AVQVBT 4, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



463 



As soon as a house is well under way 

 a light fumigation is in order, as there 

 is liability of insect enemies being 

 brought in on the plants. 



Geo. S. Osborn. 



CARNATION NOTES.— WEST. 



Benching During Drouth. 



We are having a splendid object les- 

 son this season on the advantage of 

 benching carnations during a dry spell. 

 After having plenty of rain up to July 

 10, we have • been having it dry since 

 that time and the ground is getting quite 

 dry. Most of the plants, especially those 

 which were planted early, were of fair 

 size by that time and these three weeks 

 of drouth have matured the growth so 

 that the plants are about half dormant 

 and there is almost no wilting at all 

 after the digging. The plants are 

 hungry for water and food and it takes 

 them only two or three days to take hold 

 of the soil and very little syringing is 

 necessary after the third day. Instead 

 of wishing for a rain now, which is 

 needed badly for other crops, we are 

 tempted to wish for a continuance of the 

 drouth until we can finish our carnation 

 planting. 



If you have your beds ready to plant, 

 don't make the mistake of waiting for 

 a rain before digging, but start in at 

 once and plant all you can before a rain 

 sets in and softens the growth again. 

 After planting a certain amount of over- 

 head syringing is necessary, but be care- 

 ful that you do not overdo it. Stop it 

 just as soon as the plants will bear up 

 without it. Too much syringing will 

 start stem-rot into activity, if there is 

 any of that fungus present, and it also 

 tends to sour the soil and cause a green 

 scum to form on top. Just ad early -as 

 possible reduce the sprinkling to dampen- 

 ing the walks, which will help wonder- 

 fully to keep the plants fresh without 

 the harm resulting from continual damp 

 foliage. You can keep the walks damp 

 day and night if there is plenty of air 

 in the house. 



By the way, don't keep the ventilators 

 half closed wuile planting unless the 

 wind is very high and a strong draught 

 would strike the plants. Carnations do 

 not need a close, hot atmosphere to re- 

 cover. They enjoy a cool, airy, bracing 

 atmosphere at all times. So keep up the 

 ventilators all you can. Last week we 

 planted a bed next to a south glass wall 

 from which every third pane of glass had 

 been removed to admit air. These plants 

 never wilted a particle but today are all 

 but one plant out of the whole bed grow- 

 ing nicely. That one plant had stem-rot. 



Depth of Soil for Carnations. 



I was glad to see those letters from 

 Messrs. Poehlmann and Goddard regard- 

 ing depth of soil and I hope many others 

 will tell us what they think of it. If 

 there are any who have tried a very shal- 

 low depth of soil we should very much 

 like to know what their experience has 

 been, Vvould especially like to hear from 

 Mr. Witterstaetter regarding that bed of 

 Lawson he had last season. As I said 

 before, I have had no experience with 

 less than three and one-half inches of 

 soil except in accidental small spots, so 

 I cannot speak from actual knowledge, 

 but I shall find out this season. Mr. 

 Poehlmann is right when he says that 

 you cannot bench a plant "from a three 

 and one-halt-inch pot in three inches of 



The New Variegated Begonia, Templinii. 



loose soil; that would never do. But 

 we did plant a lot of Lawson from two 

 and one-half-inch pots in a scant three 

 inches of soil in May, and the plants are 

 growing finely and are larger today than 

 the balance of the lot, which were planted 

 in the field. Our experiments are being 

 made entirely with beds made on cinders, 

 as we have no raised benches for car- 

 nations at present. With these beds there 

 is no danger of washing the plant-food 

 away, as there is with raised benches. 



A. F. J, Baur. 



VARIETIES TOGETHER. 



We have two houses to be planted with 

 carnations this month and would like to 

 know which of the following varieties 

 should be planted in each house. What 

 temperatures should be kept? The va- 

 rieties *e Lawson, Wolcott, Enchantress, 

 Queen Louise, Flora Hill, Estelle, Nel- 



son, Joost and Peru. 



A. J. K. 



I would plant Lawson, Gov. Wolcott, 

 Flora Hill and Queen Louise in one 

 house, giving Lawson the warmest place 

 in the house and Queen Louise the cool- 

 est. Plant the other varieties in the other 

 house, giving Enchantress the coolest 

 place and Estelle the warmest place. 

 Run the warmer house 52 to 56 degrees 

 and the cooler house 48 to 52 degrees. 

 Try to plant Lawson and Enchantress 

 where you can shade them handily with- 

 out shading the others, as they will need 



a little shade toward spring before i^e 

 others are ready for it. Gov. \volcott, 

 Enchantress, Nelson and Peru will need 

 the most headroom. Lawson and Estelle 

 will need t-^e least headroom. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



PROPAGATING HOUSE. 



I want to build a propagating house 

 for rooting geraniums and aU kinds of 

 bedding stock. Would be pleased to 

 liave you tell me how wide and high to 

 make it, and every detail to arrange an 

 ideal propagating house, and arrange- 

 ment for heating, in connection with a 

 house devoted to bedding plants. How 

 would it be to place the bedding plants 

 on solid beds instead of raised benches, 

 and how would you in that case arrange 

 your heating pipes! For starting vege- 

 tablesi and pansy plants, say in January, 

 would you advise low, narrow houses, say 

 ten feet wide, or twenty-seven feet, or 

 wider and higher to the ridge, and how 

 would you arrange your ventilation for 

 such a house? L. 



This is a large and important sub- 

 ject and to thoroughly do justice to it 

 would occupy much space, and I wUl be 

 as brief as the subject vrill allow. The 

 size of the house will depend on the 

 size of your business, or quantity you 

 want to grow. In many establishments 

 where roses and carnations are largely 

 grown you will find the propagating 



