64 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



December 1, 1904. 



I am aware that many growers subject 

 their cuttings to a much higher tempera- 

 ture than this with apparently good re- 

 sults and get their batches out of the 

 sand in a shorter time, which counts for a 

 good deal where large quantities ot young 

 stock are required and propagating room 

 scarce, but I am convihced that the slower 

 method has the merit of producing stock 

 with a better constitution and which when 

 benched usually outstrip those of a softer 

 growth. 



It is essential to success to use a keen- 

 edged knife to make a clean, short cut, 

 as the smaller and deajier the wound so 

 much quicker will the callus form and 

 the arrangement of the young roots will 

 be more perfect. 



The propagating medium shoula never 

 be allowed to become dry but should at 

 all times contain sufficient moisture to 

 prevent wilting of the leaves and shrink- 

 ing of the bark. 



ElBES. 



riety that grows upright, blooms early, 

 with a good, strong stem, a 3-inch 

 bloom, with a good calyx, pleasing color 

 and good substance and fifteen to twenty 

 blooms to, the plant in a season, then you 

 can call yourself fortunate. Few va- 

 rietieai have all these qualities combined. 

 After receiving a certificate of merit 

 from the American Carnation Society 

 and showing it liberally you will have 

 no trouble in selling all you can sup- 

 ply. The growers of the land ara look- 

 ing for that kind of variety. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



SELECTING SEEDLINGS. 



The selection of the seedlings you ex- 

 pect to keep for further trial is as impor- 

 tant as any part of the whole operation. 

 You want to be sure to keep all those that 

 are likely to be good and at the same 

 time you do not want to get your place 

 filled up with a lot of rubbish that will 

 never bring you a dollar in return. 

 Every seedling raiser knows only too 

 well that many times he has had to shut 

 his eyes and pull up a variety in which 

 he had stored great hope but which, with 

 all his care and good treatment, refuses 

 to be anything but a second or third 

 rate sort, not good enough to disseminate 

 and yet almost too good to discard. A' 

 mistake made frequently by beginners 

 is to put too much faith in the first 

 blooms that appear on the plants; these 

 blooms are very apt to mislead one. When 

 the plants are in the field we merely use 

 these first blooms as af means for select- 

 ing the plants we bring in, but we would 

 not think of .propagating a vfiriety until 

 we have seen a bloom inside about mid- 

 winter. Then is when you can judge 

 as to the merits of a seedling. 



Don't take in a plant that made a 

 poor growth or has a poor habit; it 

 will not improve in the future. Bon't 

 take in a plant that bursts the calyx; 

 a variety that bursts in the fall will 

 surely burst in the winter. Don't take 

 in a plant that throws a weak stem in 

 the field; it will be weaker inside. Don't 

 be influenced too much by the color of 

 the bloom in the field; the colors will 

 seldom come just the same inside; some- 

 times they improve and sometimes just 

 the reverse. Don't think that just be- 

 cause you have a fine, large, full bloom 

 outside it is any cause for great ela- 

 tion; nine times out of ten inside it 

 will burst or the stem will not hold it 

 up or it will bv-^ a shy bloomer. 



The seedling raiser must be a man 

 who is not easily unbalanced. He must 

 be always ready to meet success with 

 modesty or disappointment with forti- 

 tude. The plants which promise the most 

 in the field are liable to prove the poor- 

 est inside, and we know of cases where a 

 plant looked only very ordinary outside 

 and it proved one of the best inside. In 

 fact, we have seen these same reverses 

 even after one or two years' trial. We 

 bring in every plant that has made a 

 fair -growth and has made blooms of 

 average size or over, a good stem, a 

 good calyx and good form, regardless of 

 color or fullness unless it be single or 

 inclined to burst. They will show their 



faults inside when they bloom again, but 

 often they will improve in color and 

 form. Those that are bloomed in pots 

 can be judged a little better, but even 

 these we like to see bloom the second 

 time before propagating from them, es- 

 pecially if the first bloom came early in 

 the fall. They will vary a great deal, 

 mostly in stem and calyx, however. 



As soon as a plant blooms and we 

 decide to keep it we plant it in the bed 

 where it can make a strong growth and 

 a good lot of cuttings in case it proves 

 worthy of a second years' trial. The 

 second year you can tell more about the 

 habit and productiveness of the variety. 

 It is needless to say that the color should 

 be pleasing at least and you will find 

 that the solid colors are most in de- 

 mand. If you succeed in getting a va- 



SOIL FOR CARNATIONS. 



I am sending a sample of the soil I 

 am using for my carnations. There must 

 be something the matter with it, as the 

 plants naake only a spindling growth. I 

 can get no sods here, only from crab 

 grass. I also send a sample of the sab- 

 soil, a pebbly red clay. Would it be bet- 

 ter, or could the two be mixed with a 

 fertilizer? J. T. 



It would be very surprising if you suc- 

 ceeded in getting anything but a spindly 

 weak growth on your carnations in the 

 compost you have them growing in. It 

 seems to consist mostly of sand and leaf- 

 mold and there is no body to it. The 

 other sample is not a bit better than 

 Avhat you are using. Try to find soil 

 which is more of a loamy nature. A 

 heavy clay soil would be far better than 

 what you are using. Carnations like a 

 sandy loam, a soil that has a good body 

 and yet enough sand so that it will 

 crumble readily when it dries out. It 



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Chrysanthemum Merstham Yellow. 



