THE FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



ground. That watering is worth ten 

 on the surface. Tell your customers 

 that cannas and caladiums can be 

 soaked every dry evening, but that 

 geraniums and beds of coleus and 

 most everything else should be left 

 alone except in very dry times when 

 a thorough soaking should be given 

 once a week, followed by a hoeing the 

 next morning if the plants are not 

 touching each other. 



In charging for the bedding plants, 

 whether contract or not, you should 

 put down in your day book just how 

 many plants of each variety it took 

 to fill the different beds. Then, if 

 Mrs. Goodpay orders her large circu- 

 lar bed filled with geraniums again 

 this year you will refer to her charge 

 of last year and find that it took 75 

 Mt. of Snow for a double row on the 

 outside and the center required 140 

 Ernest Lauth. These figures are at 

 random. But whether you plant the 

 same or vary it you will know exactly 

 how many is needed. Again you are 

 asked a hundred times this question: 

 "I have a flower bed eight feet across. 

 How many geraniums will it take to 

 fill it? Or how many coleus will it 

 take?" We reckon ten inches apart 

 for our 4-inch geraniums, about nine 

 inches for coleus, fifteen inches for 

 cannas and caladiums, and some spe- 

 cified distance for all the plants we 

 commonly use. You can have a card 

 with the sizes of the beds and quanti- 

 ties needed all made out so that you 

 can give an answer in a few minutes, 

 whereas, if you had not the thing fig- 

 ured out you would have to begin a 

 sum in mathematics while somebody 

 else is waiting for an interview. 



The bedding plant business is not 

 going to die out and you should cater 

 to it. There is a good profit in it and 

 it does not conflict with other 

 branches of your business. With a 

 clear head you can do it all. 



A Long Geranium Bed. 



BEGONIA. 



There are few more familiar plants 

 than the begonias and few so widely 

 grown. The most popular section 

 the shrubby sorts are many of them 

 most excellent house plants. The Rex 

 or stemless section make fine decora- 

 tive plants and the tuberous rooted 

 class are grand bedding plants. There 

 are hundreds of species and numerous 

 hybrids obtained by crossing many of 

 the species, and among the varieties 

 there are some beautiful plants. 



The begonias are all from warm cli- 



mates but do not require a great heat, 

 most of them thriving well in a night 

 temperature of 50 to 60 degrees during 

 the winter months. A good loam with 

 a fourth of leaf-mould and rotten cow 

 manure will grow any of them. If the 

 soil is heavy add some sand, but they 

 are really not very particular as to 

 soil. 



The Shrubby Section. 



The shrubby section is the most 

 popular and the most useful to the 

 florist, the winter flowering kinds be- 

 ing in good demand. They flower for 



Various Styles of Bedding. 



