February 28, 1914 



HOKTICULTURE 



293 



NOTES ON CULTURE OF FLORISTS' STOCK 



Qoeatlon* by our renders in line witb any of tbe topics presented i<n this page will be cordially received and promptly answered 

 by Mr. Farrell. ijuib commonlcatluns sbould Invariably be addressed to tbe office of HORTICULTURE. 



Bedding; Geraniums 



Any spare moments and available bench space can 

 now be used in getting geraniums potted up. Gerani- 

 ums from now until May do a great deal of growing 

 and plants of most varieties seemingly small and puny, 

 may yet be grown into acceptable size and vigor by 

 proper treatment. Some thoroughly decomposed ma- 

 nure, or that from a spent hotbed, may form one-third 

 of the compost used. Add a 4-inch potful of fine bone 

 to three bushels of compost. Use clean pots. Any win- 

 ter batches of cuttings in need of potting should be at- 

 tended to before they become potbound. Give these a 

 raised bench where they can enjoy a little bottom 

 heat and they will quickly take hold. Wlien first 

 potted they can stand pot to pot, but they will soon 

 need some spacing, as growth is now rapid. Do not 

 leave the flower trusses on the plants for a while yet. 

 Allow a month before sales time for the trusses to de- 

 velop. The plants cannot have too light a house. Give 

 plenty of ventilation on every possible opportunity. 

 They should dry out well between waterings. 



Beg;onias, Lorraine and Cincinnati 



The first two or three lots of leaf cuttings are now in 

 2^-inch pots; those placed in the sand after the New 

 Year are nearly all ready to be potted. All young 

 begonias of this time in common need shade against 

 bright sunlight. While they must never dry out, yet 

 they are most easily destroyed by over watering. The 

 average temperature for the newly-rooted or potted 

 small plants should not be below 65 degrees at night, a 

 trifle higher being better. Wlien established, 5 degrees 

 lower will do nicely. No manure should be used in the 

 soil in the first two transplantings; a very sandy and 

 porous soil, loam, sod or leaf mold suits rooted cut- 

 tings the best. In the soil, for later shifts, some old, 

 well rotted manure is intermixed, in greatest quantity 

 at the last transplanting in August or September. But 

 the one point most important of all is care in watering, 

 especially during periods of prolonged rainy, misty or 

 gloomy weather. To insure hushiness and symmetrical 

 shape of plants judicious pinching in is resorted to and 

 begins before the second shift becomes necessary. Give 

 them some spacing every little while to let the air 

 around the plants. 



Bourardias 



Now is a good time to put in a batch of bouvardia 

 cuttings. Boot cuttings can be used instead of young 

 top growth. Some or all of the strong roots of old 

 plants are cut up into small pieces of about half an inch 

 in length. These are strewn iipon the propagating 

 sand and slightly covered with sand, kept moist, and a 

 trifle close. A light sandy soil, instead of clean sand 

 may be used with equally good success if only kept 

 warm and moist. After the appearance of the growth, 

 top sashes, or anything used in covering the bed are 

 not necessary if steady heat can be maintained without 

 them. It must be removed and no shading is needed 

 while the cuttings are in the sand. When they have 



Mr. Farrell's next notes will be on the following: Dablias; 



made requisite size for being potted up, which should 

 be a good half-finger's length in height, they are then 

 carefully taken out, planted singly into 2^-inch pots 

 or several together in 3-inch pots if extra good and bushy 

 specimens are wanted for next season's pot plant trade. 

 They remain in these pots until planted out in a favor- 

 able spot in the garden at the close of May. The bou- 

 vardia roots very slowly and unsatisfactory from the 

 young top growth and in ordinary practice that is not 

 considered a practical method of propagating this plant. 

 By giving the plants a warm house, light in plenty and 

 frequent cutting liack, they will have grown into fine, 

 nicely branched plants with rootballs firm enough for 

 lifting and final potting up from the open ground in 

 the early fall. 



Lily of the Valley for Easter 



There is always fine demand for either pots or pans 

 of lily of the valley at Easter. So select some of the 

 very best Berlin pips from cold storage and plant in 

 pans, any size from a 5-inch pan up to an 8-inch pan 

 or pot. A good potting mixture is equal parts of soil, 

 sand and moss. Put as many pips as can comfortably 

 go info each receptacle. Place these pans where there 

 is a temperature of from 55 to 58 at night and about 20 

 degrees higher during bright days. Wlicn they have 

 drawn up enough they can have more light. It gen- 

 erally takes from 5 to fi weeks in the above temperature 

 to bring them into full flower. Do not let them become 

 dry and give ventilation with care as they do not like 

 cold drauglits. Should it appear that they are going to 

 flower a little too early they can be retarded in a cool 

 and shaded house. 



Propagating Violets 



Violets will now be showing abundance of side 

 growth which makes fine thrifty material for propaga- 

 tion. None but the healthiest and sturdiest cuttings 

 should be taken for the future stock. Propagate in the 

 coolest end of the propagation bench and they can be 

 boxed up when rooted or placed in flats with some crock 

 on the bottom covered with about an inch of soil and 

 then filled up with clean sand. Given some shade and 

 any necessary watering and moisture they will soon root, 

 when they can be pricked out into other flats, using a 

 compost of fibrous loam two parts, leaf mold two parts, 

 rotted cow manure one part, and same sand. In order 

 to keep them sturdy they should have plenty of venti- 

 lation. Be very careful when watering not to let them 

 get in a soaked condition. Give an overhead sprinkling 

 on bright days, now and then a spraying with tobacco 

 water and a syringing with it from underneath so as to 

 reach the lower surface of the leaves. Keep them in a 

 temperature not higher than 45 degrees during the 

 night. 



Shading Pa'ms and Ferns 



Palms and ferns will now require some shading to pro- 

 tect them from getting burnt and faded. Do not have 

 it too heavy for the present, but just enough to break 

 the direct rays of the sun. A good shading can be 

 made with naphtha and white lead. 



Carnations; Gardenias; Lilies for Easter; Orchids; Stevla. 



