20 



The Florists^ Review 



JUNB 30, 1»21 



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GERMAN METHOD 



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CYCLAMENS IN GERMANY. 



Methods of Expert Growers. 



German growers have been celebrated 

 for their splendid cyclamen plants and 

 a great part of the seed sown by florists 

 of the United States each year comes 

 from that country. The methods used 

 in this country follow, as a rule, those 

 learned by our growers either in their 

 youth abroad or from florists of Ger- 

 man extraction. After having read the 

 article on cyclamen culture in the 

 June 9 issue of The Eeview, outlining 

 approved American methods, it will be 

 interesting to learn how a cyclamen 

 specialist of Germany describes the 

 methods used there today. Johann 

 Dlabka, one of the foremost cyclamen 

 growers, at Zehlendorf, writes for The 

 Eeview 's readers regarding the German 

 ways as follows: 



' ' Seed sowing may be done from early 

 August to December, according to the 

 time in which the plants are wished to 

 be in flower. Sow the seeds in handy 

 boxes; cover them; keep them moder- 

 ately moist, in a warm temperature, 

 about 65 degrees, and dark for three or 

 four weeks, until they are well germi- 

 nated. Then give them plenty of light 

 and a lower temperature, about 60 de- 

 grees. During the fall and winter the 

 seedlings must be transplanted two or 

 three times and should not be kept 

 warmer than 55 or 60 degrees. Other- 

 wise, they become weak and subject to 

 diseases. 



The Last Shift. 



"From March to May the seedlings 

 are potted in 3-inch pots and placed in 

 moderately warm hotbeds, which are 

 kept shaded and closed for some days. 

 The plants should not be bedded in the 

 compost of the hotbed, but placed upon 

 it. Then, under favorable conditions, 

 some air may be given them, and, as 

 soon as they are well rooted, the plants 

 must be shifted again to 4-inch pots. 

 The last shift must be done, at the 

 latest, about the middle of August. 

 Heavy dews, falling from the end of 

 July on, will do the plants much good 

 and, therefore, plenty of air should be 

 given them during both the day and 

 the night. 



"If this method is followed, the 

 plants may be placed in the houses in 

 a well hardened condition and not sub- 

 ject to attacks by disease. The com- 

 post never should be of a fresh nature, 

 but old and well decayed, and fertilizers 

 should be mixed with the compost some 

 months before it is used. When the 

 plants are shifted the last time the 

 compost used should have been mixed 

 with additional fertilizer some months 

 before. From the time of mixing to the 

 time of using, the compost should be 

 well worked through and kept moist. 



"To repeat some of the important 

 points: Keep the plants, after they 

 are well rooted, in moderately warm 

 hotbeds, never too warm; give them air 

 according to the outside conditions; 

 spray them in the morning and water 

 them in the afternoon. On bright days, 

 shading is needed. Use only well de- 



cayed and old compost and never mix 

 in fresh or undecayed fertilizers. Keep 

 the bulbs in a growing condition when 

 bedding them in the compost, but place 

 the bulbs on the surface of the compost 

 when shifting them for the last time. 



"The best strains will give unsat- 

 isfactory results with a poor grower, 

 but a bad strain can not be improved, 

 even by the best grower." 



The Cyclamen's Disease. 



In explanation of the disease which 

 has troubled so many growers of cycla- 

 mens in this country of late, another 

 German with an intimate knowledge 

 of cyclamen culture, Eobert Blossfeld, 

 of Potsdam, writes for the benefit of 

 the readers of The Eeview as follows: 



"Eegarding the disease of the cycla- 

 men, of which much has been heard in 

 tlie last year from American growers, 

 my personal opinion is the following: 

 The cyclamen is the favorite of the 

 German growers and is grown in great 

 quantities throughout the country. In 

 former times, about ten or twenty years 



ago, the plants were grown in hotbels 

 and often, during the growth of t'le 

 plants, some of the best and m( st 

 promising plants rotted off in one nig! t, 

 and even during the day. Plants whi h 

 seemed in perfect health would hav^, 

 a few hours after an inspection, bul s 

 which were soft and rotted. Since i e 

 have grown the cyclamen, not in he - 

 beds, but in moderately warm bed<, 

 packed with undecayed leaves mixi 1 

 sometimes, especially in the ear v 

 spring, with fresh horse manure, ai I 

 since we have given it plenty of frefh 

 air and have followed the culture oiii- 

 lined previously, no more disease h:'s 

 appeared. 



