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62 



The Florists^ Review 



Mabch so. 1022 



larly good pan. The forcing of so-called 

 prepared bulbs for Christmas was much 

 of a lottery. He did not believe there 

 was any money in forcing tulips, hya- 

 cinths and narcissi for Christmas and, 

 furthermore, he had not found that peo- 

 ple were anxious to buy bulbs at that 

 time. Several other flowers appealed to 

 them more. 



From Professional Viewpoint. 



Walter H. Golby, speaking on bulb 

 forcing from the viewpoint of the pro- 

 fessional gardener, stated that he 

 placed his flats and pans of bulbs out- 

 doors under trees and watered well un- 

 til housed, which was not until Novem- 

 ber. He stacked them up in tiers not 

 so wide apart as Mr. Bartsch. Paper 

 Whites, he said, he started below carna- 

 tion benches, and Trumpet Major and 



Bacchus and Godet Parfait were all fine. 

 Bouten d'Or, of the cottage tulip class, 

 was fine for forcing. De Wet and Vel- 

 vet King were breeders everyone should 

 try. 



Among the short trumpet narcissi, 

 Mr. Golby said Seagull, Will Scarlet, 

 Sir Watkin, White Lady, Firebrand and 

 Barrii Conspicuus were specially use- 

 ful. To use with these, myosotis, blue 

 cinerarias of the stellata type, blue 

 centaureas and the Spanish iris he 

 found to be especially good and he felt 

 that flowers such as these associated 

 with the various short trumpet narcissi 

 helped to bring out their real beauty. 



Lilies for Forcing. 



W. N. Craig spoke on liliums mostly 

 used for forcing, and showed pots of 

 longiflorum formosum which carried 



Peter Pearson Prominent at Chicago's West Side Exhibition. 



Soleil d'Or narcissi, and Roman hya- 

 cinths were placed in heat about the 

 middle of November. About the last of 

 December French Golden Spurs, Dutch 

 Golden Spurs and La Reine tulips were 

 started. Among the narcissi he gave 

 special attention to the Barrii, incom- 

 parabilis, Leedsii and poeticus sections, 

 which had more grace than the big 

 trumpet section. L 'Innocence proved 

 to be his most satisfactory early hya- 

 cinth. These early tulips, he said, 

 proved fine for forcing: La Reinc, 

 Thomas Moore, Prince of Austria, 

 Couleur Cardinal, Goldfinch, Yellow 

 Prince, Schoonoord, Tea Rose, Pink 

 Beauty, Le Reve and Le Matelas. 



Among the Darwins, Mr. Golby said 

 William Copeland proved to be the best 

 forcer, coming in as early as January 

 15. William Pitt was good. Princess 

 Elizabeth was far the best pink; it car- 

 ried many side shoots. Clara Butt was 

 of a beautiful pink color. Mme. Kre- 

 lage was a good stand-by. George V, 

 growing twenty-four to twenty-eight 

 inches high, he thought was a grand va- 

 riety, but was too expensive yet com- 

 mercially. Bartigon was good and 

 Princess Mary was fine. More breeders 

 should be grown; there were some beau- 

 tiful varieties; Moonlight, Vulcane, 



forty buds and flowers on two stalks 

 from one bulb in a 6-inch pot, as well as 

 a pot of longiflorums carrying three to 

 four flowers per stalk grown from small 

 bulbs raised outdoors by F. W. Fletcher, 

 at Orlando, Fla. The latter were clean 

 and vigorous. He also showed seedlings 

 3 weeks old of L. regale and L. Will- 

 mottise. 



He said Harrisii, the one-time favor- 

 ite Easter lily, was now almost a back 

 numlier. It carried the finest flowers 

 of all the longiflorum types, but, un- 

 fortunately, little healthy stock was 

 now obtainable. He said L. longiflorum 

 formosum was a fine form which came 

 in much earlier than giganteum, grew 

 taller, carried far more flowers per 

 stalk and was much superior for cut- 

 ting. It also proved clean. He had 

 good success, he said, with this by pot- 

 ting and placing in coldframes covered 

 with leaves and board shutters until 

 well rooted and started. It then could 

 be forced hard if wanted early, but 

 was seen at its best in a temperature 

 of about 50 degrees at night. 



L. longiflorum giganteum, Mr. Craig 

 said, was the variety mostly grown for 

 Easter. The plant was a dwarf 

 grower, too dwarf with many growers 

 this season and the reverse of healthy. 



This lily arrived much later than for- 

 mosum and enjoyed a good heat from 

 staj-t until finish. A point to remember 

 in the culture of all lilies in pots was 

 to use caution in watering after potting. 

 He did not water any lilies after pot- 

 ting if the soil was fairly moist, and 

 he said he preferred to allow soil to dry 

 out well before soaking, and had always 

 found it a safe plan to go lightly 

 with watering until pots were well filled 

 with roots. Too much water in the early 

 stages of growth ruined many lilies. 



Mr. Craig said a suitable soil for lilies 

 consisted of three-fourths good rotted 

 sod and one-fourth old mushroom ma- 

 nure or well decayed cow manure. Some 

 sand could be added and was specially 

 necessary in heavy soil. Old rose soil 

 proved to be a good lily compost. 



The various forms of L. speciosum, 

 album, roseum, Melpomene, magnificum, 

 Mr. Craig said, were all good for pot 

 culture. He said that bulbs of these 

 usually arrived in November, sometimes 

 as late as December. These lilies and 

 auratum seemed to do better in large 

 pots containing several bulbs, rather 

 than single bulbs in 6-inch pots. While 

 cold storage bulbs of auratum and spe- 

 ciosum can be flowered for Thanksgiv- 

 ing or Christmas, the spikes entirely 

 lack the vigor and the flowers the size 

 of those carried on bulbs grown in the 

 natural way. Pots should be placed in 

 a cold cellar or frost-proof shed, or un- 

 der the benches of houses where they 

 will be free from drip, and both lilies 

 much dislike hard forcing and are seen 

 at their best from June until Septem- 

 ber in a cool greenhouse where the 

 plants are protected from direct sun- 

 shine. 



In closing his remarks, Mr. Craig 

 said: "Other lilies useful for pot cul- 

 ture are L. Henryi and L. regale. The 

 last named is a magnificent garden lily 

 and makes a beautiful pot plant. As it 

 is easily grown from seed here, it should 

 soon be cheap enough for anyone to 

 buy. 



"I have left reference to L. can- 

 didum, the well known pure white 

 hardy garden lily, to the last. This is 

 far the most stately and immaculate of 

 the white forcing lilies. The bulbs ar- 

 rive from the north of France early 

 in September and, as they start to make 

 a rosette of leaves at once, should be 

 potted without delay. Here again I 

 find that in large pots or tubs these 

 lilies do their best. After potting, place 

 outdoors and protect merely from soak- 

 ing rains. They are left out until No- 

 vember, by which time they have had 

 several freezings. They force much 

 better when this is done. They are kept 

 in a cold pit until wanted for forcing. 

 For Easter plantp they are placed in a 

 temperature of 50 degrees about Decem- 

 ber 15 and in order to have flowers in 

 good size and substance the plants must 

 be grown rather cool. L. candidum 

 proves specially valuable in June for 

 weddings, and to flower at that time the 

 plants should not be placed in the green- 

 house until early in March. I find all 

 lilies when well rooted are benefited by 

 occasional soakings of liquid manure, 

 and Clay's fertilizer on candidums and 

 longiflorums has given most excellent 

 results. I entirely disapprove, however, 

 of using anything like fresh manure in 

 the soil or chemical fertilizers of any 

 kind." 



