THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



the condition of cutting best suited for 

 propagation with every plant for which 

 I have given cultural directions. 



GESNERA. 



These were very popular some thirty 

 or forty years ago. They are bulbous 

 or tuberous-rooted, and are allied to the 

 gloxinia and achimines. Being natives 

 of central and south tropical America 

 they must be kept warm, when growing 

 as well as resting. The resting given 

 them in our northern greenhouses cor 

 responds to the dry season in their na 

 tive climes, but when resting, which 

 should always be in the pots and soil in 

 which they were growing, they must not 

 be allowed to get dust dry, and if rest 

 ing in a warm house should be given 

 water once a week. Stems will start 

 from the tubers or root stalks and it is 

 then time to encourage growth. They 

 should be started in small pots of light 

 soil half loam and half leaf-mold and 

 sand and need little water till they are 

 growing strongly. They must be shifted 

 as they grow and when in full leaf will 

 take an abundance of water and even 

 liquid manure. 



The gesnera is rather more a foliage 

 than flowering plant, and not a florists 



Plant the bulb on the bench in Feb 

 ruary among the carnations by just 

 squeezing it into the soil. It needs no 

 covering and the watering you give the 

 carnations will suit the gladiolus. A 

 rose bench would suit them much bet 

 ter, but it would be hardly fair to the 

 roses. 



Out of doors the cultivation is very 

 simple. The better the ground the finer 

 the spikes, and in very dry weather 

 they should get an occasional soaking 

 with water. Very large growers must 

 necessarily use only plow and cultivator. 

 The commercial man should plant the 

 corms (for they are not bulbs at all) 

 in rows two feet apart, so that the horse 

 cultivator can be run between them, and 

 six to eight inches in the rows. Five to 

 six inches deep is about right. When 

 as deep as that they are not in our dry 

 summers so likely to suffer for want of 

 water. 



The corms increase rapidly and you 

 will frequently find two fine ones in 

 place of the old one planted in the 

 spring. If a succession of flowers is 

 desired, make plantings at intervals of 

 two weeks, but remember that you will 

 get no more flowers after the first 

 frost. Before there is any danger of 

 frost reaching the corms, dig them up 



distinct and differs from the ordinary 

 gladiolus by being finely spotted and 

 marked, and some of them have fine 

 shades of orange and yellow. Eed sells 

 well, also. 



GLAZING. 



.A most important part of green 

 house construction. Poor putty, if the 

 glass is lapped and poorly laid, is a 

 source of constant annoyance, waste of 

 coal and injury to the plants. When 

 the glass is butted, unless the house is 

 well and truly built, it will be a botch 

 and failure and will bring censure on 

 this excellent method, which under most 

 circumstances is the way to glaze a com 

 mercial house. Some critics may say 

 if good for the commercial man why not 

 -or all glass structures? The lapped 

 method is more expensive, but if well 

 anu properly laid is undoubtedly a good 

 job, but the butted plan is quicker to 

 lay, easier to repair, much less expensive, 

 and if you ever want to altar or move 

 your houses or wish to remove the glass 

 you can do so wiia perfect ease. As to 

 tightness for making a warm house both 

 methods when thoroughly done will do 

 that, with a preference toward the butted 

 system. 



A World s Fair Exhibit Which Did Much to Popularize the Gladiolus. 



plant, yet a beautiful choice plant for the 

 amateur greenhouse or lover of plants. 



GLADIOLUS. 



The varieties we grow are hybrids 

 from some of .-he many species of which 

 the large genus is composed. The hand 

 some spikes of the gladiolus are known 

 to all, and for the flower border the 

 gladiolus is one of the most handsome 

 of summer flowers, but grown with such 

 ease by every one that the price of the 

 spikes is now very low. 



They can be readily raised from seed 

 and will flower the second year. That, 

 of course, is the only way to produce 

 varieties, of which now there are legions. 



They are often grown by florists on 

 their benches among other crops to pro 

 duce flowers in May and June before 

 those outside are in bloom. They will 

 not flower, however, till we get the warm 

 days of spring, and no matter how early 

 you may plant the bulbs they will in a 

 carnation temperature grow very slowly. 

 I have never seen that they injured the 

 carnations if not put in too thickly. 



and let them lie in the sun for a day 

 or two with the tops cut off a foot or 

 so above the corms. When the stalk 

 is dry, cut it off within an inch of the 

 corm, and if they are not wet with 

 rain or dew store them away in flat 

 trays anywhere out of the reach of frost. 



Any place that will keep potatoes will 

 keep gladiolus bulbs. There is usually 

 such a place in the greenhouse sheds. 

 They are the easiest possible bulbs to 

 keep; only keep them from frost. We 

 once had a lot dug up and lying on 

 the ground to ripen the tops when over 

 night down came a frost, of about 3 

 degrees. I thought our gladioli had 

 escaped, but every bulb was destroyed. 



The white and light varieties are much 

 the most valuable to the florist. There 

 are now pure white varieties and of every 

 other conceivable shade except blue. In 

 buying bulbs remember that seventy-five 

 per cent should be white or very light 

 shaues. 



it is impossible to give a list of 

 names. There are too many, and few 

 florists grow them under name. The 

 Lemoine strain is very handsome and 



Lapped or Puttied. 



Where the modern, iron-framed houses 

 are built the bar used is usually very 

 light, but well supported by a number 

 of purlins. On these houses the glass 

 is usually lapped and there are only 

 one or two points to observe. The putty 

 should be of good quality, and to it 

 should be added one-fifth of white lead. 

 The glass should be pressed down till 

 the putty is spread out evenly and over 

 the entire surface of the shoulder of 

 the bar; this will save much labor when 

 you take off the back putty, as there will 

 be no holes to fill up. 



In old style glazing you saw laps of 

 all sizes from a sixteenth of an inch to 

 one inch. The longer the lap the more 

 place for dust and dirt to lodge with 

 no means or chance to clean it out, 

 so you have a dark strip across at the 

 junction of every light. One-eighth of 

 an inch is the ideal length of a lap 

 for any size glass and it makes just as 

 warm a house as a lap of two inches. 



The best thing I have found to hold 

 the glass down as well as to hold it 



