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28 



The Florists^ Review 



July 13, 1922 



INCREASING CARNATION CUT. 



How Charles Mueller Does It. 



Ill the illustrations on this pajji' are 

 sliown specimens of <'arnations fjrown 

 for Mothers' day by the Charles P. 

 Mueller Floral Co., of Wichita, Kan. 

 One illustration shows a stem of Car- 

 nation Matchless with five flowers on 

 it ; the other shows three stems of 

 Matchless and three of Belle Washburn, 

 with thirty flowers on the six stems. 

 These specimens speak for tliemselves 

 as to the firm's ability to increase the 

 yield of carnations for Mothers ' day. 

 Mr.. Mueller has described the firm 's 

 method as follows: 



, "On or about February 1 we select 

 a bench or two of carnations which are 

 l)eginning to show many shoots cominy 

 on. 



"By February 15 tlie buds begin to 

 show. We disbud the lower two, as 

 these two have a rather weak stem. 

 Tlien we watch the development of the 

 remaining buds. 



"If the terminal bud is developing 

 rapidly, we leave that on, as it liolds 

 the next bud back somewhat. Wlien 

 the terminal bud has opened, we take 

 it off and use it in design work. If 

 the terminal bud is not developing r;ip- 

 idl}-, we disbud it and leave the other 

 three or four good, strong buds to de- 

 velop. The buds must be watched care- 

 fully from now on, so as to bring in the 

 cro]) at the ])roper time. Should the 

 buds come a little slowly, we ])ut more 



heat under the bench (we grow all our 

 carnations on raised benches) and open 

 up tlie ventilators. If they seem to be 

 coming a little too fast, we cut off the 

 steam entirely and lower the tempera- 

 ture in the house by giving plenty of 

 air. 



Hastening or Hindering. 



• 



"In this way we hasten the flowers 

 a week to ten days or we can hold them 

 l)iick. By treatment in this manner the 

 tlowers all develop at the same time. 

 I have had as many as six perfect flow- 

 ers on one stem. Care should be taken 

 in feeding, as carnations require more 

 nourishment when more flowers are 

 grown to the stem. 



"To he sure, the same treatment will 

 not a])ply throughout the Ignited States 

 and must be nu)dified to suit local re- 

 ((uirements. In the first place, we must 

 consider the condition of the weather. 

 In Kansas we have from twelve to 

 twenty days of sunshine a month during 

 the winter, which causes the flowers to 

 develop more quickly and strongly than 

 where there is nuicli cloudy weather and 

 artificial heat must be depended upon. 

 It took us nearly five years before we 

 got hold of the right flowering stem and 

 learned how to handle the temperature 

 in the houses so that we could depend 

 on a big crop. It is quite true that once 

 in a while we miss it by two or three 

 days, but that is due to sudden, unex- 

 pected changes in the weather." 



Mr. Mueller has found that the best 

 varieties to grow in the manner de- 

 scribed are Matchless for white and 

 Hclle Wash burn for red. 



BENCHES OR GROUND BEDS. 



Is it advisable to use ground beds in 

 a carnation house? We have Lord & 

 Hurnhaiu houses, ,S0x60 feet, which were 

 built about six years ago. P. G. — O. 



If your raised benches are rotted out. 

 it miglit be advisable to consider put- 

 ting in solid beds to reiilace them. As 

 good carnations can be grown on solid 

 beds as can be grown on raised benches. 

 If one style of bed has any advantage 

 in one respect, the other probably has 

 ."111 ailvantage in another, so that the 

 two will prove out about the same. 



If your houses are fi years old, it 

 will not be advisable to plant in the 

 soil that has lieen under the benches all 

 this time, even if the drainage is good. 

 Place at least Ji 6inch board next to tlie 

 walk and fill in that much soil. If the 

 natural drainage is not good, build up 

 tlie siiles to a lieight of a foot or more, 

 filling in with cinders all but the upper 

 four inches. Cover theni with an inch 

 of straw manure and then fill in the 

 reiiiiiinder with soil. A. V. .7. R. 



Five Blooms on One Stem. 



TREATING CARNATIONS. 



Is it .advisable to spray carnations 

 with Bordeaux mixture once a week un- 

 til housing time. 



How old should the manure be which 

 is used for a top-dressing on carnations 

 about October? If I obtain fresh horse 



manure now and put it on a pile and let 

 it rot until that time, will it be suit- 

 able? A. J. L. — Mo. 



Spraying your carnation plants witli 

 Bordeaux mixture will do no harm, but 

 unless they are being attacked by some 

 fungous disease, there is no need for re- 

 peating it weekly. A good spraying 

 now, or a couple of weeks before you 

 begin benching, might be of benefit by 

 keeping away spot disease while the 

 plants are taking hold on the benches. 



We prefer rather well decayed manure 

 for mulching in the fall. If you will get 

 fresh manure now and turn it several 

 times to keep it from burning, until it 

 is spent, and then shred it just before 

 using, it will do quite well. 



A. F. J. B. 



TRAVELERS' MILEAGE BOOKS. 



The trade's traveling men will be 

 pleased to learn that legislative action 

 on the bill providing for issuance by 

 railroads of interchangeable mileage 

 books as a convenience for travelers 

 was concluded July 1 by the Senate. 

 However, the bill will not become ef- 

 fective before August 15, because of 

 the House adjournment until that date. 

 The bill must be signed by Speaker 

 Gillett, of the House, in open session 

 before being sent to President Harding. 



Interchangeable mileage books at 

 "just and reasonable rates" under reg- 

 ulations of the interstate commerce 

 commission are authorized, but not re- 

 quired, by the bill, which has been ])e- 

 fore Congress for many years and orig- 

 inally ])roposed a straight fare of 2io 

 cents a mile. Senators expressed fear 

 that House amendments in which the 

 Senate yesterday concurred might ex- 

 tend the interchangeable mileage to 

 st.ate traffic as well as interstate traffic 

 and thiit the bill might be held unconsti- 

 tutional. 



Thirty Blooms on Six Stems. 



