10 



The Florists* Review 



'*•>. 



: » / T ', 7'»J • "7>;»-f7r* 



Jdn;! 29, 191B. . 



after that date it easily outclasses all 

 others. This variety is more and more 

 acceptable in the Boston market and 

 any of the newer introductions must be 

 top-notchers to replace it, as it is away 

 up in yield and has few defects. For 

 near-by sales it is preferred even now to 

 Pink Delight, as it has the requisite 

 size and a color which does not fade 

 in the brightest sun or with age. As a 

 long-distance shipper, however, Enchant- 

 ress Supreme is not so good as Pink 

 Delight and the wholesale florists pre- 

 fer the latter for this reason. 



Two Good Whites. 



In white I have White Enchantress 

 and Matchless, both good varieties. 

 White Enchantress leads in yield per 

 plant and purity of color, but Match- 

 less, though not so pure in color, is in 

 great demand on account of its good 

 shipping qualities and I am increasing 

 my planting of it threefold for another 

 year. 



As to Philadelphia, while it is pleas- 

 ing in color and satisfactory in yield 

 per plant, its keeping qualities are so 

 inferior that I could only get one-half 

 price for it and had difficulty in sell- 

 ing it at all. 



There is room for a good scarlet. 

 Beacon has seen its best days. Mrs. 

 C. W. Ward is in great demand; hence 

 I am planting about 2,500 of it and 

 discarding Eosette and Gorgeous. Be- 

 nora is one of the best carnations ever 

 introduced, both in plant and flower. 

 At my place it has improved, and is 

 better now than ever. 



For a beginner, it is advisable to 

 stick to the old and well tried varieties 

 and let the other fellow try the new 

 ones, except in cases where the new 

 variety can be seen growing. A new 

 one can be judged a good deal more 

 correctly while growing in the bench 

 than on the exhibition table. 



Official Trial Grounds. 



Here let me suggest that it might 

 be a good idea if the American Car- 

 nation Society would appoint a grower 

 in each carnation-growing district and 

 have him test the new varieties, keep- 

 ing a record of the yield per plant, the 

 keeping qualities and everything else 

 which is of vital importance in a car- 

 nation. He could judge the varieties 

 by points, according to the scale 

 adopted by the Carnation Society. A 

 new carnation, so judged and approved, 

 would then be tried by the ordinary 

 grower with more confidence than if 

 he had merely seen it on the exhibition 

 table. Such a method of carnation 

 testing would not harm the introducers 

 of really worth-while kinds and I think 

 they would gladly furnish, say, fifty 

 plants to each district grower for trial 

 and judging. If any introducer were un- 

 willing to subject his new sorts to such 

 a trial, he would certainly have no 

 reason to expect other growers to try 

 them. The introducer ought to have 

 enough confidence in his own novelties 

 to place them willingly in the care of a 

 disinterested expert, who would grow 

 them in comparison with other new 

 ones and with the standard varieties, 

 and judge them accordingly. P. J. 



Bacine, Wis. — Joseph Eehl has sold a 

 half interest in his store at 617 Main 

 street to Henry Benz, of Milwaukee. 

 Mr. Benz formerly was associated with 

 J. M. Fox & Son, of Milwaukee. 



PLANTING SWEET PEAS INDOORS. 



We have our sweet peas in beds five 

 feet wide, running north and south,, 

 three rows to a bed. The rows run 

 lengthwise of the bed. Would the 

 sweet peas obtain more light and sun- 

 shine if planted crosswise! Would a 

 good mulch of stable manure be bene- 

 ficial? G. F. C— Tenn. 



You would get a little more sun by 

 running the plants the narrow way of 

 the house. It would also make the sup- 

 porting and care of the plants much 

 easier. It would be still better, how- 

 ever, if the three rows were reduced 

 to two. The best sweet peas under 

 glass are produced in rows running 

 lengthwise of the houses and five or 

 six feet apart. Lettuces, violets, or 



Bouquets by the Art Floral Co> 



some low-growing crop is usually 

 pulled out before the peas become too 

 tall. A mulch of stable manure would 

 be beneficial. C. W. 



legume. It is a known fact that all 

 leguminous plants are, to a certain ex- 

 tent, infested with bacteria tubercles on 

 their roots. It has been proved by prac- 

 tical experiments that the growth of 

 such plants can be greatly improved by 

 inoculation of the seed with this bac- 

 teria previous to planting. Then would 

 it not be reasonable to suppose that 

 sweet peas could be improved upon by 

 this same process of inoculation of the 

 seed before planting? If any reader 

 of The Eeview has made any experi- 

 ments with sweet peas along this line 

 I would be glad to hear from him. 



C. H.— S. D. 



I have tried inoculation on both sweet 

 peas and garden peas, but have failed 

 to notice any improvement as compared 

 with those not treated. The views of 

 other readers would be welcomed on 

 this subject. C. W. 



TO COMBAT GBEEN APHIS. 



We have a fine patch of sweet peas, 

 to which small green bugs are doing se- 

 rious damage. I think they must be 

 green aphis. What shall we do to get 

 rid of them? At present we are using 

 plenty of water on the foliage, applied 

 with a garden hose. E. L. — Ark. 



Green aphis are sometimes extremely 

 destructive to sweet peas and they 

 must be controlled at once, or they will 

 soon ruin your plants. Spray with a 

 kerosene emulsion, a tobacco soap or 

 any of the various reliable remedies 

 for aphis. A nicotine spray is as ef- 

 fective as anything. You will find 

 proportion directions on all cans pur- 

 chased. Ivory soap, at the rate of one 

 pound dissolved in boiling water, and 

 cold water added to make five gallons of 

 liquid, is good and inexpensive. Spray 

 with cold water only, and when the 

 foliage is perfectly dry. C, W. 



PBIZE BOUQUETS. 



At the recent sweet pea show in San 

 Francisco the prizes for the best bride's 

 bouquet and corsage bouquet were 

 awarded to the Art Floral Co., on the 

 exhibits shown in the accompanying 

 illustration. 



TO BEST STVrn.AX. 



Is now the proper time to rest smilaz 

 that has been growing in the green- 

 house during the entire winter? 



W. A.— Wis. 



SWEET PEA INOCULATION. 



Without a doubt the sweet pea is a 



Yes, the smilax would be benefited by 

 a few weeks of rest now, if you intend 

 to grow it for a second season. Give 

 the plants plenty of ventilation and 

 keep them moderately dry, but do not 

 allow the soil to become dust-dry. 



