November 21, 1914 



HORTICULTURE 



717 



NOTES ON CULTURE OF FLORISTS^ STOCK 



CONDUCTED BY 



r~^ 



pl.^OA^lU/' 



Questions by our readers lu line with any of the topics presented on this page wiil Ije cordially received and promptly answered 

 by Mr. Farrell. Such communications should invariably be addressed to the office of HORTICULTURE. 

 "If vain onr toll, we onght to blame tlie culture, not the soil." — Pope. 





Cinerafias for Christmas 



Plants intended for Christmas should by this time 

 be well advanced in 5 or 6-incli pots. Wliere the roots 

 have filled their jwts they should have some manure 

 water at least once a week. See that they are given 

 plenty of room between the plants so they will not draw. 

 Do not try to force cinerarias in a high temperature, as 

 it will spell ruin. They should be kept as near to 45 

 degrees as possible during the night with 10 to 15 de- 

 grees higher with sunshine. Keep the atmosphere cool 

 by free ventilation. Keep a sharp outlook for greenfly. 

 Give them a fumigation every week and you will be 

 sure to have nice clean plants. Give tlicm full sun. 



Irises for Forcing 



These flowers are coming into favor every year. Flats 

 about 4 or 5 inches deep and of ordinary size, should 

 hold about 45 to 50 roots with ease. They lilce a 

 good compost, say three parts fibrous soil to 

 one of well-rotted manure. Give them a tem- 

 perature of about 45 degrees at night. Wlien they 

 have made good roots they will stand from 5 to 10 

 degrees higher. These plants will not stand anytWng 

 like hard forcing. Keep the compost moist as they do 

 not like to become dry at the roots. Give them a good 

 light bench and well up to the glass. 



Liliom speciosum 



liilium speciosum should be planted just as soon as 

 received. For a compost use fibrous loam three part?, 

 well-rotted manure one part. Be sure to give plenty of 

 drainage as next spring they will need lots of water 

 which should pass ofE freely. A single bulb can be put 

 in a six-inch pot, but a better plan is to allow three bulbs 

 to ail 8-inch pot and six bulbs to a 10-inch pot. These 

 make good sizes when the flowers are wanted for cut- 

 ting. See that tliey have a good soaking of water and 

 are kept in a moist state. A good place for them is in a 

 cold frame where they can be covered with aliout six 

 inches of soil. When the weather becomes cold they 

 will want the protection of sashes and later on some 

 long manure or hay to prevent too hard freezing. 



Resting Bougainvilleas 



Bougainvilleas should by this time have made all the 

 growtli necessary, which should now be followed by a 

 ripening process, Vnit, of course, this should be done 

 gradually or harm will result. From now on up to 

 January they should have a period of rest. Start by 

 withholding water gradually giving less each week until 

 they are at a point of flagging when they should have 

 enough water to freshen them up. Keep only enough 

 moisture in the soil to overcome alisolute dryness. Give 

 free ventilation to keep the atmosphere dry and cool. 

 This treatment will assist the wood in maturing. Do 

 not keep them in a high temjierature. Anywhere 

 around 50 degrees at night will do. 



Paper White Narcissi 

 Paper whites must have time to develop plenty of 

 roots before they can receive any forcing. After they 



have made plenty of roots they will take from 7 to 8 

 weeks to bloom in a temperature of anywhere from 50 

 to 58 degrees at night. Give them all the sunlight 

 possible. Batches brought in from a cool house every 

 ten days will give a succession of bloom. When they 

 are fairly well out they can be placed back in a cool 

 house, thereby holding them in good condition for some 

 little time. They will want abundance of water at 

 the roots just as soon as they have made plenty of roots. 

 In order to have flowers with good substance and strong 

 stems they will need plenty of ventilation whenever pos- 

 sible. They can be well syringed until they start to 

 open, but after that syringing should stop. 



Spiraeas 



Clumps of spiraeas when they arrive should not stay 

 in the boxes as they usually get dried up in transit. 

 Give each clump a thorough soaking in a tub of water, 

 and if there is not time to pot them up now, lay them in 

 a trench outdoors. These can be lirought in later. Be 

 sure to give them a rich compost when potting as they 

 are rank feeders. 



Mr. Farrell's next notes will he on the following : Allamandsis ; Car- 

 nations; Gardenias; Propagating Crotons; Rhododendrons; Asters. 



Chinese ^^Wool Flower'' 



This odd-looking celosia, which attracted much curi- 

 osity at the New York Shows is an annual, the seed 

 of which was sent to me from China, four years ago. I 

 have grown it now for three seasons and shall introduce 

 it in 1915. It is as easy to cultivate in the garden as any 

 of the celosias. The blooms begin to develop in July, 

 and continue to increase in size and numbers until 

 killed by the frost; none of the blossoms fade until in- 

 jured by cold weather. It gi-ows about two feet high, 

 branches freely ; each plant shows twenty or more main 

 heads of bloom, but every stem is full of laterals showing 



