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June 26, 1919. 



The Florists^ Review 



13 



the tourists be allowed to help impover- 

 ished Europe now when the countries 

 need aid most? 



B«nefit to Florists. 



The people of this country are trying 

 to get permission to tour abroad. Money 

 is plentiful in this country, more plenti- 

 ful than ever before. The war has in- 

 creased many a family exchequer. The 

 reasons why persons wish to travel 

 abroad are obvious. The desire is 

 strong, but the state department will 

 not let them go. 



To the florists, slackening in business 

 for the first time in months, the benefits 

 of the resumption of tourist travel now 

 would be wonderfully welcome. It 

 would not only be a present source of 

 income, but a high tide that would carry 

 them into another season with bigger 

 prospects than ever before. In it would 

 come the opportunity of doing business 

 when people are most anxious to spend 

 their money, in the first free vacation 

 months after an arduous, but extremely 

 prosperous, war period. The smaller 

 restrictions have gradually been re- 

 moved. The trade would greatly gain 

 if means could be found to lift the re- 

 strictions on tourist travel to Europe. 



FRENCH BULBS. 



The larger dealers in French bulbs 

 have been greatly disturbed during the 

 last few days by cable advices from 

 Marseilles. Varying in some respects, 

 these have indicated that because of 

 crop failure the exporters will not be 

 able to fill orders in full; but that they 

 will make partial deliveries at sharply 

 advanced prices. It develops that the 

 majority of the orders were placed by 

 American dealers at open prices, but 

 that a percentage of the business was 

 booked at fixed prices, some of them 

 much lower than those now made. In 

 some cases that have been reported, or- 

 ders were placed at 38 francs for Paper 

 Whites, but the buyers now are notified 

 that the price is advanced to $10, which 

 is equivalent, at the present rate of ex- 

 change, to about 66 francs. Even high- 

 er prices have been named to some who 

 have placed orders at open prices. The 

 principal trouble arises from the fact 

 that American dealers who had been 

 given prices around 38 francs have sold 

 a considerable part of the purchase in 

 small lots to a large number of consum- 

 ers at prices based on the purchase 

 price. 



It seems likely that a majority of the 

 buyers will accept the advance in prices 

 as the only way to secure delivery of 

 the bulbs, while others will cancel the 

 orders, leaving only an occasional buyer 

 who wUl have to be settled with, one 

 way or another, by the exporters. But 

 it looks as though the florist who wants 

 to plant Paper Whites this season will 

 have to pay about $20 per case for them. 



HONEY DEW UNDER GLASS. 



Can you give me any information in 

 regard to growing Honey Dew melons 

 in the greenhouse t Should the side 

 shoots be taken off? E. L. — Mass. 



The Eeview does not know of these 

 melons being grown under glass. If 

 some readers have tried it successfully 

 this paper will be glad to print a de- 

 scription of the method. Please write. 



CUTTINGS FROM FIELD ROSES. 



Please tell me how to root cuttings 

 from field-grown roses. I have not had 

 much success in that line, being able 

 to root only a small proportion of the 

 cuttings. C. F. P. — iKan. 



These roses can be propagated either 

 by taking half-ripened cuttings early in 

 the summer and rooting them under 

 glass, or by taking cuttings of dormant 

 wood in the autumn and planting them 

 in the spring. 



A good way of rooting the summer 

 cuttings is to place them in a frame 

 which has been so prepared as to have 

 the nature of a mild hotbed, with about 

 eighteen inches of trodden stable 

 manure at the bottom, three inches of 

 soil above the manure and two inches of 

 sand on top. Two-eye cuttings will 

 serve, with one of the eyes under the 

 sand. Keep the sand moist and shaded. 

 Ventilate only slightly at first, increas- 

 ing the amount of air carefully and 

 gradually. When the cuttings are well 

 rooted, transfer them to 2V^-inch or 

 3-inch pots and place them in a cold- 

 frame. 



