success com- 

 plete. When the bark begins to swell 

 examine the tying material to see it 

 does not cut into the scion; and re- 

 move any suckers that chance to make 

 their appearance. 



Shrubs for Easter. 

 Pot-grown shrubs will be much more 

 satisfactory to force than nursery- 

 grown stock that has been potted up. 

 Plants named in this list such as 

 Azalea mollis, Amygdalus flora rubra, 

 Deutzia gracilis and D. Lemoinei, li- 

 lacs, Cydonia japonica, Spiraea Van 

 Houttei, wiegelas, magnolias and rho- 

 dodendrons should be placed in a mod- 

 erately warm house to start their 

 growth. It is always best to force all 

 these in the early rather than the late 

 stages of growth. From fifty-five to 

 sixty degrees at night now, with a 

 cooler temperature when the flowers 

 come out. should be given. But every 

 grower will have to use his own judg- 

 ment as to more or less heat, as the 

 occasion seems to demand, as the 

 weeks progress. Magnolias, spiraeas, 

 and weigelas, as a rule, will take a 

 little longer time than the other va- 

 rieties to develop. 



Hybrid Perpetual Roses. 

 These should have been started by 

 the first week in January as the Easter 

 date is very early this year. When 

 Easter arrives later, and on the ap- 

 proach of the natural flowering time of 

 hybrid perpetual roses, the less time 

 it will take for them to show their 

 bloom. With the most important floral 

 date falling early this year, more time 

 must be allowed in order to have them 

 in perfection by Easter week. It Is 

 better not to prune, say for ten days 

 or until the buds break; you can then 

 tell better how and where to cut off 

 the canes so as not to have a leggy 

 and scant appearance. If the stems 

 are left too long, they will not break 

 evenly all over; and if pruned too 

 low you are very apt to leave eyes that 



