24 



The Florists^ Review 



Januaby 25, 1917. 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS 

 FOR SOUTHERN FLORISTS 



although my observation leads me to 

 conclude that splitting is much of a con- 

 stitutional defect. L. 



DUOIOIIIIIIIlllllilin 



mn 



SOUTHERN EASTER LILIES. 



At this time of the year growers be- 

 gin to get anxious about whether or not 

 their lilies will be on time. The prob- 

 lem is a little different each year, as 

 the date of Easter changes and the cli- 

 matic conditions. are so varied. No hard 

 and fast rule can be laid down to have 

 the lilies oft time, simply because it is 

 impossible here to- carry out any such 

 rule. If the WQ&,ther were only fairly 

 steady, either way, it would make the 

 growers' problem much simpler. Then, 

 in the more southern sections a grower 

 must have the bloOms timed almost to 

 a day, because in th« extreme heat they 

 do not keep long — a day or so at most. 



My experience has been that it is 

 much better to pttshthe plants at the 

 finish than to try to hold them back. 

 I prefer not to see signs of a bud until 

 five weeks before Easter. At such a 

 stage a temperature of 65 degrees at 

 night will develop tlie flowers on time 

 and in most places this temperature is 

 easier to maintain than a lower one. 

 The plants should be from four to ten 

 inches high now. The main ^equire- 

 tnents now are a steady temperature, 

 Bay 60 degrees at night, with a rise of 

 jo degrees during the day, and a care 

 not to water too heavily. It is hard to 

 explain how a plant should appear at a 

 given time to be in at Easter, but a lit- 

 tle experience will give the grower an 

 instinctive knowledge when and how 

 hard to push or retard a plant. 



The giganteum lilies will stand a 

 night temperature of 75 degrees, if 

 needed, but avoid dropping the tempera- 

 ture during the growing period more 

 than 5 degrees at a time. Unless 

 the buds are almost ready to open, a 

 drop of 10 degrees is liable to check 

 them. L. 



CARNATIONS IN THE SOUTH. 



The last batch of carnation cuttings 

 should be about ready to lift from the 

 sand. To secure good-sized plants with 

 which to plant the houses, it is necessary 

 to start making cuttings early and to 

 plant them out in the field early. There 

 are several different ways of liandling 

 the young stock, but I have never found 

 one more satisfactory than to first pot 

 them in 2i4-inch pots. After tliey are 

 well established and once topped back, 

 they may be planted out in a bed con- 

 taining two to two and one-half inches 

 of soil, rather closely. This is much 

 quicker than shifting them into 3-inch 

 pots, and will give better results in less 

 space. At plantingout time they have 

 filled practically the whole bench and 

 only need dividing. 



The old plants in the beds will need 

 more attention, as the days are length- 

 ening appreciably. At this time of the 

 year we make it a rule to give a top- 

 dressing of sheep manure every two or 

 three weeks, lightly working the surface 

 soil at the same time. Some attention 

 also must be paid to keeping the plants 

 growing in their proper spaces. If the 

 plants are allowed to wander at their 



own sweet will, the spaces between the 

 rows get filled with foliage, preventing 

 the air and sunlight from circulating 

 properly and inviting a fungous attack. 

 During 'the damp weather we are liable 

 to have about this time of the year, it 

 is a good rule to use a little sulphur 

 paint on a portion of the heating pipes 

 >onee or twice a week. This checks the 

 fungus completely. 



The carnation mite seems to have 

 been ipore troublesome this year than 

 previously. If the spraying with some 

 of the tobacco extracts is persisted in, 

 the mite will finally be cleaned out. 

 Thrips, also, are soon liable to begin 

 their operations. I have never found any- 

 thing so good to use to suppress them 

 as Hammond 's Thrip Juice,diluted forty 

 to one, as directed. I always pick rather 

 closely before using and apply the mix- 

 ture on a cloudy day, leaving it on the 

 plants at least twenty-four hours be- 

 fore syringing off. Great attention 

 should be given to the temperature of 

 the houses, avoiding extremes both 

 ways. An even night temperature helps 

 to keep down the percentage of splits. 



