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OCTOBEB 12, 1916. 



The Florists' Review 



I'. 



21 









1^ 



SWEET PEAS TO FOLLOW MUMS. 



Kindly give me some directions on 

 the cultivation of sweet peas under 

 glass. Please name some of the best 

 varieties and state how much space 

 there should be between the benches 

 and the glass. Any information >on the 

 subject will be thankfully accepted. 

 At present I am growing chrysanthe- 

 mums in my bouses. M. B. S. — ^Pa. 



If M. B. S. keeps a file of the back 

 numbers of The Review, and if he will 

 consult the issues for July 16, 23 and 

 30, 1914, he will find there a rather 

 comprehensive treatise, by Ant. 0. 

 Zvolanek, the sweet pea specialist, on 

 the different phases of sweet pea cul- 

 ture, including the fighting of pests 

 and diseases, the placing of plant sup- 

 [ orts, the picking, grading and ship- 

 ping of the blooms. 



A considerable part of Mr. Zvolanek 's 

 article, however, has reference to the 

 sowing of the seed in beds, while flo- 

 rists who grow sweet peas to follow 

 other crops must, of course, start the 

 seed in pots and have the little seed- 

 lings ready for transplanting to the 

 beds as soon as the chrysanthemums or 

 other crops have been removed. Such 

 parts of Mr. Zvolanek 's instructions as 

 are most , directly applicable to 

 M. B. S.'s case may be summarized as 

 follows: 



If you have a house with such early 

 varieties of chrysanthemums as Gold- 

 en Glow and Pacific, these will probably 

 all bd cut by October 20, If sweet pea 

 seed is sown in 4-inch pots September 

 10 or soon afterward, there will be 

 fine plants by the time the chrysanthe- 

 mums are over. The soil should be pre- 

 pared and the sweet peas planted in 

 the vacated mum beds at once, so that 

 they will begin to bloom by the latter 

 part of January. Solid beds of one 

 and a half to two feet of good soil are 

 the best. All that is needed is eight 

 feet of head room. 



When firing is started in the late 

 fall, the temperature at first should not 

 exceed 40 to 44 degrees at night. When 

 the plants are two and one-half to four 

 feet high and are in bud, gradually 

 raise the temperature, increasing it 

 every night by 1 or 2 degrees. If the 

 temperature has been averaging 44 de- 

 grees, make it 45 degrees the next day, 

 and so on until 52 degrees is reached. 

 This is the highest temperature for the 

 older winter grandifloras at night. 

 When in bloom, 60 degrees during 

 cloudy days and 68 degrees during 

 bright days is best. 



All the new winter orchid-flowering 

 sweet peas, in the first stage, need the 

 same treatment as that just prescribed. 

 But after these are in bud and flower, 

 raise the temperature to 55 degrees at 

 night, 60 to 65 degrees for cloudy days 



and 70 to 72 "degrees during bright, 

 sunny days. This higher temperature 

 is necessary for the new strain, aa the 

 flowers are twice as large and the num- 

 ber of flowers to the stem twice as 

 many; and the additional warmth pre- 

 vents the falling of the buds and causes 

 the flowers to have brighter colors. 



After the sweet peas have been in 

 bloom for some time, and have be- 

 gun to shorten in stem, they should be 

 fertilized. ^ The best thing is liquid cow 

 or sheep nianure, or pulverized manure. 

 Nitrate of soda should never be used, 

 for it will do more harm than good. 



As to a selection of varieties, says 

 Mr. Zvolanek, so far the bicolor has 

 always sold best. Of this sort we now 

 have the Pink and White Orchid, which 

 have no equal for midwinter flowering. 

 In white there are the White Orchid, 

 Bridal Veil, Venus and Mrs. M. Spano- 

 lin. In lavender the best are Lavender 

 Orchid, lavender pink, and Lavender 

 Nora, which is a clear lavender and of 

 the winter Unwin type. In light pink 

 we have Mrs. A. A. Skach, Mrs. J. 

 Manda and Dolansky Orchid. In dark 

 rose there are the Orchid Beauty and 

 President Wilson. The best in orange 

 pink is the Orange Orchid, but to this 

 the Orange Nora and Orange Bird are 

 close seconds; the latter two are of the 

 winter Unwin type. 



