^W^K 



980 



The Weekly Rorists' R^ew^ 



A 



September 21, 1905. 



Spraying and Feeding. 



Spraying should be discontinued as 

 soon as the buds crack their husky cov- 

 ering or the water will lodge in the 

 crevices and many buds will be spoiled. 

 This is particularly true of kinds Hke 

 the Batons, which form a hollow de- 

 pression in the center of the bud, afford- 

 ing an excellent chance for water to lie 

 there. A much drier atmosphere should 

 be maintained from now on and the 

 paths of the house and the foliage should 

 be dry by night. As the crop finishes 

 very much less water is needed than 

 when the plants were growing rapidly. 



Feeding, too, must be stopped as the 

 buds show color or the petals will damp, 

 an excess of nitrogenous manure mak- 

 ing the petals so soft that they literally 

 melt away whop the night moisture 

 strikes them. This applies, of course, 

 to the early flowers. Later varieties 

 where the buds are still small are just 

 now in the best possible shape for feed- 

 ing, though the dose should never be 

 very strong. ^^^^^ jj_ ^^^^^ 



foliage. Mme. Marie Masse, of which t>re 

 now have so many shades of color, maies 

 the best dwarf plants for early \^ork. _ 

 Horace Martin is still the most useful 

 early yellow. \ 



Both in cut bloom and plants, a ^ood 

 deal of very rough material comes intlp 

 the market. The plants which are takei) 

 up from the ground while in bud find 

 some demand for plantiog .^Mit in-beds,^ 

 yet they have to go out at very low \ 

 prices, there being too many of these on 

 the market. I may again revert to the 

 fact that in putting chrysanthemums on 

 the market, much depends upon the pack- 

 ing. Last season we bad some excellent 

 examples of bunching and also packing 

 specimen blooms at the market growers ' 

 show. One most important item I have 

 noted is that blooms of various sizes 

 should not be mixed together. It is not 

 only that their proper value can be bet- 

 ter estimated, but in all florist's work, it 

 is much handier to have them of equal 

 size, and in some cases it is quite neces- 

 sary. The extra large specimen blooms 

 cut with long stems should be packed 



Part of the Group from Harvard Batanic Gardens, at B3ston, September 14 to 17. 



without bunching, the medium size made 

 up in bunches of six blooms, and the 

 smaller twelve blooms in a bunch. Those 

 not disbudded have to be made up in 

 bunches of equal size without regard to 

 the number of blooms,, but it is best to 

 have about an equal number of stems in 

 each bunch. It is perhaps unnecessary 

 to give any instructions to the majority 



— «f growers, yet I am often ediown ex- 

 amples ef bad packing in the market, 

 and this has suggested the above re- 



Vmarks. ' ^ 



THE BOSTON EXHIBITION. 



The MassachuEetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety 's annual exhibition of plants, 

 flowers, fiuits and vegetables, which was 

 held at Horticultural hall, Boston, from 

 September 14 to 17, was a most success- 

 ful one, there being good displays in all 

 departments. The most noticeable fall- 

 ing off was in crotons, caladiums and 

 other colored-leaved plants. These are 

 less popular here than a few years ago. 

 Stove plants generally are also less 

 grown- on private estates, the owners 

 preferring to have plants grown requir- 

 ing temperatures which will permit of 

 their being -inspected with a greater de- 

 gree of comfort. This is a regrettable 

 fact. 



The main exhibition hall was entirely 

 filled with groups and specimen plants, 

 and presented a very attractive appear- 

 ance. For the best finished group cov- 

 ering 200 square feet of space Mrs. 

 John L. Gardner, Wm. Thatcher, gar- 

 dener, won with a splendid group, finely 

 arranged, Edward McMulkin being sec- 

 ond. For pair of specimen palms Mrs. 

 Gardner, A. F. Estabrook, George Bar- 

 ker, gardener, and E. McMulkin won in 

 order named. Mrs. Gardner had the best 

 specimen greenhouse plant, showing the 

 glory pea of Australia, Gloriosa superba. 

 The same exhibit took first and second 

 for six stove and greenhouse plants, first 

 for six caladiums, specimen fern, six 

 dracsenas, ten Begonia Eex and tub of 

 Ouvirandra fenestralis. 



A. F. Estabrook had the best five 

 specimen ferns and five adiantums and 

 was second for specimen fern and cycas. 

 D. F. Boy, from the C. C. Converse es- 



MUMS AT LONDON. 



We had chrysanthemums in the Lon- 

 don market earlier than usual this sea- 

 son, says a writer in the Horticultural 

 Trade Journal. The first good blooms 

 came in about July 18; these were Ma- 

 dame Desgranges, and might be called 

 specimen blooms. Both the white and the 

 yellow varieties were equally good. Here 

 is an instance of what may be done by 

 careful selection ; for though still going 

 under the old name they were clearly a 

 much improved form. When referring 

 to these in a chat with another grower 

 who does pot chrysanthemums remark- 

 ably well, he remarked that he had quite 

 given up Desgranges as useless; depend- 

 ing upon Lady Fitzwygram for his first 

 crop, but this comes in a little later. 

 There is clearly an advantage in being 

 first, for those referred to above sold 

 readily at 75 cents a dozen blooms, and 

 T found the other morning that since 

 other growers have followed, good blooms 

 are down to 50 cents a dozen. 



Lady Fitzwygram is undoubtedly the 

 finest white variety ns a pot plant for 

 early work. This has been making from 

 $5 to $7.50 per dozen, the plants being 

 rem.irk.Tbly well finished and with good 



Part of Farquhar & Co.'s Exhibit at Boston, September 14 to 17. 



