20 



The FIorists'.Revkw 



May 28, 1914. 



S 



OUTDOOR SWEET PEAS. 



Keep the soil well stirred between 

 the rows of sweet peas. As ^oon as 

 the plants reach the flower^ing stage 

 they will be much benefited IJy a mulch 

 of old manure or some similar ma- 

 terial. Partly rotted leaves will an- 

 swer, or even hay and straw, but the 

 advantages of manure are that it keeps 

 the surface cooler and more moist and 

 some fertilizing elements are carried 

 down to the roots from it. As the 

 weather becomes warmer a spraying 

 overhead each evening will prove bene- 

 ficial. Should green aphis make its 

 appearance, use the force pump or 

 sprayer at once. Do the work in the 

 evening. Nicotine, Ivory soap and ker- 

 osene emulsion all are safe if used 

 with judgment, but be careful not to 

 get the dose too strong. 



ST^ET PEA TESTS AT ITHACA. 



Bulletin 342, a 3€0-page book recent- 

 ly issued by the experiment station of 

 the College of Agriculture at Cornell 

 University, Ithaca, N. Y., will be of 

 great interest and value to florists in 

 general and sweet pea growers in par- 

 ticular. It is the fourth number in the 

 series of "Sweet Pea Studies" and is 

 entitled "Classification of Garden Va- 

 rieties of the Sweet Pea." It contains 

 more than twenty full-page illustrations. 

 It is edited by Alvin C. Beal, who has 

 charge of the experimental work in the 

 department of floriculture. The first 

 dozen pages or so of the book are occu- 

 pied by an account of the establishment 

 of the sweet pea trial grounds and a 

 description of the experiments that 

 have been, conducted there. Then fol- 

 lows a list of the varieties tested, with 

 remarks on their appearance and be- 

 havior as seen at the trial grounds. 



At the end of the book is a list of 

 "The Best Varieties of Sweet Peas," 

 as determined by the tests. This list 

 ought to be genuinely helpful to grow- 

 ers in the selection of summer-flower- 

 ing varieties and is here given in full: 



WAVED VARIETIES. 



Blcolor — Mrs. Cuthbertson, Colleen. 



Blue — Margaret Madison, Flora Norton Spencer, 

 Blae Jacket. 



Blush — Lady Evelyn Eyre, Princess Victoria, 

 Florence Morse Spencer. 



CSrmlne— John Inf^man. 



Cerise— Chrissle Unwin. 



Cream, Buff and Ivory — Primrose Spencer, 

 Isobel Malcolm, Primrose Beauty, Lady Knox, 

 Qneen Victoria Spencer. 



Cream-pink (Deep) — Mrs. Glbbs Box, Constance 

 Oliver. 



Cream-pink (Pale) — Mr». Routzahn, I.«dy Mil- 

 ler, Mrs. Hugh Dickson. 



Crimson — King Edward Spencer. 



Fancy — Afterglow. 



Lavender— Florence Nightingale. 



Magenta — Menie Christie. 



Marbled — May Campbell. 



Maroon — Nubian, King Manoel. 



Maroon-purple — Arthur Green. 



Maroon-red — Brunette, Red Chief. 



Mauve (Dark) — Tennant Spencer. 



Mauve (Pale) — Mrs. Hesllngton, Mauve Queen. 



Orange-pink — Edrom Beauty, Carene, Helen 

 Lewis. 



Orange-scarlet — Thomas Stevenson. 



Plcotee-edged (Cream Ground) — Evelyn Hemus, 

 Mrs. C W. Breadmore. 



Plcotee-edged (White Ground) — Dainty Spencer. 

 Elsie Herbert, Martha Washington. 



Pink (Deep) — Hercules, Countess Spencer. 



Pink (Pale)— Elfrlda Pearson. 



Rose — Marie Corelli, Rosabelle. 



Salmon Shades — Stirling Stent, Melba, Barbara. 



Scarlet — Debbie's Scarlet, Scarlet Emperor, Red 

 Star. 



Striped and Flaked (Chocolate on Gray Ground) 

 — Senator Spencer. 



Striped and Flaked (Purple and Blue) — Loyalty. 



Striped and Flaked (Red and Rose) — America 

 Spencer, Aurora Spencer, Mrs. W. J. Unwln. 



White — White Spencer, Nora Unwln. 



OPEN AND HOODED FORMS. 



Blcolor — Blanche Ferry, Jeannie' Gordon. 

 Blue — Brilliant Blue, Navy Bine. 

 Blue (Light)— Flora Norton. 

 Blush — Modesty . 

 Cerise — Cocclnea. 



Cream, Buff and Ivory— Zarina, The Honorable 

 Mrs. IE. Eenyon, Queen Victoria. 

 Crimson — King Edward VII. 



