■. I :'). 



760 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



■4*i: 



Febbdabt 23. 1905. 



raising our own bulbs. The bulbe are 

 produced in France, also in Bermuda 

 and California. 



A bench 4x95 would hold an enormous 

 lot of bulbs and •without going into the 

 number it would be far more, if all flow- 

 ered at once, than any market would 

 demand, as they can be planted three 

 inches apart in the rows and five inches 

 between rows. 



There is no better plan than the one 

 you suggest, viz., to put the bulbs in 

 boxes of convenient size and four, inches 

 ■deep. Then a moderate amount of 



bench room will be sufficient to force 

 thousands of these pretty flowers. You 

 can cut freesias at Christmas and on 

 to June by making plantings from Au- 

 gust to February, The earliest can be 

 started in frames. These bulbs do not 

 want covering, as do tulips and hya- 

 cinths. Be careful not to keep the soil 

 too wet before active growth begins. It 

 is no very severe forcing we give the 

 freesia, therefore, after the flower is 

 cut and the plants dried off, the bulbs 

 can be grown again the following win- 

 ter. W, S. 



CARNATION NOTES.-EAST. 



Topping; Young Stock. 



On the care taken with the work of 

 topping depends the shapeliness of the 

 plant at housing time and it goes with- 

 out saying that the first top is an all 

 important one inasmuch as it has a di- 

 rect bearing on the neck of the plant. 

 If topped too low there will be scarcely 

 any neck; if too high, the result will 

 be a top-heavy plant, very liable to be 

 troublesome iji the field. 



Of course we cannot produce plants 

 as near alike as peas in a pod, but a 

 little preliminary thought and exercise 

 of care will do much to encourage even- 

 ness and symmetry in growth. Yon will 

 find this desirable when housing, and 

 particularly so if desirous of disposing 

 of the surplus. 



Some varieties have a natural dispo- 

 sition to form neat, busby specimens, 

 but there are those of the "let me lay 

 down" sort. Daybreak and White Cloud, 

 for instance, which, if carelessly 

 topped at the start, give no end of 

 trouble by their persistent sprawling. 



Like many other operations there is 

 a proper way and time to top. Above 

 all things do not pull out the center 

 of a plant to induce branching. Be- 

 sides being a barbarous custom it leaves 

 a lodging place for moisture. Allow 

 growth to continue until you can see 

 signs of the formation of a stem be- 

 tween the lower three or four joints; 

 then it is time to top. Use a sharp 

 knife, making a clean, smooth cut that 

 will heal "quickly. Breaking with a quick 

 snap is liable to take more than in- 

 tended and gouging off with the thumb 

 nail leaves an ugly wound. 



Opinions differ somewhat as to the 

 point at which to cut, and rightly so, 

 as different varieties need treatment to 

 conform with their natural habit of 

 growth. As a rule trim-growing sorts 

 should be cut just above the fourth 

 joint; those of sprawly habit, a joint 

 lower. As an experiment I have cut 

 White Cloud, leaving but two joints, 

 with the result that we lifted extra tine 

 shaped plants. 



The advantage of having stock in pots 

 will be apparent when topping, as thoFe 

 can be set aside and kept a trifle dry 

 until the new growth appears. 



If you transfer stock from pots to 



flats or repot as occasion requires, re- 

 member not to top and at once repot or 

 transfer. Allow time for roots to ad- 

 .just themselves. 



At no time can young plants be al- 

 lowed to suffer for water if for no 

 other reason than that this treatment 

 hardens the stem and retards branch- 

 ing. 



Keep the plants cool, which will in- 

 duce sturdy, short-jointed growth, which 

 is the foundation of shapely plants. 



Do not worry about the plants be- 



A, C Brown. 



ing too small if kept cool. It is not 

 so much the size we want for some time 

 yet as it is a vigorous look. 



Geo. S. Osborn. 



CROP FOR EASTER. 



We have a house of carnations of the 

 following kinds: Lawson, Francis Joost, 

 White Cloud and Queen Louise. They 

 have been giving a good crop of flowers 

 since December 1, but are now going 

 off crop. How shall we handle them 

 from now on to get another crop for 

 Easter? They are at this time full of 

 nice, strong breaks, about the size of 

 good cuttings, or in other words shoots 

 from two to four inches long and over. 



We have been keeping the night tem- 

 perature at 52 to 56 degrees. We gave 

 them a sprinkling of ashes of tobacco 

 stems three days ago and scratched it 

 in and intend to give & watering of liq- 

 uid sheep manure. Is this right? 



j^jS. F, P. 



I would not advise you to feed your 

 carnations liquid until the flower stems 

 have begun to set buds. You will do 

 far better to give them a mulch, of half- 

 rotted cow manure an inch thick or a 

 half inch of sheep manure and soil 

 mixed, about half and half. While the 

 plants are between crops they are not 

 in shape to stand much feeding. You 

 would find that Queen Louise especially 

 would sicken and turn yellow. After 

 they get into a vigorous growth you can 

 feed them" with safety, Easter comes 

 very late this year, the last part of 

 April, and you should have no trouble in 

 getting another crop on by that time 

 without raising the temperature. Just do 

 all you can to promote a strong, sturdy 

 growth, so the cut will be high grade. 



A, F, J. Baur. 



AMERICAN CARNATION SOCIETY. 



Department of Registration. 



F. H. Kramer, Washington, D. C, 

 registers Carnation F. H. Kramer, a 

 cross between Lawson and Marquis, 

 color a shade brighter than Lawson, 

 flower a trifle larger, with no short stems 

 in the fall and does not burst; in growth 

 it is stronger than any carnation we 

 have grown and is entirely free from 

 disease, a continuous bloomer and sterna 

 stand without support. 



Albert M, Herr, Sec'y. 



A USEFUL PLOW. 



In one of the recent issues I saw. a 

 statement I cannot now find, in regard 

 to a hillside plow. Can you tell me where 

 they are manufactured? J. A, F, 



Almost any implement dealer ought to 

 be able to get you one of those hillside 

 plows. Ours came from the Gale Manu- 

 facturing Co., at Albion, Mich, You 

 will wonder how you got along without 

 it so long, after you have used it a 

 season. I might add that this plow is 

 not as good for breaking up new ground 

 as the regulation breaking plow, as it 

 does not turn the soil as well when it is 

 lumpy. A, F. J, Baur. 



A GROWER'S IDEA OF STEM-ROT. 



fA piiper by Wm. Weber, of Oakland. Md., 

 read »)eforp the New York Florists' Club on 

 Carnation Night, February 13.] 



In accepting the invitation of your sec- 

 retary to read a paper here tonight, T 

 judged that in the absence of a definite 

 subject being assigned to me, I was free 

 to take up any part or parts I might 

 choose. I have therefore sought to avoid 

 rehearsing the old story, beginning with 

 the taking of the cuttings and winding 

 up with their ultimate end when the 

 torch is applied somewhat more than a 

 year later. 



In attempting to discuss the subject 

 of cutting bench fungus or stem-rot, it 

 is not my intention or wish to lock horns 

 with any of our brethren who are study- 

 ingr these subjects from a scientific stand- 

 point. We need the aid of the experi- 

 ment stations and scientific men; we 

 have been benefited much as a result of 



