June 17, 1911 



HORTICULTURt. 



875 



the Christmas and Easter flower trade. Surely it is time 

 that the cut flower business as a distinctive industr}' 

 should seriously consider ways and means for self- 

 protection. As for the gardener, it is easy to see that 

 his art is growing in prestige and importance and he 

 should see to it that he, himself, shall keep up with 

 the vast movement which, properly utilized, means so 

 much to him. He has now in sight the greatest oppor- 

 tunity ever opened to him in this or any other counti7. 

 While deploring anything which tends to interfere with 

 or obstruct the popularity of the flower business, we 

 loolv upon the remarkable growth and development of 

 the garden passion as a most inspiring and hopeful 

 augury for the advancement of American horticulture 

 in its highest quality. 



Seasonable Notes on Culture of 

 Florists^ Stock 



BEGONIAS 



Now is a time when all flowering begonias root with 

 the greatest of ease. An ideal place is a shaded house 

 where the ventilators can be adjusted so as not to have 

 sweeping air currents blowing through it, with an atmos- 

 phere that is charged with a reasonable amount of 

 humidity. The new side growths including such as 

 come directly from the base of the plant make the most 

 satisfactory cuttings. When rooted they should be 

 potted ofE into Si/o or 3-inch pots, in sandy loam, leaf 

 mold and sand. In the shifts after this use a turf-like, 

 crumbly soil three parts, well decayed cow manure one 

 part, and enough of leaf mold and sand to lighten the 

 mixture. The floors and benches should be kept cool by 

 frequent wettings during the hot weather. For shading 

 the house, a thin mixture of naphtha and white lead 

 vfiW do. 



NERINES 



When the foliage of nerines begins to turn yellow it 

 shows lliat they are finishing up their growth. Place 

 them outdoors on a bed of coal ashes and gradually 

 diminish tlie amount of water. When all the foliage 

 assumes a golden hue the pots should be laid on their 

 sides on a sunny bank high piece of ground where they 

 will not be likely to get much water. They can be given 

 this treatment until the middle of September when they 

 should be moved into a frame or cool greenhouse. 

 AVhen the flower scapes make their appearance remove 

 about an inch of the surface from top of the pots and 

 give a top dressing of rich compost. As they begin to 

 make fair growth they will take an abundance of water 

 with overhead syringing. Give an application of liquid 

 manure once a week. 



ORCHIDS 



The judicious use of liquid stimulants for orchids will 

 increase vigor and strength. All terrestrial orchids like 

 an occasional weak dose of manure water in their grow- 

 ing season. Such as calanthes, cymbidiums, cypripe- 

 diums, phaius, pleiones, sobralias, thunias and others 

 are benefited by feeding providing they have plenty of 

 «trong roots. With epiphytal orchids there are some 



growers who condemn it entirely, while others think it 

 impossible to grow orchids without its use. The Cook- 

 son formula is very good. It can be made by mixing 

 tlii'ee ounces of Potassium nitrate and two ounces of 

 Ammonium phosphate in a three-gallon jar. Wlien 

 feeding orchids use one ounce of this solution, to a gal- 

 lon of water, but all this feeding must be done with 

 great care or harm will result. Give weak applications 

 of liquid feeding, say at intervals of about ten or twelve 

 days. Dendrobiimi Phalamopsis should he suspended in 

 a warm moist house close to the glass. Syringe in the 

 middle of the afternoon and close the house down early 

 enough to cause a moist atmosphere, for most dendro- 

 biums just revel under these conditions. Provide a 

 proper gentle circulation of fresh air, without any cold 

 draughts. 



PANSIES FOR WINTER FLOWERING 



Now that you have plenty of room in cold frames, 

 a good lot of pansies should be staiied for next win- 

 ter's flowering. They can be sown any time within the 

 next two weeks on a well dug and finely made soil. 

 Sow the seeds in drills about four inches apart. Wlien 

 plants are large enough to handle they should be trans- 

 planted to stand about nine inches apart each way, if 

 }-ou want good-sized clumps with vigorous bushy crowns 

 and a densely fibered ball of roots that will be ready to 

 plant out in the house in October. Give plenty of 

 water always. The plants should be pinched back fre- 

 (piently. 



HOSES CARRIED OVER 



Water should be gradually withheld from all plants 

 to be carried over ^o as to ripen up the wood. They 

 should be well syringed twice a day for a few weeks 

 which will help keep the wood plump wlule being rested. 

 Eoses thus treated will lift well. When you lift your 

 plants look them over carefully and trim out all the 

 weak wood, pruning the good wood back to about a foot. 

 After the plants are set and well firmed down give 

 them a thorough watering. From now on the general 

 routine of work will be syringing which should be done 

 several times daily, ventilating, watering and weeding. 

 Keep the surface of the beds stirred to prevent an ac- 

 cumulation of weeds. Stake and tie as soon as neces- 

 sai-y. Give close attention to all their wants whether big 

 or small items, which is generally the secret of success. 



SMILAX 



In selecting a place for a bed of smilax it should be 

 borne in mind that smilax wants at least 60 degrees of 

 heat in the winter and at least ten feet for head room. 

 They like a heavy turfy loam and good barnyard ma- 

 nure in equal parts. Vigorous plants coming out of 

 either 3 or 4-inch pots make ideal stock. Allow a foot 

 between the rows and about nine inches between the 

 plants in the rows. Don't allow the young trailing 

 shoots to ramble and become twisted before you string 

 them, but run the strings up for the young plants soon 

 after they are planted. Syringe twice a day to prevent 

 red spider and help the plant to sustain itself while 

 developing its foliage. Keep a well ventilated and moist 

 growing temperature. Let the strings be well ripened 

 before you. start to cut them. 



Ml-. Fai-rpU's next notes will lie iiu the following: Asp.nragus 

 plnmosus: Care of Asters; Hydrangeas; Pelargoniums; Stocks 

 for r^ext Winter; Summer Care of Palms. 



