Jancabt 23, 1919. 



The Florists' Review 



13 



seasonabij: okchid notes. 



Cattleyas. 



Commercial growers who have any 

 cattleyas would do well to take good 

 care of them. If theuiew law prohibit- 

 ing all entries of plants with soil on 

 their roots goes into effect June 1, or- 

 chids will be entirely barred out. It 

 has not been claimed that any destruc- 

 tive pest has ever come in with orchids, 

 any more than with bay trees, boxwoods, 

 araucarias, azaleas, rhododendrons or 

 hollies, but the quintette of all-powerful 

 members of the Federal Horticultural 

 Board have thus far failed to listen to 

 the reasonable protests of our growers 

 and importers, and, if the bars go down, 

 the orchid industry here, which has 

 been steadily growing of late years, 

 will suffer a severe body blow. The 

 cattleya is and has been the commercial 

 orchid par excellence and we have been 

 dependent on South America for our 

 importations. Hitherto we have done 

 little in raising seedlings at home. The 

 writer of these notes from time to time 

 has advocated the production of seed- 

 lings of the best varieties of cattleyas, 

 not hybrids, for of these we already 

 have an abundance, but quantities of 

 such standard varieties as C. labiata, 

 TriansB, Mossise, Mendelii, gigas, Per- 

 civaliana, Skinneri, Bowringiana, aurea 

 and others of proven value. These can- 

 not be produced quickly. Three years 

 is the earliest time in which I have 

 flow/ered a cattleya hybrid from seed 

 sowing and it takes double that time 

 for many and for some even more. 

 There are naturally few growers' finan- 

 cially able to wait so long for returns, 

 when they can secure immediate crops, 

 but cattleyas may soon become more or 

 less of a memory commercially, with the 

 embargo kept up, unless some seedling 

 raisers produce cattleyac at home. 

 Points in favor of seedlings are that 

 they are more vigorous than imported 

 plants and they often bloom twice a 

 year. For these reasons alone they 

 should command double the price of im- 

 ported plants. 



Cattleya Trianae. 



Cattleya Triana; is now in good crop. 

 It/is the florist's most useful orchid 

 ajid fills a long season. Some of the 

 /Hants flower well ahead of the holidays; 

 others will bloom until early in March. 

 This popular orchid does not need a 

 high temperature. During the winter 

 of 1917-18 and again during the present 

 winter, our night temperatures have 

 dropped to 45 and 50 degrees. None of 

 the plants showed any ill effec+p. Sors'' 



appear more vigorous and evidently ap- 

 prove of the 10 degrees less warmth 

 at night. With lower temperatures, 

 however, a drier atmosphere is needed 

 and watering must be done with more 

 discrimination. It is much safer to un- 

 derwater cattleyas than the reverse. 

 Once a week is as often as our plants 

 have had water for many weeks: occa- 

 sionally the intervals have been longer. 

 Bright mornings are chosen for this 

 work and a good soaking given, but 

 woodwork or benches are well damped 

 once a day. Ventilation from the roof 

 is given when the temperature reaches 

 65 degrees. Cattleyas love fresh air 

 and cannot bear a close, stuffy atmos- 

 phere. A light syringing overhead on 

 clear days will prove beneficial. 



Other Varieties. 



Cattleya labiata is starting into 

 growth now and plants needing bas- 



kets or new pots should bo overhauled. 

 Use good fern fiber for compost and 

 drain the pots well. Cut away all dead 

 or decaying roots and bulbs and give 

 the plants. a good sponging before re- 

 potting. You cannot firm them too well 

 in their receptacles. Leave the surface 

 slightly rounded. As C. Percivaliana 

 passes out of flower, keep it dry for a 

 few weeks before repotting. This does 

 not mean absolutely to keep the water 

 from it, but to reduce the supply. Varie- 

 ties coming into sheath, such as Mossise, 

 Skinneri, Schroederee, Mendelii, etc., 

 should have the warmest part of the 

 house, as should gigas and aurea. The 

 two latter like more warmth than the 

 other cattleyas named. All possible 

 sponging for scale should be done at 

 this season. Spray well with Aphine, 

 Fir Tree Oil or some other good insecti- 

 cidCji if you can find no time for spong- 

 ing. The sun is increasing in power at 

 this time, but a light shade only is 

 needed where clear glass is used and 

 none at all if you have ground glass. 



Montreal, Que. — Five greenhouses of 

 McKenna, Ltd., were destroyed by fire 

 January 12, together with the plant 

 stock they contained. A sixth house, 

 at a short distance, escaped damage. 

 The fire department responded promptly 

 to a summons when the flames were dis- 

 covered, but the water pressure was so 

 weak that the firemen could not work 

 effectively. The damage has not been 

 estimated, but James McKenna says the 

 greenhouses alone were worth $10,000. 



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SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS 

 FOR SOUTHERN FLORISTS 



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CABNATIONS IN THE SOUTH. 



The carnation houses require lots of 

 attention about this time each year, 

 more especially as some necessary work 

 is neglected during the rush of prepar- 

 ing for the holidays. The days, too, are 

 lengthening and, with the sun gaining 

 power, the plants are responding to the 

 genial warmth with increased growth. 

 Likewise,, weeds and grass are 

 springing up quickly in the beds and 

 these must be worked out at any cost. 

 A top-dressing of sheep manure, or 

 poudrette, ought to be given and con- 

 tinued at intervals of from two to three 

 weeks. The great enemy of carnations 

 in the south at this season is red spider, 

 and it is hard to get rid of it, once it 

 has obtained a foothold. Constant and 

 hard syringing every bright day and a 

 salt spray once a week will eventually 

 clean it out, but all the same, it is a con- 

 stant menace and must be carefully 

 watched. During the month of Decem- 

 ber there was much rainy and cloudy 

 weather, and in leaky houses consider- 

 able loss resulted from a fungous growth 

 on the half-opened flowers. This fungus 

 seems to flourish only in wet weather 

 and in houses that are not tight or where 

 water leaks through the gutters and lies 

 in the walks or under the benches. It 

 is depressing to report such conditions, 

 but they prevail in many places in the 

 south. Of course the trouble disappears 

 -,'ith a few days of bright weather. A 



little sulphur paint applied to one of 

 the steam pipes at such times will pre- 

 vent or remedy the trouble. Care should 

 be taken not to paint too much pipe 

 surface. You may paint three feet and 

 miss three feet. Carnation plants will 

 not stand so much sulphur as rose plants. 

 There seem to have been a great many 

 split calyxes this season. The mercury 

 has not dropped low so far, and conse- 

 quently there has been little trouble in 

 keeping the required temperature. A 

 big drop in the night temperature for 

 a night or two is, or at least seems to be, 

 the main cause of the flower splitting 

 its calyx. Keep the plants growing in 

 their proper spaces by going over them 

 every week, and disbud the flowers as 

 soon as the buds are big enough. Proper 

 ventilation and watering, with judicious 

 feeding and sanitation, are the great 

 things to be practiced from now on. 



A batch of late cuttings may still be 

 put in the sand, but don't expect won- 

 ders from such late ones. They will, 

 however, make good stock to replace any 

 that die from stem-rot after planting 

 in the houses. White Enchantress is the 

 greatest carnation of its color in the 

 south, with the others nowhere. Curious- 

 ly enough, this variety is being discard- 

 ed in the north. As none of the other 

 whites we have tried approach it in 

 any respect, I would advise those who 

 have it to keep xip their own stock, as 

 it may soon be difficult to obtain from 

 northern growers. L. 



