T^r^^WW 



1164 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



NOVKMBER 3, 1904. 



allow for the application of a heavier 

 mulch. Particular conditions, however, 

 may favor two light mulches rather 

 than one heavy one. 



In any case use fresh soil and fairly 

 well rotted manure, with a sprinkling 

 of air-slaked lime, Follow the re- 

 moval of bench soil immediately with 

 the application of the mulch, watering 

 at once if weather and time of day will 

 permit. Geo. S. Osborn. 



CARNATION NOTES. -WEST. 



InsectSj and Feedincf. 



Now that you have commenced firing 

 you will have to be even more watchful 

 than you have been during the last two 

 or three months. There are more dan- 

 gers lurking, ready to attack the plants, 

 than before. The one pest which firing 

 seems to favor more than any other is 

 red spider. In the out-of-way corners, 

 where the steam pipes run close to the 

 plants, they will breed and multiply by 

 the million and unless you are constant- 

 ly looking for them and fighting them 

 they will soon spread over a whole bed 

 or house. A plant that is badly in- 

 fested with red spider is in poor shape 

 to go through a hard winter and come 

 out in good condition. To have your 



as far as the strength and health of 

 the plants can affect it. 



Green fly seem to flourish, too, after 

 firing commences, and regular fumigat- 

 ing is necessary to keep them down. 

 Best of all, do not allow them to ap- 

 pear at all. Thrips, too, will show in 

 white spots on the pink and red varieties. 

 Lawson is one of their favorite va- 

 rieties. Spray about once each week in 

 the morning of a bright day with To- 

 bak-ine liquid to keep these two pests in 

 subjection, especially the latter. 



Examine the soil each morning to find 

 the dry places. You will find, along the 

 south edges and where the steam pipes 

 are close, much more water is needed 

 than in the middle or on the north 

 sides of the beds. If your beds are 

 raised, and especially if there be heat- 

 ing pipes underneath, you should dig 

 down to the bottom occasionally and ex- 

 amine the soil clear to the bottom. If 

 you water properly, it will not dry out 

 at the bottom without being dry at the 

 surface. Water only the dry spots until 

 the whole bed is dry enough to take a 

 thorough soaking, and then wet it clear 

 through. If you have mulched the beds 

 }'ou will have to be all the more care- 

 ful in examining, as you can tell noth- 

 ing about the soil by the appearance of 

 the manure. 



Pkasins Effects with Every-day MateriaL 



plants in perfect health at this date 

 18 the main thing, much more essential 

 than to be cutting lots of blooms this 

 early. There is a long season ahead 

 for cutting blooms, but the good weather 

 for building up a strong, healthy plant 

 is nearly over now. What you have 

 failed to do along that line up to now 

 cannot be made up. Your winter's crop 

 is either made or ruined by this time, 



There are a few varieties which we 

 rather not mulch at this season of the 

 year, because it retards evaporation too 

 much. Such varieties as Flora Hill, In- 

 nocence and a few others which are 

 troubled more or less in winter with bac- 

 teria, seem to do better without mulch- 

 ing. They like to run on the dry side 

 a good deal. Keep the liquid food away 

 from them, too, until toward spring. In 



fact, don't be in a hurry about the feed- 

 ing, anyway. If your soil was good the 

 plants will have plenty of nourishment 

 to draw from except perhaps for a lit- 

 tle wood-ashes to stiffen the stems or 

 a little lime to sweeten the soil. 



Soil for Next Season. 



If it is possible to do so, it will pay 

 you to select your soil for next season 

 before the faU rains set in. It need 

 not necessarily be a plot of sod, but it 

 should be good, strong soil, which lies 

 rather high. Soil from a piece of land 

 that lies high will not sour so quickly as 

 that from low land. Plow it deeply and 

 let it lie as rough as possible. Spread 

 over it a good coat of manure toward 

 spring, after it has frozen thoroughly, 

 and plow again as early as possible in 

 the spring. If the soil is of a heavy 

 nature, use stable straw manure, but if 

 it is rather light, you would better use 

 cow manure. If you cannot follow this 

 method, you will do well to have the 

 soil hauled to your place this fall and 

 put in a pile, not too high to prevent 

 the frost from penetrating through it. 

 In the spring you can turn it again and 

 pile it up a little more, if you like, and 

 by midsummer you will have good soil 

 to plant in. A. F. J. Batjr. 



VARIETIES TO GROW. 



I wish to buy some field-grown car- 

 nation plants, deep red, pink and white, 

 also variegated. I want fairly prolific 

 varieties. Will you please advise me 

 what will be best in Georgia? T. W. 



If you are a beginner I would advise 

 you to get a good assortment of vari- 

 eties to begin with. One or two vari- 

 eties in each color is all right for a 

 man who knows the varieties, knows 

 just how to handle them, and knows 

 just what his market demands. You 

 are in a much warmer climate, too, 

 than ours, and varieties which are best 

 here may not do at all in your locality. 

 Warm-blooded varieties ought to prove 

 best for you, but you will have to ex- 

 periment and find out for yourself. Try 

 Crane, America and Estelle for red; 

 Mrs. Lawson, Ethel Crocker and Flor- 

 iana for pink; Flora Hill, Queen Louise 

 and Gov. Wolcott for white. Prosperity 

 might come white for you most of the 

 season. Viola Allen, Marshall Field 

 and Mrs. Bradt are all good striped 

 ones. I might add Enchantress to the 

 pink class. I did not include any of 

 last spring's novelties, as most of them 

 are strangers to me except what I have 

 been able to see of them thus far this 

 season. Although most of them look 

 very promising, yet we can say but lit- 

 tle until later in the season. 



A. F. J. Baue. 



CARNATION SOCIETY PREMIUMS 



The preliminary program and pre- 

 mium list for the fourteenth annual 

 meeting of the American Carnation So- 

 ciety, at Chicago, January 28 and 29, 

 has been issued. Essays already ar- 

 ranged for are by Prof. Hasselbring, 

 George Wienhoeber, Fred Lemon and 

 C. L. Washburn. 



The premium list is much as in other 

 years. Class A, open to all, offers pre- 

 miums for 100 blooms of $10 and $6. 

 Class C is open to all varieties dissem- 

 inated prior to July 1, 1903, fifty 

 blooms, premiums $5 and $3. Class D 

 is open to all varieties disseminated 

 prior to July 1, 1902, twenty-five 



