

16 



The Rorists' Review 



Sbfteub^b 2, 191S. 



that have been properly' cared for. By 



the same token, if you want to sell 



; your surplus plants, do not neglect 



rthem, or, this year's customer will never 



come near you again. A. F. J. Baur. 





FOBEST SOIL N07 SUITABLE. 



THE PLANTS JN THE BENCHES. 



To Prevent Spot Diseases. 



After your plants have been in the 

 benches, say about three weeks, it 

 would be advisable to give a thorough 

 spraying with Bordeaux mixture. This 

 is to counteract any inclination to leaf- 

 spot or fairy ring, which might have 

 been brought on during the period im- 

 mediately following the benching, 

 while you were obliged to • spray fre- 

 quently. The hotter this period was, 

 the more danger there was of these 

 diseases getting started. Look your 

 plants over carefully, and if there are 

 any signs of spot disease, do not stop 

 with one application of the Bordeaux, 

 but spray with it once each week for 

 at least the next month. 



If your plants were topped properly 

 in the field, there will be no great hurry 

 about supporting them, but if they do 

 not stand up as they should, you will 

 have to put on supports at the first 

 opportunity. It is a great help to be 

 able to get rid of the weeds and to 

 get through with the surface scratch- 

 ing before the supports are put on, as 

 they are more or less in the way. About 

 a month after benching we make a 

 light application of slaked lime, scratch- 

 ing it into the soil well before water- 

 ing.- In fact, after scratching the lime 

 in, we like to let it remain about a 

 day in that condition, before watering. 



Keeping Plants and House Clean. 



From that time on, water only the 

 soil. Do not allow it to get excessive- 

 ly dry, but let it run a little on the dry 

 ■side occasionally and then water thor- 

 oughly, to reach clear through. Syringe 

 about once each week, with all the 

 pressure at your command, to ward off 

 red spider. If you brought in any 

 spider from the field, it would be ad- 

 visable to spray with salt water a few 

 times, until the plants are free of them. 



When you took out the old soil, you 

 probably gave the houses a good clean- 

 ing. That is as it should be, but it is 

 not enough. During the replanting, 

 weeding and working over the soil, 

 more or less litter is sure to be scat- 

 tered in the walks. Clean this all up 

 and pull out any grass or weeds that 

 may be growing along the edge of the 

 walks. If the walks became slimy 

 while you kept them flushed, throw 

 around some lime to sweeten things. 

 Remember that during the next two 

 months is when you will be making 

 your winter crop. If you are careless 

 during this period, the yield will sure- 

 ly show the effects. 



Replacing Dead Plants. 



Just as soon as the plants that were 

 potted, for replacing those that have 

 died out, are established, they should 

 be set in wherever needed. Take out 

 a good handful of the soil right around 

 the plant and sprinkle a little lime 



around before setting in the new 

 plant. We find this is-'usually sufficient 

 to prevent further trouble, but, should 

 the second plant die, you will have 

 to take out the soil from a space a foot 

 in diameter and replace with new soil. 

 This is also much more easily done be- 

 fore the supports are put in place. 



If you had plenty of good plants for 

 your own needs, you wiU probably have 

 a good number left in the field, which 

 were a little undersized. These will 

 grow into good, salable plants in a few 

 weeks, if properly taken care of. Keep 

 on cultivating them, topping thiam as 

 needed, just the same as you did ear- 

 lier. A few years ago many carnation 

 growers would fill their benches with 

 the good plants and then advertise the 

 leavings without giving them much at- 

 tention. This time has passed, as now 

 there are plenty of good field-grown 

 plants, which have been grown espe- 

 cially for this branch of the trade. It 

 might be said right here that a poorly 

 grown plant cannot possibly give satis- 

 factory results and a cheap purchase 

 price can never make up the loss in 

 blooms during the season. So, if you 

 have to bu^, be careful to secure plants 



Would a forest soij, which is of a 

 clayey nature and has been covered 

 continually with a heavy leaf -mold, be 

 a good soil for greenhouse beds in 

 which to grow carnations for cut flow- 

 ers? If not, what sort of soil should 

 I use! ' .; '■ . : H. B.— Ind. 



