July 15, 1911 



HORTICULTURE 



Go 



Seasonable Notes on Culture of 

 Florists' Stock 



CHEYSANTII llllis 



Those plants that were ben tied during May will be 



benefited by s e sort of ao ishmenl now. This can 



be supplied in the form of bone meal and aboui half an 

 inch of some well-rotted cot\ manure. 'Tins will help 

 in keep the beds from drying oul so often ami keep the 

 roots much cooler. Where \ it plants arc well filled 



with roots, feeding can he c menced. Use weak 



doses "l cow or sheep manure, to which some soot has 

 be< n added ; this will make the foliage a line dark green 

 while also affording good food for the plants. It is 

 necessan during this hot weather to give copious and 

 frequenl syringings to keep the temperature down as 

 much as possible. Buds can he taken on most of all the 

 early kinds after the first week in August. This would 

 include Golden Glow, Monrovia, October Frost, Berg- 

 man. Mersthan Yellow. Merry Monarch and Alice By- 

 ron. Polly Rose, Glory of the Pacific ami Virginia 

 Poehlmann should not be taken before the 20th of 

 August as they produce only poor Sowers if taken ear- 

 lier. Plants in the late houses should he encouraged 

 to make all the growth possible now. If any buds ap- 

 pear from now up to September they should he pinched 

 nil'. If mildew is prevalent use sulphide of potassium — 

 half ounce to a gallon of water and spray over and un- 

 der the leaves. 



HOUSING CARNATIONS 



It is well to hear in mind, when lifting the plants 

 from the field, to remove them as quickly as possible 

 to some place where they have some protection from the 

 hot sun and dry winds. If you have plenty of plants 

 -elect only the best and most shapely for benching. 

 When planting make a hole with a trowel large enough 

 to allow the roots to have a proper spread, and set the 

 plants just a little higher than they were in the field, 

 as a preventive for stem rot. Give a firm pressing 

 around each and every plant. Shade your house with 

 something that will come off in ten or twelve days. 

 After the fourth day remove a little each day so that 

 in either ten or twelve days the plants will be able to 

 stand full sun. As soon as you have 50 or 60 feet of 

 bench planted give each plant a good watering. Keep 

 your house rather close for the first ten days and 

 spray two or three times a day until the plants have 

 taken hold of the sod, when spraying should be re- 

 duced to normal. Keep on plenty of ventilation for it 

 is a necessity in securing sturdy short-jointed growth. 



HOLLYHOCKS 



Now is the best time to start a liberal lot of these 

 useful plants. You can either sow seed outdoors or in 

 a cold frame. Where you have the latter at command 

 it will prove the best, for you can give shade until the 

 seeds have germinated and. with watering during dry 

 weather and little care generally they will grow vigor- 

 ously until the fall. Give the ground where they are 

 to be planted out a good quantity of well rotted manure 

 and work it in by a deep digging, as they like a deep 

 soil with plenty of manure. It is better not to plant 

 these seedlings out until next spring, but winter them 

 over in a cold frame. During three or four months of 

 the severest winter weather they should be protected 

 with glass sash. 



LOREAINK BEGONIAS 



From now on keep all flowers pinched off and -lop 

 any runaway shoots. Give the plants a place quite 

 close to the glass which should not be too heavily shaded. 



These are g I 



pecially Oncidium 

 come very populai 



Where it i- possible give them shade during the hot- 

 test hours of the day with a lattice that can be removed 

 after •'! or 1 P. M. mid need not he put on until 9 

 o'clock in the morning, or may he left oil' entirely dur- 

 ing dull and cloudy days. Keep the air humid by wet- 

 ting down the paths and beneath the benches; this will 

 ■ji\r lone to the Eoliage. When' the plants begin to 

 crowd give them a fresh stand with plenty of room be- 

 tween each for lighl ami air. Ventilate so as to avoid 

 an) sudden fluctuations in the temperature. Give them 

 a shifl before thej become pot-bound until you have 

 them in their flowering size. Use a compost of equal 

 parts of fibrous loam, leaf mold, anil well decayed cow 

 manure. 



ONCIDIt MS 



orchids to grow commercially, es- 

 varicosum Rogersii which has be- 

 with florists: Give this oncidium 

 plenty of air at all times during the summer months 

 and to insure an abundance of atmospheric moisture 

 wet down the benches, paths and walls three or four 

 times daily during very hot and dry days. From now 



until October use s -hading material, hut not too 



heavy, as these orchids like an abundance of light, with- 

 out being expo ed to the full sun. Permit the plants to 

 dry out occasionally so as not to let them get "sour," 

 hut don't let them remain dry for any length of time. 

 A good plan is to go over them about three times a 

 week and take them down, as watering with the hose 

 l- not always satisfactory. Then those that are dry can 

 he dipped in a tub of water, a method which always 

 propetiv moistens the compost. In bright weather give 

 syringing overhead once or twice a day. It is well to 

 remember that all varieties delight in being as near the 

 glass as practicable. 



PERENNIAL LUPINES AND LARKSPURS 



These stately and gorgeous herbaceous perennials are 

 always in demand. It is not too late to sow a batch of 

 seed now in a coldframe for they will germinate very 

 soon. Don't be in too great a hurry to transplant — that 

 is if the stock is not too crowded, for they can stand 

 quite a while without suffering, as long as you keep on 

 cultivating between the rows and keep the weeds down. 

 A slight shade to protect them against the noonday sun 

 will do good, but full exposure to the sun the rest of 

 the dav, with proper watering and cultivating, is best. 

 Lupinus polvphyllus— both the blue and white— are 

 good. Of the tall delphiniums, formosum and formo- 

 sum ccelestinum are fine. In addition it is well not to 

 forget the dwarf er growing Chinese delphiniums as 

 they are fine also. 



ASPARAGUS SPEENGERT 



A narrow bench running along the front or the rear 

 of a well-lighted house is the proper place to grow this 

 decorative green. It can also be grown in suspended or 

 in raised receptacles and will give a valuable lot of green 

 to cut from when grown this way. Give it where pos- 

 sible at least 10 inches of soil as it wants lots of root 

 room. , A soil that will grow roses will be all right for 

 it but you can make it richer as they require the rich- 

 est kind of soil to grow good. It will do finely in a tem- 

 perature of about 55 d rees at night, or a little higher 

 with plenty of moistun al its roots and with a reason- 

 able amounl of freel] i eulating fresh air. When the 

 roots have filled th i < •• boxes, or baskets they 



should have regular potations of liquid manure. 



LILIES FOE FALL. 



Now is a good time to secure and start up a batch 

 of retarded Lilium longiflorum and speciosum. They 

 will come into flower when flowering stock is com- 





