18 



The Florists^ Review 



• JuLT 26, 1917. 



FROM FIELD TO BENCH. 



Position of Different Varieties. 



On account of the abnormally cool 

 weather this summer, carnations have 

 kept up in quality unusually well, and 

 many growers have been slower than 

 usual to throw out the old stock to make 

 room for the new. There has been a 

 good profit in the blooms, too, for the 

 season, and that has added to the incli- 

 nation to hold on. Not much more time 

 should be lost now, however, in getting 

 ready for the new stock; otherwise the 

 new plants will be late in getting into 

 form next fall, and the grower may lose 

 more than he gained by holding the old 

 plants. As stated in previous notes, 

 there is nothing gained by dilly-dally- 

 ing along with the bench filling, and 

 the later it becomes the truer this is. 

 Put on every man you can and rush it 

 through. 



You should give a little thought to 

 the placing of your varieties. Every 

 greenhouse range has portions that run 

 warmer during the firing season than 

 others, and by planting the stiffer- 

 stemmed sorts in the warmer locations 

 you will have less trouble with weak 

 stems next winter. We find that Mrs. 

 Ward will stand three or four degrees 

 more of warmth than White Wonder, 

 without affecting the stem. All the En- 

 chantress varieties like a cool tempera- 

 ture, while Beacon and St. Nicholas will 

 thrive in the warmer end. Yellow 

 Prince, too, will stand 54 degrees with- 

 out complaining. The same is true of 

 Merry Christmas. 



Shade, Soil and Watering. 



The abundant rainfall has kept the 

 field soil in splendid condition for dig- 

 ging. Never before have the plants 

 come up with such a fine root system as 

 this year, and this should be of great 

 assistance to the plants in becoming re- 

 established in the benches. So far we 

 have added but little to the shade which 

 was on the glass before the old plants 

 were taken out, merely touching up 

 the light spots where the rain had 

 washed off part of the shading. We find 

 that the less shade we can get along 

 with, the better it is for the plants. It 

 requires closer attention during the first 

 three or four days, but the plants come 

 through the ordeal in better condition. 



Be sure the soil is in a proper state 

 of moisture before you begin planting. 

 It should, of course, not be wet enough 

 to pack unduly when the planting is 

 done, but it should be moist enough not 

 to draw the moisture from the roots 

 of the plants between the time of plant- 

 ing and the first watering. After set- 

 ting a few hundred plants, turn the 

 water on slowly and water each plant in 

 well. Of late years we have watered 

 more heavily at the first watering than 

 we formerly did, when we applied more 

 shade to the glass. We find that under 



the increased light the soil keeps in 

 better condition, even with the heavier 

 watering, and the young rootlets take 

 hold much more quickly, too. After the 

 first watering, little more is applied to 

 the soil, aside from that which drops at 

 the time of spraying overhead. This, 

 too, is gauged by the condition of the 

 plants and is diminished as rapidly as 

 the plants will allow. We do, however, 

 keep the walks flooded well for about 

 ten days and find it a great help in pre- 

 venting flagging. 



Spacing and Depth of Planting. 



The distance between your plants in 

 the benches will be gauged by the va- 

 rieties and the size of your plants. Such 

 varieties as Victory and Gloriosa do not 

 need so much room per plant as Beacon, 

 White Wonder and the Enchantress va- 

 rieties. You may either plant the form- 

 er varieties singly, and plant more 

 closely, or you may put two or three 

 plants together and set them at the reg- 

 ular distances. We plant seven plants 

 across a 5-foot bench and set the rows 

 not less than ten, nor more than twelve, 

 inches apart, for the average run of va- 

 rieties. Be careful about getting your 



j^*^' 



rows straight, for the sake of the sup- 

 porting later on. 



Much has been said in the past about 

 deep and shallow planting. In my opin- 

 ion both can be overdone. By plantin'^' 

 too deeply you will encourage stem-rof, 

 especially if the plants are branched 

 rather low. If you plant too shallowly, 

 the plants will not stand up, an-l 

 you will have trouble with your suji- 

 ports. We try to set every plant just 

 deep enough so that it will stand U]» 

 after the soil has been pressed around 

 the roots, and that should be just aboul 

 as deep as they were set in the field. 

 There should be no need to mention that 

 the plants should be out of the soil aa 

 short a time as possible. Keep the dig- 

 ging and the planting going at about 

 the same gait. A. F. J. Baur. 



Council Bluffs, la. — The Gardiner Flo- 

 ral Co. has purchased the retail store of 

 Herman Bros, at 10 Pearl street and 

 announces that it will continue the 

 business at that address. The company 

 is composed of John S. Gardiner, Louise 

 Herman and Pauline Herman. 



Mechanicsburg, O. — The newspapers 

 hereabouts have a style all their own in 

 boosting the local industries. The "per- 

 sonal" items in one of them, for in- 

 stance, are charged with the power of 

 publicity, C. M. Jack, the local florist, 

 recently making the column in this man- 

 ner: "C. M. Jack, the greenhouseman, 

 has a fine batch of sturdy plants that so 

 far have dodged the 'high cost,' and 

 the good man is doing his best to anchor 

 fair prices, while everyone else is sky- 

 larking with the consumers' cash." 

 Hurrah for the power of the press! 



,»4»iinliAw 



Centerdale, R. I. — Mrs. Euth A. 

 Mowry has purchased a greenhouse of 

 W. Eitchie, of the Lincoln Park Green- 

 houses, Hillsgrove, and has been busy 

 putting out bedding stock. 



Springfield, Mass. — L. D. Eobinson 

 has several thousand bulbs saved, so he 

 will be in fair shape for next season. 

 Large cuts of outdoor blooms are being 

 received at the store from the nursery. 



Brockton, Mass. — According to the 

 sign, they are the Central Greenhouses, 

 but an inquiry for the boss will bring 

 out none other than A. L. Lothrop, 

 whose activities have been recorded at 

 other times at other places. 



Framingham, Mass. — James Butter- 

 worth has something interesting in or- 

 chids at all seasons. The stock is in 

 its usual vigorous condition, with prom- 

 ise of abundant blooms later on, when 

 the market will be in a more apprecia- 

 tive condition. 



Springfield, Mass. — William Schlatter 

 & Son are remodeling their store. They 

 are stimulating summer business in 

 decorative stock by making special of- 

 fers in palms. It is a good idea, for it 

 cleans out the old stock and makes room 

 for a new line. 



Westerly, R. I. — Conrad Schultz was 

 in Providence and Boston last week on 

 business. Mr. Schultz is making a drive 

 on cyrtomium ferns. 



Peabody, Mass.— J. M. Ward & Co. 

 expressed themselves well pleased with 

 business. Cyclamens, always good sell- 

 ers with them, are doing splendidly. 



Pittsfield, Mass. — The new seed store 

 of Frank Howard is conceded to be an 

 ornament to the town. It is both hand- 

 some in appearance and complete in ar- 

 rangement. 



Westerly, R. I. — Mark A. Cassidy, 

 superintendent of school garden work, 

 who was seriously injured about a month 

 ago by the overturning of an automo- 

 bile, returned to his duties last week. 



Northampton, Mass. — The regular 

 meeting of the Holyoke and Northamp- 

 ton Florists' and Gardeners' Club was 

 held July 10 at Smith College Botanic 

 Garden, with a good number of members 

 in attendance. The hardy perennial 

 garden was the most attractive feature 

 on this occasion, there being nearly 100 

 different varieties in flowers. D. J. Gal- 

 livan read a paper on table decorations. 

 The only exhibit was well grown Japan- 

 ese iris in variety from Gallivan Bros. 



