February 19, 1916 



HORTIOULTURB 



^BS 



NOTES ON CULTURE OF FLORISTS' STOCK 



CONDCCTED BY 



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QaeatloDB by our readers In line with any of tbe topics prespnted on this page will be cordially recelred and promptly answered 



by Mr. Farrell. Suoh communications should Invariably be addressed to the otHce of HORTICULTUKH. 



"If Tain oar toil, we ouglit to blame the rnltare. oot tiie soil," Fope. 



Acalyphas 



For boxes, vases, subtropical bedding, mixed border 

 or for the decoration of the show house or conservatory, 

 the acalyphas have but few equals. Acalj'pha Macafeana 

 has ability to stand the winds better than most coleuses. 

 It also stands well in good condition in the late summer 

 and fall. To have nice plants in 4 or 5 inch pots for 

 setting out by the last of May or the fii-st week in June 

 shorten back the tops of stock plants and place them 

 now in a temperature of about 65 degrees at night on 

 a light sunny bench. With a moist atmosphere and 

 abundance of syringing they will soon push a number 

 of young growths that will root where there is a good 

 bottom heat. When they are fairly well rooted they 

 should be potted into 2-J of 3-inch pots using good 

 fibrous loam well enriched. They like plenty of heat. 



Amaryllis 



Place these plants well up to the glass so they will 

 not become drawn. Keep a temperature of from 60 to 

 65 at night with 10 to 15 higher with sun. Give ventila- 

 tion on all good days, but do not let it lower the tem- 

 perature. As the amaryllis spikes advance, some liquid 

 manure may advantageously l)e given, using it in mod- 

 erate doses only, at intervals of four or five days. 

 Amaryallises enjoy a little bottom heat and always seem 

 to thrive better wliere they can be plunged in leaves, 

 eocoanut fibre or some other material. Wliere the spikes 

 are to be cut it is better to do this before the first flower 

 becomes fully expanded; when fully opened they are 

 not easily packed without damage. Seedlings sown early 

 in the year should be potted off singly into 2-|-inch pots 

 when they show their second leaves. Use a light com- 

 post containing two-thirds leafniold at the first potting. 

 Orchids 



All orchids will now begin to show renewed root 

 action and growth so do not defer repotting much longer. 

 Just before they make too much growth is the best time 

 for repotting or top-dressing most orchids. The best 

 material is either fibrous peat or fern fibre and sphag- 

 num moss, with chai-coal and crocks for good drainage. 

 After being potted they should be frequently syringed 

 and have abundance of moisture about the house; in 

 fact the benches and floors should never be dry. Make 

 it a rule that when the proper, temperature has been 

 reached ventilation will be in line, but keep any cold 

 draughts from the new growths. Keep in mind that 

 over-watering is very iiijuridus to all orchids. 

 Schizanthus 



Now is a good time to make a late sowing of this 

 beautiful annual. Sow thinly in pans or flats and trans- 

 plant just as soon as they can be handled. Always grow 

 as near glass as possible or they will get bndly drawn. 

 While schizantlms is tender and easily injured by frost 

 they on the other hand cannot tolerate a warm green- 

 house and flowers grown in a higli tcniiierature arc 



Next Week : — Calceolarias ; Palms ; Propagating Violets ; Sowing 



Seedlings. 



vastly inferior, so see that they are kept in a cool house 

 of about 45 degrees. But in order to forward plants a 

 few of the more advanced can be given a sunny airy 

 house with a minimum temperature of 50 degrees. These 

 are quite thirsty subjects and once their receptacles are 

 full of roots, want as much water as chrysanthemums, 

 with weak liquid manure, in addition, every third or 

 fourth watering. Keep shifting them until you have 

 them in tlieir flowering sizes of 5, 6 or 7-inch pots. 

 They like a compost of fibrous loam four parts, leaf 

 mold and cow manure one part each and a little sand. 

 Start for Next Christmas 



All good growers know that during January and Feb- 

 ruary we should make our new start for next Christmas. 

 People seem to be more anxious to use flowers as gifts 

 and a plant in flower displayed in a neat basket or ham- 

 per makes an ideal Christmas offering. More and more 

 is Christmas becoming a great day for the man who 

 specializes in pot plants. People don't seem to mind 

 paying for it and we all should try to prepare enough 

 stock which can be sold at a reasonable price, such as 

 begonias, camellias, cyclamen, primulas, etc. 

 Sowing Musa 



Few subjects equal the musas for decorative landscape 

 effect during the summer months. Soak the seeds in 

 water at about 100 degrees for 48 hours. A good plan 

 is to put them in water of this degree of heat in a pan 

 and place on the hot water pipes. They can be sown 

 in a mixture of fibrous peat, leaf mold and silver sand 

 in equal parts. When large enough to handle pot off 

 into the same mixture. Keep growing in a temperature 

 of about 65 degrees. 



Lily of the Valley Pips 



Mr. J. J. M. Farrell: 



Dear Sir: — Please inform me if lily of the valley pips 

 that are planted in the spring and taken up in the fall and 

 put in benches, will bloom again in winter 



Arctic, R. I. M. Regaotj). 



It is not possible to make lily of the valley a paying 

 crop by lifting clumps in the fall and planting them 

 on benches. It has been tried but always ends in failure. 

 The largest and most successful growers of this dainty 

 little flower use pips that have strong well-developed 

 crowns that have completed their growth whore the cli- 

 mate permits of early maturity. While the winter is 

 the natural cold storage for the pips that give us the 

 flowers from the middle of January to possibly the end 

 of May, for the other seven or eight months we must 

 depend on those wiiose growth has been arrested by cold 

 storage. It would be possible to use lifted clumps dur- 

 ing April, but in the end it would be found cheaper and 

 better to use imported pips as these are never so good 

 as the imported pips. Where you want to depend on 

 spring lily of the valley it is better to grow under 

 frames outside. Just place some frames over the planta- 

 tion in March and bring them along successfully. 

 •:peds of Tender Aquatics; Sweet Peas; Compost for TranBplantlnt 



