1232 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



Apbil 18, 1905. 



in starting when unfavorable weatlier 

 prevails, but once they get under way 

 it is gratifying to see them grow. Sel- 

 dom, if ever, is there any trouble with 

 fungus diseases or any of the many 

 troubles that prevail in the green- 

 house; the lettuce plants simply seem 

 to revel in the conditions here provided 

 and with ordinary care never fail to 

 produce satisfactory results. 



W, S. Croydon. 



CUCUMBERS. 



Plants recently set in the beds should 

 be kept growing as freely as possible. 

 Though httle fire heat will be neces- 

 sary in another month or so, it will 

 pay to use some coal now to give the 

 plants a good start, for if they once get 

 stunted it is a hard matter to get 

 them back into a healthy, free-growing 

 condition. As a rule, the days are 

 bright enough now and the sun heat is 

 sufficient to maintain the necessary tem- 

 perature, which should be as near 80 

 degrees as possible, but on dull or wet 

 days fire heat will, of course, be needed. 

 Though on such days 80 degrees need 

 hardly be maintained, it will not do 

 any harm to run from 70 to 75 degrees. 

 Earlier in the season, when a high tem- 



perature is maintained through the day 

 by fire heat alone the plants are apt to 

 become drawn and weakly, but now a 

 dull spell can only be of short duration 

 and the bright sunlight can be depended 

 on to counteract any tendency to soft- 

 ness. 



There is a good deal more in proper 

 firing than many people take time to 

 think. A good deal of son heat can 

 be retained by closing up the house 

 early, and the fire should be started 

 while the house is still warm, so that by 

 the time the temperature drops to the 

 night figure, 65 degrees, the pipes are 

 warm enough to prevent further de- 

 cline. It is poor policy to wait until 

 the temperature is running down be- 

 fore starting the fire, as it is apt to 

 go down too low and more fire is 

 necessary to raise it to the required 

 figure than would have been needed to 

 keep the fire going an hour or two 

 earlier in the day. 



A moist atmosphere should be main- 

 tained as much as possible through the 

 day and frequent syringing should be 

 given to ward off the attacks of red 

 spider, which is the worst insect enemy 

 to which cucumbers are subject. Care 

 should be used, however, to use a very 

 fine spray as the leaves are tender and 

 easily lacerated. W. S. Croydon. 



PROPAGATION. 



While there is lots of time yet in which 

 to propagate chrysanthemums, still it is 

 well to have all the early and mid-season 

 kinds rooted this month, so that they 

 will be nice stock to plant by June 1. 

 The operation of propagating is simple 

 enough, and too well known to need any 

 description, but from now on cuttings in 

 the bench will need more attention as to 

 spraying and watering than did stock 

 rooted earlier in the year. 



Every day the sun increases in strength 

 and if, as is usually the case, the cuttings 

 are being rooted in an odd comer of the 

 house, where other plants are growing, 

 the cuttings will need shading and daily 

 watering to keep them from wilting. 

 When a cutting gets hard and woody, as 

 it will if dried but a few times, it does 

 not root readily and will never make a 

 satisfactory plant. Those growers who 

 have a north side propagating house do 

 not experience much difficulty in this di- 

 rection for some time yet but we do not 

 all have an ideal propagating house. 



Wlhen the sand in the bench is coarse, 

 cuttings inserted in such sand need much 

 more water than they would if the sand 

 were of a finer texture. Some growers 

 are very particular to insist on the sand 

 being sharp, absolutely clean, etc., but 

 as a matter of fact chrysanthemums 

 never do better than when the sand has a 

 certain proportion of loam through it, 

 such as is found alongside of almost 

 any stream in the country. 



One thing that is important is to get 

 the cuttings out of the sand just as soon 

 as the young rootlets are an inch long. 



There is no nourishment in sand for a 

 plant to live on and when potting up is 

 too long delayed the plant makes a thin, 

 spindly top and long, wiry roots, and 

 thereby incurs a check at the outset of 

 its career. 



All these may seem like small items to 

 write about but they are among the lit- 

 tle things that go to make ultimate suc- 

 cess or failure. 