"The reason for the disease is no 

 only the weakness caused by the ho • 

 bed and the warm, moist temperatur( , 

 but also, I think, when the growth i 

 pushed in this manner, the leaves an 

 not able to transform and assimilat ■ 

 the enormous amount of nourishmen 

 offered by the roots, which are workin;^- 

 with a maximum power. So, in th' 

 cellular texture an overpressure is 

 caused, bursting some of the cells, intc 

 which the fungus enters. Then thi 

 bulbs rot. This fungus is, in my opin 

 ion, of the botrytis class and allied with 

 the fungus which occurs sometimes in 

 propagating houses where the tempera 

 ture is too high and where growth is 

 pushed too much." 



MOTT-LY MUSINGS 



Funeral work was in the ascendency 

 last week at Albany, N. Y. The death 

 of two prominent aviators created an 

 unusual call for floral expressions of 

 sympathy, in which practically all the 

 craft in Albany took part. Some beau- 

 tiful designs were noted; especially so 

 was one of the 8-foot propellers of the 

 ill-fated hydroplane in which the avia- 

 tors met their death. This giant piece 

 was covered with white roses, white 

 sweet peas and white carnations, with 

 the center a solid circle of Hadley roses 

 and tiger lilies. It took two delivery 

 trucks to convey the orders placed with 

 W. W. Hannell, of Watervliet, together 

 with some choice floral tributes from his 

 family, one of the deceased having been 

 a close friend. 



• • • • 



"Social functions of every kind have 

 kept up the tone of our business," as- 

 serts Mrs. Henry Eberhardt, of the 

 Eoscndale Flower Shop, Schenectady, 

 N. Y. Proprietor Henry Eberhardt is 

 sojourning for a while at Lake Cham- 

 plain. 



• • • • 



E. V. B. Felthousen, Schenectady, 

 reports one of the best seasons for bed- 

 ding plants, both in quality and price, 

 and is figuring out next season's re- 

 quirements on a similar basis. "Why," 

 he asks, "has not the price of pots come 

 down in sympathy with other mate- 

 rial?" Chrysanthemums, the next main 

 crop, are starting up well. 



• • • • 



A shipment of stevia arrived just be- 

 fore week-end quitting time at W. W. 

 Hannell 's, Watervliet, supposed to be 

 out of 2-inch pots. Scarcely a plant 

 carried any soil and some nary a root. 



'Twas a repeat order. The first arrived 

 mushy; this lot the reverse. "Awfully 

 discouraging," commented Mr Hannell, 

 "but we shall give them careful treat- 

 ment and possibly save most, if not all. 

 Now why," queried he, "will some 

 growers of small plants persist in send- 

 ing out rooted cuttings at pot plant 

 prices? The Eeview is constantly ad- 

 vocating the principle of the square deal 

 and it does look sometimes as though 

 the matter will need attention from the 

 authorities at Washington to punish 

 the guilty and to encourage the con- 

 scientious." 



• • • • 



Being desirous of adding to our store 

 of horticultural knowledge gained from 

 first-hand sources, we decided to spend 

 our vacation with a confrere, who at 

 one time filled the position of superin- 

 tendent on a Eockefeller estate and, as 

 would naturally be assumed, has im- 

 bibed some of the traits of his success- 

 ful employer and applied them in con- 

 ducting his own business, in which he 

 is ably assisted by his good wife and 

 their two sons. Our first job was pinch- 

 ing back carnation plants in the field, 

 a delicate task, as, owing to the 

 drought, the plants were soft. By hold- 

 ing the shoot between the thumb and 

 forefinger of the left hand, one can 

 pull the eye out with the right hand 

 without injury to the plant. The Skin- 

 ner system is a fine substitute for rain, 

 but one can see where plants started in 

 the bench early have a decided ad- 

 vantage. In this case, the old plants 

 are kept in as late as possible to meet 

 the retail demand for blooms. 



The next job found us cleaning up 

 and repotting cyclamens, which, from 



