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Mabch 9^ 1906. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



879 



■-'*: 



them, anyway; if not, you will wish you 

 had, for it is such &b these that offer a 

 shining mark for stem-rot in the field 

 or soon after housing. The dormant 

 spores of this dread disease float about 

 in the air and, like all, or most, diseases 

 of a parisitic nature, these spores, to 

 become active, must lodge in a place 

 suited to their requirements; also there 

 must be necessary heat and moisture for 

 development. Shade conditions are also 

 favorable to their growth. 



Plants in the strong vigor of health 

 offer no chance for fungus spores to ob- 

 tain a foothold, and, if kept steadily 

 growing, escape any attack. 



You have no doubt observed that 

 some varieties are more liable to be 

 affected than others, also that this dif- 

 ference is sometimes not universal, as 

 varieties affected with you may be 

 wholly free from it at another place, 

 showing the need of studying the pecul- 

 iarities of each variety in order that 

 vitality be not in any degree lessened. 



1 will not say that stem-rot cannot 

 be produced in the cutting bench, but do 

 not believe that it has its origin here, as 

 a rule. On the other hand, cuttings may 

 be so weakened when in the sand by 

 adverse conditions as to materially lower 

 their vitality, thus becoming an easy 

 prey. The prime cause of all disease, 

 whether in animals or plants, can be 

 traced to violation of nature's law 

 whereby conditions are created favorable 

 to the development and increase of dis- 

 ease germs. 



In addition to eood culture, it is well 

 to use means to^reduce the number of 

 spores present to the lowest possible 

 point. For this, sulphur applied to the 

 heating pipes at intervals is advised, 

 also dusting the plants with grape dust, 

 at the same time allowing it to settle 

 on all parts of the house. Never allow 

 the atmosphere to become stagnant or 

 heavily impregnated with moisture. 



While there are other troubles than 

 stem-rot. it is the most dreaded, and if 

 means are taken to keep clear of this, 

 there need be little fear of others. 



Geo. S. Osborn. 



SAMPLE OF SOIL. 



I send a little box of soil as I have 

 composted it for carnations for next 

 season. What are its needs, if any? 

 What constitutes an ideal soil for car- 

 nations? J. T. 



The little box of soil you sent was 

 hardly enough to form a good opinion 

 of your soil, but if I mistake not it is 

 the same that I advised you to add 

 manure, etc., to, some time ago. I doubt 

 whether you could improve this soil 

 much more than you have done. But 

 as I said in my other reply, it is not 

 an ideal carnation soil and all the doc- 

 toring you can do will not make it so. 

 I would advise you to pot some young 

 f'arnation plants in some of this mixture 

 and see how they grow in it. If they 

 make a good, sturdy growth you will 

 find it all right to use next season on 

 your benches. The ideal carnation soil 

 is a fibrous loam, just medium heavy, 

 with enough sand in it to make it 

 rrumble when it gets dry. All sod should 

 be well rotted and well pulverized be- 

 fore planting. From one-third to one- 

 fifth of manure should be added ^vhen 

 composting, according to the natural fer- 

 tility of the soil. A. F. J. Balr. 



Carnation Lieut. Peary. 



CRAIG AND PEARY. 



The accompanying illustrations are 

 from photographs from the Cottage 

 Gardens^ Queens, N. Y. The picture 

 shows the character of flower of Rob- 

 ert Craig probably better than any we 

 have published. Lieut. Peary is the 

 white which is being sent out this year 

 and which has won the approval of 

 those best qualified to judge of the 

 value of a seedling. It has pure color, 

 good size and form, strong stems of good 

 length, strong calyx and is reported an 

 early and continuous bloomer. Those 

 who have seen it growing say that it 

 gives promise of being a very useful 

 commercial sort. 



CARNATIONS IN POTS. 



1 have a north and south house eighty 

 feet long and want to grow carnations. 

 I want pink, red and white and want 

 all-round bloomers. I do not care for 

 size of flower but want perpetual bloom- 

 ers in a temperature of 50 degrees. 

 Could I expect success if I grew them in 

 pots and kept shifting as required? I 

 would like to do this so as to have the 

 use of the benches for other purposes 

 late in spring, and so I could- sell the 

 old plants in pots. M. W. W. 



The best varieties for you to grow 

 in that mariner would be Mrs. .Toost and 

 Indianapolis for pink. Queen Louise, 

 Moonlight and Lady Bountiful for 

 white and Crane for red. These are all 

 upright growers and good producers. It 

 is not good policy to grow only one va- 



riety in a color if you can get more 

 varieties of equal value. Every variety 

 has its own time when it is at its best 

 and it is well to have another variety 

 in the same color which will be at its 

 best when the other is at its poorest. 

 The plan you suggest of growing the 

 plants in pots could be executed all 

 right, but you will find it lots of work. 

 Start with 5-inch and shift into 7-inch 

 when they need it and when the roots 

 fill the sevens feed with liquid manure 

 until you sell them. Unless you can sell 

 a large part of them it would pay you 

 better to plant them on the benches, 

 as it will take the sale price of a good 

 many of the plants to pay for the extra 

 work in caring for them in the pots. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



PROSPERITY? 



I send you a couple of blooms of a 

 carnation which I suppose is a sport. 

 The pink flaked flowers first appeared 

 on a bench of White Cloud, but the 

 odges of the petals are not smooth, so 

 it may not be a sport of Cloud. It 

 is large and the stems long. The flow- 

 ers keep splendidly. I have had this 

 two seasons and see one or two similar 

 plants in other lots, but they have net 

 as yet bloomed. J. ,T. L. 



The blooms were badly wilted by the 

 time they reached me, but they revived 

 enough for me to be able to see the 

 form and color. T think you had a 

 plant or two of Prosperity mixed in 

 your White Cloud. How they got there 

 you will, of course, know better than 



