16 



The Florists^ Review 



June 21, 1917. 



THE PLANTS IN THE FIELD. 



The Bains and the Weeds. 



The frequent rains are not altogether 

 to the liking of the young carnation 

 plants in the field. While the plants 

 enjoy a plentiful supply of water, there 

 is a limit beyond which moisture be- 

 comes a detriment rather than a benefit. 

 A heavy shower will do no harm if the 

 soil be cultivated before the next one, 

 but when one heavy rain follows an- 

 other, with no chance for cultivation be- 

 tween, it soon packs the soil down so 

 that it cannot be worked into proper 

 condition during the current season. Do 

 not work the soil while it is wet, but get 

 into it at every opportunity. 



About this time we usually find it 

 necessary to go through the carnation 

 field with the hoe, cutting out the weeds 

 and loosening the soil between the 

 plants. With the cultivator you can 

 keep down the weeds rather well be- 

 tween the rows, but between the plants 

 in the row you must use the hoe. If 

 you have experienced men for this work, 

 you are fortunate, as in many instances 

 it is necessary to put on men who have 

 had no experience, except, perhaps, in 

 the corn field back home. We find most 

 of these men inclined to draw up the 

 soil around the plants, the same as they 

 did when hoeing corn. Others will draw 

 away the soil, leaving the plant stand- 

 ing high and likely to fall over after the 

 first rain. Avoid' both of these condi- 

 tions. Stoop down to pull the weeds 

 that are too close to the plants to be 

 hoed out properly, leaving the soil as 

 it was before the hoeing, except for the 

 loosening up. 



When the Young Shoots Lengthen. 



You now will find it necessary to go 

 over the plants every little while to top 

 back any young shoots that begin to 

 lengthen out. It is better to go over 

 them often, taking out one or two shoots 

 at a time, rather than to top back a 

 large number of shoots at one time. In 

 that way you will get shoots in every 

 stage of development and promote a 

 steady cut of blooms throughout the 

 seasoia, rather than in crops. In top- 

 ping always strive to produce well bal- 

 anced, bushy plants. Aim to secure 

 plants that will stand upright and re- 

 plant without breaking when trans- 

 ferred to the benches. There is a great 

 difference in varieties and this must 

 alwavs be kept in mind when topping. 

 Sucli' varieties as Beacon and Enchan- 

 tress will need little topping as com- 

 pared with Gloriosa, Good Cheer, Ne- 

 braska and others of that type of 

 growth. The former will make four or 

 five breaks when topped, while the other 

 type will usually make two breaks and 

 sometimes even only one, which makes 

 it necessary to go over the latter type 

 oftener to avoid straggly growth. 



When topping the plants be sure you 

 do not merely pull out the leaves, leav- 



ing the heart to grow right out again, as 

 is often done. This is a waste of time 

 and does the plant- no good. A good 

 plan is to leave a shoot until you can 

 see the stem between the leaves, and 

 then break out the tip, leaving as many 

 joints as the habit of the plant warrants. 

 Hoeing, cultivating and topping the 

 young carnations constitute the major 

 portion of the plants' requirements 

 while they are in the field. If you 

 attend to these matters properly, you 

 should have good plants to bench, but 

 you cannot expect to have good plants 

 unless you do attend to the field work 

 properly. A. F. J. Baur. 



ABOUT THE GLASS. 



I am going to build a greenhouse this 

 summer and would like to know what is 

 the best grade of glass to use. The size 

 I need is 14x18. I have been told not 

 to get double A because I shall not be 

 able to get good insurance on it. I 



have also heard that the majority of 

 houses are built of extra heavy single 

 strength B. I shall need sixty boxes of 

 glass and would like to know about what 

 the cost would be per box. Can you 

 give me the name of some good glass 

 manufacturing company? 



G. H.— Mo. 



The best glass for greenhouses is 

 double strength A; anything else, at 

 best, is on tlie "just as good" order. 

