THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



J39 



Hydrangea Otaksa. 



Lay out a space eighteen inches larger 

 and broader than the frame or frames, 

 and allow for an 18-inch path be 

 tween the frames, but path and all to be 

 built -up with the manure. 



Build the sides up square and when 

 making the beds one man should throw 

 on the manure and another be shaking 

 and spreading it evenly and continually 

 tramping on it, so that when it sinks, 

 which it will do as it ferments, it will 

 sink evenly. If the material is dry, have 

 the hose near at hand and every layer 

 of three or four inches give the surface 

 a good sprinkling. It will prevent the 

 heat being so violent, but will make it 

 last longer. 



When the bed or material has reached 

 a height of two feet put on your frames 

 and see that they are straight and square 

 or the sash won t fit, and above all see 

 that the frames are not winding. If 

 you sight across the top edges back and 

 front and they line with each other, then 

 they are not winding. Continue to build 

 up with the material till you are nearly to 

 the top of the frame. Then throw in four 

 or five inches of the plunging material. 

 Tliis could be sawdust, tanbark, or even 

 sifted ashes, but for the sake of the hot 

 bed material for after use, which is in 



valuable to the plantsman, we prefer to 

 put on four or five inches of some light 

 soil that we have used for some other 

 crop. 



Don t plunge any plants in the soil for 

 five or six days, or till the most violent 

 heat has passed, and keep a little ventila 

 tion on to allow the vapor to escape. 

 When the violent heat has subsided get 

 in your plants and the growth they will 

 make will be remarkable. And so will 

 the growth of weeds from the soil. But 

 weeding must be attended to as all other 

 duties. 



Only the man who never forgets 

 should have the care of the hotbeds. A 

 cold night is often followed by a bright, 

 sunny day, and the sun seems to acceler 

 ate the heat of the bed, and if they are 

 neglected till, say 11 a. m., you run a 

 good chance of having your whole crop 

 burned up, which has happened occasion 

 ally to most of us. A little ventilation at 

 first, and a little more in an hour, is the 

 way to care for a hotbed. And close 

 down early in the afternoon. With the 

 uniform moisture and heat at the roots 

 and the ammonia -charged atmosphere, the 

 growth of many plants is prodigious. 



AYhen hotbeds are started early, about 

 April 1, you should always cover them 



. nightly with mats or shutters, the former 

 much preferred both for warmth and con 

 venience. You must not trust to the 

 bare glass on nights of sharp frost. The 

 surface of the soil gets quickly cool and 

 then Jack Frost touches the plants, whose 

 tops are .very near the glass. 



The hotbeds are a great relief to us in 

 our crowded state in April and May. And 

 more than that, when the beds are 

 emptied the material is tossed up on a 

 pile and chopped down once or twice dur 

 ing fall, and there you have an excellent 

 substitute for leaf-mold, with some am 

 monia in it. If not, its mechanical con 

 dition is what you want for all of your 

 soft-wooded, and many of the hard- 

 wooded, plants. 



HOYA. 



These hothouse climbers are seldom 

 seen now. The days of short -stemmed 

 flowers are gone, and hoyas are only 

 found in the private collection. H. car- 

 nosa was once a very common plant in 

 our greenhouses, and we have all heard 

 the dear old lady tell us hundreds of 

 times that her &quot;wax plant did not 

 flower. 



H. carnosa and H. bella are the two 

 best known. The latter is a beautiful 

 but more delicate plant. They root 

 easily in the spring from the tops of the 

 growths. If a specimen is wanted they 

 should be trained on a wire frame. They 

 like plenty of sun and ventilation in sum 

 mer time, and in winter should be given 

 a rest by keeping rather dry and in a 

 house at about 50 degrees. 



Their waxy flowers, in fine umbels, are 

 very pretty, but they are not a florist s 

 flower. 



HYACINTH. 



See Bulbs. 



HYDRANGEA. 



These are among the most important 

 of our decorative flowering plants. Large 

 quantities are sold for Easter church 

 decorations, and later on large plants 

 are in demand for outside decoration. 

 The hardy Hydrangea paniculata grandi- 

 flora is one of the finest of our hardy 

 shrubs. 



H. hortensis and its variety Otaksa is 

 the common hydrangea of our green 

 houses. The flowers of Otaksa are nearly 

 always sterile, and from that fact arise 

 their fine, showy heads of bloom. The 

 normal color of Otaksa is a beautiful 

 flesh pink, but it varies with certain soil, 

 and in some parts they assume a beauti 

 ful blue color. Iron dust or filings in the 

 soil are said to produce this. If so, it 

 cannot be done with one season s treat 

 ment, but must be followed up from the 

 time the plant is first rooted. When 

 Otaksa is well colored its beautiful shade 

 of pink can scarcely be improved by 

 changing to a blue. 



All the hydrangeas can be readily 

 rooted from the young growths in Febru 

 ary and March. Old plants that are given 

 a little heat in the winter will give you 

 fine cuttings, and they should be short, 

 stout pieces of the very latest growth, 



