26 



THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



flowers. As soon as the plants are estab 

 lished in the open ground spray with 

 Paris green, a teaspoonful to a pail 

 of water; you may have to do this two 

 or three times before the buds appear. 



There are many strains and varieties 

 of asters. The large, strong growing, 

 branching variety raised by Mr. Sem- 

 ple, of Pittsburg, is excellent for cut 

 ting. Vick s Branching is of about the 

 same character. Then there is the 

 Truffaut s Peony-Flowered, very fine 

 if true, and grand colors; Victoria, 

 finely formed; Comet, finely curled 

 petals; Jewel^ very compact, incurved 

 petals; Betteridge s Quilled, a dense 

 mass of short petals with a fringe of 

 larger ones ; and many other strains, all 

 good if well grown, but Semple s though 

 a few weeks later than some others, will 

 be found to be grand. 



Under this heading I have dwelt at 

 some length on the operation of sowing 

 seed, for I consider raising many of our 

 plants from seed the most important 

 part of the grower s occupation. It is 

 the most delicate, and if not requiring 

 the most skill it certainly taxes your 

 patience and demands closer attention 



They are often unevenly sown, or care 

 less watering will wash most of the seed 

 to one corner of the box. When just 

 germinating, if allowed to get very dry 

 all your work may be in vain, or if 

 not shaded w r hen just j&amp;gt;eeping through 

 the surface they may be burnt up. Skill 

 ful and proper management in sowing 

 is one great part of it and constant 

 watchfulness the other. 



I think the plan of roasting or bak 

 ing the material with which you cover 

 the seed is most excellent, especially for 

 those seeds that take considerable time 

 to germinate, for it kills the seeds and 

 spores of weeds and mosses and other low 

 organisms that so soon take possession 

 of an unoccupied surface. A piece of 

 sheet iron over a brisk fire will enable 

 you to quickly roast sufficient soil to 

 cover a great many flats of seed. And 

 if the whole mass of soil in which you 

 sow as well as cover has been baked, so 

 much the better. 



ASTIBLE JAPONIC A. 



This plant was known for years as 

 Spiraea Japonica, and by the commercial 



Astilbe Japonica. 



than any other method of propagation. 

 Asters are by no means difficult to han 

 dle (quite the contrary) but all seeds 

 need care. You can put cuttings into 

 the sand very clumsily and if shaded you 

 can trust most anyone to water the bed 

 and count on success, but there are many 

 things to watch in raising seedlings. 



florist is still almost universally 

 called spiraea. It is a perfectly hardy 

 herbaceous plant, and there are few 

 plants so hardy or that will stand more 

 rough usage than this astilbe. On dry, 

 sunny borders the feathery spikes are 

 far less beautiful than those we grow 

 under glass, but I have seen some very 



fine spikes this spring on plants that 

 were in deep, moist soil and partially 

 shaded by trees. It is, however, as a pot 

 plant or for cut flowers in early spring 

 that we are most concerned with the 

 astilbe. At Easter, though by no means 

 so profitable as many other plants we 

 grow T , they seem almost indispensable, 

 and again on Memorial day they are in 

 good demand. When used for cutting 

 we find the flower is not the only useful 

 part of the plant; the foliage is always 

 cleanly used up in cheap bunches of 

 flowers. 



The clumps of roots that we force are 

 all imported from the rich, fat lands of 

 Holland, and so long as the Holland 

 growers can supply them so cheaply it 

 will never pay us to bother with their 

 cultivation. They usually arrive about 

 the middle of November and should be 

 unpacked and placed in flats or boxes 

 with an inch or so of soil or litter over 

 them. Then give them a good soaking 

 and place the boxes outside, anywhere. 



The astilbe can be forced into flower 

 in eight weeks by giving it great heat, 

 but I much prefer giving them twelve 

 weeks, and the first three weeks they 

 can be under the bench. If not pre 

 viously done, when potting them give 

 the roots a good soaking; there is such 

 a thick mass of roots that the ordinary 

 watering does not thoroughly wet them. 

 They are the simplest of all plants to 

 force. Pot them into 5, 6 or 7-inch pots, 

 or whatever size will hold the roots. A 

 temperature of 55 to 60 degrees at night 

 will suit them better than a higher one. 

 Water is the great essential, for by the 

 flowering time the little soil that you 

 give them is one mass of living, hungry 

 roots. It is labor saved and far more 

 satisfactory all around to stand each pot 

 in a 7 or 8-inch saucer, in which keep a 

 constant supply of water, and if this 

 is weak liquid manure your plants and 

 plumes of flowers will be much finer. 



The astilbe is not troubled by aphis, 

 spider, thrips, or any other of our pests, 

 but when the growth is young and not 

 matured they are easily burned by to- 

 bacco smoke and that must be avoided, 

 either by covering the astilbe, or giving 

 them a good syringing, before you fumi 

 gate, or best of all, don t have them in 

 a house that must be fumigated. 



The old form A. Japoniea is still large 

 ly grown. A. compacta has rather 

 dwarfer and denser spikes. The Glad 

 stone is a very fine variety and so is 

 the Washington. There is also a varie 

 gated form of Japonica of dwarf growth 

 and of no commercial value except for 

 its variegation. 



Those wanted for Decoration day we 

 keep out of doors till middle of April; 

 they come into flower easily in a few 

 weeks thus late in the season. When 

 sold to a regular customer you will do 

 well to either sell or give with them a 

 7-inch saucer with instructions to place 

 under the pot and keep water in it. 

 If this is done the astilbe will be satis 

 factory, otherwise it will shrivel up. 



AZALEA. 



Of all the species of this beautiful 

 genus, the Indian or Chinese are the 



