6S6 



The Weekly Florists' Review. ' 



August 25, 1904. 



naturally incline to the production of 

 heavy crops of small wood, should have a 

 judicious thinning out as soon as the 

 stronger canes begin to appear, thus af- 

 fording a greater amount of sunlight and 

 a freer circulation of air to strengthen 

 the stems and develop the flower buds. 



Those plants which are bearing or are 

 in preparation for a first cut should have 

 the laterals removed while they are in a 

 soft state, as, if they are allowed to re- 

 main on the stem until they become hard 

 and require a knife for their removal, 

 they will by that time have used so much 

 of the nutriment which ought to have 

 been diverted to the bud that the flow- 

 ers will be likely to be either small, 

 crippled or off-color, while the stem will 

 have lost its symmetry and gracefulness. 



Varieties like Meteor and Kaiserin, 

 which are inclined to produce their flow- 

 ers in clusters of three or more, should 

 have the smaller buds removed so that 



the strength of the stem may be con- 

 centrated in the remaining bud. Perle, 

 which also has this tendency, requires 

 more judicious handling, it being often 

 necessary, where the plants are extra 

 strong, to remove the crown bud and al- 

 low one of the lateral buds to develop in 

 order to prevent a crop of bull-heads, it 

 being sometimes even profitable to 

 shorten the stronger canes by at least 

 one-third when this tendency is very de- 

 cided. 



Beauties, by reason of their quick, suc- 

 culent growth and heavy foliage, which 

 if left uncared for in respect to train- 

 ing are more likely to suffer from the 

 force of the syringe than the smaller 

 kinds of roses, should receive particular 

 care, for if unsupported it is very diffi- 

 cult to get the spray of water to touch 

 the under sides of the leaves and that 

 is just where the spider chooses to make 

 his abode. Kibes. 



FEEDING. 



The early planted stock is now in a 

 condition where a judicious use of stim- 

 ulant in a liquid form is of great ben- 

 efit. Weak doses should, of course, be 

 given at first, until th^ plants are used 

 to it, and, while it may take more time, 

 it will be found that several weak appli- 

 cations are far to be preferred to one 

 strong one. A strong solution of any 

 fertilizer, particularly the chemical salts, 

 will destroy the delicate root hairs of the 

 plant and before new ones can form the 

 benefit that should have been derived 

 from that application is largely lost. We 

 must always remember that any nourish- 

 ment applied to a plant must be assimi- 

 lated through these minute rootlets before 

 it can benefit the plant and, such being 

 the case, the importance of preserving 

 every root intact is evident. 



Liquid fertilizer made from the excre- 

 ment of cows or sheep I always consid- 

 ered of most value for feeding chrysan- 

 themums. These may be most easily 

 prepared by soaking in a barrel of water, 

 putting the manure into a sack for the 

 purpose of keeping the liquid free from 

 lumps, which would otherwise clog up 

 the can or hose in watering. We like 

 to draw the liquid out of the barrel with 

 a Kinney pump; then, while it may be 

 very strong in the barrel, it will be well 



diluted after passing through the pump. 



Soot water is an excellent stimulant. 

 Soot may be scattered on the soil and 

 watered in, or placed in a sack and 

 soaked in water. Its effect will be no- 

 ticed on the foliage in a few days, as 

 it imparts a dark, healthy gloss to the 

 leaves. Many of the famous exhibitors 

 use Clay's fertilizer and ichthemic guano 

 but they are rather too expensive for gen- 

 eral use, though their great value has 

 been repeatedly proven. 



In chemical fertilizers, nitrate of soda 

 is perhaps most generally used, though 

 my own experience prompts me to recom- 

 mend sulphate of ammonia in preference 

 to it. Nitrate of potash is also quite 

 largely used and, as this is supposed to 

 supply both nitrogen and potash, it is 

 of most value. Nitrate of potash gives 

 a wonderful size and color to the foliage 

 and stiffens the stems, but all these 

 chemicals, unless used with discretion, 

 tend to make the flower soft and flabby. 

 A safe application to use on the plants, 

 is at the rate of one ounce of chemical 

 to four gallons of water, using it a little 

 weaker than that for a first dose and 

 gradually increasing in strength. The 

 chrysanthemum is a gross feeder and will 

 stand more feeding than any plant I 

 know of. provided it is done at the proper 

 time, which is when "the soil is full of 

 roots. 



But a word of caution must be given. 

 If I could give the reader an exact for- 

 mula and tell him just how and when 

 to apply it, all would be plain sailing, 

 but this is impossible, as so many things 

 have to be considered. If the plants are 

 generally soft, quick grown and lacking 

 in what I will for want of a better word 

 call "stamina," they will not stand 

 nearly so much feeding as harder, more 

 solid growth. Where the stem of the 

 plant is losing its green look, and bark 

 is forming, with a close-jointed, firm 

 growth all through the bed, it may be 

 assumed that those plants will stand feed- 

 ing and lots of it at this time. If the 

 foliage is very brittle, black green in 

 color and curling up, the plants are get- 

 ting more food than they can assimilate 

 and feeding should be very light or dis- 

 continued altogether for a time. 



Personal experience is the best guide, 

 in fact, the only guide a man can safely 

 follow in feeding his plants. When the 

 buds are swelling up and you find here 

 and there through the bench a bud that 

 looks as though it has been severed half 

 way through the stem with a knife, it is 

 a danger signal to stop feeding. This 

 beheading of the bud is caused by the 

 fact that the roots are pumping up more 

 food than the bud can use and nature 

 ^teps in and by this method cuts off 

 some of the supply. This trouble never 

 occurs when the later September bud is 

 taken, but is by no means unusual when 

 an August crown bud is used. 



Plants in pots or boxes will stand much 

 more feeding than plants in a bench be- 

 cause their root area is restricted and 

 there is much less soil for the plant to 

 feed on. Use common sense and if you 

 err at all it is better to err on the side 

 of underfeeding. You will then at least 

 have the satisfaction of not having your 

 flowers spoiled and useless. 



Brian Boru. 



A MODERN PLANT. 



The accompanying illustrations show 

 the first block of greenhouses erected 

 for the United States Cut Flotver Com- 

 pany at Elmira, N. Y. This consists of 

 100,000 feet and is the first block of 

 a contemplated million feet. The plans, 

 material and heating designs are by the 

 King Construction Co., of North Tona- 

 wanda, and include all their latest im- 

 provements in greenhouse construction, 

 many of which will be put into use here 

 for the first time. 



The first consideration being the elim- 

 ination of shadows, they have designed 

 this structure especially with this end 

 in view and by the substitution of truss 

 work to support the roofs instead of 

 the ordinary posts for purlin and ridge 

 pole supports, they have succeeded ad- 

 mirably. The gutters are of iron, and 

 iron and steel has been used entirely for 



Establishment of the United States Cut Flower G)., Elmira, N. Y. 



