>'>\ — i<'T'r^(. :> >«7','}f".v~- I- .-• r{^^«iitjij.-w^ ' V(«^^.'T«^V»t!">'^.^"' ~t5T'»^ 



552 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



AuacsT 3. 1005. 



visitors be introduced and made ac- 

 quainted with each other has appointed 

 fropr^s reception committee a special 

 committee on introduction, consisting of 

 Geo. C. Schafer, Chas. Henlock and 

 Franklin A. Whelan. 



Traveling representatives of the S. A. 

 F., appointed last winter, will kindly re- 

 port at the Convention hall, reception 

 committee room, on arrival in "Washing- 

 ton, and are asked to be present and 

 work with the above committee all of 

 the first day and evening of the conven- 

 tion, to promote general acquaintance. 



The following is the list of traveling 

 representatives appointed by the presi- 

 dent: J. R. Fptheringham, Paul Berko- 

 witz, S. S. Skidelsky, B. Eschner, D. Mc- 

 Eorie, E. J. Fancourt, A. Ringier, C. S. 

 i'ord and C. W. Scott. 



Wm. J. Stewart, Sec'y. 



NOT HOT IN WASHINGTON. 



William F. Gude, Washington, D. C, 

 writes: "The photograph of our store 

 front (reproduced on page 551) was taken 

 for no other reason than to show the 

 florists throughout the United States 

 that it is not too hot in Washington 

 during July and August for persons to 

 stand and look at a florist's window. 

 This scene is a daily occurrence at 1214 

 F street, and you will see from the pic- 

 ture that none of the people seem un- 

 comfortable or very warm. This pic- 

 ture was taken between the hours of 1 

 and 2 p. m. on Tuesday, July 25, 1905. ' ' 



GERANIUMS. 



Will you please let me know when I 

 should slip geraniums so they will bloom 

 or bud a week before Decoration day? 

 Please let me know what to do for the 

 little white flies under all the leaves. I 

 have tried everything. J. G. 



Supposing your stock plants are plant- 



ed out, which they should be, for you get 

 best rcuttings from outside plants, then 

 take cuttings from the first to the middle 

 of September. I advise as early as this 

 because it gives the plants time to break 

 and give you another crop of cuttings 

 before the old plants are injured by se- 

 vere frost. No matter whether you take 

 the cuttings the first of September or 

 first of October, they should be anxious 

 to flower the end of May. 



Root the cuttings in 2-inch or 2% -inch 

 pots. Pot firmly and keep them in 

 the sun. Water thoroughly the first 

 time; after that only when they are 

 quite dry. We shift into 3-inch pots 

 soon after New Year's and agaih' into 

 4-inch as soon as we can after April 

 1. About the first of February we get a 

 cutting from the top of each plant. If 

 not large enough to give us a cutting,- 

 then just nip out the last joint to en- 

 courage lateral growth, which makes a 

 branching plant. 



Our plants never fail to be a mass of 

 bloom on Memorial day, or a week be- 

 fore, and it is always surprising to hear 

 of the zonal geraniums not flowering. 

 Too ipuch animal manure, too much 

 shade and loose potting are the princi- 

 pal reasons for the failure to flower in 

 time. 



Some varieties are more precocious 

 than others. Two splendid varieties, S. 

 A. Nutt and Mrs. F. Perkins, have a 

 tendency to flower when quite small. 

 When you move over the plants on the 

 bench, which cannot be done too often, 

 you should pinch off all buds until the 

 first of May. 



Some large geranium growers dispense 

 with the shift at New Year's and keep 

 ..the. little plants in 2% -inch pots until 

 the middle of February and then shift 

 into 3 14 -inch. This plan makes amply 

 good bedding plants. Bone meal at the 

 last shift is much better than animal ma- 

 nure, a pint to a bushel of loam. 



W. S. 



<:ARNATI0N NOTES.-EAST. 



Benching the Plants. 



Weather conditions in Connecticut 

 iiave been such that carnation plants 

 are in prime shape to house. The hot 

 weather and infrequent rains have 

 brought about a hardy growth, making 

 the tissue firm and less liable to wilt 

 than if rains had been abundant. This 

 is very desirable, as plants establish 

 quickly, making it possible to discon- 

 tinue shading and syringing in a short 

 time. 



