lUx 11. 1900. 



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The Weekly Florists' Review. 



J505 



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House of a 



lew Rote Grown by A. S. Swansoo, St PauL Photographed April 13. 



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cnlt matter today to pick out which were 

 the Bride or Maid bescbea, ro evenly are 

 they mixed. This of course causes a 

 whole lot of trouble and we oannot be too 

 careful in guarding and k^oping our va- 

 rieties separate. 



As the planting season approaches, all 

 preparations, such as bstving soil, tools 

 and repairing material ready, will greatly 

 facilitate the labajr of that busy season 

 when every hour of labor means so much. 



BiBES. 



^" A WW ROSE. 



A. S. Swansw^- of 3t. Paul, is grow- 

 ing a new rose wh%|hi"^r productiveness 

 seems to be someibftag'^ilKeptional. The 

 accompanying illustration nhows a house 

 containing two benches planted with 

 this variety, a total of about 450 plants 

 in their second year. The photograph 

 from which this Illustration was repro- 

 duced was taken on April 13 and in the 

 «lght days following 6,500 flowers were 

 cut. The buds are formed in clusters 

 and from five to ten on every shoot and 

 for every flower cut at least five buds 

 were removed. 



Mr. Swanson thinks this rose is a great 

 thing for* Easter. The color is very 

 closely that of La France. It comes 

 with stiff stems, those of the first crop 

 being somewhat short, from twelve to 

 eighteen inches, but the next crop, com- 

 ing about the first of June, gives stems 

 thirty-six inches long. From the house 

 shown in the picture 1,000 flowers had 

 been cut in the end nearest the camera 

 before the photograph was taken. In 

 April, 1904, when the plants were in 

 their first year, Mr. Swanson kept account 

 of number of flowers cut. These totaled 

 3,060 for thirty days from 450 plants. 

 He notices that the cut all comes within 

 about two weeks. For the second year's 

 growth the canes were bent down and 



some of them made as many as twenty 

 good flowers each. The house has been 

 inspected by many in the trade and no 

 one thus far has ever seen anything like 

 it. 



GERANIUMS. 



i should be pleased to see in the Be- 

 viEW an article on the growing of ger- 

 aniums for the wholesale trade, both 

 rooted cuttings and plants. I am inter- 

 ested in the wholesale plant trade and 

 should very much appreciate some infor- 

 mation from a practical, well-informed 

 grower. S. C. 



These universal favorites, as well as 

 easily grown plants, would more greatly 

 be missed than any one plant from our 

 gardens. They submit to many abuses 

 and everybody has his own way of caring 

 for his geraniums, but they must have 

 light. Heat with poor light and exces- 

 sive moisture would be the very worst 

 conditions for a zonal geranium or any 

 of the pelargonium fanSly. 



.Presuming that S. C. has reference to 

 the zonal section, our ordinary bedding 

 geraniums, then they will propagate any 

 month in the year except perhaps June, 

 July and August. In those months they 

 would need keeping quite moist to pre- 

 vent severe wilting and the tissue of the 

 cuttings would get filled up with water 

 and rot often sets in. Early in Septem- 

 ber we take cuttings from outside and 

 put into 2-inch pots and place in a light 

 greenhouse or cold frame. No bottom 

 heat is necesary at this time, or any 

 other, for this class of geraniums. If 

 shifted at New Year's into 3-inch and in 

 early April to 4-inch, these should make 

 splendid plants by the end of May. In 

 most cases a cutting can be taken off the 

 top of each of these about the first of 

 February, which, if shifted as soon as 



well rooted, will make a good bedding 

 plant in a 3i^-inch pot and a neat size 

 for shipping. As far as price and profit 

 are concerned, there is more in these 

 smaller plants at $1 a dozen than the 

 larger at $1.50. 



We have, as retailers, mostly no space to 

 give to old plants, but the man who whole- 

 sales can not only take off all the cuttings 

 possible in September and October, but 

 should at the same time lift these same 

 cut down plants and put them on the 

 bench in five inches of gOod soil, giving 

 them space to grow. They will soon take 

 hold and in a night temperature of 50 

 degrees and a light bench you will be 

 able to take off at least three good 

 batches of cuttings from fall to Mareh. 



The trouble with most all the young 

 geraniums you buy of wholesale growers 

 is that they are drawn-up, elongated, 

 weak things. They have been grown too 

 crowded and warm. In the winter 

 months, whether for your own spring re- 

 tailing or for shipping, 45 degrees at 

 night is plenty and they must have light 

 and ventilation whenever possible. When 

 these succulent plants are in a low tem- 

 perature they are often kept too wet and 

 that makes them soft. Being on the dry 

 side, and only watered when they are de- 

 cidedly dry, makes them short jointed 

 and hard and that is the condition a 

 zonal geranium should be in if you ex- 

 pect a free-growing and free-fiowering 

 robust plant in the summer months. 



A rather stiff loam and firm potting Is 

 essential at every stage of their growth. 

 To use too much manure and induce a 

 rank growth is a big mistake. 



Now a word about packing these 

 plants for shipping. Perhaps you have 

 noticed that there is no plant that so 

 soon suffers with yellow leaves if ex- 

 cluded from the light a few days. Even 

 if left in the packing shed for forty- 



