16 



The Florists' Review 



March 16, 1916. 



cigar shop? In many cases the answer 

 must be that tlie florist lias not yet put 

 in a modern front. There are, indeed, 

 flower stores in which the fixtures of 

 olden times still suflice, but not so with 

 those retailers who are keeping up 

 with the procession. A flower store 

 today, to have a standing comparable 

 to that of other merchants in tlie vi- 

 cinity, must have modern fixtures. The 

 accompanying illustration gives a view 



of one corner of the store of C. H. 

 Fisk, Inc., on Ogden avenue, just off 

 West Madison street, in Chicago. The 

 Fisk store recently was completely 

 reoutfitted by the store fixture depart- 

 ment of the A. L. Eandall Co., Chi- 

 cago. Many retail florists nowadays 

 dispense with counters, but Mr. Fisk 

 retains one in front of the icebox, for 

 convenience in handling stock and in 

 putting it before his customers for in- 

 spection. 



CUTTINGS NEED FRESH SAND. 



I put in a batch of 0,800 carnation 

 cuttings January 1 and by February 5 

 6,400 of these had rooted. For the next 

 batch the proprietor told me not to 

 change the sand but to draw some hot 

 water from the steam boiler and 

 water the sand thoroughly. I did so 

 and then put in G,000 cuttings. Of 

 these I find that only about one-third 

 will root. I maintain that old sand is 

 not good for rooting carnations; I be- 

 lieve in renewing the sand for each 

 batch of cuttings. Am I correct? Do 

 you think the stale water from the 

 boiler killed tlic life of the sand and 

 caused the cuttings to rot? 



H. E. R.— Mich. 



In our opinion, propagating sand is 

 fit for only one batch of cuttings; we 

 would not think of using it for a second 

 batch. We know of growers who do 

 and we have tried it, but have never 

 seen a second batch come out with so 

 large a percentage of rooted cuttings 

 as the first. The reason for the failure 

 is not, as you surmise, the killing of the 

 life of the sand l)y the hot water, but 

 rather the reverse. You cannot take 

 out a batch of cuttings without losing 



more or less of the roots; a few of the 

 roots will break off in spite of the ut- 

 most care. These remaining rootlets 

 Avill begin decaying soon after the sec- 

 ond lot of cuttings is stuck, and start 

 fungus. Pouring on hot water starts 

 this decay just a few days sooner and 

 aggravates the trouble. 



From an economical standpoint, we 

 could never see anything but loss in 

 using propagating sand for more than 

 one batch of cuttings. A cubic yard 

 of sand, costing perhaps $3 by the time 

 you have it in the propagating bed, will 

 hold about 10,000 carnation cuttings. 

 One hundred cuttings of any of the 

 standard varieties will pay for that 

 load of sand. We feel safe in saying 

 that the loss traceable to this cause 

 would easily average ten per cent, so 

 that new sand for each batch will easily 

 pay for itself tenfold. Penny wise and 

 pound foolish, is what we call it. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



CARNATIONS LACK NUTRITION. 



We are sending you the tops of two 

 carnation plants which are affected 

 with some disease unfamiliar to us. 

 Will you please tell us what the trouble 

 is and a remedy for it? This trouble 

 started early in the winter and is found 

 mostly on Victory, but Pink Enchant- 

 ress also is affected badly. We used 



lime when benching them last summer 

 and used sheep manure lightly early in 

 the winter. After this a mulch of cow 

 manure was given. B. & B. — Wis. 



These light-colored growths are due 

 to lack of nutrition, the cause of which 

 would be difficult to state without 

 knowing more about the cultural con- 

 ditions under which the plants are 

 growing. The lack of sunshine would, 

 no doubt, be a contributory cause. These 

 old varieties have lost so much in vital- 

 ity that it is difficult to pull them 

 through a whole season without con- 

 tracting some such trouble. They can- 

 not stand the strain of the dark winter 

 weather. As spring approaches and 

 the weather conditions become more fa- 

 vorable to plant growth, you will see 

 these troubles gradually vanish. But 

 why worry along with these old, worn- 

 out varieties? There are plenty of the 

 newer, improved and more vigorous 

 varieties on the market, which will not 

 only give you less worry but also better 

 blooms. The best advice I can give you 

 is to stock up with up-to-date varieties. 

 Your stock of these varieties is deterio- 

 rating, the same as it has already done 

 for nearly everybody, and there is no 

 help for it. A. F. J. Baur. 



SAVING ONE'S OWN SEED. 



Following the address of Howard M. 

 Earl before the Florists' Club of Phil- 

 adelphia March 6, the following ques- 

 tions were asked and answered: 



Q. — What is the best treatment of 

 winter-flowering Spencer sweet peas, 

 planted in a carnation bench, to pro- 

 duce seed? 



A. — As sweet peas grown under glass 

 will not set seed until toward the end 

 of April, nothing would be gained by 

 starting the seed early in the fall. 

 Therefore, as there would be no advan- 

 take in allowing the flowers to remain 

 on the vines, meanwhile would advise 

 cutting them regularly until toward the 

 middle of April. 



Q. — And how soon ought they to set 

 seed ? 



A. — If the plants referred to have 

 been flowering now for some time, they 

 should be given regular applications 

 of liquid manure and perhaj)s a top- 

 dressing of thoroughly rotted manure, 

 the desire being to keep them growing 

 strongly until the period when they 

 would be likely to produce the most 

 seed. 



Q. — There are a few vines I particu- 

 larily want to get all the seed of that 

 is possible. How shall I insure the 

 maximum seed crop? 



A. — As the days get longer and the 

 sun, naturally, much stronger, the vines 

 are likely to be attacked by the green 

 fly, and, unless this is seen to in time, 

 the plants might be so badly crippled 

 as to preclude any chance of seed set- 

 ting. It is, therefore, well to fumigate 

 the house at intervals of ten days or so, 

 as "prevention is better than cure." 



A Corner in the Store of C. H. Fisk, Inc., Chicago. 



AMERICAN GLADIOLUS SOCIETY. 



Notice is hereby given that the va- 

 riety Crystal White, formerly called 

 Paper White, is submitted for registra- 

 tion by H. H. Bacr, of New Hyde Park, 

 N. Y. 



The nomenclature committee suggests 

 a now method of registration, viz., the 

 publication of a brief description, with 

 the suggested names of the varieties 

 submitted for registration. If no ob- 



