HORTICULTURE 



VoL XXXI 



MARCH 6, 1920 



No. 10 



THE TALK OF THE TRADE 



One of the Boston papers is respon- 

 sible tor the statement that florists 

 favor daylight saving. There is a 

 question as to how much truth there 

 is in that statement. I have talked 

 with quite a number of florists and 

 practically all of them express them- 

 selves as opposing the plan. Some are 

 rather mild in their objections and 

 some are rather strong. 



Florists in general are closely akin 

 to the farmer. What is necessary for 

 one in the way of sunshine and cli- 

 matic effects in general is necessary 

 for the other; take for instance the 

 rose grower. The last cut in the after- 

 noon under daylight saving plan must 

 be made very early, or in other words, 

 while the sun is still high. It isn't 

 easy to get the section men to come 

 back later on and make an evening 

 cut; consequently buds are cut tighter 

 than they should be during the very 

 warm weather or they will be too open 

 in the morning. 



Also, the general run of florists are 

 interested in outdoor crops. Many of 

 them have hay crops to handle as well 

 as a variety of crops that are handled 

 also by the farmer, and how many 

 florists there are who are vegetable 

 gardeners also. These are my reasons 

 for saying that I doubt if the florists 

 think differently than the farmer. The 

 farmer is certainly in the minority 

 but he has good solid reasons for op- 

 posing the plan, and those who are in 

 favor of it are, generally speaking, in 

 favor of it purely through selfish mo- 

 tives. Evidently the railroads are 

 against it and for a very good reason. 

 Take for instance Massachusetts; If 

 it accepts daylight saving and New 

 Hampshire, Vermont and Maine turn 

 it down, which they seem inclined to 

 do, there will be great confusion, and 

 it is also by no means sure that Rhode 

 Island and Connecticut will adopt it. 



In spite of the severe weather that 

 we have experienced for weeks and 

 weeks past, the rose plants under glass 

 are feeling the effects of the sun. Bot- 

 tom breaks are appearing, the eyes 

 are swelling, and a more vigorous 

 growth is manifesting itself all the 

 way through. This means mulching, 

 as well as more water and more syring- 

 ing. Of course there are some growers 



who are so unfortunate that they are 

 without sufficient coal to carry them 

 beyond a tew days and are living in a 

 sort of hand to mouth way as regards 

 the coal pile. These growers are of 

 course handling their roses at a lower 

 temperature than is good for them, 

 and this will mean less water and less 

 feed. Those, however, who are push- 

 ing their roses along normally will do 

 well to give the plants a good mulch. 



Cow manure is always to be pre- 

 ferred for mulching, but there are very 

 few growers who are fortunate enough 

 to be able to mulch with this. An ex- 

 cellent mulch can be made up with 

 horse manure by turning it several 

 times, mixing a small amount of soil 

 with it and adding bone meal. You 

 needn't be afraid of horse manure 

 burning or doing too much in any way 

 if you use it carefully. Turn the hose 

 on to it just as fast as it is put on the 

 beds; one man with the hose to follow 

 up as the other men do the mulching 

 will take the fire out. Leave a little 

 draft of air on to let the ammonia es- 

 cape, syringe thoroughly on each 

 bright day, and if plenty of water is 

 used there will be no burning. 



There was a time when we were 

 afraid to use horse manure, but that 

 day has passed. Some florists mulch 

 with this entirely and if used frequent- 

 ly and not too thick, excellent results 

 are obtained. If cow manure is used, 

 generally speaking, it is better to use 

 a little soil with this also, providing 

 the beds are shallow and the plants 

 will stand a little building up with 

 soil on top. If they are filled to the 

 top with soil, use the manure clear. 



The rose plants now show the natu- 

 ral tendency to jump ahead so be sure 

 that you don't try to hold them back. 

 Syringe frequently, keep the wood soft, 

 the atmosphere damp, and give them 

 all the water that they will take. They 

 will show their appreciation. 



A little talk on chrysanthemums for 

 the coming season will not be out of 

 place at this time. It is time now to 

 propagate your stock, as well as buy 

 those varieties which you have decided 

 to handle as new ones for next season. 



Starting off first with the large flow- 

 ered type. I am reminded of one in 



particular which has made good wher- 

 ever it has been marketed, and that is 

 the variety Barbara Davis. The bloom 

 is bronze shaded with a lively red; the 

 color is very difficult to describe. The 

 growth is stocky, short-jointed, with 

 heavy foliage, and if not planted too 

 late, produces stems as long as is nec- 

 essary for the market. 



Another one that Is exceptionally 

 good if you want a very late one is 

 Golden Misletoe, a sport of Misletoe, 

 identical in growth but has a good 

 clear yellow color and can be marketed 

 well into December. 



Where fancy flowers are wanted, the 

 white and yellow Chadwick are still 

 the standbys for late varieties. For 

 the grower, however, who wants aver- 

 age commercial quality I would name 

 the following as those which give good 

 satisfaction : 



In White, Early Frost, Oconto and 

 Smith's Advance are heavily grown 

 for early. Charles Rager and White 

 Chieftain are good midseason varieties, 

 and for late, Glenwood Hall, Timothy 

 Eaton and 'WTiite Seidewitz are satis- 

 factory. Of course for very late, those 

 which will come into December, we 

 have Hamburgh Late White and Misle- 

 toe. 



The very earliest yellow is Golden 

 Glow, followed by Chrysolora, Mari- 

 gold and Robert Halliday. Mrs. M. R. 

 Morgan, Mrs. C. C. Pollworth and Gol- 

 den Gleam are good midseason varie- 

 ties, and one that has not been grown 

 very heavily but is certainly a promis- 

 ing one is Richmond. It is called an 

 early Bonnaffon, which describes the 

 variety in every way. Every com- 

 mercial florist should try out this sort 

 as it comes in ahead of Bonnaffon and 

 I know of no variety at its season that 

 is better. For late, the old standby 

 Major Bonnaffon must always be con- 

 sidered. Yellow Eaton is also a stand- 

 by for this season. 



In early pink, we have Pacific Su- 

 preme and Unaka, which are generally 

 grown. Another variety, however, 

 whicli is coming into favor and which 

 is not grown as much as it deserves 

 is Mrs. W. T. McNiece. For pink mid- 

 season, the field may safely be left to 

 Chieftain, and following that into the 

 later pinks, we come to Dr. Euguehard 

 and Edyin Seidewitz. For those who 

 do it well, and it really is not a hard 