GLEN COVE, N. Y. 



The annual dahlia show of the Nas- 

 sau County Horticultural Society, held 

 October 5, was a most decided success 

 from both a financial and a horticul- 

 tural standpoint. The exhibits were of 

 the highest quality and in almost all 



classes competition was keen. The 

 Henry Dreer silver cup, which was of- 

 fered for the best collection of twenty- 

 five varieties, brought forth a splen- 

 did display, there being four exhibitors, 

 each one with a topnotch collection. 

 The judges finally awarded the prize to 

 Joseph Robinson, gardener for W. R. 

 Coe, with James Kirby, gardener for 

 W. J. Mathieson, second. The Town- 

 send silver cup for the best collection 

 of outdoor roses was won by P. O. John- 

 son, gardener for Harold Pratt, with 

 John W. Everitt, gardener for John 

 Pratt, second. The North Shore Garden 

 Club 's silver basket for the best collec- 

 tion of outdoor flowers was awarded to 

 John F. Johnstone, gardener for George 

 Pratt, with William Noonan, gardener 

 for C. F. Cartiledge, second. The 

 Smithey silver cup for the best ten va- 

 rieties of gladioli was captured by P. 

 W. Popp, gardener for Mrs. H. D. Dar- 

 lington. 



The class for the best collection of 

 twelve kinds of vegetables was one of 

 the most attractive features of the 

 show. There were three exhibitors and 

 so evenly matched were their exhibits 

 that in the final scoring only eight 

 points separated the winner from the 

 second man, while the third entry was 

 only twenty points behind. Robert 

 Jones, gardener for Percy Chubb, was 

 the winner, with Joseph Robinson sec- 

 ond. Mr. Robinson also won in the class 

 for nine kinds of vegetables. 



The Hitchings silver cup, offered for 

 the best collection of outdoor fruit, was 

 won by Henry Gaut, gardener for Her- 

 bert Pratt, with a superb collection. 

 The competition for the best decorated 

 dinner table was another feature which 

 proved to be unusually attractive. There 

 were seven entries and the honors were 

 carried off by Joseph Adler, Henry 

 Gaut and Herman Miller in the order 

 named. 



Mills & Co.^ of Mamaroneck, staged a 

 large collection of dahlias for exhibi- 

 tion, for which they were awarded a 

 certificate. 



The judges were Thomas Aitcheson, 

 William Robertson and James Stuart 

 and many flattering comments were 

 made on the thorough and capable man- 

 ner in which they performed their 

 duties. J. M, 



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I SOUTHERN ITEMS | 



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New Orleans, La. — F. J. Reyes & Co., 

 300 Bourbon street, formally opened a 

 branch store at 527 Canal street, Sep- 

 tember 28. 



San Antonio, Tex. — Paul Lass, for- 

 merly owner and manager of the San 

 Antonio Floral & Nursery Co., which 

 he sold in 1915 to W. Hess, of Dallas, 

 now is engaged in the wholesale cut 

 flower business here. 



Clifton Forge, Va.— O. C. Ports has 

 struck out for himself. He has erected 

 greenhouses and will produce stock for 

 Mrs. Ports ' store in the city. Mr. Ports 

 formerly was superintendent and groWer 

 for the Clifton Forge Floral Co., which 

 went "on the rocks," according to Mr. 

 Ports. 



Rogers, Ark. — The Davidson green- 

 houses have been purchased by Mrs 

 Ida Hudspeth, formerly of Madison 

 S. D. 



Auburn, Ala, — George L. Peltier has 

 reigned his position as plant patholo- 

 ^^t at the University of Illinois and 

 accepted a similar position at the Ala- 

 bama experiment station, Alabama Poly- 

 technic Institute, at this place. He al- 

 ready has assumed his duties. 



Memphis, Tenn, — The curvilinear 

 combination aviary and conservatory, 

 50x200, built by the John C. Moninger 

 Co., Chicago, for Overton park, is fast 

 nearing completion. The structural 

 work is already set up and practically 

 all that remaips to be done is the glaz- 

 ing. 



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