June 24, 1911 



HORTICULTURE. 



909 



Seasonable Notes on Culture of 

 Florists^ Stock 



ASPARAGUS PLUMOSUS 



In growing this desirable and marketable product 

 give sufficient headroom to have fine long strings, and 

 if possible a solid bed that has been deeply dug. Where 

 such a bed is once planted it should yield good returns 

 for at least four years. Place a good layer of drainage 

 in the bottom and on this fill to the depth of at least 

 one foot of a rich compost of equal parts of rather 

 heavy turfy loam and old cow manure. Select sturdy 

 plants from 4-inch pots and set the plants from 10 to 

 12 inches apart in the rows, and from 15 to 18 inches 

 between the rows. When the new growth assumes the 

 character of running vines, it is time to adjust the 

 strings. Give regular attention in keeping them 

 trained to the strings and the management of the beds 

 will be an easy matter. Give plenty of water, both 

 overhead and at the root. Bed spider and thrips are 

 some times very troublesome. A vigorous overhead 

 syringe will keep the foliage bright and keep red 

 spider down. Thrips can be kept down by spraying 

 with a nicotine solution. In regard to temperature 

 they can be treated the same as smilax. 



CARE OF ASTERS 



As soon as the buds begin to fomi and right along 

 through their entire season, if the weather is dry, they 

 will require great quantities of water so as to bring 

 forth a crop of large and perfectly formed flowers. 

 There should always be some means of giving them the 

 hose in prolonged dry spells. A good dusting of fer- 

 tilizer spread between the rows and worked in will be 

 of great help now. For the aster beetle syringe the 

 plants with a teaspoonful of Paris green to a pail of 

 water every ten days until the plants begin to flower. 

 Keep the asters in the field free of weeds and the soil 

 loose and open by frequent hoeings. In planting the 

 latest batch of asters select if possible a cloudy and 

 moist day for the work. 



HYDRANGEAS 



Plants that were propagated last February and given 

 a judicious pinching back should by this time be worked 

 up into nice compact and shapely specimens. After 

 the first week in July all pinching or stopping on yoimg 

 stock should be discontinued for the season, for if fol- 

 lowed up any later it will mean a sacrifice of bloom. 

 When grown in pots all summer they should be plunged 

 in coal ashes outdoors and exposed to the full sun 

 until the first frosts. See that they have water at the 

 roots whenever they may need it. Keep shifting them 

 as they become potbound until the last of August or 

 ~ the first week in September, when they should have 



2 their last shift into either 6, 7 or 8-inch pots as the 



^5 difference in vigor may indicate. These plants are 

 g^ great feeders and should have a soil of a rather heavy 

 ._, nature, with a third of well-decayed manure and some 

 —J bone dust in their shifts. The principal points are to 



have them make a strong growth during the summer 

 and have the wood well ripened by the fall. 



PELARGONIUMS 



As these plants go out of flower they will require a 

 season of rest. Give them a place outdoors where they 

 will have full sun and reduce giving them water grad- 

 ually, so as not to encourage new growth. As the 

 leaves naturally take on a golden color, the plants should 

 be placed on their sides and kept dry for two or three 

 weeks to secure a thoroughly ripened up growth. In 

 August prune them into shape, shake all the old soil 

 from the roots and .pot into pots just big enough to 

 hold them. Give them a coarse turfy loam with about 

 a fourth of well-decayed manure and pot quite firmly. 

 For good sized plants for next spring you should take 

 cuttings now. 



STOCKS FOR NEST WINTER 



To have stocks for flowering during the winter they 

 should be sown now in pans or shallow flats of light 

 soil with plenty of sand in it, as there is then less 

 liability of the seedlings' damping off. They should 

 be potted when of suflicient size, using any good soil, 

 and placed in frames imder elevated sashes to afford 

 a free circulation of air. When the plants have filled 

 these pots with roots they should be shifted into 4 or 

 S-inch pots and kept in frames until late fall. As soon 

 as the buds can be distinguished you can tell the double 

 ones by the point of the buds lieing more stubby, while 

 the single ones will be more slender. Throw out all the 

 single ones as soon as they can be detected, as they are 

 almost valueless as a cut flower. Any good compost such 

 as will grow roses or carnations, will grow good gtocks. 

 When planting set them a foot apart in the rows and 

 about 14 inches between the rows. They can be grown 

 in any house where the night temperature can l)e kept 

 from 45 to 50 degrees : anything higher will give poor 

 flowers. There are a number of special forcing varieties, 

 but I like Princess x\lice, and Beauty of Nice the best. 



SUMMER CARE OF PALMS 



A good many of the larger and tougher-leaved palms 

 will be benefited by a short sojourn out of doors at this 

 time of the year, if a suitable place can l^e found for 

 them — one where the fierce sun and dry winds cannot 

 damage them. Under the shade of trees is a good 

 place. All large palms such as latania, phoenix, ken- 

 tia, also ficus, dracaena, croton, aspidistra and various 

 other large and small inhabitants of the palm house will 

 do well outside. Plants that should not be exposed to 

 the risks and frequent sudden changes of outdoor 

 weather condition are alocasias, fancy caladiums, ma- 

 rantas, diefenbachias and all ferns pushing forth a new 

 crown of fronds. As growth is very rapid now they 

 should receive some weak cow manure water once a 

 week. As the rains wash off the shading it will be 

 necessary to use some more whitening as palms are 

 very easily scorched now. Give air freely and syringe 

 a couple of times during the day which keeps the foliage 

 clean and assists materially in keeping down scale and 

 mealy bug. If scale becomes troublesome there is noth- 

 ing better than Aphine. It can be applied one day, and 

 with a good piessure with the hose it will come off the 

 next day. 



llr. F:irrell's rext note.f wiU be on tbe f oDowing : Cyclamen; 

 Orohids: I^erns for Dishes: Geraniums for Winter Flowering; 

 Misnouette; Neplirnlepis. 



