Apbil 6, 1905. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



U33 







Primroses and Dutch Bulbous Stock at the Spring Show at Boston. 



by bud selection and bud variation as 

 well as from seed variation due to hy- 

 bridization. In raising varieties from 

 hybridized seed very few improved sorts 

 are produced, the proportion being about 

 one good variety for each 1,000 hybrids 

 grown. 



Up to the present time, I have been 

 breeding for color alone, basing my worif 

 upon the theory that any laws developed 

 in color work would hold good when ap- 

 plied to the development of other desired 

 qualities. 



The Method of Work. 



The tools which I use in my work are 

 very simple indeed, consisting of a pair 

 of delicate tweezers and a microscopic 

 magnifying glass. The method employed 

 is to find the anther just bursting, so 

 that the pollen is in a condition of dry 

 powder. The anther is removed by means 

 * of the tweezers and the pistil of the 

 flower desired to be fertilized is lightly 

 touched along its entire length by the 

 pollen-bearing anther. 



In order to do my work with reason- 

 able method, I have divided it into sec- 

 tions as follows: Crimson section, com- 

 prising crimsons or scarlet maroon in 

 color; dark pink section, which comprises 

 all rose, cherry and deep pink tones; 

 light pink section, which comprises the 

 light salmon or daybreak tints; scarlet 

 section, which comprises all of the col- 

 ors which may be termed red or scarlet; 

 white section, comprising only the 

 creamy white and snow white tints; yel- 

 low variegated with scarlet, crimson or 

 pink upon yellow grounds, as the yellow 

 varieties are almost invariably marked 

 with pink, scarlet or some other tint; 

 white variegated section comprises va- 

 rieties of a light pink with scarlet or 

 crimson markings. 



The blue section comprises varieties 

 showing some tendency toward the blue 

 in color. This latter section has not as 

 yet produced anything that might be 

 termed a blue, as invariably there is 

 enough pink in the make-up of the color 

 to shade the tone into purple or mauve. 

 The crimson, dark and light pink, scar- 

 let and white sections have been fairly 

 well fixed, but the yellow, white and pink 

 variegated and blue sections will be very 

 diflScult to fix, as they are essentially 

 mosaics and there is a constant tendency 

 toward variation in all hybrids produced 

 from them. 



The bulk of my profitable varieties can 



practically be traced to the variety 

 General Maceo, which was the result of a 

 cross between the English variety Win- 

 ter Cheer and Mr. Dorner's American 

 variety Meteor. The original plant of 

 Maceo had a very peculiar habit, being 

 almost a climber, and was dug from the 

 frozen ground after all supposed good 

 sorts had been taken into the house. Its 

 only recommendation was an intensely 

 colored large bloom on a plant having a 

 habit somewhat resembling a creeping 

 grape-vine in growth, but by selection 

 from bud variations it was built into 

 an immensely profitable commercial va- 

 riety. 



In hybridizing carnations we some- 

 times meet vith what is termed seed 

 sports. " Thes« have been invariably 

 light pink varieties, more or less marked 

 with crimson edgings and stripes, that 

 have been produced by crossing crimson 

 sorts which have comparatively pure 

 crimson pedigrees for several genera- 

 tions. 



Aside from its commerdal importance, 

 there is a sentimental side to carnation 

 growing. The production of new hybrids 

 which are distinct improvements upon 

 existing sorts is always a pleasure and 

 serves to keep one thoroughly interested 

 in the divine flower and amply repays 

 for the close application necessary to 

 produce practical improvements. 



How I G>mmenced Carnation Culture. 



Some fourteen years ago while walk- 

 ing down Broadway in New York City, 

 a Greek flower peddler pushed under 

 my nose a bunch of clove-scented carna- 

 tions. The delicious fragrance reminded 

 me vividly of the old home garden, with 

 its little plots of paisley pinks, and I 

 became at once interested in the blooms, 

 and being at that time out of business, 

 I took up the growing of carnations, be- 

 lieving that if chrysanthemums, roses 

 and other flowers could be improved by 

 hybridization and culture, the carnation 

 ought to respond to similar methods, and 

 in this view later experience proved I 

 was not at fault. 



Commercial Importance. 



At the present time the commercial 

 value of the carnations grown in this 

 country has risen so that the calling 

 may be considered one of the substantial 

 professions. The annual value of the 

 carnation product reaches !|>5,000,000 to 

 $6,000,000. When we consider both the 



sales of plants and flowers and the capi- 

 tal invested possibly may amount to 

 $15,000,000 to $20,000,000, taking into 

 consideration the value of the real estate 

 and buildings devoted to carnation cul- 

 ture. 



The improvement in the carnation 

 which has resulted in giving us flowers 

 three times the size that they ordinarily 

 were, with stems four to five times as 

 long, has produced a general advance in 

 the price of the carnation which seems to 

 keep pace with the increased demand. 

 When I first undertook the growing of 

 the carnation, 50 cents to $1 and $2 per 

 dozen was considered the retail pVice. At 

 present $2, $3, $6, sometimes $8 and in 

 rare instances $10 per dozen is secured. 

 When I first entered the business from 

 50 cents to $1 and up to $4 per hundred 

 as the maximum price, were the whole- 

 sale rates. At present $2, $4, $6, $8, $10 

 to $15 are ruling prices and at certain 

 seasons as high as $25 per hundred is 

 secured for the best and most perfect 

 blooms. 



We have about two acres under glass 

 devoted to carnation growing, the an- 

 nual sales from which run from $30,000 

 to $36,000, netting a fair annual profit 

 of $10,000 to $12,000. 



Value of New Sorts. 



Much has been said and written about 

 the value of a single variety of new car- 

 nations. So far I am informed at least 

 five varieties have been sold on a basis 

 of $8,000 to $10,000 per variety. One at 

 least upon a basis of $20,000 for the 

 variety, this being the scarlet sort, Rob- 

 ert Craig, one of my own seedlings, a 

 half interest in which was sold last year 

 for $10,000, and the Mrs. Lawson, which 

 netted as much as the Robert Craig. The 

 Robert Craig variety will not be dis- 

 seminated until the season of 1906 and 

 already orders have been entered for 

 some 375,000 plants, which will probably 

 be increased to 400,000 plants before the 

 season of dissemination is closed. 



The naming of a new carnation is 

 quite a puzzle to the originator and he 

 usually selects the name of some beauti- 

 ful lady, some particular friend, some 

 important personage, a bird, the names 

 of planets or something that will serve 

 to describe or produce an impression of 

 the characteristics of hia flower. In 

 naming my own productions, I have hon- 

 ored the varieties with such names as 



