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Jamuabt 26. 1905. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



53 J 



The Qciss for 100 Red at the Chicogo Exhibition. 



(The exhibitors and Tarletles are, from rlgrht to left: Outtman St Weber, Victory: Thompson Carnation Co., Bstelle; Breltmeyer'a Sons, Flamlngro: 



Hill Co., FlamlDffo; Thompson Carnation Co., Robert Craig:; Ohlaago Carnation Co., Cardinal.) 



more practical importance are: How 

 does this disease get into the carnation 

 beds, and how can it be prevented? 



The fusariums are a group of soil 

 fungi. They are found nearly every- 

 where on decaying organic matter in the 

 soU. I have been unable to collect evi- 

 dence showing that the stem-rot reap- 

 pears in the same soil year after year, 

 thi^ being due to the fact that carnation 

 growers change their soil annually. We 

 know, however, that the plants are at- 

 tacked from the soil and this, in connec- 

 tion with the fact that the fusariums are 

 found almost everywhere and can grow 

 freely on dead matter in the soil, leaves 

 scarcely any room for doubt that the soil 

 is the source of infection. It has been 

 definitely shown that the wilt fungus of 

 the cotton, watermelon, cowpea and flax 

 remain indefinitely in soils once infected. 

 In fact, it has been found impossible to 

 eradicate them. The same is probably 

 true for the carnation wilt or stem-rot. 



The most important question is, how to 

 prevent the disease! Since it remains in 

 the soil it is beyond the reach of the 

 usual fungicides. It attacks the plants 

 beneath the soil so that direct preventive 

 measures are practically excluded. "What 

 hope have we then of ever controlling the 

 disease! I think the solution of the 

 question will come from a study of varie- 

 ties. If we look over the different va- 

 rieties now generally cultivated we find 

 that some are badly affected, others less, 

 and some seem not to suffer from the dis- 

 ease at all. It is somewhat difficult to 

 collect exact data on this, but it seems to 

 be everywhere conceded that such varieties 

 as Crane, Morning Glory and Flora Hill 

 are most subject to the disease, many 

 growers having thrown these varieties out 

 entirely. Flamingo, Apollo and White 

 Cloud seem to suffer as much as those just 

 mentioned. On the other hand, many va- 

 rieties seem to be free from the disease. 

 These are especially the strong growing 

 varieties, such as Harlowarden, Enchan- 

 tress, those of the Lawson type and Lady 

 Bountiful. I have seen America planted 

 where Crane died of stem-rot, yet the 

 former variety was not affected. Some 

 varieties seem to outgrow the disease, 

 even when affected. This seems to be 

 true of Bradt and Lord. These observa- 

 tions are as yet of limited extent, but 

 they point to one conclusion: Some va- 

 rieties of carnations are immune from 

 stem-rot. 



The problem for the future will be 

 the production and selection of immune 



varieties. It should be the aim of the 

 originator to produce resistant varieties 

 and only such varieties should be put 

 upon the market. This plan is not im- 

 possible, for it has been successfully fol- 

 lowed in the case of cotton. Through 

 the work of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture several varieties of cotton have been 

 produced which are resistant to the wilt. 

 Those can be planted in infected fields, 

 where other varieties have been extermi- 

 nated, without being attacked by the dis- 

 ease. I am convinced that we have a sim- 

 ilar example in the carnation rust. Al- 

 most imperceptibly the discussion of this 

 disease has dropped from horticultural 

 literature. Whyf If we examine the 

 older catalogues we find many varieties 

 advertised as * ' rust proof. ' ' These may 

 or may not have proved as represented, 

 but the fact shows the tendency of the 

 time to produce rust proof carnations. 

 Only the varieties that actually proved 

 rust proof finally were extensively culti- 

 vated and today the rust has practically 

 disappeared from our greenhouses. I have 

 no doubt that we will have a similar ex- 

 perience with the carnation stem-rot. We 

 have already indication of the lines to 

 follow and experience has shown that 

 they can be followed successfully. 



EXHIBITION CARNATIONS. 



BY FBED. H. LEMON, BICHMOND IND. 



[A. paper read before the American Carna- 

 tion Society at the Chicago meeting, Jan- 

 uary 28.] 



In approaching the subject of "Exhi- 

 bition Carnations," the first inclination 

 is to seek a definition for the term. 

 What are exhibition carnations and who 

 are the growers of exhibition carnations? 



When we speak of exhibition chrysan- 

 themums there immediately arises be- 

 fore us a vision of immense, reflexing or 

 incurving Japanese blooms of various 

 shades of color, some light, some dark, 

 some gaudy, some dull, all beautiful, 

 but scarcely any practicable for the pure- 

 ly commercial grower. We find these in 

 the hands of a special class of growers. 

 First, the large growers, importers and 

 introducers of new chrysanthemums, 

 whose aim in exhibiting the marvelous 

 creations of the hybridizer is to arouse 

 the interest of prospective buyers of 

 young plants. Second, the private garde- 

 ner, that true horticultural enthusiast, 

 whose time and skill are devoted to per- 

 fecting the magnificent blooms, mainly to 

 satisfy a love of the beautiful in na- 

 ture. 



First, Grow Good Flowers. 



When we turn to the carnation, how- 

 ever, and examine the exhibition and the 

 exhibitor, we find a magnificently large 

 collection of the very same varieties 

 which are daily seen by thousands in 

 the wholesale houses of the country, 

 fiowers a little better than the best in 

 the market, perhaps, because more care- 

 fully handled, and exhibited by the very 

 men whose vast ranges supply "the mar- 

 kets. Thus is the carnation distinctively 

 the business man's flower and an exhi- 

 bition of carnations a most practical 

 demonstration of what can be accom- 

 plished by care and attention in growing 

 flowers for the market. 



A consideration, therefore, of the sub- 

 ject now before us must of necessity 

 encroach to a certain extent upon the 

 daily task of cutting, packing, and ship- 

 ping carnations, because the very meth- 

 ods which result in putting flowers into 

 the market in the best possible condition 

 must form a foundation for our plans 

 and methods of putting our blooms into 

 the exhibition hall in perfect condition. 



Even G)lor EssentiaL 



Granted, then, that we have flowers 

 which we think are good enough to ex- 

 hibit, and we might say right here that 

 they must be rather good in this day 

 and age. the first question is the selec- 

 tion of blooms and time and method of 

 cutting. Just here a study of the scale 

 of points for judging will be of great 

 benefit. This shows us that color must 

 be the first consideration, with stem 

 and size counted equallv for second place. 



Great care should be used to obtain 

 a very evenly-colored lot of blooms, even 

 at the expense of other points. With 

 this end in view it is best, when possible, 

 to cut all the flowers for one class about 

 the same time for thc-e will surely be 

 variations in color if some of the blooms 

 have been kept in water sixty hours and 

 some only six hours. , 



Ctsttins: the Blooms. 



Use a sharp knife to cut the blooms 

 and take every inch of stem you can get 

 without going into the hard wood. The 

 proper condition of a bloom to be cut 

 for exhibition depends largely upon the 

 varietv but may be generally stated as 

 just before that bloom reaches a state 

 of perfection. 



Here is where the judgment of the 

 operator is put to the test; here the 



