»v • 



18 



The Florists^ Review 



Adocst 31, 1916. 



canna flowers never before dreamed 

 of and you respectfully doff your hat as 

 you clasp his hand in parting. 



. Phil. 



SUCCESS WITH POTTED POiANTS. 



Tlie Bight Pots and Compost. 



It is quite an art to get potted plants 

 of any kind into the market in first- 

 class condition. Every stage of growth 

 must be watched with the greatest pos- 

 sible care. In the early "stages we lay 

 the foundation of our future work. If 

 it is not wisely laid, we get an unbal- 

 anced development, which the best fu- 

 ture attention cannot correct. 



The flower pot plays an important 

 part in plant culture. In the first place, 

 we want a light, porous pot. Of course, 

 it must be sufficiently heavy to stand 

 the wear and tear pf ordinary plant 

 life, but it must also be porous. Other- 

 wise the plants will become water- 

 logged and the roots will decay; a con- 

 dition impossible to repair. 



From the present point of view, it 

 does not matter what plants we are go- 

 ing to pot. It is the condition of the 

 compost that we are concerned with. 

 If possible, the potting composts should 

 be prepared six months ahead and 

 stored in open sheds, in the sum'liier, to 

 protect them from the rain. When re- 

 quired for potting during the winter 

 and spring, they should be stored where 

 they will be safe from frost. 



Crocking the Pots. 



The proper crocking of the pots is ab- 

 solutely necessary to good cultivation. 

 Bight drainage is the basis of pqt plant 

 culture. Without good drainage the 



soil will become saturated with surplus 

 moisture, which the plant cannot ab- 

 sorb. The soil will then become plastic 

 and cold; root action will cease; the 

 foliage will soon turn yellow and the . 

 roots will commence to decay. 



The crocks in the pots, with judicious' 

 watering, will prevent this trouble. Aja. 

 open, porous space is maintained at the 

 base of the pot. All surplus water can 

 drain away. The atmospheric air can 

 penetrate the soil. This aeration of the 

 soil maintains it in a healthy condi- 

 tion, in which the roots can grow and 

 develop freely. With good root action 

 the grower can handle the plants as he 

 wishes, and will be able to turn out 

 good stock. 



When and How to Bepot. 



When a plant is well furnished with 

 fresh, active roots to the outside of., 

 the ball of soil, it should be repotted.^ 

 It is a mistake, usually, to allow a 

 plant to get potbound before potting 

 it over. Never pot a plant when the 

 ball of soil is dry. Soak the plants 

 well and allow them to drain out prop- 

 erly beforjB repotting. When a plant is 

 potted on with the ball of soil dry, the 

 whole of the surrounding soil will be 

 in a sodden condition before the ball 

 of soil around the plant will be mois- 

 tened. As a result the plant will flag 

 and droop its leaves. Therefore, never 

 pot up a plant dry. When potted, it 

 will be found that a gentle watering 

 wUl be far better than the soaking 

 often given to the plants. As the plant 

 grows and produces roots, the amount 

 of water can be increased, with benefit. 



It is sometimes necessary to shade 

 young plants when they are first potted. 



|Mews' from 



row 



Rotterdam, Holland. — Considering 

 that practically all the horticultural 

 products of Belgium and Holland must 

 this season go to America by ttfi^y of 

 Botterdam, the trade will be interested 

 that the Holland-America line has sev- 

 en new steamships which will be put 

 into service between this port and New 

 York within the next six months. 



London, England. — With regard to 

 imports of Japanese lily bulbs an- 

 nounced last week, the government 

 agreed to admit up to fifty per cent of 

 1915 imports provided that the ship- 

 ments are effected before October 31 

 and subject to the trade devising a 

 scheme whereby the authorities may 

 be assured that this quantity will not 

 be exceeded. 



Liverpool, England. — Bose budding 

 is in progress on a good many nurser- 

 ies, although some firms have scarcely 

 anybody to do the work. Bees Ltd., 

 who have a million stocks to bud, have 

 a staff of lady budders, who are get- 

 ting on famously, one getting 1,100 to 

 1,200 buds in per day. That is an aver- 

 age that compares favorably with the 

 ordinary achievements of the experi- 

 enced male, and tends to disprove the 

 frequently made assertions that lady 

 gardeners cannot stand hard work. 



