58 



THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



Commercial Flowers Care of Stock. 



Take notice of varieties that have 

 clone well with you, as well as individual 

 plants that have produced the best 

 flowers. Of some varieties you may only 

 need a few, as they send up large quan 

 tities of thrifty cuttings. Other as 

 equally good varieties propagate slowly, 

 making few cuttings. These latter you 

 must save more plants of. Lift your 

 required number of plants and plant in 

 four or five inches of soil in flats or 

 boxes. They will do in any light house 

 or even a coldframe, where you can keep 

 them a little above freezing. Very little 

 water is needed during the dark cold 

 weather. In this condition they will do 

 well till end of February, when the in 

 creased light and heat will start them 

 sending up cuttings. A new variety or 

 one that you are very anxious to increase 

 can be transplanted on a bench after 

 flowering and in a temperature of 50 

 degrees will be giving you cuttings all 

 winter, but where you have plenty of 

 stock the rest during winter is most bene 

 ficial to the vigor of the future plants. 



Propagation. 



Cuttings are propagated all winter, 

 but end of February, March, April and 

 May is the time best suited. Chrysan 

 themums root very easily, especially in 

 February, March and April, when the 

 sand is a trifle warmer than the atmos 

 phere. Either sand or coke ashes will 

 do and three inches of it is enough. 

 While there is a little bottom heat and 

 the sun is not powerful a good watering 

 every day is essential. The cuttings will 

 then be rooted in eight or nine days. 

 After first of May the bed will need 

 some cheese-cloth tacked overhead and 

 later a heavy shade on the glass, and 

 to keep the cuttings from wilting a 

 copious watering will be needed two or 

 three times a day. They will take longer 

 to root as the season advances, but will 

 be helped greatly by never letting them 

 wilt from sun or dryness. 



The cuttings should be two to three 

 inches long and stout; a few of the 

 lower leaves stripped off and clean cut 

 at the bottom is all that is necessary. 

 Avoid long, weak growths. Hard, woody 

 cuttings should not be used. Moderately 

 soft young growths will root quicker and 

 grow better. Cuttings should be potted 

 off as soon as rooted and not allowed 

 to make long roots; the sooner they 

 come out of the sand after roots appear 

 the less will be their cheek. The cut 

 tings are usually put into 2 or 2% -inch 

 pots, in which, if not too early propa 

 gated, they can remain till they go on 

 the bench. Some growers of large quan 

 tities transplant from propagating bench 

 to a bench of three or four inches of 

 soil, and there they can be again trans 

 planted to the permanent bench. This 

 saves a good deal of water and you run 

 the risk of neglecting them for water 

 in the month of May. These young 

 plants must have at all times the fullest 

 light and ventilation in abundance. 

 Plants will sometimes need stopping be 

 fore planting. When but one flower is 

 needed the strongest shoot can be selected. 



If two or three flowers are wanted to 

 each plant then that number of shoots 

 are wanted. This stopping can be done 

 before planting out on the bench if 

 plants are early or still better done after 

 the young plants have started to grow in 

 the benches. 



Planting. 



A heavy, free loam that the water 

 will pass through freely, with the addi 

 tion of one-fifth of rotted cow manure 

 and a liberal sprinkling of pure bone 

 flour will be an excellent compost. A 



A Type of Good Commercial Flower. 



liberal sprinkling is rather indefinite, 

 so I will say one pint to a bushel of soil 

 can be used safely. If it were mixed 

 with the soil a month or two months be 

 fore planting, so much the better. The 

 chrysanthemum is called a free and 

 even rank grower, but an overrich soil 

 produces very large, soft flowers. The 

 flowers produced on a soft, forced 

 growth are in poor condition to with 

 stand the handling they have to undergo 

 before they reach the retail counter and 

 to produce durable, firm flowers a well 

 matured growth of the wood is as nec 

 essary as is a good, dry house and abun 

 dance of fresh air. It is a fallacy to 

 think that a deep soil is a benefit to 

 chrysanthemums. Four inches of soil 

 has grown the finest flowers and no more 

 is needed. If the largest flowers are 

 looked for then planting is begun by 

 middle of May, but good commercial 

 flowers can be produced if planted from 

 middle to end of June. If only one 

 flower is wanted on a plant they can be 

 planted six inches apart; if three 

 blooms are wanted on a plant, or speci 

 men blooms are expected, then eight to 

 ten inches apart will be the thing. Plant 

 firmly and leave a depression around 

 each plant. As soon as the young 

 plants have hold of the new soil go over 





the entire bed and make the soil solid 

 by pounding with a brick or block of 

 wood. 



Tying. 



Soon after the benches are planted it 

 is very necessary that the young plants 

 be supported with stakes or string. A 

 wooden stake may do or an iron rose 

 stake, but quicker applied and less ex 

 pensive is the string which we have 

 used this past ten years. It is also 

 cleared out with the least trouble and 

 no sacrifice of material. A wire of the 

 size known as stove wire is stretched 

 across the bed close to each row. A 

 corresponding wire above the plants, 

 either fastened to the sashbar, or an 

 other stout wire run lengthwise of the 

 house. It is well to have the upper 

 wires six or seven feet above the bench, 

 as they can remain in the house perma 

 nently. From the wire at the bench to 

 the one above run a piece of coarse, 

 cheap string, one for each plant, and 

 the plant is tied, as it needs support. 

 When the crop is cut the lower wires 

 can be loosened and either raised up to 

 the roof or stored away for future use. 

 The upper wires are not in your way. 

 Unless this tying is done promptly the 

 plants sprawl about, get crooked and 

 bent, and it will take you much longer 

 to do the job, and be poorly done at 

 that. 



Watering, etc. 



Be always very careful when water 

 ing, particularly with the early varie 

 ties, and a good look over the bench 

 before you begin will make you aware 

 of spots in the bed that may go an 

 other day or two. There is more danger 

 of overwatering in the early stages of 

 their growth, when the soil is not 

 crowded with roots. Up to time of set 

 ting buds they grow fast and vigor 

 ously and must be well supplied with 

 water. While forming buds less water 

 is needed. And then again till the buds 

 show color they want plenty of water. 

 Liquid manure is seldom given till after 

 the buds are selected. I have often no 

 ticed that where all parts of the bench 

 were watered alike, the outside rows 

 came into flower considerably earlier 

 than the interior plants. The outside 

 rows getting more light and air dry out 

 quicker, thus hastening bud formation. 

 By care in keeping the bench at an 

 even degree of moisture you can bring 

 in a crop evenly, which is a considera 

 tion, both as to price you get for your 

 flowers and your ability to clean up the 

 bench for succeeding crops. Syringe 

 during the growing season once or twice 

 a day, as the weather may require, but 

 always allow the foliage to dry before 

 night. 



In using liquid manure do not apply 

 when the soil is very dry. If applied 

 after a moderate watering there is less 

 danger *of overfeeding and feeding 

 snould be discontinued entirely after 

 the flowers show color. In concluding 

 these remarks on watering I will say 

 when you do water be sure that it is 

 enough to wet the soil clear through to 

 the boards of the bench, or bottom of 



