8 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Mat 25, 1905. 



and manure well. It is often recom- 

 mended that valley should be planted in 

 partial shade. That does not seem to u.s 

 essential. It may help the flower but not 

 the plant. You should plant in beds of 

 such size that you can easily put up a 

 few boards to support glass, sash or 

 frames covered with cheese-cloth, which 

 will greatly help the quality of flowers 



and prevent a storm from ruining the 

 crop. We think we cut spikes last 

 spring from such a bed a little fiher in 

 every respect than the finest forced flow- 

 ers we have yet happened to see. This 

 sash protection is only needed for a few 

 weeks, unless you want them in flowet a 

 week or so earlier, which can easily be 

 done. W. S. 



CARNATION NOTES.— WEST. 



Cultivating andlWatering. 



Now that you have your planting all 

 done you should keep after the cultivat- 

 ing systematically. Just as soon after 

 each rain as it will do to work the 

 grj^nd, you should go through the rows 

 with the cultivator and break up the 

 surface. If it does not rain for a week, 

 go through them again at least once each 

 week. The first cultivating after each 

 rain should be rather deep, but the oth- 

 ers need be only deep enough to break 

 up the surface. This cultivating is of 

 immense value to the plants during a 

 long dry spell and, while it does not 

 cause them to grow as rapidly as fre- 

 quent rains do, it keeps them from burn- 

 ing and keeps the plants in a healthy, 

 slow growirg state. 



I have always preferred this frequent 

 cultivating to any artificial watering in 

 the field and I claim that except in the 

 most extremely dry seasons you can pro- 

 duce a better plant for housing with the 

 cultivator than you can by the use of 

 the sprinkler. The plants may not run 

 so large, but they will be hardier and 

 stockier and will stand up better when 

 transplanted, because they are not so 

 soft and sappy. They will take hold of 

 the new soil quicker and the quality of 

 the blooms produced early in the season 

 will be better. 



Every few weeks, according to the 

 weeds, you will need to go through them 

 with the hoe, hoeing out the weeds and 

 breaking up the soil between the plants 

 in the row. 



If you have planted a lot for summer 

 blooming, of course the above does not 

 anply to them. You want a rapid growth 

 on them and nothing will do it better 

 than a good supply of water. A good 

 mulch of old manure and a daily water- 

 ing will produce a strong, rapid growth 

 and good blooms. If you cannot mulch 

 them, keep the top of the soil loosened 

 up well, as it will act similar to a mulch 

 in holding in the moisture. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



LAWSON. 



Will Mrs. Lawson do better if shifted 

 as needed and kept in the house imtil 

 time to plant on the bench, or should it 

 be planted in the field like other varieties? 



L. M. B. 



highest grade of blooms is produced un- 

 der each method and it seems to be sim- 

 ply a question of care and attention to 

 details. The method we prefer is to plant 

 on the beds early in May from 3-inch or 

 smaller pots, according to when the cut- 

 tings were propagated. The second way 

 is to pot into 4-inch early in May and 

 plunge outdoors until June or July and 

 then plant them on the beds. The third 

 method is to plant in the field along with 

 the other varieties and plant into the 

 house early in July. It is getting late 

 now for planting in the field, so I would 

 advise you to employ either one of the 

 first two methods. A. F. J. Baur. 



CARNATIONS BURN. ' 



My carnations are burning very badlv 

 with glass shaded on the south side, 

 houses running east and west. I put it 

 to the watering which my foreman does 

 during midday, but he says our glas?. 



which is B grade, does it. Who is right? 

 S. M. 



I hardly think that watering during 

 midday would cause your carnations to 

 burn. It often happens that part of our 

 carnations are watered between eleven 

 and twelve o 'clock and we have never had 

 anv trouble along that line. I can not 

 sav, however, that the B glass is responsi- 

 ble for it, either. B glass is not con- 

 sidered as good as A glass, on account 

 of the imperfections, and most growers 

 prefer to pay the difference in price and 

 use the A grade. 



Before you arguei any further, however, 

 I would suggest that you make sure 

 whether the burning is not caused by 

 thrips. At this time of the year, when 

 the sun is hot, there is much complaint of 

 the -petals burning after having been 

 punctured by the thrips. Take a half 

 open bloom or a bud just before unfold- 

 ing and pull it apart and look for a lit- 

 tle tan or brown insect about one-six- 

 teenth of an inch long and quite active. If 

 you find any of these you need argue no 

 further. Send for a can of To-bak-ine 

 Liquid and apply it according to direc- 

 tions every evening for a week and then 

 about three times weekly until your plants 

 are clean. I have said a good deal lately 

 in my notes about how to fight and pre- 

 vent this pest from gaining a foothold 

 on your place and it might pay you to 

 look over your back numbers of the 

 Review. 



If it is caused by the B glass, the 

 burning will be in streaks, running east 

 and west, along the bench and you can 

 soon locate the spot that does the focus- 

 ing and by painting the under side of the 

 glass with a thin coat of white lead you 

 tan stop the burning. A. F. J. Baub. 



There are three ways to handle Mrs. 

 Lawson successfully and it seems to be a 

 toss-up as to which is the best. The very 



PLANTING. 



In the planting of grafted stock, great 

 care should be taken to have the point 

 of union below the surface, so that it 

 will never be exposed to drying influ- 

 ences, which are fatal to this class of 

 stock. This method of planting also en- 

 courages the formation of roots on the 

 scion, giving the plants all the benefits 

 to be derived from own-root stock. 



It is also a safe plan to give grafted 

 stock supports as soon as planted, as 

 in case of hard syringing or accidental 

 brushing against, the scions are easily 

 detached. Beauties, because of their 

 quick, succulent growth, should also be 

 supported as early as possible, so that 

 they maintain an upright position and 



stand Tip to the syringe, which makes 

 it so much easier to keep off red spider. 



Cutting, Packing and Shipping. 



Memorial week, with all its bustle, 

 cares and trouble's, is now with us and 

 a few remarks on the cutting, care and 

 packing of stock may be of some serv- 

 ice. Judging from past experience we 

 may still look for the work of the 

 picicler, but I am glad to observe that 

 this practice is in a great measure be- 

 ing abandoned and particularly so by 

 the younger growers, which augurs well 

 for the future. It is foolish and suicidal 

 to ship out stock after it is thirty-six 

 hours old and it must have been well 

 cared for to make it safe even at that 

 sge, as the distance! to be traveled, care- 

 lessness of the express companies and 

 sudden change of temperature to which 

 we are subject at this season, may cause 

 a shipment of that class of stock to be- 

 come a dead loss, causing disappoint- 

 n.'cnt to your customer, loss of confidence 



