July 2, 1910 



HORTICULTURE 



SEASONABLE NOTES ON CULTURE 

 OF FLORISTS' STOCK. 

 Hollyhocks. 

 There are very few old-fashioned 

 flowers capable of being used with bet- 

 ter effect than the varieties of Althaea 

 rosea, both single and double. Florists 

 are often asked for something to break 

 up formal lines in shrubbery, hiding 

 untidy corners, or for the purpose of 

 forming a background for smaller 

 growing plants, and for all this work 

 the hollyhock is invaluable. Sow now 

 and you will have better stock than 

 from those sown in August. Procure a 

 good strain of seed in colors — crimson, 

 pink, white, yellow, etc. They can be 

 sown in Hats or cold frame and when 

 large enough transplant 5 or 6 inches 

 apart where they can be protected with 

 sash for about four months of winter 

 weather. If you have room they can 

 be pricked out in flats and then potted 

 up in 21/2-inch pots and by the end of 

 September they can be shifted into 4- 

 inch pots. Keep them plunged out in 

 a cold frame till the weather gets very 

 cold, then winter in the coolest house 

 you have, and by spring you will have 

 good stock. Look out and spray with 

 ammoniacal solution for disease. 



Housing the Carnation. 



From now up to August 15, is con- 

 sidered a good time to plant carna- 

 tions, but later than this date is sure 

 to be a loss to the next season's crop 

 of flowers. Do not delay any longer 

 than necessary. You cannot be too 

 thorough as to house cleaning. When 

 the soil has been removed, sweep and 

 wash the bench thoroughly. If there 

 is any painting or repairing to be done 

 then is the time to attend to it. Make 

 provision for a good whitewashing for 

 the inside of the benches as it acts as 

 a disinfectant, destroyer of disease 

 germs and a preserver of wood as well. 

 The plants should be in a semi-hard- 

 ened condition, which will be after a 

 week or two of bright dry weather. If 

 you have had abundant rains lately 

 don't be in a hurry about housing the 

 plants, but wait for a dry spell. A 

 good shading on your house of some 

 material that with a couple of rains 

 will wash off makes it better for man 

 and plant. The plants should be kept 

 covered closely so as to protect them 

 from sun and wind until they are 

 planted. When watering apply only 

 just around the plants until the roots 

 are well through the soil, when the 

 whole bed can be watered. Syringe on 

 all favorable occasions. 



Ivies. 



English ivy will be found very use- 

 ful for vases, veranda-boxes and bas- 

 kets. Plants in 3 or 4-ineh pots by 

 next spring will be in demand. Now 

 is the time to make a start to increase 

 stock. Planted out from 2-inch pots 

 now, about 6 inches apart, and grown 

 on until October they can be lifted and 

 potted into 3 or 4-inch pots. They 

 may be wintered under any bench of 

 a cool house. This is also a good 

 time to grow some vincas for next 

 spring's trade, as there is an increas- 

 ing demand for good strong plants. 

 Two and a half-inch stock may be 

 planted out now in good rich soil until 

 it becomes necessary to remove them 

 to the greenhouse, when you can pot 



some into 4-inch pots; the others you 

 can divide up so as to get them into 

 2%-inch pots. The tops can be cut off 

 to winthin 4 inches of the pots. They 

 like a cool light house and by Febru- 

 ary can be shifted into 3 or 4-inch and 

 given a place on the edge of a bench 

 where they can grow naturally and if 

 occasionally given some manure water 

 they will Increase their growth won- 

 derfully. 



Nepenthes. 



If you have any nepenthes that have 

 become too large or unsightly you can 

 cut them down. Single eyes make the 

 best plants. A good way to root is to 

 take single-eyed cuttings, put the end 

 into the hole at the base of a thumb 

 pot, then fill the pot with sphagnum 

 moss and set the pots in a propagating 

 frame. When the cuttings are well- 

 rooted the pots can be broken and the 

 plants put in a crib and hung up in a 

 warm moist house where they will 

 get well established. They can also be 

 propagated with cuttings of 3 or 4 

 eyes placed in some sand and kept 

 moist and in about four weeks they 

 will root. An atmosphere fairly reek- 

 ing with moisture is what they like. 



Primulas. 



The various species that were sown 

 in May should now be looked after and 

 pricked or potted as they may require. 

 Wh<?n they have made leaves about an 

 inch long they are just right for 2 or 

 21/i-inch pots. A good compost to use, 

 is two parts loam, one part sifted cow 

 manure, one part leaf-mold and some 

 sand, so as to make a good open soil. 

