16 



The Florists^ Review 



July 26, 1917. 



HYACINTHS FOR CHRISTMAS. 



Please let us know whether hyaiinthg 

 or tulips can be brought into blooii foj 

 Christmas. If so, what kind shouli be 

 used and when should they be started? 



E. H. L.—Vul 



SPOT DISEASE OF GERANIUMS. 



What is the matter with the gera- 

 niums from which the en^^losed leaves 

 were taken, and what is a remedy for 

 the trouble? C. E. W.— N. J. 



The leaves were rotted when re- 

 ceived. Probably the plants have some 

 spot or leaf disease, brought about by 

 tlae recent spell of damp, sunless 

 weather. It probably will pass away 

 with clear skies. If the plants are out- 

 doors, pick over the worst affected ones 

 and spray them with Bordeaux mixture. 

 The same treatment will help plants 

 still under glass. Avoid spraying the 

 plants overhead with the hose. Give 

 them plenty of sun and fresh air and 

 run the soil a little on the dry side. 



C. W. 



GERANIUMS FROM CUTTINGS. 



I should like to have what informa- 

 tion you can give me on growing gera- 

 nium cuttings for the wholesale mar- 

 ket. I have a small house which is too 

 low for tomatoes or cucumbers and I 

 dislike to see an empty house now or at 

 any season of the year. I have no local 

 trade in cut flowers. Spring bedding 

 plants and lettuce are the ero])S I grow. 



The house referred to is 10x60 and 

 lias a sash roof. The walls contain no 

 glass. The beds arc fourteen inches 

 from the glass. The liouse is divided 

 into two parts. One room has raised 

 ground beds; the other has benches. 

 The benched room has one more run of 

 L'incli pipe and has a temperature of 

 aliout 52 degrees, 5 degrees higher than 

 ill tlie otlier room. I am building a 

 lean to in which I will liave a propagat- 

 ing bench. W. R. H.— Pa. 



The house you speak of should answer 

 well for young geranium stock. Cut- 

 tings from under glass are less succu- 

 lent than tliose produced outdoors and 

 for that reason are much less liable to 

 dam]) off. A temperature of 48 to 50 

 degrees will suit the geranium stock 

 and '} degrees lower on cold nights will 

 do no harm. 



Arrange your propagating liouse so 

 that tlie heating pipes will run below 

 the benches and give a bottom heat of 

 about 6(1 degrees. Geraniums will cal- 

 lous and start to make roots witliin a 

 month in such a temperature. The tem- 

 ].craturo of tlie propagating house 

 should be from 50 to 5.5 degrees. You 

 should have four inches of clean, sharp 

 sand in the benches, entirely free from 

 loam and other dirt. If the sand is 

 quite line and water does not pass read- 

 ily through it, you can make it more 

 ])orous by adding some fine coal or coal 



ashes to it. 



As soon as the cuttings liave roots an 

 inch long, they are fit for 2Vi-iiK'h po^s. 

 I would not start propagating until the 

 end of August. The cooler the weather, 

 the less liability there is of cuttings 



damping off. After taking a crop of 

 cuttings from your plants outdoors, lift 

 the plants carefully and plant them in 

 the house, placing them a foot apart 

 each way. Better reserve at least one- 

 half of the house to be used for your 

 potted plants when thev are rooted. 

 ' C. W. 



GERANIUMS FOR BASKETS. 



Can you tell me the name of the 

 geranium of which I am sanding you a 

 leaf and flower. Should I buy 2-inch 

 geranium plants now to make good 

 stock for hanging baskets next Janu- 

 ary? 



S. L. W.— O. 



It is Scarlet Crousse, of the ivy- 

 leaved type. Yes, purchase the plants 

 at once and plant them in baskets as 

 soon as they are established in 3-inch 

 pots. They are not dependable winter- 

 flowering subjects, but they are fine in 

 the spring and summer. C. W. 