BULBS BEFORE FORCING. 



We have our tulips in a cellar, where 

 they made little, if any, root growth 

 before freezing up. They are covered 

 with two or three feet of straw. We 

 thought of putting some manure with 

 heat over them, to thaw them and start 

 the root growth before bringing them 

 into a house of 40 degrees. Would this 

 be a good plan or would it be better 

 to bring them directly into the house 

 of 40 degrees? T, N.— S. D. 



Perhaps your bulbs need more water. 

 Many growers seem to think that if 

 they soak them when placed in flats or 

 pans they will need no more until they 

 are wanted for forcing. This lack of 

 water causes many failures in bulb 

 culture. I would remove the straw and 

 soak the soil well, then cover them with 

 a layer of sand or fine coal ashes and 

 leave them alone a while longer. Do 

 not on any consideration place any 

 warm manure over them; it would do 

 more harm than good and would not 

 help the root action at all. I would give 

 the tulips a temperature of 50 degrees 

 when housed, and if you want stems 

 it will be necessary to darken them in 

 a case in order to draw them up. 



C. W. 



Meridian, Miss. — A good-looking store 

 has been opened here by Mrs. J. E. 

 Watts, who has grown flowers on a com- 

 mercial scale for years. 



Shreveport, La. — After four years in 

 the market gardening business, G. L. 

 Hatfield has decided to try his hand at 

 plant and cut flower growing. 



West Nashville, Tenn. — A small green- 

 house has been erected here for Mrs. M. 

 P. Hoodenpyl, who intimates that she 

 soon will have a grown-up florists' busi- 

 ness. 



Tulsa, Okla. — A greenhouse 25x100, of 

 .1. ('. Moiiingcr Co. trademark, has been 

 completed by G. V. Voight, who says 

 that next summer will see two more 

 iiouscs added to the Voight landscape. 



Jackson, Miss. — The Jackson Floral 

 Co., 113 Capitol street, has opened its 

 new store, with equipment second to 

 none in the south for a city of this size. 

 The man in charge is J. W. Moore, who 

 made his start in the trade with the 

 Joy Floral Co., Nashville. 



Bushy, Va.— C. W. F. Erdman, pro- 

 prietor of the Bu.shy Flower Garden, is 

 planning to enlarge his operations, grow- 

 ing gladioli, asters, peonies and Hy- 

 drangea paniculata JPor cut flowers, and 

 geraniums, vincas, roses and mums as 

 young stock for the trade. 



Farmersville, Tex. — After some train- 

 ing with Hendrix & Henslee, Marcus 

 Cormally has struck out on his own ac- 

 count. 



Dothan, Ala. — A flower store, seed 

 store and bird store, three in one, 

 was opened here the first of the year by 

 the Poyner Seed Co., Saxon Poyner, 

 president. 



Jackson, Tenn. — The Jackson Pride 

 Gi^nhouse has passed under lease to 

 trfe management of the Vineyard Floral 

 Co., of which Mrs. L. T. Vineyard is 

 directress. 



Kerrville, Tex, — The florists' business 

 now has a representative at Kerrville, 

 Mrs. H. Weiss, who believes there are 

 enough Kerrvillians to make her ven- 

 ture worth while. 



Martins. Point, S, C— The Farmers' 

 Plant Co., market gardeners and growers 

 of vegetable plants for the mail trade, 

 plans to add a line of such outdoor cut 

 flowers as sweet peas for shipment to 

 northern wholesale markets. 



Newbem, N. C— A florists' and nurs- 

 ery business has been started here un- 

 der the name of Newbem City Nurs- 

 eries, with D. J. Seifert, formerly of 

 Birmingham, Ala., as manager. BuJld- 

 ing materials, stock and supplies will 

 bo needed by the new concern. 



