■' V»>.A.: ^t ; 



JBLT 14. 1904. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



339 



The Bermuda Lilies. 



The first of the Bermuda lilies are ar- 

 riving and, if an early crop is desired, 

 there should be no delay in getting 1)hem 

 potted; they assuredly are not benefited 

 by being long out of th6 ground. Very 

 large growers may find it an inexpen- 

 sive plan to plant them on the benches 

 in four or five inches of soil. The 

 writer has tried them in boxes about 

 eighteen inches square and five inches 

 deep. It was not a success. The lily 

 bulb, like other higher organisms, has 

 each its own individuality. Some are 

 stronger' and earlier than others, and 

 when on the bench or in boxes the whole 

 space is occupied till the last lily is 

 cut. Therefore, for the grower of a 

 few thousand, 5-inch pots for the 5-7 

 bulbs and 6-inch for the 7-9s will be 

 found the most satisfactory and 

 economical method of forcing this most 

 important plant. 



Size of Bulbs. 



We hear some growers say they never 

 force any bulb less than a 7-9. This 

 size may be depended upon to give the 

 surest blooming bulb, but as the early 

 lilies are used almost entirely as cut 

 flowers in bunches and decorations, there 

 is often a considerable waste of buds 

 and, as you can't afford to give away 

 these unexpanded buds, there is fre- 

 Quently a kick that you charged for more 

 flowers than you supplied. And, again, 

 a stalk with two open flowers and one 

 bud can be arranged more artistically 

 than one with four flowers and two 

 or three buds. So, for our earlieaf 

 cro^ we prefer the 5-78. 



Anyone who has tried to get a batch 

 of lilies for Easter knows how dif- 

 ficult it is to get in, say ninety-five per 

 cent just right at that date. Some four- 

 teen years ago, when we only ha3 

 Harrisii for Easter, and the disease hod 

 not appeared, out of a batch of 1,100 

 7-98 there were just seventeen lilies that 

 were not salable, but that was done 

 with infinite labor, care and alertness. 

 Those were the days we, ourselves, 

 worked and ' trusted to no one 's judg- 

 ment. 



Now, this difference in time of flower- 

 ing is just what you want in the .early 

 forced bulbs, because you will begin 

 cutting, say, November 1 and continue 

 along until New Year's and past. At 

 least that is what suits the grower who 

 retails his own product. 



The Best Method. 



Plant as soon as received in 5-inch 

 pots, letting ,ihe top of the bulb be even 

 Avith the surface of the soil. Soil is 

 really of little importance, yet a light 

 loam with a fifth of thoroughly decayed 

 manure would be tlie ideal. Use no 

 fresh manure. Give them a good water- 

 ing and place in a frame and see that 

 in heavy rains water does not run in or 

 stand under the pots. Cover the sur- 

 face tf the soil with an inch of thor- 

 oughly rotted manure or refuse hops 

 and then cover the frames with heavilv 



shaded sash. Place a 2x4 scantling or 

 a fence board on top of the rafters of 

 the cold frame back and front and let 

 the sash rest on the scantling. Then 

 there is a current of air ovei* the pots 

 and if the sash is heavily shaded it is 

 cooler than it is in the open air. Watch 

 them every few days, but with the 

 shaded sash they will want little water 

 while they are in the frame. 



A9 they show a little crown of leaves 

 above the mulch they can be picked 

 out here and there and brought into the 

 greenhouse, and if you can bring in 100 

 or 200 every week you will, after all 

 have them in successive batches. If you 

 give them a steady night teihperature of 

 60 degrees in the house you will cut by 

 the end of October. Of course, no roots 

 have been made into the mulch, which 

 should be shaken off at the time of re- 

 moval into the house. 



In concluding this rather wordy dis- 

 course on a very old and familiar sub- 



taxes and make up for several things 

 that are losers, and yet about ninety-nine 

 per cent of us florists only guess at 

 what is keeping us out of the county 

 house. 



Gimson Ramblers. 



Crimson Eambler roses that were 

 started from cut down, dormant plants 

 in April, will, if they have been kept 

 growing in a light house and never neg- 

 lected for water, have made four or 

 or five canes five or six feet long. They are 

 still growing. Another mulch of rather 

 fresh cow manure will add to the strength 

 of growth and prevent rapid drying 

 out. If they haVe made as much 

 growth as you desire, they can be 

 moved out of doors in the full sun in 

 a week or two. Stand them on ashes 

 or boards and surround the pots with 

 litter, leaves or some material to keep • 

 the pots from dryiixg out continually. 

 Keep them well watered for another six 

 or seven weeks, because if you let them 

 get dry they will ripen their wood pre- 

 maturely and are then too liable to 

 break into lateral growth in October, 

 and that you don't want. You want 

 those large buds, or eyes, to remain dor- 

 mant, for they are what will give you 

 the fine breaks and trusses of bloom next 

 winter. 



The canes will, of course, ripen up 

 in September and if we should get a 



TO THE TRADE AND MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY OF AMERICAN- 

 FLORISTS AND ORNAMENTAL HORTICULTURISTS: 



The time for our convention is close at hand and tlie busy season 

 about at an end* 



I want to remind you of the duty you owe to the Society. It is 

 important that the membership be increased, and to tiiat end we urge 

 your support. 



Every member should get at least one new member and as many 

 more as he can. Especially do I call attention to the state vice-presidents. 



We want to make this meeting at St Louis a success. It should 

 be the most successful in the history of the Society. 



Do not miss this opportunity to meet old friends and make new 

 ones - men you have heard about but never n>et. 



The secretary will accept your application now, so send it in at 



once. 



Let us all meet at St. Louis in August. 

 Yours truly, 



President S. A. F. and O. H. 



ject, let me say that I consider the 

 winter-cut lilies extremely profitable up 

 to Easter, I never remember having a 

 flower go to waste, and when you con- 

 sider price of bulb, the little room they 

 occupy, ai well as the short time theV 

 need expensive protection, and the good 

 price obtained for the flowers, they are 

 one of the articles that help to pay 



wann October and these roses get soaked 

 with rain, that is the time they want 

 careful handling to keep them from 

 breaking. After the wood is well 

 ripened the ))lant8 can be laid on their 

 sides to escape too much water at the 

 root. These Ramblers, with anything 

 like decent care, will flower with the 

 greatest certainty and can be fvimished 



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