September 27, 1913 



HORTICULTUEE 



429 



NOTES ON CULTURE OF FLORISTS' STOCK 



CONDUCTBa> BY 



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Questions liy our readers in line with any of the topics presented on tliis page wili be cordially received and promptly answered 

 by Mr. Farrell. Such communications should Invariably be addressed to the office of HORTICULTURE. 



Care of Carnations 



Look after the disbudding from now on. Not only 

 will it enlarge the bloom, but it will also help to stiffen 

 the stems. If disbudding is ever needed it is needed at 

 this season, when the carnation is naturally not at its 

 best. The second tier of wire and string supports will 

 now be needed, so the stems will grow straight and up- 

 right. Some of the taller ones will also soon need the 

 third support. It can be put on first as easily now as 

 later and it is not in the way, so put it in place as soon 

 as convenient. One great mistake which inexperienced 

 growers often make is to close the ventilators tight in 

 the evening after a bright day, thinking to corral a lot 

 of heat in a house, to keep it warm over night. Not only 

 will this always fail to accomplish the desired result, 

 but there is no surer way of starting leaf-spot, or many 

 diseases that are so much complained of these days. I 

 have believed in ventilation continually for years and I 

 still find that plenty of fresh air is the best preventive 

 of disease. It makes no difference whether the temper- 

 ature is abnormally high or low, fresh air will aid the 

 plants to bear the unnatural conditions. 



Forcing Spanish Iris 



Spanish iris may be phmted now or even in October, 

 in boxes about 5 inches deep and of convenient size for 

 handling. Use a compost of old hotbed manure and 

 sandy loam or a similar mixture. Plant deep enough 

 so that the upper tips are exposed just a little after 

 watering. Cover the boxes with hay or straw to keep 

 in the moisture. Set the boxes out in frames and cover 

 with sash when it becomes necessary, protecting enough 

 to keep the tips from freezing. Bring into the house 

 for forcing in January or February, giving a moist at- 

 mosphere and a temperature of 45 to 50 degrees. Bring 

 in at different times to secure a succession of bloom. The 

 time required to obtain blooms will be about six or eight 

 weeks. Do not let them become dry at the root and 

 keep the floors damped down to produce needed moisture 

 in the atmosphere. To insure finer flower heads give 

 some liquid manure once a week and then increase to 

 twice a week until the blooms show color. Keep plenty 

 of ventilation on all occasions as this is one of the most 

 important points in growing fine iris. 



Hardy Stock for Spring Sales 



All florists who handle perennials for spring trade 

 will easily recognize the value of having a good lot of 

 this stock in pots. Stock that you have planted in the 

 field is all right for planting while dormant, but where 

 the planting season is prolonged for weeks, which is 

 always the case, this is where pot plants fill the bill. 

 Now is the time to attend to this work. Dig them up 

 now and pot in 4 or 5-inch pots in good soil and place 

 them in a frame where later on when the hard weather 

 comes they can have some protection. Give them water 

 and attention until they get thoroughly rooted. Along 

 in January you can bring them into some very cool house 

 and grow on slowly. These plants will command 

 a good price in the spring. 



Mr. FarrcU's next notes will be on the following: Irises; LlUum 



Stock Plants. 



Poinsettias in Pans 



Now is the time to make up pans of poinsettias. 

 "Pan" is hardly the right term. The seed-pan is too 

 shallow. The azalea pot, or "half-pot," as it is better 

 known, is the correct thing. These half-pots should be 

 made up from small plants in Sy2-inch pots. It is not 

 safe to make them up from plants taken from the cut- 

 ting-bed, as some may start to grow strongly and others 

 only feebly. Select plants which have been well-rooted 

 in the little pots, plants of about equal height and vigor, 

 short-jointed and of firm growth. An 8-inch pan will 

 meet with the readiest sale and next a 9-inch and 10- 

 iiich. A few larger than this can be filled, but there will 

 l)e much less demand for them. An 8-inch will make 

 room for six plants; a 9-inch, seven plants, and a 10- 

 inch nine plants. If you want any 6-inch or 7-inch pans 

 wait three weeks before filling them, because if filled too 

 early the soil will become exhausted before time to sell, 

 and exhaustion of soil means a loss of foliage. Although 

 the poinsettia is a tropical plant and should not be al- 

 lowed to be in a house below 60 degrees at any time, the 

 loss of foliage is not so often caused by low temperature 

 as by impoverishment of the soil ; so the soil for the pans 

 should be rich. A rather coarse heavy manure and a 

 •j-inch jjot of bone meal to a bushel of the compost will 

 do quite well. 



Timely Propagating 



If you are among those who are anxious to work up a 

 large stock of certain plants in the bedding line, or wdsh 

 lo propagate a large number of certain varieties from a 

 small stock on hand, it is not too early to get started. 

 The present is the proper time to propagate coleus, as 

 well as alternanthera, perilla, achyranthes, verbenas, 

 petunias, salvias, heliotropes, fuchsias, German ivy, etc. 

 All will root in a short time. For altemantheras it is 

 better to use flats of convenient size, about 3 or 3 inches 

 ill depth, using either sandy soil or a layer of soil in the 

 bottom and a layer of sand on top. Insert the cuttings 

 of about 2^/2 inches in length, and they can remain in 

 these flats all winter. They will stand practically still 

 all winter, and require a rather dry atmosphere to keep 

 in good shape until spring comes, when, with longer 

 (lays and a little bottom heat, they will soon make up 

 for lost time. Altemantheras should be kept in a 

 house where the temperature is about 65 degrees at night 

 and a high degree of moisture in the atmosphere is 

 needed for them to do anything like well. 

 Oxalis 



These make good pot plants for winter flowering, with 

 their graceful mass of bright cloverlike foliage, and end- 

 less array of golden-hued flowers throughout the winter 

 and spring. Dormant bulbs of the different varieties 

 should now be planted. The pans or pots should con- 

 tain sufficient coarse material in the bottom to help drain 

 off any surplus of moisture that may be in the soil. Give 

 them a porous and somewhat sandy soil, liberally en- 

 riched with well-rotted manure. Place two or three 

 bulbs in a four-inch pan and keep in a temperature of 

 55 degrees at night. 



Formosum; Otahelte Orange; Orchids; Peonies; Chrysanthemum 



