February IP, 1910 



HORTICUL rURE 



261 



SEASONABLE NOTES ON CULTURE 

 OF FLORISTS' STOCK. 

 Ardisia crenulata. 

 There are few plants that give more 

 general satisfaction to the Christinas 

 buyer than the ardisia. They will pay 

 you well. They germinate readily in 

 a mixture of fine soil and peat in equal 

 parts, with the addition of some sand. 

 Phmge in bottom heat and keep the 

 soil moderately moist. They can be 

 increased by cutting and by "top- 

 ping," cutting the stem about half way 

 through with a sharp knife and cov- 

 ering the incision with clean moss tied 

 with raffia or soft string. The moss 

 must be kept continually moist. 

 Place the plants in a warm house and 

 roots will be emitted in about five or 

 six weeks, when the tops can be re- 

 moved from the old plants and potted, 

 only requiring to be kept a little close 

 for a few days in order to become es- 

 tablished plants. 



Mignonette. 

 The mignonette bench should not be 

 neglected. After the crop has been 

 cut and the spikes have begun to form, 

 liquid manure about once every ten 

 days will be found very beneficial. See 

 that they don't become dry at the root. 

 Don't allow the spikes to fall about 

 on the bench and become crooked. 

 Keep the temperature from 45 to 50 

 degrees at night with plenty of air 

 on all favorable occasions. With 

 proper attention to tieing, disbudding 

 and feeding, good cutting will con- 

 tinue up to June. The spikes will be 

 greatly improved if cut twenty-four 

 hours and placed in a cool place be- 

 fore using. 



Petunias. 

 Petunias are particularly valuable 

 for the retail gi'ower who has bed- 

 ding, window boxes or vases to fill. 

 The double sorts make nice blooming 

 plants in four or five-inch pots. Seed 

 should be sown now of both single 

 and double kinds in a light, sandy soil 

 in heat. Cover the seed only slightly. 

 The seedlings should be pricked out 

 or potted off as soon as large enough 

 to handle. Good strains of seeds sup- 

 ply plants suitable for bedding; but as 

 they do not reproduce themselves ex- 

 actly, any sorts particularly required 

 must be propagated, like the double 

 ones, from cuttings. Strong cuttings 

 taken from cut back plants which 

 have been kept in a fairly warm house, 

 will root freely now and will grow 

 good from now onward. When ready 

 to pot off use 2%-inch pots, with a 

 light mixture of soil, with some leaf- 

 mould and sand added. A light sunny 

 position is desirable with a tempera- 

 ture of 50 to 55 degrees at night. 

 Plants for Memorial Day. 

 It is a little less than three months 

 until Memorial Day. Lilies should 

 now be just making their appearance 

 through the ground to be in season for 

 this holiday. Give them a night tem- 

 perature of about 50 to 55 degrees and 

 don't water too freely until they are 

 well pot-bound. Every florist should 

 have a nice lot of Japan lilies for this 

 date. They are just suited for this 

 occasion. Easter lilies which are not 

 very far advanced can be held back ' 

 by removing them to a cool house and 

 they will come in for Memorial Day 

 without very much forcing. Spiraea 

 Japonica and its various forms should 

 be potted a,nd placed under the bench 

 of any cool house where they can be 



NEW CARNATION LADY ALGIE. 



In a recent issue we gave a brief 

 notice of this new carnation. We now 

 have the pleasure of presenting a por- 

 trait of the flower. The raiser, A. H. 

 Wingett, of Lenox, Mass., writes us 

 as follows about Lady Algie: 



"fiady Algie promises to be a real 

 good thing. I have had it for three 

 years and it shows no variation what- 

 ever. The color is a most attractive 



salmon pink and it has the vigor of 

 its parent. Beacon, which we all con- 

 cede as the best scarlet flowering car- 

 nation extant. Flowers are borne on 

 stems from 2% to 3 feet and will av- 

 erage 3% in. across. This variety was 

 named for Lady Algernon Gordon 

 Lennox, at her especial request, she 

 having admired it, as she saw it grow- 

 ing here last October." 



making roots slowly. Hydrangeas 

 should be started right away to have 

 them right. Such plants as zonal gera- 

 niums, show pelargoniums, fuchsias, 

 begonias^ < candytuft, and stocks, all 

 come iii good for this occasion. 

 Salvia. 



There "is hardly a bedding plant 

 more popular than the salvia. It pays 

 the retail grower as good as most 

 plants. The stock plants that have 

 been carried over and are producing 

 an abundance of cuttings can be placed 

 in sand now where they will have a 

 little bottom heat and kept shaded for 

 a short time they will root. The pro- 

 pagation of salvia by cutting is neces- 

 sary where they are wanted true to 

 name, especially the dwarf sorts. Seed 

 that is sown now in a little bottom 

 heat and transferred to flats or pots 

 as soon as they develop a second pair 

 of leaves will generally produce ex- 

 cellent plants witli some bloom on by 

 the middle of May. 



Stocks and Candytuft. 



Sow stocks now in shallow flats in 

 some light, sandy soil, covering the 

 seeds lightly, and do not allow the 

 seedlings to dry out. They should be 



transplanted from the seed flats while 

 they are quite small, as their slender 

 root soon extends to such a distance 

 in the soil that they cannot be taken 

 up without loss of some of the fine 

 rootlets. It is better to sow several 

 times for succession. Candytuft is 

 also one of the most useful plants for 

 flowers. In a remarkably short time 

 the plants will become covered with 

 flowers. They both love a cool house 

 and require about the same, culture. 



Vincas. 



If you have some large clumps of 

 vincas, say in 5 or 6-inch pots, you can 

 increase your stock by dividing them 

 in half and planting in 4 or 5-inch 

 pots, using good rich soil. They will 

 make fine plants by planting time. 

 Now is a good time also to work up 

 a supply of strong plants for another 

 year by putting in cuttings. Take 

 them off with .a heel from the base 

 of the plants, and put in sand; they 

 will soon root. Don't top them as 

 tops do not root so well. When ready 

 pet them off and plant out in the 

 spring in open ground and they will 

 make fine stock for another year. 



JOHN J. M. PARRBLL. 



