Dbcbmbbr 29, 1921 



The Rortsts' Rcvkw 



25 



View in the Cyclamen House of the Merriam Park Floral Co.> St. Paul* Minn., Before Christmas. 



root a few geraniums, he may use one 

 end of a bench; the side benches next 

 to an outside wall, if they are narrow, 

 are easier to stick and also to control. 

 Geraniums can be propagated any 

 time of the year. Next year we shall 

 begin taking cuttings August 1. 



J. N. Spanabel & Sons. 



SWEET PEAS TUBN RED. 



Last summer our Spencer peas, 

 Blanche Ferry, after three or four cut- 

 tings, turned a solid red. They were 

 planted in a soil composed of ashes and 

 leaf-mold about six inches deep, using 

 lime and half-rotten cow manure as a 

 fertilizer. What is the cause? 



E. W. G.— Pa. 



These plants were affected with what 

 is known as the striped disease of the 

 sweet pea. During the early stages the 

 flowers are lightly striped with white 

 and red, this giving way later to almost 

 a solid red. This trouble has almost 

 always been traced at our range to spots 

 affected with green fly, especially when 

 plants were young. For next season it 

 would be advisable to chiinge the soil 

 into which sweet peas are planted, care- 

 fully keeping green fly down. 



George J. Ball. 



made below the leaves. The moss must 

 be kept moist and the temperature of 

 the greenhouse kept up to 65 degrees at 

 night. After the top is rooted, the re- 

 mainder of the stem may be cut off, laid 

 in sand on the bench and kept moist; 

 in a few weeks it will make young 

 growths from the joints. These young 

 growths are taken off after they have 

 four or five leaves and are placed in 

 small pots in sandy soil, in which they 

 will soon root if kept warm and moist. 

 The best cuttings of Pandanus 

 Veitchii are secured from the side 

 shoots around the bottom of the plant. 

 These are taken off with a heejybf the - 

 old stem and are pyt in small lvo\s irf 

 the same manner "as that suggesledrfor 

 dracsenas, but wilt not require so mirch ■\. 

 water as the latter. A temperature of;'. 

 65 to 70 degrees is'jJbest for these cutv' 

 tings. • . W. H. T. 'i' 

 \ • — •?■•• 



another story, because all the plants had 

 then gone home. Mr. Kaiser uses Ferd 

 Fischer's seeds. 



DRACffiNA AND PANDANUS. 



Please tell me how to propagate 

 Dracffina terminalis and Pandanus 

 Veitchii. Mention the most suitable 

 temperature and also state what part of 

 the plants makes the best material for 

 cuttings. P. D.— N. Y. 



Dracffina terminalis may be propa- 

 gated by partly cutting through the 

 stem and then tying some sphagnum 

 moss around the cut, the incision being 



MAX KAISER'S CYCLAMENS. 



With the departute of thie azalea, the " 

 cyclamen has come to the front as the 

 principal Christmas plant and most 

 florists are better satisfied with the 

 substitution. There is more money in 

 growing cyclamens than there eVer was 

 in forcing azaleas. Instead of buying 

 plants at a high price and rea'ping the 

 prefit only f*)m forcing, the American 

 grower now/Mbuys cyclamen seeds at a 

 penny or t^O. and grows them, in fifteen 

 to eighteen months, into plants which 

 will retail at anywhere from $2 to $25. 

 The result depends on his skill. 



Max Kaiser, proprietor of the Mer- 

 riam Park Floral Co., at St. Paul, is a 

 skillful cyclamen grower, as is attested 

 by the picture of himself in his house 

 of cyclamens. Be it known that the 

 photograph was not made yesterday. 

 This is a picture as the house looked 

 December 9. December 26 it was quite 



CINDERS FOR POT PLANTS. 



Will you advise as to whether cinders 

 are injurious to pot plants, if placed 

 on benches to hold moisture, so that the 

 plants will not dry out too quickly? If 

 there are bad effects, what will they bef 

 R. N. S.— Utah. 



I have not found any injury coming 

 from the use of cinders on benches and 

 f u^e them regularly. Also I regularly 

 tise screened cinders for drainage in 

 flints, in pots and in propagating beds. 

 Have you ever noticed how luxuriant 

 v^etation is in beds of cinders out- 

 doors! Do not be afraid to use them. 

 C. W. 



TO ROOT PLUMBAGOS. 



How can I root plumbagos! I tried 

 puie sand and a mixture of soil and 

 sand, but all my cuttings fail. I have 

 several large plants of both the blue and 

 white-flowering varieties and I want to- 

 grow small plants for spring sales. 



E. R. B.— Tex. 



Plumbago capensis and its pure white 

 form, also P. coccinca, the scarlet 

 variety, are not at all diflicult to propa- 

 gate in either fall or spring. Use clear,, 

 sharp sand and no loam; take cuttings 

 which are short or rubbed off with a 

 heel or cut below an eye. The plant* 

 succeed best in what is known as an 

 intermediate temperature under glass, 

 about 55 degrees in winter. In the 

 cutting bench some bottom heat, which 

 will keep the sand about 65 degrees, i» 

 a benefit, but not necessary if .the 

 teniperature of the house is about 55 

 or 60 degrees at night. Cuttings must^ 