 Many builders of greenhouses use the 

 B grade on the north side, although thcv 

 jjay the extra price for the best grade 

 for the south side. Double strength 

 glass costs more, but breaks less easily 

 and the insurance on double strength is 

 less in proportion than on single 

 strength. Single strength glass usually 

 is plenty strong enough to carry a 

 winter's load of snow, but sometimes a 

 hail storm will break most of the single 

 strength glass and little that is double 

 strength. Many buyers of glass no 

 doubt are influenced principally by the 

 price, but the man who is building a 

 large place for cut flowers would do well 

 to consider first the freedom from 

 blisters, the color of the glass and its 

 even thickness, rather than the few 

 pennies per box that may be saved on 

 a less desirable quality. There is a 

 great deal of difference in this respect. 

 For quotations on any quantity or grade 

 write to the advertisers who are offer- 

 ing glass in The Eeview. H. O. 



MX7MS FOB A BEQINNEB. 



What varieties of chrysanthemums 

 would you advise a beginner to grow, 

 and how would you proportion the 

 colors? We expect to grow about 1,000 

 plants. Would 2^/4 or 2%-inch plants be 

 satisfactory? We want to grow the 

 greater part of these one flower to a 

 plant. We also wish to grow about 250 

 plants in pots, 100 of them yellow, fifty 

 pink, fifty white and twenty-five each of 

 white and pink pompons. When is the 

 proper time to start the plants? 



J. S,— Mich. 



A beginner in mums should grow the 

 varieties known to the trade as "easy 

 doers," as they are the varieties that 

 give maximum satisfaction and blooms 

 with minimum effort and trouble. It is 

 somewhat difficult to tell any man what 

 to grow when one is not acquainted 

 with his market, but it is a safe rule 

 that every market has a larger call for 

 yellows than for any other color. Of 

 1,000 plants, I would suggest that at 

 least 400 of them be yellow, 300 white, 

 200 pink and 100 bronze. The follow- 

 ing varieties cover the season fairly well 

 and are all of what is known as the com- 

 mercial type: 



Yellow, Golden Glow, Chrysolora, 

 Yellow Eaton, Major Bonnaffon and 

 Yellow Chadwick. Golden Glow gives 

 the first flowers, from September to 

 about October 1, and Yellow Chadwick 

 may be planted to flower from Thanks- 

 giving to Christmas. 



White, Early Frost, Oconto, Polly 



Eose, White Chieftain and White Chad- 

 wick. 



Pink, Unaka, Pacific Supreme, Chief- 

 tain, Nerissa and Patty. Many growers 

 cling to the old Maud Dean for a late 

 pink, but if one wishes an extremely 

 late pink, he should try W. T. Brock. 

 This is the best one, in my opinion. 



Bronze is neglected in most markets, 

 wrongly so, I think. New York city 

 w^ll take more bronze mums than any- 

 thing else. The artists know that the 

 color blends well with the autumn 

 foliage. Three satisfactory bronze va- 

 rieties are: Tints of Gold, early; Mrs. 

 O. H, Kahn and Glenview, 



Eegarding the pot plants, I would 

 suggest the Cap family, which is the 

 standard almost the world over for pot 

 plants. Use 100 Yellow Cap and fifty 

 each of Pink Cap and White Cap. Two 

 fine white and pink pompons would be 

 White Doty and Lillian Doty, or Queen 

 of the Whites and the pink Esa. Two 

 splendid whites in the Japanese anem- 

 one types, largely grown for the east- 

 (Mu markets, are Garza and C. L. 

 Hutchinson. 



Eegarding the proper time to plant, 

 florists usually plant stock as soon as 

 they get the houses cleaned out, in 

 June. Pot plants can be planted any 

 time now. Plants in 2i^-inch pots would 

 be entirely satisfactory to buy. It is 

 not suggested that the list submitted 

 will be satisfactory for every section 

 of the country, but on broad, general 

 lines, it will be found as good a list as 

 anv. Chas. H. Totty. 



