10 



The Florists^ Review 



SKPrKMBBK 11, 1913. 



know one from another; they are too 

 numerous to sell by name. But it is 

 the case at most sources of supply that 

 a few of the most popular varieties are 

 grown in much larger quantity than are 

 the others on the list, and these can be 

 ordered by name. Every retailer, and 

 especially those who feel the need of 

 adding novelty to their stock, should 

 study the use of dahlias, noting the 

 varieties that are best liked, and in- 

 struct the clerks to sell them by name. 

 No matter what .Shakespeare thought 

 about names — he was talking about 

 fragrance, not sales — there is nothing 

 that helps sell flowers like having a 

 good name for each and calling it by 

 its name. Dahlias, moreover, have high 

 sounding, mellifluous cognominal appel- 

 lations that will Diake a hit if they are 

 properly used. 



Speaking of varieties, one of the large 

 eastern handlers, asked to name the 

 six best sellers, said: 



"It is hard to pick out six <lahlias 

 and call them the most popular. 1 

 should say that Delice, pink; Yellow 

 Duke, yellow; Geisha, red and yellow; 

 Kriemhilde. pink; White Swan or John 

 Walker, while, and McCulIough, bronze, 

 are among the i)opular varieties coming 

 into this city, but there are possibly a 

 dozen others that arc as much called 

 for as those named." 



How to Pack. 



"In reference to j»acking, " said the 

 same shipper, "we usually pack two 

 layers to a box. (!orrugated boxes are 

 used, from five to six inches in height, 

 forty inches long and sixteen inches 



widei, holding^ from 200 to 300 dahlias, 

 according to the kind and flower. We 

 cap ship them in this manner, we be- 

 lieve, to Chicago. We certainly ship 

 them to all the big cities east of Chi- 

 cago and get them there in good order. 

 We do believe this, however, that the 

 dahlias that come from Jersey are pos- 

 sibly of better substance than those 

 grown in other localities and it is pos- 

 sible that for that reason they are bet- 

 ter shippers." 



PEOPAOATING BEDDING PLANTS. 



Cool nights are already here, and 

 frost sufficient to kill tender bedding 

 plants comes during September in 

 many states. Cool evenings even a few 

 degrees above freezing will cause loss 

 of foliage or its discoloration on such 

 ]ilants as coleus, achyranthes and alter- 

 nantheras. Therefore a good batch of 

 cuttings should now be placed in flats 

 of sanily loam. ]\'o need to use a prop- 

 agating bench, as they will all root 

 freely in the flats if "Well watered and 

 shaded from direct sunlight for a few 

 days. Putting in batches of cuttings 

 is vjistly better than lifting oI,d plants; 

 the latter get full of mealy bug, espe- 

 cially in the case of coleus, and are 

 not easy to keep clean. In addition to 

 the plants named, such tropical or sub- 

 tropical bedding plants as crotons, 

 colored draca'nas, acalyphas, dieflfen- 

 bachias, I'andamis Voitchii, I'. Sander- 

 iana, etc., can all be rooted now with- 

 out bottom heat if the propagating 

 house is kept close and the sand in the 

 benches is well watered. 



The Century CUiis of Dahlias are Invaluable to Retailers. 



DISEASES OF THE VIOLET. 



[Extracts from a paper by Dr. Donald Red- 

 difk', of Ithaca, N. V.. read before the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society.] 



As with most other plants brought 

 under cultivation, the violet either has 

 brought Avith it or has become subject 

 to some serious fungous parasites. 

 Some of the spot diseases of the violet 

 are fairly common in the wild, but have 

 come into prominence only as the violet 

 has become of commercial importance. 

 Other more obscure or inconspicuous 

 diseases, as for example the root dis- 

 ease, have either escaped attention en- 

 tirely or have been a later develop- 

 ment. In any case it is certain that 

 fungous parasites do not have the op 

 portunity to become widespread and de- 

 structive in the wild that they do with 

 the artificial conditions under which 

 they are propagated in glass houses. 

 When propagation is done by the violet 

 culturist, there is no opportunity for 

 natural selection of strong or resistant 

 plants by the survij^al of the fittest, 

 as occurs in nature. As a result we sec 

 certain diseases becoming of more and 

 more importance under present intensive 

 methods of propagation, while one at 

 least has become extremely serious. 



To understand fully the peculiar ini 

 portance of the relation of cultural 

 conditions +o t^ie diseases under con- 

 sideration, some knowledge of the way 

 in which violets are propagated and 

 grown commercially is necessarj-. 



Culture as Related to Disease. 



In commercial violet culture the 

 grower is busy at all times in the 

 year. Almost daily there are opera 

 tions which have a direct bearing upon 

 the occurrence and the severity of dis 

 case. 



At the present time the violet is 

 propagated almost exclusively by means 

 of cuttings. These cuttings are taken 

 from apparently healthy plants in the 

 beds shortly after the warm weathe' 

 of spring. The strong terminal tips ai< 

 cut to four or five buds, the larger 

 leaves are removed with a sharp kniff 

 and the cutting is dropped into a pail 

 of fresh water. The preparation oi 

 cuttings is almost invariably done by 

 women and children, often at home i'^ 

 the evening. When a sufficient quan 

 tity of the cuttings is accumulated, they 

 are stuck into moist sand at a distanc'' 

 of an inch apart and in rows approxi 

 mately two inches apart. The sand i-^ 

 then wet down thoroughly. The san<i 

 for this purpose is generally obtaine'j 

 fresh each year from the sand pit. D 

 satisfactory conditions are maintained, 

 a large percentage of the cuttings may 

 strike roots within a few weeks. 



In the meantime the old plants in 

 the houses, along with the soil to the 

 depth of six, eight or ton inches, havo 



