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The Florists' Review 



NOVBMBBH 26, 1014. 



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 ^ ^ SUGGESTIONS l 



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Antiirhinuma 



Antirrhinums make an excellent crop 

 with which to follow your crops of 

 chrysanthemums. Before planting them, 

 however, be sure to give the beds a 

 good coating of well decayed manure. 

 If this is not available, a liberal dress- 

 ing of pulverized sheep manure will 

 answer quite well, with some fine bone 

 added. Mix this thoroughly before 

 planting. The plants can be set as 

 closely as eight inches apart each way, 

 but they will g^ve much better results 

 if given 10x12 inches. Unless there is 

 a call for small spikes, it is better to 

 rub off some of the surplus shoots, but 

 many country florists can make profit- 

 able use of the small spikes for design 

 work. Do not pinch back any shoots 

 while they are soft, or they will break 

 weakly. Always allow the flowers to 

 open; then pinch back or cut back 

 tolerably hard. Give the plants a night 

 temperature of 45 to 48 degrees and air 

 abundantly. Also, remember that they 

 do not stand heavy fumigation. Hydro- 

 cyanic acid gas, in particular, injures 

 the ends of the shoots quickly. 



Paper Whites and Bomans. 



Paper Whites are easily forced and 

 can easily be had in bloom at any time 

 from now onward. It is better not to 

 force them too hard, as the flowers then 

 have more substance. Boman hyacinths 

 should not be started until they have 

 growths a couple of inches long. Then 

 give them a warm, moist house, moving 

 them into cooler quarters as the flowers 

 open. As these two bulbous plants are 

 less hardy than the Dutch bulbs, it is 

 better, in case they are outdoors, to 

 move them to a cold cellar or frame 

 before the weather becomes too severe. 



Poinsettias. 



The bracts on poinsettias are now 

 showing prominently. Some are of 

 considerable size and will be well ex- 

 panded for Thanksgiving, an early date 

 for those flowers, and due in large 

 measure to the unusually warm fall 

 we have experienced. Now is the time 

 when poinsettias need and must have 

 a good heat. Let it be 60 to 65 degrees 

 at night; then the bracts will open 

 out larger than in a cooler house and, 

 of course, in half the time. There is 

 also less likelihood of loss of foliage 

 occurring. Water carefully. A great 

 part of the value of a poinsettia is lost 

 if it has meager foliage, and those 

 who can hold dark green leaves to 

 near the surfaces of the pots are good 

 growers. 



Feed once in four or five days. Cow 

 manure liquid, with some soot added, 

 is excellent. Let the doses be moder- 

 ate, however, or yellow leaves will 

 result. Discontinue all feeding as the 

 central portion of the bracts expands, 

 and when they are well open gradually 

 lower the temperattire to 55 degrees at 

 night. This will give the flowers bet- 

 ter keetring qualities. Plants taken 

 from a high to a low temperature are 



bound to wilt and lose leaves badly. 

 Even temperature at night, careful 

 watering and moderate feeding are 

 main essentials to successful poinsettia 

 culture. 



Cyclamens. 



The Christmas cyclamens will now 

 need a fairly warm house; 55 degrees 

 at night and a shelf well up to the 

 light will be all right. More heat than 

 this is not desirable, as it will give 

 the plants a drawn appearance. Aim 

 to get as many reds and salmons in 

 flower as possible, as these are the 

 popular holiday colors. Keep the 

 whites and light pinks back until later 

 in the winter. Good cyclamens always 

 sell until Easter, sometimes even later. 

 Such plants, of course, must be grown 

 cool. 



