June 19, 1915 



HOETICULTUEE 



809 



NOTES ON CULTURE OF FLORISTS^ STOCK 



CONDCCTBD BY 



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Questions by our readers Id line with any of the topics presented on this page will be cordlaT.y received and promptly answered 



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



"If vain our toil, ive ousht to blame the cultare, not the soil.*' — Pope. 



Eucharis amazonica 



Potted eucharises that have finished their crop of 

 flowers can lie given a cop dressing of cow manure and 

 loam, removing some of the old soil on top and replacing 

 it with new compost. If they need a shift very badly 

 give them a size larger pot but it should be always 

 remembered that tliey flower best when well-potbound. 

 Place the pots in a coldframe, plunged to their brims 

 in a mixture of strawy manure and leaves, which will 

 provide a gentle bottom heat. Place shaded sashes over 

 the plants, spray and shut them up sufficiently early in 

 the afternoon to bottle up a brisk heat. Treated thus 

 the eucharis will make a grand growth and, if placed 

 in a dry, moderately cool house about the end of Sep- 

 tember and given a few weeks rest, they can be started 

 in heat to 'furnish a crop of flowers for Christmas. 



Lilies 



Lilium speciosum and longiflorum for summer flower- 

 ing should have a house without much shade. Give them 

 an abimdance of air at all times as they resent coddling. 

 Examine the pots two or three times a day so tliey will 

 not suffer from want of water, and also go over them 

 as the flowers begin to open and remove the pollen 

 before it discolors the petals. Do not neglect fumiga- 

 tion. Once green fly gets a good foothold it will defonn 

 or I'uin a great part of the flowers. Keep them well 

 syringed on all bright days until the flowers begin to 

 open. Some of the taller lilies should be staked to keep 

 the stems erect and the flowers in good shape. When 

 they are fairly well out they can be moved to a cool 

 cellar. The weather being warm the flowers will open 

 up now quite fa.st. Keep tlie air of the liouse moist 

 by frequent dampings. 



Lycaste Skinneri 



Lycaste Skinneri is Uie mosL histing of orchids. Tlie 

 flowers in winter will keep on the plants for from eiglit 

 to twelve weeks, it is a terrestrial orchid and grows 

 better in an equal mixture of fibrous loam and fern 

 fiber than in one of fiber alone. N^o more shading should 

 1)e used than is absolutely necessary to prevent burning. 



^laintaiu a free circulation of air keeping the atmos- 

 phere as cool and moist as possible. Plants will now 

 advance very rapidly and in all weathers must have 

 \\ ater liberally at the root and frequent damping down. 

 Pots are the best receptacles and a winter minimum 

 temperature of 50 to 55 degrees will be found about 

 right. 



Starting Cycas Steins 



From now on and until mid-summer cycas stems 

 will be arriving. When potting use as small pots as will 

 comfortably hold them. Give a compost of equal parts 

 of fibrous loam, well rotted cow manure and leaf mold. 

 Be sure that each pot has thorough drainage. Give 

 water sparingly until they have started to make roots 

 and toi> growth, after which they will take plenty. Keep 

 the stems well syringed every day. They should be kept 

 in a moist atmosphere and where they can have a tem- 

 perature of about 70 degrees during the night, \vith from 

 10 to 15 degrees higher with sunshine. When they be- 

 gin to show their whorl of leaves give enough of shade 

 to keep them from burning. 



Vincas and Ivies 



There is always a good demand for variegated 

 viiicas and English ivies. Now is the time to buy stock 

 from 3 or '2\ inch jiots and plant them out in the 

 field. They can be set about a foot apart in the row and 

 leaving about two feet between the rows. If kept culti- 

 vated and hoed during the summer they will make 

 very nice stock by the fall. They will not be any trouble 

 except to keep them clear of weeds. They can be lifted 

 in September and potted into four-inch pots and 

 placed in a cool house. There is no better place for them 

 than along a carnation bench where they can be al- 

 lowed to droop down. 



Weeds and Cultivation 



From this out tlie weeds u ill grow apace. See that the 

 various crops do not get overrun. Keep the soil well 

 cultivated every week and they will be only a few that 

 will get ahead of the cultivator. V>\ keeping down 

 weeds more plant food will be left in the soil for the 

 crop that is growing on it. 



.Npxt Wock:— raruatlons: Ciiiprarias: Compost Pile; Boston Fiteis: r.iiuis; l':nruiiiu'. 



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