Skptkmbeb 15, 1904. 



ThcWcckly Florists' Review. 



801 



Establishment of St Clair Floral Co^ Dr. A. S. Halstedt, Pres., at Belleville^ IlL 



the piling of sod and manure in alter- 

 nate layers, making the piles not over 

 four feet in height and flat on top. "When 

 cut down in the spring and thrown into 

 another pile the ingredients will be thor- 

 oughly mixed and in excellent mechanical 

 condition when wanted for use. I would 

 add nothing else to the soil at this time 

 unless it might be a small quantity of air 

 slaked lime which will help keep it sweet, 

 sweet. 



Do not fail to lay up enough soil for 

 use in potting young stock at propagat- 

 ing time. No manure should be used, 

 just plain sod piled grass side down, and 

 locate it where it can be readily reached 

 •luring the winter. After the first hard 

 freeze cover with boards, straw, etc., to 

 prevent frost getting in too far and you 

 can draw on this supply any time de- 

 sired. 



• We are having the best of weather 

 for carnation growth and close atten- 

 tion must be paid to the new shoots now 

 coming up. Keep them within their 

 proper bounds and thus form the foun- 

 dation of a stocky plant. 



Geo. S. Osborn. 



numerous I would pinch them out and 

 let the plants come away again with 

 several shoots until it could be deter- 

 mined that they were all right. Any 

 shoots that are all right should be left, 

 as it is really too late now to be pinching 

 shoots, only in a case of necessity such 

 as this. Beian Bobu. 



A TINY WORM. 



I send some tops of Maud Dean chrys- 

 anthemum which seem to be affected 

 with disease. Can you inform me what 

 it ist Other varieties in the same house 

 seem perfectly healthy. What can be 

 done with these? Would you advise 

 pinching the tops off and letting them 

 break again? D. E. G. 



The trouble with the tops of the Maud 

 Dean chrysanthemum is caused by a tiny 

 worm that will be found burrowing in- 

 side the stem of the plant, just at the 

 extreme tip. If the correspondent will 

 cut the stem open he will find the cause 

 of his troubles. I have seen traces of 

 this pest every year, but never anything 

 beyond an occasional plant wculd be af- 

 fected. The worm causing the trouble is 

 so small as to be almost invisible and its 

 presence would hardly be noticed. 



I think if the affected shoots are very 



GERANIUM ST. CXAIR. 



The accompanying illustration is from 

 a photograph taken at the establishment 

 of the St. Clair Floral Co., Belleville, 

 111. The picture shows the ends of the 

 houses. The gentleman in the view is 

 Dr. A. S. Halstedt, the president of the 

 company. Just behind Dr. Halstedt, in 

 the long bed, is his new seedling ge- 

 ranium, St. Clair. This is the crimson 

 variety of which James Gurney, of Tower 

 Grove park, St. Louis, has spoken so 

 highly. J. J, B. 



ABUTELON AND HIBISCUS. 



I would like to know the time and 

 best way to propagate abutilon and hi- 

 biscus. C. F. A. 



As the abutilon and hibiscus are as- 

 sociated in this question we will sup- 

 pose that C. F. A. alludes to Hibiscus 

 Rosa-Sinensis, the evergreen green- 

 house flowering shrub. As the abuti- 

 lon and hibiscus are closely allied gen- 

 era, the method of propagation is about 

 the same. All the abutilons will root 

 easily from the tips of the young 

 growth, but they root more quicklv 

 and surely after flring has begun, in 

 December on to April. 



The hibiscus should be kept cool and 

 rather dormant during midwinter and 

 in March should be pruned hard back 

 to secure the young growths that will 

 produce the flower. The younp 

 growths that are made after pruning 

 are just what you want for propagat- 

 ing. 



Allow me to say that at this very 

 moment, or rather at this lovely season 

 of the year, the hardy hibiscus usu- 

 ally known as althaea or rose of sharon 

 is a magnificent shrub, one of the best 



of all our hardy flowering shrubs, 

 rather tender when small and trans- 

 planted, but when well established 

 there are few if any more lovely 

 shrubs or dwarf trees. Clematis pani- 

 culata, the rose of sharon and a few 

 other things make us think just now 

 that the world is all right. W. S. 



IRISES AND LILIES. 



Will you kindly tell us the best time 

 to set a bed of Japanese and German 

 irises? Also tell us the time to set lilies 

 of various kinds, auratum, rubrum and al- 

 bum. A customer wishes these in a 

 bed in the full sun all day, merely a row 

 of peonies through from east to west. 

 Could any annual be grown among them 

 to shade the ground so they would do well 

 in this situation? G. F. H. 



Iris, both the German and Japanese 

 species (and the forms and varieties are 

 legion), should be planted in early fall; 

 the end of this month or first week of 

 October will do. Although the iris is a 

 very hardy plant, it will be well to pro- 

 tect these transplanted roots with litter 

 or leaves the coming winter, to prevent 

 the frequent thawing and freezing that 

 often occurs in March and April. Al- 

 though the iris is often grown with suc- 

 cess in dry situations, it is well known 

 that low, wet land is where they thrive 

 best. Our native species are found grow- 

 ing in low, marshy meadows. I have in 

 mind a pasture that is covered with two 

 or three feet of water all winter and 

 frequently flooded in summer, yet last 

 June it was a wave of blue with the 

 pretty little iris, all of which goes to 

 prove that you cannot overwater them. 

 We read that the Japanese, in culitvating 

 the wonderful varieties of their iris, use 

 the strongest animal manure and flood 

 their gardens. 



The soil conditions that suit the irises 

 are just the opposite to what the lilies re- 

 quire. A heavy soil is not at all suited 

 to the species you wish to grow. The 

 Foil should be light, either sandy or grav- 

 elly, and the drainage perfect. Use no 

 manure unless it is thoroughly decayed, 



