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12 



The Florists' Review 



Adqdst 5, 1913. 



range of greenhouses. There is also 

 a 50-foot lot on Wyoming avenue, 

 .vKingston, which is improved with a 

 dwelling. The other pieces of land are 

 in Wilkes-Barre, being several lots on 

 Willow street. The personal property 

 of Mr. Marvin will be sold at the 

 Kingston premises August 17, at 10 

 a. m., including mainly the greenhouse 

 stock and equipment. 



AFTER THE BENCHING IS DONE. 



Extra Plants to Fill Blanks. 



After you have finished benching the 

 carnations, about the first thing vou 

 want to do is to pot up a few plants 

 to be used for replacing those that die 

 here and there. Even though you may 

 have excellent success with your 

 newly planted stock, you will be almost 

 certain to lose a few plants. The extra 

 plants should be potted immediately 

 after the completion of the benching, 

 so they will not be too far behind those 

 in the benches when the replanting is 

 done, else the newly set plants will be 

 so crowded by the earlier established 

 plants as to make tli«pi practically 

 worthless. A plant that is well estab- 

 lished in a pot can be transferred to 

 the bench without any check, and if 

 this is done within a month after the 

 bench is planted it will stand an equal 

 chance with the rest. ' We pot into 

 3-inch pots if the roots will allow; 

 otherwise 4-inch pots are used. The 

 smaller the pot, the sooner the plant 

 will be ready to transfer to the lench. 

 There should not be need for more 

 than one plant in each hundred 

 benched, but to make sure of having 

 enough to cover all possible loss it is 

 advisable to pot up at least three times 

 that many. 



i Scratching the Surface Soil. 



As soon after planting as the soil 

 can be got into condition to work, you 

 should scratch over the surface, to 

 break up the crust which has formed 

 from the frequent watering and spray- 

 ing. If the soil is tolerably rich, there 

 will probably be a green scum on top 

 and you must get rid of this before 

 your plants will make any real head- 

 way. If the plants were well estab- 

 lished, it would be an easy matter to 

 get rid of thig scum by sprinkling a 

 little lime on the soil and scratching 

 it in, but it is not advisable to use lime 

 so soon aft€Q '|k|)e plants have been 

 benched. So you will have to do the 

 next best thing, and that is to stir the 

 surface frequently and allow it to run 

 a little dry for a time, but exercise 

 ^ great care that you do not carry this 

 to a point where the plants will suffer 

 for water, for that will mean the loss 

 of foliage, not a good thing for a car- 

 nation plant at any time. 



A Home-made Tool. 



The first time we scratch our benches 

 we use a scratcher in which heavy wire 

 is used for the teeth and fastened onto 

 a piece of broom handle, • somewhat 

 after the fashion of the scratchers ad- 

 vertised in the supply catalogues, ex- 

 cept that the teeth are set in one 

 straight row. At the second scratch- 

 ing, which is about a week later, the 

 men use their hands to get out all the 

 weeds and to break up all the lumps 

 and level the soil nicely. After that 



the scratchers are used again when 

 necessary, but the soil is not worked 

 so deeply as before, as the young root- 

 lets will then be working up near the 

 surface and should not be disturbed 

 any more than necessary. 



You will see buds sticking up here 

 and there. Pick these off as fast as 

 they appear during the first few weeks. 

 They will produce inferior blooms on 

 sh6rt stems, and will have practically 

 no market value as compared with the 

 value to the plant of the energy re- 

 quired to produce them'.' Especially is 

 this true ^of the darker shades, which 

 cannot be. utilized in funeral work. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



THE WANAMAKEB FEBN. 



Nephrolepis John Wanamaker sported 

 from Nephrolepis Scholzeli at the es- 

 tablishment of the Eobert Craig Co., 

 Philadelphia. This was four years ago 

 and a considerable stock has been 

 worked up, some excellent specimen 

 plants having been exhibited at the 

 S. A. F. conventions both at Boston and 

 Minneapolis. It is to be disseminated 

 this year. Experts believe it is a fern 

 that will win and hold a foremost place 

 as a satisfactory house plant. The ac- 

 companying illustration shows the plant 

 so clearly that lengthy description is 

 not necessary. 



BUSINESS EMBABBASSMENTS. 



Wilmington, Mass.— The failure of J. 

 Woodward Manning, formerly of Bead- 

 ing, Mass., Mvai' announced July 29. He 

 was a nurseryman and landscape archi- 

 tect. Liabilities admitted were $79,- 

 .^47.71. Of this amount, $20,000 is a 

 secured claim held by J. J. Bond, of 

 Eeading. There are over seventy un- 

 secured creditors, with claims aggregat- 

 ing $42,150. The assets include encum- 

 bered real estate valued at $37,150 and 

 personal property, covered by a bill of 

 sale, valued at $5,000. The Eeading 

 Nurseries, when managed by J. W. 

 Manning, Sr., had a high reputation in 

 the eastern states. W. N. C. 



Wilkes-Barre, Pa. — The trustee in 

 the bankruptcy case of Ira G. Marvin 

 will sell eight pieces of real estate be- 

 longing to Mr. Marvin, at public sale 

 at the courthouse, Monday, August 16, 

 at 10 a. m. Three tracts are on Pringle 

 street, Kingston, and comprise between 

 seven and eight acres. One of the 

 tracts is improved with a dwelling and 



WHITE GBUBS ON ASTEBS. 



Can you give me any information re- 

 garding the white grub, its origin, etc.? 

 "I have about 30,000 late branching 

 asters, set out about June 22, and I 

 am having trouble With them. It is 

 not unusual to find from twenty to 100 

 plants affected in one day, and as many 

 a§ three grubs working on a plant. I 

 have destroyed hundreds of grubs, but 

 still they keep on increasing. The 

 ground was plowed early in April and 

 was harrowed every other week until 

 the plants were set out, . and nothing 

 has been grown in it this season ex- 

 cept the asters. I did not use any 

 manure when plowing, but put sheep 

 manure on about ten days before 

 planting. I am at a loss to know what 

 to do to remedy this trouble. '' 



>i -. W. E. H.— Mich. 



The white grub referred to is the 

 larva of the June bug or May beetle, 

 Lachnosterna fusca. It is often de- 

 structive in grass land, also attacking 



New Nephrolepis John Wanamaker. 



V 