The soil you describe- would not be 

 suitable for carnations. Such forest 

 soil, or leaf-mold, answers well for 

 ferns, palms, begonias, etc., but is not 

 suitable for carnations, roses, chrysan- 

 themums or any of that class of plants. 

 It is now too late to begin preparing 

 soil that would be considered ideal, but 

 if you have a plot of ground that has 

 been under cultivation and the soil is 

 fairly rich, you can take a 6-inch layer 

 off that and use it in your carnation 

 benches. If you have some good de- 

 composed cattle or stable manure, you 

 could mix some of this with it before 

 filling the benches. 



Begin this fall the preparations for 

 your next year's soU. Select a plot of 

 good, heavy sod, which can be plowed 

 this fall- and left to lie until spring, 

 after being covered with a coat of 

 manure. If preferred, it can be piled 

 up with alternate layers of manure. 

 This is to be chopped down and piled 

 ^ver in the spring. A. F. J. B. 



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I SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS I 

 I , FOR SOUTHERN FLORISTS | 



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BULBS IN THE SOUTH. 



The French bulbs are arriving, but 

 it is still too early, in the south, to 

 start them off; so it is in order to un- 

 pack the boxes and place the bulbs in 

 a cool, dry cellar. If any flowers of 

 Paper White narcissi are wanted for 

 Thanksgiving, the Imlbs can be boxed 

 about Octobe^i'tBaeed outside and cov- 

 ered with a few inches of sand or oth- 

 er loose material. They will flower in 

 from three to four weeks after being 

 housed, in It night temperature of 55 

 to 60 degrees. It is better to give Ro- 

 man hyacinths a little more time in the 

 outside frame, so that they may be well 

 rooted before being brought into the 

 heat. 



If there is an empty bench in the 

 houses, that is a good place in which 

 to plant Paper Whites for a quick crop. 

 Planted on a bench right after Thanks- 

 giving, they will readily make flowers 

 for Christmas in a night temperature 

 of 55 to 60 degrees. When flowering 

 pans of these are wanted for the holi- 

 days, the results are better if the bulbs 

 are started in boxes in the usual way 

 outside, and potted up when they flow- 

 er. The bulbs flower a little irregu- 

 larly in the first part of the season, 

 so that when planted directly in the 

 pans they do not make as even plants 

 as when made up from boxes. In the 

 extreme southern sections the bulbs 

 are mostly planted out in coldframes. 



A succession is kept up by planting ev- 

 ery week, and they are allowed to 

 flower under sashes. L. 



BOSES IN THE SOUTH. 



Notwithstanding the many vagaries 

 of the weather during the last month, 

 the young plants have made good 

 growth. In the more northern section 

 of the south, the spraying may be les- 

 sened. A good syringing in the morn- 

 ing and spraying at midday are enough 

 to maintain the necessary moisture in 

 the houses. In the extreme south more 

 spraying will be required for a month 

 yet. 



A little extra stimulant may now be 

 given, in the form of either a light 

 mulch of cow manure, or a top-dress- 

 ing of guano at the rate of ten quarts 

 to 500 square feet of bench surface, 

 lightly scratched in. 



The ventilation at both top and side 

 must still be kept fully open, except, 

 of course, during heavy storms. The 

 unusually cool nights in some sections 

 lately might induce some growers to 

 lower the ventilators, but it is much 

 better to have them fully open day and 

 night. A fully ventilated house is prac- 

 tically immune from mildew. As the 

 time for firing approacl^s and the tem- 

 perature takes a deciddl drop, the top 

 ventilation may be reduced, but it is 

 always a good plan to leave the side 

 ventilation on till firing is started. L. 



