aY' ■' ;^ 



OCTOBBB 20, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



1057 



«an now be lifted and potted in 5-inch 

 or 6- inch pots. They take no notice of 

 the lifting any more than a pansy. If 

 kept very cool the others can remain on 

 the bench until February. For cut flow- 

 ers, if given more room on the bench and 

 a night temperature of 50 degrees it is 

 a much more satisfactory way of grow- 

 ing them than in pots. 



Smilax. 



Of all criminal negligence in the green- 

 house^ the most inexcusable is letting 

 your smilax bed go without strings. A 

 bed planted at the first of July should 

 be now ready for first cutting. Don't 

 pick out good strings here and there. 

 Clear it off as you go, and then keep the 



portion cut on the dry side until you see 

 young growths start. A heavy watering 

 after you have denuded the plant <rf all 

 growth is most liable to rot the fleshy 

 roots and they are then about as 

 fragrant as rotten potatoes. Tie up the 

 strings again before the young growth 

 is long, or it will soon get tangled up 

 and no amount of patience will make 

 a perfect string. After the first crop 

 is cut and another crop has a good 

 start, put on a mulch of one inch of 

 manure not too far decayed. Like all its 

 family, it is a heavy feeder. A heavy 

 loam, plenty of manure and a strong 

 heat, not less than 60 degrees, at night, 

 are the conditions which make smilax 

 profitable. William Scott. 



pound of sulphur to about four galloina 

 of wash, which when cool should be aboiit 

 the consistency of cream. 



Aside from the use of this mixture 09 

 heating pipes, it can be diluted Nsitl) 

 water, allowed to settle and the clear 

 yellow liquid drawn off. Being a com- 

 bination of sulphur and lime in solution, 

 it has seemed to me of value used as a 

 spray or otherwise and numerc>us experi- 

 ments have given very satisfactory re- 

 sults. Geo. S. Osboe*. 



CARNATION NOTES. -WEST. 



BUDS AND FLOWERS ROT. 



I would like to know the reason why 

 my carnation buds rot in the center be- 

 fore they open and even when they are 

 open. 1 give them a good soaking once 

 a week and after they are sprinkled 

 they are spotted white. B. C. H. 



While I cannot say with certainty that 

 all the fault lies in your method of 

 watering, yet I feel sure that much 

 of it comes from that source. If the 

 trouble is not brought on by it, it cer- 

 tainly is aggravated by it. To give 

 your carnations a good soaking once each 

 week, regardless of the condition of the 

 soil, is the greatest folly. You should 

 water when the soil is in the proper 

 condition, which may be once in one week 

 and three times the next week, according 

 to the weather, and besides this you 

 should look over the beds every day and 

 water the dry spots along .the edge^, 

 etc. 



Those white spots are not caused by 

 the sprinkling, but by thrips, and you 

 will do well to get after them in earnest 

 at once. Get some of To-bak-ine liquid 

 and spray them every morning for a 

 couple of weeks, providing the day is 

 bright, and you will get rid of them. 

 The only way to get rid of this little 

 fellow is to go after him with hammer 

 and tongs, as the saying is, and clear 

 him out with a rush. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



CARNATION NOTES.-EAST. 



The Use of Sulphur. 



I have many times in these notes re- 

 ferred to the use of sulphur as a means 

 of combating and preventing fungous or 

 other diseases and, in view of several in- 

 quiries, will give different methods of 

 utilizing this valuable remedy. 



The most common way of using sul- 

 phur is in the dry powder form, applied 

 with a bellows. The more finely the pow- 

 der is divided the more effectual; there- 

 fore it is better to employ flowers of sul- 

 phur than that obtained by reducing lump 

 sulphur to a powder. Some contend that 

 there is no difference in these two j»ro- 



ducts but when it is considered that the 

 former is the form taken Dy it in the 

 process of distillation, there can remain 

 little doubt of the dissimilarity. 



It is generally conceded that the chief 

 remedial properties of sulphur lie in its 

 fumes; hence the advice to apply the 

 powder in a manner that the sun's heat 

 may extract and cause these fumes to 

 be diffused. 



During periods of continued cloudy or 

 stormy weather it is sometimes desirable 

 to offset the effect of the damp atmos- 

 phere by other means than wholly with 

 artificial heat. This is accomplished by 

 applying sulphur to the heating pipes in 

 the form of paint, covering only enough 

 surface to produce a subtle odor of sul- 

 phur through the house. 



Several methods are employed to pre- 

 pare the sulphur in paint form but I fa- 

 vor its mixture with lime in the follow- 

 ing manner. Slake a quantity of lime in 

 hot water which will cause violent boil- 

 ing; add the sulphur while boiling most 

 violently, stirring thoroughly; allow one 



Seasonable Details. 



While we have ceased overhead water- 

 ing several weeks ago, yet we find that 

 we cannot reduce the syringing down 

 to once or twice each week. The nights 

 are cool and invigorating, but most of 

 the days are quite warm and about 

 II in the morning we find that a light 

 spraying overhead does the plants a 

 great deal of good. We do not wet 

 the walks, except perhaps where they are 

 exposed to the sun all day, causing them 

 to throw off too much heat for the good 

 of the plants along the edges. Try now 

 to get your plants a little hardened off 

 by watering a little less than you did 

 a month ago, but do not starve them by 

 any means. The carnation is a water- 

 loving plant when the conditions other- 

 wise are favorable. 



If the stems of some of the varieties 

 are a little weak give them a light 

 dressing of wood ashes. In fact, it will 

 be quite beneficial to all of them about 

 this time. It serves to tone up the 

 plant's system and sweetens the soil. If 

 the soil is not too full of roots stir it 

 about a half inch deep with your hands, 

 then sprinkle over it about a 3-inch pot 

 of ashes to each row half way across a 

 5-foot bed and water thoroughly. The 

 ashes will be mixed with- the soil just 

 as well and it will be much easier on 

 your hands than to sprinkle on the ashes 

 and stir them in afterward. 



By this time you should have the tying 

 up pretty well completed, as far as it 

 is needed. Some of the taller varieties 



Bench of Mrs. Lawson at Baur & Smith's, Indianapolis. 

 (House rorty-flve feet wide, plants In four Inches soil on twelve inches cinders. 



Photofrsphed April 10.) 



