28 



The Florists' Review 



January 12. 1022 



inches apart. These wires should keep 

 pace with the growth, for if the plants 

 get too far beyond the wires and fall 

 over, the result will be what might be 

 called a mess. The wires should be 

 stretched from well braced supports at 

 each end of the row and the uprights 

 should be slightly spread at the top and 

 secured by a crosspiece. This spreading 

 allows the heavy tops more room for 

 development, besides making it easier 

 to pick the flowers. It will be found 

 necessary to go over the rows every two 

 or three days and tuck the growths be- 

 hind the wires. 



If this supporting material is cared 

 for, it lasts for years. It is easily ap- 

 plied and makes a neat job. Heavy 

 string instead of wire is unsatisfactory, 

 as exposure to the weather causes it to 

 expand and loosen. Our first outdoor 

 peas were supported with brush, until 

 one of our sweeping prairie wind storms 

 convinced us that a more substantial 

 system would have to be devised. Had 

 we stretched a wire over the row and 

 tied the brush to it, we might have been 

 better impressed with this method, but 

 we feel certain that our present system 

 will be found the most satisfactory one. 



About June 10 to 15 we begin picking 

 flowers. By that time the weather con- 

 ditions usually are settled and the tem- 

 perature is high enough to produce 

 clean, well finished flowers that are 

 sometimes difiicult to distinguish from 

 indoor stock. 



Spray with Nicotine. 



Between this time and the middle of 

 July the plants should be thoroughly 

 sprayed two or three times with some 

 form of nicotine. The mistake should 

 not be made of putting off this spray- 

 ing until there is evidence of fly. The 

 flowers should be picked closely before 

 this is done, as the nicotine spots the 

 open flowers badly. 



Outdoor sweet peas, being grown un- 

 der more natural conditions, are almost 

 free from the diseases common to the 

 indoor flowers. What is known as the 

 mosaic disease of the sweet pea, a spot- 

 ting or mottling of the leaves and flow- 

 ers, is the only disease we have been 

 troubled with and this, we believe, is 

 largely, if not entirely, due to the green 

 fly. 



It will be noted that we stress the im- 

 portance of using some form of nicotine 

 in connection with the growing of peas 

 and, be it known, we are not interested 

 in any particular brand of this material. 

 The brands are all effective if used con- 

 siderably stronger than the manufac- 

 turers advise. 



Irrigation. 



The ground should not be allowed to 

 become too dry before some form of 

 irrigation is used. A heavy mulch of 

 some coarse manure will help to conserve 

 what moisture there is, but this is not 

 sufficient to keep the peas growing vig- 

 orously and give the stems the desired 

 length. A heavy rain has a magical 

 effect on them, such as no amount of 

 artificial watering will produce — just 

 why, we do not know, unless some of the 

 essential elements are precipitated from 

 the atmosphere. Rain water, as we 

 know, is pure HjO, while our deep-well 

 water holds an abundance of minerals 

 in solution. 



Across the upper end of our rows we 

 open a ditch which serves as a header. 

 Close to each row this header is tapped 

 to provide a small flow the length of the 



row. If the ground slopes too much, it 

 will bo necessary to dam up this flow 

 occasionally, to insure the settling of 

 enough water. Our soil is a heavy loam, 

 with a depth of ten to twelve inches, 

 and is underlaid with a subsoil of heavy 

 clay. With a light or sandy soil an 

 overhead system may have to be em- 

 ployed. With our soil we much prefer 

 confining the water close to the roots 

 with ditches. Besides, water falling 

 over the flowers does not seem to leave 

 them as well finished as they should be. 

 When the first hot spells of July set 

 in, the soft flowers decay easily if stored 

 in water too long. Under these condi- 

 tions, we do not leave them in water 

 more than three or four hours, .after 

 which they are nicely freshened up and 

 are spread out on dry paper, in as cool 

 a place as is available and away from 

 drafts. 



The Question of Shade. 



As to the question of shade, the pro- 

 duction of orange and red colors should 

 not be attempted unless a system of pro- 

 tection from the strong sun is provided. 

 We have even found the variety Hawl- 

 mark Pink distinctly improved under 

 shade. We might go so far as to say that 

 the flowers of most varieties would 

 finish better under some protection from 

 the strong sun of midday. But in this 

 matter of shade, enough is sometimes 

 too much, for under its influence the 

 vines may lose vigor and this loss, in 

 turn, affects the flowers. This makes it 

 necessary that the material used be of a 

 portable nature and be left on only as is 

 found necessary. Early and late in the 

 day, and during cloudy weather, it 

 should be removed, even for those colors 

 that are found to burn badly. In other 

 words, shade no more than is found 

 really necessary. 



