16 



The Florists* Review 



August 24, 1916. 



A Book for Florists. 



For the purpose of bringing these 

 methods together and giving them some 

 sort of organization, the writer has in- 

 duced Harry B. Weiss, of his depart- 

 ment, to prepare a bulletin on green- 

 house insects. Especial attention has 

 been given to this phase of the florists' 

 business because it has seemed to us 

 that knowledge of that part of the field 

 has been in more chaotic condition than 

 any other. It is purposed to distribute 

 this bulletin to the members of this asso- 

 ciation who express a desire to con- 

 sult it. 



No entomologist has made the insect 

 pests of the florists' crops a subject of 

 suflSciently extended study and research, 

 and no really comprehensive and helpful 

 scheme of procedure can be suggested 

 until something of the sort has been 

 done. ^ 



A live research committee of this or- 

 ganization might set such a piece of 

 work going by cooperating with persons 

 already in experimental work who are 

 interested along this line, and thus ini- 

 tiate a movement that would prove a 

 large factor in promoting American 

 floriculture. 



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Cold Storage Lilies. 



Now is an opportune time to pot up 

 a batch of giganteum lilies from cold 

 storage. You do not need large-sized 

 bulbs; sizes 7-9 or 8-10 are the most 

 satisfactory. Use 5-inch or 6-inch pots. 

 If the soil is damp, you need not water 

 them after potting. Stand the pots on 

 a cellar floor, in a frame or even be- 

 low the benches. Cover them with dry 

 moss or some other mulch, to prevent 

 drying out. As they start to grow, 

 stand them on a bench. They do well 

 in any ordinary greenhouse while sum- 

 mer reigns, but later they should have 

 a temperature of 60 to 65 degrees at 

 night for the best results. 



It is not diflBicult to have a constant 

 succession of lilies by starting batches 

 two or three weeks apart, and where 

 much funeral work is done they will 

 be found extremely useful flowers. If 

 you have uses for L. speciosum, you 

 can also buy cold storage bulbs of these 

 now. L. speciosum album will be found 

 the most satisfactory. Bulbs potted 

 now will flower from Thanksgiving on- 

 ward and will prove useful. 



Marguerites. 



Marguerites for early flowering in 

 pots should now be in 5-inch or 6-inch 

 pots and should have another shift. 

 They do not make rapid growth now, 

 but just wait until it turns a little 

 cooler! Pinch out any shoots running 

 to flower and keep the plants plunged 

 outdoors. These plants will flower 

 freely as early as the beginning of De- 

 cember and can be easily had in splen- 

 did flower for Christmas. Plants must 

 be well potbound to flower well. Do 

 not imagine that you can flower them 

 as well or better in a bench. You can- 

 not do it, nor can you bloom the yellow 

 marguerites at Christmas as you can 

 the smaller-flowered white ones. If the 

 leaf miner troubles you, use Black Leaf 

 40 as a spray, using one part of the 

 nicotine to 600 parts of water. This 

 will speedily kill every leaf miner it 

 touches. 



Bouvardias. 



It is not safe to leave bouvardias out- 

 doors after the end of August. While 

 we might have a warm September and 

 Ihe plants would, in such a case, be per- 



fectly secure, it is not safe to trust to 

 this in our northern states. A tempera- 

 ture as low as 40 degrees will often 

 destroy the embryo flower buds in that 

 beautiful pure white variety, Hum- 

 boldtii. Lift the plants with a nice 

 ball, pot them carefully, stand them 

 outdoors in a partly shaded location 

 and spray freely until they are estab- 

 lished somewhat. Give them some shade 

 from bright sunshine. If they are 

 planted in benches, be sure also to pro- 

 vide the necessary shade for a while 

 and spray freely until the wilting ceases. 

 Then they need only be sprayed oc- 

 casionally. 



Freesias. 



The earliest freesias now are three 

 to four inches high. Early in Septem- 

 ber these will go on the shelf of a car- 

 nation house, where a minimum of 52 

 to 54 degrees is maintained in winter. 

 A large proportion of these we hope to 

 have in flower for Christmas, a season 

 when the prices of Purity freesias are 

 always satisfactory. It is time now to 

 start a second batch of these popular 

 midwinter-flowering bulbs. Pans or 

 half pots will be found more satisfac- 



tory, on the whole, than flats or 

 benches for growing them in, unless 

 large numbers are grown and whole 

 benches or even a house can be devoted 

 to them. If they are in pans, it is pos- 

 sible to advance and retard them, some- 

 thing not so easily done when quan- 

 tities are grown in benches, unless the 

 bulbs are planted at intervals to main- 

 tain a succession. 



Antirrlilntuns. 



The earliest batch of antirrhinums 

 should be benched before this time, in 

 which case a good crop of spikes can 

 be assured for the holidays. When 

 they are planted thus early, I like to 

 give them a little more room than 

 when they are grown only for a spring 

 or Memorial day crop, allowing them 

 a space 10x12 inches. Remember that 

 these snapdragons succeed better for a 

 winter crop in shallow benches than in 

 solid beds; also, that if properly treat- 

 ed they will flower profitably until next 

 July, and how many other flowers can 

 we depend upon to do likewise? Let 

 the snapdragons all run up to flower 

 before pinching them back t&iTlj hard. 

 If you pinch them back while the 

 shoots are soft, the plants will break 

 weakly and many of the shoots pro- 

 duced will not flower. The present has 

 been a hard season for snapdragons and 

 fungoid affections are rife. For safety 

 spray with Bordeaux mixture or Fun- 

 gine before you see any signs of these, 

 or as soon as they appear. 



Myosotis and Double Daisies. 



Myosotis and double daisies are bet- 

 ter if sown a little later than pansies, 

 as their growth is much more rapid. 

 The seeds do just as well if sown in a 

 bed outdoors as in a coldframe. Pro- 

 tect the bed with cheesecloth, elevated 

 a little from the ground, until the seeds 

 germinate. For a compact-growing for- 

 get-me-not sow Myosotis alpestris Vic- 

 toria. This may be had in blue, pink 

 or white shades, but blue sells much 

 the best. M. sylvatica, of a more 

 spreading habit, is good for bedding 

 and comes in useful for dotting through 

 bulb beds as a ground cover. M. palus- 

 tris is a persistent bloomer. It enjoys 

 a damp location, but for the last two 

 summers has got suflScient moisture 

 from the skies to suit it to a nicety. 



ABOUT WHITE OLADIOLI. 



Which is the best white gladiolus? If 

 a question like that were propounded 

 to a public assembly, the answer would 

 probably be a chorus of discords, for 

 no two replies would agree. Some of 

 the discordant notes would be quiet 

 undertones, wavering uncertainly in an 

 attempt to blend harmoniously, but a 

 few of the dissonant voices might be 

 loud and insistent. One disputant 

 might state mildly that there are 

 enough good white varieties to afford a 

 choice for people of all tastes. An- 

 other might shout that "there ain't no 



sich animal " as a best or superlatively 

 good white gladiolus. "How about 

 Peace?" someone would ask. "Peace 

 would be a good white if it were white, 

 but it isn't," would be the sarcastic 

 rejoinder. "How about Chicago 

 White? And how about—" But to 

 each proposed variety there would be 

 ready objections. 



B. Hammond Tracy, whose ideas on 

 the subject should be worth hearing, 

 recommends Lily Lehman as being at 

 least one of the best whites, and as 

 one evidence of the correctness of his 

 opinion he has submitted the photo- 

 graph which is here reproduced. He 



