18 



The Florists^ Review 



July 5, 1917. 



large root run the number of flowers 

 is nothing compared with wh9,t you 

 could secure from pot plants. I would 

 pot the dry callas and start them into 



growth before benching them, if you 

 plan to continue this method of culture. 

 You are less likely to lose any plants 

 if you start them in pots. C. W. 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS 

 FOR SOUTHERN FLORISTS 



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CARNATIONS IN THE SOUTH. 



Preparing to House the Plants. 



Wlien the blooming season is over 

 nearly all growers throw out their 

 old carnation plants and prepare the 

 houses for the new ones. Careful prep- 

 aration is required, whether the old soil 

 is to be used again or whether the beds 

 are filled with new soil. In adopting 

 the first plan, after the old plants have 

 been thoroughly cleaned out, the beds 

 should be left alone for a week, with 

 the ventilators closed, in order that the 

 soil may get a good drying. The soil 

 then may be spaded and left in a rough 

 state for another week or ten days, to 

 complete the drying out process. This 

 drying out of the soil is only another 

 way of giving it a mild sterilization. 



When the house is wanted for plant- 

 ing, an inch of the top soil may be re- 

 moved and replaced with good cow ma- 

 nure, and the whole spaded over or 

 chopped in with a hoe. Smooth the 

 surface with a rake, and two days be- 

 fore planting water the soil thoroughly, 

 and the beds will be in good condition. 



The preparation of the new soil should 

 begin in the fall. The ground from 

 which the soil is to be taken should have 

 a 2-inch coating of manure applied and 

 then plowed under. Or the ground may 

 be plowed first and then top-dressed 

 with the manure. I believe the govern- 

 ment, experts claim that the last-named 

 nuthod gets the best results from the 

 manure. Early in the spring the ground 

 should be broken again and gone over 

 with a disk harrow. This treatment 

 may be repeated as often as necessary 

 to get the soil well pulverized. Carna- 

 tions do not like a lumpy soil; neither is 

 it necessary that the soil contain fiber. 

 To minimize the ravages of stem-rot, I 

 have let the soil remain for two weeks 

 before planting, but I must confess that 

 the results obtained were hardly com- 

 mensurate with the time lost. 



Stem-Bot. 



After years of experimenting it seems 

 that we are as far from a remedy for 

 stem-rot as ever. Last spring one writer 

 gave his experience that by shallow 

 planting he had entirely escaped this 

 disease, losing not a single plant. I 

 envy the writer his good fortune, but 

 such has never been my experience, nor 

 have I ever seen it work out success- 

 fully with any of my neighboring grow- 

 ers. I practice shallow planting be- 

 cause it seems to be the universal idea 

 that such planting has a tendency to 

 check the inroads of the disease, but 

 I never hesitate to plant deep enough 

 to make the plants stand straight in 

 the beds. Between the two methods I 

 have never been able to see if one had 

 any superiority over the other, I be- 

 lieve I have tried all the remedies of- 

 fered, yet I am forced to admit that we 



still need a Moses to lead us out of 

 Egypt. 



It is well to take all the precautions 

 and endeavor to keep the loss down to 

 a minimum. Whenever a plant shows 

 signs of the disease, remove it from the 

 house at once. Eemove also the soil in 

 which it grew and replace with fresh 

 soil before replanting. I always feel 

 like congratulating myself when I can 

 keep the loss under ten per cent. The 

 plants in the field, thanks to the Skinner 

 system of irrigation, I believe, this 

 year are looking exceptionally healthy 

 and growing finely, and so far not a 

 plant has died from stem-rot. L. 



PITY THE POOR CEMETERIES. 



Florists will view with equanimity 

 the plight of the cemeteries, especially 

 those which maintain greenhouse de- 

 partments and bar outside competition, 

 but it is apparent some of these find 

 themselves closer pressed than does the 

 average florist. A cemetery's opportu- 

 nity for meeting increased costs by 

 creating a larger volume of business is 

 not of the best and the methods taken 

 to pass on to patrons the increased costs 

 are as interesting as they are unusual. 

