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Mat 18, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



1577 



the house should get a thorough clean- 

 ing, washing the benches, walls and roof, 

 as there is always more or less of an ac- 

 cumulation of scum and dirt from the 

 last year, which, if not removed while the 

 house is empty, is rather a difficult job 

 after the planting is done. 



All benches made of wood should be 

 thoroughly washed and should then re- 

 ceive a good coating of hot lime wash. 

 This, while acting as a preservative to 

 the wood, is a great help in destroying 

 insects and their eggs. One grower of 

 note tells me that he uses about one- 

 fifth sulphur with the lime and assures 

 me that this is a good preventive against 

 mildew and other fungous troubles. 

 Whether this is so I cannot say, never 

 having experimented with it, but as it 

 is inexpensive and does not endanger 

 the plants, it may be worth a trial where 

 these pests are troublesome. 



Filling the Beaches. 



"When filling the benches the soil should 

 be spread evenly all over and each bar- 

 row-load thoroughly broken up, so that 

 it may settle evenly with the subsequent 

 watering. 



It has been my practice for years to 

 add whatever bone flour was necessary at 

 planting time. This is done by simply 

 spreading the bone flour on the surface, 

 without stirring it in, as we find that 

 sufficient of the bone for the present 

 needs of the plants will fall around the 

 ball during the operation of planting, 

 while the subsequent stirring of the sur- 

 face and watering will carry the re- 

 mainder within reach of the roots, thus 

 liberating the gases slowly but quite 

 quickly enough for the use of the young 

 plants. 



Plantine the Benches. 



The bench being ready, the young stock 

 should be handled and planted with the 

 same interest and care it has been re- 

 ceiving since propagating time. How 

 frequently do we see the young stock 

 roughly handled and hustled into the 

 soil with as little ceremony as if they 

 were so many coleus, without regard to 

 any of the rules governing the planting 

 of rose stock, all of which must be to 

 the detriment of such sensitive subjects. 



The plants should be carefully turned 

 out of the pots, disturbing the balls just 

 as little as possible, not even removing 

 the drainage, and should be planted 

 firmly, just sufficiently deep to cover the 

 balls and leaving a small depression 

 around the neck of the plant to receive 

 the water. They should then be slowly 

 watered to prevent the formation of 

 mud, as this is detrimental to the health 

 of the plant. Each plant should be 

 watered individually for a Aveek or so 

 until the roots begin to spread and 

 should be syringed frequently during 

 bright weather to keep the atmosphere 

 charged with sufficient moisture to en- 

 courage leaf development. 



The same regularity and care in at- 

 tending to ventilation, fumigation and 

 temperature are just as necessary after- 



flanting as when the young stock was in 

 OtS. ElBES. 



Sabula, Ia..— Wm. B. Lovell was 

 burned out May 12, for the second time 

 he ha9 lost his home in a year and a 

 half. He was insured but not heavily 

 enough to cover the loss. 



STANDARD VARIETIES. 



What are the best standard varieties 

 of carnations in pink, white and red? 

 Are Lady Bountiful, Nelson Fisher and 

 Indianapolis superior to the standard 

 sorts ? I mean, are they the most healthy 

 and profitable kinds? T. F. 



The question, which are the best va- 

 rieties to grow, if submitted to a dozen 

 growers, might bring odt a dozen dif- 

 ferent replies. Varieties do not behave 

 the same in different soils and climates 

 and occasionally you will run across a 

 variety doing grandly for a few growers 

 and no good at all for anybody else. 

 There are a few varieties, however, that 

 are considered good everywhere, and their 

 profitableness depends entirely on the 

 tre£^tment they receive. In recommend- 

 ing varieties to be grown in quantity we 

 must of course stick mostly to varieties 

 that have been on the market several 

 years and which therefore have been 

 tried pretty well all over the country, 

 in different soils and under different 

 methods of culture. But every season we 

 get a few new varieties that will in 

 time displace the older ones and it pays 

 the grower well to buy these in limited 

 quantity at least and find out as early 

 as possible whether they will do well 

 for him, under his culture and on his 

 soil. In many cases one season will be 

 sufficient to establish a variety's value, 

 but in many cases a second season's 

 trial will be necessary and a variety that 

 was extra fine wKh the originator 

 should not be discarded on the strength 

 of one season's trial. The trouble lies 

 most likely with the grower and not with 

 the variety. 



