June 10, 1911 



HORTICULTURt. 



841 



Seasonable Notes on Culture of 

 Florists^ Stock 



ADIANTTJMS 



Where bench-grown adiantums show unmistakable 

 signs of deterioration throw them out and plant new 

 stock. Give the house and benches a thorough cleansing 

 to kill all fungus and insects. Before putting in the 

 soil give the benches a good coat of hot lime, and see 

 that you give good drainage. Use a compost of turfy 

 loam three jiarts, cow iiuinurc and leaf mold each one 

 part, and enough of sand to keep the compost porous. 

 Strong plants from 3 or 4-inch pots will make fine 

 stock. Keep the house well ventilated, without allow- 

 ing strong currents of air to blow on the plants. See 

 that they have a light shade during the summer, just 

 enough to break the strong rays of the sun. Wliere you 

 intend to carry old plants over for another year you 

 should withhold water so as to sweeten up the soil, and 

 then remove whatever loose surface soil you can. Give 

 them a rich mulch and under these conditions new 

 growth will finally apf)ear and grow stronger and more 

 abundantly for the short spell of rest. 



BEXCHING CHRYSANTHEMUMS 



A very important program now is the planting of 

 young stock. Give your houses and benches a good 

 cleaning and wash-down and when they have dried out 

 give the benches a coat of fresh whitewash. For these 

 plants it is very hard to say what forms the ideal soil, 

 for fine flowers are produced in differing soils. I think 

 sod that was laid up last fall and cow manure added in 

 proportion of one part to three of soil fonus a splendid 

 material. In filling the benches see that they are just 

 level full, but don't neglect to press firmly around the 

 edges of the bench. The distance apart to plant should 

 be governed by the grade of flowers and the varieties 

 you propose to grow. If your aim is to have fine flow- 

 ers with good foliage, strong-growing sorts should have 

 from 8 to 10 inches apart. After planting don't allow 

 your plants to become choked up with weeds; stir the 

 surface regularly and fimiigate once a week if the 

 weather permits. Give abundant ventilation both top 

 and bottom for this is very essential. To keep the 

 house in a favorable atmospheric state for their growth 

 they should have frequent syringings daily. See that 

 they have water when the surface of the sod becomes 

 dry, but never practice in overdoing it. 



CUTTINGS OF POINSETTIAS 



When the cuttings are about three inches long they 

 should be taken off. Have some powdered charcoal 

 handy so you can dip them in as soon as possible to 

 stop bleeding. It is better to have some new and rather 

 gritty sand placed in your propagating bed than to trust 

 to old sand. Protect them carefully from the sun by 

 shading and see that they are kept well watered. It 

 will take from three to five weeks for them to get 

 rooted in. They should be potted off while the roots 

 are small. Leaf mold and loam with some sand will 



do for the first potting and after potting keep them 

 shaded and rather close until they get established, when 

 they can be grown in cooler quarters. During their 

 growth avoid dryness at the root or sogginess, which 

 will show itself in the loss of foliage. Plants that you 

 want to grow for cutting should be planted before they 

 get too much potbound. A good compost to iise is 

 fibrous loam three parts, well decayed manure one part. 

 For pans don't propagate until about July 15, which 

 will be sufficiently early. 



FERNS IN FRAMES 



All small-growing ferns can be grown satisfactorily in 

 frames during the summer. They should be plunged in 

 ashes or spent hops up to the rims and the sashes raised 

 high enougli to allow an abundance of air at all times. 

 All ferns such as are used for table femferies can be 

 grown in this nianner better than in a house, because, 

 on all warm days, you can maintain the proper condi- 

 tion of atmosphere by giving them a great deal of air 

 direct. Many ferns of stronger growth used during the 

 winter as decorative plants will be found to put on a 

 \igorous growth of perfect shape and compact sturdy 

 habit, by this treatment. Shade the sashes just heavy 

 enough to intercept the sun's rays. Oie of the most 

 important points in frame culture for ferns during the 

 summer is the cool bottom you have by plunging the 

 pots to their rims. They can stay here until the middle 

 of September with good results. 



LEFT-OVER ASTILBE JAPONICA 



Where you have the ground to spare and have some 

 of these plants left over from Memorial Day, don't 

 throw the plants away. Give them a rich and rather 

 ■ moist piece of ground. Divide the large clumps in half 

 and give them from 15 to 18 inches in the rows, and 

 about two and a half feet between the rows. Keep the 

 ground well cultivated and you will have heavy clumps 

 by the fall of tiie second year, which you can divide 

 into two or three pieces. These will force just as well 

 as imported stock. Every grower should plan to do this 

 witli any left-over plants. 



PRUNING OF FLOWERING SHRUBS 



As the fiowering shrubs go out of bloom is the proper 

 time to prune them, so they will have time to make a 

 good growth and set their flower buds. All shrubs that 

 set their flower buds in the fall should be pruned just 

 after blooming; such as spiraeas, lilacs, deutzias, for- 

 sythias, loniceras, weigelas, philadelphus, viburnums 

 and many others too numerous to name. On the other 

 hand, all shrubs that set their flower buds on the cur- 

 rent yearns growths, such as hydrangeas, hardy roses, 

 etc., will stand pnming hard back in the spring, which 

 produces betten and larger flowers. -In pruning all the 

 foiTuer shrubs they will probably all require some re- 

 duction of the tops to put them in shape, but it would be 

 better to reduce the number of growths rather than to 

 do too much shortening. Remove all dead or weak wood 

 and cut back any growth that is straying away from 

 the others and you will vastly improve the next year's 

 bloom. 



Mr. Ffirrell's next notes will be on the following: Begonias; 

 Xerines; Orchids: Pansies for Winter Flowering: Rost'S Carried 

 Over; Smilax. 



