May 3Q, 1914 



HORTICULTURE 



793 



NOTES ON CULTURE OF FLORISTS' STOCK 



t'ONDUCTBD BY 



M.. 



9h.Pa/iAi// 



Questions by our readers In line with any of the topics presented on this page will be cordially received and promptly answered 

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



Antirrhinums for Winter Flowering 



These half-liardy jjerennials have been the aristocrats 

 (if the flower garden and now they are working their way 

 to become the same under glass. If plants are wanted to 

 bloom well through the winter, lose no time in getting 

 cuttings into the sand. Make a careful selection of 

 any strain that showed up well during the past winter. 

 See that they have protection from the sun, and use every 

 precaution to prevent wilting. Water them freely until 

 rooted and wlien they have rooted get them potted as 

 soon as possible and keep shaded for a few days until 

 they become established, when they should be given a 

 bench in a cool house, with fullest light and ventilation. 

 These plants can be plunged in a frame where you can 

 get at them with the hose. When they have filled their 

 pots with roots shift them into 4 or 5-inch pots which 

 will hold them until they are planted out in the benches. 



Care of Adiantums 



Plants which are grown in large sized pots and which 

 had a little rest during the winter will now have a dense 

 crojj of young fronds and any not repotted will be ben- 

 efited by weak doses of manure water once a week. 

 Sometimes there is an opportunity to plant out narrow 

 benches of adiantum, and in six inches of good loam they 

 Boon develop into strong plants. To keep the fronds 

 of a uniform dark color, additional shading will be now 

 required on the glass. Where snails are troublesome, 

 baits of lettuce or cabbage leaves or sliced potatoes will 

 attract many. A dusting of fine salt or lime among the 

 pots will kill many. Do not keep them too warm as it 

 tends to make the fronds very soft. A temperature of 

 about 60 degrees, with 10 to 15 degrees higher with sun 

 is enough for Adiantum Croweanum and A. cuneatum. 

 Adiantum Farleyense will want not less than 65 degrees 

 - — 70 degrees would be better. Give ventilation on all 

 favorable days, but not to such a degree as to lower 

 the temperature. 



Chrysanthemums 



When growing show plants it is a better plan to start 

 enough of them so that if a few kinds turn out faulty you 

 can afford to discard them. For the growing of exhi- 

 bition blooms great care should be taken from the time 

 the cuttings are struck until they have their last shift. 

 The plants should never be allowed to get pot bound. 

 As soon as the pots are well filled with roots repot into 

 3-inch and on up into 8 or 9-inch pots. A good turfy 

 loam with one-third well-rotted cow manure and a 

 sprinkling of bone is a good compost to use. Mix it 

 thorouglily and let it stand for a few days until needed. 

 Be careful after potting not to overwater, and as they 

 get well-rooted never allow them to want water. Syringe 

 every sunny morning and again in the afternoon on 

 every warm day. Plants intended for exhibition should 

 now lie growing rapidly, and must have every attention 



in the way of watering, ventilation, pinching and tying 

 up. Look out carefully for aphis and fumigate regu- 

 larly. 



Growing Asparagus plumosus 



In any retail establishment of some size a bed of this 

 most useful green in one of the houses will always be 

 highly useful. There are many greenhouses not well 

 adapted for growing cut flowers which answer admira- 

 bly for asparagus. Thrifty plants, out of 4-inch pots, 

 are the right sort of stock to use in the making of a new 

 asparagus bed. In the replanting of old beds the soil, 

 to a depth of at least six inches, should be renewed, and 

 the lower layer loosened with spade or fork before the 

 new compost is placed on top. A good mixture for this 

 culture is prepared by thoroughly intermixing in equal 

 parts, a rather heavy loam and old cow manure, and 

 enough of sand to keep the shovel bright. A layer of 

 eight or nine inches of this compost is none too much 

 for asparagus. The plants should be set from ten to 

 twelve inches apart and the distance between the rows 

 should be from sixteen to eighteen inches. 



Tuberous-rooted Begonias 



Tubers are inexpensive and it is nut too late'even now 

 to start a batch. They will start to bloom within a 

 couple of months. Tuberous begonias want a cool, airy 

 greenhouse and the shade must not be too heavy or it will 

 make the plants drawn and soft. They are liable to be 

 attacked by thrips in the early stages and either a weekly 

 fumigation, or spraying must be given to keep them in 

 check. When in active growth and well pot-bound, 

 liquid manure can be given twice a week with benefit. 

 TuljerouiS-rooted begonias are perhaps the most' useful of 

 all summer-flowering plants of a moderate size and as 

 they are persistent bloomers no florist can go far wrong 

 in growing a good lot of them. As bedding plants their 

 sphere is somewhat limited unless partial shade can be 

 given, although they succeed well in the open at seaside 

 resorts where the nights are cooler and the atmosphere 

 softer than inland. 



Outside Work 



The florist who has different crops planted outside 

 will have to give them plenty of attention from this out. 

 You will have to go over them often in order to keep 

 down the weeds which grow so fast now. Where the 

 ground is kept well cultivated every week you will not 

 have much trouble with weeds. Give all rank growing 

 crops some good fertilizer sowed between the rows and 

 cultivated in. This will help greatly in their growth. 



Stocks 



Mr. Farrell; 



Dear Sir — Can you please inform me why Beauty of 

 Nice and Princess .'^lice stocks don't do as well now as in 

 the winter? The past three years I've been having good 



Botanical 



