28 



fhe Florists' Review 



Fbbruary 9. 1922 



NEW JUDGE 



r•^1r^s\1!>8v1ri«\1trs\1r^8vlr)«v1r«^1r!r»1r»8^1r)«>rt^^^ 



HAROLD J. PATTEN. 



AS THOyK wlio (lid it in the l;ito war liave said, yon never know what will 

 happen when yon volnnteer. The liydaws of the American Carnation Society 

 state that not less than three candidates nnist be noniiiiiited for the two positions 

 as judge to be filled in the annnal eU'ction. Two good men were nominated at 

 Hartford. Harold .1. Patten offered his name to fill the third space. When time 

 for balloting came, the ojjinion seemed to be that two officers sufficiently repre- 

 sented the city of Indianaj)olis and that, des])ite the eminent fitness of the candi- 

 date from that city for judgeship, it woiild be better to give the east a place. So 

 instead of filling merely a jdaco on the ticket, Harold J. Patten fills the position 

 of judge of th(> society for the coming year. He is (piite fitted for the place. The 

 son of one of the most renowned carnation growers, the late Marcellns A. Patten, 

 he now ably conducts the range of I'atten & (lo., at Ti'wksljury, Mass. The son of 

 a former president of the American Carnation Society begins his service to the 

 organization as judge, '^'ou never know what will hai)j)en when you v(dunteer. 



to some extent. Spraying with Bor- 

 deaux mixture will also helji. Do not 

 sjiray the plants overhead more than 

 once each week and then only on briglit 

 days. (Jive abundant ventilation at 

 every opportunity and keep your tem- 

 perature as near ."il) degrees at night as 

 possible. Maintain a dry. buoyant at 

 mosphere at all tiuK^s. A. Y. J. R. 



HEAT FOR CARNATIONS. 



I have a fine lot of carnations and 

 they are full of large buds, but they are 

 blooming too slowly for the demands of 

 my trade. I keep the tem]ierature at 

 from 50 to 55 degrees ;it night and about 

 70 to 80 degrees in the daytime. The 

 stems seem to be too \\e;ik to hold n]i 



the bloom. They are large enough, but 

 not stiff enough. \Vli;it would you rec- 

 ouimend using to stiffen the stems? 



.1. R. A. 



We are in(dine(l to the o]dnion that 

 you are running your carnations a little 

 too warm. Keep as near the lower fig 

 ures as jiossible .and give lots of ventila- 

 tion. A sjirinkling of wood aslies over 

 the s(n! and watered in will lielp to 

 stiffen the stems. Use about a 3-inch 

 potful to each row h;ilfway across a 

 4-foot bench. \. F. J. H. 



FAIRY RING RUINS CARNATIONS. 



We have sent a s]>(>cimen carnation 

 plant, which is affected by some sort 



of disease with which we are not fa- 

 miliar. The plants were put in the 

 greenhouse late last fall and have never 

 done well. They are in soil composed of 

 rotted manure, leaf-mold and wood 

 ashes. G. F. Co.— Ida. 



The specimens submitted are badly 

 affected with fairy ring, one of the 

 worst spot diseases known. Benching 

 the plants late is probably what brought 

 it on. These plants are, probably, not 

 worth doctoring and, if you can make 

 other use of the space, it is advisable 

 that you tear them out before the dis- 

 ease spreads to the other varieties 

 planted in the same house. Ordinarily, 

 picking off the affected leaves and spray- 

 ing with a fungicide is the remedy. 



A. F. J. B. 



MAKING CARNATION CUTTINGS. 



I should like to make some carnation 

 cuttings. The cuttings I am sending you 

 were taken from a plant that had buds 

 on it, but was not yet blooming. Are 

 these cuttings made all right. J. S. — O. 



The cuttings submitted for inspection 

 are not properly made. The cuttings are 

 rather undersized and you trimmed the 

 leaves too closely. If you will look at the 

 illustrations accompanying our article 

 on propagation in The Review of Decem- 

 ber 1, 1921, you will notice that each leaf 

 was cut back only about half its length 

 and the center tip was not cut at all. 

 Trimming the leaves is done to reduce 

 the evaporating surface and to prevent 

 crowding in the cutting bench, but you 

 must leave something for the cutting to 

 exist on. Remember, the leaves of a 

 plant are to it what your lungs are to 

 you. Read the above-mentioned article 

 carefully and you will soon acquire the 

 knack of rooting the cuttings. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



COOUNG CARNATIONS. 



We have been having a great deal of 

 trouble with carnations. They go to 

 sleep when cooled by means of artificial 

 ice. Buyers of our stock, in Omaha, 

 Neb., report the same trouble. With 

 natural ice, however, we have no such 

 trouble. Can you explain this seemingly 

 peculiar phenomenon? R. O. G. — la. 



There should be no difference between 

 the artificial and the natural ice, insofar 

 as it might affect the keeping of your 

 carnations. But why use any ice at 

 .all? The refrigerator is not a gOod 

 jdaco for carnation blooms. A cool room, 

 free from strong drafts, is the best 

 place to keep them. Even when ship- 

 ])ing carnation blooms, no ice should be 

 used in packing them. They come out 

 of the box looking good, but soon col- 

 lapse when the air strikes them. 



A. F. J. B. 



STEVIA FOR WINTER FLOWERING. 



What is the best way to handle stevia, 

 so it will flower in winter in a green- 

 house? B. & B.— Ore. 



Take the stevia cuttings in March. 

 Grow them in small pots in a cool house 

 and pot them along as required. Plant 

 them outdoors when the danger frOTn 

 frost has gone and pot them up before 

 we get an early fall frost. Shade them 

 and spray them until they are well es- 

 tablished. Another plan, and an even 

 l>ctter one, is to grow the plants in pots 



