July 1, 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



/ 



21 



CALLAS IN SUMMER. 



I have a number of callas in tlie 

 bench and I intend to lift them, change 

 the soil and then replant them in the 

 fall. Kindly tell me how to treat the 

 plants during the summer. Should they 

 be allowed to dry and should they be 

 placed in a cellar, or should they be 

 transplanted to the field during the 

 summer? I. B. — Mich. 



POPULAR GERANIUMS. 



I am sending you some geranium 

 blooms. Can you name them? Will you 

 name the salmon, the red and the red 

 and white varieties which would be the 

 most profitable to grow? "Which is most 

 profitable to grow, asparagus or gera- 

 niums, or is it more profitable to grow 

 lettuce than either of those? We are 

 at present growing vegetable plants. 



J. C— O. 



The geranium flowers arrived so dried 

 up that it was impossible to tell the 

 names of them. The six most popular 

 and profitable varieties of geraniums 

 are: Beaute Poitevine, salmon pink; S. 

 A. Nutt, dark red; Alphonse Eicard, 

 scarlet; Mme. Buchner, white; Jean 

 Viaud, rose pink, and Jean Oberle, flesh 

 pink. 



The question of which would be the 

 more profitable to grow, geraniums or 

 Asparagus plumosus and Asparagus 

 Sprengeri, depends greatly upon your 

 location and the effort you put into 

 them. Each of the items mentioned is 

 being grown profitably by growers all 

 over the country, but you must be gov- 

 erned entirely by the conditions under 

 which you have to work. The same 

 answer applies to growing lettuce. There 

 are a large number of greenhouses 

 throughout the country operated profit- 

 ably in the production of lettuce and the 

 same can be said of geraniums. 



M. P. 



ROOTING GERANIUM CUTTINGS. 



Kindly tell me how to strike gera- 

 nium cuttings successfully. I have prop- 

 agated many thousands of geranium 

 cuttings in England, but I find condi- 

 tions different here in Nebraska. Last 

 year I had a nice stock to get my cut- 

 tings from, but my strike was not sat- 

 isfactory. The weather is extremely 

 hot with us at tliat time. I have refer- 

 ence to fall cuttings. D. K. — Neb. 



Our American autumn is quite hot 

 and if geranium cuttings are taken as 

 early as in England the greater propor- 

 tion will damp off. All newcomers make 

 mistakes for one or two seasons, until 

 they appreciate the climatic differences 

 of the two countries. Delay putting 

 your cuttings in until the end of Sep- 

 tember or even October. By that time 

 the excessively hot weather has usually 

 passed and cooler nights are the rule. 

 Trim all cuttings quite bare and leave 

 only small leaves on each. Insert in 

 clear, sharp sand, soak well with water 

 and keep the cuttings in full sun, never 

 shading them. If the cuttings are at 

 all sappy, it is a good plan to let them 

 lie on the potting bench twenty-four 

 hours before putting in sand. Remem- 

 ber that the later you put in cuttings, 

 the better ripened they will be and the 

 smaller proportion will damp off. Of 

 course, in the case of frost, some protec- 



tion of stock plants may be needed be- 

 fore the cuttings are taken. C. W. 



DISEASED GERANIUM LEAVES. 



I am sending you a few leaves of 

 Geranium S. A. Nutt. Can you toll 

 me what causes the rust on the leaves? 

 It looks as if something had eaten them 

 in spots. This condition exists only on 

 this variety. The others are not af- 

 fected. C. B.— Pa. 



The callas when lifted should be 

 dried off and kept in a dry state until 

 planting time arrives again. When 

 grown in pots the best plan is simply 

 to lay the plants on their sides in a 

 warm, sunny spot. In the case of your 

 lifted plants I should pack them closely 

 in boxes and pack some soil or sand 

 about them, placing the boxes on an 

 unused greenhouse bench or in a shed. 

 It would be better to let them havo 

 some sun than to place them in a cel- 

 lar, which would naturally be rather 

 cool and damp. C. W. 



The geraniums are affected by leaf- 

 spot disease. As you state that the S. 

 A. Nutt variety is the only one affected, 

 it may be that your stock of Nutt is 

 run down or weakened in some way. It 

 would not be wise to propagate from 

 plants so badly affected as the plants 

 must be from which these specimen 

 leaves were taken. I should suggest 

 that you purchase cleai; stock as a 

 foundation for your next season 's supply 

 of plants. M. P. 



CALENDULAS FOR CHRISTMAS. 



When should calendulas be sown and 

 planted in beds in order to have a good 

 crop for Christmas and midwinter in a 

 carnation temperature? 



T. S..M.— Kan. 



Sow the calendulas, preferably in 

 small pots, the first week in September. 



C. W. 



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F. G. Carek, Lorain, O., is installing 

 a new boiler to take care of increased 

 glass area, trusting to good fortune in 

 obtaining the necessary fuel to feed it. 

 A new sign, "Say It with Flowers," is 

 proposed, to be placed in a position 

 where it may be seen from four points. 

 Two retail stores absorb all the stock 

 grown here. 



• • • 



Harry A. Cook, Oberlin, O., in addi- 

 tion to the florists' business, conducts 

 a bicycle establishment, which is found 

 to be a profitable one, as it brings a 

 large number of college students in 

 touch with the greenhouses. 



• • • • 



Humm & Jones, Oberlin, O., have 

 plans for rebuilding their range at the 

 first favorable opportunity. Sweet 

 peas, flowering from December 10 until 

 now and at all times selling well, will 

 be replaced with chrysanthemums, 

 which will be in bloom when the college 

 opens in the fall. 



• • • • 



L. A. Eaton & Sons, Conneaut, 0., are 

 much encouraged with the entire sea- 

 son's business. Weddings are play- 

 ing an important role and calling for 

 much floral work. 



• • • • 



The Ashtabula Floral Co., Ashtabula, 

 O., recently organized wFth Ernest Tong 

 as the head, has not yet located in 

 Ashtabula, but has several locations in 

 view. 



• • • • 



The Silvieus & Silvieus Floral Co., 

 Ashtabula, O., has an offer for its flour- 

 ishing business, but has not decided to 



accept. "The present prosperous co**- 

 ditions make one feel like holding on 

 wherever possible," observed Manager 



Silvieus. 



• • • • 



The Tong & Weeks Floral Co., Ash- 

 tabula O., reports a large increase in 

 the-'^le of plants. 



• • • • 



Butz Bros., New Castle, Pa., have a 

 house of cattleyas and dendrobiums, 

 which furnish blooms almost the entire 

 year. Top prices have been obtained 

 and not a bloom wasted. Weddings and 

 funerals have kept up to previous rec- 

 ords. The taste for floral work is de- 

 cidedly on the increase, in the opinion 

 of the junior member of the firm. 



• • • • 



Hennon & Son, New Castle, Pa., have 

 several branches, with headquarters at 

 Wampum, Pa. They find, however, that 

 one may have too many links in a 

 store chain to give each efficient service 

 and so they are concentrating. Excel- 

 lent business is reported. 



• • • • 



C. Merkel & Son, Mentor, 0., express 

 conditions in one word, phenomenal. 

 They are cutting heavily of Adiantnm 

 Croweanum, which, being scarce, brings 

 a good price. They hare given up forc- 

 ing bulbs, to pay closer attention to 

 carnations and plants. 



• • • • 



Carl Hagenburger, West Mentor, O., 

 is having fine success in growing cycla- 

 mens on shallow benches. The seed was 

 sown July 1, last year. The plants were 

 transplanted from flats to beds and are 



