August 19, 1911 



HORTICULTURE 



263 



Seasonable Notes on Culture of 

 Florists ' Stock 



OYCLAM] V 



Give your earliest batch of these plants their last shift 

 now. Plants coming out of -!-ineh pots should have a 

 6-inch pot and those from a "-inch pot will go into a 

 5 m< h pot, and so on according to the vigor of the 

 plants. For a compost use a moderately firm sod that is 

 fairly well decayed three parts, well rotted cow manure 

 two parts, leaf-mold one part, and some clean sand to 

 make the whole porous. See that each pot has a fair 

 amount of drainage. Continue to treat them with care 

 so they will not receive any severe check from either 

 too much water or the want of it. Give the plants a 

 daily syringing overhead and underneath for this is a 

 prime requisite. Keep the material on which the pots 

 stand and the atmosphere moist hy wetting between the 

 pots as it cools the air and refreshes the plants. Where 

 you have your cyclamens in frames let them remain 

 here for another month as the conditions suit them here 

 better than in a house any earlier. When they are re- 

 moved to the house see that they have a position as 

 near the glass as possible, and if each plant is stood on 

 an inverted pot a better circulation of air will get all 

 around the plants. Give frequent fumigations so as to 

 keep them clean. 



CARE OF HARDWOODED PLANTS 



Don't overlook your azaleas. Just as soon as they be- 

 gin to crowd one another give them more room. Give 

 the pots a mulch of rather fresh cow manure for it will 

 help them greatly in the formation of flower buds and, 

 later on, the flowers themselves. See that they are well 

 supplied with water as the neglect of water always does 

 serious damage. All such plants as ericas, epacris and 

 genistas should be faithfully attended to right along. 

 Watering two and three times a day is often necessary 

 to keep them moist at the roots. It is even advisable 

 to examine them by taking one or two out of their pots 

 to ascertain whether they are getting too little or too 

 much water. Ericas and epacrises must not be suffered 

 to get too much water at the roots now. If heavy rains 

 seem likely lay them on their sides. They can remain 

 outside until the middle of September. To risk them 

 out later than this is not advisable. Genistas should be 

 making excellent growth now. Be sure and use the 

 hose freely on these plants so as not to let red spider 

 spoil the foliage. 



BOUVARDIAS 



All strong growths should be pinched back, and all 

 the weak growth that they made while in small pots 

 should be cut out, for only the strong growth that comes 

 from the root should be saved. They should be lifted 

 the last of this month or the first week in September 

 and they will take hold of the soil better than at a later 

 date. They will do well on a bench of five inches of 

 soil in a house that runs anywhere from 58 to 65 degrees 

 at night. After they are either benched or potted, spray 

 them several times a day and keep up a good atmospher- 

 ic moisture by damping down the walks and walls — 

 which will keep them from wilting so bad. For the first 

 eight days some shading will be very favorable to their 

 well doing. By giving them the proper syringing you 

 will be able to keep off the attacks of both the red spider 



and mealy bug. When the beds or pots get full of roots 

 tho\ will be grea enefited with manure-water once 



or twice a week. 



ii \l CUTTINGS 



From now until October if we have no cutting frost, 



geranii iuttings can be taken. Cuttings taken during 



September and later are less liahle to loss from damping 

 than those thai are inserted from im« up to the tenth 

 of September, as the coo] nights help to harden up the 

 wood. Trim your cuttings up well, leaving only the 

 small leaves on the top of each cutting. To leave more 

 only means endless trouble later on in picking them off, 

 as \\\r\ always gel in a decayed condition. All the cut- 

 tings that arc put in from now until the tenth of 

 September should give a good cutting during January, 

 which can be rooted in a gentle heat and grown on. 

 After the cuttings are put in keep them moderately 

 moist until they are rooted, when they can be kept much 

 drier until they are potted off. This treatment causes 

 them to make a mass of fine fihrous roots. When they 

 are potted up avoid using any green manure in your 

 compost. Manure, if used, should be thoroughly de- 

 cayed, so that it will crumble up very easily. A good 

 compost is a mixture of three-fourths of new soil to 

 one-fourth of some very old manure and a 5-inch pot 

 of fine bone meal to every barrow-load of the above 

 mixture. 



MARGUERITES 



The stock plants should by this time have broken 

 away and made some fine succulent cuttings. So look 

 over the plants and secure cuttings of from two to three 

 inches long and strip off a few of the lower leaves with 

 a good clean cut at the bottom. This is all that is nec- 

 essary to make a good cutting which will easily root in 

 any ordinary propagating bench. As soon as these are 

 rooted they should be potted off and not allowed to make 

 too long roots before being taken out of the sand, for 

 they will feel the check less. Use a 2y 2 or 3-inch pot 

 with any good heavy loam, to which an addition of 

 one-fourth of well-rotted cow manure has been added. 

 These young plants should have at all times the fullest 

 light and ventilation in abundance. By keeping these 

 potted along they will make nice plants in 6 or 7-inch 

 pots for next Easter. 



ROSES 



Watering and syringing should be carefully attended to 

 now. The half-doing of these essentials causes all kinds 

 of trouble. Syringing improperly done only allows red 

 spider to get a good foothold. When the nights get 

 longer and cooler do all your watering and damping 

 down before three o'clock in the afternoon, for all roses 

 that have heavy and luxuriant foliage always collect 

 abundant moisture which leaves the foliage dripping 

 during the night and is very favorable to black spot. 

 From now on most nights will call for a little fire heat. 

 This along with a little ventilation is a very helpful 

 factor in rose culture. Keep on tying as your plants 

 may need it, for you can then do syringing better and 

 it also lets the light and air around each plant. Use 

 all caution to restrict mildew. 



Mr. Farrell's next notes will be nn the following: Carnations 

 for Pot Culture; Cinerarias: Gloxinias and Tuberous Begonias; 

 rirrhids: Peonies; Paper White Narcissus 