 Place them in a frame during the sum- 

 mer, raising the sash back and front, 

 for they like plenty of air. See that 

 the glass is well shaded and keep them 

 as near the glass as possible. By Sep- 

 tember they should be in their flower- 

 ing size. A 4 or 5-inch pot makes a 

 good salable size. Seed sow^n now will 

 make fine flowering plants by next 

 spring. 



Oncidiums. 



An extensive genus of epiphytal or- 

 chids including many flue and showy 

 flowering species. They are used a 

 good deal for decorations on account 

 of their graceful sprays. The majority 

 of them are easily managed. Most on- 

 cidiums can be grown in a cattleya 

 house where they can be suspended 

 near the glass, for in this they delight. 

 In their growing season, which is now 

 with some of the varieties, they like 

 plenty of water at their roots, and lots 

 of moisture in the atmosphere. They 

 grow best in baskets or perforated pots 

 with good drainage of clean potsherds 

 and some bioken charcoal, with a lib- 

 eral top dressing of live sphagnum or 

 fibrous peat. When the top dressing 

 becomes decayed and sour it should be 

 removed and replaced by fresh ma- 

 terial. When they are resting, water 

 very carefully, but never allow them 

 to suffer for the want of it. Most on- 

 cidiums are subject to scale. They 

 .should be kept free from these pests, 

 for they would soon ruin the plants. 

 These are some good ones to grow: — 

 Oncidium concolor, O. cheirophorum, 

 O. crispum, O. incurvum and O. vari- 

 cosum Rogersi. 



JOHN J. M. FARRELL. 



-Mr. l'"iiri-eirs next notes will be on the 

 ffiilowing: Asters, Cyclamens, Freeslas, 

 Mignonette, Painting Inside, Pot Roses for 

 Flowering. 



SHOWS AT ANTIBES AND HYERES. 



The craze for exhibitions is exces- 

 sive this year, and this time it la 

 raging on the Riviera. Each little town 

 will have its show of flowers, plants 

 and vegetables. But then, gardening 

 on the Riviera is not so widely ex- 

 tended and so varied that material can 

 be found for three or more shows, even 

 if at the various localities a general 

 participation took place. In Nizza 

 and Antibes, and more particular at 

 Hyeres there were missing a whole 

 series of large, and capable firms of 

 the place and the vicinity. Neverthe- 

 less, under the circumstances the 

 shows were well furnished, and many 

 new, fine, and interesting objects were 

 exhibited. At Nizza the dominant 

 features were objects of the florists- 

 art, pot plants, and exhibits from 

 private gardens; and it was noticed 

 how vigorously plants well known in 

 gardens, grew under the prevailing 

 climatic conditions of the neighbor- 

 hood. Before them all, the most 

 beautiful were the stove plants. As 

 will be readily understood cut flowers 

 such as carnations, roses and stocks 

 were noted in abundance, but in re- 

 gard to the number of the exhibitors 

 and the varieties shown, these were 

 far fewer than at Antibes; this last 

 being a cut flower show in the full 

 sense of the word, a show which 

 proved Antibes as being the centre of 

 the cut flower culture of the Riviera, 

 and this culture at its best. 



The exhibition at Hyeres took the 

 name "Exposition Internationale," but 

 In vain was the search in the list of 

 exhibitors, and in the show itself one 

 looked in vain for the name of any 

 foreign exhibitor. There was re- 

 marked beds in the exhibiUon tent at 

 the first named place— one bed near 

 the entrance filled with fine, blue cin- 

 erarias, similar in size and of one 

 color. It came from M. A. Bonfils pere, 

 and showed to what degree of perfec- 

 tion the cineraria can be grown. Not 

 less fine were the standard Hortensiaa 

 (Hydrangeas) from the same firm. 

 The arrangements were far too mas- 

 sive and a rest for the eye was lack- 

 ing— som.ething green between. A de- 

 sirable change was afforded by a bed 

 of cyclamens with an edging of 

 Tropaeolum tricolor, a combination 

 charming and worth copying. 



Director Villebenoit, "Villa La Vlc- 

 torine," showed a series of crosses of 

 American varieties with local carna- 

 tions of the perpetual flowering types. 

 Although in the form of the flowers of 

 these crosses the American type is not 

 very evident, still the signs of Ameri- 

 can blood cannot be denied. Certainly 

 there is here the beginning of a series 

 of forms which may lead to some de- 

 sirable type of carnation in the 

 future. 



Preesia hybrida Raggionieril put Into 

 commerce by M. Bruggemann, Vllle- 

 franche. is a charming novelty which 

 well deserved the Medaille d'or 

 awarded the exhibitor. It has tender 

 colors of gold and violet, and is & 

 much wanted flower for cutting pur- 

 poses, and as a pretty contrast to the 

 much employed carnations, peas and 

 stocks. P. MOORE. 