How are the young plants for next 

 season progressing f If sown in August, 

 they should now be of sufficient size 

 to go into flats. Let them have a 

 fairly warm house — 55 to 58 degrees 



at night is about right — and keep close 

 to the glass. When it comes to shift- 

 ing the giants from flats, two plans 

 are open — to pot into 3-inch or ^Jfi- 

 inch pots and shift into larger sizes., as 

 required, or place directly in the flbW- 

 ering pots from the flats. The latter 

 plan is not much adopted and may be 

 viewed with suspicion by many grow- 

 ers, but, provided the plants are given 

 more careful watering, they will make 

 even better plants than those potted 

 along in the regulation way. Deep 

 pans, usually called half pots, are bet- 

 ter for cyclamens than ordinary pots. 



Ericas. 



Some plants of Erica melanthera, 

 which were pot^grown through the sum- 

 mer instead of being planted out, are 

 now nicely in flower and will prove 

 serviceable at Thanksgiving. Such as 

 are needed for Christmas should be 

 placed in moderate heat. A temper- 

 ature of 45 to 48 degrees at night will 

 not start the plants growing as a higher 

 temperature would, and yet will open 

 up the flowers. The present is a good 

 time to propagate this or any other 

 erica. Short cuttings rubbed off with 

 a heel and inserted in a bench suitable 

 for carnations or chrysanthemums will 

 do well. They take some time to root, 

 but there is no trouble at all in propa- 

 gating such sorts as melanthera, Medi- 

 terranea, Caffra densa, gracilis and 

 hyemalis. 



TO STBENOTHEN THE STEMS. 



Can you tell me what to do with my 

 carnations to stiffen the stems? The 

 plants are quite healthy and are send- 

 ing forth fine blossoms, but the stems 

 are weak. I shall appreciate it if you 

 can suggest a remedy. M. B. B. 



lation at the ridge. That sounds like 

 extravagance to some, but it is real 

 economy in that it produces quality and 

 saves trouble. It helps especially to 

 produce strong stems. A. F. J. B. 



You do not give enough data on which 

 to formulate any definite opinion. The 

 weak stems on your carnations may be 

 due to one of the two causes here 

 described. You will know which one is 

 to blame or whether either one suits 

 your case. 



Your soil may be too light and too de- 

 ficient in potash to produce strong 

 stems. In that case, one or two light 

 dressings of wood ashes or hydrated 

 lime will correct the trouble. Use about 

 a 3-inch potful of either to each row 

 of plants across a 5-foot bench. Then 

 again, you may have been running your 

 carnation house too warm during the 

 mild fall weather. Some growers are 

 tempted to close down the ventilators 

 on a mild night, to hold the heat in, 

 and try to get through without firing 

 whenever possible. That is a great 

 mistake. Before the middle of Novem- 

 ber tliere are few nights, if any, on 

 which the Ventilators should be closed 

 down tightly. It is much better for 

 the carnations, and money well spent, 

 to run steam in one or two pipes in 

 each house and an inch or two of venti- 



THE COMMON CAENATION BUST. 



I am sending you under separate 

 cover a carnation plant, the leaves of 

 which are covered with a downy, fungus- 

 like growth. The plant really died of 

 stem-rot, but I should like to know 

 what that is on the leaves. The downy 

 part is shed off in handling the plant, 

 but the effect of it is left on the leaves, 

 in the form of scars or rough places. 

 The coloi^f the downy part is brown 

 or maroon. H. F. K. 



The trouble you complain of is the 

 common carnation rust. The brown, 

 powdery looking substance ejected from 

 those eruptions contains the spores by 

 which the disease is propagated. The 

 cause is improper cultural conditions, 

 such as a humid, stuffy atmosphere, too 

 much syringing, too little ventilation, 

 etc. The carnation loves a cool, bracing 

 atmosphere, with little water on the 

 foliage, and when such a condition is 

 maintained, rust will seldom make its 

 appearance. Pick off the diseased leaves. 

 Paint a streak on one of the steam 

 pipes with a mixture of half sulphur 

 and half lime, made into a thick paint 

 by adding water. Then follow the sug- 

 gestions already given in regard to' 

 ventilating, etc. A. F. J. B. fji 



