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The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



NOVEMBBK 10, 1904. 



The soil should always be moist enough 

 dear through so that by a gentle squeeze 

 of the hand all the particles may adhere 

 and not crumble. Even a little wetter 

 than this, if the temperature and other 

 conditions are right, is desirable and 

 will greatly aid the plants in furnishing 

 good foliage, strong flower stems and 

 put them into condition to utilize any 

 stimulant or chemical food of which they 

 may stand in need. RiBES. 



TIME TO FEED. 



Please explain your meaning as to 

 using liquid manure when the crops are 

 in the right condition. Rose crops seem 

 to come on and off every six weeks or 

 so. If the roses are to be watered at 



certain stages of the crop, when and how 

 often should we do it? 



A big grower, speaking of feeding 

 solid manure during December and Janu- 

 ary, said it does not do to cut and feed 

 heavily at the same time. Is it gener- 

 ally customary to feed very little when 

 the heaWest cutting is being done? 



R. M. S. 



The time when roses enjoy liquid feed- 

 ing is during the period of growth, be- 

 tween the time the young stems have 

 attained a length of five or Fix inches 

 and the time the buds show color. Feed- 

 ing when the crops are fit to cut has a 

 tendency to injure the keeping qualities 

 of the blooms and will certainly destroy 

 the color of such varieties as Bridesmaid, 

 Chatenay and Beauty. Ribes. 



The Chrysanthemuni. 



Two more weeks and the fascinating 

 mum will have again passed its prime. 

 Bench room will be plentiful and our 

 ("hristmas plants will engage our most 

 earnest thoughts. I can't help but di- 

 gress a moment to speak of the thrill 

 of pleasure with which we admire a bench 

 of Maud Dean or Appleton, or perhaps 

 we are progressive enough for it to be a 

 batch of Wm. Duckham or F. S. Vallis. 

 If so, the joy would be still more ex- 

 alted. Then comes the reaper in the 

 shape of sharp knife and a desolate scene 

 follows. 



Unlike our rosea, carnations or violets, 

 this is no cut and come again crop, and 

 gorgeous and magnificent as are the 

 modern chrysanuumums, it is exactly 

 right that it should be just as it is. If 

 we had them with us more than a few 

 weeks they would not be wanted at all. 

 They leave us not surfeited, but with re- 

 gret at their flight, and with appetite for 

 another feast and resolved to acquire this 

 and that wonderful variety or still further 

 improve on our culture. It's not alone 

 the dollar they have brought you that 

 has been the pleasure. If you are a 

 bom gardener your achievement in pro- 

 ducing the grand blossoms and pure love 

 of your plants and flowers will be the 

 mainspring of your future efforts. 



Nothing in chrysanthemum lore can 

 be better written, more practical or up- 

 to-date than the notes of ' ' Brian Boru. ' ' 

 Everybody who knows the man knows 

 that he knows most thoroughly what he 

 is talking about, and he will excuse me 

 if I drop a hint for the benefit of friends 

 and relatives near home. 



I notice too frequently that the chry- 

 santhemum plants that are saved for 

 stock are treated as if it were a tropical 

 plant. r have in one instance seen flats 

 of these old stubs freshly lifted from 

 the bench and placed a few inches above 

 a coil of 4-inch pipes. This is barbar- 

 ous! Can you expect healthy, vigorous 

 cuttings under such conditions? Don't 

 you realize that the chrysanthemum is 

 almost a hardy plant? The pompons are 

 quite hardy. 



After flowering the plant should rest 

 and be dormant. Therefore a tempera- 



ture a few degrees above freezing or, say 

 40 degrees F., and light is what .they 

 want. If this rest is given them until the 

 end of February you will get more and 



better cuttings after you do start them 

 up. 



This is meant, of course, for those who 

 have plenty of old plants for stock. For 

 tliose who may have but one plant of a 

 valuable variety and wish to increase as 

 largely as possible, "B. B. " will tell 

 you how to do it, but that is another 

 story. 



Berried Plants. 



Berried plants are, with many, nothing 

 but the species and varieties of solanuro. 

 Although delighting in our hot summers, 

 they are now in fruit and nearly all 

 plants like a lower temperature when in 

 fruit than when in flower. At night 

 50 degrees will suit them all, with the 

 fullest light, and syringe frequently to 

 keep down spider and thrips. 



Ardisia crenulata in moderate-sized, 

 compact plants is the handsomest of all 

 berried plants, either as a single plant 

 or in the basket of mixed plants, so 

 fashionable where the wealthy do con- 

 gregate. A temperature of 50 degrees 

 is plenty high enough and its chief enemy 

 is the brown scale, which should be re- 

 moved by a syringing with nicotine solu- 

 tion. 



Poinsettias. 



It is now weeks past the time when you 

 can with safety disturb the roots of 

 these tropical plants. If you neglected to 

 shift them, say from a 4-inch to a 6- 



Peter Fisher's New White Seedling Carnation. 



