0CTOBKR 18, 1917. 



The Florists^ Review 



21 



FLOWERING THEM FOB MABKET. 



We Have Enough. 



After weeks of uncertainty, Dutch 

 i)ulbs at last have arrived, perhaps not 

 so numerously or so early as in previous 

 years, but, in all probability, enough 

 for normal needs. The fact that these 

 bulbs havo been so long in transit un- 

 doubtedly will cause many of them to 

 become heated, and a larger percent- 

 age than usual, especially of the nar- 

 cissi, will fail to flower. The heating 

 kills the embryo buds, as can readily 

 be seen by cutting a bulb through the 

 center. Certain narcissi, such as Vic- 

 toria, Horsfieldii, poeticus ornatus and 

 Barrii conspicuus are subject to this 

 trouble and should be carefully exam- 

 ined before planting. 



There are no signs that bulbs have 

 waned in popularity; in fact, some 

 large dealers report heavier orders than 

 ever for outdoor planting. There is 

 a peculiar charm about these harbin- 

 gers of ppring possessed by no other 

 flowers, and no mistake will be made 

 in planting them in quantity. Some 

 day we may be able to produce bulbs 

 at home for our home needs, but that 

 time as yet is far distant. 



Bulbs can be grown in flats, pans 

 and pots, and certain narcissi and all 

 the hyacinths can be grown in water. 

 Usually flats are used to grow bulbs for 

 cutting, and pots and pans are the 

 receptacles to sell them in as flower- 

 ing plants. Tulips are most valuable 

 in pots and pans, while narcissi have 

 a much greater sale for cutting. Hya- 

 cinths have a somewhat limited sale 

 as cut flowers, but sell tolerably well 

 in pots and pans. 



Tulips. 



Among the early tulips La Reine re- 

 mains the most popular of all. If ex- 

 posed to light it comes a beautiful 

 pink color in winter, but it may also 

 be had pure white by keeping it in 

 darkness. White Hawk is an excellent 

 sort, always pure white in color and 

 early. For a late white "White Swan is 

 good. In yellows Yellow Prince forces 

 well. Mon Tresor and Chrysolora are 

 good in pans. Thomas Moore, a sweet- 

 scented orange, meets with a good sale. 

 Keizerskroon, red and yellow, makes 

 a fine pan, but it has a limited sale 

 as a cut flower. Rose Luisante, deep 

 rose, is a good seller; so is Flamingo, 

 but Flamingo is still a little high-priced. 

 Cottage Maid is a good inexpensive 

 rose-pink. The finest in this shade of 

 color for pans is Pink Beauty, of a 

 glowing rose-pink color. 



There is a limited call for scarlets. 

 Of this shade Vermilion Brilliant and 

 Belle Alliance are both good forcers. 

 Coming to early double tulips, Murillo 

 is the best of all, being splendid for 



cuttings and unbeatable in pans. Brim- 

 stone Beauty, also called Safrano, pale 

 yellow, shaded apricot, and Couronne 

 d'Or, or Crown of Gold, deep golden 

 yellow, are other fine varieties. 



Do not overlook the Darwin tulips. 

 You cannot flower these as early as the 

 kinds already named, but the Darwin 

 section gives large flowers on wonder- 

 ful stems and affords a fine range of 

 colors. They are splendid in flats and 

 fine in 8-inch to 10-inch pans. The 

 Review treated this type of tulip in a 

 special article recently, but to those 

 wlio have not yet tried Darwins I would 

 suggest that they plant Pride of Haar- 

 lem, William Copeland, Glow, Gretchen, 

 Clara Butt and Massachusetts, as a 

 trial. 



Narcissi. 



The most popular narcissi for forcing 

 are Trumpet major, also called Single 

 Von Sion; Golden Spur, Double Von 

 Sion and Victoria. The last-named is 

 best of all for pan culture. The double 

 narcissi are less popular than they were, 

 and this is not surprising. Double 

 Von Sion has nothing in the way of 

 beauty to recommend it. It is a good 



shipper and will stand rough handling, 

 which are desirable qualities in all com- 

 mercial flowers, but it has little beauty 

 when compared with the singles. The 

 quartette named are the leaders of their 

 kind, but there are several others which 

 the country florists should grow. Among 

 these are Silver Spur, which resembles 

 Empress, but flowers as early as Golden 

 Spur; poeticus ornatus, Campernelle 

 rugulosus, Emperor, Sir Watkin and 

 Mrs. Langtry. There are short trumpet 

 varieties in this latter list, but all are 

 inexpensive and make good market and 

 retail varieties. 



Hyacinths. 



For cutting, the miniature or baby 

 Dutch hyacintlis are the best. La 

 Grandesse, pure white; Gertrude, pink; 

 Queen of the Blues, light blue, and 

 King of the Blues, dark blue, are good 

 varieties. Larger sized bulbs of these 

 varieties can be grown in pots or pans. 

 Additional good sorts are: L 'inno- 

 cence, white; gigantea, rose; Grand 

 Maitre, sky blue. Do not entirely cover 

 the hyacinth bulbs with soil; leave the 

 nose of the bulb just peeping above the 

 surface. 



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SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS 

 FOR SOUTHERN FLORISTS 



CARNATIONS IN THE SOUTH. 



The carnation plants in the south 

 now should be ready for the second 

 wire in the tying-up process. This wire 

 should be stretched before the plants 

 become too high and begin to fall over. 

 It is a much easier job now. The weekly 

 stirring of the surface soil should be 

 continued at least all of the month, as 

 weeds and grass still give trouble; but 

 the stirring should not be too deep, as 

 the roots of the plants are active now 

 and approach the surface. No top- 

 dressing is really required as yet, if 

 the soil was well enriched at planting 

 time. Many growers wait until the 

 shortest days arc over before fertiliz- 

 ing, l)ut I prefer to begin early in No- 

 vember, giving the plants a light dress- 

 ing of sheep manure or poudrette and 

 renewing the dose every two or three 

 weeks. At each application stir the 

 surface gently. 



The two most dreaded pests to the 

 southern carnation growers are thrips 

 and red spider. Just now, as the tem- 

 perature is advancing to the freezing 

 point, thrips begin to hunt winter quar- 

 ters, and a nice warm carnation house 

 is an attractive place for settling in. 

 I have, during the last few years, found 

 that the best method of destroying 



thrips is to spray the plants with a 

 well known brand of thrips juice, di- 

 luted according to directions. Choose, 

 if possible, a cloudy day for the spray- 

 ing. If repeated three times, at inter- 

 vals of one week or ten days, you will 

 probably have no more trouble until the 

 spring is well advanced. Leave the 

 spray on the plants at least twenty- 

 four hours before washing it off with 

 the hose. The red spider is controlled 

 by regular syringing or by the use of 

 the salt spray. The latter method gives 

 perfect results and is more economical 

 in time and labor. A good spraying 

 every two weeks generally is sufficient 

 to keep the spider away. 



It is not too soon to put in a large 

 batch of cuttings for early spring plant- 

 ing in the houses. Last spring we 

 planted three beds with early struck 

 cuttings. They grew amazingly, beat- 

 ing the field-grown plants under a 

 sprinkling system, and during the 

 month of September they produced 

 good flowers, which usually were or- 

 dered ahead and brought 75 cents per 

 dozen. These plants have many cut- 

 tings on them now, which we are put- 

 ting in the sand as fast as they are 

 ready. Shade the cuttings a few hours 

 during the heat of the day. L. 



