September 17, 1910 



liORT I CULTURE 



403 



Seasonable Notes on Culture of 

 Florists^ Stock 



AEDISIAS 



These plants should by this time be well furnished 

 with berries and foliage. Give them a place in full 

 sunlight to help the fruit in coloring. By placing them 

 in a cool, airy and sunny house where the atmosphere 

 will be fresh and bouyant you will have well-done plants 

 of this universal favorite for Christmas. If placed in 

 warm and overhumid quarters they will send out a pre- 

 mature growth of foliage, and that is not wanted now. 

 Careful watering at this season is an important require- 

 ment. If allowed to get too dry or wet at the roots 

 they will surely sufEer permanent injury. The stems 

 and foliage should be frequently sponged with tobacco 

 water into which a bit of whale oil soap has been added, 

 for the removal as well as the prevention of brovra. 

 scale which invariably troubles these plants. Ardisia 

 crenulata is the one most extensively cultivated and it 

 is the best. 



CRIMSON AND BABY BAMBLEES. 



It is time now to think of lifting these roses. Care 

 should be taken to preserve as many roots as possible. 

 Pot them firmly, using a good loam, say three parts soil 

 and one part manure. See that the plants get a thor- 

 ough soaking of water and leave them anywhere out of 

 doors where they can be looked after. When lifted now 

 they will be allowed plenty of time in which to form 

 roots before the time comes for forcing them. The 

 Eamblers that were grown in pots all summer should by 

 this time have made all the growth that is desired, and 

 should be allowed to ripen up their canes. Stand them 

 on boards and they will ripen their wood better. Start 

 by giving less water at the root each succeeding week. 

 Don't dry them off too suddenly as you want to keep 

 the wood and eyes plump. If you have heavy rains and 

 warm weather in October it will be well to lay them on 

 their sides, for these conditions often induce them to 

 break. These roses can stay outdoors until November 

 at least or until you expect very severe frosts, when 

 they should be laid down in a frame and covered with a 

 few inches of straw, and some boards placed over the 

 frame. Before putting them away be sure that they 

 are not dry at the roots ; this is important. 



CROTONS 



In order for these plants to develop their coloring to 

 an intensity, they should have as much sunlight as they 

 can possibly stand. Some varieties can not bear as 

 much sun as others which peculiarity can easily be 

 noted and such plants given a little shade. If the plants 

 are very much pot-bound their color can be intensified 

 and the plants otherwise benefited by giving them some 

 liquid manure about once a week. The plants should 

 be turned around frequently if grown close together so 

 that they will have a symmetrical shape. Now is a 

 good time to put in a batch of cuttings for bedding 



plants for next year. If placed where a temperature of 

 TO degrees can be maintained, combined with some bot- 

 tom heat, shaded, sprayed and kept a little close, they 

 will soon root. When potted and sufBciently established 

 they can be exposed to the full sun antl grown on. 



PEONIES 



From now on until the ground is frozen too hard t<i 

 dig, peonies can be lifted, divided, and planted. But 

 the best time for this work is from now until the last 

 week in October. They will grow in any ordinary gar- 

 den soil. But they will furnish the largest and most 

 desirable flowers when planted in good deep trenched 

 ground which retains a moderate degree of moisture, 

 if your soil is poor it should have a copious supply of 

 rich old cow manure well mixed in. They should be 

 planted about three feet between each plant. They 

 should be inserted with their crowns about 3 or 4 inches 

 below the surface of the soil. They can be planted 

 either in beds, groups or borders and will do well in 

 either way. To maintain peonies in strength, beauty 

 and a luxuriant vegetation there should be added to the 

 soil every autumn a good supply of old manure. 



PHLOX 



No commercial grower should be without a bed of 

 phlox. It is one of the most useful of all flowering 

 herbaceous perennials. Now is the time to plant, either 

 with new stock or divided plants. They like a deep 

 well manured soil. To propagate by cuttings wait un- 

 til about the middle of October and lift a Humber of 

 plants, putting them into a cold frame heeled in and 

 protected so as to make it possible to get at them in Jan- 

 uary, when you can plant them out on some bench 

 where, in a short time, they will produce any amount 

 of fine cuttings. These will make nice plants ready for 

 the field by next May. There is a good deal of money in 

 growing phloxes for the trade. See the superb list of 

 varieties offered by the advertisers in this paper. 



SNAPDRAGONS 



Plants that were grown during the summer outdoors 

 and are now in four or five-inch pots will make fine 

 stock to follow early chrysanthemums. If flowers are 

 showing they should be nipped out so as to encourage 

 bushy growth. Give them all possible encouragement by 

 regular attention to the details of ordinary good culture. 

 The young and healthy stock can be planted right inte 

 the chrysanthemum soil where, if given a regular car- 

 nation temperature, they will soon show active growth 

 and in a short time will begin to send up fine long 

 spikes of bloom. To insure good long spikes of large 

 flowers, you should pinch out the side shoots which are 

 always quite numerous. One of the most important 

 things to bear in mind is not to let the green fly get a 

 foothold. Light fumigation is the only means to keep 

 the fly down, but let it be done moderately and often. 



Mr, Farrell's next notes will be on the following: Araacarias; 

 Azaleas; Lifting Shrubs For Forcing; Masdevalllas; Polnsettlds; 

 Roses. 



