' "-^Jf ■..'/T'-fl.vis-^TT.'^:'*:^' 



792 



Tlie Weekly PlbriiBts' Review! 



Fbbbuak.y 16, 1905. 



Doubtless after the ro£e the caroatipn, 

 is the mo6t useful^ lowers, its keeji^ns:' 

 qualitiejS^nd thB*7ow ^ice for which it 

 can be 'fought bringing it in contact 

 with th^* greatest number of people. 

 There h0. been some advancement made 

 in the cijRure of the carnation, due to 

 the intjsoduction of Lawson, by Peter 

 Fisher, which, to my mind, marks the 

 dividing line between the old and the 

 •* new. 



The carnation indu&try may be classed 

 under tJhree heads: First, the growing 

 of the m);wer for the. gjublic; second, the 

 production for cuttings for the trade; 

 and, tbijrd, the raising of seedlings. 

 With us it would be impotoible to. handle 

 the three' together and ^e ' think each 

 grower should decide fpr' hijmself which 

 branch he and his place are best suited to 

 ^nd which will bring him the best results. 

 We have taken up the cut flower produc- 

 tion and our experience has been a prac- 

 tical one. As far , as we can see there 

 is no great secret connected with pro- 

 ducing the flowers; we bav^ tried to ^fol- 

 low nature's laws, using common sense, 

 close attention to details, cleanliness and 

 houses well ventilated. 



Start With Good Stock. 



One of the most essential points, un- 

 doubtedly, is to have g«od stock to start 



plants, such as Prosperity, Lawson and 

 Vi&iaikagOf following With, .thiBrs^r that 

 jMow hxoTe quickly. When- Itdo^^'^^ pot 

 them in ^-inch pots, then-intoJ'-S-iliOT and, 

 if neces^^fy, into 4-ineh. VWec'take great 

 care in watering, not allftwi^g the young 

 plants to sxv£ter at any time for want of 

 it; this insures us clean growth. ^ 



Field vs. Indoor CviitisPtif---y' /• • •; 



From the propagating house \we move 

 them into the field or into the bench, the 

 latter method being adopted by most of 

 our modern growers. Our slight experi- 

 ence with indoor culture has not been a 

 decided success over field culture, .and 

 we think that in our climate, situated as 

 we are, a compromise between the two 

 is much the best. We have adopted the 

 plan of early propagating, planting in 

 the field as soon as the weather permits 

 and lifting the plants the middle of June. 

 These measures have given us the best 

 resylts, although we feel that to make a 

 fair test,' planting in the house should be 

 in^e t^ same tun^e, as in the, field, and^ 

 not early' in June, aS we heretofore have 

 (lone. 



The objection to indoor culture might 

 be the throwing out of our plants before 

 Iv'ecoration day and the poor prices ob- 

 tainable during the chrysanthemum sea- 

 son. We throw out our old plants in 



Alexander Montgomery, Jr. 



with, for if the young stock is unhealthy 

 there is little hope of ever obtaining 

 first-class blooms. We select our stock 

 carefully, from flowering stems as much 

 as possible, but of course on some of 

 the new varieties we buy we are com- 

 pelled to cut closer in order to get suffi- 

 cient stock. We first put in the sand 

 those that take the longest time to make 



July, take out the soil, whitewash the 

 benches and then give a thorough fumi- 

 gation, after which the soil is replaced as 

 quickly as possible, extra labor being 

 hired for this purpose. Last year our 

 houses (of which there are three, each 

 30x308) were emptied on July 17 and 

 planted with new stock by August 3. This 

 we consider very important as it would 



be very poor economy to let the work 

 drag%g,. ^^^., ■-■^'. ,_ 



T^jCbmpost. *» ^ 



We make a compost heap eviery fall, 

 consisting of one part cow manure to 

 thiee parts of soil, adding aJmfe air- 

 slaJted Ume to sweeten things up a bit. We 

 'urn the pile once in the spring and again 

 before it is wheeled into thei houses. 

 There is one point in regard to (jpil which 

 we consider • very important,- ■^hat we 

 term its mechanical condiUpti, which 

 means a soil which wiljp drain water 

 freely, and at the same time distribute 

 food to-^the roots. This is particularly 

 important after planting from the field. 



The bewildering subject of stem-rot 

 and its causes is, to my mind, due to im- 

 paired root action and a drowning pro- 

 cess of watering. This can occur in the 

 propagating bench, the pot, the flats, or 

 the fields, and a check of some sort is 

 generally responsible for it. 



We plant carefully, firing the ground 

 around each plant, and ir^sortto frequent 

 syringings, watering' ptatntff' as little as 

 possible while they are getting estab- 

 lished. During planting we shade the 

 ^ouses lightly with cloth, removing it 

 as soon as the plants have taken hold of 

 the soil. Then the daily routine of stak- 

 ing, disbudding and watering begins and 

 we are underway. 



What Varieties. 



The question of what varieties to grow 

 is always an interesting one, the ten- 

 dency nowadays being after something 

 new, and it is hard to resist the tempta- 

 tion to buy new varieties on seeing the 

 exhibits at our flower shows. It is well 

 to be progressive but we would advise the 

 man with limited glass not to attempt 

 too many. Three or four, in the various 

 colors, which require the same lieatment, 

 is best. It takes some time to become 

 acquainted with the carnation and the 

 special care it likes and we do not pass 

 judgment without givir.g each variety a 

 fair trial, which cannot always be accom- 

 plished in a year. The competition in 

 carnations is becoming stronger every 

 day. The people no longer ask for a 

 white, pink or red, but mention the name 

 of the bloom desired and for this reason 

 we th.ink it is a good thing to tag each 

 v.ith its name when it goes to market; 

 in this way the public become acquainted 

 with the different varieties and we find 

 out what is most popular. 



By keeping careful records we find that 

 those that produce the greatest number 

 of l!owers are not necessarily the most 

 profitable. Our experience proves that it 

 pays to work together with our commis- 

 sion man, keeping him posted as to what 

 we will hi^ve and when we will ship. This 

 gives him an opportunity to make sales 

 which he might otherwise lose. We ad- 

 vise frequent visits to the wholesaler, 

 not T;ece6sarily to see the proprietor but 

 to examine the goods there, see how they 

 arc keeping and to compare them with 

 the product of other growers. Valuable 

 lessons may be learned in this way. It 

 is hardly necessary to call your atten- 

 tion to careful bunching and packing. 



In conclusion, I would quote Mr. Fred 

 Lemon when he said at the earns tion 

 convention, "If you wish to succeed, 

 nothing is too much trouble." 



Lapeer, Mich.— W. H. Watson is 

 planning to erect another very large car- 

 nation house in the early spring. 



