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JL'LY 21. 1004. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



381 



Employes of the Park Floral Q)^ Denver, Starting on their Annual Picnic. 



(See Pagre 358, issue for July 14.) 



ments I would recommend about an inch 

 layer of not too well rotted horse manure 

 sprinkld fairly well with bone meal. Have 

 the manure moist when spread, immedi- 

 atly apply the bone and cover with soil 

 at once. 



Several years ago we tried tobacco 

 stems in a section of bench which had 

 no manure at the bottom of the other 

 sections. Careful observation all winter 

 and spring failed to show any advantage 

 whatever in using the stems. 



I would not recommend planting a 

 bench immediately after filling, or even 

 the next day. If possible allow a week 

 or more to intervene between filling and 

 planting. During that time the soil gets 

 settled and numerous weed seeds sprout, 

 which are destroyed by a thorough rak- 

 ing in of a sprinkling of air-slaked lime 

 a day or two previous to planting, at 

 which time a watering may be needed to 

 put the soil in just the right mechanical 

 condition. Geo. S. Osborn. 



CARNATION NOTES. -VEST. 



Size of Plants. 



There is a great diflE.;rence in opinion 

 as to whether it is best to plant early, 

 regardless of the size of the plants, or 

 to wait until the plants have grown to 

 a certain size, even though it may cause 

 one to plant a little late. Nearly every 

 grower likes to plant strong, bushy 

 plants, with fifteen or twenty ehoots ready 

 to start into growth, rnd such plants 

 can easily be had by September. But to 

 have such plants by July 10 is quite an- 

 other question and up to August 1 you 

 will usually find more plants with less 

 than a dozen good leads than you will 

 find with over that number. Even with 

 early propagated stock you will find this 

 to be true, and among plants grown from 

 cuttings taken after February 1 you will 

 find mostly from six to ton shoots to the 

 plant. 



Personally I do not Ihink anything is 

 gained by leaving the plants out after 

 August 1 to gain size. If the plants 

 average very small I would not advocate 

 extremely eariy planting, but I would 

 oy all means get my plants housed eariy 



in August, even thougli the plants be 

 small. You can set two plants together 

 or plant a little closer if you like, but 

 you will find that the plant will grow 

 as rapidly in the house during the fall 

 months as they would in the field. If 

 a plant has made enough growth in the 

 field to require the third topping, which 

 will mean about eight shoots, I would 

 not hesitate to bring it in. Such a plant 

 will take hold quickly and if planted be- 

 fore August 1 it can be topped again 

 before it is allowed to come into bloom 

 and by September 1 it ought to have 

 fifteen good young shoots ready to run up 

 to bud. They will be more certain 

 to run up, too, than if the fifteen shoots 

 had been started in the field before the 

 plant was brought in. 



Give me a medium sized plant in pref- 

 erance to a large one, always. A few 

 seasons ago we bought several hundred 

 plants of Flora Hill late in August. Most 

 of them came out of a batch of medium- 

 sized plants, all except 100, which were 

 very large and bushy, with at least 

 twenty or more shoots to each plant. No 

 doubt the grower thought he was doing 

 us a favor by sending us those fine, large 

 plants, and we thought so, too. But in 

 less than six weeks we changed dur minds. 

 The smaller plants went right to work 

 and bloomed early, while the large ones 

 just stood still and looked sick until to- 

 ward spring. 



You can notice the same thing right 

 along in your beds. You will always find 

 the smaller plants recover quicker than 

 the larger ones and if any of them die 

 you usually find them among the larger 

 ones. You will always find more dead 

 leaves on the larger plants when you 

 clean them off later on. The medium- 

 sized plant will throw a few less bloom- 

 ing shoots the first crop, but you will 

 find the stems grow longer and the blooms 

 come larger than those on the large 

 plants. The difference in the quality 

 alone will make up the difference in the 

 quantity of the first fall crop. You will 

 also find less tendency to crop with the 

 medium-sized plants later in the winter. 



The foregoing is taking for granted 

 that you plant early, say before August 



15. If you choose between medium- 

 sized plants August 1 and large plants 

 September 1, then you will find the 

 medium-sized early plants even more 

 preferable. A. F. J. Baxjb. 



FREESIAS. 



We have one house planted in mums. 

 They are planted ten inches by twelve 

 inches apart. If we plant freesias be- 

 tween the rows when the mums show 

 buds will the freesias do wellt We have 

 never grown them before and as the 

 mums are early ones we thought the 

 freesias could be done that way so they 

 could have the room after the mums are 

 gone. How long does it take freesias to 

 bloom, and narcissi? Will freesias do 

 well in flats with two and a half inches 

 of good, rich soil! A. E. 



To plant freesias between chrysanthe* 

 mums is a very poor combination, the 

 worst I can think of. Your mums are 

 so far apart that to make them profitable 

 you should get at least three blooms to 

 each plant. They will shade every inch 

 of the ground and their roots will occupy 

 all of it. Don't do it. 



You can grow freesias in 5-inch or 6- 

 inch pots, seven or eight plants to a pot, 

 or you can plant them in flats of three 

 and a half or four inches of soil; two 

 and a half inches is rather shallow. 



The best freesias I have ever seen were 

 grown on a bench, such as you use for 

 carnations. The corms were about three 

 inches apart and the rows about five 

 inches. Freesias are beautiful, delicate, 

 sweet scented flowers and deserve gen- 

 erous treatment. The time from plant- 

 ing to flowering will depend somewhat 

 upon the temperature and season. In 

 midwinter in a carnation temperature 

 it may be three months. Don't forget 

 that a freesia is not a bulb. It is a conn 

 and starts to grow directly it is planted 

 and does not need covering or darkness 

 to keep top growth dormant, as is nec- 

 essary with the true bulbs, tulips, hya- 

 cinths and narcissi. 



The narcissus family is a large one and 

 their time of flowering varies greatly 