The dormant fall cuttings — about six 

 inches in length, with two or three 

 eyes — may be tied in bundles and stored 

 during the winter in sand. In the 

 spring these may be planted, with one 

 eye above the surface, in V-shaped 

 trenches outdoors, in well manured 

 ground, where they will develop into 

 fairly strong plants by the following 

 autumn. However, a greater percent- 

 age of rooted plants may be obtained 

 by subjecting the fall cuttings to a 

 different sort of treatment. In this case, 

 after tying the cuttings in bundles, 

 wrap moist sphagnum around the ends 

 and store the bundles in flats under a 

 bench in a cool house. In two months 

 the cuttings will be well calloused and 

 may be placed in sand over a little bot- 

 tom heat, in a houee which has a tem- 

 perature of about 50 degrees. If duly 

 potted, they should be rofidy for plant- 

 ing out in April or May. 



ROSES FOR POT CULTURE. 



I wish to grow some roses in pots for 

 the coming fall holidays. What varie- 

 ties would you recommend, in dark red, 

 pink and yellow? I think I would pre- 

 fer the Cochet type. I have been in 

 the habit of buying all my regular 

 stock of potted plants from wholesalers. 

 Where and how could I get a list of the 

 correct dates for sowing seeds of all the 



most popular plants, so as to bring 

 them into bloom at the proper time? 

 In fumigating with tobacco stems a 

 house that contains cinerarias, cycla- 

 mens and primulas, should there be any 

 ventilation? How long should the fumi- 

 gation continue? A. J. Z. — N. Y. 



The inquirer does not clearly indicate 

 the nature or purpose of the roses he 

 has in mind, except that he wants them 

 in three colors — red, pink and yellow — 

 and prefers the Cochet type. Probably 

 he will not have much difficulty in find- 

 ing the desired shades of color in the 

 Cochet class, though it will be wise to 

 consult a reliable wholesale grower and 

 be guided somewhat by his advice. 

 Etoile de France is sometimes known as 

 the Crimson Maman Cochet and is de- 

 scribed as a clear red-crimson. Helen 

 Gould, Mrs. B. B. Cant and other sorts 

 are each designated as the Bed Maman 

 Cochet. Maman Cochet itself is some- 

 times distinguished as the Pink Maman 

 Cochet. Various roses — Alexander Hill 

 Gray and others — are lifted by different 

 growers under the name of Yellow 

 Maman Cochet. One of Cook's roses is 

 named the White Maman Cochet. 



If roses of the Dorothy Perkins class 

 would be more suitable for the purpose 

 in view, various sorts are available, 

 such as: Excelsa, or Bed Dorothy Per- 

 kins; Dorothy Perkins, pink; Shower of 

 Gold, yellow, and White Dorothy Per- 

 kins. 



During the process of fumigation, the 

 house should be closed as tightly as 

 possible. As to the duration of ex- 

 posure, a definite answer in small space 

 is impossible, since much depends on 

 the density of the smoke and on other 

 circumstances. A good motto in fumi- 

 gating is, "Lightly and often." To- 

 bacco dust is far superior to the stems 

 for such uses. On this subject, and also 

 with reference to the question on dates 

 of sowing, the inquirer must be gov- 

 erned largely by his experience, as well 

 as by the Seasonable Suggestions and 

 other cultural notes that appear weekly 

 in The Review. 



CUTTINGS OF VINCA AND IVY. 



Will you kindly let me know how best 

 to treat (from this date) rooted cuttings 

 of Vinca variegata and German ivy, 

 with a view to making good stock plants 

 for next spring? How hardy is either 

 of the above? Is German ivy more 

 practical for hanging baskets and boxes 

 than English ivy? D. R. — Neb. 



Plant the vincas outside in the gar- 

 den, where they can be watered and cul- 

 tivated until they become established. 

 Plant in rows eighteen inches apart, 

 with twelve inches between the plants 

 in the row. These cuttings will need to 



