14 



The Florists' Review 



JUNB 22, 1916. 



hardly pay to start a fight against the 

 ■pest on the present crop of blooms. 

 By the time you get them under con- 

 trol, if you succeed at all, it will 

 be time to throw out the stock and re- 

 plant. Better throw the plants out 

 right away and get ready for an early 

 start with your next season's stock. 

 Clean out the plants and soil, taking 

 everything out of the house. Then 

 burn sulphur in the house, or fumigate 



a couple of times with cyanide, before 

 bringing in the new stock. After the 

 new stock is benched, spray regularly 

 with one of the tobacco extracts, 

 whether you see any insects or not. 

 Bear in mind the old adage, "An ounce 

 of prevention is worth a pound of 

 cure." Success in the business of 

 growing plants and cut flowers depends 

 largely on prevention; prevention of dis- 

 ease and the ravages of insects. 



A. F. J. B. 



TEN BEST BEDDINQ Q^BANIXTMS. 



What are the ten best varieties of 

 geraniums for bedding! A. L. — Mo. 



The best bedding geraniums in dou- 

 bles are: Alphonse Eicard, vermilion 

 scarlet; La Favorite, pure white; Jean 

 Viaud, mauve rose; Beaute Poitevine, 

 salmon; S. A. Nutt, deep red; Mar- 

 quise de Castellane, soft crimson; Miss 

 F. Perkins, rose-pink; Mrs. Lawrence, 

 salmon-pink. Splendid singles are: 

 Paul Crampel, dazzling scarlet; Snow- 

 drop, pure white; Jacquerie, crimson- 

 scarlet; Mrs. E. G. Hill, light salmon. 

 C. W. 



GERANIUMS BLOOM TOO SLOWLY. 



Can you give me any information as 

 to what is the trouble with my gera- 

 niums? They bloomed nicely up to 

 about four days before Memorial day, 

 but since then they have been slow 

 in flowering. Each Saturday we sell 

 all geraniums that are in bloom, and 

 then it will be nearly a week before 

 the plants begin to show even signs of 

 color. As other florists seem to have 

 plenty of these plants in bloom about 

 this time, I do not understand what is 

 the matter with mine. I have grown 

 all of them in the same house and have 

 kept them at the average temperature 

 at which geraniums should be grown, 

 keeping them a little on the dry side. 

 They are all fine, stocky plants and 

 quite healthy. One cause of the trou- 

 ble may be that the plants were not 

 disbudded in the early spring. 



S. A. C— Pa. 



As your plants appear to be healthy 

 and the cultural treatment seems to 

 have been as near ideal as possible, I 

 think the most probable causes of your 

 plants not flowering better at this time 

 are that you allow them to flower too 

 much early in the season and that the 

 soil contains too much decayed manure. 

 A little well rotted manure, such as ob- 

 tained from a spent hotbed or mush- 

 room bed, is good to add to the soil, but 

 it should not be over one-fourth of the 

 whole. 



I do not know whether you use fine 

 bone or not. It helps to build up a 

 firm, stocky growth that will flower 

 freely, whereas an excess of manure, 

 especially if it is not extra well rotted, 

 will make the plants produce a strong, 

 soft growth and flower sparsely. Firm 



potting should also be done. If loosely 

 potted the plants will not flower nearly 

 so well. C. W. 



GOOD DOUBLE GEBANIUMS. 



Will you please give me a list of 

 about ten of the best varieties of dou- 

 ble geraniums, good strong growers and 

 bloomers f Jean Viaud suits me in its 

 color. What other varietiies in other 

 colors are as goodt C. C. — Okla. 



Good varieties to grow in addition to 

 Jean Viaud are: S. A. Nutt, Beaute 



F. C. Bauer's Products, 



Poitevine, Alphonse Eicard, La Fa- 

 vorite, Jphn Doyle, Marquise de Castel- 

 lane, Mme. Barney, Mrs. Lawrence, 

 Marquise de Montmort and Berthe de 

 Presilly. C. W. 



IMPERFECT GERANIUM BLOOMS. 



Under separate cover I am sending 

 an imperfectly developed geranium 

 bloom. Many of my plants are af- 

 fected in the same way. Can you ac- 



count for this trouble, and suggest a 

 remedy 1 ^^^ J. G. B.— Mass. 



The most probable cause of imper- 

 fectly developed flowers is unsuitable 

 soil and a lack of nourishment at the 

 root. Grow your geraniums in good 

 loam containing a little well decayed 

 manure, preferably cow manure, and 

 fine bone. Geraniums in such a com- 

 post can hardly fail to grow well and 

 flower freely. Give them a nice, sunny 

 house. If greenhouse space is limited, 

 partly plunge them in a gentle hotbed 

 any time after May 1. In such a frame 

 they will not dry out as in the green- 

 houses and will make far better plants. 

 C. W. 



GERANIUM FLANTS DISEASED. 



Under " separate cover I am sending 

 you two diseased geranium plants. I 

 would like to know what is the matter 

 with them. Of 1,500 plants only twelve 

 or fifteen plants were in this condition. 



F. E. F.- '^ 



The plants forwarded had stem-rot, 

 as well as bacteria on the foliage, but 

 they were not in the hopeless condition 

 that many geraniums are when we re- 

 ceive them. If you have no more than 

 one diseased plant in a hundred, you can 

 congratulate yourself, as few establish- 

 ments can show a better record. The 

 disease on your plants may be due to 

 an excess of moisture overhead and 

 at the roots, which is more likely to 

 be harmful if your plants are stand- 

 ing too close together on the benches. 

 Keep them separated and picked over 

 occasionally. Maintain a dry, buoyant 

 atmosphere, with some ventilation 

 night and day. Keep affected plants 

 isolated and drier at the roots. If con- 

 ditions show signs of getting worse, 

 spray with Fungine or Bordeaux 

 mixture. C. W. 



BAUER'S "PINK BEAUTIES." 



This is the age of nicknames. A 

 certain make of automobile is known as 

 tL "flivver;" a 5-cent piece now is a 

 "jitney" and a silver dollar an "iron 

 man;" pacifists are called "slackers" 

 by the war party and a fondness for 

 the movies is diagnosed as "Chaplin- 

 itis." At the Baltimore fiower market 

 retailers stroll in and inquire if there 

 are any "Pink Beauties" to be had. 

 "Pink Beauties" is a nickname the 

 boys have invented for Eose Eadiance, 

 as grown by Fred C. Bauer out at Go- 

 vanstown, meaning that Mr. Bauer's 

 Eadiance roses have attributes in com- 

 mon with American Beauties. Mr. 

 Bauer knows every" whim of Eadiance 

 and produces blooms of a color, size 

 and length of stem hard to beat. When 

 they reach the market they sell them- 

 selves, as "Pink Beauties." 



Mr. Bauer has a house of this variety 

 and grows it at a temperature lower 

 than the regular rose temperature. The 

 illustration on this page shows a few of 

 his Eadiance in the arms of his son, 

 William, another Bauer product. In 

 the absence of a yardstick, William was 

 put in the picture to give the reader 

 an idea of the length of stems of the 

 roses, although the young ladies of the 

 neighborhood consider William himself 

 not at all hard to look at. 



Lima, O. — A J. C. Moninger Co. 

 greenhouse has been erected here for 

 Frank H. Foutz, of 608 East North 

 street, a newcomer to the business. 