Roman hyacinths, which usuall\ ar- 

 rive from France about the end oi' Au- 

 gust, are easily flowered for Christ las. 

 They can be placed in flats cental ing 

 four and one-half to five inches of oil 

 A flat 12x24 inches will hold fift to 

 sixty bulbs. These will flower by Cl. ist- 

 mas in a night temperature of 55 de- 

 grees. Keep them outdoors or in a pit 

 and cover with sand or coal ashes u ,til 

 they are well started, before fore ig. 

 The Dutch hyacinths cannot be su is- 

 factorily flowered as early as Christ- 

 mas. 



The Due van Thol, or dwarf vari ty 

 of tulip, can be flowered for Christiiias. 

 White Hawk and one or two others .ire 

 also seen in small quantities each year. 

 I doubt, however, whether there is much 

 money in trying to force tulips thus 

 early. A number will come blind i'lid 

 others will be so short as to be of little 

 value. French-grown tulip bulbs ^ill 

 bloom earlier than Dutch, if you can 

 get them. When forced, these early tu- 

 lips must be kept dark and warm, to 

 draw up the stems. Give them nioiu 

 lieht as the flowers start to expand. 



C. W. 



^^-~ 



M H 



aAe O BSEKVATIO N CA^SLli 



*&. 



If a single man named Singloman 

 marries, does he become a benedict, or 

 is lie still a Singleman? This is a prob- 

 lem friends of Walter Singleman, of J. 

 J. Coan, Inc., New York, are trying to 

 solve, as .Mr. Singlenuin will be married 

 August 11. 



A case of paralysis that for four 

 UKiiitlis l)alHod the physicians, not to 

 uiciitioii two imported specialists, at 

 last lias respiiiided to treatment, and 

 Adele C. Heinl, the patient, now is on 

 tlie road to recovery. Tlie lady is a 

 iiuMnlxT of Joseph Ileinl & Sons, Jack- 

 sonville, 111. 



No need for Robert W. Rahaley, the 

 Detroiter, to improvise any exercises 

 for himself, sliould he want to reduce, 

 for Mr. Rahaley seems destined to walk 

 the floor considerably. This inference 

 is drawn from the news that lusty boy 

 twins arrive<l at the Rahaley home July 

 20. 



At least one Holland bulb salesman, 

 still touring "the States,'' tells prospec- 

 tive customers three government char- 

 tered steamers will bring bulbs, one sail- 

 ing in August, one in September and 

 the third in October. He says he has 

 the information from his home office, 

 the arrangement recently having been 

 made. There is no confirmation of the 

 storv. 



William Perm has forsaken the maii- 

 ding crowd for a fishing expedition ti> 

 the Maine woods, but it is certain the 

 Bostonian will at least bring home a 

 bagful of new advertising ideas. 



Investigation of the circumstances 

 surrounding the death of Fred Kelly, 

 of Kokomo, Ind., whose body was found 

 in a river near his home, June 27, h:\> 

 brought a coroner's verdict of "prols 

 able homicide." A man held in con- 

 nection with the case has been diarge'l 

 by the police witli murder and robliery. 



See America first; why go to Eiirop' 

 for adventure? is the advice of Frank 

 (Jorly, of St. Louis. You see, Mr 

 Gorly rescued his mother from the firt 

 and stray bullets of the iiecent race wa 

 at East St. Louis, and a hairbreadth es 

 cape it was, tlie road to safety leading 

 right tliroiigli the thickest part of tin 

 fighting. 



•'If all the florists in the Unitei: 

 States fare as we did Friday, July 20,' 

 writes D. C. Horgan, of the Idle Houi 

 Nurseries, Macon, Ga., "Uncle Samuel 

 will be able to get up several flowery 

 regiments. They didn't do a thing to 

 us but draft our foreman, head book 

 keeper, city truck driver and two of the 

 men in the greenhouses. I expect at 

 this rate they will get the boss on the 

 second call." 



