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The Wccfcly Florists^ Review. 



OCTOBKK 6, 1904. 



results. So hot is the fire from this 

 fuel that it has been necessary to length- 

 en the pokers for the firemen. The heat- 

 ing qualities are so satisfactory that it 

 will not be necessary to use so many 

 boilers as a year ago. The capacity of 

 the steam boilers varies from 100 to 175 

 horse-power. The boiler-room is a model 

 of neatness, as, indeed, is every part of 

 this establishment and a tour of inspec- 

 tion under the genial guidance of Mr. 

 Montgomery is as pleasurable as it is 

 profitable. W. N. Ceaig. 



HAIL IN NEBRASKA. 



The accompanying illustration shows a 

 part of the establishment of Brewster 



& Williams, Grand Island, Neb., as it 

 looked just after a heavy hail storm had 

 passed over their place a few weeks ago. 

 Not only did they lose over 5,000 square 

 feet of glass but the plants were badly 

 cut up, both those in the field and in the 

 benches. The glass was insured with the 

 Florists' Hail Association. Not only 

 has the broken glass been replaced, but 

 1,400 feet of new glass has been added 

 and the stock is coming on in fine shape. 



Jacksonville, Fla. — Mrs. K. C. Houl- 

 ance is building a new store and office 

 adjoining her greenhouses at Sixth and 

 Main streets. The structure is 20x33 

 feet, with handsome show windows. 



HOW "CROPS'* OCCUR. 



I am a beginner with carnations and 

 am watching the notes in the Eeview 

 very closely. I hope you will find space 

 in the near future to tell us young hope- 

 fuls about the number of joints we must 

 leave when picking the carnation 

 blooms. What influence has this on the 

 size of the bloom following? How many 

 shoots should an average carnation plant 

 have now and later! Now please do not 

 tell us, as so many advisers do, that 

 <'it depends." We know "it depends," 

 but we want to know on what these 

 things depend. J- M. K. 



I fear I cannot answer the questions 

 you ask without saying that "it de- 

 pends," perhaps several times before I 

 finish. But I will endeavor to tell you 

 what depends and upon what it depends, 

 so that you will not be left in the dark. 



The number of shoots an average car- 

 nation plant should have at this date, 

 to be profitable, must necessarily de- 

 pend on the variety more than anything 

 else. For instance, a variety which 

 crops into bloom about the middle of 

 November and again about April must 

 necessarily have more shoots now than a 

 variety that will break away as soon as 

 the bloom is cut and keep on throwing 

 up blooming shoots right along. Varie- 

 ties like White Cloud, Lorna, Governor 

 Wolcott, Floriana, Mrs. Nelson, Amer- 

 ica, Mrs. Palmer and many others, 

 should now have at least twelve to fif- 

 teen blooming shoots ready to run up to 

 bud, while such varieties as Harlowar- 

 den, Moonlight, Indianapolis, Mrs. 

 Lawson, and a few others will be profit- 

 able if they have eight or ten bloom- 

 ing shoots running up now. Of course 

 some of the plants will have more, but 

 others may have less. 



There are many varieties which you 

 must have good large plants to start 

 with if you want to get much out of 

 them during early winter, because they 

 will make one crop (in quantity accord- 

 ing to the size of the plants), and then 

 take until spring before coming into 

 crop again. If you can have fifteen 

 good, strong leads to the plant ready to 

 start up now, or a couple of weeks ear- 



lier, you will stand a good chance of 

 having a fine crop for Christmas and 

 after that crop will pay you well for the 

 bench-room. But unless you can man- 

 age to get a big crop you will find 

 those varieties less profitable than the 

 varieties which branch freely and keep 

 coming all the time. 



Of this later kind, if you can get six 

 good blooms to the plant before Janu- 

 ary 1, you will stand a good chance of 

 coming out ahead. You ought to get at 

 least three times as many blooms from 

 January 1 to July 1 as you have up to 

 the first of the year and on an average 

 they will bring as much per bloom. 



Not long ago I read an article from a 

 well-known carnation grower in which he 

 spoke of getting fifteen blooms per plant 

 before January 1. If he can do that he 

 ought to make money, as that would 

 mean at least forty-five blooms per plant 

 from most varieties and figuring the 

 blooms at 2 cents, that would make 90 

 cents per plant, to say nothing of the 

 cuttings. Another firm a year or two 

 ago praised a variety they possessed be- 

 cause it had produced three blooms per 

 plant up to December 1. I consider the 

 latter a very fair average. A variety 

 which will produce that many blooms per 



plant by December 1 and be in good 

 shape to continue blooming steadily 

 ought to be profitable if the blooms are 

 of good quality. 



Those who are growing the variety 

 Indianapolis will notice that long be- 

 fore the bud is ready to open, several 

 shoots are growing at the base of the 

 stem and, as soon as the bloom is cut, 

 these shoots run up to bud and before 

 all the buds of the first crop have opened 

 these shoots are showing the buds, in 

 that way keeping up a succession of 

 bloom through the entire season. Mrs. 

 Lawson does the same thing, only not 

 so pronounced and the breaks are higher 

 up on the stem unless these are removed 

 in order to encourage the lower ones 

 to start. 



Some other varieties will not show a 

 sign of a break until the bloom is cut. 

 As there is a heavy crop of buds grow- 

 ing, they take up all the strength the 

 plant has and the young breaks come 

 very slowly until the crop is off and then 

 a whole new crop starts to grow at once. 

 Until these shoots run up to flower there 

 are no blooms to speak of. Some grow- 

 ers say that you can overcome this by 

 topping back part of the shoots as the 

 crop runs up, but you will find that it is 

 seldom very successful and I doubt if 

 the sacrificing of four or five blooms 

 to the plant out of this winter crop is 

 not greater than what is gained by it 

 on such varieties. 



No iron-clad rule can be laid down 

 as to how many shoots should be al- 

 lowed to remain when the bloom is cut. 

 One variety may start only two good 

 shoots while another may start four and 

 the four will make just as strong growth 

 and as large blooms as the first named 

 two. It is the difference in varieties. 

 When disbudding varieties which start 

 the shoots early you should take off all 

 the young shoots down to where they are 

 strong and the stem is heavy and strong. 

 Try to keep the plant as compact as you 

 can. When cutting blooms from varie- 

 ties which do not break so readily bear 

 the same thing in mind and cut the stem 

 down to where the shoots will be strong. 



I do not think that the number of 

 shoots a plant has will have much effect 

 on the quality of the blooms as long as 

 the shoots start from good strong stems. 

 A plant which is strong and sturdy will 

 nourish to perfection all the shoots that 



Houses of Brewster & Williams, Grand bland, Neb., after a Hail Storm. 