Cirencester, England. — In the autumn 

 J. Jefferies & Son, Ltd., will dissemi- 

 nate Schizanthus retusus Pink Beauty, 

 a pure self rose-pink without any mark- 

 ings whatever, especially effective under 

 artificial light and excellent for retail 

 store work, lasting well. 



Nancy, France. — Although the nur- 

 sery of V. Lemoine & Son has for two 

 years been within sound of the big 

 guns and sometimes almost on the 

 battle line, business still is carried on. 

 In July a special list of delphiniums 

 and peonies for the American trade was 

 issued and the annual autumn catalogue 

 will be issued in September. 



Newtownards, Ireland. — "It has al- 

 ways been our opinion that color and 

 form are the minor attributes of the 

 perfect rose," says Alex. Dickson & 

 Sons, Ltd., a concern not without repu- 

 tation in America. "The scent of the 

 rose always has been, and will always 

 be, its chief characteristic and charm. 

 To a lover of roses a scentless rose is 

 soulless. However plain a rose may 

 be in color or form, if it has the true 

 rose scent it will still endear itself to 

 a true rose lover. We have developed 

 the rose on this principle, striving al- 

 ways to combine color, form and flower 

 with abundance of perfume." 



In many instances this may be due to 

 an excessively sunny spell of weather. 

 Then the shading should only be tem- 

 porary, and cheesecloth strdttihed on 

 •wires will answer the purpose. This 

 form of temporary shading is cheap, 

 portable and lasting and can be used 

 to shade flowering plants if necessary. 



MEETINQ THE PROBLEM. 



Probably there is no one thing today 

 that engages so emuch of the growers' 

 attention as;d<ies the question. of ferti- 

 lizerj the kind required, the quantity to 

 use a'nd the soilrce of supply. It is a 

 subject new to most of the trade, for 

 the reason that up to recent times near- 

 ly all of us have been able to obtain 

 at small cost in money or effort all the 

 cattle manure that has been needed. 

 Now that this no longer is the case we 

 are compelled to grapple with a problem 

 for the comprehension of which we are 

 ill prepared; we knew the action of the 

 old-fashioned fertilizer and felt safe in 

 its use without giving a thought to the 

 chemistry of the subject. Now that we 

 must use other fertilizing agents we are 

 at a loss to understand our needs or 

 even the language of the science of soil 

 chemistry; the fertilizer expert talks 

 in terms we can not grasp. 



The fertilizer people themselves ap- 

 preciate the lack of mutual understand- 

 ing and are studying the growers' prob- 

 lems with a view, first of all, of get- 

 ting the growers' practical knowledge 

 of plant production and, second, of find- 

 ing how to put the soil chemists' knowl- 

 edge into terms that will be plain to the 

 man under glass. 



As an instance of what is being done 

 to get together, the Chicago Feed & 

 Fertilizer Co., Chicago, recently has de- 

 vised a question blank for the green- 

 house trade, through the use of which 

 it gains a partial knowledge of a grow- 

 er's crops, methods and, particularly, 

 of his soil. After this has been studied 

 and the information supplemented by 

 such special questions as seem neces- 

 sary, the data the florist wants, in re- 

 gard to the kinds of fertilizer to use, 

 the quantities, method and frequence of 

 application are put before him in sim- 

 ple language on a printed chart. It was 

 found necessary to prepare six different 

 charts to cover all the commonly u6ed 

 soil variations, and of course it is not 

 possible to set down a rule that can be 

 followed without thought, but the charts 

 suggest the quantities of various arti- 

 cles that will approximate the results 

 of certain stated quantities of stable or 

 cattle manures. Approached in this 

 direction, the growers' fertilizer prob- 

 lems appear less complicated. 



INSPECTINO CHRISTMAS GREENS. 



With relation to the federal quaran- 

 tine against the shipment of plants, 

 etc., from certain New England areas 

 infested by gypsy and brown-tail moth. 

 C. L. Marlatt, chairman of the Federal 

 Horticultural Board, says: 



"The Christmas tree and Christmas 

 greens subject was discussed fully and 

 it was decided to maintain the inspec- 

 tion of such products for another year. 

 The arguments against certification of 

 Christmas trees and greens were fully 

 considered, but the evidence from the 

 actual working of such certification 

 during the year would indicate that 

 there was probably less danger from 

 the certification of such material than 