Among the older white varieties the most 

 generally profitable ones are Flora Hill. 

 White Cloud, Queen Louise, Boston Mar- 

 ket and Lorna, but far superior to these 

 are the recent introductions. Lady Boun- 

 tiful, the best of them all. White Lawson, 

 The Belle and Vesper. In light pink 

 Morning Glory and Mrs. Higinbotham 

 \\ere largely grown but Enchantress has 

 put them all out of the running as a va- 

 riety that is easy to do and very profit- 

 able. We grow only it and Beatrice, a 

 variety of our own, in this color except 

 some seedlings in limited quantity. 



In deep pink all agree that Mrs. Law- 

 son stands on top. When handled prop- 

 erly it is free and strong, the blooms are 

 of high quality and they will stand more 

 handling than any other carnation. It 

 is the ideal oommission-house carnation. 

 Nelson Fisher was "touted" to displace 

 Lawson, but there was something wrong 

 with the "dope." The color is much 

 darker, bordering on a carmine, which 

 alone prevents it from hurting Lawson. 

 The variety Indianapolis is a production 

 of our own and I may be prejudiced, but 

 on the other hand I know its peculiar- 

 ities all the way through and will give 

 our experience. Up to the time of dis- 

 semination we firmly believed that it 

 would become the leading variety in pink 



and growers who saw it here said the 

 same thing, but we have since found sev- 

 eral faults that will stand in its way of 

 taking the place of Lawson, but it has 

 several points that make it a very desir- 

 able variety under certain conditions. Its 

 blooms will not stand the handling 

 that Mrs. Lawson will. Therefore, it will 

 not do for commission-house growers, 

 but for those who sell direct to the 

 public or those who ship to the retailer 

 it will hold up as good as any. The pet- 

 als are naturally cupped and I might 

 say ruffled and knocking the blooms 

 around makes this more pronounced. It 

 keeps well, however, outside of taking on 

 this sleepy ap|)earance. It will outbloom 

 any variety we know of during the win- 

 ter months and is therefore very profit- 

 able to grow. The blooms come as large 

 as Lawson for us and retail for the same 

 price. The plants in the field need to be 

 kept topped back very close on account 

 of its tendency to run to bud. We will 

 grow only this and Lawson in quantity 

 next season. Floriana is a pretty shade 

 of pink but is not in the same class as 

 the above two as regards profit. Nelson 

 is too shy during the winter and Joost is 

 too small. 



In scarlet Crane and America are 

 both grown largely, though Estelle is fa- 

 vored by some. We grow Crane for early 

 winter, until after Christmas. After 

 that date we depend on our Flambeau, as 

 it is free from that sleepiness of Crane. 

 There are several scarlets coming now 

 for which great things are promised and 

 we hope to get one or two that will 

 rank with the best in the other colors. 

 It seems that all through the scarlet 

 class there runs that sleepy tendency in 

 warm weather. 



In crimson Harlowarden and Harry 

 Fenn divide the honors; some prefer the 

 one while others pick the other. We grow 

 Harlowarden. 



We grow no variegated, but Mrs. Pat- 

 ten is conceded to be the best in that 

 class. Prosperity is not generally consid- 

 ered profitable to the grower. 



The above list embraces the best va- 

 rieties on the market, but it will pay you 

 to be constantly on the lookout and to 

 devote a bench or two every season to 

 the new varieties that are offered. Not 

 near all of them will turn out good but 

 you will pick up a good one every now 

 and then that will pay for all the loss on 

 the poor ones. A. F. J. Baub. 



CARNATION COMPOST. 



Please give me your judgment about 

 using one-fourth violet soil used one 

 year and three-fourths fresh soil for car- 

 nations. Or would you use a fresh com- 

 post of one-fourth manure to three- 

 fourths sod stacked up last fall ? Which 

 would be likely to give the best results? 



F. A. V. 



I cannot see why you hesitate between 

 the two lots of soil. Certainly the sod 

 mixed with one-fourth manure is the 

 proper thing to use. The one-fourth vio- 

 let soil would not add a single bit to the 



