306 FRITZ BAHR'S COMMERCIAL FLORICULTURE 



CONSERVING THE ESSENTIAL MOISTURE 



One good watering after planting is usually sufficient except in 

 an exceptionally dry season; but if you have a deeply worked soil 

 to start with and run between the rows with a hoe or cultivator once 

 a week, watering with the hose is likely to produce soft growth 

 and do more harm than good. Keep the plants pinched, never al- 

 lowing buds to form. By the middle of July the plants are ready to 

 be lifted with a spading fork. If the soil is too dry let this be done 

 so as to get a good mass of the roots and a little soil clinging to the 

 plants, either wait for a good rain or water the plants thoroughly a 

 day or two before they are to be lifted. 



In the meantime the benches should have been made ready; 

 the soil in them should be neither too wet nor too dry. Plant, 

 according to the sorts, approximately 10 to 12 in. apart and just 

 a little deeper than they were in the field. During very hot weather 

 put a good mud wash on the roof of the house. Water thoroughly 

 after planting and spray the plants lightly several times during the 

 day so as to prevent wilting. After the third day remove a little of 

 the mud and keep this up so that in about a week after planting the 

 glass is clean again. Examine the soil in the benches from day to 

 day and try to keep it moist, but not soaking wet ; also let up on the 

 spraying except on hot days during the noon hour. Cultivating the 

 surface of the soil will keep it moist and cool below. 



The first buds will be on short stems and should not be allowed 

 to flower; pinch them out and let the strength go into the next lot 

 of shoots. Apply wires lengthwise and twine crosswise over the 

 benches to form supports long before the plants need them. Fumi- 

 gate regularly to keep green fly down and cultivate and remove any 

 yellow or decayed foliage. If you have made use, when filling the 

 benches, of rather heavy soil with about one-fourth well-decomposed 

 manure, the plants won't need feeding until Christmas, when, after 

 a light cultivating, a layer of bonemeal and sheep manure just thick 

 enough to cover the surface will be in order. Follow this with a 1- 

 or 2-in. layer of good soil. Or a mulch consisting of equal parts 

 well-decomposed cow manure and soil can be used instead of the 

 bonemeal and sheep manure. In the case of healthy plants and 

 such as are producing flowers, more food may be applied by the end 

 of January. Keeping the flowering stems free of side shoots and 

 allowing just one bud per stem will make for large flowers, yet there 

 are times during Midwinter, with flowers scarce and a retail grower 

 having design work on hand, when it might be considered desirable 

 to allow two buds to remain on the white and light pink ones. If 

 there should be no call for long-stemmed flowers by the time the 

 first bud of the pair opens, the flower may be removed and the 

 second bud allowed to bloom. 