The Cold Frame. 



From now on the cold frame is a boon 

 to the grower. After the middle of the 

 month it is perfectly safe, in most locali- 

 ties, to put the young mums out in the 

 frame. If a cold night comes along they 

 may, of course, need some protection, 

 but they will do much better in the 

 frame than they will in a house, not to 

 mention the fact of the valuable space 

 that is gained for bedding plants and" 

 such-like stock. 



Even though I did not need the space, 

 if I had a frame I would rather have 

 my young stock in it, because it is a 

 more natural condition for a chrysanthe- 

 mum to be cold and airy, and when 

 grown in this manner the growth is 

 stocky and short-jointed and will give 

 much better results. 



When plants are out in a frame it is 

 a difficult matter to fumigate, so that 

 it is well to see that they are clean be- 

 fore putting them outside. The black 

 fly is an inseparable companion of the 

 mum and the plants must be lightly but 

 persistently fumigated. 



Exhibition Stock. 



Exhibition growers generally now have 



their stock rooted and into 2-inch or 8- 

 inch pots, some that I know even having 

 their plants set out where they are in- .' 

 tended to flower. While this seems a 

 waste of room and time to the commer- 

 cial grower, the results obtained from the 

 longer season of growth seem to justi- 

 fy the additional time and care. Com- 

 petition is keen nowadays in the eastern 

 shows and he who would come out a win- 

 ner has got to get in the game early and 

 stay there. Where there was one expert 

 grower five years ago there are now a 

 dozen and their numbers are increasing 

 every year. 



Rust. 



Rust is still with us to a greater or 

 . less extent and a little attention just now 

 will clean the plants of this disease. 

 Where, it is showing on the young stock 

 the best thing to do is to take off the 

 green hpalthy top and strike it again 

 and throw away the old plant. By this 

 means it can be cleaned right out of the 

 stock and will give no further trouble. 



If the variety is a valued one, and 

 scarce, and it is not advisable to throw 

 the plants away, they may be sprayed 

 with potassium sulphide, half an ounce 

 to a gallon of water which, if thoroughly 

 done, will clean out the rust, but where 

 possible I would say — ^ma^e a clean, new 

 start entirely. Charles H. Totty. 



PRIMULA HIS MAJESTY. 



Primula His Majesty is an exception- 

 ally fine double white Chinese primula, 

 the result of many years of careful selec- 

 tion to secure a really giant-flowered 

 double form. The flowers have splendid 

 texture and are finely fringed. His 

 Majesty was exhibited before the Boyal 

 Horticultural Society of England on 

 February 14 of this year and received 

 an award of merit. The photograph 

 comes from Sutton & Sons, Beading, 

 England, who are the introducers of this 

 fine variety. 



BOSTON. 



The Market 



While we have had quiet days, and 

 rather druggy ones, we cannot com- 

 plain of business being bad for this 

 season of the year. For the Lenten 

 season there has been quite a little so- 

 cial activity in our city and trade is 

 much better than a year ago at this 

 time. Indications point to a good Eas- 

 ter supply of everything in the cut 

 fiower line except violets. Any who 

 are fortunate enough to be able to hold 

 back a supply of these will secure ex- 

 cellent prices for them. The coming 

 holiday, unless all signs fail, will be 

 more than ever a plant Easter. 



Boses continue in abundant supply, 

 without much change from previous 

 quotations. Carnations also remain about 

 the same, from $1 to $2.50 being about 

 the usual prices secured, a few going 

 lower and higher. Violets are getting 

 scarce and good stock readily brings 

 75 cents per hundred. Bulbous stock is 

 plentiful, but sells very well. Callas, 

 Easter lilies and lily of the valley are all 

 in good supply. Some very good stocks, 

 antirrhinum and Spanish iris are com- 

 ing in. Sweet peas are abundant. While 

 poor grades are lower, high quality 

 flowers, like those Wm. Sim brings in, 

 sell well. Asparagus and adiantum are 

 each coming of better quality. A good 

 many pot plants of bulbous stock, roses, 