 Having sold its lots on the argument of 

 the superior care given the grounds and 

 the specially handsome appearance of 

 the place, one cemetery now sends lot 



owners who have not ordered anything 

 a bill for * ' general care, ' ' accompanied 

 by this letter: 



The price of labor has doubled In the past 

 five years. 



Materials which we are compelled to buy have 

 increased in cost from fifty per cent to 200 per 

 cent or more. 



Under these conditions we can no longer care 

 for your lot and give general service unless you 

 are willing to pay part of tlie expense. 



Care of your lot will be discontinued unless 

 the enclosed bill is paid promptly and other ex- 

 Ijensive service will not be rendered. 



In the last few years cemetery man- 

 agers have come to realize that the 

 older sections of their grounds are a 

 liability rather than an asset; barring 

 florists out does not give enough in- 

 come from lot planting to pay the cost 

 of maintenance. To avoid the steady 

 aggravation of this condition, the plan 

 was devised of getting lot buyers to 

 create a special fund for the endow- 

 ment of the cemetery and a percentage 

 of the receipts from the sale of lots now 

 is set aside, the interest on which is 

 paid over to the management for the 

 perpetual care of the lots, the owners 

 of which created the fund. 



GREENHOUSE INSURANCE. 



Please tell us to whom to apply for 

 insurance on our greenhouses, against 

 cyclones and hail. M. F. C. — Minn. 



If your risk is of the right character 

 your local fire insurance agents will be 

 able to get you a wind storm policy. 

 If the risk is not in line with the re- 

 quirements of the companies, you can- 

 not get the insurance, but no doubt your 

 regular agent can tell you what it is 

 necessary for you to do to bring your 

 risk up to the standard. 



For hail insurance address John G. 

 Esler, Secretary, Florists' Hail Associa- 

 tion, Saddle Eiver, N. J. 



Fairmont, W. Va. — H. W. Leaman is 

 spending several weeks with his son in 

 Los Angeles. During his absence his 

 daughter is boss. 



Ada, Okla. — W. E. Pitt says this has 

 been an excellent growing season so far. 

 His carnations under glass afforded 

 good blooms later than usual and the 

 stock in the field has done splendidly. 



Jonesboro, Ark. — P. L. Graves, who is 

 now conducting the business under his 

 own name, having acquired the interest 

 of W. M. Woodward in the former firm 

 of Graves & Co., has two houses, 30x140 

 each, and is doing a good general busi- 

 ness. 



Columbus, Miss. — T. G. Owen, who 

 has fifty-one greenhouses containing 

 175,000 square feet of glass, also is well 

 equipped for the production of outdoor 

 stock. He has two artesian wells, each 

 flowing fifty gallons of water twenty 

 feet above the surface of the ground, 

 so that he can irrigate without pump- 

 ing. In addition he has two acres under 

 the Skinner system of overhead irriga- 

 tion, operated under pump pressure. 



Oklahoma City, Okla. — Cut flowers, 

 plants, seeds and gardeners' tools will 

 be handled by the Mann Plant & Seed 

 Co., which recently was organized and 

 incorporated here at $15,000, with W. 

 H. Mann, M. B. Mann and John Corn- 

 stock as officers. 



Greenwood, Miss. — The Greenwood 

 Floral Co. recently made a representa- 

 tion in flowers of a railroad bridge for 

 the funeral of C. L. Foster, a railroad 

 bridge superintendent. The piece was 

 four feet long, eighteen inches high and 

 eighteen inches wide. The base repre- 

 sented a valley filled with ferns; the 

 approaches were of gladioli and sweet 

 peas; the top was supported by iron 

 posts covered with foil and vines; the 

 crossties were of daisies and sweet peas 

 and the rails were represented by heavy 

 cord covered with foil. J. W. Bealle 

 designed and made the piece. He is a 

 former railroad man, now a florist. 