Lavender — Lady Grlsel Hamilton. 



Marbled — Helen Pierce. 



Maroon — Black Knight, Othello. 



Mauve — Admiration, Mrs. Walter Wright, Dor- 

 othy Tennant. 



Orange Shades — Henry Bckford, Miss Wllmott. 



Plcotee-edged — Dainty, Lottie Eckford, Phe- 

 nomenal. 



IMuk — Prima Donna, Lovely, Katberlne Tracy, 

 Janet Scott. 



Rose and Carmine — Lord Rosebery. 



Srarlet — Queen Alexandra. 



Striped and Flaked (Chocolate on Gray Ground) 

 — Senator. 



Striped and Flaked (Purple and Blue) — Princess 

 of Wales, Hester. 



Striped and Flaked (Red and Rose) — America, 

 Aurora, Ramona. 



White — Dorothy Eckford, Shasta, Emily Hen- 

 derson, White Wonder. 



EARLY -FLOWERING VARIETIES. 



Blcolor — Earliest of All. 

 Blue — Le Marquis. 

 Lavender — Mrs. Alexander Wallace. 

 FYlmrose — Earliest Sunbeams. 

 Salmon-pink — Mrs. William Sim. 

 White— Earliest White, Mont Blanc. 

 MARKET VARIETIES. 



Open and Hooded Varieties — Dorothy Eckford, 

 King Edward VII. Brilliant Blue, Lady GrUel 

 Hamilton, Prima Donna, Blanche Ferry. 



Waved Varieties — Countess Spencer, Nora Un- 

 wln, Asta Obn, King Edward Spencer. 



IT PATS FLORISTS. 



It pays florists, as well as others: 



To be simple, honest, frank, natural, 

 clean in body and mind and unaffected. 



To be as ready to say, "I do not 

 know," if that be so, as to tell what 

 one knows when asked for information. 



To face every diflSculty unabashed 

 and unafraid and cultivate the courte- 

 ous mind and kind heart. 



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[ 9^ SUGGESTIONS i 



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PoixtBettias. 



The propagating of poinsettias should 

 now commence in earnest. A good 

 bottom heat will be a distinct ad- 

 vantage in rooting them. In taking 

 off the cuttings be sure they do not 

 exceed three to three and one-half 

 inches in length. Cut out a small por- 

 tion of the old wood with each. There 

 is then a smaller likelihood of their 

 damping off. Cuttings should be kept 

 quite close, carefully protected from 

 sun and air currents and, with in- 

 telligent watering, few should fail to 

 root. Old wood which is dormant can 

 also be propagated by being cut up into 

 single eyes, these being placed in a 

 cutting bench where they will get a 

 bottom heat of 85 to 90 degrees. 

 Where some extra fine bracts are 

 wanted it is a good plan to plant out 

 the earliest rooted cuttings; also the 

 old stools can be cut back,-quite hard 

 and the number of shoots which start 

 out reduced. These also will do well 

 planted out and, with proper treatment, 

 they should carry bracts ten to twenty- 

 two inches in diameter. 



Hard- Wooded Plants. 



Any left-over plants of camellias, 

 azaleas, ericas and other hard-wooded 

 plants should be planted out in frames 

 or on a piece of ground where they 

 can be kept well supplied with water 

 through the summer. Given these con- 

 ditions, they are well worth carrying 

 over. The azaleas will not be of quite 

 so dark a green as the imported ones, 



but will bloom earlier and much more 

 profusely. Such ericas as melanthera, 

 Caffra densa, gracilis and Mediterranea 

 can be grown either plunged out in 

 pots or planted out. If kept in pots 

 they will flower earlier! Be sure to 

 remove all seed pods from azaleas be- 

 fore planting out and prune back any 

 runaway shoots on the ericas. 



Bedding Plant Stock. 



At this season, when orders are pour- 

 ing in every day, there always is more 

 or less danger of certain lines of plants 

 being sold out altogether, or so close- 

 ly that but a small stock is left to 

 propagate from. It is well to guard 

 against this by planting out an ade- 

 quate supply in beds or nursery rows. 

 There is no need to select the most 

 shapely plants, but let them be healthy. 

 Never mind if they have no flowers on; 

 your customers will prefer these, and 

 the others are just as good for you. 



As the bedding plants dwindle in 

 numbers move them up together, so 

 as to economize on watering. Sales 

 do not end with Memorial day. On 

 the contrary, many florists now make 

 sales as late as July 4, especially for 

 shore and mountain resorts, and many 

 of these customers are willing to pay 

 a good price for plants from which 

 they can get some immediate effect. 



Idaho Falls, Idaho. — The Lawrence 

 Floral Conservatories has just installed 

 a new display refrigerator, obtained on 

 rush order to Buchbinder Bros., Chi- 

 cago. 



