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16 



The Florists' Review 



JULv 22, 1915. 





REFILLINQ THE BEDS. 



Comes Before Bepairing. 



If you have not begun refilling your 

 carnation beds, you should lose no time 

 in getting at it. After the roses and 

 mums have been benched, there is really 

 no reason for deferring the prepara- 

 tions for housing the carnations. For- 

 merly, it was customary to ' do what 

 repairing or painting was needed on 

 the houses before the carnations were 

 jdanted, but that procedure has been 

 reversed, and the carnations are housed 

 first, and the repairing and painting 

 done later, while the plants are be 

 coming established. 



The growing season has been fine near 

 Indianapolis. There has been an abun- 

 dance of rain and the plants have made 

 excellent growth, being large enough 

 to bench earlier than usual. We are 

 finishing our last house this week, ex- 

 cept the cut-back stock, fully three 

 weeks earlier than we have ever fin- 

 ished before. We like to use the later 

 l)ropagated plants for cut-back, housed 

 about the middle of August. It may 

 be merely a fancy, but we think these 

 ])lants give us a nicer lot of cuttings 

 than the earlier ones. 



Lightening the Work. 



You will need no pointers on the best 

 method for emptying and refilling the 

 beds. Every place seems to have facili- 

 ties peculiarly its own. Our beds are 

 built so that wheelbarrows can be used 

 to the best advantage, and we have 

 found nothing better. We find it pays 

 to put on what shading is needed for 

 the new plants before commencing to 

 empty the beds. The men appreciate 

 anything you do to make the work 

 lighter, and what grower does not know 

 that the summer work in the green- 

 house will stand a great deal of light- 

 ening? If your beds are raised, wash 

 them oflf clean and whitewash with hot 

 lime before refilling. Allow them to 

 get thoroughly dry before putting in 

 the new soil. We find it advisable to 

 refill at least a whole house at one 

 time, following the same plan in the 

 planting. It enables one to give the 

 plants the proper care and conditions 

 during the period of reestablish ment. 

 Of course you will make the necessary 

 repairs to insure the bench lasting 

 through the next season, and here again 

 is where we gain with our solid beds. 

 We use red cedar posts and pecky cy- 

 press sides, and we have the first set 

 of boards in our oldest house, built in 

 1905. There is practically no repair- 

 ing and no time lost in getting the 

 beds refilled and planted, and abso- 

 lutely no danger of benches breaking 

 down in the middle of the season. 



Manure Serves Two Purposes. 



We put about an inch of long stable 

 manure on the bottom. This serves 

 two purposes. After the plants have 



become established and the roots begin 

 to search for additional food, they are 

 in ' condition to assimilate the food 

 found there. Then next summer when 

 emptying the beds, you will find this 

 layer of manure has kept the soil from 

 sticking to the cinders, and no trouble 

 is experienced in separating the tw». 



When filling in the soil, be sure you 

 pulverize it well. The carnation is 

 more sensitive about this than the chry- 

 santhemum or some other plants. We 

 do not approve of screening it, bu/t 

 break up with the flat side of the 

 shovel any lumps you may find. Es- 

 pecially does this apply if there is a 

 considerable proportion of clay in the 

 soil. Four inches of soil is enough to 

 grow the finest carnations. Be sure to 

 level it oflE well and see that the beds 

 are filled evenly along the edges, so 

 that when it is pressed down firmly 

 at planting time it can be watered 

 evenly. 



Some growers advocate tramping the 

 soil before planting, but we have never 

 found it advisable with our soil. It 

 might be an advantage where the soil 

 is extremely light. Our soil is heavy 

 enough to settle down from the water- 

 ing in the course of time. Every 

 grower must be guided by his own con- 

 ditions, however. 



Bemember Field Plants. 



Do not neglect the plants in the 

 field while you are getting ready to 

 house them. Cultivating and topping 

 should be looked after right along. To 

 allow a hard crust to form on top from 

 repeated rains will cause the loss of 

 much of the lower foliage and. injury 

 to the roots. It is surprising how much 



hotter the soil will get when the sun 

 is beating down on a hard crust than 

 when there is a mulch of loose soil on 

 top. It is a mistake to allow shoots 

 to advance to the budding stage and 

 to remove them at planting time. The 

 replanting is in itself a severe check 

 for the plant, and to remove a large- 

 amount of growth at the same time is 

 subjecting it to that much more. It 

 is all the more wrong because it is 

 unnecessary. Better go over them a 

 week before they are to be lifted, if 

 you have neglected them, and top the 

 ]>lants that need it. You will find the 

 breaks will come stronger on a plant 

 that was in active growth at the time 

 the shoots were topped. To leave a 

 shoot with a bud showing at the time 

 of replanting is entirely wrong, as the 

 bud will never develop into a first- 

 class flower. A. F. J. Baur. 



USING THE SALT SPBAYEB. 



We have just purchased a salt 

 sprayer from the John A. Evans Co. 

 Please tell us whether this is the proper 

 way to use it: We use coarse salt, bet- 

 ter known as cattle salt, and break it 

 up so it will fit into the machine. In 

 spraying the plants, we hit the foliage 

 and buds from all directions with a 

 fine spray. Then we take oflf the salt 

 machine and water the plants over- 

 head. Will the salt injure the foliage 

 when used in this way? Will the spider 

 be checked if we use the sprayer about 

 once a week, or will more frequent 

 sprayings be needed? S. B. — N. Y. 



If you mean rock salt when you say 

 cattle salt, then you are using the right 

 kind. We do not wash it off with clear 

 water, as you suggest, but merely spray 

 it on in the form of a fine spray. It 

 does not injure either foliage or flower. 

 We find that one spraying each week 

 will keep the place free from spider, 

 but it can be used oftener if found 

 necessary. Carnations relish salt; 

 should a little of the spray get on the 

 soil, no harm would be done. 



A. F. J. B. 



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Pansies, Myosotis and Daisies. 



It is as yet too early to plant seeds 

 of pansies, forget-me-nots and daisies, 

 except it may be some of the two first 

 named for winter blooming. A com- 

 paratively limited number are grown 

 in this way. For carrying over winter 

 in frames or outdoors, if seeds are sown 

 now the plants will become of unwieldy 

 dimensions and will not winter as well 

 as those of more moderate size. 



Time to Make Bepairs. 



The greenhouses contain less stock 

 on the average retail establishment 

 during July and August than at any 

 other season of the year, and this is 

 the time to overhaul boilers, piping, 

 benches and greenhouse roofs. Push 



any necessary painting and glazing 

 while the weather is pleasant; during 

 stormy periods there will be an abun- 

 dance of bench-building and other work 

 to do. Now is the time to push this 

 work ahead and not when freezing 

 weather has arrived. 



Empty Flower Pots. 



Too often we find empty flower pots 

 littered here and there about commer- 

 cial establishments, on and below 

 benches, as well as outdoors. Gather 

 these together and sort them into their 

 various sizes. Take the opportunity in 

 wet weather to wash all these left- 

 overs; it does not pay to pot any plants 

 in dirty pots. If a convenient rack is 

 built for the several sizes, it will be 

 found a great convenience. 



