December 29, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



30S 



Begonia Gloire de Lorraine Six Feet Nine Inches in Circumference, Grown by Alexander Ogg, Gardener to J. M. Sears, Southboro, Mass* 



date kind of a bench or house. The same 

 rule holds good as with growing stock. 

 A good man with a poor house will grow 

 better stock than a poor man with a good 

 house. It is the propagator and not the 

 bench that makes the diflferenee. 



The north bench in an even-span house 

 makes an excellent propagating bench. 

 If the pitch of the roof is tolerably steep 

 you can hang a curtain to the sashbars 

 to keep the sun off. The cuttings will 

 get the full light and will keep in better 

 condition than if they were darkened. 

 When they are rooted you can give them 

 the sun a few days before potting and, 

 being on the north side of the house, the 

 sun will not be too strong for them at 

 first. 



When putting in the cuttings keep the 

 sand clean. None of the clippings should 

 be allowed to get between the cuttings. 

 They will cause fungus. Cleanliness is 

 the main thing in propagating. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



CARNATIONS IN THE SOUTH. 



Here is a proporition for some carna- 

 tion grower which I would like to have 

 answered through your columns. I have 

 been trying to run my houses at 55 de- 

 grees at night and 80 degrees during the 

 day, and have succeeded very well until 

 yesterday and last night. My houses (in 

 Texas) were up to 100 yesterday, with all 

 the air that I could give and last night I 

 did not have to fire any at all and they 

 staid above 60 degrees until just before 

 day. Now we may have a norther within 

 the next two or three days and we shall 



have to burn coal as fast as we can in 

 order not to let the houses get too low. 1 

 am trying to learn all I can about carna- 

 tions and I would like for Mr. Baur to tell 

 us what he thinks of this. I have learned 

 all I know about carnations through your 

 paper. It is worth everything to a be- 

 ginner. ' T. N. C. 



T don 't know that I will be able to 

 tell you ju£t what you want to know, 

 as you do not ask any specific questior.a. 

 From the tone of your letter I judge you 

 want me to tell you how to proceed to 

 produce good carnations. In not knowing 

 what kind of houses you have for your 

 carnations, or what shape they are in, 1 

 also find a stumbling block. With good, 

 substantial houses, such as we must have 

 up here, and built according to the needs, 

 I do not see why you should not grow 

 very good carnations down your way, at 

 least a few months during the winter. My 

 business partner spent many years in the 

 lower part of your state and knows the 

 climate thoroughly and he has told mn 

 enough about it so that I feel that I can 

 form an idea of how I would proceed. 



First of all, vnu want goG<l h'niscs, that 

 you can close up tight in case of a north- 

 er. If you have only ten days each win- 

 ter when you will have to fire hard to 

 keep them warm it will pay you to have 

 your houses and heating apparatrs in 

 such shape that you can keep warm. 

 Build plenty of ventilators into your 

 houses. I would prefer houses detache<l 

 with ventilators on each side of the ridge 

 and a row of ventilators on each side of 

 the house below the eave-plates. You 



must be prepared to keep warm in case 

 of cold weather and to keep as cool as the 

 outside in case of a warm spell ; and since 

 these changes are apt to come on you sud- 

 denly you must be all the better pre- 

 pared for them. I would grow my car- 

 nations in semi-solid beds, using cinders 

 in the bottom and four inches of soil for 

 planting. I think you would find the 

 quality would keep up much better than 

 on raised benches. 



By selecting your varieties you could 

 grow only those that best stand warm 

 weather. For instance. Flora Hill and 

 Gov. Wolcott for white and E. Crocker 

 for pink, etc. There are others, but I 

 merely mention these as examples. If 

 you can have air on, these varieties will 

 thrive with a night temperature of 60 de- 

 grees or even more, but be sure the ven- 

 tilators are open a few inches. While 100 

 degrees is much warmer than carnations 

 enjoy during the day, if the ventilators 

 are wide open it will not necessarily de- 

 stroy the quality. In fact Flora Hill and 

 Crocker are usually at their best in the 

 spring, when the houses run up toward 

 100 degrees. 



I understand that you have very few 

 cloudy days even during the winter. Why 

 can 't you shade your glass a little, the 

 same as we do during the spring months, 

 to break the strong rays of the sun? I 

 would never allow the houses to drop be- 

 low 55 degrees, as the change would be 

 too great and woi'ld cause your calyxes 

 to split as badly as they would for us at 

 40 degrees in the winter. 



Regarding my cultural notes in the Re- 

 view, T would say, don't try to follow 