Across the top of our upright sup- 

 ports we nail a piece of 1x1, using this 

 as a support for light cheesecloth, 

 stretched over the rows. The edge of 

 this cloth is attached to wire, by means 

 of which the shade can be removed to 

 one side. Before and after midday the 

 shade of each alternate row will be 

 found to care for the row adjoining, but 

 the last row will be exposed unless pro- 

 vided for additionally. 



Selecting Suitable Varieties. 



The winter-flowering varieties have 

 been recommended as suitable for out- 

 door growing because of their earliness. 

 They will produce freely two or three 

 weeks earlier than the late type, but this 

 is at a time when the weather conditions 

 are too unsettled to produce salable 

 flowers and the first hot spell in June 

 finishes them. Besides, in the month 

 of May they have the overpowering com- 

 petition of indoor or winter bloomers, 

 usually of excellent quality at this time. 

 For vigorous growth, length of stem and 

 size of flowers, the winter-flowering va- 

 rieties are not to be compared with the 

 late-flowering kinds as an outdoor crop. 



To the grower unfamiliar with varie- 

 ties, an extended list is a perplexing 

 proposition and a rather difficult one for 

 the seedsmen to get away from. Cer- 

 tain kinds seem to do better in one local- 

 ity than in another, though much of this 

 kind of experience — or shall we say lack 

 of it? — can be discounted. A grower 

 tries a certain kind and, for one of many 

 possible reasons, fails and promptly con- 

 demns it. Or the experience may be 

 vice versa and an insistent demand is 



thus created for a certain kind, though 

 there may be better ones. 



Impetus of a Reputation. 



We have in mind, among others, the 

 original Countess Spencer. Hercules is 

 so much stronger and longer-stemmed, 

 while identical in color, that it would 

 seem like practical business to pass up 

 the Countess, and we should not be sur- 

 prised to find that this has already been 

 done, except in name. A reputation is 

 indeed something to conjure with. Take 

 the case of Mrs. Skach, among the win- 

 ter bloomers; the supremacy it enjoyed 

 in its day gave it such an impetus that 

 it continues in demand. 



It is only by recalling the sweet pea 

 of twenty years ago that we can grasp 

 the great improvement that has been 

 made and this progress seems to be gain- 

 ing momentum. 



The question of suitable varieties 

 should be carefully dealt with by the cut 

 flower grower. He should bear in mind 

 that clear, attractive self colors only 

 are wanted in quantity. The amateur 

 delights in novelty colors or art shades 

 for the garden, but for personal adorn- 

 ment or general cut flower purposes 

 milady selects definite colors. 



Pink, White, Lavender and Blue. 



We have found the following list the 

 best for such purposes and we name the 

 varieties in the order of their value: 



The varying shades of pink are most 

 popular; so we head the list with these 

 five: Hercules, dark; Hawlmark Pink, 

 rose; Daisybud, light; Annie Bownass, 

 amber, and Margaret Atlee, cream. 



During the month of June, white gives 

 pink a close run for first place. We 

 have found but one best variety under 

 this heading; namely, Constance Hinton. 

 It is black-seeded, but finishes practi- 

 cally white; it has great size and sub- 

 stance. 



For lavender we find Orchid a most 

 pleasing shade. R. F. Felton is a splen- 

 did lavender pink. 



In blues we have a good seller in the 

 delphinium blue, Mrs. Tom Jones. 

 Wedgwood is another fine shade. Blue 

 Monarch is a large, fine dark blue, but 

 the lighter shades sell best. 



Bicolor, Cerise and Other Shades. 



The bicolors sell well, though the 

 colors are not so well defined as they 

 usually are under glass. Mrs. Cuthbert- 

 son is a standard bicolor. Sparkler is a 

 splendid, long-stemmed, vigorous grower, 

 but the color, a combination of rose and 

 cream, is one that should not be grown 

 heavily. 



In cerise, Hope is fine; it is a shade 

 that can hardly be distinguished from 

 the winter-bloomjng variety. Torch; it 

 must be shaded. 



Robert Sydenham is our choice in 

 orange colors. For orange scarlet, 

 Thomas Stevenson is magnificent. King 

 Edward continues the standard crimson. 

 The three last named are worthless un- 

 less shaded. 



Royal Purple is a rich, dark color and 

 in limited quantity it sells. A list of 

 standard colors is not quite complete 

 without maroon and the best variety is 

 Warrior. 



Wabash, Ind. — Alonzo Ulsh has placed 

 an order with the Foley Greenhouse 

 Mfg. Co., of Chicago, for four pipe-frame 

 houses, each 21x100, to be built early in 

 spring. This is the beginning of a new 

 range. 



