18 



The Florists' Review 



March 4, 1916. 



STABTINO THE SEASON'S CHOP. 



Sowing in Greenhouse or Hotbed. 



The finest sweet peas are those pro- 

 duced from seeds started under glass, 

 either in a cool greenhouse or a mild 

 hotbed. A good plan is to sow the seeds 

 in shallow fiats of sandy loam and cov- 

 er the surface with pure sand. Pot off 

 singly into 3-inch pots before the roots 

 have had time to run too far. Gradual- 

 ly harden oflf in frames and plant out- 

 doors as soon as the weather permits. 

 This will be about April 10 in the lati- 

 tude of New York, earlier south and 

 later north. Plant out six inches apart 

 in the rows in well prepared ground, 

 having previously placed the supports 

 in position. If set out six or even 

 twelve inches apart, sweet peas will sur- 

 prise you; they will cover the supports 

 with haulm so strong that you can 

 scarcely see through the rows. If the 

 peas can be put out in trenches prepared 

 the previous fall, or even just before 

 planting, they will do much better. 



Sowing Outdoors. 



It will soon be time to make outdoor 

 sowings, as appearances at this time fa- 

 vot a somewhat early spring. Success- _ 

 fuFsweet ■pea, culture has been boiI«d 

 dolwn into a dozen words: "Manure 

 liberally; spade deeply, sow early, brush 

 speedily, water freely, pick persistent- 

 ly." To this might well be added the 

 injunction either to sow thinly or thin 

 severely. If good stems are wanted, it 

 is an absolute necessity to have the 

 plants four to six inches apart. An- 

 other point to remember is that a lib- 

 eral mulch of old manure, lawn rakings, 

 straw or some such material, if applied 

 about the time flowering commences, 

 will keep the ground cooler and moister 

 and materially prolong the flowering 

 season. Cover the seeds two to two 

 and one-half inches deep, and do not 

 follow the bad advice given in some 

 catalogues and sweet pea treatises, to 

 keep covering the seedlings up as they 

 grow. Nothing has done more to dis- 

 courage people from growing sweet peas 

 than this hilling up business. It en- 

 courages stem-rot and has been the ruin- 

 ation ^of thoivi^nds of rovs of sweet 

 peas. ' - 



Selection of Varieties. 



Varieties are constantly changing, as 

 we get a host of new sorts each year. 

 The grandiflora type is now practically 

 obsolete. They are hardy and free 

 blooming, but simply will not sell at all 

 when placed in competition with the 

 Spencers. The leading market colors 

 are pink, white and lavender; the call 

 for scarlet, blue„ mottled and other 

 shades is comparatively light. 



The following boiled-down list con- 

 tains only first-class varieties for flo- 



rists: Pure white — Nora Unwin and 

 White Spencer. Bang White has a fine 

 flower, but will not produce anything 

 like the quantity of the other sorts 

 named. Moneymaker, however, has 

 proved rtmarkably free^ Orai»ge pktk — 

 Impa-oved Helen Lewis and Edrom 

 Beauty. Cream pink-^Mrs. Hugh Dick- 

 son, Mrs. H. Ben. Clear pink — Goufltess 

 Spencer, Hercules. The. last named has 

 larger flowers than Countess Spencer, 

 and is a veritable giant ' aibong pink 

 sweet peas. The seed, however, is still 



somewhat scarce. Lavender or mauve 

 — Florence Nightingale, AsW Ohn. Or- 

 ange — Thomas Stevenson, j^Uie — Cap- 

 tain of the l^lues. Picotelr-edj^ — Mrs. 

 C. W. Brea^ore. Bluj^mottled — Helen. 

 Pierce Spencer. Scarjet-^aarlet Em- 

 peror. Primrose — iDob^ie's Cream. 



Desirable IIibw Sorts. 



Among the newer sorts which are well 

 worthy of a triad a*e the fallowing;, 

 these are destined to be standig'd sorts 

 in a year or two,, but the -seed still 

 comeifr Somewhat "hIghT Dobbie'B Frilled 

 Pink, color of Cbunte^ss Spencer; Rob- 

 ert Sydenham, ordhgef Margaret Madi- 

 son, azure blue; Jessie Cuthbertson 

 Spencer, cream ovea-lftid with stripes 

 and marbling of ^iiik; Illuminator, rich 

 salmon pink; Martha Washington,, 

 white, margined bright pink; After- 

 glow, standards violet, steaded rosy 

 ^vlift^st', wiil^ bfuej>9^ikin^ 

 *• For any grower wanting a^ood half 

 dozen sorts, the followius wol fill the 

 bill /weU: Nora Unwin, Cojintess Spen- 

 cer, Mrs. Hugh Dick80tt,vBcarlet Em- 

 peror, Florence Nighting^ile, Improved 

 Helen Lewis. . . .'^ ' 



BUETTNEB TAT.KS BOSES. 



When a visitor appears at the estab- 

 lishment of Emil Buettner, at Park 

 Ridge, 111., that genial grower promptly 

 leads the way to his nearest green- 

 house and the conversation to his fa- 

 vorite subject — roses. Pointing to a 

 splendid showing of White Killarney, 

 he said: 



"There is the salvation of the rose 

 grower. Always responsive, prolific and 

 vigorous, it is the unit of value among 

 roses. With decent treatment it gives 

 the grower a larger and surer crop 

 than any other rose on the benches. I 

 speak more especially of the white va- 

 riety, because there is a diflfereace in 

 the degrees of quality among the dif- 

 ferent Killarneys. Did you know that 

 while White Killarney is extremely re- 

 sponsive and vigorous, these qualities 

 become less and less pronounced as the 

 color deepens, until in the deep pink 

 varieties we have a rose that cannot 

 compare with the white in any of the 

 desirable qualities? Well, just for an 

 illustration, look at these." 



And leaving the White Killarneys, 

 we went into another house, filled with 

 Killarney Brilliant. 



"Here is a rose that seems suscepti- 

 ble to every ill wind that blows. If 

 there is any disease or pest it can 



possibly acquire, it falls a ready vic- 

 tim. And, moreover, it has a washed 

 out appearance; for, though the center 

 is a deep pink, the outer petals pale 

 in dark weather almost to white. It 

 is truly a disappointment to me." 



Passing from this house, we came to 

 the popular Sunburst. "There is good 

 property but for one thing," he con- 

 tinued. "It is too slow. White Kil- 

 larney will put out a shoot and be 

 ready for another crop while the Sun- 

 burst is getting started. Yet, for all 

 that, it is a good rose. 



"But the Mrs. Shawyer is unprofit- 

 able, to my way of thinking. It has 

 a tendency to go blind in the winter 

 and it is unresponsive." When asked 

 what he thought of Ophelia, Mr. Buett- 

 ner said: "I would not care to pass 

 judgment on it now, though I will 'say 

 I am inclined to be conservative in the 

 matter of novelties. They are all right 

 for rich patrons who crave something 

 new, but for the purposes of the gen- 

 eral retailer the tried varieties are 

 best. There is one comparatively new 

 variety, however, I am inclined to 

 think is going to prove itself a good 

 investment. That is Mrs. Charles Rus- 

 sell. 



"Beauties? Oh, I dropped them long 

 ago. What is the use of taking a 

 chance when you can as easily have a 

 sure thing?" 