From the time plants are lifted until 

 well under way no detail, however 

 amall, should escape attention. The 

 main points are to allow the roots out 

 of soil the least possible time, plant 

 thoroughly, avoid draughts, supply no 

 more water at the root than is absolute- 

 ly necessary and syringe cautiously. 



Now, a word about thorough planting. 

 I will venture the statement that more 



plants are lost or rendered worse than 

 useless by careless planting than by 

 any other cause. With practice one can 

 plant rapidly and still be thorough, but 

 better be a trifle slower than to allow 

 any carelessness to enter into the work. 

 No amount of coddling, petting or 

 special treatment will offset slipshod 

 planting. 



Should the bench soil become dry be- 

 fore ready to begin work, wet down the 

 afternoon before, not to the point of 

 saturation, but just so a handful, when 

 squeezed into a ball, will retain its 

 shape when released. Keep those of a 

 size together, maintain straight rows 

 across and lengthwise the bed to facili- 

 tate supporting and keep a few plants 

 ahead of the planter. 



Make a hole with the right hand, re- 

 moving a handful or two of soil, allow- 

 ing it to remain loosely near the edge. 

 By a circular movement of the same 

 hand in the hole form a small hill, rising 

 to within about an inch of surface level. 

 Meanwhile the left hand has grasped 



the plant, whose root system shduld be 

 arranged to fall over the hill, the 

 different branches radiating in every 

 direction. Draw in >about one-half the 

 loose soil, move the plant slightly to 

 sift soil among roots, cover with the 

 remainder, press firmly and the simple 

 deed is done. 



The depth 0;^' the hole and its width 

 will necessarilj vary according to quan- 

 tity of roots and the size of the small 

 hiUsiQust be made to correspond with 

 the neck of the plant. 



The above procedure applies when the 

 plants are lifted without soil adhering. 

 If cuttings were potted in 2-inch and 

 shifted to larger pots many plants can 

 be taken in with the ball intact, when 

 little arrangement of roots is necessary, 

 but in spite of all care a large portion 

 are often free from soil. 



I am not in favor- of lifting with a 

 large ball to be ti'ansferred to the 

 bench, preferring rather that most of 

 the field soil be shaken off, thus giving 

 the roots contact with fresh soil. 



When from fifty to seventy-five 

 plants are benched water enough to 

 settle the soil but do not saturate the 

 whole bench, as was the former custom. 

 Apply directly around the plant. When 

 settled cover lightly with loose soil to 

 conserve moisture. 



Several syringings daily will be need- 

 ed and should be applied in the form 

 of a mist. Aim the hose high in the 

 air, keeping the thumb or finger in such 

 position that the desired mist will fall 

 lightly from above. 



Early Planting. 



I am not one to discourage early 

 planting. On the contrary, I am an 

 earnest advocate of the practice. At 

 the same time there is such a thing as 

 overdoing the matter by making no 

 allowance for peculiarities of different 

 varieties. Plan to get those of slow 

 growth and impatient of disturbance at 

 root, in first. Many of the quick-grow- 

 ing sorts are better off another two 

 weeks in the field. 



It is hoped that it is needless to men- 

 tion the advantage of potting a few of 

 each variety for use in replacing those 

 which for any reason go wrong. 



Geobos S. Osboon. 



CARNATION NOTES.— WEST. 



Shipping Field-grown Plants. 



If you have to buy any plants to fin- 

 ish planting your beds find out what you 

 are going to need and order them at 

 once. You do not need to wait until you 

 have all your own plants housed to do 

 this. You can size up your own plants, 

 and you can figure to the single one how 

 many your beds will hold. If you only 

 plant a house or two you can count the 

 good plants one by one and it will pay 

 you for the little time it takes. 



It does not pay to plant any runtr 

 plants of standard varieties when you 

 can buy good plants as reasonably as 

 they are offered these days. If you will 

 just stop to think that it only takes from 

 two to three blooms to pay for the 

 plant and that a good, strong, healthy 

 plant will produce from five to ten 

 blooms more than a runty plant you will 

 see which pays best. 



When I say a runty plant I mean on« 

 that is diseased or very much under- 

 sized and stunted. Any plant in good 

 health, even though it be a little belo^ 



