14 



The Florists' Review 



September 4, 1913. 



MULCH FOR CARNATIONS. 



My carnations were benched about 

 May 9. Should they be fed with some 

 fertilizer now, or shall I let them alone 

 as long as they are doing well? Would 

 it be advisable to put a thin mulching 

 of cow manure over the soil now? I 

 am located in Alabama. H. C. 



Your carnations should hardly need 

 any stimulant yet. To prevent drying 

 out, however, you could give a light 

 mulch of old, thoroughly rotted cow or 

 horse manure, well broken up. Do not, 

 on anj' consideration, apj^ly green 

 manure. C. W. 



BORDEAUX FOR STEMROT. 



When carnation plants are affected 

 with stem-rot, will Bordeaux mixture 

 cure the disease? H. E. H. 



Lime is the best known agent for 

 destroying the stem-rot fungus. Bor- 

 deaux mixture, which is made up large- 

 ly of Jime, will have the same effect; in 

 fact, there is nothing better for spray- 

 ing carnation plants to prevent all kinds 

 of fungous diseases. The difficulty in 

 fighting the stem-rot is that it is almost 

 impossible to reach the stems of the 

 plants, where the fungus attacks them. 



A. F. .T. B. 



CARNATIONS AFTER HOUSING. 



Please tell us what is the best treat- 

 ment for field-grown carnations after 

 housing them. AVe are located in North 

 Carolina. R. F. C. 



This is a large subject and, as your 

 query does not state any specific ques- 

 tions on which you desire enlighten- 

 ment, I will touch on the points which 

 would be most likely to give you 

 trouble. 



We will assume that you applied a 

 light shade to the glass before planting 

 in, to protect the plants from the sun, 

 which must still be quite hot in your 

 latitude. After setting the plants, 3-ou 

 should water the soil thoroughly just 

 around the plants, being careful not to 

 flood the whole bed. As the plants be- 

 come established and the roots work 

 through the soil, the watering may be 

 increased, until within a month the 

 whole bed will be saturated. After the 

 first watering, the soil will likely re- 

 •juire little more for several days, on ac- 

 count of the frequent syringing neces- 

 sary to prevent wilting while the roots 

 are taking hold of the new soil. Keep 

 the walks wet for a week after plant- 

 ing. The evaporation from this source 

 will keep the atmosphere charged with 

 moisture and be a great help in pre- 

 venting the plants from wilting. Spray 

 the plants overhead several times each 

 (lay for the first few days. In about ten 

 •lays or two weeks the weeds will be 

 peeping through the surface of the soil. 

 Take a scratcher and break up the sur- 

 face of the soil, incidentally destroy- 

 ing the first crop of weeds and saving 



considerable time in pulling them by 

 hand later. Repeat this scratching 

 about once each week during the first 

 month, by which time the weeds will 

 all be destroyed and the plants have 

 gotten a pretty good hold in their new 

 quarters. 



If the rains have not taken the shade 

 off the glass by this time, you must rub 

 it off with a brush, else your plants will 

 become soft and a weak growth will re- 

 sult. In fact, the shade should be 

 diminished after the first ten days have 

 passed. We usually get enough rains to 

 take it off as needed, but in the absence 

 of rain you must not fail to do it by 

 hand. 



The supports should be put on as 

 soon as the weeds have been destroyed 

 and the plants have started into p owth. 

 Do not wait until the blooming shoots? 

 are a foot long and the plants are lying 

 on the soil. After this stage you 

 should have little trouble in keeping 

 your plants going in good shape, your 



attention being engaged principally in 

 keeping the plants growing upright, the 

 flower stems properly disbudded and 

 the beds carefully watered. 



A. F. J. B. 



CULTURE OF CALCEOLARIAS. 



We should like to get some informa- 

 tion in regard to the. culture of cal- 

 ceolarias. Do they need a light, heavy 

 or medium soil, and should they be 

 grown cool, temperate or warm? 



R. & S. F. S. 



Calceolarias require cool culture all 

 the time. They will not tolerate any- 

 thing in the nature of coddling or forc- 

 ing. A winter night temperature of 

 40 to 45 degrees suits them. They 

 grow best in a coldframe until the end 

 of October. As green aphis is fond of 

 them, they need frequent sprayings or 

 fumigations with nicotine to keep them 

 clean. 



Generally speaking, calceolarias suc- 

 ceed best in a light or medium soil. 

 In the early stages of growth, leaf-mold 

 can form a good proportion of the 

 compost. At the last potting a mixture 

 composed of three-fourths fibrous loam 

 and one-fourth dried cow manure 

 pressed through a half-inch sieve, with 

 a little soot, finely broken charcoal and 

 Clay's fertilizer, will grow fine plants. 



C. W. 



SEASONABLE NOTES. 



Cypripediums. 



While the majority of cypripediums 

 succeed well in a hot, moist house, C. 

 insigne does just as well or better in a 

 cool house, in coldframes, or even in 

 the open air if placed under the shade 

 of trees, and certainly the frame or 

 outdoor-grown plants are sturdier and 

 flower far more freely than those cod- 

 dled in a warm house. All the cypri- 

 pediums enjoy a spraying over each 

 afternoon, and as most of them love 

 heat and moisture and do not relish 

 abundant ventilation, such as cattleyas 

 delight in, it is well to close down the 

 ventilators for an hour or two, putting 

 on a little air again in the evening. 

 Always avoid a dry atmosphere for 

 cypripediums, or red spider and thrips 

 are both likely to cause trouble. 



Dendroblums. 



Such varieties as Dendrobium Phalro- 

 nopsis Schroederianum and D. formo- 

 sum giganteum should be placed in a 

 warm, moist house, as they love heat. 

 D. Wardianum usually makes up its 

 pseudo-bulbs before the nobile section 

 and should be moved to a cooler and 

 airier house, or a secondary growth will 



soon start. Those which are not com- 

 pleted should, in common with D. nobile 

 and many hybrids, such as Ainsworthii, 

 Cybele, chrysodiscus, splendidissimum, 

 Juno and many others, be given a house 

 where they can be syringed and shut up 

 early in the afternoon. A hot, moist, 

 steamy atmosphere is exactly to their 

 liking, but the plants should be looked 

 over every few days and any which 

 have growths well made up should be 

 placed in a cooler, drier, lighter and 

 more airy house. 



Odontoglossums. 



The present summer has been less 

 trying for odontoglossums than any 

 summer for several years, and the 

 plants look rather better than usual. 

 Any European growers looking at our 

 plants would, of course, pronounce them 

 extremely poor, but we may truthfully 

 tell our visitors from across the brine 

 that if they had our climate their odon- 

 toglossums would be no better than 

 ours, and not unlikely a little worse. 

 It is from this time on that Odonto- 

 glossum crispum, Pescatorei, Anderson- 

 ianum, Hallii, triumph^ns and other 

 good, cool-loving ^ontoglots begin to 

 take on a new lease of life. In the 

 heated period it is better to keep them 

 on the dry side. Now, after they are 



