THE 





77- -r^ 



,fLoMSTS 





THE FORCING OF jbt 

 iiy FANCY FREESIAS 



The recent improvement in the quality of the freesia, with the addi- ■ | mr^'^^grmnrmr 



tion of new varieties in many colors, has opened a fresh field of oppor- ■ J^^ 

 tunities for freesia forcers. Many growers who heretofore have given ^^iJ 



the freesia, scant attention may now find it worthy of their iest efforts. 



I ^ '\'-^ 



N GEOWING freesias, or 

 other flowers, the grade 

 or quality of the crop de- 

 pends on various circum- 

 stances — not only on the 

 grower's disposition and 

 skill and facilities, but 

 also on the requirements 

 of the local market. There 

 are other questions in- 

 volved, besides the question of the 

 grower's efficiency. The grower may 

 be a marvel. He may be able, if he 

 wishes, to hand out superfine flowers 

 from the most unpromising conditions, 

 as nonchalantly as a sleight-of-hand per- 

 former produces a bushel or so of 

 bouquets — or lingerie or what not — 

 from a No. 7 derby hat. The grower, 

 indeed, may be a veritable magician in 

 his own line, yet he may not feel in- 

 clined to waste much of his time and 

 dexterity in growing extra special free- 

 sias for customers 

 who will pay just as 

 much for a lower 

 grade. 



If the grower is 

 ambitious, hbwever, 

 he will judiciously 

 lure _ his patrons on 

 to higher things — in- 

 cluding higher prices 

 — by offering them 

 stock which is at 

 least a little better 

 than they expect. 

 And a florist who 

 has learned the best 

 methods may be able 

 to grow specials as 

 easily as his poorly 

 informed competitor 

 can grow seconds. 



"Neutral" Flowers. 



If a grower knows 

 that he has a market 

 for a quantity of in- 

 differently good free- 

 sias — freesias of neu- 

 tral quality; that is, 

 neither good nor bad 

 — and if he has ex- 

 cellent conveniences 

 for producing just 

 that kind, he may be 

 fully justified in do- 

 ing so. He may use 

 the freesias as a 

 catch crop, stringing 

 a lot of the bulbs 

 along a bench of 

 partly worn-out soil, 

 after the early chrys- 

 anthemums or other 



plants have been removed. In such a 

 case he will plant the bulbs about two 

 inches apart in the rows, with the dis- 

 tance between the rows about six 

 inches. And when the man with the 

 hose waters the other stock in the 

 house, he may water the freesias also, 

 perhaps allowing the artificial shower 

 to fall as indiscriminately as the rain 

 and the dew of heaven descend on out- 

 door vegetation. 



Impartial Treatment. 



In growing these "neutral" freesias, 

 the entire houseful of miscellaneous 

 stock is often treated almost as im- 

 partially, with reference to tempera- 

 ture, moisture and other matters, as na- 

 ture treats the outdoor wOrld. In other 

 cases the freesias are "humored" as 

 fully as is possible in a house of mixed 

 stock, and the extra care is well re- 

 warded. The flowers fulfill the grow- 



Freesia Purity, Pot-grown for Christmas. 



er's expectations and will probably 

 suit the purpose for which they were 

 grown. 



But if tlie grower has a market for 

 really fancy freesias, or can readily de- 

 velop such a market, it will be profit- 

 able for him to give the plants a more 

 special sort of treatment — the kind 

 of treatment that they most enjoy, 

 and they are not hard to please. It 

 will pay him to use suitable soil and to 

 plant the bulbs in pots, flats or pans, 

 which can be set on shelves well up 

 to the light or in some other favor- 

 able location, and can be moved from 

 place to place as the plants require 

 hurrying or retarding. 



The process is not intricate or diffi- 

 cult and the returns are excellent. The 

 Christmas prices received by some of 

 the leading growers, for freesias of 

 choice quality, would make the aver- 

 age grower's eyes glisten. Of course, 

 the flowers are not so 

 good at Christmas as 

 are those that are 

 grown cooler, but, as 

 one Boston expert re- 

 marks, "the Christ- 

 mas blooms bring the 

 money. ' ' After the 

 holidays the flowers 

 are l)etter and the 

 prices not so good, 

 but the compensation 

 is still satisfactory. 



It is a sample of 

 this sort of money- 

 making Christ- 

 mas stock that is 

 shown in the illus- 

 tration. The plants 

 are about twenty- 

 eight inches high aa 

 indicated by the 2- 

 foot rule that stands 

 by their side. 



Timing the Blooms. 



The culture of free- 

 sias is easy, but dis- 

 tinctive in method; 

 they require differ- 

 ent treatment from 

 most other bulbous 

 plants, such as the 

 so-called Dutch bulbs. 



One of the pe- 

 culiarities of freesias 

 is that they suffer 

 comparatively little 

 from a delay in 

 planting, if the stor- 

 age conditions are 

 suitable. It is espe- 

 cially easy, therefore, 



